Disclaimer: I'm just playing with Suzanne Collins' characters and her world. They're hers. Not mine. Any lines from the books are hers too.
AN: Glad people are enjoying this. Not really sure how I'd move this story out of this collection at this point, so it'll probably stay here for the time being. I think it'll be formally done in another chapter, but the way it is it will be open to get added to if I get the inspiration, if that makes sense. Anyways, thanks to everyone reviewing, it helps me stay motivated.
Kaleidoscope, pt 4
The rest of the day is a parade of incredulous friends and coworkers, all Gale's.
He started to ask Madge when her friends were going to start showing up, but thought better of it. The answer, he decided, was probably not one he wanted to hear.
Thom came first, knocking on the door and letting out a high pitched squeal when Gale opened it.
"I thought they were shitting me!" He shouted, mouth hanging open. He'd turned to an equally confused looking Bristol. "He did get married!"
"I'm not deaf, Thom!" Bristol shouted back before looking at Gale. "They said it was some blonde that looked like the Undersee girl you idiots are always drooling over."
Gale couldn't help himself, he'd smirked. He'd married a girl all the other men had considered beyond their reach. His wife is easily the prettiest girl any of them will ever see.
Granted, she wouldn't have married him if not for an amazing lapse in judgment, but still, the circumstances would only increase his status.
His stomach had rolled, remembering the Mayor's words, how he might get elevated for the situation but Madge would be spit on for it.
The smirk had slipped off his face.
"Well, she doesn't look like Undersee," he told them, wondering just how far he should go before talking to Madge.
"She is Undersee." Madge stepped beside him, forcing a smile. "Hi Thom."
It had taken less than a breath for Thom to swoop in and hug her.
"Holy shit!" He'd pulled back, still looking thunderstruck. "Holy shit! Did he blackmail you?"
He meant it as a joke, but the color rose in Gale's cheeks. He kind of had, and he hated it.
Bristol immediately seemed to sense trouble, her eyes fixed on Madge's increasingly pink cheeks.
When Thom pulled back, Bristol smiled wanly.
"Why the hurry? We didn't even know you were dating."
There was something accusatory in her voice, and Gale didn't like it.
Madge didn't miss a beat.
"We wanted to keep it quiet," she told Bristol, her fake smile never faltering as she took Gale's hand and squeezed it. "You know how it'd be in this district. Miner dating the mayor's daughter. We'd never get a moment alone. Not good for a budding relationship."
Gale barely had time to marvel at her quick thinking when Thom made a garbled noise.
"That's why you stopped going out," he said, looking like a light had been switched on his head. "How did I not see it?"
Fairly easily, Gale thinks. Thom is clueless even at his sharpest.
He'd forgotten that his 'love life' had been dying a slow death over the past few months, since Madge. There'd still been a few dates, a few last trips to the slag heap, but the ghost of Madge's body against his had been too persistent, too perfect.
None of the girls had been able to erase it, and Gale hadn't wanted them too.
Madge had been stunned into silence at Thom's admittance, and Gale took her surprise as an opening.
"Yeah," agreed with Thom.
He gave Madge a tug, wrapping his arm around her and pressing a kiss to her temple.
Her lips were a more appealing target, but he wasn't sure she wouldn't elbow him in the side again and his ribs were still sore.
"I only kept up a few for appearances."
Madge's smile stayed frozen, Gale wished he could see what she was thinking.
Had she known his dating habits had changed since their encounter? He doubted it.
Did it make her think any better of him? He hoped so.
"Huh?" Thom muttered, scratching under his cap.
Bristol looked less convinced, but stayed silent, only asking if they could see the house when the quiet of her boyfriend trying to think got too loud.
Thom had pretty much conducted the tour himself, even taking it upon himself to give Madge decorating advice.
"I'm against antlers in the decor personally," he'd told her, pretending to eyeball the wall where Gale is pretty sure the government installers will set up the television come Monday. "It's a little tacky."
"You have those stupid goat horns over your bed," Bristol pointed out, eyes rolling.
"Those are from a jackalope and they're a family heirloom."
"Those aren't real, Thom."
