His family combines with the Everdeens for dinner on the evening of the reaping. Katniss' absence should be less noticeable in the whole crowd of them, but she occupies every moment.
Even if they're halfway through their fish stew and no one has mentioned her name yet.
What would she say if she were watching them, Gale wonders. Probably scold them for not enjoying a good meal. It's getting eaten, alright – Rory's bowl is practically licked clean – but Gale can hardly even taste it and judging by the silence, he's not the only one.
In class a couple years ago, they'd read some dumb love story where the heroine had been so heartbroken she couldn't eat. Gale had complained about it to Katniss one morning on the snare runs, clasping his chest and mocking the audacity of someone who chose not to eat. She'd laughed at that.
This year, when Katniss had to study the same story, she wasn't all smiles. "Maybe it's supposed to be like a sickness," she'd said finally. "Like your heart's so heavy it sinks into your stomach. Or something like that."
"Like your mom?" Gale had asked quietly. It slipped out. He and Katniss didn't usually talk about her mother, or any matters of the heart.
"Maybe." Katniss had been fiddling with a blade of grass, her eyes fixed downwards away from Gale. "I'd never thought of it that way. Madge Undersee said so in class. I think she was talking about her mother."
Before Gale could ask what Madge Undersee's mother had to be heartbroken about, a squirrel had caught their eye and they were on the hunt.
Now, he pushes a bite of food around in his bowl. It's not like him to play with his food; not when he's the one responsible for hunting it. He's thinking about Katniss and how she wouldn't look at him that day; how he wishes he could catch a glimpse of her eyes looking at him again…
His spoon drops with a clatter against the bowl and he's shaken from his daze. Prim is looking at him intently, her pale blue eyes wide with concern. Sweet, kind Prim. Hardest day of her life and she's still looking out for everyone else.
"Gale, it's you!" Posy pipes up from where she's plopped in front of the Everdeens' television set.
"Oh no, honey, switch that off…" Hazelle begins, but it's too late. All eyes are on the screen, where Gale has gathered a shrieking Prim into her arms and is walking her away from the stage.
The effect is instant. Prim's eyes well with tears, like a seal stopping her from busting out with sobs all evening has been broken. Gale feels something lurch in his stomach looking at her. For a moment, he sees Madge Undersee in her place and thinks about how he treated her this morning. If someone spoke to Prim like that, he'd be the first one to set them straight. There'd probably be a line. Prim is beloved by many; for the same kindness that makes Gale feel so protective of her.
Madge, on the other hand…well, other than when Gale sees her with Katniss, Madge is usually alone. No siblings, either, so no one to rough up anyone who messed her around.
To Gale's surprise, it's Mrs Everdeen who finally marches to the television and switches it off. "We've gotten through today. Let's not do it again."
Gale tells his mother to head on home without him while he helps with the dishes. He kisses Posy goodnight and bids goodbye to his brothers before retreating to the Everdeens' kitchen.
"Something on your mind, Gale?" Mrs Everdeen isn't smiling, but there's something soft in her expression as she scrubs the bottom of a pot.
Gale is aware that he's loitering. He's also aware that Mrs Everdeen knows he's not here to be a kitchen hand, no matter what he told his mother.
"Mrs Everdeen, I-"
"Today of all days, call me Ivy, Gale," she interjects with a soft smile. "Sooner or later I hope it'll stick, but I've lost count of how many times I've asked."
"Right. Sorry," Gale says quickly. He's never really had a personal conversation with Katniss' mother. There's never been a reason to start one. "Ivy," he begins again, the name painfully unfamiliar to say, "You were friends with the Undersees, right?"
Ivy stops scrubbing, her shoulders still hunched over the pot. She places the rag down and dries her hand on her skirt, avoiding Gale's eyes. "I was friends with the mayor's wife. She was a Donner back then," she corrects quietly.
Donner. Where has he heard that name before? Ivy gives no indication for Gale to continue the conversation, but he presses on.
"Right. I thought you might have been. I mean, Katniss mentioned it." Gale is fumbling with his words and it's uncharacteristic of him. He feels like a kid fishing for a sweet treat. Since remembering what Katniss said to him about Madge's mother, he was gripped with an urge to know more. "She's friends with her daughter. Madge Undersee. She visited today, I'm not sure if you saw."
"Did she," Ivy mutters, feigning disinterest and seeking something in the kitchen to distract herself with. She picks up the rag and continues scrubbing the already clean pot.
