Thank you for the reviews guys! Keep em' coming.
I was thinking about whether or not to do all three of the books, and I've decided that it depends on how popular this story becomes.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. Suzanne Collins does.
Chapter 20
Gale has to put me down so that he can knock on my front door, so I lean myself heavily on him, transferring all my weight to him. He doesn't seem to mind, and wraps one arm around my waist, steadying me.
After a few seconds I hear footsteps, and then the door opens. I breath a sigh of relief as I realise that it is Toby standing in front of us, and not my father.
"What's happened, Madge?" He asks, his eyes running over me, taking in my pale face, my bandaged arm, Gale's arm wrapped tightly around my waist.
"I'll explain when we get in." Gale says quietly, before turning to me. "Can you walk?"
I notice that Toby raises his eyebrows when Gale says this, but he makes no comment. I nod, and begin moving slowly, Gale taking my weight off of my feet. We make it to the sofa which sits opposite to the TV, and I sit down heavily. My breathing slows to a regular pace, and I only notice when it's too late that Gale and Toby have moved into the kitchen so that they can talk without me hearing them. Anger bubbles up inside me. I'm insulted that they feel they need to speak about what happened to me, without me even being present.
Perhaps Gale thinks that talking about it would upset me? I think about this for a few seconds, then shake my head. The shock has long worn off, and I thought I would be okay. Besides, I was getting sick of the whole 'invalid' thing.
I push myself off the sofa, and stand still for a few seconds, waiting to if I will feel dizzy or lightheaded. I don't, but the cut on my head starts to throb, and I notice that I can hear my pulse in my head. I start to walk towards the kitchen slowly, trying to ignore the pain that is getting steadily worse with each step I take.
I pause in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. Gale and Toby are sitting at the kitchen island, each wearing serious, concerned faces. They don't seem awkward around each other, like I thought they would be. In fact, it's quite the opposite; despite the tense situation, they seem comfortable talking to each other. I don't know why this seems so odd to me, but it does.
I can hear what they're talking about – Gale is explaining to Toby that Zach began following me in school, which led up to him harassing me in the Seam.
"What was she doing there?" Toby asks quietly.
"I assume she was coming to see me." Gale answers, equally as quietly. I realise that they're speaking so quietly because they don't want me to overhear them, and for some reason this annoys me. I stand up straight and clear my throat. Gale and Toby stop talking to each other immediately, and turn and stare at me.
"Mind if I join this conversation?" I ask coolly. They glance at each other quickly, and Gale sighs, before nodding and beckoning me closer. He pulls a chair out next to him, and I walk over and sit.
"Zach assaulted Madge on a street not too far from my house." Gale continues, slipping my hand into his under the table. I squeeze his hand lightly, and he squeezes back. "Prim saw them and ran to get me. When I got there, I realised what was happening and… disposed of Zach." He says, grimacing. I wonder what 'disposed' means exactly. I never saw what happened after Gale had pulled Zach off me.
"What did you do?" I ask in a small voice.
"I pulled him off you, and I hit him a bit, I suppose." Gale sighs and uses his free hand to run his fingers through his hair slowly. "He deserved it, Madge. I just hope it was enough to keep him away from you from now on."
I think about this for a while, not really sure what to say. How could I know that Zach would leave me alone now? How could I know that what happened today wouldn't happen again?
I shudder slightly, and Gale notices. He squeezes my hand again, and begins rubbing circles against the palm of my hand with his thumb.
"Well, we might need a more permanent method of keeping him away." Toby sighs.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"I don't know, Madge." Toby sighs again. I've never seen him look so serious. "I'll tell your father, and he'll do something about it."
"Okay." I say.
We continue talking like this for a while. Eventually Gale insists I go to bed, having noticed my yawns and sighs of boredom. When he tries to carry me up the stairs, I insist that I walk up on my own. He walks behind me, arms outstretched, ready to catch me in case I fall.
I get into bed still wearing my clothes, not bothering to change. Gale takes the seat that sits in front of my mirror and moves it so that it is beside my bed. He sits down, and glances about himself. I can't help but notice how out of place he is here in my room. He's too big for the chair he's sitting on, and his dark brown and grey clothes contrast immensely against the cream walls and light-coloured furniture of my room. Gale leans over and slips my hand into his, and I look at them. My pale, slender hand appears so different to his tan, well worked, slightly dirty hand.
We're so different.
"You okay, Madge? Does your head hurt?" Gale asks. I glance up at him and study his face, which currently looks concerned.
"I'm fine." I say, managing to smile at him. "I'm just… thinking."
How could I expect us to not be different? We were from completely different backgrounds, different parts of District Twelve, born into completely different families.
Despite all these differences, these things that separated us, we were together. And this time, I smiled properly at Gale, and he smiled back.
"Do you want to sleep for a bit, Madge?" He asks. I nod and shuffle deeper under the covers, but I still keep hold of his hand. Normally I'd feel weird with someone in my room while I slept, but I felt comfortable around Gale.
"Will you stay with me?" I mumble, half asleep already.
"I promise." Gale says firmly, squeezing my hand tightly. I close my eyes and turn my head away from him, so that it faces the wall. It only takes a few seconds for me to fall asleep.
I find myself in a dark room with no walls. The darkness completely surrounds me, and I am alone. I realise then that I am dreaming, and I wonder whether this is a nightmare or a happy dream.
After a few short moments, I can hear footsteps coming towards me. I spin round, trying to see where it's coming from, but all there is is darkness.
I turn again and suddenly see something in the distance. It's a flicker of light, something pale. The shape becomes bigger, as the footsteps become louder. Finally I realise it's a person, but who is it? They're tall, and a man…I think.
