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

Considering Madge had been going to Capitol Camp since she was seven years old, she most certainly knew the tall brooding boy who was in her group. She had seen him in the dining hall and at the pool during pool time, and during song time when they all sat around and sang, but she had absolutely never been in a group with him. There was a first for everything, apparently. A last, too, considering Gale Hawthorne, the boy in question, had recently turned 17 and this would be his last year at CC.

They had never met formally. Sure, sometimes he would splash her and her friends in the pool, and sometimes he would remark on her outfit for the day in a not so very friendly manner, but they had never met. They didn't need to. They knew each other through the many years of camp.

So the first night, after everyone had moved into their cabins and were at the large athletic field running around and waiting for the counselors to start a camp fire, Madge didn't feel out of place approaching him. He pulled a pack of chewing gum from his back pocket and slipped a piece into his mouth, shoving the wrapped into his pocket as well.

"That's against the rules," Madge said. Gale lifted his eyebrows curiously at her as she motioned to his mouth. "The gum. We're not allowed to have gum here. You know that."

He smirked, "What are they going to do to me, Princess? Kick me out?" Madge huffed and his smirk stretched into a grin. Capitol was most definitely one of the best summer camps in the entire world, and incredibly fun, but they were very strict when it came to the rules. The Director of the camp, an uptight old woman referred to by Miss Coin, used intimidation to keep the campers docile. "You ever break any rules?"

"No," Madge answered immediately.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged his shoulders. "It's my last year. I'm going to break as many as I can."

"That's stupid," Madge huffed again. "Why would anyone do something like that?"

Gale grinned again, "For fun." He stared at her for a second, his dark gray eyes lighting up with an idea. Gale glanced over his shoulder to make sure the counselors weren't looking and retrieved the packet of gum from his back pocket. "Want a piece?" he asked. Madge stared at the extended piece of gum he was waving in her direction. "C'mon, Undersee. Ain't gonna kill you."

Madge hesitated, but eventually accepted the tiny treat. It felt heavy in her hands but also freeing. "What flavor?" she asked.

"Spearmint," he grinned.

For some unbeknownst reason, Gale had been right. It was a little thing, breaking the rules by chewing a piece of gum, but it was incredibly fun. She chewed quietly to herself, hardly opening her jaw to chew her gum, and he looked at her with this knowing gaze that made her blush. After pulling her eyes from him Madge looked at his friends, Thom to Gale's left and Darius on the right. Neither of them had a piece of gum.

They went hiking the next morning, stopping on the peak of a trail that had a view down into the valley. No throwing rocks. What did Gale do? He tossed one at her. Madge spun around so quickly she nearly fell over and Gale reached out, suddenly closer than she thought, and steadied her by her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and his were full of curiosity. Almost as though he was daring her to do it.

"You broke two rules right then," she exhaled as he lowered his hands. "No throwing rocks, and no hitting another camper."

"Oh, boohoo, Princess," he nudged her with his elbow. "It was a freaking pebble." Madge stepped away from him closer to the edge of the ridge to get a better look at the view. She dropped down and hung her legs over the side, the palms of her hands digging into the gravel around her as she sat. She moved her hands until she felt a rock just big enough, and then grabbed it and threw it down into the valley. Gale dropped down beside her. "That's against the rules," he said, mimicking her from the night before.

"What are they going do to do me?" she asked. She never understood why throwing rocks down in the valley was against the rules – probably something about causing an avalanche though that clearly would never happen. "Kick me out?"

Gale grinned. "That's the spirit." She elbowed him and he made an oof noise. "That makes three," he forced out breathlessly. "For hitting another camper."

She laughed and shook her head, pieces of her golden hair falling from her ponytail to frame her face. "Whatever, Hawthorne."

He elbowed her back, but much more gently. "What do you say," he started quietly, "that we try and break as many rules as we can. Just for fun."

Madge gnawed down on her bottom lip but eventually nodded. "I'd say I'm in."

There were some rules that were much easier to break than others. You must drink one glass of water before you can have a glass of juice was a famous rule in the dining hall that a quick lie fixed.

"I already had my water," Gale said.

"I saw," Madge lied. He did the same for her when their counselor noticed she had juice very early on as well.

And then there were rules like don't apply your bug spray inside which led to both of them saying, "I forgot!" and don't walk ahead of the counselor which was mostly just them speed walking until they were told to slow down, and no running which was so easily broken they did it as often as they could just to get away with it. There was also no two people on the diving board at once and no throwing things in the fire which were all broken so terribly easily.

But there were other rules too like no boys in the girl cabin or vice versa which was a bit more difficult and took some time, but they both figured that out as well. And then some silly ones that they broke like no cussing which made Gale laugh so hard tears were streaming down his face.

"What do you mean you've never said a curse word?" he laughed. Madge frowned at him, crossing her arms over her chest. It wasn't her fault she was raised in a very modest household. She'd never felt the need. "Oh God."

"How is crap not suitable for you?" she frowned.

Gale wiped the corner of his eyes with his fingertips, "Nope, say shit." Madge pressed her lips firmly together. "Damn?" he tried. "Hell, even?"

"Well, we say hell in church," Madge said. And he lost it again, the laughter erupting from his chest in a way that made her feel dizzy. "Okay, fine," she nodded firmly. Very quietly a word slipped from her mouth, "Shit."

Gale snorted. "Again. Louder."

"Shit," she said again.

"Now say damn."

Madge looked over her shoulder at where the rest of their group was, reading for pool time. "Damn," she nodded.

