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

Gale might've been a little drunk when he told his mom that he was engaged. Hazelle Hawthorne was a nuisance. A wonderful mother, of course, but also definitely a nuisance. He was 26 with a pretty stable job in architecture and had a bright future ahead of him, but all his mother wanted was some wedding news. For the past few months Gale had been stringing along the idea that he was seeing someone just to keep her off his back. He never gave details, never gave a name, but his mother was persistent and always wanted more.

So after a fairly important contract had just been signed (Gale was going to be designing and helping construct the new middle school in the city) he had a few beers to celebrate. And his mother called him. And harassed him. And he was just a little drunk.

"Of course I'm proud of you," Hazelle was saying as Gale took a swig from the bottle. "You know I'm proud of you, Gale!" He rolled his eyes and looked over at his best friend Thom who was sitting in the seat beside him. "I just worry that you're not putting yourself out there as often because you're working yourself to the bone."

"For starters," Gale began, "I love my work, therefore I'm not working myself to the bone." Hazelle sighed loudly on the other end. "And secondly," he carried on. "I don't need to put myself out there."

"Yes you do," Hazelle countered. "Because you're getting older and if Rory and Prim have babies before you're even married I'm going to–"

"They won't," Gale cut her off. "Because I proposed last weekend and she said yes." Thom arched an eyebrow in Gale's direction, but Gale waved his hand and took another swig from his beer. The air on the other end of the line was stale. "Ma?"

"You… proposed?" Hazelle asked. Gale could hear the hurt in her voice. "To… to who? The girl you've been seeing? I don't even know her name! And you didn't–you didn't tell me? And you're getting married? She said yes?"

"Yeah, Ma, I–I was going to tell you." Did Gale like lying to his mother? No. But he wanted to celebrate his architectural win and get drunk with his friends and get his mother off his back. "She's, ah, she's really great."

"Well I would hope so if you're going to marry her!" Hazelle no longer sounded upset, but rather angry and confused. "Gale Hawthorne, you tell me her name right now!"

And he wasn't sure how her name was the first to come to his mind, maybe it was because she was close enough without being too close, and she certainly was pretty, but it rolled off of his tongue more naturally than anticipated.

"Madge," he said. "Undersee."

Hazelle Hawthorne was queen of Facebook stalking – but thankfully Gale wasn't the most active on Facebook. He'd been tagged in enough photos with Madge Undersee due to their friendship through Katniss that his mother believed the story, and that was all he needed.

Gale was going to milk the story for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, and then gently let his mother down. Say something like she decided to join the Peace Corps or some bullshit that wouldn't make Madge seem like a bad guy, just that things didn't work out.

But holy shit, his mother was persistent.

"How did you meet?" she asked. "When was your first date? How did it go? Did you kiss her then? Does she have any siblings? Is she tall? What's her favorite color? Have you decided on a date yet? Why haven't I met her? When am I going to meet her?"

Gale created the most elaborate backstory he could come up with and hoped to God he'd remember it.

Part of it was true, anyway. They'd met at one of Katniss's birthday parties (Madge was her roommate after all), something Katniss's boyfriend Peeta Mellark threw at a local bar. And Gale had been attracted to Madge, sure. She was tall (like his mother had asked – just under six feet) and had a smile that made it hard for him to breathe. But Madge… was a bit much.

After one conversation he knew she was all politics and no play. She was working on her law degree and was always ready to have a conversation about this policy or that movement but Gale never really got past that. It was boring. She was boring. And law school meant that she was rich, which, well, Gale wasn't. So a few longing glances in her direction was all she really got.

Gale didn't tell his mother that. He said they met at Katniss's party, that he and Madge hit it off, that he took her on a date later that week to an Italian restaurant because it was her favorite (when in reality Gale had no idea if she liked Italian or not), that they didn't kiss until the third date because she was nervous about it. The story went on and flowed so naturally that Gale couldn't even tell he was lying.

"So you're going to bring her by soon, right?" Hazelle asked.

"Absolutely," Gale agreed.

"Because I have to meet her, Gale! I can't believe you've been dating for eight months and never told me!"

"You know how work gets me," Gale tried. "And I did tell you. Just not everything." And somehow, that excuse worked.

Thom warned him again and again that telling Hazelle he was engaged was literally the stupidest thing he could do, but Gale ignored him. "It's going to bite you in the ass," Thom said. "How longs it been since you told her?"

"Two weeks," Gale said, waving his hand at his friend. Gale was currently hunched over his work table with his rulers and pencils scattered about. "Tomorrow I'm going to tell her it didn't work out," Gale said as he erased his blueprints frantically. "She'll be disappointed, but whatever."

Thom groaned. "You can't lie to your mom, Gale. That's bad karma. It's going to bite you in the fucking ass!"

"You already said that," Gale murmured. He looked up from his table. "I can act heartbroken for a few days and then get back to work," he told his friend. "And then Ma'll leave the topic alone because she won't want to upset me." There was a sudden knock on the door and Gale frowned. "Did you order food?"

"No." Thom pushed himself from the couch. "But don't worry, I'll get it." He strode toward the door. "This is your apartment, but I'll answer the door for you, you lying awful son."

"Shut up."

Gale moved his ruler to make another line. There were plenty of programs on computers to make things work but he still favored the good old pencil and paper before transferring his ideas. It just made more sense to him to see it out in front of him, to construct it with his hands.

In place of Thom's annoying voice he heard a voice that chilled him to the bone. "Gale Hawthorne!" He pushed himself from his desk and stood, swallowing back the lump in his throat. In his hallway stood his mother, suitcases in hand. Hazelle extended her arms to him, "Now where's my hug?"

It was summer vacation so Hazelle had no problems leaving Vick and Posy home alone. She (apparently) swore to them that she would get lots of photos for them. Rory was home from college anyway so he was going to "watch" them while Hazelle was visiting Gale (for an undetermined amount of time, Gale realized as she kept talking).

"Don't get me wrong," Gale cut off his mother in the midst of her ramblings. "I mean, I have a room for you. And of course I'm happy to see you. But why… are you here?"

"To meet your fiancee you nitwit," Hazelle said with a frown, reaching up to thump Gale's head. "Obviously you weren't getting any closer to bringing her out to meet me, even though I only live half an hour away need I remind you." Thom was dying of laughter in the kitchen. "So here I am." Gale scrubbed at his face. "So? When can I?"

"I'll have to–call her," Gale forced out. Thom's laughter got even louder. Hazelle didn't seem to think that was out of ordinary. "See if she's busy."

