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

They weren't dating. Not really.

Everyone knew there was something going on between Gale and Madge, but it wasn't official yet. By the way Gale was acting Madge was beginning to think that it was never going to be.

Just the day before, Madge had been in Gale's dorm room while he was showering. He whistled while he bathed and it made Madge smile. She was laying in his bed browsing Twitter when all of a sudden Gale's phone buzzed from the dresser. Madge turned her head, half in surprise half in curiosity, when she saw a name that made her stomach turn.

Glimmer Grande.

Listening to Gale whistle Madge had swiped open the message. You should come over, it read. With a fucking winky face.

Gale was hardly out of the shower for thirty seconds before Madge attacked him with questions. He got dressed while shouting at her over his shoulder, wondering why she couldn't trust him, and frustration ebbed in her veins as he disregarded every point she brought up.

It ended with Madge storming out of the room without saying goodbye. She lived a few floors above him in their building but couldn't even stand to wait for the elevator she was so angry.

She's been trying not to think about the fight, mostly. Madge isn't very good with confrontation, but she's also not very good with apologizing. Or asking for forgiveness.

If he wasn't guilty of something he wouldn't have been so defensive, she tells herself.

It's a Saturday afternoon and she's decided to do her laundry and binge watch Orange Is the New Black. Gale hasn't said a word to her and she's not going to cave first. She'll occupy herself with other things. Like Netflix.

Of course, however, as the elevator is working its way to the basement, it stops on Gale's floor. What are the odds? Apparently, they're very high, because a shirtless Gale Hawthorne joins Madge on the elevator. He doesn't even have shoes on.

She frowns as he presses the button for the lobby.

"What?" she asks, "Going to screw the desk worker?"

"For fuck's sake," Gale growls, turning to face her. "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" Madge asks. She drops her bag of laundry on the floor of the elevator and starts toward him. Thankfully they're the only ones aboard. "My problem? Are you kidding me? Gale you won't even—"

Madge is cut off when out of nowhere the elevator jerks, pauses, and then drops three floors. She loses her balance and plummets toward the ground, her head hitting one of the handlebars as she lands with a thud on the ground. The elevator stops moving, the emergency light turns on, Madge's world turns to black.

"I don't fucking know," Gale's saying. "She's—she's waking up now." Madge blinks a few times and finds Gale crouched next to her, worry filling his face. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"Is she conscious, sir?"

"Yeah," Gale snaps at the voice coming through the elevator speaker. "She's conscious." He turns back to Madge. "Do you remember what happened before you hit your head?"

"Elevator dropped," she forces out. Her head is throbbing. "Unless I missed something?"

"No, that's all."

"Sir," the voice coming through the speaker is talking again, some man that sounds less than pleased that another elevator is broken. "We'll get someone out to you as fast as we can. Should we send a medic?"

"No," Madge protests.

"Yes," Gale says. "She needs looked out. She was unconscious." He turns back to her. "You might have a concussion."

"How long was I out? Two seconds?"

"Almost a minute," Gale grumbles.

"We'll get someone over as soon as we can," the man says again. "Just stay put." Then the speaker fizzles and he's gone.

"Where else are we going to go?" Gale mutters. He drops all the way into a sitting position into the spot next to her. "Hey, you okay?" He tries to tilt her chin up but she pulls from his grasp, nodding her head. She may have just sustained an injury but moments before she was angry with him. Being stuck in an elevator doesn't change that. "You scared me."

"Sorry," she frowns. "I'm a klutz."

Gale lets out a huff of air through his teeth. He rests his head against the back panel of the elevator and sighs, turning to face away from her. "I don't like when you're mad at me," he says. Madge lifts her shoulders, and then lifts one of her hands to her temple. That's not where she hit her forehead but rubbing them is soothing. "I'm not fucking Glimmer."

"Would it matter if you were?" Madge asks. There's a bitterness to her voice that Gale doesn't like. "And how could I know that, anyway? You're the one that doesn't want anything serious with me, not the other way around."

"Not so I can fuck other people, Madge," Gale tries. He turns back to her but she's staring at the ground. "Today I…" he exhales loudly. "I threw my trash out and got locked out of my room. I was going to get a spare key from the desk worker."

Madge slowly turns to face him. "I have one of your spares."

"I know," he mutters. "But I couldn't ask you for it. We're fighting." Madge tries her hardest not to smile at that but she has to bite her lip to do so. "I don't know why Glimmer texted me, for Christ's sake. I haven't talked to her in months. Definitely not since you and I…" Gale trails off.

"Since you and I what?" Madge asks. Gale shakes his head. "Why am I not good enough for you?" she whispers.

Gale's head whips around so quickly Madge is sure he's seeing stars. He leans forward and presses his lips to hers instantly and she melts, sliding her hands into his hair and pulling him toward her.

"You are," he pants in the moments he pulls away to catch his breath. "You are." Gale's hands slide around her waist and she tilts her head, allowing him to kiss his way down her chin. "I've got so much shit going on," he breathes. School work and real work and football training and keeping up with scholarships and his family is so far away and the list could go on forever. "I don't always have the time," he croaks.

"No, dammit," Madge yanks his head back up to her. She cups his cheeks and brushes his lips with her thumb. "You don't need to devote your life to me, Gale. I just want to know that you're mine and not sleeping with the cheerleaders."

Gale laughs against her fingers and nods. He leans forward to press his forehead to hers and she groans from the pain, pulling away. "Ah, shit," he reaches up to hold her face between his hands and then stretches to press a kiss to her forehead. "Forgot you were injured."

"I'm fine," Madge protests. Her heartbeat is humming in her ears. "Don't change the subject."

"I'm not trying to change the subject," he says, kissing her forehead once more. "I want to be with you."

She smiles. "Just me?"

"No, you and the whole cheerleading team. And the dance squad. And the desk worker. Yes, you, you idiot." She giggles as he returns his mouth to hers. "Just you. Whenever I can."

"Well, you do only live a few floor below me," she says. "I'm sure we can find some time somewhere." Even if that just means sharing a bed to catch a few hours of sleep before their morning classes. Gale grins, kissing her again, and then pulls away suddenly. "What is it?"

His eyes are wicked. "Elevator sex is on my bucket list, you know."

Madge gasps in shock and laughs, pushing his chest away as he peppers her face with kisses. The elevator starts moving before he can make any progress and he groans in defeat, pulling away from her. "Next time," she teases.