CHAPTER 2: The Victory Tour
Claustrophobic. That's how it felt being back in Madge's house.
It was ridiculous, of course. Gale now spent half of his life underground, and even without that, his house which he shared with 4 other people was much smaller than this mansion.
Still, it felt so small. Stifling even.
He and Madge had never talked about what had happened, of course. Maybe that's why... He had thought that she may seek him out, hunt him down even. He had been told that women liked to talk too much by some of his friends - hell, some of them complained about it, but Madge had remained silent, even on the occasion that they had bumped into each other. He almost wished she had said something about it. Anything really.
Because now, like it or not, he was here, in her house; hanging decorations for the Harvest Festival, the dinner party in District 12 to end Katniss's Victory tour with him. With Peeta Mellark, and in a week, he would have to be eating dinner with them, playing the role of Katniss's cousin, thrilled by the success of the tour, and her budding romance.
Even worse was that everyonewas there helping out, so alone-time was not an option. Katniss's mother and her younger sister Prim, Madge and her father - her mother was nowhere to be seen - and his own mother Hazelle and his younger siblings, Vick, Rory, and Posy, who had been unceremoniously defined as Katniss's cousins during the 74th Hunger Games, were all at Madge's house anytime they weren't somewhere else, decorating and rehearsing.
Those damn Games had taken everything from him. Being forced to help orchestrate this celebration was almost too much to bare.
His thoughts were interrupted by a fizzle of static, then, some Capitol idiot's voice informing Panem that, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen, the Star Crossed Lovers from District 12, seem to finally be enjoying some well-deserved fairytale romance.Gale paused in his work to turn to the Television that had been set up in the main dining room so that the Mayor could fret over how his District would look in comparison to the others on the tour. This also meant that everyone working to ready the room was forced to agonize over every romantic detail the Capitol felt the need to broadcast - maybe it wasn't agony for everyone, but it certainly was for him.
The pair were spotted early this morning District 4 watching the sunrise from one of its majestic beaches. Katniss's designer, Cinna has her in a flirty, flowing sun dress, with- Gale's ears blocked the rest of the narrator's nonsense. His chest tightened as he observed, along with the entire nation of Panem, hisKatniss wetting her toes in the vibrant blue water, the dawn light playing across her features and through her windblown hair; she was so god damned beautiful.
He watched her radiant smile, her laugh, and the stupid dress that the narrator had been droning on about blustering to dangerous heights around her thighs. It was getting hard to breathe.
Dammit, her eyes. Her grey eyes tricked blue by the ocean waters stared straight into his, into Peeta's. Dammit. Peeta leaned in and whispers something inaudible even to the Capitol's technology. His bare arms pulled Katniss into an embrace, and Gale's chest tightened with so much pressure he was convinced his ribs might crack. As he watched their lips brush gently, the rushing in his ears subsided, so he could just make out, Rumors have been flying that these two have some big plans to become engaged on the tour so that Katniss's mother can't interfere. However, the pair, along with their escort, Miss Effie Trinket, and their mentor, Mr. Haymitch Abernathy, have been vague at best in regards to confirming or denying this rumor.
The ridiculous-looking, grating woman named "Effie Trinket" who Katniss had insisted "wasn't that bad" popped up onto the screen, breaking Gale from his trance. He turned back to his work, hammering a nail to secure a banner that read, "District 12" above the table where the dinner was to be held. Effie's voice could be heard, explaining through an eerie smile, "All I can say is, those two cannot stay away from each other. It has been simply dreadful trying to keep them on schedule. They keep sneaking off to be alone together, and-"
Silence.
Gale snapped his head in the direction of the TV, surprised to see Madge fiddling with the controls. She glanced in his direction, then smiled slightly.
"Sorry. I'm having a hard time concentrating." She moved back to the table where she had been- well, Gale wasn't sure what she had been doing. His face must have shown it, since she offered, "I'm writing place cards, for the dinner. We only have about a week left until they're back, and since most of that people will be working and in school, I can't afford to keep rewriting them over and over until I get it right."
"What's to get right?"
"Oh you know, spelling, handwriting, placement on the card," she cooed, hands coaxing small, graceful letters out of an expensive looking pen. "Stupid stuff." She followed up, and looked up at Gale. Her eyes were careful, and after a moment, they fell back down to the elegant off-white cards she was writing names on.
Suddenly, he became aware that they were the only two in the room, and it started to feel like a very, very small space.
He found himself captivated by her presence, for the first time. Who was this girl, this quiet girl, who accused him of nothing, even though he had behaved so mercilessly towards her? He followed her hands, with their long fingers working tirelessly on a task that seemed so meaningless. Despite himself, his eyes moved to her blonde hair, falling in a mess of curls over one shoulder.
He was surprised how careless it looked. He had always assumed that girls like Madge spent time and effort on their appearance.
Gale took her in, fully, for the first time since he had seen her in almost nothing. Her delicate neck and collarbones, the curve of her breast peaking over the top of her white dress. Her ankles crossed almost casually, toes curling and uncurling without her notice.
His eyes moved back to her face. He traced the contours of her jaw and cheekbones. His eyes fell upon her pink lips, and he could remember the way that they tasted, how they felt; soft, and unsuspecting.
Dammit, no. This was not what he wanted. Shewas not what he wanted. She was not Katniss.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Madge's lips suddenly said. He snapped his eyes up to meet hers, but looked back to what he was doing after just a second. Why didn't he want to look at her?
"No."
"Your mother and the kids were going to. Tonight, Posy is going to pick out one of my old dresses for the party next week and-"
"Look." Gale began, but he wasn't sure what he had been attempting to lead up to. He didn't want to hear about her feeding his family, or being nice to his sister, even though the thought of Posy getting to wear an expensive dress like she saw in the shop windows in the town square did make him smile a bit, despite himself.
Luckily, the smile was not in Madge's direction, so hiss gruff voice would cover up any hint of excitement he had regarding the idea. "I'm- I've got to check the traps and try to get some hunting done for the week. Without Katniss here to check them it has been..." He trailed off.
"It's okay." Madge said, too quickly. "You can go, I'll- I can finish up."
It was awkward, but it felt like a resolution, so Gale turned to her and nodded. Silently, he made his way down the ladder, but when he turned back away from the ladder, the proximity between them was startling. She was standing strong just a step or so in front of him.
Her icy blue eyes locked with his, and she took a step to close the space between them. She smelled vaguely like wild flowers, just as he had remembered. As her scent overtook him, he actually staggered back a step, bumping into the ladder slightly.
This girl. He and this girl had- been so close. Her could envision her, naked, beautiful standing before him. He had almost- they had almost-
Her eyes were bearing into him. Saying what her lips could not.
Without a word, and without breaking eye contact, she put her hand out in front of her, palm open for the hammer he was holding. He placed the hammer carefully in her hand, and licked his lips. His mouth felt dry, empty.
"Madge-," He tried.
"Forget about it." Apparently, her lips could say it after all. She remembered, and despite her words, her tone said that she would make sure that he did too.