A/N: By popular demand, this is the final installment to the boy next door/girl next door installment. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

Gale

When I was ten, I broke my arm.

I was competing with Dax Miller to see who could cross it the fastest. I was in the lead when suddenly, the sweat that had built up on my hands caused me to lose my grip on the next bar. I collapsed onto the ground, feeling a crack on my left wrist. I cried out in pain as I heard Dax yelling at the end of the monkey bars, basking in his win.

I cradled my arm against my chest as I sat on the ground.

"Gale!"

I turned to see Madge running towards me.

I angrily swiped at a tear that had made its down my cheek. At this point, the other kids had huddled around me. Madge knelt down by my side and studied my injured arm.

"Is it broken?" she asked.

"I think so," I replied, wincing as I tried to move my arm.

Madge immediately stood up, and ran towards the other side of the playground. A couple seconds later, our teacher Ms. Trinket came running towards me, Madge following behind her. She grabbed my other arm and helped me to my feet. As Ms. Trinket lectured on about how we should not have been racing on the monkey bars, Madge gave me a reassuring smile and held onto my good hand.

That's how it always was with Madge.

No matter if the problem was big or small, Madge was always there.

Madge

I had always been good at English.

Writing, reading, analyzing poetry—I loved it all.

During my first year in high school, I was placed in an advanced English class that had students a year older than me. This included Gale.

At first, I loved it. Even though Gale didn't enjoy the class as much as I did, it was the first time we had a class together. I loved that when we needed to partner up, I didn't have to worry about being the only one in class without a partner.

"Undersee is mine," he would always say.

Now, the class was my least favorite of the day.

I had avoided Gale for a week since our kiss. I left fifteen minutes earlier for school, and made sure to park as far away from his truck as I could. I avoided all the halls that I knew he had a class in, and skipped our Tuesday dinner.

The only time I couldn't avoid him was this fourth period English class.

I asked Delly if I could switch seats with her, in which she gladly agreed to. Thom sat on my left while Gale sat on my right, and knowing how Delly had a massive crush on Thom, I didn't have to worry about her saying no. When Gale walked in that day and saw Delly sitting in my seat, he glanced over at me with a raised brow, but didn't say anything as he sat down.

I tried to focus my attention on the book laying on my desk, but I couldn't help but listen to his voice as he greeted Delly.

He didn't look over at me for the rest of the class.

Gale

When I came back home from a rough day at practice, I saw a familiar white car parked outside of Madge's house. I took note of the familiar Capital U sticker on its bumper and knew that the car belonged to Griffith Mellark.

I glanced over at Madge's bedroom window and saw that the curtains were wide open. I could make out Madge standing in front of it, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

I stared up at the window until Madge moved away.

Madge

Griffith looked at me with furrowed brows as I awkwardly took a seat on the edge of my bed.

"I don't understand, Madge. I thought you had a good time during our date"

"I did," I said, truly meaning it.

The date with Griffith was great. He was the perfect gentleman. He made sure to open doors for me, pull out my chair during dinner, and even made sure that I made it back home before my curfew. But I didn't want to lie to him. I knew that what I felt while kissing Griffith was nothing compared to what I felt when kissing Gale. I didn't want to continue our relationship, knowing that there was a part of me that had feelings towards someone else.

"I just...I think we'd be better off friends. I'm really sorry Griffith," I apologized.

Griffith stood quietly, refusing to look at me.

"Did Hawthorne say something to you?" he finally asked. "Because if he did, I don't think you should let him influence the way you feel about me."

"Gale? No, he didn't. I know you guys aren't the best of friends but I would never let him influence the way-"

"And honestly? Don't you think this is getting kind of old between you two? You guys aren't together, but you act like it. Hell, the whole school thinks that way too!"

"I don't understand what you're-"

"I mean, when I told the guys I was thinking of asking you out, they thought I was crazy. 'Who would touch Hawthorne's girl?' I didn't listen to them though and I asked you anyway and now, I know exactly what they meant. If you had to pick between Hawthorne or anyone else, it'd always be him!"

