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

Rory

Madge wasn't entirely sure how she became a chaperone of the middle school winter dance, but there she was. The lights in the gym were off and she had to keep circling around, tapping on the shoulders of 12-year-olds that were dancing just a little too close to one another.

She adjusted the Santa hat on her head with a sigh before scanning the crowd another time and deciding to go get a drink from refreshments. While sipping on her ice water she received a nasty look from one of the educators because she'd abandoned her post, and with another sigh she returned to the too-hot gym to monitor the dancing once again.

But when someone tapped on her shoulder she was grateful for a chance to stop creepily staring at them. She turned to find Gale Hawthorne, wearing a Santa hat of his own, looking miserable.

"I need a favor," he murmured. Madge arched an eyebrow at him and he tipped his head toward the back of the gym. "Rory's being inappropriate."

She couldn't help but smile. "And what do you want me to do about that?"

Gale huffed. "He paid me twenty bucks to not embarrass him," he answered, "and though it's killing me to not do just that, I am absolutely not going to let him grind on some innocent 6th grader just so he can make Prim jealous."

Madge's smile grew and she handed over her tiny plastic cup to Gale, who nodded his head in quiet appreciation. She crossed the gym and found Rory where Gale had motioned he would be. Instead of doing the normal shoulder tap, Madge decided it would be funny to shimmy in between the two of them and get them to stop.

It worked perfectly.

Rory shrieked and stopped his dirty dancing immediately and the girl turned red and ran away before she could get yelled at. "Madge!" Rory groaned, throwing up his hands. "You can'tdo that! I was–"

"I know what you were doing," she cut him off. "It was gross. And certainly not going to impress Prim."

Rory started turning red too. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Did Gale send you?"

"Nope," she lied. "But I was not going to idly stand by and watch you do… that, with some poor girl who was just a stepping stone." Rory huffed, tightening his arms across his chest. "I saw Prim in the cafeteria area," she told him. "She was looking lonely."

Rory didn't look as angry. "You should find Gale," he said as he started walking away.

"Why?" she asked.

A mischievous smile lit up his face, one that had a story behind it. Madge frowned, wanting to cross her own arms over her chest and mimic his stance. Rory shrugged. "You just should," he said before sauntering away, probably off to find Prim.

Madge didn't like the tone of his voice but she didn't question it. Instead she stayed on the half of the gym she'd crossed to, keeping her eye out for more inappropriate dancing. But soon Gale had crossed the gym to stand beside her, a rare smile on his face.

"That was fucking hilarious," Gale told her sincerely, and Madge felt herself smiling too. "I wish I could've gotten it on camera."

Madge shrugged, turning away from his bright gray eyes to scan the room again. "Well if youcouldn't embarrass him I figured I might as well." Rory certainly embarrassed her before, in subtle ways as most 12 year old's would.

"Thanks," Gale said.

She was too busy watching the dancing middle schoolers to notice Gale's eyes were on her, soft and warm, and a smile was on his face.

Vick

Madge was crouched down, reading the spine of a book for the author's name, when a small boy materialized beside her. She jumped a little, startled at the closeness, but smiled when she found that it was Vick Hawthorne.

While Madge and Gale had never been the closest, she did used to babysit his siblings when he was busy or after he had gone away to college. Rory's old enough now that she doesn't need to babysit anymore, but the Hawthorne siblings all still adored her. Sometimes Hazelle would invite her over for dinner and tea just to see how she's doing.

"You scared me," Madge said to Vick, and he grinned at her. She turned to find Gale standing a few feet behind them, watching his brother carefully. "Hey," she said, quickly standing.

"Hey," Gale said back. "He, uh, saw you over here and wanted to say hi."

"Well good," Madge said, looking back down at him. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"I know," Vick said back. "I had to let my beetles go," he told her, clearly upset. "Some of them got loose and Ma said they shouldn't be in the house–but it was Rory who let them loose anyway."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Madge told him. "Last minute shopping?" she asked, and Gale nodded his head. "Me too. I'm trying to find something for my mom but she's very… quiet, about what she wants."

