This story has been sitting on my computer for months ^^ Akachankami asked me for a "no room left on the plane so we're fighting for the same seat" AU and as usual with me it grew laaaarge.
I'm setting this story as complete but I also put it in a new story instead of in HADS because in my head, there is a next part but I don't have time to write it right now so this is a maybe someday.
Fate Is A Fickle Thing
"What do you mean I can't take that plane?" Effie scowled, her usual poise and good education threatening to fail her faced with the dense woman behind the counter. "I booked my flight two weeks ago."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am." the woman repeated for the fifth time. "That plane is cancelled. There is a plane leaving for Richmond tomorrow morning."
"I need to be in Virginia tomorrow morning hence why I booked a flight tonight." she hissed, ignoring the annoyed grumbling coming from behind her.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am." the woman repeated.
"You being sorry won't help me get to Virginia in time for…"
She was rudely interrupted by the man behind her.
"Listen, lady, she says she can't do anything. What do you think she's going to do? Have a special plane set up just for you?" the guy snapped. She turned around and glared. He had grey eyes, dirty blond hair that was much too long and unstyled, stubble that covered his chin and jaw, clothes that clearly had seen better days and his breath stank of whiskey…
"Did anyone ask for your opinion?" she huffed. "Don't you know it's rude to intrude in other people's conversation?"
"Don't you know it's rude to keep everyone waiting because you're throwing a bitch fit like a spoiled little brat?" he deadpanned.
He might have had a point but she wasn't ready to concede defeat all the more so when everyone in a two feet radius was looking curiously at the scene they were causing.
The woman behind the counter cleared her throat. "Ma'am, do you want to book a ticket? There is only one seat left…"
"What?" the guy exclaimed, his anger quickly switching target. "No way. I need that ticket. I need to be in Virginia tomorrow."
"Oh, now who is throwing a fit?" Effie mocked, batting her eyelashes at him with delight. She turned back to the attendant. "I assume the plane lands in Richmond but I'm actually going a little further away. In a charming little town, they called it the Seam, you may have heard of it… Anyway, at what time is the plane supposed to land?"
"You're going to the Seam too?" The man made a face. "You're not taking that plane, sweetheart. That seat is mine."
"Excuse me, I was there before you." she argued. "And I still don't know the details of the flights. You are not an efficient employee."
Said employee looked ready to tear her hair off her head. "I suggest you two step aside and decide who gets the ticket. Next!"
"Absolutely not!" Effie screamed at the same time the guy shouted. "I need that ticket!"
But the next person in line had already stepped up and they were roughly pushed aside.
"How rude!" she scoffed, almost toppling over in her high heels. "Well, there is nothing to decide in my opinion. I was there first. I get the ticket."
"You are a real bitch, aren't you?" he sneered. "Look, my kid is waiting for me to show up tomorrow morning, I'm going to show up tomorrow morning, so whatever business trip you're on will have to wait."
"I am not on any business trip, I am actually going to visit family and I refuse to disappoint my nephew." she retorted. "There is a very important event I need to attend and…"
"I'm not asking for your life story, sweetheart." he cut her off.
"I am not your sweetheart !" she snapped.
"Yeah, that's for sure!" he taunted. "I bet you haven't been anyone's sweetheart in a long time, it would explain the giant stick in your ass."
"How vulgar." she declared before turning back to the woman behind the counter, swiftly stepping in before her next customer could and ignoring the resulting protest. "Excuse me, I will take the ticket."
"No, she won't." the man said.
"The gentleman who just left bought the last ticket." the woman declared with a professional smile that barely hid the hint of glee at annoying them.
For a second, Effie stared and then she saw red. "Is this a joke?"
"You're kidding me?!" the stranger exclaimed at the same time.
"There are no more planes leaving for Virginia until early afternoon tomorrow." the woman said, after checking her computer. "I suggest you rent a car. It's only a two hours drive to Richmond and a four hours drive to the Seam. I would hurry too because rental cars are usually disappearing like flies at this time of night."
Effie checked her watch : it was midnight, a four hours drive wasn't appealing but neither was disappointing her nephew. With a sigh, she resigned herself to traveling the slow way. The guy was already gone and she hurried in the direction of the rental agency, afraid that since it was obviously not her lucky day, there would be only one car left and the horrid man would beat her to it.
