Welcome to Day 20 of my Hayffie Christmas countdown! As always, feedback is much appreciated!

WARNING- smut ahead.

Enjoy!

December 16th

Haymitch scowled at the several boxes of Christmas lights in his shopping cart as he pushed it around the store in Effie's wake. They'd been in the store for over an hour and Effie had only just finished choosing the appropriate lights for his apartment.

"So much for it being simple," Haymitch grumbled under his breath, somewhat thankful she was too busy analysing Christmas trees to hear him.

"Haymitch, how high is the ceiling in your living room?" She asked as she gazed up at a particularly tall artificial tree.

"Not that high," he murmured, but he was more wincing at the price tag. "And I ain't payin' $200 for a damn tree."

"Language," she snapped, looking over at a smaller one.

"Effs, they had a three foot tree for $10," he sighed. "I'll just…get that one and put it on a table."

"But-"

"No. You ain't takin' over and makin' me feel uncomfortable in my own damn apartment. Got it?"

She blinked at him, before nodding and shuffling off to find the tree he'd been talking about. Instantly, he felt guilty for hurting her feelings. He knew she was overly enthusiastic about pretty much everything and he knew what he was getting in to when he agreed to being in a relationship with her. But sometimes, she could be a little too much. Perhaps his reaction had been justified. However, he still felt terrible.

When she returned to him, he took her hand and pulled her into a short kiss to apologise and she pulled back with a nod, slipping her arm through his as they continued their shopping spree.

By the time they'd checked out, Haymitch had been coerced by Effie into buying a few more decorations aside from the tree he'd initially agreed to. There was a wreath for his apartment door, decorations for his dining room table, even festive bedding. But everything seemed to make Effie so happy and, well, she was to be spending Christmas with him, after all.

XXx

After they'd packed the decorations into Haymitch's car, they took a stroll to Central Park, the pair wanting to grab some lunch before they headed back to Haymitch's apartment to start on decorating. They found a small European restaurant and sat down at the table.

"It would be best for us to start with a visual plan of where everything should go," Effie explained as she nibbled at the sandwich she'd ordered.

"You're obsessive, you know that?" Haymitch mumbled, eyeing her over the rim of his coffee cup. "We'll put the tree up and figure the other shit out later."

He could tell already that Effie was getting irritated with him, but he ignored it.

"I ain't gonna argue with ya, if that's what ya want," he continued. "As I said, it's my apartment. If we lived together, it'd be different."

"Would you ever want us to live together?" Effie said suddenly, making Haymitch choke on his coffee.

"You're askin' me this six weeks after we met, Effie," he responded. "Come back to me in a few months, yeah?"

Honestly, he could already imagine living with her. Her getting irritated with him because he didn't vaccume or do the laundry. Him getting irritated with her because she got lipstick on his favourite shirt or left too many bath products in the bathroom. It was strange how appealing it sounded.

"Okay," Effie nodded, and Haymitch noticed the tiny smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

xXx

It took two trips between the car and his apartment to transport all of the Christmas decorations they'd bought and, once they were piled up in the middle of the lounge, Haymitch moved behind Effie and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, pressing kisses to her neck.

"What're you doing?" She sighed contentedly, tilting her head aside nonetheless.

"Apologisin' for bein' a dick all day," he smirked, his teeth nipping at her ear as one of his hands trailed to her thigh.

"Haymitch…" she giggled, turning around to kiss him. "We need to decorate…"

"You're staying here tonight," he murmured, picking her up so her legs were around his middle. "We got all day tomorrow for that shit."

"And what exactly do you plan on doing instead of our scheduled decorating?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know exactly what I plan on doing," he grinned, before carrying her upstairs.

xXx

He carefully sat her down on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed on hers as he knelt before her. Her legs already parted for him in anticipation, but he still nudged them wider with his hands, before he hitched her skirt up and tugged her panties down.

Over the past few weeks with Effie, he'd learned what would have her squirming beneath him and he'd become incredibly skilful in getting her there with his tongue alone. Within minutes, she'd collapsed back onto the bed, her legs shaking around his head as she rode out the intense orgasm he'd given her.

"You forgiven me yet?" He grinned, standing up and watching as her body gave tiny jolts in response to the aftershocks which were quite evidently still coursing through her.

"A little…" she breathed, watching him as he undressed.

Before she had the chance to say anything else, he'd crawled over her and entered her with a groan, still feeling her tightening around him as he started to move. Sex over the past week or so had been a lot better, Effie having started taking her pill. It meant that he no longer had to use a condom which, in turn, allowed him to feel her better. It did nothing to help his already severe cravings for her, though. He still thought about her every second he was alone.

There was no doubting how well they knew one another, Haymitch knowing the exact places to kiss or touch to bring her to the edge and Effie knowing which parts of him were most sensitive. Their combined insight into the other usually allowed them to finish with one another and Haymitch would be lying if he said that she wasn't the best partner he'd ever had.

Not partner, she was way more than that.

Afterwards, as they lay tangled in the sheets, absolutely spent, Effie asked another question which caught him off guard.

"Haymitch, what do you want for Christmas?"

You, he thought to himself, but knew it was too cliché.

"Don't worry about me, Effie," he shook his head, coiling one of her blonde curls around his finger. "I told you, I don't do Christmas. Spendin' it wi' you is enough for me."

"You're such an old romantic," Effie sighed dreamily.

Bullshit, he thought, but couldn't help the fond smile that found its way to his lips. She was wrong, but he could see how hard she was trying to bring that side out of him.

And maybe, just maybe, he'd let her succeed.