Hey guys just wanted to say thanks again for the follows and reviews. And I know not everything is clear right now, so if there's any questions, feel free to ask, and I'm open to suggestions:) This chapter will kind of give the back story, I debated a lot on some of the details, but I decided to do something a bit different.
Oh and the scenes are going to overlap a bit.
Gale runs down the hallways, scanning the area for the familiar gold that seemed to have disappeared among the crowd. Thoughts race quickly through his head, memories of him and her and the unclear relationship the two of them had once shared. The secret trips to the forest, the long sleepless nights spent whispering in his room, the tears, the laughter, the sarcastic remarks thrown back and forth, and finally the kiss. They hadn't really spoken since that rainy day just before the quarter quell, he's seen her around but it wasn't until today that Gale realized how long it's been and how badly he had missed Madge Undersee. But she was supposed to be dead, the had went through the old mayor's house in district 12 and found the bodies, Gale had carried around a heavy load in the back of his heart for weeks about it, so what was she doing here?
Finally as he turns the corner he spots a flash of blond, and forgetting where he is and frankly not caring Gale runs towards the girl, calling out "Undersee!"
After a few more shouts the girl finally turns around, and Gale's heart drops. Dark brown eyes meet his, and the girl who he had mistaked for the Mayor's daughter stares at him with a weird, confused look. It wasn't Madge, he had just imagined it to be her after seeing the blond hair, he was letting his brain play tricks on him. "Sorry," he mutters to the girl, "Thought you were someone else." The girl gives him a polite smile of acknowledgement and walks away, leaving him awkwardly in the hallway. He had been so sure that it was her, he knew the gold hair, he had spent long moments secretly admiring it in the woods as it glared in the sun, felt it between his finger tips as their lips touched for the first and last time-
Just as he was going to walk back to the operating room where the doctor is probably waiting for him, he hears a weak, raspy voice coming behind him that he almost failed to recognize. "Gale?" And yet as he turns it was indeed her, Madge Undersee, the real Madge Undersee in the flesh. It had been her all along, she was here, in district 2, alive.
After seeing the name on the files, Madge's heart had started beating so fast that it threatened to stop. Gale Hawthorne was here, he was in the hospital, probably right now. Madge's first reaction was a want to look for him, but then she reminds herself that things between the two of them has long since changed, and even if she were to find him, she wouldn't be able to find the right words to say. Nevertheless Madge still finds her eyes unintentionally scanning the crowd as she made her way through the hospital, searching for those piercing grey eyes that she had loved once upon a time. She had been so naive, so powerless against his seemingly sincere words. As she continues walking her mind drifts to the memories of all those months when her and Gale use to spend all their time together, when she thought that maybe he actually cared.
It had all started the first time she met him, the first time that him and Katniss showed at her doorsteps with a basket of strawberries and fearful looks, hesitantly asking her if she was interested in buying them. She had said yes, she'll admit that at first it was slightly due to the fact that she felt bad for the seam kids, and wanted to help; but then something else became the reason for her constant purchases; to see Gale Hawthorne.
They only ever had brief, sarcastic conversations, often just harsh remarks from Gale about her being spoiled, to which Madge had no problem firing back at. Though his words were often harsh, she had rarely felt offended by them, and she had never viewed him as an enemy; maybe it was the sarcastic tone of his voice that lacked real coldness, or maybe the times she swore she saw him secretly smirk. Whatever it is Madge found herself drawn to the tall handsome boy with the silver eyes, found herself curious and wanting to find out more about him.
Then Katniss was reaped into the hunger games, and that's when Gale and Madge have their first real conversation; right in the justice building after they had each visited their closest friend. She doesn't remember much of the conversation, but they had both been sad and scared, both needing comfort as a person they loved is sent to what is almost a garenteed death. After that their dynamic changes drastically, the two of them somehow starting to spend all their free time together, watching the games, talking about their problems in life, keeping each other company. Gale never judged her, he listened to her talk about the pain of having to constantly kiss up to the capitol, and her worries about her mom's illness getting worse, he always managed to make her feel better, bringing out her smile that is rarely genuine. Those days were some of the happiest in Madge's life, and even now when she reflects upon it, she has a hard time believing that it was actually Gale Hawthorne who had been her rock during her hardest times.
Of course their friendship left as quickly as it had arrived. One day Gale just stopped showing up to their place in the meadow, stopped dropping by her house early before school. He still occasionally showed with strawberries, but now his words were actually sharp and hurtful. Madge didn't understand what she did, why she wasn't good enough for him to stay by her side. She decided to give him some space, she somehow figures that it has to do with Katniss, since it had happened around the time that Katniss became the newest victor, she thought it was because he wouldn't need her anymore since the girl he obviously loved would be back.
But she still wanted to sort things out so one day, right before the reaping for the quarter quell which she knew clearly was going to send back Katniss and Peeta, she traveled to the seam, and waited just outside of his house, quickly pulling him to the side of the house when he appears, so that they can talk privately.
"What do you want Undersee?" he had demanded, already making his way back but Madge was too quick and grabbed onto his arm.