Her fears were unfounded. There were several cars waiting there and a very helpful boy ready to assist her. She spotted her scruffy stranger at the other end of the store, clearly he was having less luck than her.
"I can't rent you a car, sir, you're drunk." the other sales assistant said.
"I'm not drunk. I had two glasses." the guy argued.
The young man who took care of her apologized for the scene and handed her papers to sign. By the time she had filled everything and she was handed keys, the guy had disappeared but she overheard him on the phone as she was walking to her car.
"No. Listen, kid, I tried, there's no flight before noon." He paused long enough to draw a breath and run a shaky hand in his hair. "I tried, I can't drive." Another pause and, this time, he winced. "No, I'm not drunk. I just had two drinks. You know I hate flying. Come on, sweetheart, don't be like that. Yeah, I know your mom isn't coming. Yeah, I… Look, I know I promised, I didn't want to miss your engagement either, I… Hello? Girl?" He looked at his phone in dismay and kicked a nearby car in anger. That was when he realized she was standing there, looking. "What do you want?"
The man was horrid, drunk and he clearly had a temper. Truly, she ought to have left him where he stood.
She tilted her head and pursed her lips, reminding herself of how many times her manners had brought her nothing but trouble.
"You can travel with me." she sighed, already regretting it. "You shouldn't miss your daughter's engagement. I'm sorry, I overheard."
He hesitated for a moment and then a look of pure relief washed on his face.
"I could kiss you." he breathed out, not wasting a second in flinging his luggage on the back seat of the car. In case she changed her mind, she supposed.
"A thank you would be more than sufficient." She fought to keep a grin off her lips. "My name is Effie Trinket."
She outstretched a hand. He shook it briefly, with enough strength that her poor fingers almost got crushed in the process.
"Haymitch." he offered.
She lifted an eyebrow and settled behind the wheel, leaving him to sit in the passenger seat. "Haymitch without a last name?"
"Abernathy." He rolled his eyes. "You're a cop or something?"
It was less taunting than earlier and much more teasing so she decided not to throw a fuss.
"Did anyone ever tell you you are awfully ill-behaved?" she asked, because not throwing a fuss didn't mean she would forgive such a breach in manners.
"Did anyone ever tell you you're awfully uptight?" he retorted.
They weren't even out of the parking lot yet. It would be a long drive. Never mind the fact that it was late and she was tired. She had planned to sleep on the plane to be fresh and rested the next day.
"At what time is your daughter engagement supposed to start?" She was fishing for a safe subject and she figured men liked to talk about their daughters.
"It's a dinner thing but she wanted me there in the morning to meet the guy's family, without all the fuss, you know." he shrugged and then added as an afterthought. "She's not my daughter. She's my kid but not my daughter. It's kind of complicated."
"Oh, I understand perfectly." she hummed. "I'm very close to my nephew. He's engaged too, that's actually why I am going down to Virginia, to meet his bride. How fantastic? A wedding, can you imagine?"
"You're from the Seam?" he frowned, giving her a look - the very same kind of look everyone in Virginia always gave her : the look of loathing that people only reserved for richer people.
"Obviously not." she replied. "I am from Richmond."
"Yeah, thought so." he snorted. "You look like a rich Daddy girl."
"And you look like a homeless drunk." she hissed. "Do I judge you based on your looks? No, so I will thank you to grant me the same courtesy."
She was barely reaching the highway. This was going to be a nightmare.
"Too bad, I was also going to say you were hot for an uptight bitch." he smirked.
The smirk only widened when she sputtered in horror.
"You can't say things like that to a lady! It's improper!" she rebuked him. "Not to mention I could leave you by the side of the road and then what would you do?"
"Wait for the next hot lady to stop and take pity on me." he shrugged. "And probably get an arrow in my eye when I finally get my ass to the Seam. My girl's an archery champion, never misses her target."
There was so much pride in his voice her annoyance receded a little.
"So, you often take hitchhikers?" he asked. "'Cause I've gotta tell you, sweetheart, you don't look very strong and I'm twice your size. 'Doesn't sound real clever to invite me in."