"Alright. Say fuck." Madge's eyes grew ten times and Gale had to try his absolute hardest not to laugh again. "C'mon, Princess, I know you've got a dirty mouth in there somewhere. Put it to good use, would you?"

Her jaw dropped slightly and she forced out, "Hey, fuck you!"

And now Gale really laughed, throwing his head backwards as the silliness of such a crude word coming from Madge who was so sweet and soft spoken washed over him. And then she was laughing too, the two of them cracking up at something so stupid that no one else would understand.

And then there were the times in which they broke multiple rules at once. Thursday they knocked out don't leave your cabin after curfew and no going in the lake without a lifeguard on duty and no swimming at night all together. They met at the peer, Gale still fully dressed with the moon illuminating the water. He turned to her, scrubbing his hand over his face.

"You get out okay?"

"She's out like a light," Madge nodded, referring to their female counselor. "She snored so loudly I don't think anyone heard the door open." Gale dipped his head and looked out across the lake. "You sure you want to do this?" she asked. It was by far the biggest rule they had considered breaking, they could both get sent home for this and they knew it.

"You're asking me?" Gale wondered. He turned to face her and their eyes met for a brief moment. "Last one in loses."

"Hey!" Madge yelled as he peeled his shirt and tossed it onto the deck. She quickly kicked off her shoes and pulled her top off as well as her short, but Gale was still in before her. The sound the water made when he jumped in was loud but the cabins were up a hill and hopefully no one would have heard. She jumped in after him, nearly on top of him, and shivered. "Crap, it's cold," she forced out.

In the moonlight Gale looked different. His eyes were hooded, darker, the smirk he so often wore resembled something closer to a genuine smile as he looked at her. He flipped his head so his wet hair all went to one side and then took a step closer to her. They could stand on the bottom of the lake easily but he was much taller than her. Madge blinked a few times and shivered again as the summer breeze blew and made her shoulders cold.

There was something about him that made her shiver as well, the intensity in which he was looking at her. "You okay?" she finally asked.

Gale nodded instantly, looking away from her and taking a deep breath. "Fuck. It is cold." He smirked suddenly, "What if we skinny dipped?"

"Absolutely not."

Gale laughed loudly and turned, splashing some water in her direction. They tried to keep their voices quiet as they played in the water but soon it was getting late. Camp was so quiet it was like they were the only two alive, the world felt small and theirs entirely for the taking.

"I want to work here next year," Gale said as he floated on his back. He was staring up at the stars. The water wasn't as cold now that they'd been in it for a little bit.

"You'd be great," Madge said softly. She'd thought about working at camp for a long time, too, considering she'd been going ever since she was a child. It wouldn't be for another few years so she still had plenty of time to think about it, but this was Gale's last summer. "I think you should."

He turned to face her, still floating, and smiled. "If they hire me."

"Of course they'll hire you." His smile flickered for a moment and he moved to he was standing again, his eyebrows drawn together at an awkward angle. "What is it?" she asked.

He shrugged. "We leave tomorrow."

"We do," Madge nodded. Gale swallowed thickly and looked up toward the cabins on the hill. "You want to head back before we're caught?"

"No, I—" he hesitated. "I want to break another rule." He dragged a hand through his hair and looked toward her again. "But only if you want to, too."

"I thought we already broke most of them?" she asked.

Gale stepped toward her slowly. "We did." They had avoided the things like stealing and vandalizing because they could get in actual trouble for those, but everything else had been fair game. He moved closer to her and she felt frozen. "But there's one more." Gale's eyes drifted from hers down to her mouth and he licked his lips. Oh. Oh. Camp called it purpleing. It wasn't very inclusive but the message was clear, no romantic mixing. "Only if you want to," he breathed.

Her eyes found his again and she shivered, despite not being cold anymore. "I do," she found herself admitting. "But not because…" Madge trailed off as he stepped closer, one of his hands sliding around her waist. "Not if it's just to break a rule. But because you want to."

"I want to," he croaked. Madge felt her breath catch in her throat. "Tell me to stop if you don't want this," Gale whispered.

And then he kissed her.

Madge had spent summers afraid of Gale Hawthorne, never wanting to speak with him because he had dark angry eyebrows and a scowl as deep as the valley. Never in her entire life had she expected this, that his lips would taste like s'mores or would be this soft. Her hands pressed against his bare chest, sliding slowly upwards, until he pulled away. Gale dropped his forehead to hers and cradled cheeks in his hands.

"I think that might've been the most fun I've had breaking a rule," Madge exhaled in one breath. The corners of his lips turned upwards and he let out an airy laugh. "One more time wouldn't hurt."

"Not at all," he agreed before pressing his mouth to hers once more.

They stayed like that a few minutes, learning the rhythm of one another as they kissed, before Madge decided it was getting late and they really had to go to sleep. He kissed the corner of her lips one last time before they climbed back onto the peer and dried off with their clothes before sliding them back on. They walked up the hill together silently and he stopped her before she could diverge to her cabin.

"Tomorrow," he whispered, "we'll get info and everything, okay?" As much as Gale loved breaking rules, kissing Madge hadn't been part of the original plan. He genuinely had grown to like her over this past week. And even at 17 he wasn't ready for a summer fling. The way she made him feel set his veins on fire.

"Okay," Madge nodded.

Gale smiled again. He leaned in like he was going to kiss her but backed out last second. Being so close to cabins made him chicken out at the last second. "Get some sleep, Princess. I'll see you in the morning."

She bit her lip to repress her smile and nodded before scampering off to her cabin, and then he did the same.