YOU FOUND ME
CHAPTER 1
KATNISS'S POV
It was almost dark when I walked into Haymitch's house. I searched his filthy house until I finally found him in his room upstairs. It was surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the house, and by the looks of it he didn't normally even sleep in there.
"Haymitch, get up." I said, shaking him gently. He groaned and opened his eyes.
"What?" he asked. I could tell by his tone he was angry that I had woken him.
"I brought some food. Peeta made the remark that he didn't see very much food last time he was here and the people in the Hob say they haven't seen you in weeks." I replied.
"Why, sweetheart? I can take care of myself." he snapped.
"I highly doubt that. Have you seen the condition your house is in lately? And if you took care of yourself, you'd have food and something good to drink instead of just liquor." I snapped back.
"Why would you care?" he asked.
"I just don't want to see the mentor that got me out of two Hunger Games and a war die." I replied. His eyes slightly softened, but not very much. He got up and followed me down to the kitchen. I could tell by the way he looked that he hadn't ate anything in at least a week.
"Were you trying to starve yourself to death, Haymitch?" I asked.
"Not intentionally, but now that I think about it I wish I had. Death after all these years would be a blessing." Haymitch replied. I felt so bad for him. Of course I knew his story. He had went into the fiftieth Hunger Games when he was sixteen, when he won his mother and brother and girlfriend were all killed by President Snow as payback for using the arena wall to his advantage. He had been lonely ever since and was now forty two years old. He had been successful in pulling both Peeta Mellark and I through two Hunger Games as well as a full fledged war. We had been back in District twelve for a year now. I had gone through depression and Haymitch helped me to overcome it. Peeta and I didn't work out as a couple so now we mainly talked just if we happened to see each other out or if we needed to talk about something. We took turns checking in on Haymitch weekly and reported to each other whenever he got worse in condition.
I had brought a couple of rabbits I had killed in the woods, some bread Peeta had baked, some milk, cheese, and even some soup from Greasy Sae.
"Gosh, Sweetheart, I don't need to eat so much." Haymitch said.
"You're not eating it all at once. This should last you tonight and tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow night with some more. I didn't know how bad off your food supply was or I would have brought more." I replied. I skinned one of the rabbits and cooked it before putting a glass of milk and the rabbit and some bread in front of him.
"Eat. Now." I demanded. He cocked an eyebrow.
"And if I don't?" he asked.
"If you don't, I'll call Effie in for reinforcement." I snapped. He quickly ate everything in front of him.
"Can I please go back to bed sweetheart?" he asked.
"Fine." I replied. "But you better hold that food down and you better have the other rabbit, the soup, and at least half the remaining bread ate by the time I come back tomorrow evening." I went home and made a mental list of everything to take him the next day.
The next day, I visited the bakery. Peeta was sitting at a table talking to Delly Cartwright. I didn't want to interrupt them, but I'd rather see Haymitch eat and become more healthy than watch him not improve just so they could talk.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to get a few things." I said, walking up to them.
"It's fine, Katniss. I assume you came back for more food for Haymitch?" Peeta asked. I nodded. He got a big basket and filled it with different kinds of breads.
"Tell the old fool he could come get some food once in a while. He doesn't need to starve himself to death." Peeta said as I was leaving.
"I highly doubt he'll actually listen. I had to threaten to bring Effie in as a reinforcement before he would eat last night." I replied. I left and went to the Hob. I bought some more milk, cheese, and some eggs. I stashed that in my house before slipping my hunting coat on and snuck into the woods. This time when I came back I had one squirrel and some berries.
I went to my house and gathered what I had gotten earlier that day and went to Haymitch's house. He was sitting in the living room but followed me into the kitchen. I was satisfied to see a few new dishes added to the pile in the sink and most of the food from the previous night was gone. I put everything except for the squirrel, the berries, some cheese bread, and milk up. I made supper for him and while he was eating, I washed the dirty dishes and put them up.
"Haymitch, have you ever thought about getting a housekeeper?" I asked.
"Not really." he muttered before digging back into the food. I sighed. I didn't like even thinking about the conditions Haymitch was living in. I could tell by the way he ate that he hadnt had any decent food in a very long time. True, he obviously ate once in a while, but nothing like what I made. Nothing nutritious by any means.
I went to his room and started cleaning there so at least he'd have somewhere clean to sleep. When I was done there, I went to the kitchen and cleaned there, and went from there to the living room. Those were the only dirty rooms in the house, indicating those were the only rooms he really ever spent more than a couple of minutes at a time in.
"Sweetheart, you didn't have to do any of that. I was perfectly fine living in a mess and with very little food." he said when I finished.
"I know I didn't have to. But I wanted to." I replied. I sat on his couch and watched a tv show with him.
I opened my eyes and saw it was three in the morning. I realized I had fallen asleep watching the tv, but I didn't recognize the room I was in. I was in a strange bed. Within seconds I realized Haymitch had carried me to his room and tucked me under the covers. I heard a scream from downstairs and went to investigate.
I found Haymitch screaming in his sleep. I guess he had nightmares just like I did sometimes. I woke him up and told him he was screaming. He looked like he was seriously shaken up from his dream.
"Haymitch, go sleep in your bed. I'm going home." I said gently. He staggered, obviously drunk out of his mind.
"Mind helping me sweetheart?" he asked. I helped him up the stairs and to his bed. I went to leave but he grabbed my wrist. "Stay. Please?" he looked at me with pleading eyes so I sighed and crawled into the bed as well. We fell asleep with our backs turned to each other.
When I woke up later that morning, I was surprised to find my face buried in Haymitch's chest and both of his arms around me. I knew I was probably going to be in for it if he didn't remember how we had gotten in this position. I laid there until he woke up.
"Do you remember anything from last night?" I asked.
"Sweetheart, I never have hangovers. Of course I remember. I remember you came, cooked, cleaned the house, fell asleep on the couch. I carried you up here and went and slept on the couch. You came and woke me up, saying I was screaming in my sleep. Then I couldn't hardly walk so you helped me up here, I asked you to stay, and that's how we ended up like this." Haymitch replied.
I got up and quickly made breakfast. Afterwards, all Haymitch had left was bread.
I left and went to town. When I came back, I had enough food to last Haymitch for two weeks except for meat. That would always have to be hunted daily.
"Sweetheart, why are you doing this?" Haymitch asked.
"Because you apparently need someone else to take care of you since you won't take care of yourself." I replied. I put everything up and made sure the rest of the house was still in order before leaving. I spent the rest of the day cleaning my house. Once that was done I ate and sat around until dark.
I went and made supper for Haymitch. I washed the dishes before once again going home.
I woke up and heard screaming coming from Haymitch's house. I groaned and went over. For once he seemed happy that I woke him up.
"I'm sorry, Sweetheart." He said when I explained he had woken me.
"It's not your fault you get nightmares." I said gently. He smiled. I glanced at the clock. It was one in the morning. I didn't ask or wait to be asked; I got into the bed but made sure to leave plenty of room between us. He didn't say anything so I assumed it was alright.
The next morning I woke up and couldn't find Haymitch anywhere. I went to my house and made breakfast. I ate and washed dishes before taking a shower. After I was done with everything, I went back over to Haymitch's.
He was making some sort of sandwich and had his back turned towards me. He didn't even look when I walked in.
"Where were you this morning?" I asked.
"Out." He replied, still not looking at me. I could tell something was wrong so I went around him so I could see his face. I was shocked to see a deep gash running from the middle of his forehead across to his ear and down to his jaw.
"Haymitch, what happened?" I asked.
"Got in a fight at the Hob, Sweetheart." He replied. I noticed his collarbone was also deeply cut. I drug him to his bathroom and cleaned the wounds. I put bandages on the cuts and decided that was all I could do at that time.
"I'll be back later. Take care of yourself until then." I said before leaving. I went to the Hob. I got a needle, some thread, and a freshly killed chicken.
"I assume that's for Haymitch?" Greasy Sae asked.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"Girl, it aint a secret you've been taking care of him the past few days. Everyone expected you to come rushing in after Gale tore into him this morning." Sae replied.
"Why did Gale do that to him?" I asked.
"Because Gale is crazy over you and thought that since you were taking care of Haymitch, something was going on between yall." she replied.
"Well there's nothing between Haymitch and I." I said.