"You are assuming again." she said. "Who says I am not skilled at hand to hand combat?"
"Are you?" he mocked.
"No." she granted. "But perhaps I have a gun in my purse."
"Sure, you do." he humored her.
The banter wasn't so terrible and it made for a nice distraction. She found herself grinning like a fool at some times and being irritated out of her mind at others – his ten minutes laugh when he heard she actually worked in the fashion field had vexed her greatly.
The first two hours of driving flashed by quickly enough. Time fled when you were bickering and she and Haymitch never seemed to run out of subjects to disagree upon.
The real problems started once they had reached Richmond and he assured her he knew a shortcut that would be quicker than the highway. He had grown up around there, she was tired and there were two hours left to drive… She didn't think anything of it when she followed his directions.
Until she found herself stirring the car on the same road for the third time in one hour.
"We are lost." she declared, pulling over and turning off the engine. She was sleepy, they hadn't seen another car in at least two hours, and she hoped the rental came with a map.
"No we're not." he grumbled. "I told you to take right at the crossroad."
"I took right. I took right the three times we ended up there." she hissed.
He stared at her. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, either from lack of sleep or because of the tremors in his fingers he was trying to hide from her. He had taken a few mouthfuls from a flask when he had thought she wasn't looking. It didn't take a genius to understand he had an alcohol addiction problem.
"Then we're lost." he shrugged.
"Oh, for the love of…" She stopped herself in time. A lady didn't curse, after all.
She wriggled to reach her purse on the backseat – which accidentally made her press her chest against his arm and she tried very much not to mind how small the car seemed to be now that they weren't moving.
"Looking for your imaginary gun?" he joked. His voice was rougher as if he, too, had just realized just how close they were sitting. Spacious, the man from the rental agency had said, clearly they needed to think again. Or maybe Haymitch was just thinking she might truly have a gun and was really considering murdering him on a back road of Virginia. He looked paranoid enough.
"Perhaps." She gritted her teeth. "You certainly would have it coming." She finally found her phone in her cluttered bag. "I have no signal." Which meant no GPS either…
He checked his own phone and shook his head. A search of the glove box didn't reveal any map.
She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "I suppose we can either drive at random until you recognize something or we can wait for a car to pass by so we can ask for directions."
"Sweetheart, it's pitch black and it's the middle of the night." He rolled his eyes. "I won't recognize shit and nobody is going to drive around here."
"And what do you propose we do then?" she hissed. She had learned early during the ride that protesting the pet name would only lead to him becoming more creative and calling her stupid things like darling or Princess. "It's your fault, we should have stayed on the highway."
"We wait for sunrise." he suggested. "We're only an hour away. We will be there for breakfast." He threw a dubious glance. "You could use a few hours of sleep anyway, you've been driving for three hours."
She had promised she would be in the Seam at first light. She was so eager to meet her nephew's fiancée… The dear boy would never voice his disappointment naturally but she would know. The idea of letting him down was crushing and she stepped out of the car, feeling the need for some fresh air.
She wasn't expecting Haymitch to step out too.
"What are you doing?" he frowned.
"I need to stretch my legs." She started walking. She wouldn't go far, she decided.
"On a back road at night? You've got a death wish?" he spat. "Come back here before you get yourself killed."
"And who is going to kill me, I wonder?" she retorted. "We're lost in the middle of nowhere thanks to you. I should never have offered you a ride. I should have left you stranded there! You are rude and vulgar and insufferable!"
"Why did you?" he snorted. "I didn't ask you anything."
"Because you looked sad and that made me sad and... Damn me and my stupid compassion." she sighed, and turned her back on him. She wandered closer to the middle of the road and found herself abruptly pulled back closer to the car. She struggled in fear, suddenly very aware that despite the three hours spent together he was very much a stranger.
"Stop." he growled, pushing her gently but firmly against the side of the car. "You don't juststand around in the middle of the road. You will get yourself killed."
It was dark but the moon was full and it was enough for her to glimpse the panicked glint in his eyes. His worry was genuine, she realized.
"There is no one on this road, Haymitch." she pointed out. "We haven't seen anyone in ages."
