A/N: Hellooo there lovely readers! This is a three-shot I'm doing for the beastly Hunger Games which I adore. By the way I'm Mrs. Gale Hawthorne. Lolz anyway this is OCxHaymitch set back when Haymitch was sent into the Hunger Games. I got inspired when Katniss describes him as quite the "looker" in "Catching Fire" so him being a "looker" I wanted to write a story about him. :]

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunger Games sadly...but I do own Bethany Anne Herron! :D

Bethany and Haymitch

By: The Converse Queen

Part 1: Saying Goodbye

Bethany Herron and Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch Abernathy and Bethany Herron. That's always how it's been. For 2 and a half years. Still going strong. 2 and a half years of being completely deeply madly in love with each other. I love him and he loved me. My mother hated him but accepted him. He had no mother but an alcoholic father who didn't care about him what so ever.

The day of the 50th reaping aka 2nd Quarter Quell was the day I thought my life was completely ruined. That I would never go on. This is how it happened.

I wake up, my back stiff from sleeping on the couch. I sit up slowly, cracking my back. I run my hands through my knotty hair and put it up in a bun. I get off the couch and walk upstairs to my room where I change into skinny black pants, a purple long sleeved shirt and pull on brown hunting boots. I wash my face with cold water and brush my teeth. Today was the 50th Hunger Games. The 2nd Quarter Quell.

I walk back downstairs and out the door, not bothering to wake my mother as she'll know where I'll be.

I walk slowly down the streets dreading 2:00. It's 9:35 now so I still have time to kill with Haymitch Abernathy, my wonderful boyfriend. I finally reach his house (well if you could call it that, it's more like a shack with windows.) I go around the back careful to duck when I get to his fathers window. I walk a couple more feet and reach his open window where I pull myself up and into his messy window. Haymitch is still asleep so I sit down on his bed next to him. I stroke his curly long hair softly, praying that he won't be picked for the reaping and that neither will I.

Suddenly his eyes flutter to life and smiles brightly at me. I smile back and lean in for a kiss. Our lips brush together as he sits up. I wrap my arms around his neck, hooking them together. He places his strong arms around me and makes me feel even more safe. I break away from his lips, leaning my forehead against his.

"Promise you won't get picked?" I whisper.

"Promise," Haymitch swears and burries his head in my hair while I place my head in his neck. We sit like that for a long time and when we finally break apart it's 10:15. I kiss him one more time before crawling back out the window, as his father enters the room.

Drunk, his father screams at Haymitch. "Who was just in here!"

I can't make out his muffled reply but I hear and hard loud whipping noise. I cover my mouth as a gasp escapes my mouth. Haymitch practically falls out of the window. I run up to him and place my arm around his shoulder. I see a long mark across his face wear a boil is starting to emerge.

His face is still swelling when we reach my best friend, Katherine Chaney's house. Her father heals people for a cheaper price then real doctors. I am practically dragging Haymitch in when Katherine bursts into the room and helps me pick Haymitch up. We help him to a chair and sit him down. I hold tightly onto his hand and he looks at me with a weak smile. Katherine races to her father. They come back in with a white cream and some ice. Mr Chaney rubs the cream over Haymitch's cheek and eye. After about 3 minutes, Mr Chaney places the ice pack on his cheek and tells me to hold it. I grasp it tightly and place it on Haymitch's cheek. I kiss his lips softly. Katherine walks over to me and sits down.

"Who whipped you?" she asks quietly.

"M-my dad," Haymitch manages to choke out. I grasp his hand tighter and Haymitch, Katherine and I talk for the next few hours.

At around 1:55, Katherine, Haymitch, Mr Chaney, my mother and I make our way to the square where the reaping is going to be held. I squeeze Haymitch's hand as we make our way deep into the crowd. I see three chairs on the stage with the mayor, a lady mentor and a male mentor sitting in them. In my head I curse insults to the Capital for making us do this every freakin' year. I cringe deeply at the thought of Haymitch, Katherine or me being picked. I can't even bear the thought.

