A/N: So the Hunger Games movie is coming out pretty soon, get excited! I am! Can't wait to see the movie because I love the book. So this is gonna be in Quinn's point of view; leave thoughts in a review please! HUGE NOTE: So basically in this fic, the events and plot and story and stuff of Catching Fire and Mockingjay DO NOT EXIST. Sure, there was the Quarter Quell, but they weren't tributes and they were mentors to some other tributes. Trying to incorporate everything that happens in Catching Fire and Mockingjay is too much work. :D After Peeta and Katniss win the Games (in the first book), a couple years after that, this is the outcome of fabrevans x everlark. Thanks for reading! :D

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My hand stings from the overflowing tea that Rachel pours into my porcelain cup as I had lay it there when she lifted the white pot above. I bring my hand up to my mouth, trying to stop the sting and taste the bitter tartness of her homemade tea. My mouth sticks and sucks the tea as I try to cool it. When I bring my hand back out of my mouth, it's maroon red like a fresh cherry with my teeth marks all over it from biting down too hard.

"Quinn, I'm sorry," apologizes Rachel. She takes my hand swiftly and checks to make sure it's fine, but I pull away and smile.

"I'm good, Rachel. Thanks," I say.

I sit back down on my bed as Finn gets up on the other side and grabs two tissues from a handmade wooden box on the dresser in the front of the room, next to the open door. He walks back over, almost waddling, and gives one to Rachel to help clean up the mess that she has made. I stay on my bed as I rub my hand over and over again, trying to stop the slight burning pain as much as I can.

"Quinn, I'm still sorry," says Finn, the tissue that he's holding wet with Rachel's tea.

"Guys... stop apologizing," I say, frustrated but scared of all the looks that everyone has been giving me since this late morning. I pick up the sheets and go under the covers, turning onto my side facing Finn and Rachel as they finish mopping up the tea, their tissues soggy and light brown. I make sure to put my hand on the coolest spot on my bed. "It's not like I had a choice... it's not like I ever had a choice."

Lucy Quinn Fabray. I go by Quinn because Lucy has never fitted my personality, never will. I am sixteen years old. My younger brother and I live in the community home in District 12. And Finn and Rachel... they're my two best friends. I've known them ever since I arrived here at the community home, the first ones to say 'hello'. I've been here since I was seven years old, almost remembering nothing about my past, before I had lived here with them. My parents, they were Russell and Judy Fabray. I remember them, remember their faces, but I barely know anything about them. And I don't know where they are as well. I knew them for such a small portion of my life, and I never got to remember any memories with them, never got to formally know them as my mom and my dad, or as a family. I remember when I was young, how they hugged my brother and I together in one bunch, holding on and they didn't dare to let go. We were wrapped in sheets, and they were protecting us. What from, I don't know and I never will. And then waking up one day to find the other side of the bed empty, our mother's indent on the bed vanished and my brother alone on the other bed, our father not in sight. Thinking that they were out on an earlier hunt, we had continued our morning schedule and went to school, but upon arriving back, Peacekeepers were in our hut of a home, armed with weapons, sweeping us away to the community home.

Here in District 12, some say that they committed a horrible crime, something unimaginably crazy and idiotic, even enough to have something as terrifying as to have them disappear from me, their only daughter. Some say that they are now Avoxes, even if they are older than all the other rebels. The people in District 12 say that they work lonesome hours in the Capitol, mainly taking care of the Tributes when they arrive for the Games. And they haven't seen each other's faces ever since they arrived in the Capitol. They do the usual pillow fluffing, dish serving, and not speaking. But those are all just rumours. Some say that they were murdered and mutilated in the most bloodcurdling fashion and that I had had to stand there and watch it happen. But obviously, I don't remember anything like that. If it would have been that life changing, those images would probably still be burning in my mind, haunting me every evening in my nightmares like it was a horrid beast.

