Guys; calm down. Bae isn't dead... Or is he? No. He's not. I'm not that mean - honestly... Anyway thanks for all the lovely reviews and followers and favourites, please keep them coming. Thanks for reading xx
FOREST'S POINT OF VIEW.
Salty. That's what it's like. His lips are salty. But not in a bad way, refreshingly so, but none the less – salty. He pulls away from me for a minute.
"You changed your mind quickly" He smiles.
"People change" I return his grin. "…and anyway, how can I resist an Odair." That makes him laugh.
"I guess. So, you still want to go to sleep?"
"Not really" I laugh.
The next morning is nice. And I genuinely mean it. For the first time in a while; I wake up with a smile on my face. Caspar comes and gets me from my room before we make our way downstairs to get some breakfast.
The hotel has a small café, situated just next to the bottom of the stairs. We walk in but before we can even take a seat, a man walks over to us. He's young, I'd say early 20's, and has messy brown hair which just covers his eyebrows.
"Are you Miss Mellark?" he asks.
"Yes, why"
"We've had a phone call, requesting to speak to you – from a…" he takes a minutes to look at the name he's written on the palm of his hand. "…A Mr Peeta Mellark. He says it's urgent."
"Dad…" I mumble under my breath. "Did he say what it was about?"
"No. He just told me to let you know immediately and to call him back ASAP."
"Oh, ok." I say I turn to Caspar, "Go and sit down – this'll only take a minute." I tell him.
I follow the man, whose name turns out to be Marley, into a small office.
"Right, the number is here" He says as he hands me a small piece of paper "And the phone is there…" He points to a phone on the desk in the corner. I walk over to it and grab the phone, watching Marley as he sits down and fiddles with a pen. He does this thing where he spins it round his fingers as it's balanced on his thumb. I jab the number on the keypad and pick the phone up.
Ring ring… Ring ring… Ring ring…
"Hello?"
"Dad it's me."
"Oh Forest, thank god." I hear dad sigh.
"Dad, how did you find out where I was?"
"I found a list of hotels in the capitol centre… Any way that's not the point. Forest, you might want to sit down." His voice deepens, and I start to panic. Something's wrong with mum, I think to myself.
"Go on…"
"It's Bae… There's been an accident." I drop the phone. A small pain spreads across my chest getting bigger and bigger until I think my heart's going to fall out. "Forest?…Forest are you still there?" I can just hear dad say through the phone, which is laid on it's side on the floor. I grab it and place the phone to my ear again.
"Yes dad… I'm still here."
"Ok. I was really ringing to tell you that you should probably try and get back home now." He explains.
"Is he…" I choose my words carefully. "How is he?" I whisper. There's a short pause before he says anything.
"He's pretty bad. But he's at the hospital; and they're doing everythi-"
"How bad." I interrupt.
"He broke his neck and back, severing his spinal cord." He says, knowing there's no way round it. I can't bring myself to say anything. "Don't worry, He's a strong boy. He'll be ok" His voice shakes as he speaks, as if he's about to cry. "Listen, honey – I have to go. Look after your mum, you know. Just promise you'll get on the next train to 12? I love you. Be brave, ok?" The phone rings dead. I place the phone back down on the desk.
"I have to go; thanks for letting me use the phone." I tell Marley.
"No problem" he gives me a sympathetic smile, suggesting he knew what that was about.
I find Caspar sat at a table.
"Get your stuff, we have to go" I say.
"…ok…"
"Quickly please." I beg. I need to get home. I wish we'd never come here, if I'm honest.
"Yeah, sure. Is something up?" he follows me up the stairs.
"I'll explain on the train"
"Train?"
"We've got to get back to twelve." I say, rushing into my room.
It only took 15 minutes to get our stuff together and check out of the hotel. Before we know it we're waiting on a rather lonely platform for a train.
"So do you want to tell me what's up? Is it your mum?" He asks. I don't give any answer. I just stare at the ground. I ignore the other questions he asks until he's kneeling on the ground in front of me, holding my hands.
"Please tell me what's wrong. Forest. Please. You're scaring me." his hands shake around mine.
"Bae..." I breathe.
"Bae? What's wrong with him?" I look him in the eyes before saying anything.
"He's severed his spinal cord." I say. "Broke his neck, and his back. And I wasn't even there to help him. No. I had to come here and find out about the stupid hunger games." I laugh deliriously "It seems that snow was a pretty smart guy after all. He's still screwing up our lives long after he died."
"Hey. Stop it. Calm down. Bae's going to be alright." He cups my head in his hands and wipes the tears away from my face. "It's not your fault you weren't there. You had no way of knowing it was going to happen, no one did." He brushes the hair out of my face and kisses my forehead.
"I promise you everything will be ok."