Merry Christmas! I bring another chapter as this was quickly written. Thank you so much for all the alerts and reviews, they really keep me going.

Enjoy!

Kurt swore himself not to cry. The moment the tributes step into the train station there will be cameras and reporters everywhere, showing every bit of their actions to the screens of Panem. Crying will seem weak.

But sometimes it's hard to hold back, and Kurt felt the tears the moment his father walked through the doors. Peacekeepers were situated outside of the room, and surrounding the whole Justice Building, ready to take him out once the hour he had to say good-bye was over.

Kurt buried his face in his dad's jacket and simply sobbed. It was unfair, so unfair, that after losing his wife now he also lost his son. When Kurt said this, Burt quickly pulled him out of his shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes.

"You're not lost to me. You'll come back to me, I know it."

Kurt almost laughed. "I'm practically dead meat, dad. Probably the first to die."

But Burt merely shook his head. "Please don't say that, Kurt," he muttered softly, "I know you. You never give up that easily. Remember that time you wanted that shirt so badly, you wouldn't stop talking about it? But it was too expensive and you helped twice as long in the factory to raise the money."

This time Kurt gave a slight chuckle. "The shirt was fabulous enough. But it's a completely different situation, dad."

"Yes, but your spirit is the same."

The pep talk Burt tried to give him didn't exactly lift his hopes, but the fact that his father believed more in himself than he did lightened Kurt's mood, if only a bit.

They sat and hugged for a while, letting the comfortable silence sweep into the room. After a while, Burt pulled back.

"Carole and Finn also want to see you, is that okay?"

Kurt nodded. When Burt stood up to get them, he quickly wiped up his tears. Better not leave too many traces of his weeping back.

Once he saw the state they were in, he quickly noticed that it was fruitless. Carole was silently crying, her expression the saddest he's ever seen and he almost felt the tears come back. However, it wasn't that what broke him.

While Carole was disheveled, Finn seemed positively crestfallen. His eyes had none of the usual brightness left, his skin a pale grey as if he hadn't eaten or slept in weeks. He was normally a tall guy, but with hunched shoulders he looked half his size.

Only then did Kurt realize that his brother and girlfriend were going to the Hunger Games together. Possibly they would have to kill each other.

Kurt rapidly shook that thought off as it made him feel something vile and nauseating cramp in his stomach.

Instead, he motioned Finn to sit down next to him. He came, almost mechanically, and threw his arms around Kurt. Burt and Carole joined, the family hugging each other wordlessly.

There simply were no words left.

Finn stood up after some time, mumbling something about going to see Rachel, and they all kissed and hugged again. Kurt felt his eyes well up again with left emotions, the knot in his throat impeding him from speaking.

One last look from his father at the doorway, a whispered "good luck, son" and he was alone.

The door opened just as they had left. Kurt rose, thinking it were the Peacekeepers to take him to the train station, but instead he was surprisingly greeted with the sight of Rachel's parents.

He subtly wondered how much of an hour he had left.

Her mom smiled at him, long dark hair swaying as she walked up to him. Long fingers grabbed at his shoulder and he was pulled into an awkward embrace. When she pushed away he slightly blushed, and his gaze felt onto the man, Rachel's dad, coming towards him. His thoughts wandered.

Rumor has it he was secretly meeting up with another man, though no one had real proof or knew who the mystery man was. Apparently everyone knew he was interested in men only, but he and his family were mostly left alone, maybe because his wife was the most respected teacher at school.

Kurt had always hoped that one day people wouldn't bother him as well.

Then he was brought back to reality, the man speaking to him. "You'll try to watch over our daughter, right? She always spoke highly of you, as one of her best friends."

Kurt refrained from saying that Rachel would probably have more chances to survive when he didn't help her, and simply nodded. With that promise they left, the woman kissing his forehead. Once again he was alone and knew that the hour was surely over by now.

The notion that Rachel considered him her best friend didn't leave his mind, and he realized that both of them didn't have any other friends beside themselves and Finn.

Well this eases the situation, he thought bitterly.

The Peacekeepers came eventually, leading him from the Justice Building into a car, and at the station he regrets crying. As he predicted it was full of camera teams filming their faces, and as he looked onto one screen to catch a look at himself he cringed. His face was indeed blotchy and his eyes red-rimmed. He feels if only a bit relieved that Rachel seemed to have cried as well.

