A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful feedback. Getting some fluff in the woods worked into this chapter. Get out your dental floss!

Gale pushed her back, so he could see her face. Madge was lost in grey eyes that looked over her face and the rest of her. If I'm asleep this is the best dream I've ever had.

"Posy, Vick, give her some space," Gale said. One arm wrapped around her shoulders while he gently pushed her hair back from her face. "She's hurt. Ma, go get Mrs. Everdeen."

"What's wrong, Madge?" Vick asked. He let go of her waist but still held her hand in a crushing grip.

"I fell," she said, still lost in the sensation of Gale's rough fingers ghosting over her cheek. He was being careful not to touch the cut and it caused Madge to sway toward him.

"Come sit down," Gale guided her toward a fallen tree. "Does it hurt anyplace else?"

Madge was positive she was dreaming because she heard concern in Gale's voice. "I have first aid supplies and food and a knife in my bag."

"Where did you get all that stuff?" Gale asked. He kept a hand on her shoulder as he pushed her into a sitting position. His voice was soft and gentle, instead of harsh like when he normally spoke to her. "Rory, give me her pack."

Posy was trying to climb on her lap when Gale said, "Posy, Madge is hurt, and I think she hit her head. We need to give her some space."

"Here," his brother said as he handed Gale a white container filled with basic first aid supplies. "Get the rest of these to Prim and her mother. This is from a mine refuge room."

"Yes," Madge said. She wrapped an arm around Posy who sat next to her on the log. Vick sat on the other side.

"Guys," Gale said. "We're all glad Madge is safe, and I know she's happy to see you, but you have to let me make sure she's not hurt too badly."

"Are you glad to see me?" Madge asked a soft smile took over her face.

"Yes, Madge," Gale said. "I am extremely glad that you're here. And I am sorry it took me so long to say, Thank you."

"Thank you?" Madge looked around at the other Hawthorne children.

"Thank you for saving me and my family." Gale offered a smile.

"How?"

"We can discuss it later," Gale said. "Now let me take care of this cut."

"It will sting," Posy said, taking Madge's hand in hers.

"Thank you, sweetie." Madge smiled at Posy and squeezed her hand. She tried to suppress her concern at Gale's words. We can discuss it later.

Gale slid his hand around her neck and took a wipe in his other hand. His hand on the sensitive skin of her neck distracted her so she barely noticed the sting when he wiped the blood off her face.

"Madge has boo-boos on her hands too." Posy held up her hand for Gale to see the cuts and scrapes.

"Thanks, Posy." Gale tugged one of her pigtails.

Gale took her hands one at a time and wiped the blood off her cuts. He then took a small container and gently applied a paste-like substance to her cheek and then her hands.

"Did you get hurt anyplace else?" Gale asked.

"My knee," she whispered, uncertain if she could speak without stammering.

"I better let Ma or Mrs. Everdeen take care of that. I don't think they'd want me to lift up your dress." Gale smiled and winked.

Madge's cheeks felt like they were on fire along with the rest of her. She was thankful that Gale made her sit down because this much attention and physical contact from Gale Hawthorne would have caused her to collapse.

The survivors of District 12 were waiting one more night before moving on. Gale and several of the older miners looked carefully over the map and several pages in the journal Madge's mother gave her. The entries implied that people once lived several days journey beyond the lake. They felt it was worth the risk to head in that direction. There had not been a single Capitol ship patrol in the sky since they fled the destruction of District 12. They were fairly confident that they weren't being hunted.

Madge found herself settled against a large tree near the lake. After Mrs. Everdeen took care of her knee, she moved to a location that Gale's family had claimed. She dozed most of the day. Occasionally she woke up to find herself surrounded by Posy, Vick and several other children their age. Madge would have to tell a story or sing a song that Posy remembered from their time together and then they would scamper off.

"Madge?"

The sound of her name startled her awake. She shook her head and looked into the stormy grey eyes of Gale Hawthorne who was kneeling next to her.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to wake you." Gale glanced around before continuing. "I'd like to know if you want to go for a walk with me?"

"A walk?" she asked and suddenly felt cold in the pit of her stomach.

"Yes." Gale stood and held out his hand.

"Why?"

"So we can talk without being interrupted."

"About what?" Madge swallowed, glancing around.

"Are you afraid of me?" Gale asked. "Didn't you brave the worst blizzard we've gotten in over fifty years?"