And even though I had never met them, I still love them. Somehow, I just know that they had gotten in trouble in one way or another because they had to feed my brother and I. They loved us, that is all I know. No matter what foolishness the townspeople say around here, no matter what whispers I pick up on while eavesdropping at the Hob, I know that they had loved us, and they will never stop loving us.

My younger brother is Chase Fabray. It has been nine years since the disappearance of our parents and Chase is eleven years old as of early April. I remember my mother telling me one day that they had chosen the name Chase for my brother because the day that she had borne him, my father and her could feel that he would grow up to be strong and courageous, a most phenomenal spirit and they knew he would never stop chasing after what he wanted. And they were right. Chase is the light in my life, and if I didn't have him, I would have starved myself to death after my parents were gone. I love Chase. If I ever hurt him in any way, I would apologize immediately. And I would sacrifice myself for him. I remember a few years back, the most spectacular victory for District 12, the triumph of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. I remember watching the reaping from inside the crowd, citizens of Panem flooding the square. I remember me by my mother's side, her holding tight to me, and Chase, just a baby, in my father's loving arms. I remember hearing Effie Trinket saying the name 'Primrose Everdeen', and a silent scream from her older sister, Katniss. I remember Katniss hauling herself up to the stage, embracing Prim in a hug, and volunteering herself as tribute for the Games. I remember how brave Katniss had been. And I want to be like her. I always apply for tessera, even though the community home has enough food to go around for everyone. But Finn, Rachel, and I like to bake small, tasteless biscuits in a small oven over on the other side of the building in the kitchen where the chef, Niahm, let's us bake them in the night, where there is less attention and Finn always looks out for any night guards wandering in the halls. After we finish baking the poor biscuits, we always make exactly twenty, hand two over for Niahm as a thank you, and head over to the male dormitories where Finn and Chase bunk. Finn gets off there and we hand over four to him, and four to Chase and I kiss him goodnight as Rachel and I scurry back to the female dormitories. Because Rachel and I sleep in the same quarter, we take four for ourselves, and the leftover two we save in the morning to eat, splitting one between Finn and Chase, and one between Rachel and I.

Chase cannot be chosen to be in the Games just yet, he still has one year. And I have always prepared him in these nine years that we've gone through without our parents. On Sundays, we always sneak out into the woods, just the two of us, and hunt for game, usually rabbits and sometimes squirrels if he's quick enough to shoot one with the bow and arrow that I keep in my tethered leather knapsack that had once belonged to my father. He had taught me about archery a long time ago, and whenever I had time to sneak out of the community home into the woods, I would use the bow and arrow and I had skilled myself in first class archery. From the game that Chase and I hunt, we stroll into the Hob and trade with men and women who knew our father's name well. My brother and I know how to survive without the help of the community home. The only problem is I have never let Chase go hunting for game on his own. I'm always there by his side in case something happens to him and he can't rescue himself. But what happens when Chase is going to be left alone by himself and he can't help it, can't do anything about it.

"Quinn... wake up," Rachel says to me, nudging my shoulders as I awake from my late night slumber. It's about nine thirty on the red painted wooden clock that dangles above the mahogany boudoir in our quarters. She shakes my shoulders again and I finally get up, supporting myself on two elbows pushing into the plush mattress.

Rachel is holding a clean white bowl in the middle of her two hands, in front of her chest, positioned to give it to me. Inside the bowl are fresh strawberries that Chase and I gathered yesterday in the woods, a special batch that we didn't trade the mayor with. The strawberries are a bright red, the seed intact and the leaves green as ever. On top of the strawberries are little sugar sprinkled and some small chunks of sugar cubes too, accompanied with a silver spoon.

Not only is Rachel giving me breakfast in bed strange, but also the fact that she's wearing her finest clothes, dresses tailored by her mother before she left to teach in the Capitol. Her dress is just below knee length and is the color of a rainy day. Rachel's hair had been done in a small braid and she's even put on light makeup. She looks so simple yet so beautiful and I think of what could be the cause for the get up.