"There's always no one right up until a drunkard comes and hit you with his car." he chuckled darkly.
There was clearly a story behind that statement but his voice was laced with so much pain she didn't dare ask for it.
It occurred to her they were standing way too close to each other for strangers, he was almost pinning her to the car, but she found she didn't mind so much. He smelt like whiskey, cheap soap and faint sweat. It was manly and her mouth watered as her body slowly reacted to his unexpected proximity.
The weird tension shifted to something acutely familiar. He took a hesitant step forward, obliterating the notion of space between them. She instinctively placed a hand on his chest although not quite pushing him away.
"You are rude and vulgar and insufferable." she repeated, in a hopeless attempt to remind herself that it wasn't a good idea. At all.
"Got a thing for bad boys, sweetheart?" he mocked.
She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the car. "Unfortunately yes."
It wasn't just the bad boy vibe, though. He had been pushing all her buttons ever since they met. She couldn't resist a challenge and he was very much a challenge. A challenge with appealing grey eyes…
"Good thing I have a thing for difficult women then." he smirked, brushing his fingers against her jaw.
"I am not difficult." she denied. "I simply have high standards. I know what I want and I stop at nothing to get it."
And to prove just that, she grabbed the lapels of his coat and tugged. Their mouths crashed together, their noses bumped, his stubble scratched her skin, and there were far too many teeth involved but it was strangely perfect in its messiness. Before she understood what was happening, he had her pinned to the car, her legs were wrapped around his waist and she couldn't tell if they were kissing or fighting for control.
His hands were wandering under her clothes, kneading and stroking her flesh in turn, and she was tearing at his coat and shirt, trying to access his skin.
She had just managed to open his shirt and she was down to her bra when the flood of light took her by surprise, making her gasp in alarm. The car that drove past honked joyfully at them and she buried her face in his neck, mortified beyond words.
"You should have asked them for directions, sweetheart." he chuckled.
"Oh, would you stop!" she scowled, whacking his shoulder. "You are truly the most horrid man I have ever had the misfortune to meet! You…" The rest of her sentence was muffled by his mouth. Far from being entirely distracted, she fumbled around for the car door handle and managed to open the door to the backseat. Then she buried her fingers in his hair and tugged firmly enough that he stopped kissing her to look at her, obviously amused by her antics. "Inside the car. Now."
"Bossy." he commented.
She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing but he was smirking when he tossed her on the backseat.
Afterwards, they remained there, lying as comfortably as they could in the cramped space. She felt like a ragdoll and couldn't be bothered to get dressed just yet so she settled with her head on his shoulder and the rest of her on his lap. She was probably crushing him but she couldn't bring herself to care. He had thrown his coat on her sometime after her third shiver.
"I'm too old for car sex." he stated after a while. "I'm hurting all over."
He seemed to have developed a strange fixation for her curly hair and kept tugging on strands only to watch them bounce back into place.
"I will move." she offered, very much not moving.
"It's okay." he shrugged "You can sleep a bit, if you want. I will wake you up when there's light."
"Are you sure?" she hummed. "It's been awhile since my last one night stand but I seem to remember in those situations men are not usually fond of cuddling."
"It's been awhile for me too." he admitted. "So fuck the usual protocol."
"Language." she chided him.
"You're serious?" he snorted. "I can't say fuck? I just licked your…"
Blissfully for her ears, she fell asleep without hearing the rest of his no doubt crude sentence. It felt as if she had just closed her eyes when he shook her awake.
"It's seven a.m." he told her. "I fell asleep."
The day was bright and Effie added another memory to her "walks of shame" list. She hurried to get dressed, taking care not to look his way. He was behaving along the same lines.
It was awkward, oh so painfully awkward…
"Oh, fuck." he growled and before she could ask him what he meant by that or rebuke him for his atrocious vocabulary, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. She fell into the kiss with an easiness that puzzled her. "Look." he said. "We had a great time and we're never going to see each other again so there's no point walking on eggshells, yeah?"
His eyes were even more striking in the light of day and she nodded eagerly, not looking forward to an hour ride spent in awkward silence.