Hazelle's frown deepened. "Don't you know her schedule by now?" She looked around his apartment. "I'm surprised she's not living with you or something." Hazelle ran her finger over a bookcase and lifted it scowling after finding dust. "This place could use a woman's touch." She looked to her son. "Or a capable man."

"Oh, God, Ma. I don't have the most time in the world to clean, alright?"

Hazelle was frustrated. "But you have time to get engaged and not tell me!"

Gale held his hands up in defeat. "I'll go call her now," he said, slinking into the kitchen where Thom was wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Don't say a fucking word," he hissed at his friend. Thom was hunched over because his stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

"Just tell her the truth," Thom said weakly. "Oh, God, this is too funny."

"I can't tell her the truth," Gale grumbled. Hazelle seemed so ecstatic to meet Gale's fake-fiancee. And just that morning Gale had told his mother how perfect things with Madge were. He couldn't flip that around so quickly, and he definitely couldn't tell her the truth. His stomach felt heavy. "Listen, distract her, okay?" Gale said to his friend. "I'm going to Katniss's."

Thom arched an eyebrow, still wiping his eyes. "Why? What's with Katniss?" Thom asked.

"Madge," Gale muttered.

With the excuse of picking up food that he'd ordered just before Hazelle arrived (which was a lie, and Gale had to put in an order for pizza the second he got to his car), he left his apartment and headed straight to Katniss's.

Her car wasn't in the lot but Madge's was, which was great but terrifying all at once. Gale took the stairs two at a time to get to their apartment on the third floor and before he could even second guess himself, he knocked.

It took a little bit but soon the door was opened. Gale's heart stopped. Madge was on the other side, glasses perched on the tip of her nose with her hair thrown up into a messy bun. Her eyes were bright and blue, her pajamas were slightly rumpled. He always forgot how pretty she was when he didn't see her for a while.

"Hi Gale," she said. He cleared his throat, suddenly unable to speak. "Katniss… isn't home. She's working late."

"Yeah, I–yeah. I'm here to see you."

Madge straightened up and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Um, okay?" She pulled the door open more. "Want to come in?" Gale nodded and she allowed him entry into her apartment. "Sorry it's so messy in here," Madge said as he paced inside. "Sometimes I get in the zone and make a mess when I study." It wasn't actually messy. There were just textbooks and papers all over the table. Also it was summer – he wondered if she was taking summer classes. "Anyway," Madge turned to him and smiled. "What's up?"

"Are you seeing anyone?" he asked.

Her face shriveled in confusion. "Um…?"

"Fuck." Gale scrubbed at his face. "I did a really stupid thing," he said. Gale started to pace. "And I unintentionally dragged you into it." He turned to look at her and found her still very confused. "I told my mom that I was engaged," Gale said. "To you."

Madge blinked, opening and closing her mouth as though she was trying to say something she couldn't figure out. Finally, "What?" And then, "Are you high?"

Gale explained the situation as best he could. Mostly he sounded like a creep, telling his mother that he was engaged to a girl he barely knew. But she looked very thoughtful as he told the story, how Hazelle was persistent and Gale was busy. He ended it by saying all he really needed was Madge to act the part for a few days, if possible, and if not he would try to figure something else out.

By the end of it all she looked very amused. "So you need me to be your fake-fiancee," Madge said. "Hm." She smiled and brushed some loose strands of her hair from her face. "What's in it for me?"

Gale blanched. "What?"

"Well, you get a happy mother and a gorgeous girl on your arm for a few weeks, or whatever. What do I get?"

Gale thought she sounded a little conceited but knew telling her that wouldn't really help his case. "Fifty bucks for every outing," he finally came up with.

"Oh?" Madge tapped her chin. "I'm only worth fifty? I mean, a girl's got student loans to pay off."

Gale threw his hands out. "Fuck, Undersee, forget it."

"I'm–" she leapt to her feet as Gale started for the door. "I'm kidding," she said, grabbing his forearm to stop him. "If you're serious, then sure. Fifty for an outing would be fine." Gale stood in front of her with a knot in his chest. "Of course I'll help you, Gale. It'll be… fun."

"Fun," Gale echoed with a rasp. That wouldn't exactly be his choice word for the situation.

"You like Italian, right?"

"It's my favorite," Madge answered. Gale was a lucky guesser. They were outside the restaurant that Hazelle was waiting inside. She was incredibly excited to meet Madge. After a long night of texting back and forth Gale was sure that they could pull this off. "You keep scratching the back of your neck," Madge said. "That means your nervous." Gale scowled at her. "Stop it. If we're engaged then you have to be not nervous."

"Fuck, that reminds me." Gale fished into his pocket and pulled out an engagement ring, holding it out to her and praying that it fit. Madge slid it on her finger and held it up for him to inspect. "It fits," he exhaled. With a smile Madge reached over to grab his hand. Her hands were soft. "It was my grandmothers," Gale forced out. "If she asks."

Madge didn't seem to be nervous at all. He wondered if this really was all a game to her. Half of him thought she was going to blow the entire thing the second they walked in. "I'm good with parents," she told him gently. "And the better I am at this, the sooner she can leave. Yeah?"

"Yeah," he exhaled. Gale had told her again and again how grateful he was that she agreed to this. ("We're not even friends," Gale had griped. "I didn't want to have to pull you into this." But Madge shook her head, "I always thought we were sort of friends. I mean, you'd drink with Katniss and sometimes I'd also be there." It didn't feel like enough, though. He was sure the money helped.) "We can do this."

"We can do this," Madge agreed. He was thankful for her calm demeanor because he was absolutely losing his wits. She squeezed his hand and pulled him toward the restaurant. "Just act happy," she whispered as they'd entered.

It wasn't the easiest thing for him to do.

They reached the table soon enough and Hazelle was standing when they got there. "Ma," Gale cleared his throat. "This is Madge. Madge–"

"Hi," Madge cut him off. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" She stepped forward and completely disregarded the hand shaking, going straight in for the hug. Gale sighed with relief. Hazelle was going to love her. His mother responded enthusiastically to the hug. "I've been telling Gale for months that I've wanted to meet you!" Madge went on.

"Oh, goodness!" Hazelle squeezed her hard. "Gale's so bad at that, I'm telling you." They pulled away. "Madge, darling, you're so beautiful. I can't wait to know everything about you." Hazelle cupped her cheeks and Madge smiled brightly. "Oh, my. Gale sure is a lucky one, isn't he?"

