An idea that grew into something uncontrollable. Unbeta'd and unplanned, so try to enjoy it for what it is. This used to just be my one-shot, Kiss Me Please, but I'm going to start posting all my gadge one shots here.
This one shot is rated T and is set in the time frame Catching Fire during the victory tour.
Madge is eager to get out of school at the end of the day. Classes were boring, the air was far too humid and right now everyone is pushing, jostling her around in the hallway. Although the school is District 12 is small in building size, it crams together everyone from town and from the Seam, so the number of students is far too high for their occupancy.
She finally makes it out of the crowds of students and into the glaring sun. The summer had been particularly searing this year, and even since school has started the temperatures have only dropped a bit. Her legs take her briskly down the sandy path, straight towards town when she hears someone call her from behind.
"Hey Undersee!"
When she whips her head around, it's Gale, and it makes her breath catch. He's standing in front of the school with a dopey smile, nodding his head out to greet her.
He's in his mining uniform, covered head to toe in a dark dust. His hair is matted down by the hemet he'd surely been wearing all day, and Madge can't help but think he still looks very handsome.
"Out of the mines already?" she ponders out loud. The miners are never out until 8 at night, sometimes later, so she's surprised to see him at school right now.
"There was an issue with one of the elevator shafts. Sent us all home."
"Just because of one broken elevator?"
"Well they don't want to pay for fixing that thing and pay us, they do it all the time," Gale shrugs off. He's acting casual about it, but Madge knows it's going to take dollars off his paycheck for the month, and that it worries him. "Anyways, I'm just picking up my siblings and saw you walking out. Thought I'd say hi."
That makes more sense, Madge thinks to herself. She doesn't know why she got it into her head that he somehow came to school to talk to her. They haven't talked since the Games, since Katniss got back. But then again, she and Peeta are off on their Victory Tour, and it's clear that there's a pattern going on. He runs to her when there is no Katniss, no company for him to rely on. And Madge holds herself to be very few things, but she is very reliable, and as much as she hates it she'll let Gale use her all he wants with no external protest.
Her lapse of words leads to a long silence, so Gale keeps talking. "So how is school now? Different without me?"
She shrugs. "It's the same. Crowded, loud, pretty boring."
"Well at least you're smart, so it's easy for you." It's supposed to be a compliment, but it also sounds like a jibe to her. So she begins to walk away still facing him, dismissing his words of praise.
"I'm not that smart. Still have lots of studying to do actually, so I'm going to head home."
"Alright," Gale nods, biting his lip slightly. Madge is curious, but she maintains her dignity and doesn't ask. Instead she turns fully and picks up her pace.
"Wait, Madge!" she hears behind her again, and she can't help but smile when she hears Gale jogging up to her, deciding to say what he came here to say. "Is your dad going to be home tonight?"
Her head shakes. "No. Working late at the Justice Building again. You know, Thursdays are always busy."
Gale does know. He used to sneak into her house every Thursday and kiss her silly.
"Ok well, I could drop by after dinner. After I clean myself from all this grime. Would that be okay?"
That's a really good question that Madge isn't sure she can truthfully answer. Would it be okay for Gale to "come over," like he used to, after months of barely talking? She misses him: misses his company and conversations they used to have. When Katniss and Peeta left for the Games, she lost two friends and felt like there was no one to turn to. Gale fixed that in a way, and maybe he can fix it now too.
"Sure, I suppose that would be okay," she responds quietly, making sure that no one from school is eavesdropping around them. "Just come in through the backdoor, I'll leave it unlocked."
Gale nods eagerly, beginning to back up towards the school as well. "Ok. I see Posy coming out, so I'm gonna go. I'll see you later, Undersee."
She gives him a small smile, the kind she gives when she's trying to be polite, then sighs heavily and begins to walk home. Although Madge is surprised to see him outside of school today, she's not surprised he asked to see her. She's long accepted her role in Gale's life, and secretly she wants more to be part of it at all then to be paid full attention.
The door creaks when she gets home, and she finds the house completely empty. Apparently the maid has gone home already and left dinner in the kitchen for her to heat up. Madge has no doubt it's because of the mine closure, Lucille is always complaining about never seeing her husband anymore, and the thought of their maid having on evening of happiness makes Madge a little bit warm too.