"Hawthorne's girl? I'm not anyone's 'girl', alright? I'm just me. And I don't know where you got the idea that this is all because of Gale because it's not. I just feel that our relationship would be better off as friends but now you're making me question that too." I said, anger boiling every part of my body. "I think you should leave."

"If it's not because of him then, why Madge?" he asked again. "We'd be great together. You're best friends with my brother and we've known each other forever-"

"Please, Griffith. I just...I need time okay? Just...leave," I said, finally turning away from.

I heard him let out a frustrated sigh, followed by him collecting his things and shutting the door. I turned and saw that I was finally alone and fell back onto my bed.

Gale

I dreaded going to practice after school. I was so tired-mentally and physically. With scouts coming in to see me, I had been pushing in more hours in the weight room and without a scholarship offer, there was no way I would be able to goto college. The stress of school on top of the stuff going on with Madge...it was just too much.

Practice today was especially brutal. Mellark sneered at me every chance he got. I finally blew up at him when he tackled me to the ground.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked, pushing him off of me.

Mellark scoffed. "Why don't you asked Madge?" He then proceeded to take off his practice jersey—throwing it onto the ground—and stormed off to the locker room.

I rolled my eyes as I watched him walk away. He always was a drama queen.

Gale

"POSY!"

I waited for the sounds of her light footsteps and smiled when I heard her groan and make her way towards my room.

"What?" she asked, opening the door in a dramatic fashion.

I sat up on my bed and grinned at her. "Pose, you know I love you, right?"

She looked at me skeptically. "Yeah, what do you want?"

"Wow, I'm starting to really miss those days when your world revolved around your big brother Gale," I said with a pout.

She continued to look at me with a blank stare. "I'm going to leave now." She began to slowly close the door.

"Wait alright!" I said, standing up and holding onto the door. "I need a favor."

She raised a brow, signaling for me to go on.

"It's Madge. She's mad at me and I..." I sighed. "I need your help."

With the mention of Madge, Posy straightened up. "Why's she mad at you? Is that why she missed Tuesday dinner last week? What'd you do Gale? Ishould've known!"

I ignored her and went on. "Yeah yeah it's my fault. Okay listen, I need you to go over to her house, and get her to come over for dinner tonight. I just...I need to talk to her and she's been ignoring me for almost a week now. You know she can never say no to you."

Posy glared at me, crossing her arms. "I don't know if I should help you because I'm sure that Madge has a good reason to be mad at you."

My shoulders sagged as I saw my only chance fly out the window.

"...but. You're my brother so I'll help. Just this once. And because I miss Madge."

I felt my face break out into a wide grin as I picked up Posy and threw her over my shoulders. "Ugh, what would I do without you Pose!"

I continued to spin her around despite her protests and soon enough, she was laughing along with me.

Madge

When I opened my front door, I didn't expect to see Posy Hawthorne standing on my porch.

She turned and broke out into a wide smile as she saw me.

"Madge!" she screamed, hugging me tightly. "I missed you! You never come over anymore."

I hugged her back and smiled. I didn't realize how much I had missed her too. I told her to come in and help me finish off the cookies my mom had left and she quickly accepted the invitation.

After pouring her a glass of milk, I finally asked, "So what brings you over here?"

She finished off the cookie in her hand and smiled at me. "I just missed you."

I laughed, taking a seat next to her.

"And well," she finally said. "I want you to come over for dinner tonight. Mom's making lasagna—your favorite."

My smile faltered as I realized I would have to see Gale if I went. "You know Pose, I don't think tonights a really good night..."

"But you always come over for dinner on Tuesdays and you already missed last week and mom's making lasagna!" she said with a pout. "And I miss you and you know my brothers don't understand my problems as well as you and I miss talking to you and I just want you to come over for dinner!"

I sighed, staring at the girl next to me. Posy had always been like a little sister to me and seeing her disappointed face killed me.

"I guess I'm not...too busy," I muttered.