They moved into the train and Kurt was taken aback at the sheer grandiosity of it. It was huge, very finely decorated, and before he could even take in the whole entering room Sue was already walking up behind him, ushering him into his chamber. She told the tributes to do as they please for now, but to be ready for supper in one hour.

Nodding, he stepped into the chamber and was immediately drawn to the closet. The clothes were amazing, the soft fabrics slipping through his fingers like water. They had silk and velvet at home, fine material, but they were rare and incredibly expensive.

Even the design was breathtaking. He thought he had seen everything in their District, but the textile industry of the Capitol must work with even more finesse. Some things were rather bizarre, but most of it were outfits he knew he would wear everyday had he the chance to.

Eventually he settled on dark tight denim and a pure cotton turquoise button-up, the cloth not uncommon but the bright color all the more. For good measure he added a black bow-tie.

When he walked to dining room the mentors and escort were already at the table. Will and Emma shot him a hopeful smile, but Sue narrowed her eyes.

"Nice outfit, Porcelain. Trying to blind the opponents into death?"

Kurt ignored the insult (he looked fabulous, thank you very much). Instead he frowned.

"Porcelain?"

"For your obnoxiously pale skin," came the answer. "And I already forgot your name, so I had to come up with one on my own."

Kurt opened his mouth to retort when Will shot him a look. She's always like this, it said. Just go with it.

Shrugging, he made his way to the table and just as took a seat between Emma and Will (and as far away as possible from Sue), Rachel appeared in the doorway in a simple dark blue dress. Well it would have been simple hadn't it been for the giant yellow bow at the waist.

Some outfits were indeed bizarre.

But when she sat down clothing was far from his mind, as in that moment the food was brought in and if Kurt wasn't overwhelmed before he sure was now.

Not only the amount, but the quality of the different dished were something he had never even dared to dream of, and he used all restrain he had to eat with manners like his mother taught him. But it was difficult to hold back as everything tasted amazing and he got as much in as he could. The fact that he hadn't eaten anything that day so far was surely helping.

After supper and when everyone was feeling satisfyingly full, maybe even too much, it was time for the last task of the day.

Kurt figured that most Districts would choose like his; sending the children most likely to die in the Games.

Rachel was tiny, barely over 5'3'', with a big mouth but no physical force to back it up.

Kurt was taller , but in comparison to other boys in his District he was smaller, with a lithe figure and almost no defined muscles. He wasn't scrawny, years of helping his dad at the factory showing in his arms, but he wasn't burly either.

The fact that both of them are unpopular enough of course also helped getting them chosen.

Kurt thought of all this as he sat down in front of a huge TV screen with Rachel, Emma, Sue and Will to see the reaping in the other Districts. As he imagined, most Districts did indeed choose small and weak-looking children, though – he noticed with some kind of relief – none of them had the heart to send 12-year-olds in the arena. The youngest tributes looked 15.

Other Districts, the ones with more chances of winning like the Careers, had a different mindset; they choose the ones who would show no hesitation to kill and would most likely get the most sponsors. For those Districts, this year was the best that could happen. They could send their strongest tributes, while other Districts would send the weakest.

The Games this year were bound to end quickly.

Nevertheless Kurt tried his best to keep all of the other tributes in mind, remember their faces and where they come from. It wasn't that difficult, most of them had prominent features that stayed etched into his brain.

District 1 chose a very pretty girl, she looked rather small, but it was clear as to why they chose her. She had short blonde hair and dangerous green eyes, and was so beautiful she was sure to get a lot of sponsors.

The male tribute was also memorable, he had black curly hair and amber eyes. He was almost as small as Rachel though, so what he would rely on would probably be his looks. Also very handsome, both of them made a picture-perfect pair of tributes. They smiled at the audience cheering at them, seemingly content with being chosen.

The tributes from District 2 were almost the opposite. The girl was also good-looking, but she had this sway of her hips as she walked on the stage, her coquettish attitude standing in contrast to the innocent

beauty of the female tribute from District 1. She didn't smile at all, dark eyes sweeping over the audience's heads, and flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder. She was one of those tributes who looked ready to kill.

