"Katniss? Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you…" I hear Haymitch's coming from a little ways away. He's been getting closer and closer, which I have to give him credit for, I didn't realize that he was at least somewhat familiar to the forest… either that or he just got lucky. I can hear him plop down on a rock.
"I'm sorry…" he sighs through his hands. After a minute of toying with what to do I finally stand up. I'm no longer a bratty sixteen-year-old girl who can just run away whenever she wants to. The freshly fallen leaves crunching beneath my feet as I walk over to Haymitch.
"Haymitch?" I ask quietly. Haymitch lets out a small gasp before I can realize that I startled him from behind.
"Katniss…" he murmurs before pulling me into a hug. "Don't do that again. Please!" he says, softly pushing me away quickly, so he can look at me.
"I'm sorry…" I say quietly. I slump to the ground onto the rock that Haymitch was just sitting on.
"Haymitch?" I hear him sigh before sitting down next to me.
"Yeah?"
"Why did this happen to us?" He sighs again before responding.
"I don't know sweetheart… I don't know." That's when it happens. When Haymitch Abernathy actually starts crying. It takes me a while to notice, because he's not sobbing, the tears are merely rolling down his face. I pull him into a hug, for the first time ever I am comforting him. He hugs me tighter as my head sinks into the crook of his neck.
"B…" I murmur to myself.
"Hmm?" he mumbles softly. B, he cares.
I shake my head slightly. He clears his throat and helps me up while standing up himself.
"Let's go home," he says, holding out a hand. I nod and grab it, lightly holding his hand. We walk in silence all the way down to our houses. As we're walking down the road I look up; the sun's already setting. Had we really been out that long?
"Katniss?" Haymitch's voice brings me back to reality.
"What?" I say quietly.
"We're here." Haymitch chuckles to himself. "Get lost in your thoughts?" All I can do is nod. Haymitch walks me inside and I take in the surroundings.
"Haymitch this is your house," I say confused.
"I know, I know," he says rubbing his face. "I thought we could both use the company." I nod again as we walk over to his kitchen.
"Take a seat," Haymitch says, while gesturing over to the table. I do as he says as he pulls out some bread, which obviously Peeta brought over. My heart twinges with regret. Peeta and I were supposed to meet for dinner tonight… just as friends obviously.
"Peeta…" I murmur out loud. "I was supposed to meet him today." I look up to see Haymitch at my side, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"It's fine. Peeta will understand. He's too nice not to forgive you. Besides, you've had a rough day," Haymitch says sitting down next to me.
"I'm not so hungry…" I say standing up slowly and walking over to the couch. I sit down clasping my hands together, my eyelids drooping slightly.
Haymitch walks over falling into his chair.
"Can we talk?" he asks, a sober serious look on his face. I nod.
"Katniss, when I was… young," Haymitch pauses, hesitating, "I knew your father." I look down at my hands, already not liking this conversation. "He wasn't my best friend, but he was a friend." Haymitch pauses again to look at me.
I just fidget with my hands.
"After the Hunger Games he helped me get through… everything. People didn't like me too much; they kept saying the games changed me, and I guess in some ways they were right. But, your father was the only one who cared enough to stick around, and he soon became my only friend." Haymitch closes his eyes, most likely thinking of what to say next.
"When… when he died…" Haymitch trails off.
"Haymitch I'm not so sure I want to talk about this anymore." He nods looking down at his hands, both gripping the other tightly.
"I think I'm gonna go," I say abruptly, standing up. Haymitch quickly looks up, but slowly nods and turns back to his hands.
I walk to the door and rest my hand on the doorknob, yet I pause. 'See you tomorrow.' Three simple words to let him know I don't hate him. Even just bye would be fine. But no, I just open the door and walk out into the crisp cool night.
"Sorry we're closed," Peeta says from behind the counter, his back turned to the door.
"Peeta…" I say slowly. He whips around, faster than I can blink.
"Katniss? What's wrong?"
"Haymitch knew my father," I say matter-of-factly. Peeta holds up his hand, as if to say 'Say no more.' He knows what happened to my father. His best friend's father was in the coal mine accident; Peeta constantly had to comfort him. I remember seeing him in school giving a tight hug to a boy with tears rolling down his face.
"Come on," Peeta says leading me to a staircase, "Let's go to bed."
