Hard knocking on my door wakes me immediately. Groaning I thud my way over to the wooden barrier and swing it open forcefully, making the woman on the other side of it jump backwards.

"Watch it!" She exclaims, glaring up at me. She's trying to be intimidating, but it isn't working. I can't help it, I burst out laughing. "It wasn't funny Haymitch! Just let me in…"

Stepping backwards I allow her entry to my room, she sighs and walks into it. Nose crinkling at the sight in front of her.

"It isn't that bad" I say, allowing myself to fall onto the couch. From there I grab a bottle of liquor and take a swig.

"It looks like an earthquake hit this place. Haymitch, we've only been here for a day and-"

"Effie, shut up please" I tell her, taking another swig. With a glare she lowers herself onto my bed.

"You could attempt to keep it clean though" She tells me after a moment of silence in which we just stare at each other.

"I've got other things to do princess" I tell her, gesturing to the bottle of liquor in my hand before having another drink from it. "Want some?"

"No thank you," She says, "I don't drink that vulgar stuff"

"Vulgar? This?" I say with a laugh before drinking. "I agree that Ripper's is a lot better, but your Capitol stuff isn't too far off. As long as it gets me drunk it's worthy of five stars really-"

"Pass me it"

"What?"

"What do you think?"

"No! I'm not giving it you!"

"You offered it me, I want to taste it for myself"

"That offer expired five minutes-"

"Hand me the bottle Haymitch!" She yells; her tone intimidating and something I never expected to come from her tiny body. Automatically my hand stretches forward to give her the bottle. With a polite thank you she takes it and takes a sip. Her face gives away the fact she finds it disgusting.

"Right, give it back now sweetheart. Give the bottle to someone who actually likes the stuff" I say, leaning forwards to retrieve it.

"Come on Haymitch, this one is half empty thanks to you. I'll keep this one and you get a new one. It isn't like we're running low on the stuff; you've only been here for one day…" She says with a small shrug and another small sip.

"Fine keep it" I tell her, opening my new bottle, "But don't drink it like you're drinking your fancy Capitol stuff, this is proper stuff here…"

"I get it Haymitch" She says, proceeding to take a big gulp of the stuff and swallowing it with the tiniest bit of hesitation. "It gets better with every sip"

"That's because you are slowly slipping into the land of the drunken…" I tell her "By the time you're on your fourth bottle you've lost all taste and you're just drinking for the sake of it"

But Effie doesn't reach her fourth bottle. She doesn't even get past her first, despite the fact it only had half of its contents left inside it. I see her quickly getting more and more intoxicated, and she is soon out of it. On my third bottle, I'm the only one of us who can actually string words together and still make sense. All Effie does is giggle. Her wig as fallen off and her natural blonde locks are sticking up all over the place and are falling across her face and when she attempts to stand up she immediately falls straight back onto the bed.

"Oh well…" Is her giggly reaction to this.

"Effie? Are you sure you had nothing to drink before you came here?" I ask.

"Sure I'm sure!" She tells me, still giggling to herself in her adorable manner.

"You need to sleep" I tell her, "You'll have one hell of a hangover in the morning, but you need to-"

"I, you, don't… shut up Haymitch" She laughs, standing up once more and simply starts swaying from side to side. "I'm fine, look!" She grins. Proud she's managed to remain on two feet this time.

"Oh really?"

"Really"

"Walk to me then. Come on! If you are fine this should be easy" I say, standing up with a sigh and walking across the room to the door.

"Ooooh, fine!" She sighs, starting the walk to me. I end up walking the furthest because her unstable legs give way and she collapses. I spring into action and catch her before she hits the floor. She doesn't seem fussed though, and simply makes herself comfortable in her arms with a giggle. "Did I pass?" She asks after a couple of seconds.

"No. Now I'm taking you to your room before you damage yourself"

"But I promise to not do myself damage" She mumbles, I just sigh and with a roll of my eyes lift her up. It's easy, there's barely anything to her.

"You need to eat more sweetheart" I tell her as I open the door with my foot and stride from the room.

"I do though, eat food, it's good," she says, her eyes closing a little as she does and I can't help but smile down on her. "Why are you smiley? You're usually grumpy"

"Grumpy am I?" I say, amused. Obviously the alcohol intake (the small alcohol intake) has affected Effie's ability to keep her opinions to herself. Intrigued, I want to know more.

"Very. Like really old man grumpy," Effie says, "You're a big grump!"

"And you can't hold your alcohol sweetheart" I laugh, finally reaching her room and kicking the door open.

"Be careful! You could damage the paintwork!" She laughs.

"The paintwork? Really Effie?"

"Really really!"

"Yeah, you need to sleep" I tell her, pulling the covers back from her bed and gently placing her upon the mattress. "Covers on or covers off?"

"It doesn't matter because I end up sleeping with one leg out of the mattress and one under it. I don't care really, do what you like!" She tells me, lifting her hands up to wipe the hair out of her eyes, "No actually! Mattress on, I've changed my mind!"

Shaking my head I pull the mattress over her and with a smile she shuts her eyes and rolls over so she is no longer facing me. Standing up I walk across the room and shut the door quietly so I don't disturb her. When I finally reach my room I look across it and stare down on the mess, pondering if I should follow her advice and clean it up. I decide to go to sleep instead.

When I wake up the next morning I go down to the living area and find my two tributes, the stylists and Effie already up and eating breakfast. Without a hello to any of them I go and sit down next to Effie. None of us say anything and simply eat in silence. Whenever I glance up at Effie I can't help that notice she is wearing very little make-up, and the miniscule amount she is wearing doesn't hide the bags under her eyes in the slightest. When the stylists leave and our tributes go down to the training center I turn to Effie, who seems determined to stare at her breakfast.

"You sobered up now? Head hurting?" I ask her.

"It's throbbing. I don't know how you put up with it every morning" She replies, picking up a slice of toast and taking a small bite from it.

"I'm used to it after all these years. You obviously don't get drunk all that often. You didn't even finish your bottle and you were absolutely out of it!"

"I don't remember much. I just remember being very very drunk," She says, throwing her barely touched toast onto her plate and picking up her glass of orange juice and taking a sip. "I remember you helping me though"

"Well, you were hammered. I couldn't leave you to your own devices"

"You could have. But you didn't. So thanks for that Haymitch," she says with a smile, looking up to me for the first time as she does so. "I'm sorry for calling you grumpy too," She adds in a quiet voice.

"Its okay princess, it was actually very amusing…" I laugh "You should come out drinking with me one night. Who knows what would happen"

"I'll stick to the Orange Juice" She whispers, holding her glass in the air and shaking it.

"Good choice"

"Thanks for looking after me Haymitch" She whispers.

"You've already said that"

"I know" She shrugs, placing a kiss on my cheek. Her lips are warm and I can't look anywhere but up at her after she moves away.

"Are you still drunk princess?" I ask, my hand reaching up and touching the cheek her lips had been moments previously.

"What's wrong? Didn't you like that or…?"

"No I did like it!" I say quickly, both our faces go red at those words. "I mean, I don't… I'm going to go and get a drink…" I mumble, standing up and removing myself from the area.

"I'll go and talk to those potential sponsors… or something…" I hear Effie say behind me. It's a good job she can't see me, because my face is red hot and I can't stop the smile from fading however much I try. Only Effie could have this effect on me… and I don't know if I hate that fact or like it….

I hope you liked this! Reviews appreciated a lot!

Megan x