"Do you ever see her? Mrs Undersee, I mean."
"Every now and then." Ivy seems to grow tired of being evasive. "Why so curious, Gale?"
No point in prolonging it any longer. "Katniss mentioned once she might have it tough at home because of her mother," he replies cautiously. "I guess I just wanted to know if they were okay?" His voice lifts like he's asking a question.
Ivy looks at Gale for what feels to him like a long time. Underneath the weathered lines and hardened features, she's Prim through and through. Gale wonders who she'd been more like when she was younger: Prim, nurturing and sweet or Katniss, strong and selfless.
Finally, Ivy gestures for Gale to follow him out of the kitchen. She rifles through a drawer before producing a small photograph, which she shows to Gale. Three girls, all blonde and all smiles. For a moment Gale thinks that it's Madge in the picture.
"The Donner girls were twins. As different as day and night, but few could tell them apart." Ivy says wistfully, still gazing at the photo. "I could. That's Madge's mother, with her arm around me. And that's Maysilee, with her hair in her eyes." Ivy has a smile in her voice as her thumb traces over the girls' faces. "Madge is the spitting image, isn't she? Eyes like wildflowers, all of them."
Gale nods, wordlessly holding a hand out to take a closer look at the photo. For all the likeness between Prim and her mother, they had nothing on the Donner girls.
"That photo was taken a couple months before Maysilee was reaped. Twenty-four years ago." Ivy's voice is barely a whisper now. "Her sister was never the same. How could you be? They were two halves of a whole.
"I think it got harder for her when Madge was born. I helped deliver the baby, and checked in every now and then for the first few years of Madge's life. She started to get confused. Calling her Maysilee, mixing up her days and soon enough, her years. I…tried to help her, but after a while, it got too hard to keep going back. I think today would have been especially hard."
Ivy pushes the drawer shut and leans the photo carefully against the ledge. "Katniss reminds me of Maysilee sometimes. Maysie was strong."
"So's Katniss," Gale murmurs, his eyes still glued to the picture.
Ivy nods. "If Katniss and Madge were friends, I'd say Madge could probably use a friend right now."
What is it about mothers and their ability to know exactly what you're thinking, Gale wonders. "Probably. I should go home Mrs- Ivy. Thanks for…everything."
He meant to say dinner, but needed to say something more. "I'll see you at ours tomorrow for the opening ceremony." With one last glance at the photo, Gale is out the door, determined to bring the exhausting day to an end.
School is cumbersome most days; but today Gale doesn't even pretend to pay attention. Thoughts about Katniss shoot through his head like electric currents.
Apparently he's not the only one. Conversations still when he walks past, and he's getting pointed glances from every corner. So much for district unity.
He avoids the yard at lunch, choosing instead to coup up in a spare classroom scouring news wires for any update on the games. He's avoiding the rabble on purpose. There's a flurry of theories being exchanged and bets made about the prospects of Katniss and the baker boy in the games. He can just imagine what Katniss would say if he took out his temper on one of his doltish schoolmates.
Why does it matter what they think. Katniss' voice echoes in his head. She always had more important things to worry about. Gale admired her for that. Maybe it's easier not to sweat the small stuff when there's a bigger picture - like hunger - tugging their attention away.
As for the biggest picture on his mind right now, all Gale is getting from the news wires are interviews and expert opinions from capitol citizens. Scowling, he casts his attention out the window. His eyes land on Madge Undersee; sitting at the table she usually shares with Katniss. Her hair is in its usual messy knot at the nape of her neck. She's hiding most of her face behind a book, but Gale can tell she's not reading it. Her eyes peek out from above the pages, concentrating on one particular corner of the schoolyard.
Eyes like wildflowers, Gale hears Ivy Everdeen saying. Maybe she was on to something there, Gale concedes. But Madge's eyes are squinting, her brow furrowed. He's thankful he's not on the receiving end of her stare, but he can't work out what was her all riled up.
Madge slams her book shut and stalks across the schoolyard to confront whatever it is that's bothering her. Gale doesn't think twice before pushing the window open to get a better look. A group of town boys raucously laugh in a corner, until Madge reaches them. She swings her book back, and – SLAM.
Madge Undersee has clocked the tailor's son in the back of the head.
Gale pulls the window shut and sprints outside. So much for knowing your enemy, he thinks. Madge was right: there's plenty he doesn't know about her. Like the force of nature she is when she's angry. For once in his life, he doesn't envy the gaggle of merchant boys on the receiving end of Madge's wrath.