"It's that awful Hawthorne charm," Madge countered, causing Hazelle to laugh. Gale took his seat. He certainly was a lucky one. He'd lucked out with Madge, that's for sure.

Madge was perfect.

She knew exactly what to say. She seemed genuinely happy to be meeting Gale's mother. By the end of the dinner she was easily resting her hand on his knee or squeezing his hand in comfort. And after two glasses of wine Gale relaxed a little bit too.

He found himself staring at Madge as she had conversations with his mother. Her eyelashes were long and golden, she had freckles across the bridge of her nose. Oh, and she wasn't boring.

How could Gale have ever thought that Madge was boring?

The way she talked about her work reminded Gale similarly to himself. He had so many questions for her about this case and that movement but he had to bite his tongue. It would seem weird for him to ask in front of his mother, but maybe later.

"Of course it's exciting to be getting closer to actually joining a firm," Madge told Hazelle. "But, I don't know." She turned to look at Gale, then. "It'll be like when Gale got signed to design the middle school." Gale tried to not seem surprised. How did she know about that? He hadn't told her, at least he didn't remember telling her. His brain was getting a little fuzzy from the wine. "When do you turn in your first draft, again?"

"Two weeks," Gale got out.

"Right, I keep forgetting." Damn, she was good. "Last time I looked at his plans I was sure it was his final. He's just so indecisive about what he wants."

"Hey, that's not me," Gale stopped her. "It's the damn contractors, okay?"

"Okay," Madge rolled her eyes with a smile. "If you say so. But I'm pretty sure half of it is because he needs everything to be aesthetically pleasing."

Gale scoffed. "People like aesthetically pleasing things." Madge turned to look at him, her blue eyes twinkling. Gale himself was a big fan of aesthetically pleasing things. And people. God, she was pretty.

"Mm-hm…" Madge hummed as though she was reading his mind.

Hazelle clapped her hands together. "You two are so adorable!" It took Gale a moment to tear his gaze away from his fake-fiancee. He rolled his eyes at his mother and squeezed Madge's knee under the table. Before Gale knew what was happening Hazelle snapped a photo with her phone. "I'm sending this to Posy – who by the way is so mad you didn't tell her about this!"

Gale groaned. Madge laughed a little and said, "I told him he was being ridiculous."

Hazelle told them she was going back to Gale's apartment, but that the two of them should go to Madge's for a little. And because they needed to debrief or something the two agreed. Madge drove, considering Gale had another glass of wine, but it wasn't awkward.

"I can write you a check," Gale said from the passenger seat as they pulled up at her apartment building.

Madge waved her hand at him. "You paid for dinner," she shushed him.

Gale unclicked his seat belt. "We agreed 50 for an outing," he said as he climbed from the car. Madge followed swiftly. "That was an outing. And I don't know if there'll be another."

"Will you stop it?" she asked. He followed her to her apartment building with his head still a little fuzzy. "I had fun. Your mom's great."

"Mm," Gale agreed with a smile. "She loved you, I could tell."

Madge laughed as she keyed into her apartment. "I'm so happy to have your mother's approval," she said, the sarcasm in her tone was heavy. "I don't know what I'd do without it."

"Mm," Gale laughed too. They kicked off their shoes and settled onto the couch after grabbing another bottle of wine from the kitchen. "Katniss home?"

"Working late," Madge said. She poured the both of them glasses, though Gale really probably didn't need more to drink, and away they went. A half an hour later they were both tipsy and giggly, leaning onto each other as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "But really," Madge started a conversation with. "Why'd you pick me? I'm sure you have plenty of people you could've used as a fake fiancee."

Gale shrugged, looking down at her. "You were the first person that came to mind," he said.

"But why?" she pressed.

"You're the ideal person," Gale admitted. Madge's eyebrows lifted, waiting for further explanation. "You work in politics, meaning you're well educated. But also the good side of politics, meaning you're open minded. And that lawyer side of you, I mean, you know what to say to whoever you're talking to. Which is good," he went on.

Madge tapped her chin. "Interesting."

"And you're sexy," Gale added.

She threw her head back in a laugh. "Wonderful."

Gale grinned. "I mean, if I can get my mom to think someone like you agreed to marry me, then holy shit." He nudged her with his elbow. "You're the whole package, Undersee."

She licked her lips, smiling back at him. "I'm honored," she told him. "That you think so highly of me." He laughed at her another time, his eyes slowly sinking to her mouth.

And then, probably from the wine, they were kissing. "For practice," Gale rasped out more than once, egged on by her nodding and pulling him back to her.

Her hands tugged his hair and Gale groaned into her mouth on more than one occasion. His hands slipped up under Madge's shirt but stayed mostly stationary on the soft skin of her back. Her lips were warm and eager and she tasted like their drink but also something sweeter.

He could've stayed like that forever, but soon the front door swung open and they were startled apart by a shriek. Gale looked up through his messy hair at Katniss in her police uniform with her hand covering her mouth.

"Catnip," Gale grinned. His brain was still very, very, fuzzy. "You're home."

"You're–" Katniss started, but wasn't sure how to keep going. Madge sat up too, wiping at her mouth and smiling at her friend. "Explain," Katniss settled with.

Madge held up her hand and laughed a little, "We're engaged."

"No wonder you were asking me all those questions about Gale," Katniss said to Madge after she and Gale explained the entire situation. She poured herself a big glass of wine as well, because apparently everything was easier with alcohol. "I thought you were suddenly interested in architecture or something."

"That's how you knew about my deal with the middle school," Gale realized, putting two and two together.

Madge smiled and shrugged. "I needed to seem educated about my fiance. And you fell asleep before I could ask everything I wanted to know."

"Whatever," Katniss stopped their little interlude. "Hazelle is going to murder you when she finds out the truth," Katniss said to Gale. He ignored his friend to take another drink of wine. "And then she'll hate you too," Katniss said to Madge. "And you do not want Hazelle Hawthorne to hate you."

"You're right," Madge agreed. "I don't want her to hate me. She's so nice. I don't know why Gale lied to her in the first place." He groaned and rubbed his face. Of course it wasn't something they'd understand, their parents probably didn't harass them about getting married literally every day. "But I mean, I'll probably never see her again after our lunch tomorrow anyway. So what's it matter?"

Katniss rolled her eyes. "I don't think this is a good idea, is all."

"Well good thing we're fake-breaking up as soon as Hazelle leaves," Madge told her. "If anything, it'll make a good story."