If the maid's gone, that means there's no point it unlocking the door for Gale in advance; no one but her would hear him knocking or suspect anything. Still, she decides to keep in open until he arrives. He is a creature of habit, after all. She's scared if even the smallest thing is different, he'll change his mind and turn around.
The amount of homework she had was exaggerated. It only takes her over an hour to finish it all, mostly just making notes on a Capital approved poetry book. The whole thing is a hoax; it's poems are about obedience and carry aristocratic undertones, the type that would make someone in the Districts feel like this is the way things were always meant to be. Madge thinks that making notes about poems at all is obscene. Poetry is meant to be felt and interpreted, not used to learn new vocabulary. But still, she finishes identifying and defining all the new terms, closing the book swiftly after she's done and heading over to the living room.
It's where her books and piano are, it's where she's happiest these days. Madge doesn't feel hungry at all, doesn't think she can eat dinner right now. She'll save it for Gale, if he wants it. He always gives what he doesn't need to his siblings, and Madge knows he'll have some extra room in his stomach. Whether he's too proud to eat it or not is another question, but maybe he'll be in a good mood.
She reads, practices a bit of piano and daydreams to kill time. Being the mayor's daughter sure is boring, and it's times like these when she wishes she had a sibling, someone to confide in and spend time with for all their lives.
Madge is halfway through a sonata when she hears the back door creak open, and she immediately stops playing and rushes towards the sound.
He's standing in her kitchen leaning against the wall, staring at her clock. When she arrives Gale turns to look at her, amused by her enthusiasm and smiling at her teasingly. He's clean, fresh looking and changed out of his mining uniform. "Is no one home?"
She shakes her head and laughs while Gale hums in approval of their situation, leaning in to encircle her waist and pull her closer. Madge is so weak, without any resistance she practically melts into him and lets him kiss her, taking her lips gently for the first time in months.
"I missed you," he whispers with his lips still grazing her mouth, and it causes Madge to turn her eyes down to the floor. He's lying, of course, she's been here this whole time and he's just chosen to not see her, Madge was not missed whatsoever. She was deliberately blocked out, and the fact that she lets Gale use her like this makes her feel cheap.
But he's just as she remembers him to be - playful and a tease yet completely overpowering and passionate. He smells the same too, of smoke and his mother's soap that she uses to wash all her clothes. When he pulls at the ribbon in her hair, pocketing it and letting her locks fall down onto her shoulders, she wishes that he would stop playing games with her heart.
Madge puts her hands on his stubbled face to slow them down; despite the fact that they're the only ones home, she still doesn't want to be in her kitchen tomorrow and remember the way he kissed her. There'd be no way she could confront her father again in the same room without becoming red faced. But still, she lets the moment drag on for a couple of moments, just letting herself feel the way their lips interlock.
After a second too long, she pulls away. "Come upstairs, okay?"
They walk slowly up the staircase, and Madge is self aware of the way her hips look in her skirt, how Gale might be staring at them. The thought makes her walk a little bit faster, and soon they're through the door of her room. He advances quickly to switch on the lights and get his lips back onto her.
He backs her up onto the bed, causing her to fall backwards and be underneath him. It makes her squeal a little bit, and Gale grins when she makes that noise.
"You're so incredibly sexy, you know that Undersee?" He sounds so certain of it all that it has to be rehearsed; Madge is a modest and shy, bookish type. She isn't sexy or any of the other things that Gale calls her. Before, she'd just close her eyes and pretend she believed him, but tonight her eyes stay wide open, staring right at Gale, waiting for him to slip up and stop this facade.
But still, his kisses are such a welcome distraction, and when he goes back to interlocking their lips her eyelids flutter shut, letting his persistence and desire take over the both of them Though she hates to admit it, she missed him too. When he used to come over all the time and and unravel her, it was such a welcome distraction from the Games, their lives and the shit she had to deal with. These past few months have been hard, harder than ever; Madge feels like she's under a microscope for the Capitol to inspect, just waiting for her or her father to make a wrong move.
Soon Gale's fingers are reaching up to unbutton her blouse, and Madge lets him with no protest. In fact, she reaches for the hem of his shirt too, and he shrugs it off with ease before popping the last few of her buttons. He looks gorgeous, body cut from stone and skin so tanned and Madge wants to lick it.
