Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

Madge reaches up and pulls Gale's chin down, looking him right in the eyes. He blinks a few times before she stretches up and kisses him, laughing slightly. "You're acting so weird," she says. They're in his dorm on the couch. His roommate isn't home. Gale tries to smile the best he can. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No," he shakes his head.

"We can go to the mountain for spring break if you really want," she tells him, pulling him down again to kiss. Gale supposes he should savor the warmth of her lips but his mind is too clouded to really focus. "I go to the beach every summer anyway; I just thought it would be fun."

"I'm not mad at you," he repeats, tilting his head away. The beach is fine for spring break. He doesn't care. Gale just can't look at her. "It's nothing."

Madge still has his chin in her hand and she slowly lets her fingers drops. "Okay," she nods. He can't tell her what it is that's bothering him, but he knows he has to. She looks toward the table where their empty glasses are sitting. "Do you want some more tea?" she asks, not waiting for him to answer. Madge reaches over and grabs the cups in her hands. "I'm sure you've got my favorite hidden here somewhere." She's on her feet before he can say anything, slowly pacing into the kitchen area of Gale's dorm.

Before she can even round the bend he blurts, "I cheated on you."

Madge freezes instantly. She spins around so quickly the glasses nearly fall from her hands. Gale looks up at her and finds his girlfriend staring at him with wide, hurt eyes. She blinks a few times and he finally pulls his gaze away.

Her voice is weak, "What?"

"This weekend. When I went home." He looks up again and finds her chin quivering though she tries to fight it, and almost instantly her blue eyes are filled with tears. "I—I don't—"

"With who?" she croaks. Madge tightens her hold on the glasses and steps toward him, shaking. "With who, Gale!" He doesn't answer fast enough for her and a quiet sob escapes her throat. Madge turns back around and sprints into the kitchen and Gale leaps to his feet to follow her. He finds her at the sink where she's place the glasses, now she's gripping the counter so hard that it looks painful. Her body is shaking as she heaves for air.

"Madge," he's desperate. He steps toward her, his hands sliding around her waist. "I didn't—"

"Don't touch me," she shoves him away. Her body is cold, she feels nothing but shadows. How could he do this to her? "Don't you dare!" Her eyes are sharp but it's just a front, as her chin still quivers. "What did I do?" she whispers.

"No, no," he moves back toward her and cups her cheeks. The palms of his hands are rough but warm. "You didn't do anything, I made a mistake. This isn't on you." She breaks down in his arms, caving into him. Madge's forehead ends up on his chest and his arms circle around her. "I was drunk, I wasn't thinking, I missed you and I know none of these are excuses." She sobs into his shirt, clinging onto it with tight fists. Gale's own voice is shaking, regret is heavy in his heart and guilt squeezes the air from his lungs. "I fucked up, I know I fucked up and I'm so sorry."

"Who was it?" she cries.

Gale lets out a weary breath, "Glimmer." His ex-girlfriend. Madge breaks down again, slipping from his arms and lowering herself to the ground, curling into a ball and crying into her knees. "Madge," Gale sinks to the ground next to her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I can't stop thinking about how awful I feel."

How awful he feels? He wasn't the one cheated on! Madge tries to steady her breathing. Glimmer's taller than her, thinner and prettier. Glimmer has straight hair and bright blue eyes that Madge doesn't. Glimmer is the type of girl that Madge will never be, one who walks all over others just because she can. Madge just isn't good enough for Gale, at least that's what she thinks. Her heart is shattering into billions of pieces, she can't even breathe. Why is she not good enough for him?

"I'm going home," she finally rasps, lifting her head. Tears have stained her cheeks and she still hiccups for air.

"Wait," he grabs her hands but she snatches them back. "I messed up," he whispers. "I know I did. Please don't leave me, please."

Madge wipes her eyes with the back of her hands before forcing herself up onto wobbling legs. "I have to think."

Gale stands, too and follows her as she goes. "I love you," he tries. He's so desperate, drowning in the despair of his mistakes. "Madge, I do, I love you." A new bout of tears erupts in Madge's eyes, she doesn't turn around as she grabs her jacket. "Madge—"

She's out the door without another word.

Katniss watches from her bed as her boyfriend consoles Madge. She sobs into Peeta's arms as he rubs her back soothingly, whispering things that Katniss can't hear. It's okay. It'll be okay. And Madge cries back, I love him, I love him, what do I do? What do I do now?

How could Gale have been so stupid? He's been dating Madge for just under a year, and in that time Katniss has seen him change into someone who would never cheat on their girlfriend. It's true that before Madge he had a problem with sleeping around, but that was the past. She thought he had changed. Guilt thrums through Katniss, remembering that she's the one that set Madge and Gale up, leading her roommate on the path to heartbreak.

"I just don't understand," Madge cries, sniffling into Peeta's shoulder. His shirt has become a giant tissue, covered in snot and tears, but he doesn't mind. "Why am I not good enough for him?"

