Chapter 2

We know full well there's just time

So is it wrong to dance this line?

The next morning, the snow had lessen a little, making the road that led out of the Victor's Village became visible again and Haymitch rose from his couch, staggering as his head throbbed and he heard noises on the second floor. He quickly picked up his knife, which was always with him after the games, his heart racing, but then, he remembered about his new housemate, Effie Trinket.

For a moment he returned to the couch, wondering what he had in his head when he accepted the girl in his house. It was obvious that this wasn't a temporary arrangement, but now it was already done.

"Haymitch? Good morning." The girl greeted with a huge smile, now ready for the day in a long-sleeved pink dress, her only wig that she had brought on her head and the fur coat from last night, as she placed a glass of milk in is front and hummed while picking up the cushions he had thrown on the floor.

Effie had had a hard time trying to fall asleep after her uncle had left her. Not only she was in a strange place, the district Twelve, but because she had no other family nearby. She had cried herself to sleep in the guest room, but when she woke up, tried to put a smile on her face, after all, that's what her parents would want, right?

Haymitch growled, putting a hand to his face, which made her frown.

"I said good morning." She repeated, after all, good manners were the basis of everything, her mother used to say.

"Princess." He said sarcastically, lowering his hand and looking at her colorful clothes. "Go change these clothes and wear something more normal, you aren't in the Capitol anymore."

Offended by his rudeness, she crossed her arms over her chest, saying angrily:

"I have no 'normal' clothes, and I can't go out in the street, remember?" She said, excusing herself and running to the stairs while he sighed.

It was just what he needed. In addition to having to go out to buy some clothes for her and apologize, he felt bad for being rude. Since when?

Effie sat in the guest room, staring at the cracked mirror. She had gotten rid of the wig, leaving her blond hair falling below her shoulders and her young face, with only a pink and pale lipstick. It was as if she was naked, without all the embellishments that all children began to use in the Capitol when they would turn 10.

The room, for not being in use, had just a bed and a closet. Not that she would need a bigger wardrobe, now that all she had was in that suitcase at the foot of the bed.

Why Haymitch was so, so rude? Did he regret helping her? Maybe it would bring problems to him? Or maybe he had a girlfriend and this would disturb his relationship?

The strangest thing of all was that it was the last thought that had hurt her the most, more than the first two. Did he have a girlfriend? No, the house didn't indicate that there was another occupant there and her uncle had checked and confirmed that he lived alone. Then it had to be one of the first two options.

Feeling her heart sink, and her breath ragged, she squeezed the strap of her suitcase in her hands, walking to the door, sad for what had happened to her family, being rejected by Haymitch and afraid to be alone.

But when the girl opened the door, she almost fell back, bumping on Haymitch's chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Haymitch asked, frowning as he recovered his balance from crashing into the girl and looked at her suitcase. She was thinking of leaving? The idea once had been welcome, now seemed strange to him.

In one of his hands he brought one of his sweatshirts and pants and the other, his bottle and was now trying to disguise the shock of seeing her without all that stuff on her face, eyeshadow, powder, etc. She looked beautiful ... But then he cleared his throat, diverting from these dangerous thoughts.

"Away." She replied, trying to smile. "I don't want to be a burden, and I know when I'm being one."

If your heart was full of love

Could you give it up?

"Stay." He just said, not knowing what else to say and then extended the clothes toward her. "Probably they'll be a little big on you, but they'll keep you warm until I can get you something more... feminine."

And then he shut the door, giving her privacy and Effie realized that it was his way of apology. Smiling with relief, she took the sweatshirt to her face, smelling the fabric softener and Haymitch's scent, so different from the smell of drink and food that filled the place.

When Effie went downstairs, dressed in Haymitch's clothes, she saw him at the door, putting a cap on his head and closing his coat.

"Thank you." She said, indicating the clothes with a small smile and he tried to look nonchalant as he felt a tingle to see her smiling, with her hair and his clothes, so he shrugged.

"I'm going to the town to buy some things. There's milk in the fridge." He paused, thinking of telling her that she could use the TV, but then remembered that he had broken it into one of his attacks of fury, so he said: "And stay away from my bottles."

It made her laugh, rolling her eyes:

"I'm not a child Haymitch, I'm 15 years old."

"Stay away. And don't open the door to strangers." He warned, closing the door behind him and walking through the snow.

Without having much to do, Effie began to wander through the house, seeing the mess in which Haymitch lived: dirty plates all over the kitchen table, bottles thrown on the floor, clothes and pieces of newspapers.