I look to the right of Rachel and I see Chase. Technically, Chase isn't allowed to be in the female dormitories even if all he wants to do is see me, but the guard for the level that Rachel and my quarter is on lets Chase slip by, not saying a word and zipping her mouth. Chase is in a white polo shirt and it's buttoned up all the way. His dirty blonde hair is freshly cut and he has washed his face so many times, it appears flawless. Kids in the community home say that Chase is starting to look like Gale Hawthorn, Katniss Everdeen's best friend. And I do agree; Chase is starting to look like a grown man, although he's only eleven. Chase is wearing crisp khakis and white canvas sneakers that I traded for with a rabbit in the Hob.

Chase is holding a tall glass of creamy milk in his hands and his eyebrows furrow as he notices my confusion.

"Quinn... the reaping is today," says Chase.

My breath hitches. That's right. Today is the reaping. I look at the clock again, nine thirty five. I scramble out of bed, practically slipping on the sheets because I've pulled them to the ground. Rachel puts the bowl of strawberries down as she helps me regain my balance.

"Quinn... it's alright," says Rachel. "We've got almost three more hours until the reaping begins, we'll be fine until then." She leads me back to my bed and I sit down. "Here. Eat this bowl of strawberries. Chase and I just picked them this morning." She looks over to my brother and he smiles. "You'll lose the nausea that's inside your stomach right now. And drink the milk. Niahm gave it to us." Chase grabs the bowl of strawberries from the bedside table and hands over the milk to me as well.

"Chase, why are you dressed so nice?" I ask. "Your name won't appear in the glass globe today at all." He comes over to me and sits down on the bed.

"I don't know... I just wanted to..." whispers Chase, and I pull him into my arms, kissing his blonde hair, ruffling it, then offering to brush it back nicely for him.

"Come on, Quinn. We'll be in the left wing kitchen with Niahm while you get ready. Come on, Chase," Rachel says, then walks out of our quarter holding Chase's hand while they both wave goodbye to me.

I groan in my bed. No matter how strong willed I appear to be in the outside world, I am always terrified. Sometimes, I don't even know what I'm scared of, or even have something that really does give me chills. I guess one thing that I will always be scared of is losing Chase. But that will never happen. And I won't let it. Chase is the only good thing in this sick country and I will never see the day when he is gone.

I fling the red woolen sheets off my shivering body. It's warm outside, but a breeze flies through the window and my teeth chatter. My wardrobe isn't huge, and I don't have much. Usually it's dark jeans and short leather boots with fraying shoelaces on a regular basis with a waterproof black jacket on early Sunday hunts with Chase, or my mother's old blue linen dress. It's simple, nothing extravagant. There are little flower frills at the neck, it's short sleeved, and stops at the knee, but that's it. The only other choices are my nightgown or a dark green cargo jacket that fits me snug, handed down from my father. There's no other path to take except for my mother's dress. I pull my nightgown off and take a quick shower, slipping into the dress. The only other time I've worn it was when I tried it on for my mother. I hear footsteps scattering onto the floor after they finish at the staircase, and I assume that it's the two that I want to see. I call for Rachel.

"You two can come back in!"

"Can Finn come in?" she asks. I think about it, and the only other thing that needs to be done is my hair, so I say yes. The three of them come into the room after Finn twists the doorknob and gently shuts behind him.

"Want me to help braid?" asks Rachel. I nod and I sit back on my bed while she gets behind me, crossing her legs and separates my blonde hair into three locks.

"Quinnie! Finn and me are gonna go down to Niahm, he has breakfast for us and he's saving some for you two!" Chase exclaims. I can tell he's trying to bring everybody's moods up. It's not his fault that everybody's down. No one is ever happy during the reaping. And I know that he can I'm scared. Signing up for tessera doesn't help either. What makes it worse is that I always insist on signing up for the tessera so Finn and Rachel don't have to sacrifice themselves for the Capitol's sick mind. To be honest... I'm scared. I know that there's a high chance for me to be picked, to be dead in a matter of time, to be ripped apart from the only family I now have, and to be placed in such a concept of life or death. But I can't let Chase see that. I love him too much. I give him a thumbs up as he and Finn disappear into the hall.

