It is Haymitch Week and I am sooooo excited!

Day 1: Youth

Family

Haymitch pushed the pane of the kitchen's window impossibly slow, wary of its creaking. Going out was never an issue, it was sneaking back in that was always a little problematic. He needed to get a boost to climb in without knocking pots left on the small counter or tripping and waking up the whole house. It was made trickier by the fact his mother slept in a corner, her 'room' separated from the main kitchen/living-room only by a thin curtain.

When Iris Abernathy slept though, she slept deep, and it wasn't the first time he had sneaked out in the middle of the night.

He managed to slip inside and slowly closed the window, put the latch back and allowed himself a sigh of relief.

Right up until he heard the crack of a match and the soft glow of a candle lighted the room, revealing his mother standing there with a scowl.

Really, he should have known better than thinking he could get away with it. He got busted one time out of three.

"Mama." he winced. "I was just…" A hundred excuses spun in his head and he rejected each and every one of them for a sheepish wince. "Well… Busted?"

His mother narrowed her grey eyes, taking in his disheveled appearance – that he couldn't quite blame on the nonexistent wind – his untucked shirt and guilty stance. He shuffled awkwardly on his feet, rubbing the spot on his neck where he was sure Mabel had left a giant hickey. It amused her to get him in trouble with his mother. It amused him too right until it actually happened. He had enjoyed the sucking on his neck though, so he supposed he couldn't quite complain now.

"Sneaking out with the Larson girl in the middle of the night." Iris clicked her tongue in that way that meant she was more disappointed than angry – and, incidentally, that always made him wriggle in shame even at fifteen. "Again. Honestly, Haymitch…"

"We just went to the meadow, we didn't kill anyone." he grumbled.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, boy." his mother warned. "Do you know what they do to people they catch outside after curfew? Do you really want me to watch you getting whipped at the post again?"

He suppressed the flare of annoyance. If he had gotten whipped the last time, it was because he had been caught poaching and if he had been caught poaching it had been to feed his family. He refused to feel guilty or sorry about that. He was proud of it even, proud of the thin fading scars on his back. He had gotten off easy anyway. The Head Peacekeeper liked him and he had only given him five lashes – not as violent as he had seen other people get whipped either. He had been lucky.

"We're being careful." he argued. "Everyone does it, Mama. It's fine."

"No, it's not." she retorted. "I won't have you risking punishment just so you can sneak to the meadow and… And do what, by the way, Haymitch? What is so important that you can't do it tomorrow, by daylight, in front of everyone else?" She stared at him from head to toes and didn't seem very impressed by what she saw. "I hope you are not doing anything foolish, Haymitch. Because if you and that girl are… experimenting…"

"Mama!" he squealed in embarrassment – yes, he squealed, because there was one thing he didn't want to talk about with his mother and that was sex.

"Experimenting is fine. It is normal." Iris continued. "But don't you do anything that will result in a pregnancy experiment. I am way too young to be a grandmother."

The tips of his ears were burning. "Mama…"

"There will be time once you are married." she continued. "If you love the girl, you can wait. If you love her, you won't have people talking behind her back and calling her nasty names just because she gave you what you wanted. You'll respect this girl, Haymitch."

"I already do!" he snapped, annoyed and embarrassed all rolled into one. "Come on, you see Mabel doing anything she doesn't want to? And we're not… We're not…" He stammered to a stop. "We're not doing any of that. We're just… We're…" His face contorted into a painful expression of embarrassment and he wondered if that was his mother's idea of a suitable punishment: making him talk about this sort of things. "We're just… Kissing and stuff."

Iris didn't look particularly happy with that answer. "And can't you kiss and stuff when you are allowed to be out there instead of doing it in the middle of the night? You have school tomorrow."

He rolled his eyes. School was a joke. They never learned anything worthwhile and Haymitch was at the top of his class without having to lift a finger anyway. He loved learning but he knew that was never going to happen through school. High school in Twelve was just designed to make sure you were a nice little ant ready to go join the anthill that was the mine. They barely taught people to read, write and count. If his mother only knew how many times he and his friends had played hooky and had gone to the woods instead…

"Sorry, Mama." he drawled out dutifully but without any sincerity.

Time spent with Mabel was always worth it. He knew he was head over heels for that girl but he couldn't even bother to care. She was feral like wildfire, difficult and stubborn…. They butted heads a lot but he loved it. He loved her. He would marry her one day and they would have kids who would be just as stubborn as their parents and it would make up for the lack of money – there was no question they would have kids eventually, it wasn't really an option in Twelve since there was no way to prevent pregnancies that didn't involve a trip to the old woman who had a collection of knitting needles.

"You make me worry about you when you pull this sort of stunts." she insisted. "I can't lose you, Haymitch. Don't be reckless for the sake of it." He opened his mouth but she wasn't done. "And what if Hayden had followed you? You know he would jump off a cliff if you did the same. That boy idolizes you. What sort of example are you setting for him? If he starts sneaking out in the middle of the night, it could be dangerous. He could be punished."

"You sure are a master at guilt-tripping." he mumbled. "I'm sorry, Mama."

"It comes with motherhood." she snorted. "And you can be sorry because you will have the double of chores for the next month."

"Yeah, okay." he sighed. It wasn't like it would make a lot of difference anyway.

"Go to bed now." she said. "And don't wake up your brother." He did as she asked, not surprised when she grabbed his arm when he passed by and pressed a kiss to his head. She had to go on tip-toe to do that now, he was taller than she was. "I love you, you silly boy."

"Love you too, Mama." he offered with a small smile. "Night."

He had barely closed the door to the small room he shared with his brother that Hayden sat up in his bed. He could see the ten years old's delighted face in the moonlight spilling from the window.

"You got busted." Hayden grinned.

"Thank you for the sympathy, baby brother." he mocked.

"Told you you should take me with you." the kid triumphed. "I could have kept watch for you."

"Yeah, and then we would both have been busted and Mama would have had my ass for taking you out in the middle of the night." he pointed out.

"You take me out all the time to watch the stars." Hayden argued.

"And we're not telling Mama about that." Haymitch retorted, toeing off his shoes and climbing in bed without bothering to get in pajamas. "Go back to sleep."

"What did you do with Mabel?" Hayden asked, completely ignoring him.

"None of your business." he grumbled.

Hayden started making kissing faces, half-laughing while he did, and Haymitch turned his back on him, pulling the cover all the way to his ear.

He loved them but sometimes his family was too much.