The little girl's face squealed as she wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"So what's new with you?" I finally asked.

The smile on Posy's face faltered, causing me to straighten up and raise a brow.

"Well, now that you asked...there's..." she took in a shaky breath. "There's this boy."

"A boy?"

She nodded her head. "I've never really like-liked a boy before and I don't know what to do! And if I told any of my brothers I just know they would freak out and I just...he is so nice, Madge!"

"Well if you like him, what's stopping you?"

Posy's shoulders sagged as she was lost in thought. "I...I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous. What if he doesn't like me back?"

I gasped. "Why wouldn't he? You're the smartest girl in the whole fifth grade, you are an amazing dancer, and you make the best pancakes I've ever tasted in my life. Plus, you have a beautiful smile."

Posy looked at me, her grey eyes so similar to Gale's. "Really? I mean...I'm not the smartest girl in the whole fifth grade..." She smiled. "Just my class."

I laughed and smoothed down her dark hair. "He'll like you. Trust me. And in the small chance that he doesn't, it won't be the end of the world because there will be a lot of boys in the future."

"Thanks Madge," Posy said with a relieved smile. "See? This is exactly why you need to come by more often. I need you Madge!"

"I'm sorry, Pose," I said, nibbling on the last cookie. "I'll come over more often from now on."

Gale

After my mom called for everyone to come down for dinner, I walked down the stairs and almost missed a step when I saw Madge coming in through the front door, Posy tightly grasping onto her arm.

She flashed a smug grin towards me and walked over to the kitchen, leaving me and Madge alone. She avoided my gaze as she shrugged off her cardigan, and I slowly reached the bottom of the stairs.

I scratched the back of my neck and I had forgotten everything I had planned on saying once I saw her.

"Uh, hey!" I said, clasping my hands together. "Haven't seen you in a while."

Madge lifted a hand in greeting but didn't say anything else before making her way towards the kitchen.

"Madge, honey! I'm glad you could make it," I heard my mom say.

Madge's soft voice drifted out into the hallway followed by her laughing at something Pose had said. I groaned and rubbed my face, not knowing how to deal with this awkward situation.

After setting up the table, we all sat down. Rory and Vick were in a heated discussion about some new video game while Posy took up every second of Madge's time. I ate in silence, watching the blonde in front of me.

Her eyes were much bluer than I remember them to be. Were they always that blue? And her lips. I was starting to forget how they felt against mine. But they looked so soft, so pink, so...

I sighed and pushed away my plate.

"I'm not so hungry, ma," I said, much to her protest. I stood up and quickly walked up the stairs and into my room.

I thought that once I could get Madge to come over, it would give me a chance to fix everything. I was wrong.

I fell onto my bed and stared up at my ceiling. I could hear the clattering of dishes and the sounds of Vick and Rory's loud footsteps running up the stairs.

Knock knock knock.

"What?" I said, not in the mood to deal with the two.

The door slowly opened and in place of them, was Madge. She looked taken aback by my tone.

"Madge."

Madge

After clearing up the table, Posy pulled me aside.

"Madge, as much as I love you, I have to tell you something," she said, taking in a breath. "Gale told me to convince you to come over for dinner tonight. He said he really needed to talk to you."

I looked up and noted Gale's closed door.

"I think you should go talk to him," she urged.

I told her I would and slowly made my way up the staircase. Rory and Vick quickly ran past me and I watched as they quickly went back into their room to continue playing their new video game. I finally stopped in front of Gale's door and took in a deep breath.

Knock knock knock.

"What?" Gale's voice yelled out.

I opened the door and saw him laying on his bed. He immediately sat up when he saw me standing there.

"Madge," he muttered. "I...what are you doing here?"

I slowly walked in, shutting the door behind me. "Posy said you wanted to talk."

He stood up and and crossed his arms. "Yeah, um. I...I wanted to talk to you about...what happened."

"What happened exactly?" I asked, feeling my face heat up.

"You know what happened" he said. "The kiss."