He'd huffed and looked back to Madge.
"Anything you want for a housewarming gift? Maybe some very fragrant flowers to mask Stinky's pungent after work aroma?"
Gale had been ready to toss Thom out at that, but Madge's next words froze him mid grab.
"Maybe something for the baby."
Bristol's eyes had widened slightly before her expression settled into something that looked like her suspicions had just been confirmed. Gale hated that look.
She smiled, it looked anything but truly happy.
"Congratulations."
It rang false to Gale's ears.
Thom, on the other hand, looked genuinely elated.
"I'm gonna be an uncle!"
"You aren't-"
"Shut up, Gale, you know I am," he'd cut him off, pushing him away and hugging Madge again. "I thought you looked extra radiant lately."
And by radiant Thom meant her chest had looked bigger.
When the hug went on a little too long, Gale forcibly pried his so-called friend from his wife, glaring the entire time.
They'd left a few minutes after that, with Thom still blubbering about becoming an uncle.
"You're not!" Gale shouted at him one last time before slamming the door and turning to Madge. "Why'd you tell that moron? Now half the District is gonna know."
And the other half wouldn't be far behind.
Bristol was nice, and she wasn't as loud as her idiot boyfriend, but she still gossiped.
She'd tell her mom, and her mom would tell their neighbor, Mrs. Shumard, and once she told Chesney…
Less than a day. That's how long Gale gave it before the entire District knew he'd knocked up Madge Undersee and she'd roped him into marriage.
That's how the gossip hounds will spin it anyways.
Madge just shrugs, rubbing at her belly.
"If they tell everyone I won't have to."
Gale crossed his arms, sighing. "But everyone is going to twist things up."
She'd shrugged again.
"They'll do that anyways." Her lips twisted up ruefully. "I'm gonna be the selfish whore that tricked you into marriage no matter what I say. My dad is the closest thing most of these people will ever get to the Capitol. He's worse than the Peacekeepers in some people's mind because he's the government, and I'm an extension of him."
Somehow, Gale already knew that.
"The narrative is out of my hands whether I say a word in my defense or not."
It turns his stomach, but she's right.
"I'll set them straight," he told her, anger at everyone that was going to slander her boiling in his chest. "I'll tell them we were together and planning on getting married anyways, just like you told Thom."
If it came from him they'd have to at least give it thought.
A smile, so faint he almost missed it, formed softly on her lips.
"It won't do any good. They'll believe what they want no matter what."
And when the next guest came by under the guise of congratulating them, Gale had to accept she was right.
Sanderson had boomingly wished them the best, but both he and his bird-nosed wife looked eager to go and discuss the newest Hawthorne the second they set eyes on her.
Their visit was nothing more than a foraging expedition, a chance to give credibility to their wild conjectures when they started gossiping with their neighbors.
Not for the first time, Gale curses the fact that he'd somehow earned a reputation as a man to look to. People enjoy creating rumors about those they see as in charge, and with his frequent trips to the woods, his ability to keep his family fed and help others, has definitely given people the impression he's someone.
Even if he's far from it.
Being promoted certainly hadn't helped anything.
Dozens of people eventually showed up, each less convincingly happy for the pair than the last, until finally Gale decides he's done with being a gracious host.
Madge is his wife, not some exhibit for them to ogle and dissect, and he's done with their judging eyes.
"What did you expect?" She sighs, leaning against the wall and rubbing her eyes.
Gale doesn't answer, just glares around, wishing the homes were fully furnished. She needs to sit.
He'll have to go to the Hob and try to barter for some chairs, a sofa, a kitchen table, all the basics, then in a few months, if they're able to save enough, maybe he'll be able to afford a nice cradle. Their baby is going to have a bed of its own, not get stuffed in an unused crate or drawer like a lot of Seam babies.
If his dad had been able to scrape together enough for his kids, Gale could for his.
As he's planning out how many squirrels he'll have to kill for a decent shot at a nicely upholstered couch, another knock comes at the door.
The last of his patience spent, Gale grabs the handle and swings the door open, ready to spit nails at whoever is waiting.