The boys wasn't much better, he was big, so much bigger than the previous male tribute, broad shoulders and a scowl on his face. He had short brown hair, but instead of walking with the same confidence that his female counterpart had, he seemed to be less at ease and more tense. Nevertheless, maybe because of his size, he looked very dangerous. Kurt made a mental note to keep as far away from these two as possible.

The District 3 tributes were almost kind of sad. Kurt knew immediately that the people hadn't chosen them to win. The girl, with black skin and black weavy hair, wasn't so much weak-looking and maybe even had a chance, if it wasn't for her obvious resistance for being chosen and an attitude that wouldn't bring much sponsors.

The killing blow was the male tribute though, and the whole room Kurt was in made a dissatisfactory noise as a thin boy in a wheelchair was called to the stage. Kurt shook his head in disapproval. He had no chance and he hoped he would die a rather painless death. "And nobody volunteered to take his place," he heard Rachel's sad whisper next to him.

District 4 seemed to have more promising tributes. At least the male tribute was, with his dirty blond hair and confident smile, as he walked up to the stage and waved – actually waved – to the people cheering for him. Kurt noticed himself blush as he saw that the boy was shirtless, but whatever attraction he felt was quickly dismissed as he realized that the defined abs meant that the boy was strong and could probably kill Kurt within a heartbeat.

The girl, however, looked not so much like a potential Victor. She had big green eyes and straight brown, slightly reddish hair. She was nothing special, yet it was the only name he kept in mind because it was just so tacky; who named their child Sugar?

The tributes from Districts 5 and 6 went completely over his head, he wasn't really paying attention anymore even though he swore himself he would, but he perked up again at last for District 7.

The girl tribute was impressive. She had more weight than he would have guessed for someone living in that District, and she looked very menacing with her small dark eyes, though the effect was lessened by a pair of thick-rimmed glasses over her nose. Still, her stature was threatening enough.

The boy looked almost as dangerous. He was tall, had biceps as thick as Kurt's neck and kept his hair in a mohawk. Kurt would have laughed at the obviously old-fashioned hairstyle if he wasn't so terrified of the boy. District 7 obviously thought they could win this year, sending their most dangerous tributes and Kurt added them in his list of people to avoid in the Arena, along with the tributes from District 2.

Next up were Rachel and himself, he watched as the fear-struck but confident girl walked up to the stage with her head held high, and then himself, also scared but obviously not surprised with the District's decision. He was positively perplexed to see that he didn't look to fearful on the tape, at least not more than other tributes, despite the fact that he was absolutely terrified at that moment.

He dwelt too long on his own Reaping, District 9 had passed in that time and now it was District's 10 turn. Kurt felt almost sorry as the blonde girl stood on the stage, she obviously had no idea what was going on, smiling brightly as if she was ready to go on a fun trip rather than her own death. It seemed cruel to send someone like that to the Games, but Kurt could understand. The girl was a bit dense, stupid even, and he hoped she would be quickly killed at the cornucopia rather than far into the game.

He really didn't want to kill her.

The male tribute was a bit more in shape, he was slim but had strong arms, dark eyes and hair. Both tributes didn't look very threatening, but they were graceful and seemed stealthy.

The tributes from District 11 were nothing special, a small girl cried and an equally small boy seemed incredibly scared. They were both not over 15, probably the youngest in this year's Games.

District 12 gave more interesting tributes, the girl was short but looked strong, she had very straight and long black hair, and had obviously Asian ancestors, like the boy from District 10.

The boy had tall brown hair and wasn't buff like most of the other male tributes. He had the same stature as Kurt and that boy in the wheelchair, thin and almost no muscles. He looked innocent enough, smiling kind of dopey, and the hope never fading from bright green eyes. Kurt wondered how someone who had been so clearly chosen for not having a chance could still have that spirit.

His name, Rory, rang in Kurt's ears for he was the last to be announced, and when the anthem finished, signalizing the end of the reaping, he felt slightly dizzy at all new faces and names and oh god he had to kill all of them.

Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? Review please! Also I hope you could identify the other tributes, most of them are members of the Glee club. If you didn't recognize one you can just ask me.