Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Madge wakes up in the middle of the night to her phone ringing beneath her pillow. She groans, reaching under and pulling it out to silence it before Katniss wakes up and throws something at her, when she realizes that she's receiving a phone call. Gale Hawthorne. Madge glances at Katniss who is sleeping soundly across the room and quickly answers it, sleep dissipating from her at once.
"Gale?" she whispers.
"Hello?" his voice is hesitant. "Undersee? Is that you? Dammit shit I hate cell phones." Madge hears a collection of buttons being pressed and has to hold her phone away from her ear because of how loud it is. "Christ, are you there?"
"Gale," Madge sits up in bed and again glances toward Katniss who is starting to stir. "Are you drunk? It's a Tuesday night."
"Ssssssssssshh, don't pay attention to that. Shit, Undersee, are you in your dorm?"
"Gale," she tries again. "It's one in the morning. Go back to your room and go to sleep."
"Shit, Undersee, will you come outside? I hate, Christ—" there's a boatload of more buttons being pressed. "—technology is shit, I hate it. Will you come outside?"
There's a groan from across the room and Katniss buries her head beneath her pillow. "Madge," she grunts. "What the hell are you doing?" The brunette across the room props herself up on her elbows and the pillow falls from her face. "Are you on the phone?"
"Gale—" Madge tries, and Katniss only rolls her eyes. "He's drunk," Madge whispers across the room. "He wants me to come outside."
"Then go, just let me go back to sleep."
"Madge," Gale is practically whining into the phone. "I've got to talk to you face to face and it can't wait and there are people staring at me so if you don't get out here soon I'm probably going to be expelled and then you'll probably never find out what I've got to talk to you about." Katniss collapses back on her bunk and slams the pillow back over her face with another groan. "Come on, Undersee, you know you want to, come on just come."
"How drunk are you?" she murmurs, easing out of the warmth of her bed. Madge quickly slips on some boots and pulls on her coat. "You are aware that it's a Tuesday night, right?"
"Yeah, now shut up and get your pretty little ass down here."
He hangs up the phone and Madge sighs, turning back to Katniss who is most definitely already asleep again. She quietly sneaks from her dorm and down to the lobby, spotting Gale pacing just outside the door. He's got to use a card to get in, and considering he doesn't live in the building his wouldn't work. She moves outside slowly and when he spots her his face lights up.
"Hey," he smiles.
"What the hell are you doing, Hawthorne? It's one in the morning."
"Yeah, but I had to talk to you."
"You're drunk," she says. He shrugs and marches toward her. "Why are you drunk?"
"Well, it's actually a sort of long story," Gale murmurs. He resumes pacing, pulling his hands through his hair. "I got an email saying that I didn't have enough money for the next semester of college so I started taking shots of really cheap strawberry vodka. But then I got another email and it was like 'we didn't mean to send you that email you're covered for next semester' and then I was like Jesus Christ now I'm drunk on a Tuesday night for no fucking reason."
Madge crosses her arms over her chest as the wind blow, causing her to shiver. She almost asks him how he's not cold before she remembers the alcohol in his system.
"And where do I come into this?" she asks.
"Fuck, Undersee, were you even listening? It was strawberry vodka!" Madge shrugs halfheartedly. Gale stops pacing. "Shit, don't tell me you forgot?"
She echoes, "Forgot?"
"The beginning of the year!" Gale yells. Madge marches forward to quiet him and he frowns, stepping away from her. "You and Katniss came to my frat's party and we all took strawberry shots and you and I kind of made out in the closet?" Her cheeks heat up. No, she hasn't forgotten that. In fact, she spends way too much time thinking about it. "Christ Almighty so I'm sitting here drinking strawberry vodka and then I was like, fuck, Undersee's really pretty, then I was really confused as to where that was coming from, and then I remembered about that night and then I really wanted to kiss you again."
It's silent between the two of them before Madge lets out a deep breath of, "Oh my God." She shakes her head. "Gale, I'm not going to kiss you, you're absolutely plastered!"
"Fuck, it's more than that." Again he's dragging his hands through his hair. "Shit, it's every time I consume any amount of alcohol you're the first person on my mind and it's not even because I want to make out with you which I do but that's different, I just, I want to call you and listen to your voice but I hate cell phones and it's so fucking annoying so I just end up staring at my ceiling instead of doing anything about it and Goddammit, Undersee I don't know what to do."