"Don't worry too much. It won't be a good attitude," says Rachel. She carefully braids my hair down the center and it feels relaxing.

"You're right... it's just... so scary sometimes. You never know what's going to happen to you, if you get chosen, if you die. How just by the sound of your name being called, you know that your whole life is being put at risk, and then... there's no way out," I say.

"No one asked for the Games... stupid Capitol." She whispers the last bit, knowing that she'll get in some sort of trouble if anyone hears and giggle lightly. "The best you can do... is just not rebel against them, I guess."

Rebellions. They sound so good right now. To just march to the Capitol and lash out at them. Fight them once more, for our well earned freedom that we all deserve. So then we won't have to live in their shadows, lingering about. We could reunite as one whole, not the lonely districts that we now are, and just go against the Capitol, and make them pay for all the rights they've wronged. But we can't. The Games are bad enough.

"That's true," I say. "I just don't understand how they can live with themselves while watching their own people dying. They're flung onto the ground, and the Gamemakers don't even care, as long as they have a good show."

Rachel looks at me, stopping the braiding, and lowers her voice. "We can only hope that one day... Panem will realize that everything is wrong, and they will try everything to make it right. I just wish they knew that."

"Well we can only hope, but I wish that could come true, Rachel..." I say. We both stop talking until she's done with my braid and we step out, locking the door behind us to join with Chase and Finn, leaving behind the only safe and sound place that I could be in, the feeling that's called happy, something District 12 doesn't always feel.

...

Rachel and I walk side by side into the square. The crowd is packing everyone is and the space gets tighter and tighter. Chase is with Will Schuester, a friend of our parents who knew them from childhood. They're off in the sidelines together, under the dusty sun, waiting for someone's fate, but never enjoying it.

Finn is in the boys' sector, with all the boys that range from twelve years to eighteen. Finn is seventeen. After one more year, he won't have to face any more fear, until he has children, of course. Rachel and I are both sixteen, with two more years of dread and panic behind our sweating backs. We both hope that Finn won't get picked as tribute because, even though we love him to bits, we both know that he couldn't stand a chance in the Arena, would probably die in the bloodbath or in the Capitol because of anxiety. Finn doesn't even know how to hunt, even though my younger brother, younger than him by five years. Chase could haul in a wild turkey and some rabbits while Finn would trudge back in with some berries. He had better not be chosen as tribute; I could never live it down.

Then, there's Rachel to worry about. My best friend. The one who has had my back after all these years. The young girl with pigtails that I had met ten years ago. My sister. I remember when I was just getting to know her, I discovered that she was a phenomenal singer. I remember sitting outside on the most rainiest day of that year, still processing over the information about me and Chase's parents' disappearance... and I just cried. My hair had been soaked, and so were my clothes, and I just sat on the stoop of the stairs, outside in the pouring rain, just crying. And Rachel came out. She had been my only friend since I arrived at the community home. And she just stood in the doorway, looking at me. I remember looking at her reflection on a rain puddle, and her face was void with emotion, just blank. And then, she took a seat on the wet concrete steps next to me, and just pulled me into a hug. And she started singing. Of course, it wasn't anything superior like it is now, but I hadn't heard anyone sing ever since I started living at the community home. My family used to sing all the time, but Chase and I never sang after they disappeared. And we just sat there in the rain, gloomy clouds over us as she sung a quiet melody. The words were faint, but somewhere along the lines of "And I will try to fix you."

Over time, I learned that Rachel's favorite songs are classified as "show tunes". Apparently, they had originated in an old place called New York City. That was long ago, back when Panem was a nation called the United States of America. She showed me on a map of Panem where old New York City lies, which is really where District 13 should be. And then more specifically, she said, they were from some place called Broadway, where the people there were always singing and acting. She told me that her old ancestors had performed on this place called Broadway, and were quite famous and well known. And then, generation by generation in her family, they have passed down the songs, all to Rachel, whom her parents taught her. She tells me that she wants to pass it down to her children, but she never wants to risk having her children's names in the big glass globe, a chance of death at their door.

