Author's Note:- Wow, a lot of people have been asking about this, so I thought it was about time I delivered. I was going to upload this a week ago, but then I had some technical difficulties and was without a computer. -Sob- But...chapter ten is FINALLY here! I'm sorry it took so long. Things have been so busy!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and it was worth the wait!

The weeks passed. Effie continued to see Orielle, but only because Annie insisted that therapy would be good for her. Thus far, it hadn't made much difference, despite the fact that Orielle had told Effie that she was making sturdy progress. Effie just didn't believe so; she was still having constant nightmares, and they seemed to be getting worse. Although Haymitch used to be there to comfort her on particularly bad nights, lately, he hadn't been there for her at all. He rarely said a word to her; he didn't even insult her anymore, which, oddly, Effie missed the most.

"How are you today, Effie?" Orielle asked. She asked this at the beginning of every session, and Effie's answer was always the same.

"Fine." Most of the time, this was a lie, and Orielle could see right through her. That was probably common for therapists, Effie thought.

"Right, now give me the truthful answer." Orielle responded, patiently. Effie felt slightly annoyed, at herself and Orielle, because, even after all of these sessions, she still felt uncomfortable talking about her problems. They were her business, and she would have quit this therapy a long time ago if it hadn't been for Annie's encouragement.

"I told you, I'm fine." Effie said, a little more forcefully this time. Orielle frowned and leaned forward in her chair, closer to her patient.

"Effie, I've met a lot of liars in this profession. Some of them were good, and others, not so good. I can safely say that you are one of the worst liars I've ever met. So what's wrong? Are you still having the nightmares?"

"Sort of." Effie said. It was semi-true, but it was obvious that Orielle was not buying it.

"There's something else." Orielle said. "I'm not trying to push you into revealing information you'd rather keep private, but I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't at least try to help you. It isn't healthy to keep it bottled up. And I'm telling you this, not just as a therapist, but as a friend."

Effie considered the therapist's words for a while. She doubted she would have been friends with Orielle under normal circumstances. She was nice enough, of course, but she merely wasn't Effie's kind of person. In these circumstances, however, perhaps Orielle was the right person to talk to about this. Maybe it would even make her feel better, as everyone had been telling her.

"A few weeks ago, I did something…." Effie began, hesitating slightly. "Something I regret." Effie took a deep breath and awaited Orielle's response, but the therapist simply nodded at Effie as a prompt to continue, so she did. "I slept with someone who is – I mean was – my friend, and now he refuses to even acknowledge me. I know he regrets it a lot more than I do, but I just miss being friends." A lengthy pause followed.

"Would this friend be Haymitch Abernathy, by any chance?" Orielle's question stunned Effie, and her long pause was as good as a confession.

"How did you know?" She finally asked.

"Well, although I've only seen you both together a handful of times, I can see there is definitely chemistry there."

"Chemistry…." Effie repeated – the word felt uncomfortable on her tongue. She wasn't so sure that 'chemistry' was the right word to use, but then again, Orielle hadn't been the first person to tell her that. "What do you mean?"

"Well…." Orielle began. "Yes, you bicker, but Haymitch looks at you as more than just someone who is fun to argue with. He definitely feels affectionate towards you, but there's something stopping him from letting you in. Probably something to do with what happened after his games." That was probably true, and Effie would have gone more into it, but it wasn't her story to tell.

"But he must have let his guard down for long enough to have sex with me."

"Precisely, but in his mind, he probably got too close for comfort, so in order to try and rectify his mistake, he's now distancing himself from you so he doesn't get sucked in any further. I've come across this sort of thing several times." Well, that made sense.

"But what about me? I can't just turn my feelings on and off like he seems to be able to do."

"He isn't turning his feelings off, Effie, he's just hiding them. He hopes that if he ignores the problem, it will eventually go away." Effie felt as though Orielle was right, but something was still bothering her.

"Well then what am I supposed to do about it? I don't want to lose him as a friend, but if what you say is true, then I should just let him go, right?" Orielle smiled weakly.

"I don't think you should do that. I don't think it will benefit either of you. I think you should talk to him."

"But how will I get him to stay in the same place and listen to me?" Effie frowned. Orielle then appeared to have a mischievous glint in her eye.

"You'll think of something."

-x-

"Oh, Effie. How was your session?" Annie smiled when Effie walked through the door. She was sitting on the floor in the living room, playing with baby Finn, who was kicking around on his activity mat.

"More or less the same." Effie replied, vaguely, as she went to sit on the nearby couch. She didn't feel much like going over what she had talked about in therapy, and Annie seemed to respect this.

"Finn has been trying to smile all morning. Haven't you, little guy?" Annie cooed to her baby, before looking up at Effie again. "I'm sure he'd like a special Effie-hug." Effie grinned and held out her arms to take the baby. She was becoming more and more confident with Finn, and the time she spent with him was one of the few things that made her glad she had survived her torture and imprisonment at the hands of the Capitol. She held the baby boy in her arms and beamed down at him.

"Hello, darling." She cooed. "Effie missed you this morning. Yes, she did." What happened next caught Effie by surprise – Finn's eyes met hers, and his mouth split into a wide, gummy smile. "Annie!" She gasped. "He's smiling!"

"He is!?" Annie squealed, running over to see for herself. "He is! Oh Finn, what a beautiful smile!" Happy tears rolled down Annie's cheeks; she was overcome with emotion. "My clever, clever boy!"

The two women spent most of the afternoon enjoying Finn's smiles, until he eventually became bored of entertaining them, and fell asleep.

"He's going to be a real charmer." Effie gushed, as she helped Annie make prepare dinner.

"Just like his father." Annie smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice as she chopped the vegetables.

"Where's Haymitch?" Effie enquired, changing the subject. She had been so distracted by the baby that she had managed to forget Haymitch for a few hours.

"He went out after you left for therapy and I haven't seen him since. I suspect he's found a secret place to drink, where no one would nag him." Effie nodded, as she handed a pot of seasoning to Annie. She still couldn't cook, but she was trusted to pass ingredients and wash vegetables (even though she had used soap the first time), so that was a start. But yes, going out to drink in secret sounded a lot like Haymitch.

"Actually, Effie…." Annie said. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"Anything, sweetie." Effie prompted.

"I have an appointment with Orielle tonight and I'd normally take Finn with me, but tonight the appointment coincides with his bedtime routine, and I don't want to unsettle him. So…I was wondering if you and Haymitch would be able to watch him while I'm gone?" Effie looked worried – She hadn't expected the favour to be this big. Sure, she was becoming more confident in the baby care department, but only with Annie with her.

"What would we have to do?" She asked, already wishing that she hadn't agreed.

"Oh, not much!" Annie said, quickly. "Just give him a bath and put him in clean jammies, give him his bottle and tuck him in. You've watched me do it before, so you know what a good boy he is. Please, Effie? I wouldn't ask you if I wasn't desperate." And the look on Annie's face made it impossible for Effie to refuse.

"Of course, dear."

And Effie knew that even if Haymitch was back in time for Finn's bedtime, he would be intoxicated, so she would have to do all of the work.

Author's Note:- I wanted this to be longer, but I thought this would be a good place to end. I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter - I love stories where Haymitch and Effie babysit together so I wanted to include a bit of that in mine!

See you in Chapter Eleven!

xxx