"Well, if I'm going to live here, we have to establish some rules and one of them is no mess." Effie thought, looking at everything with her hands on her hips.

An hour later, she had gotten rid of the garbage that had accumulated on the floor, had washed the dishes and began to sweep the room when the door handle turned and she was frightened, thinking it was the peacekeepers.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked, frowning as he walked with some shopping bags on his arms and then deposited them on the cleaned floor.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm cleaning our house." She said, smiling and he choked, asking:

"Our, princess?"

"My name is Effie. And yes, since you let me live here, I thought I'd help with the cleaning. "

"Whatever you say."

Muttering to himself, Haymitch gave one of the bags to Effie, leading the other to the kitchen with his bottles of alcohol, breads and some grains. Surprised at this gesture, Effie saw some women's clothing and felt a huge wave of gratefulness. Although the clothes weren't exactly beautiful, they were warm enough and came from him, so she ran toward Haymitch holding the bag to her chest and thanking him:

Thanks Haymitch."

"I hope they'll fit you. I don't want to have to go back and replace them." The blonde said, embarrassed. He had bought the clothes from Graeasy Sae, who now thought he had a girlfriend.

"They'll be perfect."

Gradually, the two started falling into a familiar routine. Effie would wake up first, with her obsession for schedule and manners and would clean the house while waiting for Haymitch to wake up and make breakfast for them, since cooking wasn't her best attribute or then, she would prepare tea and heat up the bread for them.

With the TV working again, they'd sat in the living room together to watch some cartoons or shows from the capitol or then, she'd talk about a lot of things' as he'd listen, feigning annoyance when in fact, he was beginning to enjoy all her talking and then he'd go to his bedroom to drink or go to the city to work on some things while Effie'd read some book she'd bring with her or try to sew something with the fabric clothing she had found in his house.

Haymitch wasn't much of talking, leaving all the talk to Effie and often, he ended up falling asleep on the kitchen chair or on the couch, drunk. When this would happen, Effie then would cover him with a blanket, trying to make him comfortable, as she shook her head. When she had asked why he drank so much, he had answered her: To forget my games. And she hadn't dared to ask more, seeing the grim expression on the young man's face.

A week later, in the mid of the night, Effie woke up from a nightmare where Snow had killed her parents in front of her and then dragged her to his mansion. With her heart beating fast, she rubbed her eyes, looking at her family photograph on the bedside table for a moment, drawing their faces in her head, before turning back to the window, seeing that it was still dark. But she was afraid to go back to sleep, no matter how stupid it seemed. Was Haymitch still dumped in the kitchen?

But a scream, followed by several cries of pain in the next room made Effie get up in a hurry, afraid that something bad had happened to Haymitch. She knocked on the door, but not receiving a reply, she came in and stopped in her tracks.

Haymitch was lying in bed, clutching the sheet as his body writhed and he groaned, his face in an expression of pain. He was having a nightmare...

"Haymitch." She tried to call him, but nothing. "Haymitch, wake up."

Penalized by his expression, Effie approached him, running a hand through his sweaty face, until she reached his right shoulder, shaking him lightly and then harder.

"It's just a nightmare, wake up please!"

Haymitch's eyes opened wide as if he didn't know where he was and when he knocked her hand away, startling her and putting his hand under the pillow, he seemed to wake up then, sitting in bed and removing his sweaty shirt and brushing his hair away from his face, trying to control his heart.

Effie took a step back, not knowing what to do, while her face turned red, seeing his bare chest, sculpted from his time in the mines and in the games, and then, her eyes lowered to the scar in his abdomen that made her gasp and think that he had almost died.

Listening to her intake of breath, Haymitch then noticed Effie's presence in the bedroom.

"Effie, what are you doing in my room?" He hissed, then looking at his pillow and back to her, relieved for having woken up in time to prevent hurting her and then, he said angrily: "I could have hurt you! Don't you ever try to wake me up like that again."

"I was just trying to help you, don't need to be rude!" She protested, crossing her arms and biting her lip, upset. "And how would you hurt me if you were asleep?"

"It turns to be princess, that I sleep with a knife." He replied sarcastically, pulling the knife out from under the pillow and showing it to her, before storing it in the drawer and Effie's eyes widened.

"Why?"

"Because after you return from the arena, you'll never be same."

Her eyes softened, feeling solidarity with him and saying:

"I'm sorry Haymitch."

