love n. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

Gale is moved to the Everdeen house. Peeta helps carry the board he's on, an old counter top, and a few of Gale's friends from the mines help as well. Katniss has run ahead to get her mother to prepare things.

The door swings open as they lug him in. Gale is still unconscious. His back is raw and hot. Katniss stares. Peeta asks, "Has anyone told his wife?" They lower the countertop to the table but no one answers him. "Madge? Has anyone told her?"

"No, I don't know," Katniss shakes her head. She can't think straight, seeing Gale like this. She knew Gale hated Coadunate Day and she knew that Gale hated the Capitol but he was never scared of them. The mines, being whipped, his two biggest fears and now he's had to deal with them both. Her fingers stretch out for his raw skin but Mrs. Everdeen swats her away. The door hasn't even shut all the way before it bursts open again. Katniss turns her head, "Hazelle!"

"Where's Madge?" she asks, rushing forward. "I sent Rory to find her but…" she trails off, shaking her head. His mother moves over to Gale and lowers herself in the spot next to him, grabbing her son's hand with all she's got. "Vick and Posy, they, they're home all alone and—"

"I can go," Peeta offers. He doesn't know Gale personally, but he was friends with Madge for a while when they were younger and he still considers them close, she stops in the bakery practically every night and they sit together at lunch with Katniss some days. Gale is her husband and he can do this for her. "I'll leave right now." Katniss kisses Peeta's cheek before he leaves, pulling on a jacket as he makes for the door. "Looks like snow," he calls over his shoulder.

"Good," Mrs. Everdeen nods. She turns to Katniss. "Go set some bowls outside that will collect the snow. We'll need it." Katniss is frozen, staring at her best friend who is beaten and bloody. "Katniss!"

"He needs medicine!" she yells back. "What are you waiting for?" Gale shifts at the yelling, his eyes snap open before shutting tightly. He croaks something but it's unintelligible. "Gale?" Katniss stoops next to him. "What did he say?"

Hazelle glances down at her son and lifts her eyes up to Katniss before swallowing thickly. There's only one person Gale wants right now.

"Madge," Hazelle whispers. "He said Madge."

The door swings open, no use in knocking, and Madge stumbles in with Rory trailing behind her. She looks a mess, her hair is in every direction and her cheeks are red, tears blot the corners of her eyes. The scarf around her throat is becoming unwrapped and in her gloveless hands she holds two tiny bottles.

"Use these," she rasps. She rushes forward and forces the bottles into Mrs. Everdeen's hands despite the fact that her own are shaking and Rory lingers in the doorway. Madge lowers herself next to Gale and grabs the hand that Hazelle isn't holding. "I'm sorry," Madge shakes her head, looking between all of the ladies in the room. "I wanted to be here forever ago b-but, but I needed t-to run home and get the medicine, it's morphling, it's my m-mom's and then I didn't," she shivers, "I didn't know where you… you took him thank God Rory f-found me or, or I, I might've—"

"It's okay," Hazelle says. Rory finally steps forward after Katniss ushers him inside and he takes his spot next to his mother. Madge redirects her gaze to Gale and for the first time she really looks at him. Madge gulps and her eyes instantly fill with tears. "Madge, honey," Hazelle reaches over but the blonde shrinks away, squeezing her eyes shut and jerking her head to the side. "It's okay," Hazelle repeats.

"We fought!" Madge cries. This is her fault; he's here because of her! If she had let things just breeze by this morning he wouldn't have ran out, he wouldn't have been so distracted. She squeezes Gale's hand as tight as she can. "This morning, we fought j-just this morning!" Gale stirs at the sound of her voice, blinking a few times and groaning. "Gale," she whispers. She moves to where his face is and watches his eyes flutter open. "Gale, can you hear me?"

"You're here," he exhales. He blinks a few times, the corners of his mouth turning upward as his eyes water. Even in his detached state Gale didn't think she would show up. "Madge…" Gale winces and drops his head down to the table. He gasps for air.

"Give him the medicine," Madge pleads, turning her head to Mrs. Everdeen who's been filling the needle. "Give it to him now. It helps with pain, please, give it to him!" Mrs. Everdeen finishes filling the needle and shoots it into his back. Gale yells as it's injected into him and sucks in sharp breaths.

"Madge," he chokes again. He's asleep before he can say anything else. Madge leans closer to him and whimpers, holding her hand as tightly as he can.

"He'll be okay," Rory says. Everyone looks at him but Madge doesn't pull her gaze from her husband. "He'll be okay, Madge."

