Madge was thankful for the assurance, for knowing that she could follow Gale and not leave them out of luck. Patting Rory on the shoulder, she mirrored his smile and made her way to back to the edge of the lake.
Gale was, of course, several steps ahead of her already, no matter how quickly her numb fingers worked on untying the laces. Pulling on her boots and getting up, she rushed after him.
"Gale," she called out as soon as she was close enough. "I'll leave, you don't have to."
At first, when he heard footsteps behind him, Gale thought it was Rory. Rory is usually the first to keep needling him, doing it deliberately as brothers often would, but hearing Madge call out to him made him pause and glance over his shoulder, frowning.
"Who said I want you leave?" he asked coolly, keeping his face as neutral as he could manage. "The lake is big enough for all four of you. Go back and skate, Undersee. That's why you came out here, isn't it?"
"But it's not big enough for the five of us, apparently," Madge retorted, keeping as cool of a demeanor as he was. Or at least she was attempting to. She was doing her best to keep her temper under check, but it was hard.
"They're your family, you deserve to spend time with them, not me. I can go skate somewhere else... or do something else."
“Who said I wanted to stay longer?” he snapped, stopping to frown at her. “I decided to leave. Am I not allowed to make that decision on my own, Undersee? Who said it had anything to do with you?”
It had everything to do with her, the secret his own family had kept from him, but Gale refused to admit it aloud. It didn’t matter, he kept telling himself - she didn’t matter.
She couldn’t, because if she did… Where did that leave him?
Shaking his head, Gale turned to leave again, walking back toward the town without another word.
Madge trailed off with a huff, narrowing her eyes at him now. She was trying to give him the chance to spend time with his family without a stranger, more or less, trying for the same. But then he was off without another word and she was left standing there, watching him leave.
"Fine."
She went back to the lake to let Rory know she was feeling under the weather suddenly and would be at Katniss and Peeta's if they needed her.... Then made her way there, eager to just forget about how ridiculous this all was.
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no subject
Gale was, of course, several steps ahead of her already, no matter how quickly her numb fingers worked on untying the laces. Pulling on her boots and getting up, she rushed after him.
"Gale," she called out as soon as she was close enough. "I'll leave, you don't have to."
no subject
"Who said I want you leave?" he asked coolly, keeping his face as neutral as he could manage. "The lake is big enough for all four of you. Go back and skate, Undersee. That's why you came out here, isn't it?"
no subject
"They're your family, you deserve to spend time with them, not me. I can go skate somewhere else... or do something else."
no subject
It had everything to do with her, the secret his own family had kept from him, but Gale refused to admit it aloud. It didn’t matter, he kept telling himself - she didn’t matter.
She couldn’t, because if she did… Where did that leave him?
Shaking his head, Gale turned to leave again, walking back toward the town without another word.
no subject
Madge trailed off with a huff, narrowing her eyes at him now. She was trying to give him the chance to spend time with his family without a stranger, more or less, trying for the same. But then he was off without another word and she was left standing there, watching him leave.
"Fine."
She went back to the lake to let Rory know she was feeling under the weather suddenly and would be at Katniss and Peeta's if they needed her.... Then made her way there, eager to just forget about how ridiculous this all was.