Instead of another co-worker or acquaintance, he finds a troop of skinny dark haired boys, all struggling with what looks to be a mattress.
"Mayor Undersee sent us," the tallest boy tells him, handing Gale an envelope with Madge's name scrawled across the front.
Madge pokes her head out of bedroom, having heard the knock. She probably expects another visitor she'll have to smile for, because she's already arranged her features into a pleasant expression. When she spots the boys her careful look slips.
"They, uh...your dad sent them," Gale tells her, holding the letter out to her.
Still looking confused, Madge comes to the door and takes it, opening it carefully and reading whatever is inside.
"It's my bed," she finally says, eyes still on the paper. "He says he knows we wouldn't have time to get any furniture today and he didn't want me sleeping on the floor."
Gale wants to be mad, he can provide for his family, but he forces the feeling down.
His pride isn't more important than Madge's comfort. She's pregnant and the floor would be awful for her back.
Feeling Madge's wide blue eyes on him, watching and waiting for his thoughts on the turn of event, probably expecting him to explode and tell her the bed is going back, Gale smiles.
"That was nice of him."
Her lips press together, nose wrinkling up, trying to sense the anger she knows is there at the slight against his ability, but Gale just waves the boys in.
"Bedroom's right through there."
The boys lug the heavy mattress and box springs into the room and let them fall loudly to the floor before stacking them right and tossing several lumpy looking blankets on them.
They troop out a minute later, all casting less than casual glances at Madge as they go. Gale hears one of them making a comment worthy of Rory about Madge's chest as they reach the fence so he clears his throat noisily from the porch and shoots a nasty glare the little asshole's way when he turns to look back.
Going pale, the boy looks like he might wet himself as he stands frozen, staring at Gale.
Mouthing the word 'Don't', Gale is happy to see the brat is terrified as he scurries off, hopefully with a little more respect for Madge.
He doubts it though.
Besides, his problems are bigger than perverted little boys with dirty minds and wandering eyes.
He can't just intimidate everyone that's disrespectful to Madge. He could try, but he's only got so many hours in the day.
Going back in the house, he finds Madge in the bedroom, still staring at the bed, her hands on her stomach, massaging the sides. When she feel Gale walk in she immediately looks up.
"We don't have to keep it," she says, her voice soft.
She must think it was for show, letting the boys bring the bed in the room, though he isn't sure how she expects him to take it back.
Sighing, Gale runs his hands through his hair, putting an end to all his mom's careful work once and for all.
"I'm not going to make my pregnant wife sleep on a cold, hard floor."
Biting her lip, her eyes go back to the bed. "That's nice of you, but I know-"
"That I don't like charity," he finishes, already knowing where she's going. "He's family though now, right? And family helps each other out."
Madge nods, still not looking convinced.
"Besides, you're his daughter." Gale gives her a half smile, one that's never failed him yet with a girl, and points to her belly. "When our girl gets married, I don't want some idiot boy making her life hard just because he's got more pride than money."
Slowly, a tiny smile racks Madge's worried expression. "What makes you think it's a girl?"
Gale shrugs, takes a step towards her, leans in just a little.
"Girls make their mothers prettier." He reaches out, brushing that persistently wild strand from her face, letting his fingers trace down her cheek. "If you haven't noticed it you need a new mirror."
Her entire face flushes the most gorgeous shade of pink and she ducks away, pretending she's got something in her eye and rubbing at it.
"You don't have to sweet talk me. The papers are signed, remember?" She half mumbles, still not looking at him.
Gale scowls. "I'm not sweet talking. I'm just being honest." He steps in front of her, taking her by the shoulders and dipping a little, making her look at him. "This doesn't have to be a bad deal, Madge. We can be happy."
He already is.
She's been his dream girl since he'd sold her granddad berries with his dad, and even if it was an accident that forced them together, he's glad it was her, and not just for the perks of a nice house and a fancy bed. He'd take her without those.
She's smart and funny, impossibly sweet, gorgeous, Gale's lucked out with her. With his normal luck he'd have gotten one of the girls whose name he hadn't even bothered to learn pregnant. There'd definitely been stars aligning for him, if not for her.
