A/N: My first hunger games fanfic. I was listening to "Pretending" (from Glee) and then this story was born. Hope you like it.
PRETENDING
Effie Trinket had always been one to go with the flow and to follow all the rules, exactly as written. She always crossed every t and always dotted every i. And most importantly, she always wanted to look and act her best.
So you can only imagine her surprise when she started to have feelings for the District 12 disgrace known as Haymitch Abernathy. He was everything she wasn't. A carefree, alcoholic rule-breaker with no sense of fashion! These feelings she had for him took the phrase "opposites attract" to a whole new level. They absolutely had nothing in common. She knew there was no way this relationship could work.
So why did she feel attracted to him in the way that she did?
He disgusted her.
But that was only on the surface. Deeper down, she sensed something more. An actual person behind all the alcohol and attitude. Maybe if he cleaned up a little and—no. Effie shoved the thought violently from her mind. She would not allow her standards to stoop so low. As long as Haymitch thought she hated him, everything would be okay.
On the surface.
Effie sighed and unlocked the bathroom door.
As she rejoined the party, she looked around for a familiar face. A familiar Capitol face. Alas, she saw no one. The only familiar she could find was Haymitch. She frowned slightly as he approached her. She could tell from his wobbly gait that he had certainly had too much to drink tonight. As always.
When he was close enough for conversation, he flashed her his infamous one-sided smile. Effie continued to pretend to be disgusted in him, which wasn't hard considering the circumstances. The hard part was pretending not to love that one-sided smile of his. It was the little things that masked the much bigger flaws. The little things that Effie had come to love. But, of course, he couldn't know that.
"There's the birthday girl." He smiled, wrapping one arm around her tightly and pulling her in tight. "It's time for presents, Effie. Can't open presents with no birthday girl." He started pulling her towards the presents table.
Effie, frowning, tried to unsuccessfully to break his strong grip on her. "Let go of me, you slob. You're going to ruin my dress!"
Haymitch stop walking, let go of her, and turned to face her full on. "You need to stop pretending to be something you're not, Effie. You're better than that. I know you are. And the person you really are? That's the woman I love, not this." He brushed past her angrily, off towards the door. It was moments like this when Effie really loved Haymitch. It was these moments that connected them somehow.
It was hard not to squeal right then and there. She channeled her excitement into the rest of the party. In reality, she went through the rest of the night in a daze. Not really remembering what went on, but instead focusing on what she should do about Haymitch.
He loved her! And she loved him! But, as fate would have it, they couldn't possibly be together. She was from the Capitol. He was from District 12. You simply could not be more opposite than that. He was everything she despised. And what would her friends think? To see her with such a slob? A cute slob, but a slob nonetheless.
That night Effie went to bed with only one thing on her mind: Haymitch.
She had the most amazing dream where she came and visited him back home in District 12. From there, they took to the forest and ran away. Away from everyone and everything. They spent that night by a lake. Just the two of them, lying together under the stars. In the dream, she had fallen asleep in his arms.
She woke in real life to the sound of someone pounding on her door. Getting up, she opened the door to find an Avox. It was a young girl, no older than seventeen. She had light blonde hair and the most captivating emerald eyes.
"What do you want, servant? You interrupted my sleep." Effie, cranky when tired, was not pleased that there was not a matter of emergency at hand.
The Avox pointed to the window. She walked over and drew the curtains. Effie, curious now, followed. There were many people on the sidewalk below her. Across the street, she could see a man standing on the balcony railing of his room. A man with curly dark hair.
Effie rushed out of her room, down the stairs, and across the street to the building across the street. Out of breath, she jammed the elevator button with her finger and waited anxiously for it to come. Once in, she pushed 12 and prayed that Haymitch hadn't jumped yet. When she got to his floor, she ran like mad to get to his room at the end of the hall. Fortunately, his door was cracked open. She threw it open and found a half-dressed girl sitting on the couch. The redhead looked confused and helpless, but Effie couldn't be bothered with her now, even if the sight of another girl in Haymitch's apartment made Effie a bit jealous.
"Where's his room?" She asked.
The girl pointed towards the back of the apartment. "He's in there. Though he's a bit of a loon. He was murmuring all night in his sleep about some girl named Effie. And now he's been driven to kill himself. I swear, those victors are all a little mad. It must be agony to watch people be slaughtered like animals. It's sick. And cruel."
He'd been thinking about her! But now he was going to kill himself because she didn't love him back. Or so he thought. Effie barged into his room. Initially, the sight of his clothes and of empty liquor bottles strewn everywhere disgusted her. But she put it out of her mind as she came to focus on the more important matter at hand.
"Haymitch." She breathed, not wanting to startle him.
Without turning around he answered, "You came."
"Haymitch, get down from there. You're going to fall and hurt yourself." She ordered, nervousness breaking her voice.
"Why do you care anyways? You don't love me. What's the point in living anyways if the one person I start to love and trust again doesn't even love me back? After I won, they took away everything, Effie! They killed everyone I cared about! I don't trust much of anyone anymore. And this is why. Because if you get to close to someone, they're just going to end up hurting you." He turns around. "You have no idea, do you? You don't know that when I'm with you, I want to be a better person. I want to stop drinking. I want to love. I want to trust. I want to get better. And I only feel that way around you. Sure, I'll never be the same as the rest of the Capitol people, but at least I'm real with you." He smiles softly. "And I guess you've chosen to be real with me. You're very beautiful, you know. Just like this."
The two stare deeply into each other's eyes for a moment. Effie takes a few steps closer, grabs his chin, and takes hostage his lips with hers. Not expecting this, Haymitch stumbles and falls forward, toward Effie, and onto the floor, pinning Effie underneath.