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

There was an accident.

A boy from school, someone in Gale's grade, a senior, was driving home from work one night when a drunk driver plowed through a stoplight and hit him head on. The boy died instantly. He had so much going for him, too. A full ride to one of the better schools in the state, was in the top 10 percent of his class, was a pretty good basketball player. Everyone knew him, he was friendly and honest, in plenty of clubs.

And he was just gone.

Everyone in the school wore blue the next day in remembrance of him; the hallways were filled with it. The classrooms were quiet, teachers not even really wanting to teach. At lunch Gale sunk into his usual seat beside Katniss and neither of them exchanged any words. They ate quietly until Madge and Peeta joined them, the two blondes having a soft conversation.

"We sent in an order of flowers," Gale heard Madge say.

Before she could even continue her sentence Gale cut in. "Oh? An order of flowers?" Madge froze at the harshness in his voice. "I hate to break it to you princess but an order of flowers isn't going to do shit. Did you even know the kid? For fuck's sake, Undersee, don't act like you're a part of this."

Madge's face fell and she blinked a few times. Katniss and Peeta were both too shocked to say anything. "He sat next to me in math," Madge finally said, her voice shaking. There were tears welling in her eyes. "He asked me to homecoming, too. So yeah, I knew him." Madge stood abruptly and gathered up her books, quickly moving away from the table.

Peeta let out a deep breath and rubbed at his head and Katniss elbowed Gale in the stomach. "What's your problem?" she snapped. "People grieve differently. Madge wanted to send Troy and his family flowers. Don't be a dick, Gale."

He felt the air rush from his lungs. Gale looked at Peeta who was looking down at his lunch without eating it, then back at Katniss who refused to even look in Gale's direction. He gathered his books like Madge had and grabbed his bagged lunch to throw in the trash, following the path he thought Madge had taken. When he found her it was because he heard her crying in the girl's bathroom.

The bell rang. He had to get back to class.

But he made sure to find her later. It was the end of the day before Gale even spoke again, knowing how stupid it was for him to be so rude earlier. Katniss was right, people grieve in different ways. Clearly Gale's way was to be an asshole. He found her walking with Peeta to his car, Peeta was Madge's ride and would be taking her home like he did every day, but Gale sprinted to catch her before she could get away.

"Madge!" he called. She turned her head, found Gale, then turned back to say something to Peeta. The boy nodded before leaving Madge alone, allowing Gale to catch up. "I tried finding you earlier," he said when he reached her. "I didn't mean what I said. At lunch."

"I know," she nodded. Her eyes were rimmed with red, her cheeks were flushed. "I know you didn't, I just…" she shook her head. "Troy was a great guy," Madge croaked. She turned away from him slightly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "He was always so nice to me, he asked me out a few times and I always said no. I can't… I can't stop thinking about how different things might've been if I had said yes one of those times. Maybe he'd still be here…"

"Hey," Gale stepped toward her. "You can't think like that."

"And you said to me 'don't act like you're a part of this' but I am, we all are, if one person had done something differently…" she lifted her hands to her face and pressed into her eyes. "It's not fair."

"I know," he murmured.

"And then I keep thinking about you and…"

Gale narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you thinking about me?"

"You're always so awful to me, and most of the time I just give it right back."

"Yeah," Gale said, reaching out to grab her hand. "That's what you and I do, it's what we've always done."

"But what if you woke up one day to find that I didn't?" Madge whispered. "What if one day I was just gone, or you were just gone, and there was nothing either of us could do about it. I could never say anything to you again, or you anything to me and…" her words were strangled, tears accumulated in the corners of her eyes. "I don't want to have to think like this."

Gale reached up, cupping her cheeks. "Then don't."

"Life is too short," Madge cried. A tear dripped down her cheek and Gale wiped it away with his thumb. "Gale," she started softly. "I don't want to regret anything that I did or didn't do."

He felt the same. So he kissed her. The parking lot was full of teenagers in a rush to get to their cars and get out of the parking lot before the traffic started but Gale pulled her close and kissed her deeply. Madge latched onto his dark blue shirt and pulled him down to her. His hands crept up and tangled in her hair, their lips met again and again in a collision of fear and need.

Finally he pulled away, resting his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry," he murmured. She shook her head, reaching up to cup his cheeks at well. "For everything. For all of it."

"It's okay," Madge whispered.

"I think it's really sweet that you sent flowers," Gale went on. "I would if I had the money." Madge sniffled and smiled slightly, tiling her head away. They broke apart from each other only so Gale could pull her toward him, wrapping his arms around her tightly and allowing her to nestle into his chest. "Are you going home?" he asked. "I can drive you."

"Peeta and I are going to the memorial at the park," Madge told him softly. She peered up at him. "You should come."

He nodded, "I think I will."

Gale pressed a kiss to her forehead before letting her go. He watched as she climbed into Peeta's car and then moved to get into his own, following the crowd from school that drove to the park for their lost student. Gale found Madge in the park and sat beside her, who was beside Peeta, who was beside Katniss. Madge slid her hand into Gale's and squeezed once, and Gale squeezed back.

The park was filled with all shades of blue ranging from that of the sky to that of the ocean. Madge nestled into Gale's side and he held her close.

She was right, life was just too short for regrets.