5 minutes later the reaping begins with the mayor retelling the horrible story of the rebellion who got crushed by the evil Capital and how the Hunger Games remind us every damn year how the rebellion failed and the Capital will always be in charge and how we never will stand a chance against them.

"Will the odds ever be in your favor!" cries the lady mentor. She walks over to the bin with the girls names in them. She reaches deep into the bin and grasps a piece of white paper. I pray with all my heart that it won't be Katherine or my name. She pulls the paper out and pauses for dramatic effect. "Maysilee Donner!"

I look over at a small group of girls who are clutching desperately at each other. One of them is trying to pull who I assume is Maysilee back but she rips her arm free of the girls clutch. She walks up to the stage and waits for the boy tribute to be called. I grip Haymitch's hand so tightly my knuckles turn white.

The lady mentor reaches deep into the bin and pulls out a piece of paper. My heart feels like it stops as she calls the name Haymitch Abernathy.

Immediately I try to hold on to his shoulders crying out, "No! No! No! Please don't leave me!" I don't care about my dignity right then. My mother and Katherine hold me back as I try to free myself of there grip. "Haymitch! Please! Please don't go!" Tears are continuously falling from my eyes. "Please!" I try once more to free myself but fail because two gaurds come and take me away with Katherine and my mom following. Even after were a couple hundred feet away, I'm still crying out Haymitch's name. "Haymitch! Please, come back! Don't go! Please!"

Finally once we reach my house, I stop resisting. I just sit down and lean against the wall of the outside of my house. The tears stopped awhile ago. My face is blotchy and my eyes are bloodshot. Katherine sits next to me and hugs me tightly. She rubs my back lightly and whispers comforting words into my ear.

"It'll be okay, I promise," she says. "He'll come back. He's strong."

I doubt that against 48 other tributes will he come back. I lost the love of my life to the Capital. "I love him," I whisper to Katherine.

"Really?" she asks.

I nod.

"I think he loves you too," Katherine says. I start to cry again into her shoulder.

"I don't want him to leave me."

"He won't. I promise."

About 15 minutes later, my mother takes me to the Justice building where I see Katherine and her father waiting along with a couple other people I remember Haymitch describing. I can barely keep myself from crying. After Katherine and Mr Chaney leave from visiting him, it's my turn. I hug my mother quickly and walk into the room where I see Haymitch sitting on a velevty couch. I immediatley run over to him as he stands up. I jump into his arms and kiss him fiercly on the lips. He lets me down and I cry into his chest. He rubs my back and kisses my forehead a couple of times. I look up at him.

"I don't want you to leave me," I say.

"I'm not going to leave you, Bethany," he says. "I'm going to come back and were going to get married and have lots of kids."

I smiled as brightly as I could. "Really?" I whisper.

"Yes," he promises and somehow, some possible way I know he's telling the truth.

"I love you, Haymitch Anthony Abernathy," I whisper lovingly.

"I love you too, Bethany Anne Herron," he says. "I will for the rest of my life."

I kiss Haymitch again and suddenly can't stop. It's like I'm putting all of my love into a couple of minutes.

Haymitch pulls away. "You know Bethany," he says quietly.

"What?" I ask.

"Sometimes," he begins. "The best kind of love is the love that lets go."

I begin to cry again and can't stop. "Oh Haymitch!" I cry out.

He hugs me tighter whispering things into my ear. "I will come back. Don't worry. We will be together again soon my love."

All of a sudden some Peacekeepers barge in and pull me away from Haymitch. "No Haymitch!" I cry out trying to get back to him. "Remember that I lo-"

I don't get to finish because they drag me out of the room. The last thing I see is a tear falling down his eye and him smiling at me. The Peacekeepers drag me back to my mom who takes me back to our house. I watch the rest of the Hunger Games with deep deep sadness enfilling my heart, as I feel the boy I fell in love with 2 years ago, slipping away from me.