I squint into the darkness, trying to see their face. I can make out light brown hair, and dark eyes, and…
I gasp and take a step back. The man smiles at me, not a gentle, reassuring smile, but a malicious smile. I start to move backwards as he moves forwards, but every time I take a step away from him, he seems to take two towards me.
"No-" I managed to stutter. "Please leave me alone… Please." I whisper. The man's smile widens as I say this. I can hear the desperate tone in my voice.
I feel my foot catch on to something, and I trip, falling onto my back. I wonder for a second why my fall didn't hurt, having forgotten that this was a dream, but my attention was instantly back on the man. He wasn't just any man; he was Zach.
I try to crawl away, but he's almost upon me. I feel a hand touch my ankle, and I let out a small scream. I struggle, thrashing my foot from one side to the other, but Zach's grip on me tightens with every movement.
"Gale!" I scream, as Zach grabs my waist and begins to haul me off the ground. I scream his name again as I feel a hand grasp my arm and twist it whilst pulling me up, and I let out a guttural whimper.
I wake covered in cold sweat, sitting up in my bed, breathing quickly and heavily. I can hear my heartbeat in my head, and my face is wet, like I've been crying. I look to my right, where my window is, and see that it's raining heavily, black clouds decorating the sky, and flashes of lighting striking out every few seconds. I quickly turn to my left and realise that the chair next to my bed is empty; Gale has gone. He's left me, and broken his promise. He wasn't there to help me in my dream, and he isn't here to help me now.
I curl up into a tight ball, my back resting against the corner of my wall. I draw the covers over my head and flinch every time lighting flashes outside, and I realise that I'm shaking slightly. I thought I was okay after what happened with Zach, but I'm not. I'm scared of him, scared of what he might do to me if he sees me again, despite Gale beating him up.
I don't know how long I sit there, but I can guess it's for at least a few hours. The storm rages on for the entire time that I am curled against the wall. I keep the blanket over my head, despite how hot it is underneath it. I'm scared to move it, to see the empty chair, to see Gale's broken promise.
After a while I hear my door open slowly, and my breathing accelerates rapidly. My whole body tenses, and I immediately think of Zach.
He's come to get me. He's come to finish what he started earlier.
I feel a tear slip down my cheek as I can hear footsteps moving slowly towards the bed. I can't help but notice how they sound exactly the same as the ones in my dream.
The blankets in front of my face twist, and I know that someone is holding onto it, and are about to pull it off of me.
I let out a sob as the blanket is pulled away from me in one fluid motion, and I bury my face in my knees, which had been tucked under my chin, not wanting to see Zach's face. I wait for his touch, his voice in my ear, his breath on my skin. But nothing happens.
"Madge?" A voice asks softly between my sobs. I know whose voice that is, and it's not Zach's. But I don't want to look up, I don't want to be disappointed. It can't be Gale, Gale left, Gale broke his promise.
"Madge." He repeats my name again, his voice breaking in the middle of it. "Madge, I'm so sorry." I can feel him sit on my bed, the bedsprings groaning in protest.
"Madge…" He touches my shoulder gently, and I don't flinch like I expect myself to. Gale takes this as a good sign and wraps both of his strong arms around me, pulling me away from the corner and against his chest. I don't want to accept his hug, and I don't want to enjoy his comfort, but I do, and I bury my face in his shoulder. I want to be angry with him for leaving me, but I can't.
"Madge, Madge, Madge," he whispers my name over and over in my ear, his voice choked with tears.
"You left." I whisper once my sobs have subsided to silent tears and the occasional hiccup. "You promised you wouldn't. And you left."
Gale's arms tighten around me.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Madge, I had no idea you would wake up, you were sleeping so deeply… I just went to my house to explain to my mother where I was, why I was there, and to get some new clothes… I'm sorry Madge." He whispers, burying his face in my hair and inhaling slowly.
I stay silent for a while, thinking about this. It wasn't unreasonable that he left, and he obviously had to let Hazelle know where he was at this time of night, in this weather. I still couldn't help but think of him sneaking off. He probably assumed that he would never tell me.
I sigh, and wait till the tears stop before I speak again.
"I'm sorry." I whisper. Gale stiffens.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." He says firmly, nuzzling me.
"I'm sorry for being angry with you," I say quietly.
"I couldn't even tell that you were angry with me, Madge. You're terrible at holding grudges, we both know that." He replies, and I feel a weak smile form on my lips.
"I just…" I sigh. "I'm sorry. Okay? Will you forgive me?"
"Of course I will, Madge." Gale says, kissing the top of my head. "Do you forgive me?"
"Yeah, I do." I say quietly. "Are you going to leave again?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer. I knew it was selfish, but I wanted him to stay here for the whole night.
"I'll stay here with you as long as you want me." He says, gently placing his hand under my chin and lifting my face up so that my eyes are looking into his.
"Do you mean that?" I ask quietly.
"I do." Gale replies firmly, yet quietly. When he speaks, I can feel his breath on my lips. I expect this to scare me, as it reminds me of Zach, but I only shiver slightly, not from fear, but from anticipation. I realise that I want him to kiss me, that I'm not scared of his touch like I was earlier.
Our heads move closer together till our lips are less than a centimetre apart, and Gale pauses.
"Are you okay with this?" He whispers. I nod slightly, my eyes watching his. When he closes them, I close mine, and lean in slightly.
Gale brushes his lips so gently against mine that I barely feel it, not wanting to make me afraid. I move my lips against his, tasting him, waiting to see if I will recoil. But with each small kiss, Zach slips further and further from my mind, and I become more and more comfortable in Gale's arms.
Sorry this update was so late. I didn't like how the chapter was turning out, until I wrote the last bit.
Please read and review, it makes me feel so happy when I get a review from you guys! c: