Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize. This is my first Fanfiction ever, so please try not to be too mean. This is one-shot, but if people want, I'd love to expand it. Please read and review :)

She woke up sweaty, out of breath, and more exhausted than when she had gone to sleep. Nightmares had plagued her throughout the night.

Today was the reaping.

Correction: today was her last reaping. The thought cheered her, until she remembered that it was also Prim's first reaping. Her throat clamped shut. Little Prim. Her little duck would have to go through six more reapings before she would be finished as well. Panic threatened to drown her. She threw off the thin blanket, now soaked with her sweat, and got dressed. There was only one person that would be able to calm her. There was only one person she would let help her. There was only one person outside of her family that she allowed to get close.

Haymitch Abernathy.

She and Haymitch had been together for two years now. After Haymitch had stepped in and paid for a loaf of bread that Katniss had been caught trying to steal, he told her that she could repay him by taking him out hunting one day when she went. There was no use trying to deny her hunting, almost everyone in District 12 knew that she went out hunting. Her and Gale. She agreed and told him she would be by to pick him up at four the next morning and that he better be ready. And sober.

Surprisingly, he was ready, and he was sober when she came to retrieve him. That turned out to be one of Katniss' most profitable hunting trips. Haymitch was a natural hunter, but that should not have surprised her… what with him winning his Games and all.

Her mother hadn't been thrilled when she brought Haymitch over for the first time, even though they weren't together as anything other than hunting partners. Even still, Haymitch was well known throughout the district as a loud, permanent drunk who went through his fair share of women. But Katniss had seen more of him than that, and she genuinely enjoyed his company. They didn't talk too much at first, but she continued to invite him out because he increased the amount of game and thus, increased her profit.

On the morning of the reaping right after her sixteenth birthday, she and Haymitch were out hunting. It had been a pretty slow morning, so they decided they'd just hunker down and see if anything came their way. They had been sitting in relative silence for all of five minutes when Katniss broke down and asked him something that had been eating away at her.

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Hearing your name called," she clarified. His face softened when he heard the slight edge to her voice.

"You're not going to be called," he said softly.

"You don't know that," she whispered.

"You're right, I don't." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Haymitch spoke again, " It was one of the worst moments of my life, and let me tell you sweetheart, I've had quite a few. It was like… I couldn't comprehend what I had heard. And then, suddenly I'm up on that godforsaken stage being led into the courthouse."

It was clear that Haymitch was finished talking about it. Once again, they found themselves sitting in a silence. While Haymitch had been talking, Katniss had moved herself to sit beside Haymitch on a fallen tree. Without realizing it, she had leaned into him while he talked.

"Haymitch, I'm scared," she whispered, and when he turned to try and calm her fears, Katniss kissed him. It was soft, at first, and then something changed. Haymitch tried to deepen the kiss, and Katniss broke away.

"I should go get ready for the reaping," she said, their faces still hovering close to each other.

"Yeah, you should." Haymitch, his voice husky.

Haymitch had been right, she hadn't been called. After hearing the girl's name called, Katniss felt what she always felt; happiness, relief, guilt, and for the first time, a twinge of dread. She knew that she was going to have to see Haymitch and talk about what had happened between them in the forest. After the reaping, she slipped away like she always did. Except that this time she didn't let Gale join her. She hiked up to the cabin that her father once showed her. She was the only person who knew how to get here. She hadn't even shown this place to Gale. Or Haymitch.

Katniss knew that she should have stuck around to say goodbye. She knew that he was getting ready to head to the Capitol, if he wasn't already on his way. She knew that she wouldn't see him again until after the Games were over. Which is why she was startled to see Haymitch standing only a couple dozen yards away at the edge of the tree line. She hadn't heard him approaching.

"You're not going to shoot me are you, sweetheart?" he asked, hands raised, gesturing to the strung bow in her hands. She realized then that she was poised ready to shoot. Immediately, she lowered her weapon. He approached slowly.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"For what?" he questioned. "For almost shooting me, or for kissing me?" He was standing in front of her now.

And in that second, she wasn't sure what she was sorry for. So she countered, "Which one do you want an apology for?"

"For whichever one you regret,"

This game they were playing, she knew that she wouldn't win. So, she changed the game.

"Shouldn't you be on your way to the Capitol?" she asked.

