Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the HUNGER GAMES. A few things might resemble some parts of the book but it's only to make more sense to the fiction. I'm not making any sort of profit with this story. Thank you for reading.

Author's Note Part 1: For this chapter, I took inspiration on the soundtrack of Jane Eyre (2013) – Dario Marianelli: Waiting for Mr. Rochester and The Call Within.

Chapter 3 – You are not alone. Not anymore.

The next week Rory returns. Alone this time.

"She doesn't want to talk to me", he says softly.

Madge is up on the tree and no one can see them. Rory is sitting behind the tree where the bushes are high. "She ignores me in class now and doesn't care that I already apologized. I don't know what to do. I feel lost without her". He smiles sadly.
Madge just looks at him but he's disguising looking far away. "Well, she is proud just like her sister".
"Pride is all we have left", he says wearily. It was normal for people from the Seam to treat her like this. Like she doesn't understand them. Rory was no different.
"She can still go back. Being friends, I mean. It's only a matter of time, Rory. Give her some space. She will miss you, you'll see", she responds positively.

"I'm sorry. I had no intention to interrupt your reading again but you're the only girl that knows what happened and at least gave me some advice", he stated.
Funny. Rory was always surrounded by friends. Lots of girls in his group too. "I really would like to help further but my invisible boyfriend might be jealous of that", she jokes. Last time they talked, Rory said she was a princess with an invisible boyfriend.
He laughed. "Yeah, I'm a good catch. I understand why he doesn't want me around you".
This time, Madge laughs. It wasn't usual for her talk to someone about these intimate matters and the only advice she had to him was to have more patience.
"Well, thanks for the bad advice. I'm the worst patient in this district", he said while getting up. Some of his friends are walking away from the school building and he goes after them.

Madge didn't expect their meetings to turn into a routine but for next weeks Rory kept returning. This used to occur on Fridays after classes ended. Both invisible at the tree, they would talk for about thirty minutes and then part away. She sits on the tree and he further behind the tree, among the bushes.
"What do you read so much about?" He asks her looking curiously.

"Oh you know. Girly things". It wasn't. It was a book about how to tie knots. Madge was trying to practice a "figure eight knot" with her hair lace. The book was hidden inside the cover of another tedious book "It's about shoes. Did you know that there are various heights for women's shoes?"
Rory tells her history about Posy, his young sister. As Rory's brothers usually share clothes and shoes, it was difficult for them having to buy new clothes for Posy. But the shoes had to be the same as the brothers once used. This is not a pity story for her to feel sorry, she realizes. He's only sharing.

"Is it easier to be the daughter of someone important?" He asks.

Madge does not need to think about it. "No it is not. People treat me differently, as if I was about to break or something. So as a precaution, no one approaches me. "
"I've seen you around before. You're often alone but when you're reading it seems nothing else matters to you. As if the book was a better companion or something". Rory gets up and starts to get ready to leave. "It was funny once. Some boys were fighting right next to you but you never took a glance at them. You seemed mesmerized by the book. My friends said your behavior is part of your rich side. "
"What? Being ignorant? ". Another natural comment, thinks Madge.
"Also. Snobby, they said "
They were already talking and sharing for almost three months. Few words but precious for her. She did not understand why he continues to go there. "What do you think of me?" She finally asks.
Rory looks up into the eyes of Madge. "I think that if you're friend with Katniss, you must be a good person, just like me. Just don't have the opportunity to be in front of people like that". He goes away.
"Thanks, I guess." She mutters.

It was a custom they talk about private matters. But since their first issue was extremely intimate, it was only natural they would bring similar issues and other stuff of their everyday.

"Has Prim returned to talk to you?" It had been five months since the declaration.
"No. She changed her schedule of some classes that I did with her". Rory was older than Prim and 10 months younger than Madge. He was 14 and Prim 13. He had repeated 3rd grade and did some extra classes in common with Prim.
"Why did you feel so offended when she refused you?" Madge questioned.
"Well, everything seemed fine between us. She seemed to return my affection and I thought it best not to wait until we had 19 years to make sure it could work". Rory explains that when it comes to the poor class of District 12, you do not have the luxury of thinking about the future. "Have you ever liked someone like that? To the point of not wanting to wait any longer? Wanting to scream for everyone that you love him more than anything and expect everything to become right? "
"I tried it once." She confesses, "But I didn't yell at anyone nor was I his friend before my declaration. I simply stated my feelings with a letter and he never said anything back".
"Nothing? Not even a sorry or an excuse? He could have said anything. Like thanks but no thanks." Rory jokes. He had a sarcastic sense of humor. To some it might seem that he was mocking her but it was clear that this was his style.
Madge laughed. "Well, I wanted that as well. I think it would have been easier to move on as well. A justification, a reason would have been more than reasonable. But not even an answer I received. "
"How do you know if he read the letter?" Rory asks.
"I gave it to him myself. And after a few days I started to notice that he was avoiding me. It was more than obvious. He avoided to look at me, stopped walking through the same road I used to come to school and seemed angry at me for some reason. So, I guess he did read it and then through away the letter." Her heart wondered if the young man she had a crush ever thought about her. But her mind would always answers with a big flashing NO.
"That bastard." Rory joked.
"No, he wasn't. He was kind and really sweet but I guess I was never his first option." Or any option, she thinks. "The spoiled daughter of the mayor must annihilate many hearts from far away."
"You're not spoiled." Rory says. He is kind in a way. He used to comforts her by denying the awful names people called her.

But the following week he didn't appeared. Neither the next one.

Author's Notes Part 2: Please Review Chapter 3. Tell what you think about the Soundtrack and Rory dating Prim. They are both older in this fanfiction and in a closer age to Katniss and Madge. Thank you for reading.