And he's looking at her too, mouth gaping open and staring at her breasts. He always used to make fun of her for her fancy looking bras, but right now Gale traces the lacey patterns with his finger, bringing them up to her cleavage once he finished.
Gale swallows hard, looking her straight in the eyes. "You're perfect, Madge."
She bites her tongue and tries not to object to his words, insecure about the way she looks. To block her train of thought out she scoots up deeper into her bed and pulls Gale along with her, lips never leaving his and nipping his bottom lip with her teeth.
His hands wander her bare torso and move downwards, lingering at her hips and feeling them through her skirt. It feels so good, as it should. Gale has had more than his fair share or girls, and at the least that means that he's experienced, good at finding all those point that make Madge moan.
And her room is different than the meadow. The meadow always made Madge feel like an intruder, like someone who didn't belong in Gale's world of nature and comfort and wonder. But her bed offers them a different kind of comfort, a warmth that almost feels... domestic. Madge giggles at the thought of Gale being domesticated by anyone, knowing it'll never be a reality.
A couple more minutes and her skirt is being pushed up to her waist, and Madge just savours the way his hands grope her thighs and tease small moans out of her. To even the playing field, Madge runs her hands down his chest, scraping her nails against his sensitive skin, which makes Gale gasp.
"Shit, yes. You're such a temptress, you know that?"
He nibbles away at her throat, but Madge snaps out of it. She won't take his jests any longer. "Gale, stop."
Gale immediately pulls away and look down at her thoughtfully. "What, did I hurt you? Are you okay with this?'
"I'm fine, this is fine, I just- can you cut that out?"
"What?"
"Temptress, sexy, perfect, you don't have to pretend. I know what I am to you, but please don't mock me like that."
He pauses, brows furrowed and looking deep into her eyes as if she hasn't just bared her heart out to him. Madge waits for him to say something, anything, or just get up and leave. She's beyond embarrassed, she's full of shame and just want him to leave now that she's called him out and exposed him.
"Madge.." he finally whispers after a long time. "What do you think you are to me?"
"A substitute," she blurts out honestly, and Gale's expression is frozen and unmoving. "A replacement, I don't know, Gale, but you don't have to say things like that it doesn't help either of us and I-"
"Madge don't," he commands. His eyes always did remind her of a stormy cloud, but right now they look more dark and ominous than ever. "Don't do this to yourself, I want you in every way possible, don't you know that? I mean it. You're beautiful, don't you know?"
In that moment, she wishes she did. But she doesn't believe him still, the idea of him saying the same things with ease to a girl on fire haunt her brain, and she knows none of this is real. She can't keep him (Gale Hawthorne isn't meant to be kept by anyone).
He takes her obedient silence for an invitation, pressing a soft kiss to her jaw and continuing his ministrations. And Madge lets him for a while; she tries to enjoy him, savour him, but they've deviated too far to pretend that tonight is like any of their other meetings. She's so guilty for telling him to come over, flirting with him only to break down into an emotional wreck.
"Wait, Gale," she breathes out, pushing him away. He's off in less than a second, retracting backwards and observing her closely. "I'm sorry, I just can't anymore."
"We all have bad days. Don't be sorry for anything," he reasons gently, and Madge's chest hurts and how sweet this boy is behind his brooding and his hard exterior.
But she has to contest. "Well I really am sorry. I know you didn't come here to let this happen, I just can't keep myself under wraps. You can leave if you want, there really isn't any reason for you to stay if you only wanted-"
"I only wanted to spend time with you, okay?" Gale interjects, raising his voice a little bit. He slips on his shirt and hands Madge her blouse, sitting up from on top of her. "I know I've been gone for a few months. That's because I still don't know what this is, what I need from you."
Madge shakes her head the slightest bit, biting back a tear. "That's not fair. I can't just wait for you to decide if you want me, I need to know if this is worth any of my feelings."
"Of course it's worth it. Look- I know you're hurt. I'm sorry. If I knew what this was I'd tell you, all I know is that I like you. I like having you in my corner." She knows that Gale is confused too, that anything he says right now is probably just to appease her, or are claims he hasn't thought through yet. He's frantic, trying not to hurt her feelings, but Madge just wishes he'd be fucking honest about her.
All she can do is sigh. "Do you like me because I'm me or because I'm always around?"
"It's because you're patient, and you're so smart. It makes me want to know more, you're always hiding something underneath your smile."