"I don't want you to be miserable."
That tiny smile reforms and Gale feels his heart speed up.
"I'm not going to be miserable."
For a second she studies him, her nose still scrunched up.
"Did you really stop dating?"
So many nosy people had come through that Gale had forgotten about Thom's slip.
She apparently hadn't known about it, and that makes Gale a little hopeful his image with her has a chance to be salvaged.
Uncertain how much he should divulge, Gale just nods. He seems to make messes when he talks unnecessarily.
"Why?"
It's a trap, and he knows it. His mind starts trying to weave a good response, tell her he was planning on coming back to her the whole time, maybe that it had all always been Thom's idea, that he was making money off his body, any number of thing that might make him sound like less of a shallow bastard.
That nagging voice that sounds like his mom cautions him against it though.
Instead of a lie that makes him sound better, he decides on the truth that makes him sound like a pig.
"I didn't want to, but...they-none of them were doing it for me, you know?"
He doesn't say it's because they weren't her, that she'd ruined casual encounters for him by being so damn addictive, but he hopes she reads between the lines.
Her lips pucker again, and Gale just barely keeps himself from lurching forward and catching them with his own. She's his wife and he hasn't gotten to even kiss her yet. The injustice of it is intolerable.
"Did-did I have anything to do with it?" She asks, her voice tantalizingly breathy.
It's too much.
Gale wants to whisper back that of course it had to do with her, it had everything to do with her, but his brain has stopped functioning. All he can think about is how soft her lips look, how easily her could get her too big dress off, how close the bed is…
Words have never been his strong suit anyways.
Igniting his mom's voice, clearly telling him he's going to get hit again, and rightly deserve it, Gale inches forward, until his forehead is almost touching hers.
She doesn't step back, and that's all the reassurance Gale needs.
In half a breath he closes the distance between them, almost knocking Madge backward as he does.
She's every bit as soft as she'd been months before, tastes like strawberries, smells like the expensive shampoo Gale won't be able to buy her.
He pushes the last thought away, refusing to let such an ugly fact ruin the moment. He wants to immerse himself in her, forget that he's dragging her into poverty and hunger and just enjoy his wedding night, let her enjoy it too.
They stumble back in the small space; Madge ends up pinned between Gale and the wall, making a soft grunt against Gale's mouth in response.
Without thinking, his hands begin inching the hem of the dress up, and when she responds by fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, Gale spins her around and they topple onto the bed.
He's just gotten the bottom half of the dress bunched up at her waist, his finger trying to make sense of the complicated latch on her bra to make a simple job of finishing undressing her, when she stills under him, her fingers still tugging at his hair.
Propping himself on his elbows, Gale tries to catch his breath as he looks at her questioningly.
Her soft fingers trace along his jaw as she studies him for a moment before sighing.
"I can't do this again," she tells him, voice low, brittle and ready to break. "I messed up once and I won't do it again. It won't just hurt me."
He's reasonably certain she isn't worried about getting pregnant again, he's almost as certain he can't get her double pregnant, and he's never heard of sex hurting the baby, so she's not being literal, but that's as far as his hormone rattled mind can get.
"This isn't about me and you and what we want." She rolls away, pushing herself up and leaving Gale hot and bothered, sprawled on the bed. "I can't let you hurt me again. I won't."
Because what's bad for her is bad for the baby, and she's a mother now.
Gale wishes becoming a dad made him half as selfless as her. All he can think about though is that loving her is good for the baby too. Making her happy is good for it.
Being a good husband is good for it.
But he can't be if she won't even let him try.
"What if I don't?"
Her lips twitch.
"I don't know if you know how not to."
She adjusts her dress and smooths out her hair before mumbling about trying to cook something from the scraps of food people had brought them.
Gale watches her vanish out the door before collapsing on the bed and groaning, wondering just how he's going to change her mind, and hoping that he can.
#######
Madge nearly drops the little stringed bag filled with a handful of what looks to be bits of cured meat.
Her nerves are frazzled and she can't focus.
She shouldn't have let him rattle her, get her to the point of almost toppling back into the same mistake that had landed them where they are now.
