Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Madge sits on the couch bouncing her foot and constantly looking out the window behind her. She checks the clock on the wall and wonders when he'll arrive, and checks her watch to make sure the time is the same there, and then out the window again.
"Madge," Annie Odair sinks onto the couch next to Madge and rests her hand on her knee to get her to stop bouncing. "I'm so happy you could make it."
Today is Noah Odair's birthday, he's turning three. Madge is here because she's Noah's Godmother. Annie and Madge grew close during the war when everyone went off to fight in the Capitol, and considering both Annie and Finnick's families were killed after their games they didn't have any family left. Finnick wanted the Godmother to be Johanna but she didn't want anything to do with children (though she still visits regularly), but Annie wanted Madge.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Madge says with a smile.
That doesn't mean she's any less nervous to be here. Annie wanted Madge as the Godmother, but didn't have much say in Noah's Godfather. The only person Finnick got close to during the war was Gale Hawthorne during their Star Squad days. Gale didn't want the title at first, but he and Madge had been dating at the time and Madge convinced him.
That was then, however, and this is now.
They've been broken up for seven months. Madge hasn't seen Gale besides his interviews on TV from District 2, and she hasn't heard from him in any way. She knows he's bad at keeping in contact, even with his own family, but the fact that he hasn't even written to her sort of hurts.
Thinking about Gale at all hurts, actually.
The two started dating back in District 13 before he left with the Star Squad. They were together for a bit when he came back, but things got continuously worse between them. The strain of Gale's new political job was getting to be too much, he became more irritated and snapped at her more frequently. They fought often, leaving Madge in tears even though he apologized later, and she blamed herself for most of it. Madge had nightmares but she hated talking about them because she thoughts they had no grounds, considering Gale had been the one to fight. He had nightmares too. She didn't know how to comfort him.
Things ended less than civilly. It was over something little, Madge doesn't even remember. She forgot to unload the dishwasher or folded one of his shirts wrong, probably. Maybe he left the cap off of the toothpaste. God only knows. It ended in screaming until both were red in the face and slamming doors. Madge stayed in a hotel. She picked her things up the next day when he was at work.
Gale left a note. All it said was sorry.
"I know you're nervous about seeing Gale," Annie says. She's never one to beat around the bush. "Don't be."
It isn't though Madge is nervous they'll fight or anything like that. She knows he's better than fighting at a child's birthday party. She's more or less terrified of how her heart is going to speed up when she sees him. Yes, unfortunately Madge is not over him yet. They had their bad times, sure, but they also had their good times. Really good times.
"I'm here for Noah," Madge tells her friend. "That's all."
The crunch of gravel causes Madge to tense up. She doesn't even need to look out the window again to know that Gale's jeep has pulled into the driveway. She wishes that Peeta and Katniss had arrived before Gale, that way it wouldn't seem rude to avoid talking to him. Now she's practically going to be forced to.
Madge moves to the playroom where Noah is building some blocks and lowers down to the ground to play with him. The little boy, a head full of thick copper hair like Finnick, giggles at his Godmother. They work on building the tallest tower that they can.
"You got to put them on the top, Auntie!" Noah hands her the blocks. "I'm too short on my tippy tippy toes!"
"What if I lift you?" Madge asks, tickling his tummy. "Can you do it then?"
"I think so," Noah nods.
And that's where they are when Gale enters. Madge can hear him greeting Finnick and Annie but she focuses on Noah, scooping the small boy into her arms and lifting him up to put the blocks on.
"Well, well," Gale's voice startles Madge so much that she nearly drops her Godson. "Building a tower, I see?"
"Gale!" Madge lowers Noah to the ground and the boy sprints to his Godfather, throwing his arms around him. "You're here you're here you're here you made it!"
"Anything for you, kiddo," Gale grins. He scoops Noah into his arms and gives him a giant hug. "Missed you."
"I missed you too," Noah says. "I've got to show you my new trucks! Pop bought me a whole bunch of new trucks like the ones they drive with the oranges on them!" He's talking about delivery trucks, taking supplies from one district to another. "Can I show you? Can I?"
"Of course," Gale nods. He lowers Noah to the ground and the boy sprints, expecting Gale to follow.
He doesn't right away. Madge finally lifts her gaze to him.
Dammit, he looks incredible. Tall. Clean shaven. Gale's always had that natural attraction about him but after going so long not seeing him in person Madge's heart does somersaults. Their eyes meet briefly, his are wide and cold. She blinks a few times, forces an awkward smile, and tips her head at him. Gale tips his head back. He follows Noah to his room without saying anything.
Noah's birthday party is a success. Johanna brings so many toys she has to get Peeta (who arrives soon after Gale does with a very pregnant Katniss) to help carry all of them in. Peeta has made a cake worthy of an award, of course, and Noah gets the icing all over his face. Even Haymitch shows up sober.
Madge spends most of the night trying to avoid Gale. He'll enter the kitchen and she'll exit. He'll move to the living room and she'll realize she has to go to the bathroom. She just can't do it, she can't be in the same room as him.
People know about their breakup but it isn't something to be talked about, at least not in this setting. No one brings it up. No one asks her anything.
It isn't until around eight after Noah is exhausted at put to bed do the adults start to party. Finnick brings out the alcohol and Madge is first in line to get a cup. It's gone in minutes. She wants the effects to kick in immediately but they don't, and she has to sit through watching Johanna flirt with Gale for all of ten minutes before she feels like she's going to vomit and can't look anymore.
