Yay, 18 reviews! Thank you guys! ^^

Yeah, I've kind of messed up the order of the interviews and stuff, but oh well.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters, but I do own Zach (ew) and Toby (yay!)

Chapter 9

While I sit at the table and eat my breakfast, I decide to go out after school, to the fence where it's quiet. I feel safer there knowing that it isn't electrified most of the time. I could also bring my book there, which I currently had propped up against the milk jug so that I can read it while eating.

Even better, the sun is shining today, and I can walk to school without a jacket. However, I am disturbed from my peaceful walk by an unwelcome sight.

As soon as Zach spots me from across the street, he comes over.

"Hello, Madge." He's smirking as usual, enjoying my tortured expression that I was sure was on my face.

"Zach." I take a deep breath. "You live in the Seam. Why are you here in the Town?" I feel like confronting him is better than ignoring him.

"I felt like a change." He shrugs as he says this like it's just a casual comment, but his nasty smile tells me otherwise. I knew that he had come here for me. The thought makes me shiver slightly, despite the warm sun.

"Zach, I want you to leave me alone." I force myself to look him in the eye. "I don't want to see you or speak to you. I don't like you. Okay?" I'm impressed by how fierce my voice sounds, but it's ruined when he just smiles again.

"Ah, but Madge, I like you." My cheeks are burning with humiliation.

"Stay away from me!" I yell. We've reached the school, and I walk as fast as I can without running inside, away from him. No matter how fast I walk away, I can't drown out his laughter that seems to follow me.

I don't pay attention in my lessons, even in English. I'm still too distressed over what happened with Zach. Surely he knew my father was the mayor? Surely he knew that I could have Peacekeepers knocking on his door by tomorrow?

But if he knew that, then he must also know that I would never be able to do that. I didn't want to think about what kind of punishment he would get - no one deserved the Capitol's punishment.

At lunch, before I can even take out my book, Zach is there, sitting opposite me this time, but I'm not sure if I prefer this or not. It makes it harder for him to touch me, but it also means that he stares at me full on for the entirety of it.

As soon as he starts speaking, I glance desperately towards Gale, who is at his table with his friends. I know that he's seen Zach with me, one of his friends must've pointed it out to him or something. But he makes no move to defend me, even though I'm sure it would be fairly easy for him to scare away Zach.

Why?

How could he keep up a grudge this long? Was he really so concerned about his image that he wouldn't help me?

I grip the edge of the table, and my anger helps me ignore Zach's sneers and sarcastic comments.

I find that I have lost my appetite, and stand up. I slam my tray down at the other side of the room and storm out. Even Zach seems surprised, and thankfully doesn't follow me.

I didn't like that I had become so dependant on Gale, how I felt that I needed him whenever Zach was around. I hated his arrogance and how easily he infuriated me, without even saying anything. Simply by being there.

The rest of the afternoon is filled with showings of the Hunger Games. Katniss has run out of water, and she needs to walk with a walking stick. There aren't any good fights happening, so the Capitol are featuring her. I can see that she's thinking as she walks, probably some form of strategy. Although, as the minutes go by, she becomes weaker and weaker. The room becomes silent, and I flinch when she falls onto the ground.

But eventually, much to my relief, she stretches forward and finds water. The Capitol, uninterested now, turns their cameras to the Careers, who still seem to be hunting Katniss, which frightens me as she is still in such a vulnerable state. Luckily, I manage to read instead of watch for a while.

When I get home, I take a cup of tea and switch on the TV. Although I planned on going out, I need to check how Katniss is doing. I don't want to be away if she gets hurt.

Night has fallen in the arena, and she is asleep, strapped to a tree. I comfort myself with the fact that water is close by, until I see an orange light flicker across her face.

Fire!

As soon as the heat reaches her, Katniss wakes up. She glances around herself quickly, frightened and disorientated. Finally she has the sense to unstrap herself, and she falls to the ground.

The fire is everywhere, around her, consuming the trees, the plants, everything. I hear someone's breathing pick up behind me, and I know that Toby is standing behind the sofa, watching Katniss run. I myself have my knees tucked under my chin, my arms wrapped round them tightly, as if I'm holding myself together. How could she escape?

