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

"She won't be home then."

Madge is brushing her teeth when she hears Gale murmur those words into his phone in the bedroom. She spits into the sink and ducks her head back into the bedroom where Gale's lazily stretched on their bed. Madge makes a face at him, what?, but he shakes his head and waves her back into the bathroom.

Still frowning Madge finishes brushing her teeth. He's been like this for days now, secret phone calls that don't quite make much sense to her. After brushing her teeth she washes her face and exits the bathroom completely, climbing back into bed with Gale.

"Who was that?" she asks, gesturing to his phone that's been since placed on the nightstand.

Gale's eyes flicker to the phone before he pulls his girlfriend in his direction and rolls her so she's pinned beneath him. He kisses her gently. "Work," he answers. Madge kisses him back, but she can't shake the feeling that he's lying.

"If she finds out I spent that much money then she'll kill me."

Madge and Gale had been lounging on the couch when he got a phone call and jumped out of his seat murmuring a quick be right back under his breath. He darted into their bedroom and shut the door with a click, and then Madge was on her feet.

She knows it's childish pressing her ear to the crack of the door trying to listen in on Gale's phone call, but something inside of her is saying that something is wrong.

She and Gale have been dating for three years at this point. Last spring she moved into his apartment and things have been great. At least, she thought things were great. They have an easy routine, and life together is simple and sweet. According to Madge, anyway. Who knows what Gale's thinking at this point. Whatever it is, it can't be good.

"No," Gale says firmly, causing Madge to leap away from the door.

She listens to Gale shifting on his feet and starting toward the door so Madge sprints back to the couch, landing just in time for Gale to exit their room.

She looks up at him. "Everything okay?"

"Fine."

He sinks back onto the couch with a huff, swinging his arm around Madge's shoulder and pulling her close. Madge's heart is hammering in her chest but Gale doesn't seem to notice. Instead he tilts his head and kisses her temple. Madge sinks into his arms and tries to fight off the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"I love you," Madge says softly. She's scared if she speaks too loudly then her voice will shake. Because she does love Gale, more than she even knows how to handle. He can be stubborn at times and he sucks at emptying the dishwasher but Madge can see a future with him. Shewants a future with him.

"I love you," Gale echoes, just as gently. He kisses her temple again and they return to watching their show, the phone call forgotten.

"I'm seeing Leevy again tomorrow."

Peeta loves throwing house parties where everyone brings whine and whisky and gets drunk off their asses, and that's where they are now. Madge just finished up her glass of wine and is about to enter the kitchen when she hears Gale speak.

Leevy. The girl's name rolls off of his tongue without any hesitation, though his voice is dropped as though it's a secret. Madge presses herself to the wall and cranes her neck to listen in.

Thom answers, "Still?" And then, "Does Madge know yet?" I'm drunk, Madge is telling herself repeatedly. I'm not hearing things correctly. Gale must nod or shake his head because Thom lets out a short breath. "How's that going?"

"Good," Gale answers. "Really good. Leevy's perfect."

Madge nearly throws up. She quickly walks into the kitchen and both men turn to face her, both of them smiling a little too brightly.

"Hey," Madge rasps. Gale's eyes flicker to Thom and then back to Madge. "I'm out of wine," she tells them. Thom extends his hand and takes Madge's cup to fill it up for her while Gale wraps his arms around her waist. He lowers his chin to her shoulder and Madge finds herself trying not to tear up. "What're you two talking about in here?" she asks, listening as Thom pours the wine.

"Delly's been talking about kids," Thom answers quickly. Madge's throat feels tight. "It's freaking me out because I don't have any siblings or anything. I don't know crap about kids." Thom tips his head in Gale's direction. "He's just giving me some pointers."

Gale nuzzles into her neck and presses a warm kiss to her throat.

"We haven't talked about kids," Madge forces out. Her voice is thick. Gale holds her a little tighter. Thom hands her back her glass and Madge holds it in her sweaty hands. "Should we talk about kids?"

"Well," Gale kisses her again. "Not tonight."

"Yeah," Madge rasps. "Of course not." She wiggles from Gale's grip and exits the kitchen without another word. Madge takes a big drink from her glass of wine and darts off to find Peeta.

Her glass is empty when she finds him in a deep discussion with Finnick, and without saying anything she grabs his shirt and pulls him away from his friend. Peeta calls out an apology to Finnick before following Madge to his bedroom, shutting the door quietly.