Gale finished off his cup of wine with a sleepy smile. It was going to make a great story. But he sort of hoped for maybe, just maybe, a little bit more.

Gale slept on the couch but Madge drove him home in the morning. His head hurt from the alcohol and he anticipated things to be awkward from all their kissing, but she was just as pleasant as always and pretended like it didn't happen.

"Well," Madge pulled outside his apartment building. "I'll see you in a few hours."

She was coming back to his apartment to show Hazelle how comfortable they were with one another. They'd decided that within the next week after Hazelle left, Gale would call home and break the news. Madge just wasn't ready to be married. Hazelle would be upset, but she could handle it Gale was sure.

But after just a few minutes back in his apartment, that plan went to shit.

"I want her to come to the family reunion," Hazelle said.

Gale immediately protested. "No, Ma. She's not doing that. You know how our family gets!"

"It'll be the perfect opportunity for everyone to meet her!"

"No, Ma! Madge is–"

"Is coming, Gale Hawthorne," his mother stopped him. She put her hands firmly on her hips. "You kept this relationship a secret for me for months. And you proposed without me ever meeting the girl!" Gale sunk down onto the couch with his chest aching. Hazelle seemed to soften a bit. She crossed the room and sat beside him. "She's so wonderful, Gale."

"I know," he murmured.

"Please? Ask her. For me. I'm pleading with you." Gale frowned. "I'll ask her, then. At lunch this afternoon. If you don't."

"Ma," Gale warned. That was not something he and Madge had talked about. Hazelle asking in the middle of grilled cheese was not going to work. "I'll-I'll ask her, okay? Christ." Hazelle sighed in relief, smiling pleasantly at her son.

Madge sat on the edge of Gale's bed as he explained the situation. Her bottom lip was between her teeth, her eyebrows were furrowed together. The family reunion was a four day event.

"I know you might have classes–" Gale started, but she waved him off.

"It's summer, I'm just doing independent study stuff," she told him. Madge was clearly thinking hard about this. "Is this what you want?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

"If you want me to do this, then I'll do it," she said. "But you have to want me to. I'm not going to on my own."

Gale shook his head. "I'll pay you 500 for the trip," Gale said. "To make up for any–"

"Oh," she cut him off. "Stop that!" Madge dropped her voice in case Hazelle was listening at the door. "You don't have to pay me, Gale." She stood from the bed and walked to him. "I'll do this."

"Thank y–"

"But," she stopped him. "It's just going to hurt her more, you know. In the end."

Gale shook his head. "She'll understand."

"She won't," Madge countered. Before Gale could push further, try and explain or get an explanation from Madge, she started for the door. "Come on, she's waiting for us." She looked over her shoulder. "Ball's in your court."

The reunion wasn't for a couple of weeks, but Hazelle made sure to make herself a large part of Gale and Madge's life in the meantime. She would pop in some evenings and Gale would send Madge a frantic text for her to come over as though she was just getting off work – and to act surprised!

She played her part perfectly, and Hazelle adored her, but in the end Gale always felt cheap. He did like spending more time with Madge, though. He liked the kisses too, even though they were quick and only for his mother (and nothing like their drunken make out session from all those nights ago). Some nights after Hazelle would leave, Madge would stay a bit longer. Sometimes they would drink, sometimes they would do work in separate rooms. It all felt normal, natural.

One weekend Gale agreed to babysit Posy ("She's 11, Ma, she doesn't need a babysitter," Gale tried, but Posy was dropped off on Friday night anyway.) and Madge just so happened to be coming over to double check plans for the reunion. She was pleasantly surprised to be meeting the sister.

"So you're the one who's marrying Gale," Posy said the moment Madge walked through the door. She hadn't even gotten her jacket off, frozen in the doorway. "And how come you've never introduced yourself, hm?"

"Pose," Gale groaned, scooping his sister into arms and shooting a very apologetic look in Madge's direction. "Don't be mean, okay?"

"Hi," Madge said as she entered. She took a few obvious deep breaths and then plastered on her fiancee face. "You're the famous Posy, then?" Madge asked as Gale deposited his sister on the couch.

"So you've heard about me?" Posy called. She sat up immediately and looked in Madge's direction. "What have you heard?"

"That you think One Direction is going to go downhill now that Zayn's gone," Madge said as she kicked off her shoes. She padded over to where Posy was waiting. "I agree," she added in a hushed voice.

Posy's eyes lit up. "And how do you feel about Taylor and Calvin?"

"They're just so good together," Madge said.

"Gale!" Posy turned to her brother, grabbing a pillow from the couch and flinging it in his direction. "How dare you keep her hidden from me!" Gale reveled in the way Madge laughed.

"I'm sorry about this," Gale murmured, clicking his door shut. Posy had questioned them again and again. Are you sure Madge shouldn't be sleeping in the guest room? I know why wedding nights are so special! Don't make me tell Ma anything! "You could… drive home?" Gale offered. "Or I could sleep on the couch."

"Christ, Hawthorne, I don't have cooties." Madge rifled through his drawers until she found an appropriate outfit and quickly stripped off her clothes. Gale turned away, shocked she was being so brash, and waited until she said, "There." When he turned back around she was wearing an old t-shirt of his and some boxers. His heart made his whole chest feel warm. "Besides, it's easier for me to take Posy to breakfast in the morning this way."

Gale frowned. "You don't have to do that."

Madge climbed into his bed. Yep, they were sharing a bed. "Yes I do. You have to turn in your final design of the middle school to the contractors." Gale huffed, dragging his hands through his hair. "It's fine," Madge said with a laugh as she wiggled under his sheets. "Posy seems fun. And it'll be a lot easier going to your family reunion if I have an ally."

"Yeah, sure," Gale sighed. "Okay." He peeled off his shirt and pulled on an old pair of pajama pants before climbing into bed with her. "You sure this isn't weird?"

"We're going to have to do it at your reunion anyway," Madge remarked. "Don't be a prude."

Gale snorted. "Me? A prude?" Madge grinned at him over her shoulder before rolling on her side and facing away from her. "I think you're a bit mistaken."

"Save it for when you have an audience," Madge said with a laugh.

Neither of them spoke about how they woke up tangled together.

Gale was nervous to send his sister off with Madge. Not because he didn't think Madge could handle Posy because she totally could, but he was worried Posy might get too attached.

The reunion is next weekend, Gale reminded himself. After that it can all go back to normal.