"Is she one of those don't get me anything I'm just happy you're home type of parents?" Gale asked. "Because trust me–Ma's the same."

"Maybe can help you look!" Vick cheered, looking to Gale for approval. His older brother shrugged halfheartedly before looking up at Madge, and she too shrugged. His eyes were light again, like they were the night of Rory's dance, and Madge found her cheeks turning warm. "Besides I have to show Gale the book I want so he can get it for me."

Madge laughed as Vick motioned for her to follow him, and she easily fell into step beside Gale. "I already got him some stuff," Gale told her quietly as Vick wound through the shelves in the bookstore, "but how much can one more book hurt, right?"

"You spoil them," Madge told him with a small smile. He arched his eyebrows. "It's–it's nice," she said. "I wish I had siblings to buy for. I'd spoil them too."

Gale quickly looked away from her, pressing his lips together in a way that made his smile look cuter than Madge was prepared for. She shoved her hands into her back pockets and pressed her own lips together in a smile, stopping when Vick stopped.

"You mind staying with him for a bit?" Gale asked. "There's something I wanted to grab."

"No problem," Madge insisted. A little softer she said, "I'll let you know about that book he wants," she said. Gale didn't even try to hide his grin that time, winking at her as he turned and walked out of the aisle. Madge ignored the heat in her chest and crouched down beside Vick as he started talking about the encyclopedia of bugs that he wanted.

"You know," Vick said after a few minutes, "it wasn't me who noticed you."

Madge lowered the book they were peering at. "What?"

"When we got here," Vick said. "Gale pointed you out." Madge readjusted how she was sitting, making a face at him. He shrugged innocently, but there was something on his face that reminded Madge of the way Rory looked at her at the dance. Like he knew something. "Just sayin'."

Madge looked from Vick to the book then back to Vick. "What do you know?" she asked.

He smiled, again innocently. "Nothing." Vick looked down at the book in front of him and flipped the pages casually. "Just that Gale thinks you're pretty." A noise that was a combination of a scoff and a laugh escaped Madge. Vick looked back up at her, the epitome of angelic. "You think I'm kidding."

"Obviously."

"Hmm…" Vick flipped another page. "You know that I'm the honest one."

Madge ignored the way her stomach flipped. That was true. Rory was mischievous and Posy would do anything to get what she wanted, but Vick always told the truth. But this–this was different, right?

She decided to pretend the entire conversation until a later date, or something, and pulled out another book from the shelf. They talked idly about bugs as they looked through different books before Gale finally returned. He must've been there for a few moments before Madge noticed because she didn't hear him approach, but at one point she turned and found him leaning against a bookshelf watching the two of them with a sweet smile on his face.

Dammit, he had such a nice smile.

"Alright, Vick," Gale said, tipping his head to get his brother to stand. "Let's go."

"But–" he held up the book to his brother and made a pouty face. "This one," he said.

"I told you I already got your presents," Gale said, winking at Madge another time when Vick sighed loudly and stuffed the book back into the shelf. She put a few books as well and stood before Vick, walking over to Gale. "That was the first thing I bought him," Gale told her gently. "It's been wrapped for weeks."

Madge nudged him with her elbow and Gale's smile blossomed once again. Did he really think she was pretty? She looked away before her face turned too hot.

"Merry Christmas, Madge," Vick said, walking past her to join Gale. "Wait," he stopped. "Do you still need help looking for your mom?"

"Oh, shit," Gale murmured under his breath. He must've forgotten.

"No, don't worry," Madge said kindly. Gale shifted toward her but she shook her head. "You two go," she insisted. "I don't want to hold you up."

"It's not a problem," Gale said. "We said we'd–"

"Gale," Madge said gently. "It's fine, I promise." She looked to Vick. "It was nice to see you," she told him.

Vick smiled, "You too Madge!"

Gale looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he just tipped his head and smiled at her.

Madge couldn't have known his fingers itched to reach for hers, to squeeze her hand. She couldn't have known Gale thought she was more than pretty, that she was breathtaking and reminded him of a summer day even in this cold winter season.