She isn't sure she believes him.

Gale stirs sometime in the middle of the night. He knows it's night because it's dark, even after he blinks a few times. One of his hands is being tightly held. His back is numb but if he shifts a line of pain shoots down his spine. Gale tries to move his head, tries to figure out where he is, until he turns and finds the person holding his hand. Gale lowers his head back to the table and blinks a few more times.

"Madge?" he whispers. She shoots awake, looking up at him with bright blue eyes. His lips curl into a sweet smile. She stretches forward and lets her fingers dance over his cheeks. "Where'm I?"

"The Everdeens," she says quietly. "Your mom and Rory were here for a bit but wanted to get back to the kids before it got too dark out and the snow got to be too much." He nods his head the best he can. Madge brushes his bangs from his forehead and sniffles loudly. Madge is terrified that he's going to yell at her, that he's going to blame her for everything that's happened. She looks over her shoulder, preparing to stand. "I should wake Mrs. Everdeen so she—"

"I'm fine," he murmurs. "Come here." Madge narrows her eyes at him. "Come heeere," he coos softly. "I've got to telll you something before I fall back aaasleep." She moves toward him, smiling at the way his voice drags out. He's clearly a little loopy. "Closer." She shifts again. "Closer." His lips are by the shell of her ear. "I love you," he whispers. Gale kisses the spot just below her ear, the only place he can reach without straining something. "I love you," he says again, sleep overtaking him. "I'm sorry."

Sorry for getting hurt? That wasn't his fault, it was hers. Sorry for getting whipped? That wasn't his fault either.

She shifts away from him when his breath becomes panty and quiet and smiles, the weight of his words finally hitting her. Madge presses her hands to her cheeks to make sure she isn't dreaming. She pulls his hand up to her mouth and kisses his knuckles.

"I love you too," she sighs.

Katniss wakes Madge in the morning so they can go get more snow for his back. Gale is asleep again and Madge can't help but wonder if she imagined his little confession last night. He was doped up on morphling and drowsy, he might not've even meant it. Don't people say what they really mean in times like that, though? Madge is too confused to speculate.

Now is not the time to think like this, she scolds herself. Madge follows Katniss outside with a bowl and they both start to scoop snow. Katniss looks toward Madge as she carefully fills the bowl, making sure to avoid any spots that might look a bit dirtier than the rest.

"Madge," Katniss says. The blonde looks up with questioning eyes. "Gale. He wanted to run away." Madge blinks a few times before her eyebrows furrow together, and then she drops her bowl in the snow. Katniss blames Madge for this, too. It makes her feel even guiltier than before. "I thought you should know." Madge stares down at the bowl with a heavy heart.

"Did he say why?" she asks. Katniss continues shoveling snow, she doesn't answer. "Katniss," Madge pleads. The brunette tilts her head toward her friend and lifts her shoulder. Madge doesn't need an answer. She knows why. "Because of me," Madge whispers. The wind whips past them and sends loose strands of her hair curling in front of her face. A tear burns down her cheek. "It was because of me."

"It's more complicated than that," Katniss tells her. "Just… just talk to him about it when he wakes up, okay? Don't let it end at that, it—" Katniss shakes her head. "I just can't explain. I don't know everything." Katniss can speculate that Gale wanted to run due to fear of love, but she can't be sure, and she refuses to get Madge's hopes up. She might also, just a little bit, think this is Madge's fault. Just a bit. "Just talk to him."

"I will," Madge nods. Katniss stands and jerks her head for Madge to follow. She grabs her bowl but stays in the snow. "Are you mad at me?" Madge asks.

"Why would I be?"

"Because you know Gale and I fought," she responds. Katniss hesitates. "Because I'm the reason he was in the woods that morning."

"I'm not mad at you," Katniss answers. And in a way, she's sort of grateful Gale was there. "This just shouldn't have happened." Katniss hesitates again and Madge finally forces herself to her feet. "He took the fall for me. I had the bag and he took the fall." Katniss lifts her shoulders. "I guess I'm kind of mad at me. I'm kind of mad at everyone." The wind blows past again and Madge shivers. "Come on, let's get inside."

It's a few days before Gale is given the OK to leave. He spends his time lying on his stomach and wishing he had something to do. His family comes by every once in a while. Posy likes to sit on Madge's lap and tell Gale all about her day. Rory just sits, he doesn't say much. He was there and saw Gale bloody and beaten and in pain and doesn't have anything to say. Vick likes to ask a lot of questions. Does it hurt? How much? When will it stop? Are you going to die?