Part of her mind is scolding her. She let his smile and pretty eyes play games with her mind and she can't let that happen anymore. There's the baby to think of now and anything that stresses her, like Gale using her body to get himself off, would definitely stress her.
Another part of her mind, one that sounds a lot like Mrs. Oberst, whispers she deserves to be used.
That voice gets ignored as much as possible.
The sliver of her mind that normally is so sound, keeps her from messing things up and getting in trouble, however, has a very different, very appealing view. She suspects it's responsible for her spectacular lapse in judgment all those months ago.
Why shouldn't she sleep with him?
They're married now, that's what married people do.
Besides, it reminds her, sounding much too confidant, you've been dreaming of it since it happened.
Which is the absolute truth, unfortunately. Even when she was at her maddest, hated Gale for using her like that, her mind had betrayed her with those memories. It had felt good, in the moment, and she couldn't pretend otherwise. Even if the aftermath was nothing short of disaster.
There'd be no consequence now if they were together.
Except Madge feeling like she were paying her debt to him, giving him payment for taking pity on her and saving her family from humiliation and her from being taken away.
The thought makes her feel even more like property, cheap, filthy, and not nearly worth the bother.
She shakes her head and pushes the last two thoughts away.
The first is the only one she can afford to listen to at the moment.
Going to the stove, she frowns, runs her fingers across the front.
It looks nothing like the one back hom-at her parents' home. There are no buttons or knobs and instead of white enamel, it's a heavy black color.
She isn't even sure if any of the foods they'd been given needed heating, but if they did, she has no idea how she'd go about it.
"It's a wood stove," she hears Gale's voice reverberate through the room, off the walls, surrounding her. "We used all the wood for the toasting though, so we'll have to just eat cold food tonight."
Madge almost laughs and tells him he might eat cold for the rest of his life with her doing the cooking, but her voice is still raw from trying not to cry and she settles on just nodding. He'll learn soon enough that the kitchen will be mostly for looks.
She might owe him sex once that come to light. It'll be about the only thing she'll have to offer.
He crosses the kitchen in two steps, plucking the bag from her loose grip and opens it, pulling out a chipped piece of meat and offering it to her.
"What is it?" She asks, not really thinking.
Pickiness is starvation in the Seam. She's got to get over her squeamishness. Besides, meat is meat.
"I dunno, wild dog maybe."
She wishes she hadn't asked.
"I'll-there's some cheese and crackers," she tells him, backing away from the questionable meat. "I'm not much for jerky anyway."
He looks like he might say something about that, but just shakes his head and eats the chunk instead.
They eat in silence after that, only the sound of rifling around and their chewing breaking it.
Finally, Gale sighs.
"So, I'm gonna go to my mom's house and pick some blankets up," he tells her, setting the bag of meats down. "You can have the bed and I'll camp out in the living room."
Madge almost drops the cracker in her hands, her heart speeding up.
"You don't have to sleep in the living room."
Part of it is that she doesn't want him to leave her in the house alone. There still might be visitors, despite the closing evening, and she doesn't want to entertain them alone.
Part of it is she's afraid of sleeping in the bedroom alone.
The Seam is a strange new place, her new house an unknown full of sounds she's not accustomed to and shadows she hasn't learned yet. Even if he's only a few feet away, that's too far for comfort. Gale might not love her, but he'll still protect her, she's sure of that.
"I didn't figure you'd want me in the bed," he says, his gray eyes focused on her, searching for something. "Especially after…"
His eyes cut toward the wall, to the bedroom, and Madge feels her cheeks warm.
She shakes the thought and the ghosts of his hands away, her own eyes dropping to the cabinet, refusing to look at him.
"It's a big bed. It'll be fine."
He's quiet for a minute. Probably thinking of a way to shame her for having such a big bed in the first place.
"Are you sure about that?"
Madge glances up, expecting him to be scowling or make a snide remark about having a dirty miner in her bed or being afraid of the dark, but instead finds him simply waiting, his expression almost anxious.
She immediately looks away, his eyes too intense for her.
His feet barely make a noise as he steps forward, into her space, his calloused fingers reaching out and tipping her chin up.
