Katniss POV

I was so broken. Peeta knew it, Gale knew it. That's why they left me here. I was alone in district 12, with Haymitch as my only solace. He chose to return here too. Through all that has happened, Haymitch has stayed. He has even cut down on the drinking, staying annoyingly sober for me. He put the pieces of me back together. In the night when I scream for those I lost, he held me close to his chest, with his arms wrapped tight around me.

One night, after my sobbing had subsided and Haymitch was seemingly asleep, I turned in his arms to face him. I had wanted to kiss him for a while now, and sometimes I thought he wanted the same. He's asleep I thought, what harm can it do? So I gently leant in and pressed my lips to his.

"Oh sweetheart" He murmured, putting his hands either side of my face, deepening the kiss.

"I've waited so long for you to do that" Haymitch smiled.

"I…. I think I love you" I stuttered.

His smile broadened, and tears glistened in his eyes. His way of replying was to put his hands on my face again and kiss me with more passion than I had ever experienced. With Peeta it was too forced, too put on. With Gale it was too angry and rough, with no love. Haymitch was something else entirely. He changed me from a girl who had no idea what to do, into a woman.

"You stayed" I whispered "You came back for me, ruined your entire life"

Haymitch shook his head, silently crying.

"You are my life sweetheart" he replied, choked up. "When you were in the arena, both times, it killed me. It just killed me, I couldn't stand the thought of anyone hurting you, and there was not one damn thing I could do to save you."

He kissed me with urgency, like I was about to go back again.

"Please, Katniss, please, don't ever leave again" Haymitch begged.

I held him to my chest while he sobbed, and I sang the song that had always made Prim stop crying. He kissed my chest, my stomach, my hips, my legs, my arms. Then his lips moved back onto mine, and pecked them repeatedly. And then in between kisses, he said,

"Katniss, I love you too".