Madge leaves her empty cup where it is and rushes out on the Odair's back porch which is facing the sea. She lets the wind whip and calm her. She listens to the crashing of the waves on the sand. What happened with her and Gale is partly her fault. She left without trying to fix things. She shouldn't still be hung up on this.
The backdoor opens and Madge glances over her shoulder, shocked to find that Gale is the one who's followed her. He holds up his hands in some sort of truce. "Don't go," he says. Madge resumes looking at the beach, digging her nails into her skin to stay calm.
He walks over and takes the spot next to her. They're quiet for a moment. He's so close she can smell his cologne, some fancy thing he only started wearing for his job because they said it made a better first impression. He's so close that she can feel is warmth. It unnerves her and soothes her all at once.
After a few minutes of silence Gale finally asks, "Are you happy?"
Madge tilts her head to look at him and blinks a few times. "What?"
"Are you happy?" Gale repeats. "In life. With whatever you're doing." She moved to District 10 after the fallout with Gale, a place between 2 and 4 where she hoped she might still run into him. She couldn't go back to 12 and she didn't want to burden Finnick and Annie by sleeping on their couch, so in between her hope of Gale and her love of her Godson was where she ended up. "I haven't heard from you."
"I haven't heard from you either," she snaps back. Gale narrows his eyes at her tone and she sighs, swallowing loudly. Words are thick in her throat. How dare he say he hasn't heard from her when a phone works both ways! Gale looks back out toward the beach. They're quiet before she says, "I don't know. I guess I'm happy." She has a nice quiet job, lives in a small apartment. Things are simple. They're not fun or exciting or ever changing, just simple. Her voice shakes as she asks, "Are you?"
"No," he answers immediately. No hesitation. No quiver to his voice. "I'm not."
"Gale—"
"You left," he growls. Gale turns back to her, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips parted. "You just left! Without saying a dammed thing!"
"I thought that was what you wanted," she croaks. Madge steps away from him and runs one of her hands through her hair. "We, we argued all the time, we weren't working and I couldn't do it anymore. You seemed like you hated being around me and I—"
He reaches forward and grabs her hands. "I would've fought for you!" he thunders. Madge freezes. "I loved you." He blinks a few times, awkwardly adding, "I still…" Gale releases her hands and inches away. "It doesn't matter. If you felt the same you wouldn't have left." Gale moves to go back inside. "Forget it."
"Wait," she reaches out and manages to grab his shirt. "I thought I was doing what you wanted!" Tears spring in her eyes as he stares at her, uncomprehending. "I did love you," Madge cries. "And I still do!" His face falls, all anger dissipating immediately. Gale steps toward her, reaching forward to cradle her face in his hands. "That's what I left," she forces out. "I did what was best, because you—you needed someone who could be there for you and who wouldn't fight with you and—"
He cuts her off, bending down and pressing his lips to hers. The feeling of his mouth on hers is overwhelming and sweet. She melts back into him like all those months ago, tugging him toward her and needing his breath more than anything. They stumble until they run into the railing of the porch, Madge pressed up against it.
"Come back," he pleads. Gale kisses her again. There's nothing elegant about the kiss, it's desperate and reminiscent of days before. It's to make up for lost time. Their noses awkwardly bump and his forehead is against her. His fingers get tangled in her hair. "I never stopped loving you," Gale croaks. "Come back to me. It'll be different, I swear it'll be different."
"Gale," she rests her hands on his chest and slightly nudges him away. "I—I don't," she sucks in a sharp breath and drops her head backwards. "You never tried to contact me," Madge whispers, returning to look at him.
"I wrote countless letters that I never sent," he murmurs. "Got your address from Annie. Chickened out each time I wrote one, even after I put the stamp on it." Madge sniffles and he reaches up, thumbing under her eyes to wipe her tears. "I figured you were happy. I thought that was why you left. I didn't want to ruin what you made after you went." Her chin quivers and he bends down again. "I love you," he whispers. "Madge, you're everything."
"I can't," she whimpers.
"We can work on it," Gale begs. "We can work on all of it. The communication. The little things. Madge—" he doesn't know what to say to get her to agree. "Please." She has never heard him sound so desperate. "We can work up to it, being together like we were before, I just, I need you."
Madge blinks back tears and lunges toward him, throwing her arms around his hips and pulling him into a hug. Gale settles his arms around her like they always had and props his chin up on her head. She can feel him shaking. She knows he can feel her shaking.
"I miss you," Madge croaks. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"Don't apologize," he whispers. His hands run up and down her back, rubbing soothingly. "This is my fault too. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I yelled at you so much for things that weren't your fault. I was stressed and tired and I… I'm talking to a therapist now, about the war. About all of it. I was just so scared, Madge, I didn't know what to do. I lashed out at you. I know it was wrong." Madge looks up at him and he moves to look down. "Come back," he whispers again. "Please come back to me."
Madge know there's still a lot to work on. They have to learn about each other again. They have to meet the new people they've become in these past few months. But more than anything, Madge wants to give this another try.
So she says, "Okay. I will."
His grin is infectious. This time around she'll fight, too, but not over forgetting to unload the dishwasher. She'll fight for him. And the way he smiles, she knows he'll fight for her, too.