Hey guys, happy new years! Just wanted to say thanks for the support on this story lately. This chapter's probably shorter than the usual but I wanted to get it out. Enjoy

Gale wakes up the next day to the smell of bread and bacon, and he smiles when he gets up to see Madge in the kitchen, thinking quickly to himself that he could get use to waking up every morning to her. The events of last night was still strange and surreal to him, and to be honest he's just glad that it had actually all been real and Madge was really here with him.

"Morning," he greets her with a wide grin on his face and he makes his way to her, "What's all this?"

"Breakfast," she says plainly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I woke up pretty early and I thought it's the least I could do since you did let me crash here," she gestures to the food, "Sit down, obviously I'm not the best cook in the world, but I figured it's better than nothing." She's blushing slightly and it just makes Gale's grin even wider.

"It's perfect." he tells her, before helping her out with plates and then sitting down himself. Gale knew that she use to have all her meals served to her with all the help that her family was able to hire, and district 13 served all of its citizens the same unappetizing cafeteria meals, so she must have learned how to cook after the rebellion ended. It really wasn't all that bad for such a short amount of time.

"So I heard voices last night after I went to sleep, was everything okay?" she asks quite suddenly, with food still on her fork and her eyes not really meeting his.

Gale freezes when he hears this, and wonders in his head just how much of the conversation she has heard.

"Oh yeah, I was just on the phone with my mom," he answers, just in case she didn't know. "Posy says hi by the way."

"Oh yeah?" she seems amused and new to this information, and Gale is relieved because that probably meant she wasn't able to hear their conversation clearly either, that would of been awkward if she heard the parts about her. "I've always liked Posy, she was the sweetest. How is your family anyways?" Hearing Madge talk about Posy struck something in Gale. Madge didn't go to his house too often in the past, probably because he was once ashamed of where he came from, but whenever she did, she always made an effort to play with his siblings. Well, maybe she didn't make an effort, it was more like she was just naturally good with kids. They loved her, especially Posy who idolized her, probably because Madge insisted on giving her at least five of her childhood dolls, despite Gale's constant protests.

"They're good, from what I've heard from my mom anyways."

He sees Madge study her face, and tries to keep his expressions as neutral as possible. "You say that as if you're not sure, what is the trouble amongst the Hawthorne gang?" The way she phrases the words might of sounded teasing, but there wasn't any humour behind her tone.

He had hoped that she wouldn't ask him this, because he would much rather not even think hard about it himself. How is he supposed to explain to Madge that his own brother hates him and refuses to look him in the eye, or how his other siblings spent weeks being scared of their oldest brother because of the things they saw him do during the war. How was he suppose to tell her about these things without her being appalled, or worse have her pity him?

"I guess things have just been different since the war," he ends up saying, it was the truth, but at the same time it didn't reveal too much. It's not that he doesn't feel comfortable around her enough to tell her everything, because he is, and there had been a time when they told each other literally everything. It's just that this time it scares him to talk about it, because his family use to be the only thing he did have, and now that's slowly drifting away too; Gale thinks that if he starts talking about it, if he says it out loud, the thought are just gonna solidify and become that much more real, and he wouldn't be able to deny it any further.

"Different," she repeats, as if slowly savouring what is meant by that. She doesn't question him further, just looks down and allows a calm silence to wash over them, as if saying that he doesn't have to talk about it now, but she'll be there to listen whenever he decides to talk. He internally groans because Madge, and only Madge was somehow able to have an affect on him, where he just feels that need to talk and confess everything to her. Something about her usual calmness and grace, and her obvious willingness to listen, just made him feel so at ease.

And so without him realizing, the thoughts were already making their way to his mouth, and he found himself needing to express them. And somewhere inside, it's like he knew that she can probably make the trouble a bit easier, and use reasoning that he doesn't have.

He wasn't sure if Madge still kept contact with Katniss, or if she even knows about Prims death, so that's where he starts. She was surprised at the news, her face morphing into one of shock. She doesn't judge when he explains how it could have been him that killed her, seeing that he had designed the majority of the weapons among the rebels, and how he'll never know for sure the origins of the bombs. He expects her to tell him it's not his fault, and how everything will be okay, like everyone else has so far; but she doesn't say anything, just nods as a signal for him to continue on.

So he goes on to Rory, who out of all his siblings had been the closest to him for as long as he could remember, and who even she knew was head over heels in love with Prim. He tells her how out of everyone, Rory is the one that blames him the most for Prim's death, and how he wouldn't even be in the same room as Gale much less talk to him. Rory use to look up to Gale, so what was he supposed to do when he realizes that his brother was in fact a monster? Somewhere between saying how Vick and Posy have started to be distant too because they've seen too much at such an young age, especially stuff Gale's done during the war, he realizes that her hands have made her way to hold his. His gaze gets caught on the simple gesture, and he finds himself unable to look away, wondering if he's realized before how well their hands fit together.

He ends his story with "I just want my brother back and for things to be the way they were, the war was suppose to build a better future for everyone, not tear families apart." It was a thought that's swirled in his head since the war ended, but this is the first time he's said it out loud. Finally he tears his eyes away from their linked hands, to meet Madge's sparkling blue ones. He waits for her to say something, because he just desperately needs a second input on everything that's been said.

"Well I can't tell you that everything all fine because it isn't and nothing will change the facts. What I can tell you Gale is that nothing will change from here unless you stop hiding and do something about it. They're your family Gale, they won't hate you forever, but you need to talk to them, explain everything the way you just did, make them understand. You did things because of what you believed in, you had no idea what the rebel leaders planned, you were a victim just like everyone else."

That's the things with Madge, she's actually able to give advise and be honest with him, unlike everyone else who just tries to sweet talk him into feeling better. "But what if I can't? You know I'm bad with words, what if I just make things worse?"

"You won't, you have to learn to believe in others and yourself Gale. Plus I'm here now, you helped me Gale, and now it's my turn to be there for you. We'll go this, together" She puts emphasis on the last word, like out of anything, that's the word she wanted to stick in his head.

And with her voice and the truest smile, Gale somehow believes that things will get better, because they have each other, and they will never be alone again.

"You know, you give pretty good advice Undersee."

"Thanks, I think it's because I use to get the best advice myself from someone who always knew the right things to say."

"And who might that be?"

"You."

Kay I thought this part was kinda heavy and wasn't sure if they were there yet but I had really been dying to write this scene of Madge helping Gale with his family issues.

Please review because they mean a lot and it really helps me when I write later chapters when you guys give me suggestions.

Happy New Years again.