"Madge, are you sure you want me in the bed?"
There's no hint of insincerity in his voice, no mocking, just concern, and that cracks her heart down the middle.
He may not love her, but he's worried for her, and that's almost too much.
Stepping back, she nods. "Yeah. I'm sure."
#######
They stay up for a few more hours, discussing the next day.
"So you want me to stick with the story you told Thom?" Gale asks her. "That we've been dating in secret?"
Madge nods. He doesn't understand the necessity of it, that even if not a soul in the District believes it, the lie isn't for them.
It's for the Capitol. They have to keep up the appearance that they're trying to be traditional for the people that might be watching. They have to believe the mayor's brat kid is still keeping in line and doing what's best for the District, what her father wants her to do. It has to look like they're at least trying to make people believe this was intentional.
Politics and subterfuge aren't Gale's area of expertise though, and he doesn't seem to care much for the convoluted explanation.
"They're crazy, got it."
She supposes that's a concise enough assessment of the situation.
When they go to bed Madge digs out her old nightgown from the lumpy purse she'd brought and ducks in the bathroom to put it on.
"You remember I've seen you naked already, right?" He calls to her through the door.
Madge's cheeks heat again and she has to stay hidden in the bathroom for a few more minutes before she can cool enough to come out.
He smirks at her when she finally emerges and her face flushes again.
He's stripped down to his boxers, which are thin and patched, barely sufficient for the job they've been given. Madge can clearly see the outline of his body through them.
Trying very hard not to look at him, Madge crawls onto the bed and curls on her side and faces the wall, her back to him as she pulls the blankets up around her shoulders.
The bed dips as Gale chuckles to himself and gets comfortable on the opposite side.
"Do you just like making me uncomfortable?"she asks, feeling annoyed and some other unfamiliar emotion at the same time.
She feels him roll, his eyes on her back.
"Yeah," he answers. "You're pretty when you're embarrassed."
Madge pulls the blankets tighter and closes her eyes, wishing that his thinking that didn't make her happy.
#######
Gale wakes in the gray morning light filtering in through the grimy window over the bed.
It's raining outside, he can hear the sad splatters on the roof and glass, and wonders if the patch he'd put on the weekend before over his and the boys' room is holding up.
None of his siblings had come by the day before, and he supposes he has his mom to thank for that. She'd probably kept them home, knowing they'd have enough nosy people coming by to bother them. Gale's obnoxious brothers and sister could wait to interrogate him for at least one day.
The air around the bed feel several degrees cooler than it had when they'd gone to bed, and Gale starts to pull the heavy blankets Madge's dad had sent closer, but finds his shoulder stuck.
When he looks over, he finds Madge's nuzzling closer to him. Her nose grazes his skin and he flinches. She's ice cold.
Sometime in her sleep she'd inched closer to him, trying to leech off his warmth.
Her hair is beautifully messy, some strung in her face, and Gale brushes it away.
Somewhere in his memory, he remembers his dad letting his mom sleep in on Sunday mornings, then waking her with a dozen kisses when he'd come back from hunting.
She'd squealed, laughed and told him to stop it, his stubble was scratchy and he smelled, but she always ended up kissing him back until she was breathless. At least until the kids had protested that it was 'gross'.
He wishes he hadn't done that now. His mom and dad had deserved to kiss as much as they'd wanted, and they'd gotten their chances to do so cut sickeningly short.
If he didn't think Madge might scream, he'd try kissing her awake.
Instead, he wiggles his arm under her, shifts her weight so that she's pressed flush against him, cold nose nuzzling to his chest.
Pressing a quick, dry kiss to her forehead, Gale closes his eyes.
He'll have to get up in an hour to head to the woods. He needs to find some animal out there that doesn't offend her clearly delicate tongue, she's pregnant and needs all the food she can get, and he's going to make sure she has it.
Snuggling closer, she sighs, her warm breath tingling Gale's skin.
Maybe, eventually, he'll get to wake her up with kisses when he comes home from hunting and embarrass their kids.
For now, he'll take keeping her warm before, and hope she thaws enough to give him a chance someday.