This chapter was so difficult to start.
People were staring. At first Madge tried to convince herself that she was imagining things, that there was no reason for people to pay more attention to her and Gale than any normal pedestrian on the streets of town. But as their heavy footsteps carried them further and further away from the train station, it soon became evident that the couple was in fact the subject of much glaring and discussion.
She really should have expected this, Madge thinks to herself. She was the mayors daughter, how many times have the citizens watched her as she stood behind her father during one of his speeches? Or how much did she stand out in the past at school, always in the finest of dresses. She was supposed to be dead, so why wouldn't jaws be dropping when they see her walking down the streets again months after "her deaths"? And especially when she's walking down the streets hand in hand with the Gale Hawthorne. The seam people obviously knew of him because of him having provided for many of them with his hunting, the girls their age had gossiped often about him back in high school, and in recent years he's been a legend to the whole nation as the cousin to the mockingjay, and the handsome war hero.
So yeah, it was only natural that they were noticed.
"People are staring," Gale whispers, nudging her.
"I know, guess we should have prepared for this huh? Especially with me, I'm supposed to be dead," she looks up at him with sad eyes.
"Nothing was confirmed Madge, it was just a rumor," he attempted to try and make her feel better.
"And there's the fact that the gorgeous war hero of district 12 is finally making a visit home."
He laughs at that, "And who might that be?" He doesn't get more than a playful slap on his arms and a light laugh as a reply.
"So where should we head to first?" He says finally, realizing that they have now walked for a good 15 minutes without a real sense of destination. "There's not really much sense in stalling now right? Word travels fast here."
"Your choice, I don't really have much to visit now do I?"
"Don't say that-"
"It's okay Gale really."
The air was heavy as silence falls again, with Gale mentally debating where to go. "Let's just go to my place and get it over with, then maybe we can go to Katniss'. Not sure if I'm ready for either yet, but the latter might just be the tougher one."
Madge nods in agreement, knowing that the best thing to do here is just to let him go with his heart. She reaches up to give him a tender kiss on his cheeks, her way of showing him her support.
By this point they had made it to the center of town, and the number of people on the street has begun to concentrate. Gale's hands suddenly tense around hers and she realizes she's kept her eyes on the ground this whole time; because right then she looked up, and her eyes were already stinging. If she hadn't lived in that exact area her whole life, she probably wouldn't have even recognized it. The old mayor's house had obviously been burned down, and in its place stood a building that was almost exact in design but so foreign in Madge's eyes. It was definitely newer and brighter, without the marks that only time could leave. Gone was the garden she had carefully tended to with her mother, or the ivy that climbed along the walls, the whole place just looked empty to her. Come to think about it, she didn't even know who the new mayor was, or what his family is like, she has no idea what kind of people are living in the place that is no longer her's to call home. It burned her inside when it reality sinks in harder than ever that her and her families past in that house was completely destroyed.
"Madge," Gales calls beside her, concern printed on his expression. "Madge let's just get out of here, come'on you're scaring me."
His hands tug at hers and she uses her other arm to stop him. "It's fine," she says while blinking back the tears, she did grow up as the mayor's daughter and crying in public was something that she was practically trained to avoid. "Just give me a minute, it's just kind of weird you know, it's so familiar but at the same time I know absolutely nothing about this place or the people in it. I've known about this since it got burned down, but standing here in front of the this when most people have probably forgotten already the fact that this is the rebuilt version, I feel like everything didn't really truly sink in until now. Just-"
"It's fine, take as much as you need," he replies gently, rubbing circles against her palms. And so she continues to stare at it, tracing over the frame and letting her eyes linger on the window that should have connected to her bedroom. She didn't care that she was drawing even more stares if that was possible, or that she probably looked crazy to the the people passing by, and even crazier to the people that could be living inside, wondering why a stranger was looking so intensely at their home. And all that time Gale just stands there holding her, being her only support against breaking down.
Gale isn't sure what to do, because he's never seen Madge like this ever. Eye's wide and glistening with blinked back tears, and her small frame trembling. He tries to comfort her the best way he can, but he knows that nothing will really make her hurt less in this situation.
Out of the corner of his eyes he sees the door of the house swing open, and a blond figure emerging from withing. His first instinct was to pull her away, but as he went to do that, he sees recongnition in her eyes, and follows her gaze back towards the blond who is now quickly approaching them.
Peeta Mellark.
"Madge? Gale?" he hears Peeta cry as the baker finally registers the two of them as well. There's happiness on his face, behind the obvious initial shock. "What are you too doing here?" He then turns all his attention to Madge, "I haven't even heard from you in like three years! What happened to you Madge?" There's probably a lot of questions in his mind, and Gale almost laughs as he rambles on question after question leaving no room for answers.
He hasn't seen Peeta in a while either, not that they were ever the closest of buddies but through the war they'd somehow formed a mutual admiration and friendship of sorts, and if Gale was being honest, he did kind of miss the victor standing before him.
"Do you guys wanna come over to my place?" Peeta was asking now, "Maybe catch up? If you want to, y'know since I don't know what your schedules are."
Madge glances at Gale, as if asking for his opinion, "Is Katniss gonna be there?" and when Peeta shakes his head he quickly responds, "We'd be happy to."
