Disclaimer: I do not own either the characters portrayed in this fiction, Glee or The Hunger Games. All the rights go to their respective owners.

Chapter One

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel!"

The sweet voice echoed in the crowd, and as I heard my name, I knew right there that it was the beginning of the end. Amidst the loud thuds that occupied my ears and the swarm of people around me, I saw the gray shades that were coming to lead me down the path of now visible ground, towards the side of the azure-dressed figure. The heat of the midday sun was now gone, and a malicious cold took place over the atmosphere. The noise in my ears became so loud that it disappeared, and all I could hear was silence. On the screen, my pale face was shown. As I passed through the mass of people, I could see in their faces a mix of relive and sorry. My breathing was uneven, and my legs felt heavier than stone, which made difficult the climb through the stairs. The blue-dressed woman greeted me in a lovable way, and from the perspective of an uninformed spectator, you would think she was even happy to see me. She directed me towards the microphone she had just used to call my name, and placed me in front of it, like a puppet.

"Say your name, sweetie?" Her voice echoed once again though the Justice Building's worn-out square.

"K-Kurt Hummel…" The words that came from my mouth were barely audible through the microphone.

"Very well, my dear!" The Capitol woman said, continuing the Reaping ceremony and directing herself to the same glass from which she took out my name.

Now, on top of that stage, I stood, and waited for the next death sentence to be executed. Swirling her hand inside the unusual single bowl of glass, the Escort from the Capitol chose carefully the paper, grabbed it and raised her hand. Holding the white square on her fingers, she said:

- "Now, for the next Tribute, we have… Samuel Evans! Please, darling, come on up!"

As she spoke the words, my eyes couldn't believe what they saw. On the screen, the face of the boy I used to know from my childhood; his generous, and now pursed, lips; his milky blonde hair. It was noticeable how terrified he and his family were. While he walked the same path I did a moment ago, his mother held his younger siblings with a strong grip, as to protect them from being taken by the Peacekeepers. This scene made me sick. This world made me sick. How is a family supposed to endure the loss of a child, especially when said child is taken by the State for the entertainment of the disgusting people of the Capitol? Redirecting my eyes from Sam's family, I could see my dad. His eyes were dull, and red, and at that moment, I realized he'd cried. I never saw him cry ever since Mom passed away, and I had to use all of my might to hold myself together. I couldn't possibly show any weaknesses now, not in front of dad, not in front of everyone. As I struggled to stay strong, the Escort began her cynical speech, heard by us year after year.

"Well, well, thank you, people from the District 9, for providing us with these brave and courageous young men. Now, both of you, why don't you shake hands?" I glanced at Sam, and although his hair was covering his eyes, I could see a trail of tears running down his face. I wished his family didn't see what I did; it was already hard enough for them to let their son go into the hideous place we were headed. He looked up swiftly, and I could see his red and swollen eyes. I shook his hand, and he held mine with a strong grip. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be EVER in your favor!" With her Capitol accent, the Escort finished.

Of course, it is uncommon for a district to send two male tributes into the Arena, but ever since the gas explosion at the girl's school, every year, for the past five years, we had to. Because of the incident, there was a gap of ages between the females of the district, being them either way too young, bellow the minimum age of 12, or way too old, above the maximum age of 18. This is the last male reaping, since there are eleven years old girls on the district now, and in the next games, their names will be written on the bowl.

After the ceremonies were over, we were taken inside the Justice Building, along with Emma, the red-haired Escort sent by the Capitol. She seemed worried for us, and the reason, I believe, is because 9 isn't a winning district. Our product is grain, our kids are neither trained to battle, and they're not accustomed to the environments set in the Arenas, unless it's a golden field of soy or something similar. We knew our chances weren't good, and she did as well.

"You, Sam, isn't it?" She asked.

"Y-Yes, ma'm." He said, barely raising his head.

"I guess you can stand a chance in the Arena. Can you fight, or, at least, do something special?" The Escort questioned.

"I-I'm a Plower, and I'm strong… I guess"

"Well, I hope that'll do. About you, Kurt, what can you do?" She looked at me under those bright-blue shades, and I guess she already had her answer.

"I, umm, work as a Cropper, and I barely ever set foot in the industrial area… And, as for my strength, well… I don't have much" I could almost hear a sorry tone into the words that slip through my lips.

"Oh… All right, well, we can get to find your strengths in the training center… Anyways, you get to say goodbye to your families now"

The blonde swiftly walked inside, and as tough as I knew Sam was, this was our time to be vulnerable; when the cameras weren't filming us, the Capitol people weren't around, and we had the brief support from our family and loved ones. It pained me, and at the same time, soothed me, to have to see my dad one last time before we were sent to the Games for good. I didn't know what I was going to say, how I would say it. I knew only that, as much as I could endure this, and accept my death penalty, Dad couldn't quite as well, and I was afraid for him. He already lost Mom, and now, he was losing his only son. I swallowed the tears that were starting to form and went in, towards the dull room that would be awaiting me, along with my last moments besides my father.

