Its cold in his house. He's passed out in a stool, his face resting on the table in front of him as he is passed out in his home in the Victor's Village. After he comes to, Haymitch makes an attempt to stand up but it's no use, so he only lets the empty liquor bottle slide out of his hand and onto the floor and clutches the knife harder. The smell of the house is absolutely horrible, but he doesn't bother to clean it. Ever. He hears a knock on the door and shifts slightly on the wooden stool, whoever it is knocks again. Haymitch uses all of the energy he has to stand up and stumble towards the door.

"What?" Haymitch yells at the man who appears after he has finished swinging the door open. He looks at the black mail box that resides on the side of the house, next to his front door, and sees a letter. Haymitch takes the pink envelope in his hand and sees his name, handwritten in cursive letters. "Who sent you."

"A woman in the Capitol. I'm just here to install a phone." He dodges a knife swung at him from Haymitch, who is still looking at the envelope confused as to who the sender was.

"Yeah whatever." Haymitch turns, still staring at the envelope, and returns to his stool in the kitchen. "Come in."

The man starts working on installing the phone, amazed how Haymitch completely destroyed the last one. Haymitch flips over the envelope and rips it open to find a small piece of paper, this one was not pink but white with pink writing. Pen. Haymitch began to read it:

This time, don't rip it out of the wall. And keep in touch.

-Effie (671-3490) xo

"She's back." Haymitch mumbles, not caring if the man replacing wires heard him. After about 3 and a half hours and part of his wall being removed, Haymitch's phone was installed. It was around 5:30 at night and he still sat at the table on that stool, note in one hand bottle in the other and the knife sitting in front of him. Haymitch stared at the phone for a while. That's when he picked it up and dialed Effie's number. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

"Hello." Effie's cheerful, Capitol voice chirped over the phone. There was a pause, Haymitch realized he wasn't talking. "Hellooo?"

"Hi, Princess." Haymitch finally said, his voice low. "Been a while, huh?"

"Yes. It has. Too long. You can't even imagine how much I've been wanting to talk to you." Effie's Capitol voice is not very normal to him, but Haymitch knows that she's probably in public.

"I bet I can. Thanks for the phone by the way." Haymitch walks back into the kitchen and leans on the counter looking down at the letter. He opens a drawer and pulls out a dusty roll of tape, ripping a piece and sticking it to the letter, and hangs it on the inside of one of the two cabinets that hang over the sink.

"Promise you'll keep in touch?"

"Yeah. I promise." Haymitch lightly closes the cabinet door. "What have you been up to, anyways, Trinket."

"Oh the usual, shopping, shopping, working with Cinna on Katniss' dresses, and more shopping." Effie is now forcing the joy, Haymitch can tell. "What about you, Haymitch? Drinking, drinking, keeping Katniss from killing Peeta, and more drinking."

"You know me all too well, Princess."

"I should hope so. Haymitch, I have to go. It has been so wonderful talking to you again. Please do not hesitate to call me. It's nice to hear your voice." He can hear Capitol citizens in the background, and then silence for a moment. Then she whispers so no one can hear her. "I love you."

"Trust me, Effie. I won't. I love you, too." The noise of the Capitol returns.

"Goodbye, Haymitch."

"Bye, Eff." He hangs up the phone and walks back to his stool, sits down and takes a sip out of the bottle and smiles. "God. That phone is gonna be the death of me."