I NEED YOU

Brutus and Enobaria went flying into the water once the Cornucopia began to spin and pick up speed. The corpses of Cashmere, Gloss, and Wiress bobbed up and down on the water while the rest of the other alliance held on.

Brutus cursed under his breathe. They could have taken at least two more if it wasn't for the Gamemakers deciding to spin things around. They swam away until they reached land and went further into the jungle. The beach, the safest place in the Arena, was claimed by the rest.

Once they made sure they were in deeper jungle, Enobaria slumped down onto the ground, Brutus did the same several feet next to her. Once he was able to catch his breath, he rushed over to his district partner.

"You okay, baby?" he worriedly asked her as he frantically looked her up and down.

"Oh, so now you start with the whole 'baby' thing," Enobaria sneered, brushing off his help and standing up on her own.

"What's wrong with you?" Brutus asked, taken aback by her sudden mood change.

"What's wrong with me?" she repeated, a bit offended. "You're one to talk."

"What did I do?" Brutus asked. She had no reason to be mad at him for looking after her and protecting her for the past couple of days they'd been trapped in the Arena.

"It's not like I could tell you, anyways," she said, taking out a small knife from her cleavage and throwing it to the nearest tree which was three kilometers away. "Wouldn't want us to be weakening our image, would we?"

"What are you talking about?" Brutus asked.

She turned around and furiously walked up to him before giving him a well-deserved slap. "I fucking needed you! The day of the beginning of the Games, I woke up alone in bed because you decided to leave goddamn knows when and I needed you! The last time I swallowed as much blood as I did in the blood rain was back in my own games and I needed you! After I was in the hour with those stupid Jabberjays all by myself, I was traumatized and I needed you!"

"Shit. Baria, I didn - " Brutus began.

She walked away from him. "But no, you had to play it for the Gamemakers and just ignore how I felt." She wiped off a couple of tears, and that made Brutus's heart break. "I was all alone..."

He walked up to her and tried to hug her from behind, tried to comfort her and make up for all the times he didn't bother to do it because he was more focused on their sponsors and reputation, but she pulled away and kept a safe distance from him.

"I get that I was being a bit ignorant," Brutus admitted. "But I was only doing it for the sponsors."

She scoffed and turned around to see his face. "You think I care if the Gamemakers think I'm weak? Brutus, I've played the fearless, bloodthirsty killer before just like you did. I don't want to play that way anymore. Why are you so keen on getting sponsors?"

"Because if I don't get us enough sponsors, then there's no way I can get you out of this living hell!" he replied.

"Brutus, I don't want to get out this hell!" Enobaria talked back. "I could die right here, right now and I wouldn't give a fucking damn!"

"Baby, don't say that," Brutus told her in a softer tone. "I'm doing everything I can to get you out of here alive."

"But I don't want to get out of here alive if I can't do it with you!" she stated.

That was when Brutus finally understood why she didn't bother to play it up for the sponsors. There was no point in receiving gifts if there was no point in wanting to win in the first place.

There couldn't be two winners again; the Capitol wasn't going to make that mistake again. In fact, that's the whole reason they were in this stupid mess in the first place. The Capitol gave into the fake, star-crossed lovers from District Twelve and now the victors had to pay for the Capitol's small slip.

Only one could come out alive this time.

And Enobaria didn't want to be the one who would come out of the Arena alive without Brutus by her side. She'd have no one to come back for, and if he was the one who'd come out, he'd feel the same.

They're all they've got left.

"Hey, come here." Brutus brought her in for a hug, this time not caring what the Gamemakers or Sponsors thought. She needed him the most right now and he was going to be there for her. He could feel wet, salty tears staining his shirt. Instead of protecting her and keeping her safe, he hurt her. "Hey, don't cry, okay? We're going to get through this. I'll figure something out…"

"Stop making promises you can't make," she told him. "The Capitol isn't going to have two victors, not this time. Only one of us can come out and there's nothing we can do about it."

Brutus knew she was right, but it hurt just to think about the situation they were in right now. He was about to open his mouth to tell her that they should rest before Enobaria gave out a grunt out of pain and slumped down onto the ground.

Brutus, worried sick, caught her before she fell. "You alright?" Her painful facial expression answered his question – no. He noticed that her lower, inner thigh had a large graze and it was starting to bleed. "Oh, no."

"Brutus?" she asked, looking up at his eyes. "…I need you."

He nodded before taking out the sewing kit that was given to them from their sponsors. He didn't think they'd need it, until now. Once he stitched her up, he wrapped her thigh up gently, yet securely.

He noticed that the temperature in the Arena was beginning to drop, so he peeled off his jacket and wrapped her up in it so that she wouldn't get cold. "You feel better?"

She nodded. "Thanks."

"It's the least I can do," Brutus said before pecking her on the lips. He pulled away and said, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"It's fine." She leaned on Brutus's side, her head resting on his shoulder. Brutus wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her closer. She gave out a small yawn, trying to conceal it so he wouldn't worry anymore.

"You should sleep," he told her. "I'll take first watch." But he'd take all the watches if that meant she'd get a decent amount of sleep. "Goodnight, Baria."

"Goodnight, baby." She fell into a deep slumber, feeling protected and safe in his arms.

When he was sure she was asleep, he kissed her temple. "I'm sorry, but when you get out of here, you're going to need me and I won't be there for you anymore. But I just want you to know that I'll be looking over you from above, okay?"

And he was always looking over her, even if he wasn't there with her.

THE END