"I've seen your temper rival a blizzard at school."

Gale laughed.

It was the most wonderful sound Madge heard. Some of the fear she felt about him wanting to scream at her went away. It was obvious someone told Gale about what she'd done for him and his family. An odd feeling of relief flowed over her. Lying was terrible and a lie of omission was still a lie.

"Is your leg okay to walk on?" He stood and reached out his hands.

"Yes, Mrs. Everdeen said it was a bruise. I can walk." She put her hands into Gale's larger, warmer ones and let him pull her up. She once again wasn't sure if she was dreaming.

"Your hands are freezing," Gale said. "Where are the blankets you had?"

"I gave them to Mrs. Everdeen for the injured. I have a coat."

To her disappointment, Gale released her hands. But to her surprise, he slid his arm around her shoulders. "It gets cool in the woods, but I don't want to build fires at night to attract attention. Put your hands in your pockets to keep them warm."

"Okay," she mumbled. Her heart raced and she felt her palms begin to sweat.

They walked to a house and Gale led them up the steps. The interior was empty, and no doors were attached.

"We could use this for people to keep them out of the cold," Madge suggested.

"There are too many people who need it. We have a couple hundred young people and old people. There would be a fight over who stayed here." Gale moved away from her and walked out the back of the house.

Madge followed him. The lake spread out before them and distant hills could be seen on the other side.

She stood slightly behind Gale. He faced the lake with his hands on the railing. She noticed the shirt he wore was tight across his shoulders and down his arms. Madge figured it was his father's, but now Gale was bigger than his father.

She moved closer and noticed that he gripped the rail with a white-knuckled hold on it. Madge stopped next to him and touched his arm. "Gale?"

"I told Katniss I loved her in this house," he said. His voice broke.

Madge gasped and stepped back, bumping into the corner of the deck. "She might have survived," she offered.

"She said she couldn't think about love. There was too much going on," Gale continued as if Madge never spoke. "She told me about the rebellion for the first time, too. It was the day I was whipped."

Madge fought back tears. The sounds of his screams still tormented her at night.

"After that Katniss said she wasn't going to leave me," Gale snorted. "Then the whole Quarter Quell happened. And finally, she chose to die for Peeta." The cold voice sounded nothing like the gentle voice he used with her on their walk to the house. "You don't do that for someone you don't love."

Madge felt Gale's pain. She suffered watching him with Katniss and any other girl that he smiled at over the years.

Gale turned. His face surprisingly blank for the anger he just spoke with. "Why did you bring the medicine to me? And why did you bring food and medicine to my brothers and sister? And why did you stay with them for three days until Ma got home?" With each question, Gale moved closer to Madge. His grey eyes never left hers.

"Did your mother tell you?" Madge wished he did scream at her. Anything would be better than to ask her to confess her feelings for him when he loved Katniss.

"No."

"Rory?"

"No. And not Vick, either." A smirk touched one corner of his mouth only to disappear in a second. If he hadn't been close enough for her to see his pulse, she wouldn't have notice it.

"Who?" Madge finally looked away.

"Posy," Gale said. His hands coming down on the rail on either side of her, forcing her to look up at him. "And Roger apologized for the misunderstanding he had with you. He said you thought he was taking food from my siblings and Leevy told me I could do so much better than a Townie." Gale raised an eyebrow. "If that wasn't enough to raise my suspicions, Haymitch commented out of the blue that the Donner girls' blue eyes trap every man they look at. And, finally, since the night of the whipping whenever anyone said your name around Katniss, she looked jealous."

Madge swallowed and closed her eyes. So many people knew what she did for Gale. How did she ever think he'd never find out? His intelligence was one of his best traits. "I'm so sorry I asked your family to lie."

"Madge, look at me." When she opened her eyes, he was so close. She smelled smoke from the small cook fires they used for the fish and birds and a woodsy smell that she always associated with Gale. "Why did you risk your life to bring me medicine and then risk your life again to visit my family?"

She looked into grey eyes that were too penetrating. She felt as naked as if she were just born. Since he already knew the truth, there was really no reason not to say it. "Because I've been in love with you since I first noticed boys."

A smile spread over Gale's face. "See, that wasn't too hard to say after all." He then leaned the last few inches between them and kissed her softly. "Thank you for being honest," he said when he pulled back.

Madge promptly lost consciousness.

A/N: Yes, a slight cliffhanger I couldn't resist.