She starts to cry.

"Hey, hey," Peeta rushes to her side as she lowers herself on the edge of his bed. "What's wrong?" he asks gently.

She can barely get the words out, all of the little things adding up that's causing her to feel so small. Finally she croaks, "I think Gale's cheating on me."

Peeta rubs her back gently as she hiccups for air. "Come on, Madge," he murmurs softly. "Gale wouldn't do that, he loves you." But she tells him why she feels this way, about how she has a name now of a girl who's perfect, how she has just been feeling like Gale's sneaking around. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Peeta asks. "I won't mention you at all."

"No, no." Madge swats at her eyes. "No, of course not." She sniffs loudly and takes a deep breath. "I'm just drunk. Right? I'm just drunk."

"I can talk to him," Peeta says again. "If that's what you want."

But again she shakes her head. "Just tell me I'm drunk," she nearly pleads. Because she can't handle anything else. She absolutely cannot handle Gale cheating on her. "Please, Peeta."

So he takes a deep breath and squeezes her hands. "You're just drunk," he whispers. She nods her head in agreement before wiping her eyes again.

Madge stands from Peeta's bed and darts into the bathroom attached to his bedroom, cleaning up her makeup and patting her face with cold water until she looks okay again. If anything, she looks flushed from the wine. She returns and finds Peeta still sitting on his bed with a sad smile on his face.

"Can you get me more wine?" she asks.

"If I take too much stuff from here at once then Madge will notice."

Madge lifts her head from her work at once. She's been going through her notes on one of her counseling cases and frowns in the direction of the kitchen where Gale's voice was just alittle too loud. She scoots backwards in her chair and stands immediately, starting off for the kitchen.

"What did you say?" Madge asks.

"I've got to go," Gale mutters into the phone, quickly hanging up. "What?"

"You said my name."

He smiles and laughs a little "No I didn't."

"I heard you say my name," Madge says sternly. It's been a week since the wine and whiskey party and she still isn't feeling very well. Gale knew something was wrong with her the night she cried in Peeta's bedroom, but she wouldn't tell him what had happened so he stopped pressing. "Who were you talking to?"

"Just someone from work," Gale says. He changes the subject swiftly. "I was thinking we could order out tonight, what do you think?"

Madge puts her hand on the wall of the walkway into the kitchen to steady herself. "Who's Leevy?" she asks in response.

Gale stiffens. "What?"

"Were you talking to Leevy?"

He turns to look at her, his heavy eyebrows coming together. "I don't know what you're talking about." Madge feels like she could shatter. He's lying, he must be. She stands a little taller. "I was talking to Boggs," Gale tells her. He reaches for his phone in his pocket and holds it out to her. "Would you like to check?"

Madge frowns. "No." Gale stands still with his phone held out to her. Eventually he lowers it. With a deep breath she says, "Chinese?"

Gale dips his head. His voice is low. "I can order."

"I'm going tomorrow night. I think she's getting suspicious, but… I don't know."

Gale's pacing outside of their bedroom. The door is cracked open ever so slightly and Madge said she was retiring earlier. But she's still awake, and his words are loud in their quiet apartment.

"Madge is too nosy for her own good," Gale says into the phone. "No, she's asleep." He laughs a little and it feels like a stab to her chest. "God, I hope so. I've been thinking about this for months."

Madge wishes she could hear whoever's on the other end. It's so quiet that she can hear a slight rumble on the phone, but Madge can't tell if it's male or female.

"I mean, Madge'll probably hate me," Gale says. "But it's worth it. Yeah. I'm sure." The floorboards creak under Gale's feet. "Alright. I love you too." Gale hangs up his cell and then peers into the dark bedroom. "Madge?" he calls gently.

She squeezes her eyes shut and clenches her teeth together. She will not cry. She will not cry.

He quietly changes into his pajamas before climbing into bed with her. Gale snakes his arm around her waist and pulls her closer. Madge can't stop her chin from quivering.

I'm going tomorrow night.

Gale's words echo in her head the following day. She feels like a maniac, obsessing over this, but something is wrong and she's determined to figure out what it is.

Gale seems completely normal in the morning. He makes pancakes and brings out strawberry syrup.

"You're being quiet this morning," Gale says as he sips from his mug of coffee.

