An Unexpected Morning And Undecided Actions

He woke up in a drunken haze after having rolled off the couch in the main room. He stumbled up the stairs to her room and collapsed on the empty side. "Reaping in a few hours," he said as he crawled the rest of the way to the open pillow.

"Doesn't give you permission to enter my bed." She turned to face him. "Fall off the couch again?"

He chuckled. "13 years of drinking away memories, you'd think they'd just go away."

"9 years together, I can read you like a book. C'mon, let's get ready before Effie gets here and tries to talk me into some awful outfit from the Capitol."

He chuckled again as he stopped her from rising. "I'm not your average book, sweetheart," he said before leaning down to kiss her. He quickly rose from her bed and went to his own room to change before she could respond in some way.

Jeanetty sat up in her bed, watching him retreat from her room. "What the hell was that?" She shook her head and continued to ready for her duties.

XXX

She lay beneath the summer sun. He watched her from the window in the kitchen. He had always watched her. Ever since their first fight as Mentor and Tribute in the practice ring, he watched her. He had knocked her on her ass because she had asked for further training with a sword. He smiled to himself. She still sucked.

He watched her now carefully. Since they had unspokenly agreed to look out for one another after her Victory; they had shared a house, sometimes even a sleeping space. They had only each other who knew the horrors experienced in the night in District 12. She still had some bad ones. Luckily they had no neighbors or her silent act wouldn't go over so well.

Last Reaping Day things between them changed. He had changed them. He had placed the first kiss on her lips. He had liked her well enough before, but that small kiss had done something to him. After both Tributes had died in the Bloodbath, he had stormed back to Tribute Tower and found her as he always had: sitting there knitting.

She had looked up at him, seen the anger and frustration on his face, and he had watched as hers fell into a mixture of gratefulness and despair. He had paused for a moment before he crossed the room and pulled her up from her chair. She looked confused, until he had pressed his lips against her hard. She had pushed him away slightly, out of breath. He didn't get a single coherent word out before she had pulled him back again.

Since then, their alone time had been made up of stolen kisses. They couldn't make their relationship public in fear of what President Snow would do to them. He had taken away their families when they had won the Games.

Now he watched her closer when she was outside, afraid Peacekeepers would take her if he didn't.

She smiled and sighed. The wind blew a comfortable breeze that tousled her hair. She stood and brushed the dead grass from her skirt. She could feel his eyes on her. He was getting nervous, her being outside and alone for too long caused him worry. She knew this, but sometimes she needed to get out of the house.

She slowly walked back to the house, wanting to take in as much as much of the nice weather as she could. She didn't get many good days. Neither one of them had woken up with a nightmare, and he hadn't felt the need to drink as much. He even began to eat normally. Granted, small meals weren't much but they were better than his usual liquid lunch.

He met her at the back door, opening it for her like a gentleman, and closing it tightly behind her. "You don't have to be my guard dog every time I go out."

His mind turned back to a day when she had shown up on his doorstep with ash in her hair. "I want you safe. Snow's taken everything else from me, he can't have you too." He pulled her into him. She noticed the startling pile of freshly washed dishes in the sink. He hardly ever cleaned anything.

"We can't hide forever."

"Give it a few years. Start coming to the Games. Let the public see you again. If your more out there with me, maybe it'll be okay."

"Now I know something's wrong with you. Your uncharicteristicly optimistic," she said before she kissed his jaw. She sighed. "I'll join you on the Sponsor Floor, but I wont help you make those deals."

"I'll be right next to you. You won't really have to watch."

She laughed. "I've already said yes." He let her go and she stepped away. "I'll make dinner. You go relax."

He kissed her forehead. "I'll pour you a drink."