Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Gale fingers the ring in his pocket absentmindedly as he waits for Madge to arrive. The ring he's wanted to give to her forever but he always seems to lose his voice. The ring he plans to give her tonight, somehow, someway. She's late. She's not going to show up.
"Gale?" her voice calls through the bushes and trees. His hand slips from his pocket immediately as he rushes toward her. "Hey, sorry," she smiles, pressing on her toes to kiss him. "Work ran over and I kept getting lost. Why're we out here again?"
"Wanted to look at the stars," he mumbles against her lips, leaning down to kiss her again. "Are you objecting?"
"Never," she grins, pulling him down to the ground. He lays back and she follows, her head on his chest while he spins his fingers through her hair. "I love you," she tells him quietly. "You know that, right?"
"I love you, too," he says back, the words on his tongue no longer feeling foreign. When he first started seeing Madge he would compare everything she did to Katniss. Her lips, her eyes, her personality, but finally he realized that Madge wasn't Katniss. Madge is the girl he's in love with, not Katniss. Madge is the girl that makes his stomach do flips, Madge is the girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
Gale turns so Madge rolls onto the forest floor, leaning over her to kiss her again. She laughs and welcomes the gesture. "You're acting like a teenager," she teases as he stops for a breath. "I love the spontaneity."
"Oh yeah?" he grins at her vocabulary, nipping at her collarbone. "We should run away then,"
"Mmm," she exhales, her fingernails scraping his chest through his shirt. "Where to?"
"Anywhere," he exhales across her skin. "The ocean."
"Okay," she nods, "I'll go." He laughs, peppering kisses down her neck.
"We can live in Finnick and Annie's basement until we get our own place," he continues on with his story. "You can work as a lifeguard and I'll be a fisherman. And we can go swimming and drink champagne and have dates on the beach during the sunset," another pause so he can kiss her again. "Then we'll get married and Katniss and Peeta will fly over and so will my mom and Posy and Rory and Vick and maybe even Haymitch would come."
"Sounds perfect," she giggles. "When?"
"Right now," he leans away from her. "Let's go."
"Alright," she smiles, pulling herself using his shoulder. "Let's go."
He laughs, "You'd live in Finnick and Annie's basement?" She shrugs and then nods. "And work as a lifeguard?"
"I'm a pretty good swimmer," she tells him with a smile.
"And then you'd marry me?"
"Yes," she plays along.
"Right now?"
"Sure," she grins. Gale fiddles in his pocket and pulls out the ring he'd been saving, changing his position on the ground so he's on one knee and clutching it in his fist. "Gale?"
"Right now?" he asks again. Madge's eyes grow wide and the color drains from her face. "You'll marry me?"
"Gale are you,"
He cuts her off as she climbs to her knees, "Madge I'm in love with you." His demeanor quickly changes, "I'll do anything for you. We can do all of that, we can run off together." He opens his hand and holds out the ring. "I'll keep you happy, I swear, I just want to be with you. Madge, will you marry me?"
"Gale," she forces out, her brain sparking.
"We don't even have to live in Finnick's basement we can get our own place," he adds nervously, but she leans over and forces her lips against his.
"Yes," she pulls away before kissing him again. "Yes, yes!"
"Yes?" he asks and she nods as a smile flashes upon his face.
"Yes!" she shouts again, giving him her hand. He slides the ring on and the gem sparkles up at them. She looks down at it as her eyes glisten with tears. Gale leans back over her and kisses her again. She cups his face, "I love you," she breathes. "I love you. Are we really going to live in Finnick's basement?" He laughs before kissing her again.