Same thing to me. I want to have children one day, with someone I truly love like my mother and father, but I would never risk having their names in the glass globe. Never.

But I shouldn't worry now. Not at a time like this. The Games are horrible, and this is nerve wracking, but I can't think like a scared fool right now, even though inside I know that I truly am.

Effie Trinket walks up across the stage, and I see some officials sitting up there, including some Peacemakers, Mayor Undersee, and former victors Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and Haymitch Abernathy, although I don't know why Haymitch would be there. Effie Trinket is in a pink and gold outfit this year, her face caked with rose colored makeup, and her wig a colossal golden nest. She trots to the podium, and takes a deep breath, smiling when she exhales.

"Welcome, everybody! Happy Hunger Games! Now is the time to select two tributes, one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing District 12 in the 84th annual Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor!" she squeals. Her excitement for the Games, whether it's staged or not, never seems to grow weak. "Ladies first!" She digs her hand into the glass globe, her fingers lingering over almost every sheet of paper and finally pulls one out. Without hesitation, her lips move to the microphone and she takes in another deep breath before saying,

"Rachel Berry."

...

I can't think.

I can't do anything.

My mouth only slightly opens and I snap back into reality when I see Rachel dragging her body up the stairs. The crowd is silent. I swear my eyeballs bulge out of my socket when I recognize the situation. I flick them over to Finn, who's just as terrified as me. He's biting his lip, and he's so nervous that it's started bleeding. I see Chase out of the corner of my eye. He's clutching onto Schuester, and he's so scared, both of them. Chase only tightens his grip every second, and I think that I can see tears coming out of his pine colored eyes. I can't let this happen to Rachel. Her face is blank like the day she sang to me in the rain, and I can tell that her heart is about to burst out of her chest any second now. She's so scared; all of us are.

I don't know what to do. I can't see anything even though the day is clear as glass. I can't hear anything. My tears start falling and I don't know what's happening. I've lost all my senses and I can't feel anything, and then, out of the blue, I shout as if I'm crying out for help,

"I volunteer!"

My voice is desperate, and you can hear it dripping from my mouth. My hands are clenched up in a tight fist together, and I say, "I volunteer as tribute."

I can hear him from behind me, and Chase screams, "No, no! Quinnie! No!" He starts sobbing and I can hear his muffled screaming into Schuester's sweater, balling up his shirt, and stuffing it in his mouth, kicking and screeching. I feel so sorry for Chase, but there is no other way to go, no other path to take. Rachel is my sister and Chase is my brother and he needs to know that I will do anything for the ones I love.

And then Rachel joins in with Chase, although she doesn't scream, but she is crying and she yells, "No! Quinn, no! Quinn, you can't do this!" She leaps off the stage, then pushes her body onto me, nearly knocking me over. "No! Quinn! No! You can't do this!" I feel another body, and it's big, so I know that it's Finn.

"Quinn..." he starts, "Don't do this."

I can't find the strength to let go of them, and I don't want to, but I have to. I violently tear myself away because I know that if I don't, they'll never let me go. Once more, I repeat, "I volunteer as tribute for Rachel Berry in the Hunger Games."

Effie Trinket nods, and Chase screams once more, sobbing again after he's done into Schuester's sleeve. Effie Trinket then says, "Then our female tribute will be Quinn Fabray instead of Rachel Berry. But let's not forget about our male tribute!" She reaches her hand into the glass globe again and pulls out another identical slip of paper. She takes the microphone and says, "Samuel Evans."

The crowd is silent once more.