There was certainly a tension in the car when they started driving again but it had little to do with either of them being ill-at-ease and more to do with the looks and smiles they kept sharing. They found their way to the Seam but halfway there Haymitch's hand ended up on her thigh, slowly making its way under her skirt and she pulled the car on the side of the road again. It was a good thing they were so deserted because there was no room for mistaking what they were doing when she straddled him.
She was almost disappointed when they finally reached the Seam.
"Where should I drop you off?" she asked. "Where does your not-daughter live?"
"You can leave me here. I will walk." he said. The town wasn't that big and she knew from past experience you could easily walk from one end to another if you had time to spare. She hated wasting time though.
"Are you sure?" she insisted as she pulled over. "It's no trouble at all…"
"It's fine, sweetheart." He waved her offer off. "Thank you for the ride. And… the rest."
His smirk was doing weird things to her belly. It was odd to think she would never see him again because… Well… Fair was fair: the sex had been great.
On impulse, she leaned in and pressed a kiss against the corner of his mouth.
"I'm almost glad we missed the plane." she offered.
"Almost?" He lifted his eyebrows, a hand on his heart in mocked hurt.
Then he gave her a real kiss and she had to fight not to suggest they might have time for a third round assuming they could find a motel somewhere.
She forced herself not to look in the rear-view mirror once he was out of the car. She fished her phone from her purse, dialed Peeta and followed his directions to his new house. She didn't have to force herself to sound cheerful exactly but there was a small regret weighting on her nonetheless. Perhaps she should have asked Haymitch's number…
Peeta was waiting on his doorstep and waved at her as soon as he saw her. Forgetting everything about handsome alcoholic strangers and surreal one night stands, she parked the car and lost no time in hugging the boy to the point he had to crack a joke about her smothering him.
"I missed you so much!" she laughed, only then noticing the young woman who had stepped out of the house. She was beautiful. She had fire in her eyes.
"Effie, meet Katniss." he said with a goofy smile.
Katniss didn't have a goofy smile, she sulked and brooded but she was also kind and obviously in love with her nephew. She simply wasn't the overly demonstrative sort and Effie had understood from her many phone calls with Peeta that her family situation wasn't ideal.
So when they were finally settled in the kitchen around a cup of tea, she tried not to judge too quickly even though her manners were less than stellar.
"Katniss' uncle was supposed to come today but he missed his flight." Peeta explained while the girl glared at the phone that hadn't stopped ringing ever since Effie had arrived. "We hoped we would be able to introduce you to Katniss' family before tonight's dinner. Oh, yes, I didn't tell you! We're having an engagement party tonight. Just close family and a few friends. Nothing grand. I just wanted you to meet everyone before the wedding."
She was privately having a silent mini panic attack at what she had packed and what would be suitable for an engagement party but smiled nonetheless.
"There were a lot of problems with planes yesterday." she answered tactfully, hoping to smooth ruffled feathers. "I'm sure your uncle will get another flight…"
"If he cares enough to show up." Katniss grumbled.
The phone finally stopped ringing but the young woman didn't stop glaring.
Of course, a few minutes later, the front door slammed open without any warning and a gruff voice boomed in the house.
"Can't any of you answer your fucking phones?"
Effie startled very badly.
"Don't worry, it's just Haymitch." Peeta told her, misunderstanding the source of her fright. She knew it was just Haymitch, she had recognized his voice but what on earth…
For the first time since Effie had met her, a real smile flashed on Katniss' face and she rushed to the hall.
"I thought I would need to send Johanna get your ass back here." she heard the girl say. There was a pause that she imagined meant they were hugging and then Katniss spoke again. "Come meet Peeta's aunt. She's like his mom so best behavior. I mean it. And she's posh so don't start making fun of her."
Effie wondered if Katniss was aware she could hear everything.
Peeta was smiling in obvious fondness.
She heard the footsteps coming closer and closer and she could only sit there and watch the upcoming train wreck unfold.
Katniss dragged Haymitch in the kitchen by the wrist and declared proudly : "Effie, this is Haymitch."
He registered the name before his eyes fell on her.
The look of shock on his face would have been comical in another context.
She was sure her face was worth a laugh too.
Fate had a funny way to come back and kick you in the ass.