"I didn't sleep very well." Gale reaches across the table and rests his hand over hers. Her skin feels like it's burning. "Hey, how about we go out for dinner tonight?" Madge asks. "There's that new Italian place down the street, it looks really cute. And we haven't been on a date in like, forever."

Gale squeezes her hand and smiles. "I'd love to," he says. "But I can't tonight." She blinks a few times, fighting off early tears, and waits for him to elaborate. "I've got one of those night meetings again. I won't even be home until late. What about tomorrow?"

"Sure," Madge rasps. "Tomorrow sounds great."

Madge is acting like a freaking lunatic. She knows that she is. She just can't stop herself. She leaves work early to drive to Gale's office, and then sits in her car until he leaves the building right at five like he normally does.

"Night meetings my ass," Madge mutters to herself. She follows after him as stealthily as she can, usually putting a few cars of distance in between them as she follows his truck.

About ten minutes later Gale stops at a house in the cutest neighborhood Madge has ever seen. She parks far off and keeps watching him. Gale approaches one of the homes and enters it without even knocking.

She starts gnawing on her bottom lip. Quickly she dials Peeta, who answers right away. "He's cheating on me," she blurts. "I know he is." She's since shifted her car into park and is sitting in the driver's seat with tears in her eyes. "I'm acting like a psychopath, Peeta! I followed him from work!"

"You what?"

"I–I had to know, and I couldn't–I couldn't ask, so I just… he told me he had a meeting tonight," Madge is rambling and it jut makes her sound more insane. "I know I'm acting crazy, I know I am, but he left work, because there-there's no meeting, and now he's at her house."

"Madge," Peeta's voice is soothing. "There must be some sort of explanation."

"There's not!" She drags her hands roughly through her hair trying to ground herself, but Madge is a wreck. She's teetering between falling into pieces and sobbing and exploding into anger. "After everything we've been through together! I can't–!"

"Madge," Peeta says again. "You're not yourself right now. Just take a few deep breaths–"

"I'm going in."

"Madge," his voice is much more alarmed. "You'll regret this!" But she hangs up her phone and tosses it into the passenger seat before climbing from her car.

With a deep breath Madge marches up to the house she saw Gale enter and bangs loudly on the door. A few seconds pass before a thin, pretty woman answers. She feels like she could vomit.

"Can I help you?" the woman asks.

Madge has suddenly lost her voice. "Are you Leevy?"

"Um, yes?" The woman looks down at herself as though trying to confirm this for herself. "Is something–"

"Where's Gale?" Madge asks, starting to get a hold of herself again. "I know he's in there!"

"You're right, he–"

Gale peers over Leevy's shoulder. "Madge?" He looks confused and shocked all at once. "What are you–"

"So it's–it's true?" Madge rocks backwards, her eyes darting from Leevy to Gale. "Youare cheating on me, you're–you're with this woman!"

"Madge," Gale steps past Leevy, murmuring something to her that Madge can't hear, before joining Madge on the porch. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out," he says with a sigh. Leevy steps back inside and tears spring to Madge's eyes. She shoves his chest as a sob crawls up her throat but Gale shakes his head. "Shit, no, not–I'm not–Madge, baby," he cups her cheeks as gently as he can. "I'm not cheating on you." She's hiccuping for air already and her mind is swimming. "Leevy's a friend–she's–"

"You are," Madge insists weakly.

"She's my real estate agent," Gale tells her. Madge pauses, but her chest still heaves for air. "She's my real estate agent," Gale says again softly. His thumbs glide below her eyes to catch her tears. Madge still isn't understanding. She shakes her head a few times and her eyes dart to the door. "I'm…" he trails off, looking over his shoulder. "I bought this house," he says.

Her chin is quivering. "What?"

"I bought this house for us," Gale says. "I was going to bring you by once everything was settled, I was going to make a night out of it." He laughs a little, but it's forced. "It was going to be a surprise."

More tears come to Madge's eyes. "You bought us a house?"

"I bought us a house," Gale confirms gently. "Leevy's been helping me find the perfect one and she's been great. That's all."

"You bought us a house," Madge says another time, and again he nods. "How–how–how much did that cost?" Gale chuckles before tipping her chin forward so he can kiss her. She's still sniffling when he parts. "But–but you…" it explains the sneaking around a little bit. "You were on the phone and you–you said I love you."

He thinks for a moment. "Last night? When I was talking to my mom?"