But what was normal at this point? Obviously he wasn't actually engaged to Madge, but at times he found her twirling the ring on her finger while they spoke – like it was the most natural thing for her. And he liked hanging out with her. Gale finally got to ask her about her work (her focus was with nonprofits and struggling teens that got into a bit of trouble), and she seemed genuinely interested in his work too.

The way he got to be around Madge might've been an accident and the result of some weird twisted lie, but he couldn't say he regret it. After getting to know her Gale couldn't say he wanted her gone. Because he didn't.

After dropping off his final work to the contractor for approval Gale joined the girls for breakfast. They were finishing up so all he got was a cup of coffee, but being around his smiling little sister and a smiling Madge was incredible.

"I've got to go get some work done," Madge told them as she left, "but I'll see you two later." Madge bent down to kiss Gale quickly, something they'd agreed forever ago would be an easy way to help convince people, and her lips tasted like syrup. "Bye Posy," Madge waved over her shoulder.

Gale licked his lips and swallowed back his smile.

"I like her," Posy said before the door to the diner had even finished swinging shut. "I like her a lot, Gale. I approve. She can be my sister."

The smile Gale was swallowing disappeared completely when Posy said that. "I'm glad you like her," he forced out.

Gale was getting anxious. Madge was in the passenger seat scrolling through her phone to select some music and he couldn't stop tapping the driver's wheel.

What if his family didn't like Madge?

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye before realizing that wasn't what he should be worried about. And who was he kidding, they were going to love her! She was patient and brilliant and beautiful.

What he should be worried about was if they were going to pull it off. But as they got closer and closer to the old bed and breakfast where the reunion was going to be hosted Gale cared less and less. He wondered what would happen when the reunion was over.

"Don't be nervous," Madge told him as though she was reading his mind. She was looking at him with a small smile. "This'll be fun."

"Fun," Gale echoed. Her smile brightened. "Thank you," Gale said. "For doing this." She waved her hand at him. "I mean it." It had been about a month of her being his fake-fiancee. "It's… a lot."

"I like spending time with you," she said. "It's been… an adventure." Madge shrugged. "It's kind of sad that it's all ending soon." She reached across and rested her hand on his knee. "But don't worry. You'll always be my fake-ex-fiance."

Gale laughed at her on the outside. On the inside his chest was tight. He just didn't want to think about why that could be.

His family adored her. Posy sprinted to his car the second they arrived so she could throw herself at Madge, and Hazelle was there soon after. "I have something for you later," she told Madge, which only made Gale slightly nervous. There were a lot of hugs before they had even gotten their luggage.

"You shitdick," Gale heard, turning his head to find his brother Rory with his arms over his chest. "When Ma told me you were engaged I thought she was kidding."

"You've been ignoring my calls," Gale pointed out. He wanted to tell Rory the truth about Madge before it all blew up but he wouldn't answer the damned phone. "Maybe I would've told you then."

"I was ignoring your calls because you didn't tell me!" Rory threw his hands up in the air before storming over to his brother, going in for a hug. "She's hot."

"Oh, fuck off," Gale laughed. Rory peeled back with a grin before turning to Madge. "Don't," Gale warned.

Rory started off for Madge who was carrying a suitcase, "Hey, let me help you with that!" Madge smiled gratefully, giving half of her heavy load to Rory. "I'd say I've heard so much about you," Rory said as they walked toward the bed and breakfast, "but then I'd be lying. It's nice to meet you, though."

Gale shook his head. This was going to be a long four days.

To be fair, the four days of the reunion didn't start until tomorrow. The evening they arrived was mostly just full of seeing one another again and a lot of hugs from the Hawthorne family. They were a large bunch.

Plenty of Gale's aunts were ecstatic to meet Madge, his cousins (ranging from babies to people in their thirties) were pretty receptive to hearing Gale was engaged as well. Only an hour of introductions had passed when Gale realized this was a horrible idea. Madge didn't seem to mind though, she was all smiles the entire time.

Finally he got a quiet moment with her, pulling her into an empty hallway, and her smile fell. "There are so many of them," she said. That made Gale laugh. "I thought it would be small, I don't know. I didn't expect literally your entire family."

"I told you it was a family reunion," Gale said. Madge nodded, that he did. She rubbed at her temples regardless. "Hey, I can take you home. Okay? Just tell me when and–"

"Don't be ridiculous," she stopped him. "What kind of message would that send? Fiancee can't handle the family?"

"Well if we're breaking up in a week anyway…"

"Stop!" Madge nudged him and he smiled again. "Of course I'll stay." She glanced over her shoulder toward the large room of people. "I haven't, um, met your dad yet though? Is he not here?"

Gale stilled. "He… passed," he told her. Madge spun back around, her eyes wide. "I thought you knew, I'm sorry. I would've told you."

"No, it's–it's okay. Don't worry, I'm sorry."

"It happened when I was a kid," Gale said. "Car accident. I'm alright. But thank you."

Madge tried to smile but she failed horribly. "My mom passed a few years ago, too," she told him. He reached forward reflexively to grab her hand. "I'm alright," Madge said, echoing his words.

"I didn't know," Gale murmured. "I'm sorry."

"Cancer," she told him with a little shrug. "Thank you, though." Madge squeezed his hand back. "We should get back out there," she murmured.

He pulled her back to him when she started walking toward the main room. "I don't think anyone would care if we went to bed a little early," Gale said softly.

Madge bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Should we at least say goodnight?" she asked.

Gale wrinkled his nose. "There's a back staircase over here," he said, tugging her toward the hidden steps. She laughed as they took the steps up two at a time.

It wasn't as awkward as Gale thought it was going to be. Even though they were staying at a bed and breakfast, there was a community breakfast anyway. Gale and Madge untangled themselves from one another without acknowledging how close they were and went downstairs to join his family.

Everyone was sleepy and yawning but eager to spend some time with one another. The morning was filled with family photos by a nearby pond (Hazelle somehow persuaded Madge to be in at least a few – though she stayed out of most of them which was good) and then after that they opened a time capsule that was made at the family reunion from five years ago.

Hazelle pulled Madge away for a little bit during that time, and when Gale found them he felt his entire face turn red. They were hunched over scrapbooks that she had made and his mother was showing her baby photos. Baby photos!

"Ma," Gale stopped in the doorway and groaned. "Seriously?"

"Look at his little toes," Hazelle was saying, causing Madge to giggle into her hand. Madge looks up at Gale who's still red. "I'm just trying to show her what your future children might look like," Hazelle said.

"Ma," Gale groaned another time. Too far. But of course Hazelle didn't know that. "She doesn't need to see pictures of me potty training for Christ's sake."