I look over to Samuel. I've seen him at school, but he's older than me. He's eighteen while I am only sixteen. In a way, I feel so sorry for him. Eighteen years old, the last age before entering the "safe zone", when you don't have to worry about being picked as tribute. But his name is picked, and no one is volunteering for him. Samuel Evans. Samuel Evans is about six feet tall and he's got a strong build. I've seen him work before, and he can kill me in a second if he wanted to, but I can pierce his eyeball in a heartbeat with my archery skills. Samuel Evans is also handsome, all the girls at school swoon over him, yet he never wants any of them. Some say that even with his charm, he hasn't even had his first kiss yet. I doubt that. But I know that I have to remind myself that I cannot grow attached to him, because if I do, then my chances of getting out of the arena are as slim as a piece of hay.

"May the selected tributes please make their way to the stage," says Effie Trinket.

Samuel Evans and I slowly walk up the stairs until we meet at the center, with one single microphone in between us both. He gives me a look, and his eyes are sad, but I can't give him anything in return as my eyes slowly fade to nothing.

"Our tributes, Samuel Evans and Quinn Fabray."

I sit on the bed, softly sipping the tea. The room has fallen silent. Rachel drinks from her cup, and Chase is leaning against Finn's right arm. Chase's eyes are still red from crying so much and Finn is holding onto his hand tightly. The mayor has twisted the rules just slightly, giving us the rest of the day with the ones we love until six o'clock tomorrow morning when I have to say goodbye to everything I've ever known in my small world at the train station.

"I love you," says Chase. I put my tea cup down and kneel before him and kiss his forehead. As soon as my lips are off his head he pulls me against his chest, heaving up and down. He lets go soon after, but I don't want him to.

"Quinn... we all love you. I love you. And I want you to be safe. And I want to see your face again, Quinn. I want you to come home," says Rachel, her voice quivering as she speaks.

"I can't guarantee anything now, and I can't make any promises that I can't keep, but I'll try my best... I really will," I say. My skin is ghost white and has been ever since the reaping this afternoon. "I just... I just hate this unfit world. I hate how the Capitol hates us so much. A government should protect it's people."

"Quinn, you shouldn't say stuff like that here-" begins Finn.

"I don't care! I want them to hear!" I blurt. "I just... I just wish that one day, we can go beyond these four walls. Go past living our horrible lives each and every day, acting as if nothing was the matter when, in reality, everything is the matter. And nothing is right. These four walls that trap all of us here... can hopefully be broken down one day. Shatter to the ground and we can be free of control and strive to succeed in what we want." Rachel takes my hand. "Is that so much to ask for?"

…

For the rest of the day, with the approval of the community home's director, Chase and Finn lug their sleeping bags into Rachel and my quarters, and just sit in silence. For dinner, we head down to the dining hall for our usual meager portion of supper, but at midnight, we sneak down to the kitchen on the other side of the building where Niahm is and we all bake what could possibly be my last serving of homemade biscuits. After we're done, we give not two, but four biscuits to Niahm as a small token of thanks from me and he hugs me. I give him a brief peck on the cheek before I leave the kitchen, smiling as I look at it one more time. This place might not have been home before, but now, it truly is, and I never want to leave it. I think about my parents. If they're still alive as Avoxes in the Capitol, could they have possibly seen the reaping of District 12 today? Could they have recognized me, their only daughter and oldest child, volunteering for a girl her age that they don't even know and seeing all the tears that we shed among those two and a pair of boys? Did they recognize that it was Chase? I have so many questions, yet none of them have an answer.

Rachel blows the candle out after we watch today's reaping on the television screen and all four of us shift ourselves into bed. But then, instead of sleeping in his sleeping bag, Chase snuggles up next to me, and we all fall asleep together, entering a utopia in our dreams, only knowing that tomorrow it will be replaced by the most horrifying nightmare any of us could have ever dreamed of.

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you liked it! Reviews always make me update faster, and I really want to carry on the idea of this story. And I promise that there will be more Sam and Quinn next chapter. This was more of an epilouge type of thing. I cannot wait for the Hunger Games movie, I just cannot! I'm on Catching Fire now, and I'm so psyched to see it! I love the Hunger Games so much! So I hope that you enjoyed this, and I hope that you leave a review! Thanks! ;D