"That's not it," Peeta says. His voice is so sure that it makes Madge feel worse. "Gale said he made a mistake, didn't he? Does he ever admit that he's wrong? That he's sorry?" Madge blinks back her tears, so sick of crying over this. "He really cares about you, Madge."

Not enough, she thinks.

"What do I do?" she croaks, looking over at Katniss who is hugging a pillow sadly. "End it?" The thought of Gale not in her life is unbearable, even after this. She loves him, she really does. Madge looks back toward Peeta, "Give him another chance?"

"Do what your heart tells you," Peeta whispers.

"It's really confused," Madge admits. She blinks a few times, feeling tears on her eyelashes before Peeta reaches up and wipes below her eyes. Madge knows what Delly would say – once a cheater always a cheater, but that can't be true.

Suddenly her phone rings and Peeta reaches for it by the bedside table. He makes a face before pressing a button. "It was him again," he tells her. That makes it 23 calls in the past two hours. "You're allowed to be angry, Madge," he tells her. "And upset. If you give him another chance it doesn't have to go right back to how it was. There would be things to work on."

"I know," she nods. She wipes her eyes again. "I know that."

They're all quiet for a moment. "I wouldn't," Katniss says. Madge looks up at her roommate who's shaking her head. "I wouldn't give him another chance."

The phone rings again. Peeta looks to Madge before passing over the phone, allowing her to decide if she wants to answer or ignore it.

She answers.

Peeta was right, things don't go back to how they were before. Madge goes over to Gale's dorm a few days later and he's a mess. His eyes are bloodshot and bags hang underneath, his hair is dirty and messy, his stubble is growing in.

"You look awful," she murmurs.

"I feel awful," he says back. Gale steps out of the way and lets her in. "What do I have to do, Madge?" There's no beating around the bush here. There's no make believe, no pretending that they're just going to start again. Gale knows this relationship is in jeopardy and he's going to do what he can to save it. "I'll do it, I'll do anything."

She fidgets uneasily under his gaze. "Maybe you should get some sleep first."

"I can't sleep," he says, shaking his head. Gale constantly feels as though he's going to throw up. Not even a cold shower can shake him from this stupor. "Tell me what I need to do." Madge has spent the past few days crying, it's like all of her tears are gone. Now, instead of her eyes watering like she knows they should, her temples start to ache. Gale strides forward and grabs her hands. "Tell me what I need to do," he pleads.

"I don't—I don't know," Madge cries, tilting her head away. "I just—" Gale lowers his forehead to hers, reaching up to cradle her cheeks. She can feel the tears coming on now. "I don't know," she whispers. Gale squeezes his eyes shut as hard as he can and when he pulls away Madge finds him blinking away tears. He releases his hold on her entirely and swats at his eyes. "I need you to tell me what happened," she finally decides, knowing how much it will hurt. "All of it. From the beginning."

Gale jerks his head into a nod and gestures to his couch. She moves slowly, lowering herself down to her usual spot and waiting for him to do the same. It takes him a bit to start. Gale scratches his stubble and stares at the ground, not wanting to recount this himself.

"Some friends from high school were throwing a party," he finally says. "I wasn't even going to go but someone told me there'd be free beer and I know you don't like it when I drink so I figured I'd do it when I was away so you wouldn't have to see me like that." The words are thick in Gale's throat, even just telling her this makes it feel as though hooks are digging into his skin and pulling taut. "I had one too many. Started missing you. Knew if I called you when I was drunk you'd be mad, and then I got mad at myself."

"Tell me about her."

"Madge—"

"Tell me," she says again.

"I don't even—" Gale sighs loudly, dropping his head into his hands and rubbing at his temples. "I don't even remember." He continues to suck in sharp breaths. "The last thing I remember was taking shots with Thom and next thing I know I'm waking up Sunday morning in her room." A used condom was in the trashcan. She had hickeys on her neck and breasts. He had scratches on his back. The marks are gone from him now but he can still feel them. "I don't know if I thought she was you or if in some deluded part of my mind I just forgot about you entirely which doesn't make any fucking sense." Gale slams his head into his hands. "I fucked up, I fucked up so bad."

"Gale," Madge whispers. She shouldn't have asked. This is making her feel worse.

"I love you," he croaks, tilting his head in her direction. "You've got to know I love you more than anything." Madge blinks a few times before she tips her head forward.

"I know you do."

Gale had waited months before telling her that he loved her, but in the end he was always so adamant about it. Gale would whisper it in her ear when they were curled together on the couch or leave notes for her when he had to be out of bed early for work. In bed he would trace the letters over her skin, pant it into her ear. Gale never had to tell her that he loved her, she knew, but he did anyway.

She said it back all the time. But this time she can't.

"That morning," Gale shakes his head. "God." The pain with the realization of what he had done. Finding his phone and having missed messages from Madge, asking how it was to be home. The thought of coming back to school to a loving, sweet girlfriend who wouldn't suspect a thing because she trusted him. "You deserve so much better than me," he rasps, turning away from her again.

