Disclaimer: You know the drill.
Madge first saw him at the grocery store.
He was ruggedly handsome and had a box of cereal in each hand. His brows were furrowed as he studied each box.
Madge stifled a laugh and slowly approached him.
"I personally like that one," she said, pointing at the one in his right hand. "It has less sugar and tastes better."
The boy looked up from the boxes and his eyes widened when he saw her. "Hm, really?"
Madge nodded.
He smiled and put the other box back on the shelf. "I guess this one's the winner," he said, throwing the box into his cart. "Thanks for the help."
Madge wanted to say more and she didn't know why. It was something about the way his eyes lit up when he finally chose which cereal he would get and the way he sent her a genuine smile that made her heart flutter. But before Madge stirred up the courage to introduce herself, the boy had already walked away.
She saw him again at school.
Now this just couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
He was rushing out of the business building and the wind had blown away the papers he was holding. Madge stopped one that had flown in her direction with her foot and bent down to pick it up.
The boy jogged over to her with a grateful smile.
"Hey, thanks," he said, taking the paper from her. "Losing this would have done more bad than good."
He finally looked up at her and his eyes widened, just as it had done before at the grocery store. "Have we...met before?"
Madge nodded. "At the grocery store couple days ago...you were picking which cereal to get?"
The boy laughed. "Ah, right! Thanks for the recommendation by the way. It was absolutely delicious. We loved it."
Madge's smile faltered at the mention of "we". Was it his girlfriend? Of course he would have one, Madge reasoned. He's gorgeous and nice.
"Well, anyway," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I've gotta go. I have someone picking me up and she hates when I'm late."
With a final wave, the boy walked away, just as a car honked at him. A beautiful girl was in the driver's seat and the boy smiled when he saw her. He opened the door on the passenger's side and Madge was amazed by how his big body was able to fit into such a small car.
Third time's the charm, right?
Madge couldn't believe that she saw him again.
She had to at least find out what his name was.
The boy was sitting at the corner of her favorite coffee shop, a blueberry scone stuffed into his mouth as he typed away on his laptop. Madge laughed as she watched some crumbs spill onto his keyboard.
She ordered her usual and took a seat two tables down from him.
Do it. Just ask.
Madge took in a deep breath and stood up from the table. She walked over to the boy and tapped him lightly on his shoulder.
The boy turned his head and he swallowed what was left of the scone. "Hey, you again," he said. "You know, I'm running into you a lot lately and I don't even know your name."
Madge let out a nervous laugh, relieved that he had mentioned it first. "It's Madge."
"Madge," he repeated. He reached over and held out his hand. "Well it's nice to finally know your name, Madge. I'm Gale."
Madge shook his hand and was surprised by how warm it was.
"Wanna take a seat?" he asked. "I won't bite."
She nodded and sat down. "So...what are you working on?"
The boy, Gale, groaned. "It's a paper for my econ class. I was busy last night so I had no time to work on it and it's due in," he glanced at his watch. "three hours."
"S-so...I guess I shouldn't bother you. Since you have your paper to do and everything," she said, clasping her hands together.
"No actually," he grinned. "I work better with company."
He looked back at his laptop and began to type away again.
Before Gale left the coffee shop, Madge finally asked him.
"Hey, Gale?"
The boy looked up from his bag and smiled.
"Do you...do you want to get coffee?" she asked. "I mean...not now. But...maybe later? When you don't have a paper to work on?"
The boy's smile faltered. "Um...I...I actually can't. Sorry Madge," he said.
Madge felt her face heat up. "N-no it's fine. I just...no yeah, it's fine." She quickly stood up and grabbed her bag. "I've got to goto class. It was nice seeing you."
She left before he could say goodbye.
She had never been so embarrassed in her life.
Madge was never one to be so direct towards boys, but something about Gale pulled her in. The way he smiled and was genuinely curious about what she had to say. He was different from the other boys on campus.
Someone that amazing would definitely have a girlfriend. Of course he would say no.
Madge tried to even out her breathing and sat down on a nearby bench.
She wished a giant hole would form under her and swallow her up.
"Hey, Madge."
Madge looked up from the book she had been reading.
"Gale?" she whispered. The library was packed because of finals week and she hadn't seen Gale since the day at the coffee shop.
He pointed at the seat beside her and Madge moved her things so he could take a seat. "How are you? I haven't seen you lately."
Madge shrugged. "It's finals week."
Gale laughed. "You're right. This week sucked. I'm running on two hours of sleep."
Madge smiled and tried to focus on the book sitting on her lap, but all she could think about was the fact that his arm was touching hers.
"Hey so...about last time...when you asked me to get coffee with you? I'm sorry I had to say no," he said.
Madge sucked in a breath, not expecting him to bring it up. "N-no, it's okay. I mean, it would be weird if your girlfriend saw you with another girl anyway," she muttered.
Gale straightened up in his seat and his brows furrowed. "Girlfriend?"
Madge nodded.
"Where'd you get that idea?" he asked.
"I...Well, that time we met outside the business building. A girl picked you up..." she said, already realizing how childish she sounded. "And well, you were so quick to say no when I asked you out..."
Gale laughed and was immediately shushed by those sitting around them. He muttered a quick apology and suggested that they go outside and talk.