The Justice Building was one of the buildings that weren't an industry, a barn or a family home, where all the State business were taken care of, since marriages to the tesserae given to children. We waited separately, and I could hear Sam's family on the other room. His younger sister and brother sounded scared; his mother and father as well, but in a different way. There were sobs, and then, silence. A few minutes later, I heard my dad speaking with the Peacekeeper entrusted to secure my room, or better, not to let me escape. When he entered, the walls surrounding me and stopping the tears from falling vanished, and within a second, all I could smell was my father's scent. I embraced him with all the force I had, which probably wasn't enough to make me survive, and closed my eyes. He, then, whispered in my ear:

"Kurt, we don't have much time. I have to talk to you."

"Yes, dad…" I said, whipping my tears.

"Kurt, I know that where you're going… It's not going to be easy, but I want you to know that you can do it; you can come back to me… And also, I want you to know that… That I love you, okay? And… And…" His face began to redden, and I knew how hard he was fighting the tears; I was doing the same myself.

"Dad, wait, calm down. Look… I know I'm as good as dead in the Games. I know you love me, but please, do not cry like this. It's gonna be okay. Think… at least, I'm gonna be out of this living hell…"

"Kurt, I… I already lost your mother; I cannot bring myself to lose you too… I… I Can't!" Dad's hands trembled as he held into mine. I couldn't forgive myself for bringing such ache to him.

"Dad, please… I'm gonna be reunited with her… Just… think of it that way… I know that, now matter what I say, it's still gonna sound awfull, but you have to accept it, dad… I'm… I'm not gonna be around here anymore. I'm in the Games…"

"Wait… You're gonna come back, Kurt… And, our time's short, so I want you to have this… as your Token"

He opened my hands and placed a silver necklace on it, with a musical note as a pendant.

"Here, it's something to remind you of home… of how you always sang for me. Kurt, ever since your mother passed away, you were the only thing that could brighten my day and now…" Tears started to run from his eyelids again. Looking at the pendant, I recognized it from Mom's jewelry box – the one place that, no matter how sad and broken I was, it kept me safe - and knew what might just calm dad.

I brought his head to my lap and hummed the melody that mom used to sing when I was a child. Although the sadness of the moment didn't lift, I felt dad relaxing, and I relaxed. As much as I wanted to say that everything would be all right, I knew it wouldn't. I knew the return home wasn't going to happen; that my body would stay in the Arena, soaked in blood after being killed by some career tribute in the bloodbath. And, even if I survived it, I wouldn't have the skills to become a victor. I had to make this idea enter dad's mind, I couldn't just soothe him with kind words.

"Remember that time, when you were little, that you were stung by bees on the fields; and we didn't have any medicine, and I thought I would lose you?" He murmured, with his head still over my lap, and the tears still left their mark on the skin of his face.

"Yeah, dad" I said, with a soft voice, and a fainted smile on my lips.

"Well, this is just like then… I'm here, desperate, trying to cling on to the hope that you will come back; that, by some miracle, you will survive all this horror…" But before finishing the sentence, his voice broke.

"Dad, calm down, will you? I've already accepted this. The only thing that concerns me is you… So, please, will you make me a promise?" I said, and now that the tears had stopped, I sounded more confident in these statements.

"Yeah…" He said, half-heartedly.

"Promise me that, no matter what happens to me, you won't stop your life; you won't sulk in and slowly die. I love you, but there comes a time when you need to let life take its course. It's my turn to go now, and then, someday, you, and me, and mom; we'll all live happily ever after in a place full of flowers and light and kindness. Just promise me, okay?"

"I-I'll try…" he said, wiping the tears from his swollen face. Some time later, Emma, accompanied by the Peacekeepers, walked in, and I had to say one last goodbye to my father. I hugged him the harder I could one more time, kissed him on the forehead, and left along the blue Escort. I didn't look back. I couldn't; at least, not without crumbling down again. When the doors to my room were shut, I held the silver necklace up to my neck, and placed it gently around it. Meeting Sam, I wondered if he'd also gotten a Token, and my question was soon answered as I noticed the purple flower on his hand. Its color reminded me of the time when the bees stung me, and Sam' mother was the one to put up a mixture of flowers and herbs to save me.

Both I am Sam had our eyes swallowed and red, and neither one said a word during the car ride. All I did was look him in the face once, and before he caught my gaze, I looked down once more. The atmosphere was still heavy, filled with hurt, and fear, and anger.

Somewhere along the car ride, between the unending amber crops and the infinite sky, I drifted into long passed memories, and when I came back, we were nearing the station. There was a train waiting to take us to the Capitol. It was a cold, metal box, which cut through all Panem; its tracks extending way beyond the horizon, into the blue ruling over the trees. I looked at Sam once more, and this time, he met my gaze. I could see the fear on his eyes as the sun's light shone into them. Part of me wanted to grab his strong hand, to support him, and say that things would be okay; part of me wanted to be supported, to be held by those arms that, in their childhood, embraced me so gently, and part of me knew that, somewhere in the future, he and I would be fighting each other amidst twenty-two other tributes who wouldn't blink twice before slicing our throats open. I walked into the cold train, and Sam followed behind. At that moment, the doors closed, and there, our destinies were sealed.

Author's Note: Hey guys! It's been a LONG time since I wrote anything, because I was in my senior year, all busy with school and everything. But anyways, what I wanted to say is that this story is NOT based on Katniss and Peeta's Games, it takes place 5 years before, and anything that may look like what happens in their story is just coincidence that, sadly, I couldn't find another way to make it happen. This fic is not betaed, and it's really been a while since I wrote, but I really hope you enjoy!