"Aw," Madge pointed to another photo. "But they're just so cute, Gale."

"Speaking of children," Hazelle looked up from the scrapbook at her son and then back down at Madge. "Have you two thought about that yet?"

"Oh," Madge's face turned pink. "I, um," she looked to Gale for help. "We, um…"

"Ma, come on," Gale muttered. "Really?"

"We," Madge struggled for words. "We both want a big family," Madge finally said. Gale rocked backwards on his heels. "So, um."

"I'm so happy to hear that," Hazelle said with a smile. "And didn't you say something about twins running in your family?" she asked. Madge nodded, her eyes drifting back over to Gale. "Well I know it's early but I wish you two the best."

Madge shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "C'mon," Gale murmured, tilting his head backwards and gesturing for Madge to follow. She handed the scrapbook over to Hazelle and smiled softly before moving to follow Gale. He extended his hand and they quickly lace their fingers together. He walked her upstairs and pulled her into their bedroom. "If I had known that she was going to talk about kids," Gale started, but Madge stopped him by gently lifting her hand.

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize every time your mom brings up something serious." Madge smiled. "I'm your fiancee, she's supposed to talk about those things with me."

Still, Gale didn't feel that was right. Or maybe he just felt strange because Madge said she wanted a big family. Had he spoken to her about it before? His craving for a large family. He would've remembered.

Was it that she knew him? Or did she just guess?

"You want a big family?" he asked, the words slipping past him before he could stop them.

Madge arched an eyebrow. "I do," she said. "I'm an only child. It was a lonely life." She held his gaze. "You want one too, right? It just feels like, I mean with all your siblings…"

"I do," Gale confirmed. Finally she looked away.

"We should get back," she said. She left him in the room feeling confused.

The reunion was filled with normal reunion activities. There was a cook out and there were horseshoes and cornhole and movie nights for the kids, and lots of little things. More than once Gale found himself watching Madge interact with his family with ease and it made his stomach twist.

Every time the reason crept up in the back of his mind he would shove it down. He couldn't bear the thought. Still, in the mornings he would wake with her nestled against his chest and he'd find himself never wanting to leave the bed. His siblings adored her – sometimes he'd walk into a room and find her in an in depth conversation with one of them about God knows what. It was all so natural.

Their second night together there was a campfire with lots of smores. Madge was nursing a beer and she sat close to Gale, her back against his chest. Most of the kids had gone to bed but there were still some older family members lingering around.

"A while back you asked me why I picked you," Gale murmured. Madge took a sip from her beer bottle before looking over her shoulder at him. "But you never told me why you agreed." She laughed a little and looked away, resting more against his chest. He secured one of his arms around her waist. "Well?"

"It's funny, actually," she started. "You… the first thing you asked when you came to my apartment was if I was seeing anyone and my boyfriend had literally broken up with me earlier that week."

His thumb was rubbing small circles on her hip as she spoke. "You were seeing someone?"

"Peeta's brother," she said, waving it off. "It wasn't–whatever." She shook her head. "We wanted different things. I knew that from the beginning. But I still hoped…" Madge trailed off before taking another drink. "He said he wanted to talk to me and my first thought, honestly, was marriage."

Gale knew where this was going. "But he ended things instead," he murmured.

"He ended things instead," Madge confirmed. "And then, like a week later, you were asking me to do this." She laughed a little, mostly to herself. "I thought it was funny. And I felt crappy, I thought maybe it would make me feel better. So I agreed." She took another drink. "If anything, I thought pretending to be someone's fiancee might show me how lucky I was that Iwasn't his fiancee, you know?"

"Not really," Gale admitted. He stopped rubbing circles.

"I was hoping being your fake-fiancee would suck," Madge said. "So I wouldn't feel so bad about him not wanting to marry me."

It sounded like there was a but in there, but Madge stopped talking. Gale waited for her to pick up the story but she didn't. He had to make his own assumptions.

"Being my fake-fiancee doesn't suck?" he finally asked.

She slouched more against him. "Not at all." His thumb started moving again. He felt her sigh.

He cleared his throat, unsure how to broach this next subject. "And the ex boyfriend," Gale finally started. "Do you still wish he'd proposed?"

Madge was quiet for a moment, clearly collecting her thoughts. "I'm glad he didn't. Like I said, we wanted different things."

Gale took another swig of his own drink. He realized he could easily get used to a life like this.

It wasn't until the third day of the reunion did he realize how screwed he was.

Hazelle had whisked Madge away another time, and it wasn't long after that Gale realized she'd gone. He went looking for the two of them, finding them in Hazelle's room. His mother was perched on the edge of the bed and Madge's voice filtered from the attached bathroom.

"I don't know," Madge was saying. "It's a little loose."

"Ma?" Gale lingered in the doorway, his eyebrows together. "What's…" he trailed off as the bathroom door pushed open and Madge walked out.

She was wearing a wedding dress. His mother's wedding dress.

Madge was so focused on holding up the hem that she didn't realize Gale standing there. It was long and white with a lace illusion bodice. It hugged her waist perfectly, the flowing fabric maybe just a little too long as she walked.

He felt his heart stutter in his chest. Gale clutched the door frame and let out a short breath. He could feel his mother's eyes on him. His throat was dry and no matter how many times he tried to swallow he couldn't.

"Gale," Madge rasped. He blinked a few times when their eyes met. Her entire chest turned red and she looked infinitely uncomfortable. "You, I thought you were with Vick."

She thought he was going to be angry. He could tell.

Instead, Gale was weak. "You look incredible," he exhaled. Madge let out a soft laugh before fiddling with her hair, tucking it behind her ear nervously. "I'm," he jerked his thumb behind him. "I'll go," he said. "Sorry to interrupt."

"Wait," Hazelle stopped him. "Do you like it?" she asked. "It was mine, you know."

"I know," Gale nodded. He stepped into the room, starting toward Madge. He didn't stop until he was toe to toe with her. "You look amazing," he said. Madge bit her lip and looked toward the ground but he reached forward to tilt her chin up. "You do."

Their eyes met another time, hers clear and blue as the sky. "I wasn't sure how you'd feel about me trying it on," Madge admitted. She could say that much without going into detail, Gale knew where she was going.

"It's okay," he murmured. "Honest." Gale dipped down and kissed her quickly. Partly because his mother was there and probably expected it, but mostly because it was the only thing hecould do. She smiled when he pulled away. "I'll find you later," he whispered. Madge nodded, and then he kissed her again.