The walk to the victor's village turns tense, and Gale thinks that it might be due to his mentioning of Katniss. The two of them have had a long history with their relationships to the girl, and he knows it's an especially sensitive topic with Peeta, with everything that's happened to him. Gale lets Peeta and Madge walk side-by-side in front of him, choosing instead to just trail behind. He knows that the two have been friends for a long time, having grown up together in two and everything, she's mentioned his name more than a couple times in the past. In some ways Peeta might just be to Madge like Katniss was to Gale. He hears them chatting in front of him, hearing bits and pieces. He's asking her about where she's been all this time, and how he had started to believe she's really dead, he watches as she explains sadly what's happened, and he hopes that the subject of her being rumored to be dead won't keep coming up through their visit, even though it most likely will.
When they finally arrive, Gale thinks to himself that it looks a lot smaller than he remembers, probably because back then he's lived in only his seam house all his life.
"So, you and Madge huh?" Peeta calls to him as they take a seat, "Can't say I'm all that surprised, but I mean, when did this all happen."
Gale laughs, "We were friends a long time ago, even though we hated each other, and when we met again in district 2, one thing just led to another."
"It was just all meant to be," Madge adds, and Peeta has a smirk on his face by now, "You know, both of us surviving and then ending up in the same district, meeting in the midst of all the people, it's fate."
"Well, I'm happy for you guys, you guys seem good for each other, and Madge you were always obsessed about Hawthorne."
"I was not!" Madge defends playfully.
"Oh so you were obsessed with me?" Gale asks, earning a playful punch on the arms.
"So what's the real reason you two are back? It can't just be a normal vacation now," Peeta asks when the chuckling dies down again, "Anything in particular?"
"Just looking to tie some loose knots," Gale explains "fix some relationships. There's some problems between me and my family, felt like it's time to face everything. This is home for the two of us."
"That's good, and listen if I can help with anything, you know you guys can just ask me right?" They both nod.
"Peeta what were you doing in the new mayor's house?" Madge speaks up, "I know it's not really my business but I thought if you knew the family-"
"Oh I was just making a bread delivery, I'm not that close with the family. I do know them a bit though, why?"
"Nothing really, when I saw the house I just realized that I don't even know the people living in my old home anymore and I'm curious."
"Well I can tell you what I do know," Peeta offers, "The new mayor's name is Edenthaw, him and his wife have two sons, 6 and 17. They're nice people, really. The district has been doing well. I actually make deliveries quite often, the mayor apparently has a liking for them."
"Everyone loves your break and desserts." Madge smiles, "And that's good, at least my father's position is in good hands," her face is unreadable, sadness mixed in with a hint of relief.
"I know it's probably been hard for you Madge, but your parents would want you to be happy."
"Yeah, maybe." Another sad smile, "So how are you and Katniss doing? Everything going okay?" Madge asks, drawing the attention from herself for a bit.
"Yeah, we're doing okay. We're making it work, but I the games and the war probably won't be gone from our heads ever. But I love her and I'm doing whatever I can so we can be happy." There's a look of determination on Peeta's face, even though it still seems like it causes him great pain to say these kinds of thing. It's times like this that Gale sees how much he really loved Katniss, and it makes him glad that its he who is with her instead of Gale himself. The two of them have a bond that they don't share with anyone else, they understand each other and their experiences, much like the way Gale and Madge are.
"That's good Peeta, you and Katniss will get through it I know. You guys have been through so much, you deserve to be happy," Madge answers with a reassuring smile.
Turning to Gale again, he says "Listen Gale, Katniss doesn't hate you." Peeta's conversation still is a bit scattered, like he's obligated to just say whatever pops into his head. Gale's heard of how the capitol messed his head up but he's still not sure just to what degree. He's seemed pretty normal since meeting him today, but it was still clear that he wasn't the same calm smooth worded boy he use to be. "I know you probably think she does but she doesn't. She misses you and she doesn't blame you for anything-"
"Everyone says that," Gale interrupts, "Everyone tells me its not my fault, but it's just kinda of hard for me to believe that. Prim was like the most important thing to Katniss, and now she's gone. I can't imagine how someone like Katniss can just forgive me like that." Gale is surprised at himself for sounding so calm, because he's always had a hard time on this subject, and this calmness scared him.
And suddenly Peeta's face is contorting into one of great pain, and his blue eyes darkens, "You're the reason why me and Katniss can't live normal lives and be happy. Real or not real?"
Gale almost answers yes, but it's Madge who jumps out of her seat and loudly responds with "Not real. Peeta the capitol did this to you, not Gale, the capitol." She goes to sit next to him, repeating those words over and over again until soon, his eyes returned to normal, and he's breathing a sigh of relief.
"Oh god, what did I do, I'm sorry, so sorry."
"It's okay Peeta, it's okay," Madge continues to say, her voice gentle and calming, her arms slowly raising to give him a light hug.
"I don't blame you for thinking that Peeta," Gale says, "Don't blame Katniss is she hates me too."
"I already told you she's not Gale!" his voice raising again and Gale looks alarmed, "but you will have to talk to her sooner or later, if she's even the smallest part of why you came back. She's probably going to be home soon, I'd say less than an hour. It's you choice, you guys can wait for her or leave while she's still gone."
"Peeta I heard voices from outside, who's leaving while I'm still-" the girl's eyes register on the two guests sitting on her couch, instantly freezing next to the door frame.
Katniss was home early.
So I was gonna have this chapter include more, but you guys know me, I like grouping scenes into separate chapters and this felt like a good place to end it. Katniss confrontation next chapter, or maybe not. Should be fun to right any way. I brought in Peeta as the first person they run across because it's the only person they didn't really plan for but at the same time still matter a lot to them. I felt like meeting Peeta accidentally was a more natural way to introduce Katniss and the Hawthornes into the story, versus having them just randomly walk in...
Let me know what you think, reviews are always loved.