But as she turned on her heel to start looking for a book for her mother, she still felt warm.

Posy

Madge hadn't anticipated stopping by the elementary school to see her father, the current principal, but his car needed to be fixed up and her mother was too busy to get him.

He dipped his head out to greet her and told her he just had a few things to finish up so he could close the school for Winter Break, so she settled into a seat in the main office.

She was playing games on her phone when someone burst into the room through the door and Madge startled, finding Posy sprinting toward her. "Madge!" she yelled. "Madge!"

Madge had just enough time to put her phone down so she could bend down and accept the hug the small girl was offering. She pulled Posy into her arms with a smile, greeting her quietly, before she pulled back to find–of course–Gale standing in the doorway.

Like when Vick appeared by Madge's side, Gale is smiling carefully. He's leaning against the doorway as Posy is rapidly talking about things to her.

"…to show Gale my art project, but I'm so excited we have so many days off and I can't wait to play in the snow and I haven't seen you in forever! Also did you see my art project? Why are you here? Did you know Christmas is in a few days, Madge? I can't wait…!"

"Slow down, Pose," Gale finally chimed with a little laugh. "Here for your dad?" he asked, and Madge nodded.

"It'll be a while though," Madge told them. "I'd love to see your art project, Posy, if you want." The little girl lit up immediately and Madge laugh before ducking in and telling her dad where she'd be before joining the two of them down the empty hallways.

Posy was in kindergarten and Gale explained, as they walked to the art department, that he didn't have much to do since he was home from college and had offered to pick Posy up every day instead of putting her on the bus. He missed his sibling time and was getting some of it wherever he could.

"We made wreaths," Posy exclaimed happily.

"Not sure why we can't take them home until after break," Gale murmured under his breath, "but whatever." Posy dragged Madge down the hall to show her the wreath she'd constructed out of paper balls and decorated with a lot of glitter. "It's beautiful, Pose," Gale told his sister, and she smiled brightly over her shoulder at her big brother.

"Madge?" she asked hopefully.

"It is," Madge agreed, looking at Posy's creation in what she hoped was awe. "You made this all by yourself?"

Posy was bouncing on her feet excitedly. "Uh-huh!"

"It's fantastic," Madge told her, stepping to the side so she could examine it from a new angle. "This is going to look great on your wall!"

Posy shrieked in happiness before wrapping herself around Madge's leg and holding tightly. She started talking about how she made the wreath and Madge absentmindedly stroked her hair while looking at the project before she looked over her shoulder at Gale.

His eyes were darker than she'd ever seen and he was watching her with such a sweet intensity it instantly made her blush. Gale's lips were parted and when their eyes met he licked them knowingly before smiling. Madge's eyes dropped to watch the motion and he must've realized it, because his smile grew ever so slightly. And then Gale's eyes were on herlips and she cleared her throat, quickly turning back to the wreath.

"Do you really like it?" Posy asked again.

"I do," Madge forced out. "You are a true artist," she said.

After walking down the art hallway for a few minutes Gale's phone rang. He looked slightly annoyed but considering it was Hazelle he stepped away to take it. The second he was gone Posy grabbed the hem of Madge's shirt, pulling her down.

"Gale has a crush on you," Posy said clearly.

Madge couldn't help but laugh. Vick said Gale thought she was pretty, and even Rory seemed to think Gale thought something about Madge, but a crush? Probably not. And coming from Posy, the one least likely to know whatsoever, made Madge shake her head.

"No he doesn't," Madge responded.

"He does," Posy insisted. "I know because Rory teases him about it all the time!"

Okay. Fine. Madge felt her chest get tight. "What does Gale say back?" she asked.

"He says, 'shut up' and 'don't say anything or I'll tell Prim' and 'so did you when you were younger!'"

Madge shook her head. "He… he doesn't," she tried. Gale Hawthorne could not have a crush on her! It was impossible, wasn't it? "Rory's just being silly," Madge told Posy.

