"Effie... I love you, I have loved you since the first time I saw you. You know, when I saw the real you, not that Capitol clown you used to be, but that beautiful, amazing, caring woman that I see now in front of me. You are flawless, Effie", Haymitch took my hand in his and put it on his cheek. "I love you, princess."
There was a silence between us. I didn't know what to say. I didn't hate him, I was feeling something for him but I just didn't know what it was.
"Haymitch..." I started but I didn't get the chance to finish it.
"Effie, I know what you are saying", Haymitch began. That was interesting. I didn't know what I was going to say, how would he have known that?
"You think you don't have feelings for me but you know what? You do. You are in love with me. Why can't you just admit that, sweetheart?" He almost sounded angry. He was looking at my face and I knew he wanted to know what I was thinking about.
"I just can't love you, why don't you understand that, Haymitch?"
"Yeah, I see. I'm an old drunk who can't sleep at nights and can't stop drinking. I'm sure you'll find someone better." He was said disappointed. I could see that. He let my hand fall down and he walked and sat on a brown leather couch.
"Haymitch..." Again, I didn't know what to say. I wanted to make him feel better. I knew I could never find someone as sweet, kind and handsome as he was when he wasn't as drunk as usual. Sober Haymitch was the man I had always wanted. He made me laugh and he was there when I needed him. He loved me.
And there he was, sitting on the couch, watching me like this would be the last time he saw me. He thought I would just walk away like this, leaving him behind like nothing ever happened. Or maybe he knew that this was the way to get me stay a bit longer.
"Why are you still there?" He asked.
"Because I care about you. You know I'm not going to leave you like this." I was kind of mad. I heard him mumbling something what sounded a lot like "manners, damn you princess" but I didn't care about that. I walked to him and I sat down on the couch.
"I have my job...there's a lot of rebuilding to do in the Capitol too. Not just here in Twelve, Haymitch."
"But you don't want to go there, not after what they did to you. Stay here princess; just don't leave me alone with my nightmares." He was almost begging and took both of my hands to his. It was hard to look into his grey eyes and say "I can't stay" so I looked down at the dark wooden floor. He sighed.
"I love you, Effie. I love you, I love you, I love you." With every single "I love you" he kissed my lips softly. It was somehow sweeter than any other kiss. I closed my eyes but one small tear was already on my cheek. He kissed it away. He put both of his hands on my neck and kissed my lips again.
"Come back then, princess. I need you."
I nodded. That was all I could do. I hugged him tightly and then it was my time to leave. He was holding my hand until we came to the train. He didn't say a word. He just stood there and kissed me for the last time. I walked away and turned my head one more to him before I got on the train. I hurt him. It wasn't like what the Capitol did to him and his family. He loved me. And I was the one who hurt him, not the Capitol, not this time. First time I felt like I was really from the Capitol. That was the place where every bad person came from, right? Did I want to be like that? Did I really want to go back to the Capitol? No.
The train wasn't moving yet. I went to the door and there was a man just about to close it.
"Excuse me, I need to get out of this train." I said and the man looked at me.
"Sorry miss, we are leaving now, if you want to go to the Capitol, you have to stay in."
"Just let me out, I'm not going to the Capitol." I was trying to stay calm. I wanted to yell but it would have been very rude. The man opened the door so I could get back to Twelve. He closed it right after I got off. I was looking for Haymitch but he was already gone. I started to run. I wanted to kiss and hug him, I wanted to see him smiling. He was half way to Victor's Village when I yelled his name. He stopped and turned around. A few seconds later I was hugging him. He was surprised. Then I felt his strong arms around me and I knew he was smiling. I pulled away a little so I could see his face.
"You missed me?" He was joking.
"Yes, actually." I answered. "I understood that you were right. I love you. I don't want to be without you."
"I love you too, Flawless." He whispered into my ear. He kissed me once, twice...
"I wanna go home, Haymitch." I said when he stopped. I kissed him one more time before we started to walk back to his - our home.
"Maybe I will have another night without the nightmares..." Haymitch said hopeful. I smiled.
"You didn't have nightmares last night?"
"Never when you are sleeping with me, Effie."
"So that means you won't have nightmares ever again?" I said. We stopped for a moment.
"I guess so." He said and I saw that he was happier than ever before.