Madge doesn't speak either, she just sits by Gale's side quietly. Sometimes he'll turn his head to look at her and she'll be staring at his back, clearly lost in thought. He'll clear his throat and she'll look back toward him and smile, but it's not the same. He doesn't like that she looks at his wounds. He doesn't like that she isn't talking to him. He wants to know what's going on inside her head.

The last night before Gale can leave he watches her a bit before getting her attention. There's a crease between her eyebrows that he wants to kiss away, and then continue to kiss every freckle across the bridge of her nose. She looks tired; Gale knows she hasn't been sleeping much. The past few days he's gotten morphling to help him sleep, but she just has to sit and watch.

He hasn't been given any painkillers today, however, and he wants to talk.

"Madge," he whispers. She blinks a few times before turning. "What're you thinking about?"

"A lot of things," she admits, looking toward the ground. He squeezes her hand, urging her on. "I'm just worried about you," she says, changing her previous statement. "I want you to get better."

"I'll be fine," Gale responds. He'll have scars, Mrs. Everdeen already told him so, but he'll survive. He wishes they weren't there, and that they didn't hurt, but they do and they're never going away, so he might as well deal with it. He'll have to go back to work when he's all healed up within the next week. "Don't worry about me." He rubs his thumb over her knuckles and she shrugs slightly. "I'm really glad you're here," he says. Madge looks up immediately and meets his eyes, though she's clearly confused. "I know that we fought, that—"

"Gale," she cuts him off, shaking her head. She doesn't want him to break her heart again, not in the Everdeen's house with people listening in. "Not now."

"Why not now?" He shifts a bit so he can get a better look at her. "I want to talk about it." Gale never wants to talk about anything, and the sincerity in his eyes is genuine. His words come out a little strained, "How I acted was wrong, Madge, I know that." She lets out a huff of air and leans backwards in her seat. This was not the conversation she thought she would be having. Gale takes his time before each sentence, struggling for the correct words. "It was stupid of me to kiss you and then pretend like it didn't mean anything to either of us. Especially to you."

"You told me from the start—"

"I told you that I would never love you," Gale says, "and I was wrong." Madge casts her eyes to the ground. "I love you," he says sternly. Her chin quivers, her eyes fill with tears. How can he say it so simply all of a sudden? That's easy, because it's simple for him now. He has to spend every moment he possibly can with her, this whipping has shown him that. "I do, Madge. I was so terrified to admit it that I just denied it and I would've kept denying it if you hadn't called me out on it." He shifts again, sitting up more and needing her to understand this. Madge reaches to his back as though to hold him down and he swats her hand away. She wouldn't have touched him, she just wanted him to stop moving. His back is already wrapped up, they just want him laying for a bit. "I was wrong," he says again. "Look at me."

She's so terrified to meet his gaze, terrified he won't like who he sees. "I can't," she shakes her head.

"Madge—"

"You were going to run away!" she cries. Gale flinches but doesn't deny it. Madge lifts her hand immediately to cover her mouth and sucks in a small breath, turning to face him. The rest of the house does not stir. "You were going to leave me here. How can you tell me you love me when—"

"Look at me," Gale says, reaching forward to tilt her chin up. "I was going to leave because I love you." Her hand falls. "I never would've done it, but I just… I have been terrified, terrified to fall in love for as long as I can remember. I made up all of these excuses as to why I shouldn't and kept my self emotionally distanced from everyone except my family." She blinks until a tear drips down her cheek and Gale lifts his hand to wipe it away. "First it was because of my mom and dad. They loved each other and when he died I had to pick up the pieces because of how broken she was." Gale pauses, searching for the right words. "And then it was the Capitol, I was so angry that they were telling me who I had to be with I figured I would spite them, and it just, it all built up to the point of me being absolutely petrified of love."

"That's stupid," she croaks.

He chuckles and nods, "I know." His thumb continues to caress her cheek. "And so when I realized that I had fallen in love with you it scared the shit out of me. I didn't know what to do. I never would've actually ran away, not without you, I was just—"

"Scared," Madge says. Gale dips his head. "I'm scared too," she whispers. "Loving you is absolutely… I never know what I'm going to get. Gale, you're an asshole but you're also one of the greatest people I've ever met." She blinks a few times again. "Even before we were married you weren't afraid to push me to my limits, but not in a bad way. You always brought out something inside me that no one else could."

"Mm," he smiles, "I like it when we debate."

