Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Gale's abruptly woken from his nap when there's a banging on his apartment door. With a groan he heaves himself off the couch, wrapping the blanket around him like he's an aging king, and shuffles to the front door.
When he pulls it open he is not prepared to find Madge Undersee there.
"Get dressed," she says quickly. "Emergency snowball fight before someone else takes over the field." Gale frowns, wondering if he's heard her right. His eyes are still sleepy, blurry, and it causes the light in the hallway to cascade around her like she's glowing. "Johanna and Finnick are already building up defenses, and Peeta's really fast at making snowballs."
Gale blinks a few more times. "I'm twenty three," he tells her. Like this is an excuse. Like being twenty three years old is going to prevent Madge from wanting to have a snowball fight.
This time, Madge frowns. He only just now notices how bundled she is. She's wearing snow pants, a thick winter coat, has a scarf wrapped around her neck and is wearing a hat underneath the hood of her coat. "So adults aren't allowed to have snowball fights?" Madge scoffs. "You're just scared you're going to get pulverized."
Gale scoffs too. "I am not."
"Then get dressed," Madge counters. "And get Thom too. I think we're playing teams."
Madge turns on her heel and hurries back down the apartment hallway, presumably to get outside.
Gale knew that sooner or later, moving into the same apartment complex with all of his friends was going to bite him in the ass. He didn't expect it to be because someone had decided they were going to have a snowball fight. It was a decision they'd all made right out of college. They weren't all in the same building, the girls were down the street and across the courtyard, but they'd wanted to stay close after graduation. Living nearby made partying and hanging out a lot easier. And because of the referrals, they saved some money too.
Also, it gave Gale more chances to see Madge, who he might've been just a little head over heels with. And still is.
Gale finds Thom in his room on the floor wrapping presents (very badly, might Gale add), and tells him that Madge says they're having an emergency snowball fight.
Thom fist-pumps. "Hell yes," he cheers. "I haven't had a snowball fight since I was a kid!" He leaps up and starts getting dressed, and with a resigned sigh Gale decides he should do the same.
It's perfect snowball snow, Gale realizes, as he trudges outside with Thom by his side. Unlike Thom, however, Gale is not grinning. It's cold and he's tired and he'd much rather prefer to sit inside with his blankets wrapped around him than be out in the cold. But, okay, whatever. As long as he gets to spend some time with Madge he'll survive.
With that thought, he gets hit in the face.
Gale whips his head around to find Johanna grinning mischievously, but Finnick's the one who's feigning innocent. "You're going down, Odair!" Gale shouts.
Finnick tips his head back in a laugh. "You're on my team, idiot!" Finnick waves him and Thom over, and together the two boys plow through the snow to get to him. Johanna hurries off to join the other girls. "Boys against girls," Finnick tells them, gesturing to Peeta who's already stocking up on snowballs.
"That's not fair," Thom whines. "There're five of them and only four of us. Where's Darius?"
"He has mono," Finnick answers.
"I offered to call my brother," Peeta says, looking over at the girls. Katniss, Madge, Johanna, Annie, and Delly are all grouped together in a huddle. "Even it out."
Gale wrinkles his nose, thinking about that time that Madge and Taftan Mellark had a fling. "Good thing you didn't," Gale mutters. "It'll be better when we crush them with one less person."
"Aha! Yes!" Finnick cheers as Thom had, slamming his hand down on Gale's shoulder. "That's the spirit," he says. "Now hurry. One of you should join Peeta on snowballs and the other can join me building our defense."
An hour ago Gale wanted nothing to do with a snowball fight. But now here he is, a snowball in each hand, sprinting across the snow-covered field ready to fling them at whoever emerges from the defense fort.
He doesn't remember the last time he had this much fun.
Growing up sucks, he thinks as Madge peeks up from their fort with a snowball in her hand. She doesn't have the best aim and it hits Gale on the shoulder. He lets out a wild laugh and flings his own snowball in Madge's direction. She might not have the best aim but she's fast. She ducks in time so that the snowball misses her.
Almost at once all the other girls emerge, flinging snowballs of their own in Gale's direction. Peeta and Thom dart out to distract them while Finnick starts throwing more snowballs at them.
No one seems to notice that there's no real objective to this snowball fight, and no one seems to care.
Sooner or later the "defensive forts" are smashed down. Katniss face plants in the snow after Finnick trips her, and Madge goes so snow-crazy that her hair gets untucked from her hat and is curling around her face. Delly and Thom are laughing hysterically, having collapsed on the ground beside one another, and Johanna is still trying to get snow down Peeta's shirt.
In the final showdown Gale manages to stick his foot out at just the right time, causing Madge to twist and trip in a way that ends with him on top of her. In a rush, the snowball fight is forgotten.
Gale looks down at Madge and her pink windblown cheeks with a smile. She's breathing deeply from running around, her blue eyes are bright, and she looks victorious.
"I knew you'd have fun," she exhales.
"Eh…" Gale trails off with a smile. She's pinned below him and he can't stop looking at her damned lips. "Maybe," he finally murmurs. Madge licks her lips, clearly having noticed that he's been staring, and Gale lets out a short breath. He wants to kiss her. God, he's wanted to kiss her for so damned long. "Madge," he starts.
She has other plans. She swings up her hand that's filled with snow and shoves it in his face. Gale gasps in shock and is so thrown off that Madge is easily able to flip the two of them. She pushes him so his back is against the ground and her legs are draped over his hips, pinning him down. His face is freezing cold and his nose is stinging.
But suddenly his lips are warm. He opens his eyes to find that Madge is kissing him.
"I know," she murmurs against his mouth.
"You're the worst," he says with a ringing laugh.
Her smile is as bright as her eyes, is as bright as the white snow in the late morning sun. When she bends to kiss him again Gale rolls them, once again pinning her below him.
"You're just mad I pulverized you after all," she says.
Their noses bump. "Not mad," Gale tells hers. "I am fucking freezing, though." He steals another kiss. "I know some great ways to warm up, if you're interested."
Madge tries to hitch her legs up but her snow pants make it difficult. Instead she drops her head backwards into the snow, causing her hood to drop backwards.
"We should hurry," she breathes. "Before everyone else gets the same idea."
Gale laughs, forcing himself to his feet before reaching down to help her up. She loops her arm through his and they trudge back through the snow, over the footprints everyone's created during their morning games.
"Where are you two going?" Johanna shouts as they got to the edge of the courtyard.
Gale shouts back, "To warm up!"
Johanna and Finnick both cheer, but Madge and Gale don't care. They have other things on their mind.