But she doesn't want anyone else, and he's too weak to make her go.

Madge reaches out and runs her hand through his hair. Gale finally turns to look at her, his eyes hesitantly meeting hers. "We'll get through this," she tells him quietly. "If we're meant to be, then we can get through this."

He drives himself sick over it.

The next weekend Madge is at his dorm with soup and his favorite tea and her Netflix password. She crawls into bed beside him and he nuzzles up to her, burying his face into her neck. "I didn't think you'd come," he croaks. "You didn't have to."

"Yes I did," Madge whispers back. "You can't do this to yourself, Gale."

He pulls away from her so he can cough, and then he groans, sinking backwards into his pile of pillows. She pours him a dose of Nyquil and forces him to take it, not giving him anything to drink afterwards and letting the sour taste linger in his mouth. She knows it's mean but she doesn't care.

He pulls her toward him again and she doesn't pull away. His arms wrap lovingly around her and she lets him, grabbing his hands and running her fingers over his knuckles. He signs into her collarbone. Gale's asleep in minutes. She stays with him through the night.

In the morning when he wakes he's disoriented and drowsy, but smiles.

"You stayed," he rasps. Madge nods sleepily, and smiles too. "I love you."

"Get some more sleep," she whispers, leaning down to kiss his cheek. "I have to go get some homework done."

Begrudgingly, he lets her go, praying that it's not forever.

The opportunity arises for Madge to be unfaithful. A boy in her history class asks her back to his room to study, but it's implied that more than that would take place. She seriously considers it as some sort of act of revenge, but knows it's unlike her and not fair in the least. She politely declines and is disgusted with herself that she even considered it.

The boy tries again, asking her to coffee this time.

"I have a boyfriend," she tells him. She told him the same thing yesterday.

"It's just coffee," the boy responds.

She politely declines again. He doesn't ask again.

Gale stops by her dorm that night and Katniss almost kicks him in the balls. She settles for slamming his fingers in the door. She hasn't talked to him much recently, feeling betrayed and angry. Madge lets Gale in, Katniss disappears to see Peeta after making a face.

Gale comes in, shaking his hand with a frown. "I guess I pissed off a lot of people," he murmurs.

"Don't worry about her," Madge says. She pulls a water bottle from the freezer of her mini fridge and holds it to his fingertips. They ease onto her bed. "A boy asked me to coffee today," she tells him. Gale's frown deepens. "He asked me to his dorm the day before that."

"What'd you say?" Gale asks.

"That I have a boyfriend." He dips down, his lips skimming over the shell of her ear. Madge turns to face him but Gale has yet to pull away. Their noses brush. She arches up slightly, pressing their lips together. It's a quick kiss, but when they part it's as though Gale has seen the light of day. "I love you," Madge whispers.

"I love you," he echoes. "I'm sorry."

She ignores that last part and grabs his hand, swinging it around her shoulder so she can lean into his form.

It takes one month for Madge to heal. She misses Gale's laugh, she misses the way he would curl his fingers through her hair, she misses kissing him senseless only to have him stop halfway through because he's switched to tickling her. Madge misses him, she doesn't like the shell of a boyfriend that she has now.

"I talked to Glimmer today," he says one afternoon. It's sunny out, so they're in the field by one of the science buildings staring up at the clouds. "She called me and asked to hang out. I told her to delete my number. Then I blocked hers, and deleted it." Madge tilts her head to look at him. "I don't know why I didn't do it earlier," he admits, furrowing his eyebrows.

Madge's hand finds his and she laces their fingers. "It's okay," she tells him. "She's in the past now."

"I still think about it," Gale confesses, his frown deepening. Madge sits up. "Not the actual event, because I don't remember it and I hope to God I never do, but just… the aftermath." Gale looks up at her and their eyes meet. "I hurt you," he says, his voice cracking. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for what I've done."

It takes one month for Madge to say, "I forgive you."

He blinks a few times before letting out an airy laugh and grinning. He lurches toward her, rolling them so she's on the ground and he's above her. Gale dips down and kisses her with all he's got. "I love you," he croaks. "I love you, I love you." Tears fill his eyes but he tries to pretend they don't, kissing his way from her mouth to her chin to her neck. "I love you," it's his mantra. "You forgive me?"

"I forgive you," she repeats, nodding and smiling alongside him. "I forgive you, Gale." He pulls her into his arms and her legs fall around his hips as he hugs her. Gale buries his face in her neck, and Madge can feel him shaking. "I love you," she whispers, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair. "You made a mistake. It's okay. As long as you don't do it again—"

"Never," he pants. "Never again. You are everything."

In time, Katniss will forgive him too. And Peeta, who has always believed in second chances. After a few months, Gale will finally forgive himself. He stops apologizing. He goes back to whispering his love for her late in the night and tracing his fingers down her sides. In time, she's able to give herself to him again, and they make sweet, sweet love.

They heal together. They grow together. They learn, and they move forward.

A/N: This was a request and it hurt my heart so much dude. I hope it's okay!