"I just want to know what happened, why your treating me like the spoiled Mayor's daughter again after everything we've been through, I thought you knew me Gale, I thought that I finally found someone who understood me" she says it softly, fully expecting him to not give a reply.
And that's when he crashes his lips to her, capturing her in a passionate kiss. She had kissed boys before but she never saw sparks like she did that day. After a while he pulled away, keeping his hand on her chin as he looks at her. Madge saw something in his eyes that she couldn't put a name on, hurt, regret, or something else. "That's why Undersee, that's why." With that he leaves, and it was the last time Madge spoke to him. She's seen him around a couple of times afterwards, but they never exchanged more than a few short glances. Madge is still confused at what the kiss was supposed to mean, even more so at how she felt about him. She supposes that she loved him, no, she knows that she loved him. But it doesn't make sense to her that she can care for someone who obviously doesn't care about her the same way; but then there's the kiss, and the possibility that he might have loved her too-
"Undersee!" A voice somewhere in the distance had pulled her away from the memories. Madge looks around, but there weren't anyone around her that seemed to be seeking her attention, and why was the voice so familiar? Her footsteps carry her faster and she turns a corner and sees him. He had his back turned to her, calling out her name to the opposite direction, apparently having mistakes another blond for her.
"Gale?" her voice comes as a whisper but it's only because her mind is spinning. She had never thought that she'd ever hear from him again, never mind see him in person. As he turns around, she observes his face as he absorbs the situation, how his eyes change from confusion to surprise to almost happiness. And then his arms are around her and she's feeling the safest she has for as long as she remembers. But she remembers that she didn't want this, she didn't want to fall for Gale Hawthorne all over again, and so she pulls away and take a couple steps back, slowly lifting her eyes up to meet his. He hasn't changed much, other than the few scars that ran across his arm, a shorter and neater haircut, he was still the same Gale she knew.
Gale eyes her cautiously, unsure of what to say, but after an awkward silence that seemed to last forever, Gale is the one that breaks the silence.
"Good to see you Undersee, I can't believe you're actually here in district 2, I mean, wow, you're alive. How've you been?" To this Madge rolls her eyes, of course he assumed that she was dead, probably didn't miss her either because she meant nothing to him. Gosh, she is supposed to be happy about this, so why can't she just forget all about the past and enjoy the fact that a boy she cared deeply about it walking back into her life? Because of that voice in the back of her head that will never let her forget that this boy broke her heart for the very first time, and despite everything, she still care about him a lot more than he does her.
Gale is more confused than ever, Madge Undersee, the girl who he had mourned silently for weeks when he found out she was dead, was standing in front of him alive. It's obvious the war has worn her down, but she is still that same beautiful girl that he had told everything to in what seemed like a long time ago. Here she was, except she didn't seem to be happy or even relieved like Gale is at the moment, instead she seemed annoyed and uninterested. Was she really that unhappy to see him? They did have a lot of unresolved feelings, but it was in an almost completely different time; they were friends once, and Gale thought that she should of at least be content in the reunion.
In the back of his head, Gale thinks that he knows why, but he doesn't want to believe that it was he who ruined things between them, even though it's obvious he is. He would give anything, to go back and stop him from being the stubborn teenager he was, the one who let his self pity and anger convince himself that the Seam and Town could never mix, that him and Madge would never work. They had been so close, and Gale had found himself slowly falling for the girl who he had hated because of her money, the girl who ate his strawberries, the girl who played the piano so beautifully-
But of course he was stupidly enough to stop it before they both got hurt, because a rich girl like her would never settle for a seam boy like him; so he just stopped showing up by her door, stopped talking to her, and instead started releasing all his anger on her. She obviously didn't feel the same way though, because one day she went to the seam to look for him. And that was when he kissed her, he had hoped to at least show her that he did care about her, but he just couldn't go down the road that would lead no where. She didn't deserve it, but at the time he was sure she could never love him. He doesn't know exactly how he felt before, and even less so now, had him and Madge just been friends, or did he actually start to love her. No matter what a lot of time has passed since, and even more has changed, Gale finds himself not being able to figure Undersee out.
"Madge talk to me, I haven't seen you for almost a year, I've missed you," he says simply, desperately trying to bring out the bubbly Madge he knew from this empty shell her.
"I'm sure you did," Madge replies and walks past him and away. He watches as her silhouette disappears down the hall, feeling an odd ache in his heart when he realizes that she never once looked back. He noticed though, that her voice cracked the slightest bit when she said her last sentence, it made Gale think that she was just putting on the colder shoulder act, and that maybe there's still hope in there friendship.
Okay, gonna stop it there, I decided to make Gale have to kind of earn back his friendship with her, because there's so many stories out there where its the other way round. I dunno, I love Gale anyways. Madge feels confused right now, and is trying to decide how she feels, because she thinks she still loves him, but is still hurt from what happened before.
I'm sorry if the two sides were repetitive but I wanted to show both of their takes on it. And I'm also sorry that these chapters are so backstory-ish and doesn't have much character interactions. But it will start soon I promise.
Thanks for reading guys.
Review review. Tell me what you like and don't?