Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
It's Friday night and once again Gale Hawthorne (unfortunately) finds himself at another Mellark house party. The parents are gone and the music is loud and they have approximately three hours before a noise complaint is filed from the neighbors and the cops come to bust them all for underage drinking.
Katniss insisted he come so she wouldn't be alone, but the second they arrived she disappeared with Peeta. He hasn't seen her since. Katniss won't answer her phone either but Gale continues to text things like seriously Catnip do you need a ride home or not? He's looking to get out early, but there's no way in hell Gale would leave her without transportation.
He spends his time on the couch making small talk with whichever drunken girl temporarily deposits herself next to him before she has to get up and pee and the next one takes her place. Gale has a bit of a buzz going on from the cheap beer in his red plastic cup but it's nothing he can't handle. Every little detail of the people that pass his view is enhanced, he finds himself studying the smallest things about them.
Before he knows it Gale's no longer talking about the weather with whoever is sitting next to him but instead is studying the freckles across the bridge of some girl's nose across the room. The one next to him is grabbing his knee but he can't really feel it, and she's starting to lean in his direction.
"Beautiful," he murmurs.
The girl next to him giggles. "Thank you."
"No, not you," Gale grunts. He pushes her from his knee and gestures to the girl with the freckles. "Her."
"Who?" she sneers. When the girl next to him turns her head, she snorts. "Madge Undersee? You've got to be kidding me." Gale lifts an eyebrow. That's not Undersee, she doesn't have the cutest freckles he's ever seen. "She practically belongs to Taftan."
Gale turns to look at the girl who's practically on his lap. "What'd he do, pee on her?" When he glances back up his tunnel vision is gone and instead of just the pieces he sees her as a whole. Dammit, it is Undersee. "She doesn't belong to anyone."
Especially not Taftan Mellark who's leaning over her with his face inches from hers. Madge kindly rests her hands against his chest so he doesn't get too close and Gale can't help but smirk.
The girl by his side groans and leans away, forcing herself to her feet and muttering something about how if he's not going to listen to her then she'll find someone who will. The buzz in his head doesn't stop him from feeling the buzz in his pocket – Gale reaches down to pull out his phone and frowns at the bright screen. Katniss has finally responded, I'll let you know later. If he's stuck here for a few more hours he might as well entertain himself.
Gale shoves himself to his feet and sort of stumbles in Madge's direction. By the time he reaches her Taftan McBreadBoy has disappeared and it's just her by the wall holding a red plastic cup. Her eyebrows lift in amusement when she sees him, and then she laughs a bit.
"Are you drunk, Gale?"
"Not at all." The beer isn't strong enough. Maybe after another. "You wanna know something?"
She smiles slightly. "Sure."
"You've got a lot of freckles, Madge Undersee." She laughs again, tilting her head slightly away from him. "Shit, Undersee, I never noticed them before tonight. Right there," he points, "across your nose."
"I know where they are," she murmurs. "I hate them."
"Hate them?" Gale takes the spot Taftan had been except not so imposing. Instead of leaning over Madge he's just resting against the wall. "Why? They're cute." If he wasn't so drunk – alright, he's drunk – he might've noticed the way her cheeks flushed. "They dance across your nose like… like stars."
"You're wasted," she sighs, dropping her head backwards against the wall. Gale reaches forward and brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear, watching her smile weakly. "Why can't you be this nice to me when you're sober?" Madge asks.
"Liquid courage blurs all the lines, Undersee."
She forces a smile and shrugs, looking down at her cup. "I guess." Gale snatches the cup from her hand and Madge frowns. "Hey!"
"Hey, what?" he asks just before tipping the cheap beer down his throat. "This stuff is disgusting. Go find something not disgusting." Madge rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "You tryna tell me you like the taste of this crap?"
"No—"
"Then go find something fruity," he repeats. "Catnip once said Peeta's got some stash under his bed or something, sweet things. Probably find yourself a strawberry something or other."
"Here, Madge," Taftan's voice comes from over Gale's shoulder. Gale tenses slightly as Taftan hands her a new plastic cup. The liquid in this one is deep red. "Jungle juice. Fruit punch and vodka."
"How sweet," Gale mutters.