Once he was out of the room he fumbled for his phone in his pocket. Gale dialed Thom's number quickly and waited impatiently for his friend to answer. He was barely in his room by the time Thom picked up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm fucked," Gale murmured. "I'm so fucked."

There was a shuffle on the other end. "Your mom found out about Madge?"

"Not exactly," Gale croaked.

Thom was quiet. "You sick son of a bitch," Thom said with a laugh. And then there was more laughter. "You're falling for her!" Gale rubbed his face trying to make himself feel better. "No fucking way. Gale, you can't do that shit! Have you talked to her? When's your thing over?"

"Next week."

"You've got to tell her, Gale." He could practically see Thom shaking his head. "I told you this was going to bite you in the ass."

"I'm sorry about the dress." It was the first thing Madge said to him when he found her. Gale pulled her back into their room, far away from everyone. "I know that's–we said some serious things might happen but I feel like that might've been too personal."

"You're wearing my grandmother's wedding ring," Gale told her. "We share a bed. You in Ma's dress…" he trailed off. "It's okay."

She sighed loudly, sinking onto the edge of their bed. "I don't know. I thought after last night… it might be weird?" Gale furrowed his eyebrows together. "I don't know," she said again.

"What do you mean?"

"I just," she tugged on the ends of her hair. Gale watched the curl straighten out before it sprung up again. "We spoke a bit on…" Madge hesitated. "Never mind."

"No, what?" Gale pushed.

"I thought it might be strange. Considering we talked about Taftan, sort of." Madge tore her gaze from him and looked toward the ground. "My ex," she added, perhaps realizing she never said his name. "How he and I didn't want similar things, but you and I…" she trailed off another time.

"What about us?"

Madge shook her head. "Never mind," she said. She stood suddenly. "I told Posy I'd help her with her throw, I should…" Madge smiled slightly before quickly zipping out of the room.

Gale let out a huff of air and sunk onto the bed she just left. That wasn't how he'd planned on that conversation going.

"She looked beautiful," Hazelle said from beside him. "Didn't she?" Gale redirected his attention from the game of football his relatives were playing to his mother by his side. "Madge."

"Yeah," Gale murmured. "She did." Hazelle nudged him a few times. "What, Ma?"

"I like her." Gale smiled, looking back at the game. "I'm mad I didn't meet her sooner." His eyes focused elsewhere, though not on his mother. Towards the ground, mostly. "She's perfect for you, Gale. Fun and kind and patient."

"I can be patient."

"You know what I mean," Hazelle said, nudging him again. "I've never seen you so… happy. She balances you out perfectly." His mother reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing once. "I can see it when you look at her. That you love her."

"Ma," Gale's voice cracked as he looks at her. "Don't…"

"I'm just saying," she murmured. "Oh, Madge," Hazelle suddenly said. Gale looked behind him to find the blonde having appeared. "I can leave you two." She smiled at the two of them before leaving, probably off to find Posy or Rory or someone.

"Hey," Gale smiled as Madge sat beside him. "What's up?"

"We should leave early or something," Madge told him quietly. Gale's smile quickly faded. "Gale, your family… they're so great to me. Even my family doesn't care this much about my life. I feel awful lying to them." Gale looked around, making sure his mother was out of earshot. "And if you're going to tell them things broke off between us soon, I can't get any closer to them, I can't."

"What hap–where is this coming from?"

"I spent the afternoon with Vick," she said. The words are spilling from her lips. "He told me personal things about his life, and Rory's been talking to me about his relationship with Prim, and I…" Madge's voice cracks. "I feel like I'm part of your family. And I'm not. And I–I can't do it any longer. Okay? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, because I know you were counting on me for this, but it–it's too easy."

"Hey, it's… it's okay." Gale had never thought about it that way. Of course he assumed his family would like Madge, maybe even open up to her, get attached. He was willing to make that cut. But he hadn't realized Madge would do the same. "I can say something at work came up."

Normally she would reach over. Grab his hand and squeeze. But all Madge did was nod her head and smile slightly. "Thank you," she whispered. Then she stood, leaving him to sit alone.

Everyone was disappointed that they were leaving early but every time Gale looked in Madge's direction he knew it was the right choice. Her eyes were somewhere else, she fiddled with her hands a lot.

His family is great. How could someone not fall in love with them, too? He should've been prepared for something like this.

"I'll see you soon," Hazelle told Madge when they hugged, and Madge smiled as bright as she could.

Gale was a horrible son.

Posy followed Madge all the way to the car, talking to her about Once Upon a Time and how they should share Snapchat names so they can keep talking and how she was going to miss her an infinite amount.

Gale was a horrible brother.

Even as they climbed into the car Rory got a moment of Gale's attention. "You did good," Rory said. "I approve."

Vick from a few paces behind nodded in agreement.

Gale was going to break his whole family's heart.

Finally Madge and Gale were alone in his car, and away from the bed and breakfast they drove. The silence was awkward. Even when Gale put on music things were still oddly quiet. More than once he felt her looking in his direction but whenever he turned his head she was looking out the window again.

They were about five minutes from her apartment when he had to break the silence. "I'm sorry if things got… complicated," he said.

"It was never complicated," she told him. "I knew what I had to do, and I knew it was temporary. I'm sorry if I ruined your plan."

"You didn't," Gale murmured. He clutched the steering wheel with both hands. "Madge," he said gently, listening to her sigh. "This is just–this is not a normal situation," he said. Gale turned to look at her and found her with her bottom lip between her teeth. "I think we should talk about this… experience," he said.

Madge shook her head, finally turning to look at him as well. "There's nothing to talk about, Gale. I did what you needed me for, okay? That was our deal." They pulled up to Madge's apartment and Gale stopped the car. "Just," she stopped before she climbed out. "I know it's asking a lot," she said. "But if you could tell them things ended between us without making me seem like a villain or a heartless bitch–"

"Of course," Gale stopped her. "I wouldn't do that."

She nodded in thanks and then slowly climbed out of the car. After grabbing her suitcase she leaned in. "I guess I'll see you around," she said.

And then she was gone.

Gale paced his apartment with his phone in his hand. He wasn't sure who he should call, his mother or Madge. He wanted to talk to both of them.

He shouldn't have done this. The entire plan was stupid. How could he have spent so much time with someone and not expected to feel something for her?Gale needed to get drunk or something, he was losing his fucking mind. It had been a week and he hadn't even spoken to Madge. He'd opened his phone to text her more than once, to see how she was doing, but he couldn't.