The little girl looked annoyed. But before she could say anything Gale returned and she jumped up. "You look suspicious," Gale pointed out the second he saw Posy. She grinned, that stupid innocent grin that all of the Hawthorne's seem to have mastered, and darted down the hallway. With a laugh Gale shook his head, listening to her shrieks fading away. "What'd she say?" Gale asked, stopping at Madge who had forced herself back into a standing position.

"Nothing," Madge lied.

He arched an eyebrow and started after his sister. "You look suspicious too," he teased, quickly striding down the hallway to look for Posy.

Madge could feel her heart racing in her chest. She couldn't have known that Gale's heart was racing, too.

Gale

It was Christmas Eve and Madge needed to get out of her house.

Her aunt had arrived last night and had gone into Christmas mode, decorating the house way more than it needed to be and blasting Christmas songs. Normally Madge would be all about it, but for some reason she woke up with a headache. She couldn't get out of the kitchen (they were making a zillion cookies) until afternoon, and she went to the local coffee shop hoping that caffeine would help with her headache.

Just after she'd ordered the bell over the door rang and she turned to find Gale Hawthorne entering, shivering from the cold. When he looked up and their eyes met, a laugh escaped Madge before she could stop it.

"You're definitely stalking me," she said, causing Gale to laugh as well. He got in line and ordered a drink for himself before following Madge to a nearby table, sitting across from her. "Last minute shopping?" she asked.

"Ran out of wrapping paper," Gale told her, warming his hands on his paper cup. "And I love my mother, you know that, but she doesn't believe in coffee, and I was in desperate need."

Madge wrinkled her nose at his cup before sipping from her own. "You ordered black coffee," she said. "I'm disgusted."

Gale rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. "I said I wanted coffee, not liquefied dessert." Madge sipped her mug happily, enjoying the amount of creamer and sugar in her drink. "When do you go back to school?" he asked, changing the subject. Almost too casually he said, "We should hangout before you leave."

Madge blinked a few times before lowering her cup to the table. "Vick said you think I'm pretty," Madge blurted. Gale's face remained neutral at this outburst. "And Posy said you have a crush on me. But that doesn't–that's not–"

"Not what?" he cut her off gently.

"Not possible," Madge murmured.

His lips quirked with a smile. "Why not?" Gale asked. "Why is it not possible for me to think you're beautiful? Or to like watching you with the kids?" Madge wasn't sure if this was a rhetorical question or not but she couldn't find any words. "Why is it not possible for me to have a crush on you?"

Madge's mouth had gone dry. She dropped her gaze from his, unable to figure out what she should say to him. Her eyebrows came together and she made a sort of puckering face as she tried to piece her thoughts together.

Finally, Gale chuckled. It was warm and not malicious and it gave her enough courage to look back up at him. "I'm not a guy of many words," he said simply. "But you…" he trailed off, almost dreamily, and then shook his head slightly. He was right, Gale wasn't a man of many words, but still Madge felt like he'd said a lot.

"You like me," she finally said.

Gale tipped his head forward before lifting his coffee to his lips another time. When he lowered it he said, "Yep."

There was no possible way she could know the immensity of his stupid, Godawful crush on her. Gale Hawthorne was losing his mind thinking about Madge and it didn't help that he was running into her everywhere. He wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked, if her lips tasted like sugar or chocolate or coffee with too much creamer, if her hands against his skin would give him goosebumps.

She had no idea.

But still she said, "Okay." Gale arched an eyebrow, trying his hardest not to smile like a huge doofus. "We can hangout," she said.

"Okay," Gale echoed softly.

They fell into easy conversation as they sipped their drinks and Madge couldn't remember the last time she felt so light. The way he looked at her was too much she couldn't put into words.

Finally they finished their coffees and left the shop. Madge had to turn right and Gale was going left, so they lingered outside of the shop for a moment. "I'll text you," he said, and she nodded at once. But before either of them could get too far they gravitated toward one another.

Gale quickly found out that her hands did give him goosebumps, her hair was as soft as it looked, and her lips did taste like sugar.