"Oh, God." Madge reaches up and swats her tears away. "Gale, I'm–I'm so sorry, I'll…" she stepped away and shook her head. "I can–I'll pretend to be surprised, oh–I can't believe I ruined this–oh my–"

He extends his hand and grabs her before she can get too far. "Let me show you around," he whispers.

The house is infinitely beautiful. Most of the floors are hardwood, there's a grand staircase that takes you to a second level, and everything is so open. Gale dips into the kitchen where Leevy is waiting and explains something to her softly while Madge marvels at everything on the first floor. It's perfect. It's absolutely perfect.

Gale leads her upstairs and Madge has to count twice. "There are four bedrooms," she says at one point.

"Well this one will be ours," Gale murmurs, nudging her into the master suite. The ceiling is slanted and has skylights and there are a few color swatches on the wall as though Gale's been trying to figure out what to paint. "Check out the bathroom," he tells her.

Madge races into the private bathroom and feels like she could faint. "There's a Jacuzzi bathtub," she says.

"There's a Jacuzzi bathtub," Gale agrees.

"But, wait," she turns again. "There are still three other bedrooms."

Gale grins, extending his hand to her another time before dragging her into one of the bedrooms. "Remember at that party a few weeks ago when you asked if we should talk about kids?" Gale asks as Madge takes in the room. She nods and runs her fingers across the wall. "Well I wanted to talk about kids when I brought you here," Gale says. "Because this is where I hope they'll sleep one day." Madge turns back to him. "And they'll grow up in this house."

"Gale," she says softly.

"And then I was going to get down on one knee," he murmurs, lowering himself to the ground. "And I was going to pull out this box," he says, rifling through his pockets before pulling out the velvet covered box and holding it up. Madge's legs suddenly feel like jelly. "And I was going to ask you to marry me, and start a family with me, in this house." He shrugs in a teasing sort of way. "But you ruined that plan, so…"

"Gale," she forces out again.

"Sentiment's still the same," he carries on, popping open the box. Inside is a simple diamond ring on a silver band. "Because I still love you, and I still want to marry you, and I still want to raise a family in this house with you." Tears are in Madge's eyes again but this time for an entirely different reason. "Madge Undersee, will you marry–"

"Yes," she rasps. Madge collapses to the ground in front of him, stretching up and past the ring to cup his cheeks. Gale grins and meets her halfway, his lips eagerly moving against hers. "I'm sorry–I ruined this whole–"

"Shut up," Gale says with a laugh before kissing her again. Before they practically roll onto the floor Gale grabs her hand and slides the ring onto her finger with the brightest smile on his face. Again her hands find his cheeks so she can pull him close. They're like that for a few minutes before Gale pulls away, eyeing her skeptically. "You really thought I was cheating on you?"

Madge opens and closes her mouth a few times. "Well you bought a house without telling me," she counters. And then, "I'm sorry."

A crooked grin ends up on Gale's face. "Me too."

After checking out the rest of the upstairs, the two finally rejoin Leevy who's been patiently waiting in the kitchen. "I'm so sorry," Madge gushes with apologies the second she sees the woman. "I had no right to accuse you of anything."

"Not the first time it's happened," Leevy says with a smile, "I'm sure it won't be the last." She tips her head to Madge's hand. "Congratulations, Mrs. Hawthorne."

Madge bites her lip to keep from smiling too widely. "Thank you." While Gale finishes signing a few final papers, Madge continues checking out the house. She peeks her head outside, and even though the sun's setting now she can make out most of the features of the backyard. "Gale," she calls. "There's a fence."

"I know," he calls back.

Madge turns back around. "Does that mean we can get a dog?" she asks.

Clearly having finished signing the papers, he strides over to her with a smile. "I hate dogs," he reminds her.

Leevy appears by his side with a smile. "He specifically requested a house with a fence," she tells Madge. "He must not hate dogs that much."

Gale's face breaks with a grin and he grabs Madge's hands. "No, I still hate dogs." His eyes linger on the ring on her finger. "I just love you more," he tells Madge softly.

"I love you," she echoes just as soft.

Leevy excuses herself, saying she has another signing to get to, and the two of them bid her farewell. Once they hear the door shut Gale wraps Madge in his arms and together they look out across the backyard another time.

Madge can already see their children playing, maybe Gale can even build a tree-house in the big tree in the back. He nuzzles into her neck and she sighs, more content than she thinks she's ever been.

"Welcome home," Gale whispers.