"Peeta is your friend. And Katniss could take any of you in a fight and you know it!" Madge seethes, her face flushed with fury.
"It's a joke, Madge," one of them tries to argue. Madge silences him with a stony glare.
"I saw you passing money around. What's so funny about that? You'd rather make a dime on their deaths than start a collection up to actually help them?" She's shaking now, both hands still clutching the book like she'd willingly brandish it again.
"Don't see you emptying your pockets," her victim mutters, rubbing the back of his neck and wincing.
Madge ignores his comment, instead holding the book up in defence of her actions. "It's a paperback, Orly. Stop being so dramatic," Madge spits. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."
Gale thinks she doesn't notice as he follows her inside the school building, but once they're a safe distance away from the door she whirls around with her hands on her hips. "What do you want, Gale? Here to tell me to empty my pockets too? Go ahead."
He stalls for time. What does he want? His feet seemed to have taken him inside on his own accord, but he doesn't think Madge will accept that reasoning. Stepping forward, he takes the book from her hands and turns it around so he can read the cover. It's the same love story with the heartbroken heroine. "I thought you did this in class last winter."
She eyes him warily. "I'm reading it again."
"By choice?" Gale looks aghast.
Madge sighs, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face. "Trust you to find something to pick on." She closes what distance is left between them, gently taking the book from his hands. Gale is overcome with the scent of something sweet. Like summertime.
"It's not everyone's cup of tea," she admits. "But it's comforting somehow. Books make you feel less alone, and if you re-read a book, it's like visiting an old friend."
"And they make great weapons, apparently." He raises an eyebrow and nods to the schoolyard. "Bet they never saw that coming."
Sheepish, Madge pushes a strand of hair out of her face. "They deserved it. Most people just don't talk about it and…I think that's a good thing. I don't want to condone the games." She frowns, absentmindedly running her thumb over the spine of her book. "Maybe that's a redeeming quality of this district. So when people do play into it, and at the expense of their own classmates, it just seems so much worse."
Gale cocks his head to the side, intrigued by Madge's words. She misinterprets, and takes up the defensive. "What do you want, Gale?"
He blinks. He shouldn't be surprised by her change in tone, given he's usually the first one instigate it with her, but Gale liked hearing her talk. Maybe because for once he was actually listening; rather than letting her blonde-haired, well-dressed appearance drown out her words.
"To apologise," he musters. "I know it's probably a long time coming, but I guess I figured, better late than never."
Madge looks amused. "Don't tell me. You're usually charming, and you've just reserved your off days for me?"
Gale looks at her closely, his mind casting back to the photo of the Donner twins in the Everdeens' living room. "Something like that."
"I guess I can accept." Madge twirls her hair around her finger, and Gale wonders if she purposely leaves a few strands loose from her bun just so she can distract people.
People like him.
"I mean, it might make the next couple weeks easier. If I can…I don't know. Talk to you, and not have you bite my head off." Madge adds with a soft smile.
The games. Gale realises he'd forgotten about them for a whole two minutes; the longest since the reaping. He feels a shudder of guilt for Katniss, but looks at the girl across from him. She'd want this, he tells himself. For her friends left behind to be friends.
"Come watch the opening with us tonight. Prim and her ma will be there. An extra person will hardly make a difference." Gale says, lying through his teeth about this last part.
Something swells in him when she accepts. He convinces himself it's surprise.
a/n: Updated two days after publishing - I felt like I need to explain why I don't think Gale would be picking fights (just yet) over Katniss being in the Games.
After reading fics by DamnDonnerGirls I couldn't resist including some Second Quarter Quell backstory to this. After all, the whole concept of this story is for Gale to figure out his world isn't so far apart from Madge's!
The name Ivy Everdeen is from Solaryllis. And in my attempt to be authentic, I googled wildflowers in the Appalachia region. Jacob's ladder is the one I settled on for being most like the Donner girls' eyes. Also...it smells like grapes, apparently. Don't me, I'm running with this.
I hope this wasn't too slow! I like a good build-up, it's my favourite part of reading fics (and writing them evidently.) It's honestly not too hard to look for ways for Madge to cross Gale's mind; especially if there's some attraction there that he won't consciously admit. More action to come, I promise. Thank you for your reviews – they're very encouraging and it feels really nice to know there's people reading!