Madge lets out a watery laugh but agrees, "Me too."

He leans in closer, pressing his forehead to hers. "I fucked up. I know I did."

She nods, "Yeah. You did."

"I'm sorry. I am, I'm so sorry."

Madge smiles again, though her eyes are still wet, and Gale finds the strength to do so as well. "You hurt me, Gale," she whispers, her smile falling. His fades as well. "You're irrational, you know. You need to talk to me if you want this to work."

"I will," he nods. "Madge, I swear I will." It'll be difficult, he's never been very good at expressing his emotions, but he'll try his dammed hardest. "Can we work on it? Fixing things?" She nods simply and smiles again, wanting this to work more than anything. They're quiet for a bit before Gale lets out a soft breath. "I love you," he whispers. "I love your patience, and your strength, and how you are with my family, and the way you laugh." At that she lets out a quiet giggle. "I love you, Madge, and I'm sorry it took me so dammed long to realize it."

"Me too," she sighs. Gale rolls his eyes but chuckles when her lips curl upwards again.

His eyes search hers for a brief moment before dropping down to her lips. She must notice because she licks them. "Can I kiss you?" he asks.

"You're my husband," she beams. "Of course you can."

Gale grins, tilting her chin up and bending down so their lips can graze. Madge reaches behind him and tangles her hands into his hair as he pulls her toward him. He almost has her in his lap when Mrs. Everdeen clearing her throat startles them apart.

Madge drops to the ground with a yelp, spinning around to face the healer with bright red cheeks. "Mrs. Everdeen," Gale nods pointedly. He can't wipe the smile off of his face. Madge looks infinitely flustered. "Er, sorry."

The woman sighs, but smiles slightly. "I think you're all good to go, Gale. Just stop by tomorrow to get your bandages changed, okay?"

"Okay," he nods. His hand finds Madge's again. "Thank you for everything, Mrs. E."

"Yes, thank you," Madge echoes. "If he, if Gale hadn't—"

"You're welcome," she cuts Madge off. "I know you two want out of here, so go on." Gale's smile stretches into a grin and he tips his head at Mrs. Everdeen again, who smiles brightly back.

Days pass and Gale's wounds heal up. His back still hurts and work is a pain but he manages, considering he gets to come home to Madge every night. Tonight Gale immediately knows something is different, however. Madge is acting strange, she smiles at him more often and laughs when things aren't funny. It takes him a while but finally he gets around to asking.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks. Madge narrows her eyes at him and he smirks, lifting his shoulders. "You're in a weirdly good mood."

"Yeah, so?"

"So… want to tell me why?" He's sitting on the couch and extends his arms, motioning for her to join him. She moves from her spot and settles onto his lap, allowing Gale to nuzzle into her neck. "What's going on?" he breathes, letting it dance over her skin. She leans into him and smiles. "Tell me."

"Okay," she nods. Madge leans backwards and turns slightly so she can see him, cradling his cheeks in her hands. "I'm pregnant," she says. He blinks a few times, jerking out of her grasp so he can look down at her stomach. "Gale?"

"That's incredible," he exhales. "That's incredible! Madge!" Gale dissolves into laughter before bowing down and instilling her with the sweetest kiss. He's smiling so broadly Madge isn't even sure that it is a kiss. "Oh, God, that's so great! That's great!" He pulls her toward him again and again, peppering kisses to her face. "God, this is great, this is so perfect."

"Gale," she laughs, parting from him with the most beautiful smile. His eyes are bright and his smile is wide, but she's hesitant. "Is this what you want?"

His smile falters a bit, his eyebrows furrowing together. It doesn't matter what he wants, this is a requirement. They're to have two children or to be put to death. It shouldn't matter what he wants.

But it does.

Coadunate Day is necessary but what comes after is not. Gale is no longer scared.

He nods, "Yes. This is what I want." Gale leans down and presses his mouth to hers. "I want you," he whispers. "I want a family with you." He brushes her bangs from her forehead.

She hasn't said it often, and is always scared of how he'll take it, but it falls from her tongue so naturally tonight. "I love you," she whispers nervously. Madge looks down, and when she looks back up he's smiling. He believes her.

But more importantly, he feels the same.

"I love you, too."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this ten-day journey with me, friends! I hope you liked the fic! My gratitude to juniorstarcatcher for beta-ing is unlimited, as well as my inspiration swishywillow. I know it was a kind of cheesy ending, but hey. Lots of love for all the support! You guys are great!