The mayor's daughter doesn't answer her own back door this time. A woman with dark eyes and a smeared apron does instead.
"A young man like you should be spending the morning with his family," the Undersees' cook remarks cautiously. "Madge is with her mother."
Gale is unfazed by her judgement. What a luxury, he thinks, to be huddled around your loved ones wasting time worrying over what might happen. Reaping or no reaping, his family still needs to eat.
"I'll be a moment. I'm sure she'll want to know I'm here," he invents. He has a hand in his pocket, thumbing over the coins Madge Undersee had given them. Sure, he sometimes goes out of his way to strike a good bargain in The Hob and comes off with the upper hand. But he's no charity case. For four years he's been looking after himself, and on his own terms. No deed in this district – good or otherwise – goes unreturned and he isn't about to indebt himself now.
Madge appears at the door red-faced and puffy-eyed. "Where's Katniss?" she queries, a confused look on her face.
Gale frowns. When girls start crying, that's usually his cue to make a timely exist – or in Posy's case, hand her back to his Ma. Madge isn't supposed to be sad. Entitled, spoilt, perched on a high horse adorned with pink ribbons that match her own perhaps – but not sad.
"Still think you're going to the capitol then?"
Her mouth drops open, and she lets out a sound in between a scoff and a chuckle. "You came all the way back here to pick a fight?"
Yes, is the correct answer. "You overpaid," he explains curtly. "I don't have change, so take the rest." He extends the quart of strawberries out to her like they're diseased.
"Did I?" Madge reaches her hand behind her ear and stops short when she feels empty space where her hair should be.
Presumably, she was searching for a tendril of hair to twirl between her fingers. Gale's seen her doing it before. Sitting across from Katniss at lunch; out in the schoolyard with her nose in a book. Not that he goes out of his way to look. The mayor's daughter always tends to stand out. It's not just because of her hair - which Gale has never seen tied up before the way it is now, pulled back tightly from her face without so much a strand to spare – but her quietness sets her apart. In Gale's world of scrabbling siblings and friends his age who aren't much tamer, the mayor's daughter is decidedly otherworldly.
"An enigma," his friend Thom once said when he caught Gale sparing Madge Undersee a glance for just a second too long. "Never thought you were the type to want something you can't have," he'd teased. Gale had written that off. Want is a far cry from how he feels about the mayor's daughter, he'd assured his friend.
Gale can still picture Thom's knowing grin; which is infuriating. There's nothing to know. So the mayor's daughter has a pretty face. Nothing worth stopping the mines over.
Now, he wants to shake the strawberries in her face. "Just take them. Then we're square. Maybe next time save your change for us. We don't take tips."
Her face is unreadable, but to Gale's relief she accepts the fruit. "This couldn't wait?" she finally says.
"Forgive me for not suiting your schedule." Gale snaps, satisfied that he's had the last word in what has been an entirely unsatisfactory interaction. He turns to leave.
"Hey!" There is fire in Madge Undersee's words now as she steps onto the porch, slipping in front of a startled Gale to block his path. "Look, I know today's hard on everyone. But you could-"
"Hard?" Gale shoots back, incredulous. "A girl like you, in a house like this. What could possibly be hard? Daddy's gotta send a starving kid to an even worse form of hunger? How terrible for you."
Madge stands her ground despite standing a near foot shorter than him. A tear rolls down her cheek and she turns her head to the side as she wipes it away; as though she's disappointed in herself for showing her sadness.
"Has anyone you love ever been reaped?" she asks quietly.
Gale can't bring himself to respond, stunned at the sudden intimacy of their exchange. There's inches between them, and the air is electric with what hangs unsaid. He feels suffocated by it.
She takes his silence as an invitation. "No? Well I truly hope the odds remain in your favour." Madge uses a knuckle to brush away another tear. "I'll have the right change next time," she adds, as though their words had been purely business the whole time.
Gale watches her walk back into her house. The click of the door jolts him back to reality as the image of her golden ponytail swims before his eyes.
Hating Madge Undersee seems to get harder and harder.
When two blondes are pulled from the reaping bowl that afternoon, she even crosses his mind. He finds himself wondering what it's like to have your father shake hands with two of your classmates and congratulate them on their imminent death.
Gale's unsaid words burn a hole into his tongue like acid as the Peacekeepers drag him out of the room. Remember, I'll be there with you. I'll be watching. I know you can come home…I want you to come home. He swears under his breath; trying to etch the last few moments into his brain in case someone tries to rip them from him too.
"What was that?" One of the Peacekeepers jabs him in the gut. "What did you call me, boy?"
"Nothing. I didn't say anything. Let go of me." Gale growls, struggling to break the grasp of the two officers.
"It didn't sound like nothing to me. You want to speak a little louder and see where that gets you?"
"I hardly think that level of force is necessary." A girl's voice interjects from down the hallway. Gale looks up, and nearly swears again but he manages to restrain himself.
Madge folds her arms in a disapproving manner. "Let him go. No need to spoil what's been a wonderful reaping day." Her voice is flat. Gale glances at the Peacekeepers. Neither appears to have picked up on her sarcasm and they acquiesce.
"Tell your boyfriend to watch his mouth, miss." With a nod, the two officers have existed the Justice Building.
"They answer to you?" Gale doesn't bother to hide his disgust.
"To my father. But they should know better. It's one thing to get a little power hungry, but today while all the cameras are here? It's idiotic to draw attention to themselves." Madge explains coolly.
"That was filmed?" Gale's eyes widen in shock; he desperately combs his memory trying to remember what he said to Katniss during their rushed goodbye.
"No," Madge says quickly, biting her lip. "But…well, you never know."
Gale nods as though he's completely familiar with the idea of having his every moment broadcasted. It sickens him, and he hasn't even seen Catnip on screen yet. There'll be a recap of the reapings tonight. Katniss' competition. He shudders, and Madge notices.
"I just meant because it's the games, Gale," she says softly, almost as if she's trying to comfort him.
To Gale's surprise, it almost works. Not what she says…but the sound of his name. He doesn't think she's ever called him by his name before.
"Right," he mutters, pushing the sleeves of his uncomfortably stiff reaping day shirt up to his elbows. He nimbly undoes his top button. "You came to see her. I didn't know you were that close," he admits.
"I think we've established there's plenty you don't know about me," Madge replies smoothly. She hesitates, then takes a step towards him and rests a hand on his arm. "Starting with: I'm not your enemy. No matter how much you want me to be."
Gale looks Madge in the eyes; painfully aware of their closeness. He hasn't ever said two words to the mayor's daughter in his life and now here he is standing an uncomfortably short distance opposite her – again. Before he can say anything, she's turned around and left him standing alone.
Alone. He's going to have to get used to that feeling.
a/n: Thank you to those who have reviewed and followed! I wasn't sure if there'd be any takers out there for another telling of behind-the-scenes Gadge during the first hunger games but I'm thrilled and encouraged that there's a few of you out there 😊
Couple notes – to answer a question, I'm not sure how much I intend to cover in this story. Certainly until the end of the first hunger games though. I'm happy to take any feedback or comments on characterisation, too. A lot of fanfics portray Madge as pining after Gale long before the novels kick off and, well, I like to be a little subversive. From her first appearance, she's a take-no-BS kinda gal and I'm running with that interpretation.