Even though she agrees with those two attributes Gale has given her, she doesn't agree at all with his assumption about their being any mystery to her. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else. There isn't anything to me but this," she admits vulnerably, motioning at her body for him to see. "I didn't think I could give you anything but this, and now I can't even kiss you without losing it. I'm telling you, please just go, you don't have to stay."
"But I will," he decides for himself, and Madge doesn't know how else to respond but to give him one chaste kiss on the cheek.
Gale doesn't ask for anything more, nor do they let anything get too heated. Instead, they go down to the kitchen, where Madge heats up the pea soup Lucille left for her to eat while Gale sits at the counter, talking about the mines and his family. He keeps playing with her hair ribbon, stretching it and feeling it in between his fingers.
"Posy keeps getting into arguments at school," he starts, and Madge laughs the slightest bit. "She picks fights with all her classmates, never wants to compromise."
"Arguments about what?"
Gale shrugs. "Games they play in the yard, fighting over supplies, that kind of thing."
"I hope she keeps that fire in her though," she adds, thinking out loud.
"Hm?"
"I hope she keeps that fire," she repeats. "I want her to always fight for what she believes in, you know? It's so often that we just let other people take them away."
It's a dangerous thought. One that the bugs in her house would surely not like, and Madge looks around as if she might know where they're hidden (she has no clue) and adds, "Like, in school. I want her to be a confident girl, I was never that."
"You should be…" Gale adds, and Madge turns around to attend to the stove trying to hide her blush. When it looks about ready, she pours it into a large bowl, placing it between the two of them sitting at the counter.
For moments they sit in comfortable silence, drinking the soup and and just trying to normalize the whole moment. Everything is so odd and particularly awful lately, and Madge just wants this to be real, not just some play they're putting on to delude themselves further. Madge imagines that if the world was different and if she and Gale were to find each other somehow, they would be together without a doubt, nothing would be in their way. But in reality, there are people and circumstances that make it hard, so they aren't given the luxury of an easy relationship.
Soon, Madge scrapes out the bowl, spooning the remainder of the soup into her mouth. Turns out she was more hungry than she had thoughts, and when she lowers the bowl from her face Gale is looking at her, observing her playfully. It makes her smile in slight embarrassment.
"What? Why are you staring at me?"
He shrugs mysteriously. "No reason."
"What? What is it?"
"I just wish we could do this more often."
"Do what, drink pea soup?" she asks jokingly, and Gale shakes his head while chuckling.
"No. I wish we could see each other more often, I miss being around you."
She doesn't mean to start accusing him of things again, but it just comes out. "Then why did you not talk to me for months?"
Gale goes still beside her, perhaps trying to figure it out in his brain too. After a few moments, he speaks. "I thought it was what I wanted. It was supposed to be what was best for me. So I kissed her. I did, and I wanted to, but it was different. Not better or worse, just different. And then I realized how much I missed you, so I came back, but I know it's selfish, you don't deserve this."
"I don't know why I keep letting you in," Madge admits out loud.
"Me neither, but again that's what's so great about you. You care so much about everyone and it makes me so-"
And then they hear the front door lock being fumbled with.
"Shit," he grumbles under his breath, standing up from the counter and putting on his jacket which was left at the door. Madge rushes over to tuck in his chair and scan the kitchen for any evidence of Gale being here, confirming that there's nothing left to prove he came here and kept her company.
They used to do this all the time, and Madge is surprised they still know the drill. The backdoor is opened quieter than ever, and Gale is almost out before he hastily tries to fish something out of his pocket. "Your ribbon, Madge, the one in your hair, its-"
"Keep it," she insists, putting her hands over his and cupping the tiny red piece of silk. Gale steps forward and catches her lips, kissing her one final time before pulling back and jogging down her porch steps.
"G'night. Undersee."
"Bye," she manages to whisper before she hears her front door open. Madge watches his stocky figure shrink smaller and smaller as he walks briskly away from her home and towards the Seam. For a second she just leans against the wooden doorframe, dreaming about his figure coming back when her faller begins to call her name.
He's calling her back to reality, but Madge doesn't want to budge. So she stands there and thinks about insistent eyes and soft touches and just wishes; she wishes for a day when his words are as honest as his kisses, when he says he loves her and maybe means it too.