"Gale," she whispers. He steps toward her slowly, his eyes the brightest and most beautiful gray. "You'll forget this in the morning and go back to hating me like you always do."
"You haven't been listening to me at all," he groans. "I don't hate you, I want to be with you." Again he steps toward her. "I want to make out with you when I'm not drunk and I want to go out for coffee even though I hate coffee but I know you like coffee and talk about the universe with you because shit you think about things in the most wonderful way and I crave it even when I'm sober." Gale's hands reach outward and clench as though he doesn't know what to say to make her understand. "Do you have classes tomorrow?" he finally asks.
"Not until noon."
"Then let me come up, okay? And I can sleep this off and tell you all this again in the morning when I make more sense."
"You should go back to your dorm," Madge says. "Call me in the morning if you feel the same. Or remember."
"Fuck that, you really have not been paying any attention to anything I've said at all. I hate cell phones. I hate technology, nothing is the same. I want to say it to your face I want you to see me saying it I want to wake up next to you and know that I didn't fuck all of this up." Madge hesitates. Her heart is so hopeful but her brain is screaming at her to tell Gale to go home again. But here he is, standing out in the cold with his hair blowing in the wind with that puppy dog look on his face and he sighs tiredly. "Please," Gale whispers.
"Okay," Madge finally nods. His faces lights up all over again and Madge's heart does somersaults. "But Katniss is sleeping so you've got to be quiet, alright?"
"Yeah, I can do that," Gale nods too. "I can do that, no big deal."
He follows her into the building and waits patiently as the (very annoyed) woman working the desk signs him in as a guest and doesn't act drunk at all except maybe swaying a little bit. They take the elevator and he stands on the complete other side from her, though his eyes scan her every once in a while. When they reach her floor he lets her lead the way though he knows where her room is and tries his hardest to be quiet when they enter her room.
Katniss is still asleep, her face to the wall, and Madge gestures for Gale to stay silent. He kicks off his shoes as she pulls off her boots and eases into bed. The second they're both laying down his arm snakes around her waist and he tugs her closer.
"Gale," she warns in a quiet whisper. His arms are cold but his breath against her neck is warm.
"Shhhh," he murmurs into her hair. "Go to sleep." Despite the fact that her head is still screaming at her about how stupid this is, her hand finds his. She can practically feel him smile.
In the morning when she wakes up he's still tightly wrapped around her. She opens her eyes and finds Katniss getting ready for the day, standing by the mirror and tying her hair into her usual braid. Before Madge can open her mouth Katniss shakes her head.
"I don't want to know," is all she says. In minutes she's out the door and Gale is squeezing Madge closer
"Are you awake?" she whispers.
"Mmmf." Madge laughs slightly, turning in his grasp to face him. Gale squints as he opens his eyes and a sleepy smile stretches across his face. "Morning."
"Morning," she murmurs. His smile widens and he reaches forward to curls his fingers through her hair. "How's your head?"
"Surprisingly not as bad as I thought it'd be," he says.
"Would you like some water?"
He tugs her closer by her waist and says, "Later." Madge resists the urge to curl into him and cocks an eyebrow. He knows what she wants. "I remember last night," he says, "and I don't regret telling you anything that I told you."
"I don't see why you couldn't have slept in your own dorm," Madge says. Her hands latch onto his shirt. "You had to cause so much trouble last night."
"The heart wants what the heart wants, Undersee, and when I'm drunk all I want is you." He wrinkles his nose and smirks. "Sober, too. If I was in my own dorm I wouldn't have gotten to wake up to you, and I would've had to call you and tell you how I feel and I already told you that I prefer it this way." Gale props himself up on his elbow and looks down at her. "Technology sucks, there's no way you would've been able to tell if I was serious or not."
Their eyes meet and Madge knows that this is true, over the phone or computer almost anything can be taken in any way. "Let's hear your case, then," she says.
"I want to be with you," Gale murmurs. "I don't want to have to take twelve shots of vodka to make out with you I just want to do it and I don't want to have to pretend like I only care about what you're talking about when I'm drunk because whenever you're talking I want to listen."
"Mmm."
"And if there was no hope for me you wouldn't have brought me back to your dorm," he says. "So how about you let me take you on a date, hm? No alcohol or any shit like that, just you and me to see if it works." When she nods and he leans down to kiss her without the slightest bit of hesitation, Madge immediately knows that she doesn't need alcohol in her system to want him.
A/N: It's gadge week! Today was "library or technology" and I chose technology. c: That's the end of gadge week!