"Well, if someone hadn't put a hole in the train's gas tank, then I would be. We leave in the morning," he clarified.

"How—"

"I tracked you. I figured that we needed to talk, don't you?" he sat down on the step beside of her.

"I don't regret kissing you," she said.

"Well, that's good to know. So why'd you do it?"

"Why'd you kiss me back?" she countered. Haymitch sighed and looked down, out of shame or frustration, Katniss wasn't sure.

"Not everything has to be a battle, Katniss, or a game. I kissed you back, because I wanted to. It's as simple as that." Definitely frustrated, she decided. They sat quietly for a few minutes.

"I don't know why I kissed you. I wanted to, I guess. I knew everything was going to change today anyway, and I didn't know how to tell you that I was going to miss you while you were gone."

"I see what you mean. Saying that wouldn't have worked at all." He deadpanned.

Despite of herself, Katniss laughed. "Keep it up, and I will shoot you."

"No, you won't," he chuckled.

"No, I won't," she smiled. "So what happens now?" she asked.

"I go to the Capitol, and lead two more kids to their deaths. Then I'll come back and prepare to do it all again next year."

"I meant—"

"I know what you meant, sweetheart… but I don't know. I guess we'll see what happens when I get back."

"Good luck,"

"Shouldn't you be saying that to the kids?"

"I know that it must bother you… to have to do it year after year."

They sat in silence until Haymitch decided that they needed to get back. So the tributes and Haymitch were on their way the next day. A couple weeks passed, the Games ended, and Haymitch came back. Alone.

No one was ever there to greet Haymitch as he stumbled off of the train, drunk, after arriving back into the district. He had no reason to think that this year would be any different. But there, standing at the train station, was Katniss Everdeen. Haymitch fell off of the train and walked towards her. Without saying anything, she embraced him. It was just a hug, but it meant so much more than that to Haymitch, even in his intoxicated state.

"I'm sorry,"

"For wha' ssweet-art?" he slurred.

"You know, 'for what.'"

"Yeah, well, you winsom, yous losesum,"

"Don't act like that," Katniss said.

"Like wha?"

"You're acting like you don't care, like it doesn't bother you, year after year to send those kids off." Haymitch leaned down to kiss her, and she let him. Even in his stupor, he knew that things were going to be different with her. So they grew closer, Haymitch quit drinking for her, and Katniss opened up for him. They were quite the pair.

Once they went public, Katniss and Haymitch became even more isolated than they already were. People thought their relationship was strange and wrong. It had less to do with Katniss' age, and more to do with Haymitch's age. When Gale found out, he shut Katniss out. Gale didn't like Haymitch, even before he and Katniss had gotten together. Katniss grieved losing her best friend for a short time, but she realized that she was gaining a best friend and so much more in Haymitch.

It was all of this that Katniss was thinking about as she walked from her home to the Victor's Village. Without hesitating, Katniss opened the door to Haymitch's house and walked inside. They had forgone the formalities long ago. She knew that he wouldn't be asleep. He never slept the night before a reaping… at least not since he had given up drinking two years ago.

He was sitting on his couch, watching the replays of the other eleven districts' reapings. She didn't say anything when she sat down beside of him. He didn't say anything when he pulled her close. Neither said anything until the sun rose.

"I have to go get Prim ready," she murmured as she stood to leave. Haymitch caught her hand.

"Katniss, everything should be fine. Her name is only in the pool once, and it's your last reaping." She smiled at him thanking him for comforting her. She kissed him goodbye and left to prepare her sister. When Katniss got back home, neither Prim nor their mother asked where she had been, they both already knew. She got Prim ready, just like how their mother had gotten Katniss ready for her first reaping.

"Listen, Prim. Everything is going to be okay. Your name is only in one time, okay?"

"Okay, Katniss." Prim whispered.

The bell rang, signaling that the reaping was about to start. Everyone gathered in the town's center. Effie Trinket was already there on the makeshift stage, waiting. She went through her usual spiel, they watched the same video, and finally it was time for the name drawing. Katniss looked out over the crown, seeing Haymitch, she calmed considerably. She looked for Prim in the crowd, but could only see her pigtails. Effie drew the name from the bowl containing every name of every eligible girl in District 12.

"Primrose Everdeen."