I closed my eyes as the kiss replayed in my head—his warm body pressed against mine, his soft lips.

"I don't regret it," he admitted.

I gasped, finally looking at him. His grey eyes were on me as he took a step closer to me.

"Do you?" he asked, taking another step.

We were one step away from each other. I could feel his body heat radiating against my chest and I felt my lips moving before I could stop them.

"No."

Gale

Several things happened at once.

I took the last step standing between us and before I lost the courage, I kissed her.

She kissed me back.

I groaned as I breathed in the smell of her lavender soap. I grabbed onto her waist and sat down on my bed, pulling her onto my lap . As her lips moved against mine, I forgot about everything that I had been worried about before. All I wanted to do for the rest of my life was this.

Then Posy opened the door.

We quickly pulled apart and Madge wiped her lips, trying to hide the blush creeping onto her face.

"Pose!"

I quickly stood up and pulled her inside before shutting the door.

"I knew it," she whispered. "I KNEW IT!"

She then began to laugh as Madge and I exchanged worried glances.

"Are you guys going to get married now?" she asked, her eyes wide in anticipation.

Madge

It took Gale a great amount of time to persuade Posy to keep what she saw a secret, and an even greater amount of time to persuade her to leave.

"But why do I have to leave? So you guys can kiss?" she asked with a pout.

"Posy, please, I'm begging you," Gale said, almost resorting to picking the little girl up and carrying her out himself.

After much protest and a promise to take her out to get ice cream later, she finally left.

I laughed and hid my face behind his pillow. "I can't believe she saw."

Gale crawled back onto the bed and pulled me towards him. I rested my head against his chest, fully content on staying like this and hearing his heartbeat.

"So...what does this mean?" he finally asked. "I don't think things can go back to how it was before, do you?"

I shook my head and raised my head to look at him. "I don't."

After a moment of silence, Gale asked the question I'd been dreading.

"What about things with Mellark? I saw his car at your place a couple of days ago..."

I told him about what had happened and that I told Griffith that we were better off as friends. I could feel Gale's body tense after I told him about the part where Griffith blamed him on my decision.

"Why did you ignore me?" he asked.

I stared at his chest, thinking of what to say.

"I...I was scared," I finally admitted. "The kiss happened so suddenly and I was confused about how I felt towards you."

"And how do you feel about me?" he asked, holding in his breath.

I pulled away from his hold. "I kissed you back did I not?"

His face broke out into a wide grin and he pulled me towards him again. "I missed you. Last week was hell without you."

"I missed you too," I muttered against his chest.

I felt him stroking my hair and I lost track of how long we held each other in silence. I felt my self dozing in and out of sleep and when I fully opened my eyes, I saw that the clock by his bed read 10:24.

"Gale!" I yelled, quickly sitting up. "My parents are going to kill me!"

I scrambled out of his bed and straightened out my clothes and hair. Gale glanced at the clock and smiled.

"How can you be smiling about this? My parents may like you but you know how strict they are about curfew," I said, putting on my shoes.

He continued to smile at me as he sat up and hugged a pillow against his chest. "You broke your curfew."

"I can see that, Gale. Thanks for reminding me," I said, peeking out his window to see if anyone was home. I groaned as I saw the light from my parent's bedroom shining through their window—they were awake. "I have to go."

Gale got off his bed and walked over to me. "You broke your curfew. For me." The grin on his face widened as he continued to stare down at me.

"I didn't break it for you. I didn't even know I'd be here this long and I don't know how time went by so fast and my parents are going to kill me-"

Gale's lips crashed onto mine and I found myself leaning against the door as he continued to move his lips against mine. When he pulled away, he was still smiling, despite my current predicament.

That's how it always was with Gale.

No matter what the situation was, once he flashed me a smile, I always found myself smiling along with him.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this! I didn't want the shift in perspectives to get confusing so I hope that adding their names in the beginning of each shift helped! I'm actually working on a multi-chapter Gadge story right now, so be on the look out for that as well! Much love, Shan