"But why are you awake so early? Don't you need to have your beauty sleep or something like that?" He teased her, but his eyes darkened as he noted the pink camisole she wore, sticking in the right places and Effie looked at him, twisting her hands in her lap

"I had a nightmare... And then I heard you and thought something had happened to you." Seeing the fear stamped on the girl's face made his heart melt a little more, as had been happening little by little.

He then did something that both he and she never thought he would: patted the space next to him on the bed. In slow steps, she approached the bed, lying beside him, absorbing his warm and then, looking at his beautiful, gray and tormented eyes, she asked in a whisper:

"Your nightmares, what are they about?"

"Almost always about the games." He muttered, tired, staring at the ceiling for a while, before continuing, as she straightened herself over his pillow. "Sometimes it's about my family."

"Your family died?"

"Almost two years ago, because I won the games." He replied, in a way that said to drop the subject. His family was still a difficult subject but, to his surprise, Effie took his hand in hers, drawing circles on its back with her thumb while lost in thought.

"And yours? Are they about your family too?" He asked, staring at her as she continued to stroke his hand in a gesture that made him calmer and she nodded, staring at him.

"I dream of the peacekeepers killing them and then... President Snow taking me to his mansion." Her eyes filled with tears and a cry escaped her lips.

Not knowing what to do in such a situation, Haymitch guided her head to his chest, soothing her.

How unfair it's just our luck

Found something real that's out of touch

Even amid their worries and nightmares, none of them could ignore the attraction growing between them and then Haymitch's hand touched her hip, over her nightgown, stroking the spot and she took a deep breath.

"You know, for Snow to take you away from me, he'll have to go over my dead body and believe me, I'll give him a lot of trouble." It made her let out a sound that was between a cry and a laugh, making him smile lightly. "Hey, go back to your room, it's still early in the morning."

"I don't want to sleep anymore, Haymitch." She protested, raising her face lightly to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"And what do you want to do then?"

"I don't know, talk? Tell me something about you."

Sighing, he knew she wouldn't shut up until she had what she wanted and so he began to tell her a story from when he had been 12 and brought his younger brother to fish for the first time and the little boy was delighted with all the trees and flowers that were there.

As they talked, their shoulders were touching, radiating the heat of the other and Haymitch was watching their fingers laced together, noticing how big and tanned his hand was compared to the girl's. She also seemed fascinated by it, as she gripped the hold.

"I would like to go to the woods someday." She said, interrupting the story, despite knowing she couldn't leave the house. "In Capitol we have no real woods."

"Shh, you wanted a story, so don't interrupt me, where are your manners?" He teased her, making the girl snort and slap his shoulder, as he smirked. "And then, I don't think a girl like you would like all those wild animals, mosquitoes and sweat."

They talked about a lot of things, even though Haymitch preferred to remain silent then speak. He ended up telling her a little about his mother and former friends from the Sean and she, about her family and how she missed the school, to study and the clothes, even though she didn't want anything to do with the Capitol.

"Hey Effie..." He muttered, curious. "Why did you choose me?" With other strong victors from district One and Two, why choose one from the Twelve, born in the Sean?

"Because I saw how strong and keen you were and wanted to return to your family, that's why I like you.." She mumbled sleepily and Haymitch felt his face grow warm and his pulse quicken.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." He said, although his body's reactions were telling him something different.

But Effie's eyelids were already heavy and when Haymitch realized she had her head on his chest again, radiating heat to his body and one hand clutching to the little hair that he had on his chest and he felt his heart melt.

"Hey, Effie." Haymitch tried to wake her, shaking her slightly. "You said you wouldn't fall sleep."

"Um... I didn't do such promise..." She murmured, eyes still closed and Haymitch didn't have much to do and began to think that maybe she was sleepwalking because then her face with eyes closed was in the same height as his, approaching and, on impulse, he pressed his lips to hers, feeling the warmth of them and she smiled, resting her head over his chest again, still asleep.

Strange. It was getting hard to resist her. Beautiful, sexy, annoying...

The boy wrapped an arm protectively around her torso, preventing her from moving an incher if she wanted, while with the other hand, pulled the blanket to cover them.

That night, for the first time, neither of them had a nightmare, too comfortable in each other's arms, as if they had done that several times.

In the nights that followed, none of them talked about Effie's statement, the girl too embarrassed and he was confused by what he felt and occasionally, he'd found her walking in the hallway, asleep. But they'd always end upnin his room, or hers, after waking up from nightmares.

But if you'd searched the whole wide world

Would you dare to let it go?