The Winner Takes it All. NOT A SONG FIC, however it is a little based off the song from Mamma Mia (The movie, not the play). Takes place in Catching Fire after Peeta, Effie, Haymitch & Katniss watch the Reaping and Haymitch leaves without a word. Might be M later but just a lenient T for now.
KATNISS POV
I watched him leave. My mentor, so stricken with grief over friends which he would lose in only a few weeks time. Even if Haymitch and I yelled at each other till our throats bled, I still respected him to the core of my being. Which, in theory, was completely ridiculous. He was a mean, drunk, and all together frustrating being to be around. But he had a reason, and his pain – no matter how much he tried to mask it – always came through to me. Peeta mumbled something to me about getting some sleep and I nodded without kissing him goodnight. He'd been distant ever since Gale's whipping. I missed the kindness in his eyes.
I gave them one last sparing glance before going to my room and awaiting the nightmares to come. Knowing that Peeta wouldn't come sleep next to me. Effie looked morosely at her nightly drink, a pink monstrosity that requires wine to taste right, which Effie had given up herself because of Haymitch's own sobriety. A little known fact about Effie – when she is minutes from sleep she will strip off all make-up, dyes and wigs leaving herself completely normal. She has wavy, chin length locks and her natural eye color was a placid green. She was very pretty without all of the golden tattoos and iridescent eyeliner.
Peeta was busy, listing all the victor\tributes and rummaging through the tapes. I had a feeling he wouldn't be asleep for a good few hours. I walked down the long cart that held all of our rooms, noticing quickly that Haymitch's' door was cracked. I stepped in, trying to be quiet. There were no sounds coming from him, but I noticed the unmistakable glisten of tears silently rolling one after the other down his worn face. He had something cupped in his hands that I couldn't see. "I can hear you breathing, Sweetheart." He said in thick voice. It made me jump, how suddenly he had spoken.
"How are you holding up?" I asked, stepping further into the room.
He smirked under his light brown locks. "Just peachy."My eyes must have been on his hands longer than an appropriate time because he held the mysterious object out to me. Why wouldn't he look at me? I took a cautious step forward and took the filmy material. It was a picture of a very young Haymitch with his arm around a petite girls shoulders and his lips on her temple. She had blonde, curly hair and beautiful gray Seam eyes.
"Who is this?" I knew who it was, so I don't know why I was asking. To be cruel, to let him have an outlet, maybe.
"Evangeline. The love of my life, I guess." He let out a dark, painful chuckle. I swallowed hard.
"What happened to her?" I knew she was killed, but I honestly didn't know how. I don't think anyone but Snow did.
Haymitch ran his fingers through his hair, "You might as well sit down, Sweetheart; it's a long story."
HAYMITCH POV:
Day 1
I ran off the silver shuttle, not even bothering to speak to anyone or into any microphones. I especially couldn't face the Mayor, knowing I had been partially responsible for Maysilee's death. Sure I had stayed till the end, but that wasn't good enough. None of that mattered right now, though. Now that I saw her. She was running towards me, full force, like she would stop breathing if she didn't. We crashed into each other, surprisingly not breaking one another's teeth in the process. For the first time since she was pulled away from me after the Reaping. I could barely breath, but I didn't care. All I had been through would be fine, even if I just died in her arms. "I knew you could do it." She whispered to my ear, her lips brushing the length sending shivers down my spine.
Eventually I had to do some interviews and PR for the crowd, but I kept my arm around Evangeline. Several cameras snapped as I kissed her temple. It felt so good to have her next to me again. A town car was pulled to bring us to Victors Village where almost all of my family's belongings had been moved. My mother held onto for a solid minute before releasing me. After a while, I had convinced my mother and brother to leave Evangeline alone for the night, promising that I would devote the entire next day to them.
"It wasn't very smart, you know." Evangeline murmured, her legs pulled under her, my head resting on her lap.
I smirked up at her, her fingers curling in my hair. "What?"
"Taunting the capitol like that. Showing a flaw in their engineering."
I sat up, pulling her face close to mine. "They aren't going to do anything to me, Eve. I'm a victor." She smiled and nodded. I kissed her forehead, pulling her close to my chest. I leaned down kissing her neck, internally grinning when a moan escaped her lips. "God, I've missed this."
I know this was super short but please tell me if is should continue! I won't if you don't!