She keeps running, running, running, never seeming to get tired. I'm sure it must be the adrenaline, but eventually she stops, sitting down quickly. A fireball whooshes past her suddenly, and she screams, only just managing to roll out of the way. It's followed by another, and she isn't so lucky this time. She screams again as she is burned on her leg, and I flinch, feeling the blood drain away from my face. Toby comes and sits next to me, and I start rocking backwards and forwards slightly. I'm scared, I've never been this scared in my life before.

Despite her burn, Katniss gets up and keeps running. She dodges fireball after fireball until eventually, she's out, and she's collapsed into the water. I breathe a huge sigh of relief and feel Toby relax next to me. She's okay.

I turn away for a second, relief flooding through me as I repeat it over and over in my head.

She's okay. She escaped. She's okay.

"There she is!" I quickly turn back to the TV, all previous calmness gone The Careers had found what they were hunting for.

Katniss struggles to get out of the water, and the pain from her burn is evident as she begins to run, lopsided and slower than usual. I guess that she won't be able to run for as long or as quickly as the Careers, and so does she, as she begins climbing a tree. As soon as she's about a third of the way up, the Careers appear at the bottom of the tree, jeering and laughing at her as she climbs, higher and higher. The largest Career, Cato, starts climbing after her. He's got huge muscles which bulge as he hoists himself up onto the branches, and I shudder to think how it would end between him and Katniss in a fight. Toby takes my hand and I grip it tight, only noticing then how loud and quick my breathing is, almost like I'm hyperventilating.

Cato, urged on by the other Careers, climbs higher, closer to Katniss, but suddenly, the branches can't take his massive weight anymore, and one of them snaps. He falls from a high distance, and lands with an almighty crash on the forest floor, but unfortunately seems to be okay.

Glimmer, the girl with blonde hair takes the bow that had been resting against her back and shoots, againa and again into the tree, but always missing Katniss, who plucks one of the arrows out of the tree and waves it at the girl, mocking her. Glimmer looks so angry that she might try and climb up there herself, but then Peeta speaks. I had forgotten about him, hiding away at the back.

"Look, we'll just wait her out. She can't stay up there forever, right?"

I'm shocked. How could Peeta love her one minute and then want to kill her the next? It made no sense. Katniss looks away, and so do I. I release Toby's hand which has gone white from the lack of blood flow. He rubs it and manages a weak smile at me.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I ask in a small voice.

"For a while," he says, glancing back at the screen. "She's got food and water, and none of them can reach her."

This doesn't comfort me in any way, but reassures me that I have time. Time to go out, time to get away from here. I hate seeing Katniss in pain, and I have to look away when she begins inspecting her burns, her face scrunching up in pain as she cleans it.

"I have to go." I say, not remembering to grab my book off the table. "I can't watch this."

"Madge-" Toby begins to protest, but I ignore him, slamming the door behind me. Once I'm outside I begin to run, not caring who sees me. I have to get out, away from the Capitol, away from their tortures and the Games. I can't deal with it, Katniss nearly died twice today.

When I reach the fence I realise that I've forgotten a jacket, and shiver. I don't even have my book. Unexpectedly, I burst into to tears. I don't stop moving, though. I let the ugly sobs escape me as I search along the base of the fence for an opening, becoming more and more desperate as my crying becomes louder and louder. Finally I find it and push myself under, not caring when the rough metal scrapes against my arms, leaving small cuts. I don't even check to see if it's electrified.

And then I'm running, adrenaline surging through me, until I can't run anymore. I sit down in the middle of the forest, my lungs burning, my eyes wet and tears still falling from them. I sit there and let myself cry, cry more than I have in a long time. I don't know how much time passes, but eventually I find that I've curled up into a little ball, my head cushioned against some moss. I don't notice when I hear footsteps coming towards me.

"Madge?" A voice asks softly. "What're you doing here?"

I don't bother to reply, but manage to sit up, beginning to comb my hair with shaking hands. It's filled with leaves and twigs, and I give up after a few attempts to remove them. Luckily I've stopped crying, but my breath is shaky and I can feel that I might start hiccupping soon.

I ignore Gale as he walks closer to me, pausing for a second before sitting next to me. All my anger towards him is gone, I only feel upset, shaky. In fact, I realise that I'm shaking violently. I refuse to look at him.

"Madge?" Gale asks again. He sounds concerned, and I wonder why. Why is he concerned about me? He reaches over and puts his hand on top of mine.