"Katniss, the girl you saw in the car? She's not my girlfriend," he reassured. "And well, the reason I said no...I didn't want to say no. I would actually love to get coffee with you, but I just can't."
Madge was still confused and he must've noticed. Gale rubbed the back of his neck and let out a breath before placing his hands on to her shoulders.
"Wanna go somewhere with me?"
Madge was sitting in Gale's truck, not knowing where they were headed.
I mean, he could be a murderer for all she knew. She did learn that many serial killers were handsome and charismatic. It's how they lured their victims.
Madge glanced over at Gale. He was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and hummed along with the radio.
He didn't look like a serial killer.
The car came to an abrupt stop and Madge finally took in her surroundings. They weren't in the middle of the woods or some sketchy alleyway. Instead, they were in front of a small house.
"Um...who lives here?" she asked.
Gale took the keys out of the ignition. "I do." He noticed that Madge hadn't made a move to unbuckle her seatbelt and laughed. "I know this may seem weird, but trust me."
Madge slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. Gale smiled as he walked over to the house, twirling his keys around his finger.
"Ma?" he yelled out.
"In the kitchen!" a voice rang.
Gale waved Madge over towards the kitchen. An older woman with dark hair sat in front of a high chair, trying to feed an unruly toddler.
"Is she still not eating?" Gale asked, placing his keys on the counter.
The woman shook her head. "She's stubborn—like you." She noticed Madge standing by the doorway. "And who's this?"
"Hi, I'm Madge," she greeted.
The woman smiled. "I never knew you had a girlfriend, Gale. And such a cute one at that."
Gale rolled her eyes and Madge could feel her face heating up. "I-I'm not..."
"She's not my girlfriend," Gale said. "Madge, this is my mom and this," he said, walking over to the baby. "Is Isabella."
Gale took the jar of food from his mother and took a seat beside the baby. "Hey little Bella. Wanna meet my friend? She's super pretty," he said, smiling as he turned to look at Madge.
Madge slowly walked over towards the baby.
"She won't bite, I promise," Gale laughed. "She only has two teeth."
At that, Madge laughed and took a seat beside him.
"So this is why I couldn't go out with you," Gale said. "She's been sick for the past week and she's just now getting a bit better."
Madge nodded, suddenly ashamed for thinking he was too busy with his girlfriend. "Is she...your sister?"
Gale smoothed down the baby's unruly hair. "Actually...she's my daughter."
Madge's eyes widened. Now that she looked at the baby, Madge noticed that she did have an uncanny resemblance to Gale. She had his dark skin and grey eyes, along with his dark unruly hair and dimples.
"Y-your daughter?" she chocked out.
Gale let out a light chuckle. "Yup, my one and only." He scraped some food out of the jar and urged the baby to eat it. The baby's wide eyes stared at Madge but her small mouth opened up, accepting the spoonful of food. "Good job, Bella. Only a few more to go."
"I...I'm sorry," Madge finally said. "I thought you had a girlfriend and was so embarrassed with myself when in actuality you had...a daughter."
Gale put down the jar of food and rested a hand on Madge's shoulder. "It's nothing to be sorry about, Madge. I mean, if I were you, I wouldn't have thought I had a kid either." He glanced over at Bella who was playing with the spoon in her hand before facing Madge again. "It happened two years ago...my girlfriend at the time...she didn't want her, but I couldn't just let her give Bella away. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Bella threw the spoon across the floor and laughed.
"It's not nice to throw things, Bell," Gale said, reaching over to pick up the spoon. He placed it on the counter much to Bella's dismay.
"I know this might be...strange," Gale said. "But...I do like you Madge. I was actually really glad that you asked me out...but, well. Bella keeps me busy, you know?"
"No, I understand," Madge's eyes widened as the baby began to cry. Gale took her out of the highchair and placed her onto his lap. "I know how hard it is to take care of a baby...my aunt just had one couple months ago."
"But that doesn't mean I don't want to go out with you because I do," Gale reassured. "If you want to, that is."
Madge found herself nodding more quickly than she meant to and Gale laughed. "But...can you? I mean..the baby..."
Bella grabbed one of his fingers and began to nibble on it. "I'm sure nana won't mind spending the night with you, now will she?" he asked, placing a kiss on top of her head.
The baby laughed and reached out for Madge.
"Hey, she likes you," Gale noticed. "Do you...do you wanna hold her?"
Before Madge could answer, Gale had already placed Bella onto her lap. The baby ran a hand through Madge's hair. "She's beautiful," Madge muttered.
Gale clasped his hands together. "So how 'bout it?"
Madge looked up from the baby. "How about what?"
"A date," Gale exclaimed. "You and me. Tomorrow night, maybe?"
Madge smiled and nodded. "I would love that."
Gale's face broke out in a wide smile and he grabbed Bella off Madge's lap. He spun the baby around and laughed. "Did you hear that Bells? Daddy is going to go on a date with the pretty girl," he said. "Yes he is!"
The sound of Bella and Gale's laughter filled the small kitchen and soon enough, Madge found herself laughing along with them.
A/N: Sometimes, I need fluff. And sometimes, I need Gale-Being-A-Young-Dad fluff.