Gale tips his head at Madge, his eyes studying the light brown freckles over her nose, before making his way back to the couch. He sits and watches Taftan raising his eyebrows in question, gesturing toward Gale as though from his spot on the couch he won't notice. Some girl is back on the couch next to Gale, another different one with curly red hair, and starts leaning toward him as though he might kiss her if she gets close enough.
His eyes are still on Madge though. She rubs her hand across her nose as though she can wipe away her freckles and her eyes often flicker toward Gale. She hesitantly sips at her jungle juice and Taftan slides his arm around her waist, resting on her hip. She smiles but tries to edge away from him, leaving Gale feeling a bit uneasy.
"I don't like this much," Madge says. Gale can hear her from across the room if he pays attention. "Can you find me something else?"
"You didn't like the beer, this is the best we've got—"
"Well I don't like it," she says, forcing the red plastic cup into his hand. Her eyes dart toward Gale. "I want something fruity."
"This is fruity," Taftan mutters. Madge lifts her eyebrows at him and Taftan grumbles, marching away with the plastic cup. Feeling the effects from the beer he chugged that belonged to Madge, Gale practically lunges out of his seat toward her again, leaving the redhead to fall into his open spot. When he arrives Madge has this tiny smile as though she had been hoping he'd return. "Back so soon?" she asks.
"You dating him?" Gale wonders. He rests against the wall, his elbow propping up his head. "He's handsy. I don't like it."
"I'm not dating him," she shakes her head. "He wants to date me, and he's sweet, but I've told him no plenty of times." Gale nods overdramatically and Madge rolls her eyes. "You're the one that asked." Gale finds himself staring at her freckles again and she wipes her nose. "Will you quit looking at them?"
"They're cute," Gale says again. "You're cute." He blinks his eyes. "Didn't mean to say that." She smiles slightly and shrugs though he's sure her cheeks might be pink. It's probably just hot in here. "So if you don't want to date him then why're you sticking around?"
Again she shrugs. "He's the only guy that likes me."
Gale snorts so hard he falls out of the propped up position he's standing in. "You've got to be shitting me." His hands end up on her shoulders as though he's a coach giving her a pep talk. "Undersee. Madge. You're fucking beautiful. There's no way in hell that he's the only guy that likes you." Again her cheeks are pink. "Dammit, half the guys at this party would be drooling over you if you gave them the chance. Maybe you just don't wanna."
"Gale," she sighs and scratches at her nose again. "It's more than… beauty."
"Are you going to stand here and tell me you don't have the whole fucking package? You're full of shit, Undersee."
"I don't get it."
"You're on the damn debate team. I don't know about anyone else but shit, seeing you shoot down your opponents is hot as hell. You've got a way with words that even I envy. And then flip that the fuck around and you're just about the sweetest girl that even attends our school." She's trying not to smile at this point but Gale can see it anyway, he steps closer and gently lifts his hands to her cheeks. "You volunteer at that preschool after school when I know you've got homework out the ass crack because you're taking every advanced placement class that's offered."
"Why do you have to say it so vulgarly?" she wonders quietly.
"Mmm," his eyes flicker down to her freckles, "sorry," and then down to her lips. "Hell, even I could treat you better than him if he won't take a hint."
Her eyes dart up so quickly that he's forced to meet her gaze. "That so?" she whispers. His head tips forward as she reaches for the hem of his shirt. "You're drunk," she says.
"True, but even when I'm not you're still all that." Her fingers tighten and jerk him forward slightly. "Want me to prove it?"
Breathlessly she nods, and without hesitation he kisses her. If he wasn't drunk before the feel of her lips would've made him instantly intoxicated. Their noses brushes and Madge gasps into his mouth, tightening her hold on him as he loses his hands in her hair. There's an annoying buzzing in his pocket but he doesn't care, carefully cradling Madge in his arms and blocking out anyone and everyone that might even try to impose upon her or take her from him.
She notices it too, the buzzing, and pulls away. "Gale," she pants. "I think you have a text."
His lips drunkenly fumble for hers again and she laughs, reaching for his pocket. "Al-alright, dammit Undersee." She laughs as he pulls his phone out and drags her hands through her hair, resting against the wall and looking toward the ceiling in disbelief.
It's a message from Katniss. Peeta's not feeling so well. Ready to go? How he manages to answer he'll never know. No. I'm stargazing. He goes back to kissing Madge just as Taftan reappears with nothing but a cup of warm beer.