"Madge, can you hear me? Madge?" I think I've gone into shock. I've just left in the middle of a compulsory show of the Hunger Games, gone under the fence and into forbidden territory. My friend had almost died twice and was now a few branches away from it again. I couldn't take it. I couldn't.

My shaking becomes more violent as I hear another sob escape my throat. It doesn't sound right. Gale sighs and pulls me against him, wrapping both arms around me. I'm not shocked by this gesture as I normally would be – I was already too shocked to speak.

"Ssh." Gale whispers, holding me there, waiting till my shaking stops and my tears dry. Once I'm finished, he doesn't let me go. I allow my head to rest against his chest, wondering how I got here.

Eventually, I manage to speak.

"Why… Why didn't you help me, today, at lunch?" I whisper, the tears threatening to spill over again. I hate being like this, so defenceless, so pathetic. But I feel oddly comforted with Gale's arms wrapped tightly around me, almost like he's protecting me. He takes a few minutes before he replies, choosing his answer carefully.

"I can't… I don't know. I should have Madge, I'm sorry." He whispers, holding me closer against him. For some reason, I accept his apology, and close my eyes, allowing myself to enjoy this.

After a while, I pull away, but I can't quite look him in the eye.

"Gale… Why are you here?" He stiffens.

"I came here to… To get away from everything…" He looks away. I understand, and wait for him to continue. "And then I heard you crying, so I came here, and…"

"And?" I whisper, my hands clenching into fists by my sides.

"And… I didn't like seeing you in pain. So I went to you." He says, still not looking at me.

"Why?" I ask, feeling glad when I notice that my voice has become clearer, no longer thick from crying earlier. "Gale, why do you defend me? Why do you protect me from Zach? Why do you not want me to be hurt? I'm just a girl from the Town…" My voice trails off, empty. He stands up and I follow, not wanting him to leave without getting an answer.

"I… I don't know, Madge. I don't understand how I feel right now. Katniss is gone, and I…" He reaches out and touches my cheek, finally looking me in the eye.

"Does this feel… Good or bad?" His question takes me by surprise, and I have to think about my answer for a second. How had I felt when he had held me? I didn't really know, I had been numb with shock. Now, it felt like…

Gale traces his finger along my cheekbone, and the sensation it left behind reminded my of electricity. Like he was leaving a trail of it wherever he touched.

"Good." I whisper, feeling my stomach flutter as his finger moves closer to my lips. Gale sighs and drops his hand from my cheek. I don't want him to stop touching me, so I take his hand in mine, surprised by my confidence.

"And this?" I ask, tracing circles on his palm with my finger. "Good or bad?" Gale doesn't pull away, but when he looks at me, he looks upset.

"It feels good." He whispers. "But… It shouldn't feel good. But it does." He glances at me before looking up at the sky.

"It's getting late." He murmurs. "You should get home."

"Will you come with me?" I ask before I can stop myself. "This morning, Zach had been waiting near my street so that he could see me…" When I say this, Gale's grip on my hand becomes tighter, and I like the feeling it gives me. His warm hand envelopes mine.

We start walking back to the fence, and he doesn't let go of my hand, which makes me a lot more pleased than it should have. At one point, he laces his fingers with mine so that he can keep a better hold on me, and my stomach flutters again. I didn't understand the feeling, but I liked it. I liked being here with Gale.

We don't say anything to each other as we walk, or when we cross the fence. We take a back route to my house, but I'm too tired to get annoyed by this. Perhaps next time I see him, I'd ask him about that.

Through all this, we don't let go of the other's hand. When we reach my street, Gale pulls me into a tight hug, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"You infuriate me, Gale Hawthorn." I mutter against his chest, enjoying the sudden warmth. I feel him laugh ever so slightly, and I know that he is smiling. We hold each other there for a while, before stepping away.

"Thank you for helping me today. I just couldn't… With Katniss…" Gale flinches when I say her name, and I feel a twist of pain in my stomach. I didn't like how he had reacted to her name. I knew that they were friends, but…

"Can we not talk about her? Please?" He whispers, his eyes filled with pain.

"Okay." I reply, equally quietly. We hug one last time, and then we walk away from each other without another word. I don't realise I'm crying until I get inside my house.

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