The closest he got was texting Katniss and asking about Madge. She seems fine, Katniss responded. Why?

"Here," Thom said from the couch. He stood and grabbed Gale's phone. "I'll call one of them, and then you tell them the first thing that comes to mind when you hear their voice."

Gale frowned. "What?"

"I'm going to dial your phone," Thom said, scrolling through his friend's contacts. "And when you hear whoever's voice it is, you tell them the first thing that comes to mind."

Gale's frown deepened. "Fine." Thom smiled brightly at him and handed back Gale's phone without allowing him to see the contact information. Soon enough there was an answer on the other end, unmistakable. "Ma?"

"Hi Sweetheart," Hazelle said. "What's up?"

"Madge and I are over," Gale croaked. Thom gave him a thumbs up. There was stuttering on the other end, confusion radiating from his mother's end.

"Was it us?" Hazelle asked. "We–she never–what happened? You two seemed so happy! Gale! I don't understand!"

"We were never together," Gale went on. Admitting it was freeing. He felt like he could breathe, suddenly. His mother was going to kill him, but at least he could breathe. "It was all staged. We never even dated."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Excuse me?"

It was safe to say that Gale had sufficiently pissed off his mother. There was a lot of yelling over the phone, a lot of how dare yous and I can't believe you would do this and some how is she doing now?

Hazelle was so angry. "I talked about children with her! I let her try on my wedding dress, Gale!" She ended the conversation after a lot of frustrated comments. "I can't even handle this right now. I'll talk to you later." And then, "You have to tell your siblings. I'm not doing that."

So Gale then had to call his brothers and his baby sister. Posy was confused, Vick was also rightfully pissed off, and Rory spent the entire phone call laughing.

"You poor son of a bitch," Rory said. "It might've been faked for the rest of the family, but holyshit you love that girl."

Gale couldn't even deny it.

Before Gale could even call Madge, she was at his apartment. It was the next day in the late afternoon. He was working on editing his floor plan for the middle school when there was a gentle knock on his door. First he thought he imagined it but Gale stood anyway, leaving his laptop open to answer the door.

And there she was, standing on the other side. It hadn't been that long since he last saw her, but he was stunned regardless. "Madge," he exhaled.

"Hi." She gestured into his apartment. "Can I…" Gale nodded, pulling open the door for her to enter. Madge looked around nervously as though she'd never been here before. "I, um," Madge held up her a fist and opened it, revealing his grandmother's wedding ring. "I got so used to wearing it that I didn't realize it wasn't mine until a few days ago." Gale accepted the ring gently and Madge smiled that shy smile of hers. "I just wanted to return it."

"Thank you," Gale murmured.

She stood awkwardly. "Did you, um. Did you tell your mom we ended things?" There was a playful lift to her voice as though she was trying to make this easier, lighter.

"No," Gale admitted.

Madge's face fell in shock. "What?"

"I told her the truth," Gale continued. Madge's jaw dropped slightly. "She's pissed, but I feel better."

Madge nodded slightly. "That's… good. I think?"

"It's good," Gale agreed with a nod. They were both quiet again and her gaze slipped down to his shoulders, rather than holding his eyes. "I was going to call you," Gale finally said.

"Oh yeah?" Madge asked. "What for?"

"I miss you," he admitted. Madge eyes darted back up to his. Gale slipped the engagement ring into his pocket. "I know what–" he let out a huff and turned away from her, trying to resist the urge to start pacing. "I know that things with us, it was–faked, and I don't–I justmiss you."

She was quiet for a moment. "I miss you too," Madge admitted quietly. Gale paused, turning to look at her. Her face was pink and her eyes were wide. "I was… scared? I thought I might have been making something out of nothing, I knew you just–you just wanted a fake fiancee, but then you… you were so…" Madge took a deep breath. "I was scared," Madge said again.

Gale stepped back toward her. "I didn't know how much of it was real," Gale murmured.

"Me neither," she breathed. He grabbed her hands. "Everything with you felt so… good. It feltreal, and it terrified me."

He loved her. Holy shit, he loved her.

Gale tugged her toward him. "Can I kiss you?" he croaked. Madge hadn't even finished nodding when he bent down, crashing his lips against hers.

The two of them stumbled, desperate to get closer to one another. It was their first real kiss. One that wasn't due to too much wine, one that wasn't for other people. It was just for them. It was frantic at first but soon they were backed against a wall and it turned slow and gentle. Their kisses got longer, breathier.

Soon he pinned his forehead against her. Gale felt Madge's hands around his waist, her fingertips against the skin on his back. Their noses brushed.

"Well," Madge started softly. Gale grinned, and soon Madge did the same. "Um." She laughed a little and Gale dipped to kiss her another time. "Maybe you should call your mom back?"

Gale laughed, too. "In a little bit," he whispered. And then his mouth was against hers again.

They certainly weren't engaged, and Gale had a feeling he wasn't going to ask for a while, but they were together. And though Hazelle was still infinitely angry, she was happy for her son.

When she came over for breakfast one morning Madge introduced herself again.

"I just," Madge started nervously. "I want everything to be real," she told Hazelle. "So, I'm Madge. It's nice to meet you."

Hazelle ignored Madge's extended hand and pulled her into a hug. "It's nice to meet you too," Hazelle said as she held her. Gale sighed in relief from a few feet again. "It's nice to know about a relationship early on," Hazelle said when they pulled away, sending a pointed look in her son's direction. "I'm grateful you're introducing me to your girlfriend before you're engaged."

Gale smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Ma."

"You two are going to be trouble," Hazelle said to them. "And I hope you expect me to be trouble too. I have an infinite amount of gray hairs from that little stunt you two pulled!"

"I'm sorry," Madge said honestly.

"Oh, you will be sorry," Hazelle told them. She was happy for them, yes, but still a little pissed. Gale reached for Madge, pulling her back in his direction. He slipped his hands around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, making a pouty face at his mother. Hazelle sighed loudly before throwing her hands in the air. "Just don't mess it up this time," she murmured. "Okay?"

"Okay," Gale agreed with a grin.

Later that night when Hazelle left and Gale and Madge were alone, they climbed into his bed exhausted. He played with the ends of her hair as she traced her fingers across his chest.

"It's going to make a good story one day," Madge said softly. "You know. If we ever do get engaged, or something."

"Mm," Gale hummed. He tipped his head so his lips could graze her forehead. "I think it's going to make a great story."

It was his way of telling her, someday. By the way she smiled, he knew she understood.