Chapter 21. Awkward Encounters
Over the next two weeks, things had significantly calmed down yet the overall level of worry in the Capitol city was high. Citizens hardly left their homes even though no sirens went off. Fear was taking over the population.
As for the rebels, Hazelle had opened her doors to everybody. The house was significantly smaller than the old home, being only two floors plus a basement while the rebel house was three. The majority of the rebels used the basement for sleeping arrangements, though Effie refused to go anywhere underground or tightly closed in. It seemed the entire event had given her a case of claustrophobia.
Effie wasn't the only one shaken up by the experience though. Johanna had grown a much larger sense of paranoia, always checking over her shoulder. She had cut her hair for the first time since moving to Bonum to a very short, cropped cut so the locks wouldn't block her peripheral as her constantly widened eyes bounced about rapidly. Her bottled emotions had finally caused her to snap.
Willow constantly held Serena with her. With Amur gone, she had taken over care of the small girl, basically adopting her as her own. Finnick helped her sometimes, but the seventeen year old often refused his offers. Now that Serena's parents were gone, Willow decided she was probably the next closest thing to a parent figure that the girl had and she was determined not to let her down.
Prim was still bedridden, but was more alert and had her strength up. Other then the occasional faint from dehydration or lack of vitamins, the girl was able to function properly again but tired easily. Cinna and Portia took their spare time talking to her when she was feeling too down to walk, helping her pass the time. The two of them were at a bar at the time of the attack and had taken refuge with the rest of the customers in the wine cellar underground. Like Effie but much less catastrophic, they had been buried underground but were pulled out only a few hours after the attack had subsided. Since then, the two were more then happy to help Hazelle around the house and run outside errands for everybody who was unable.
Katniss spent every waking moment possible with her little sister. She refused to leave the small girl's side until she was feeling one hundred percent again. After being absent mentally for a year, she felt that maybe she could make up for it and become Prim's support system again if she did enough for her. She also rarely slept. She had taken to slipping out of the basement for nighttime walks because her nightmares had come back with a vengeance. Except now there were many different versions. Instead of just the Games, there were visions of Peeta being tortured, Prim dying, and Gale disappearing as bombs rained down on him. She firmly decided she'd rather die from exhaustion than have to deal with those images.
Rory, however, had taken another tactic. He slept the majority of his days away and, instead, kept watch over Prim at night time so she wouldn't see him. He would creep by her door and sit in the doorway, making sure she didn't have another seizure or that there weren't mutts lurking in her room. Her near brush with death had given him a wake-up call and he decided a world without Primrose Everdeen was a world he didn't want to exist in.
It was late in the night though and many of the rebels were off asleep. Prim laid in her bed on the top floor of the house next to Haymitch and Effie's, which Hazelle had left to her in case the girl needed extra medical attention. The blond girl was laying on her side with her back to the door, presumably sleeping.
Rory waited in his room until he saw Katniss's form walking off into the snow outside his window. Assuming he was safe, he slowly sneaked out of his and Vick's room and down the hallway quietly. He avoided the squeaky floorboard he had discovered and entered Prim's room quietly. He leaned against the wall as he usually did and slid down to a sit on the floor, watching the blond's back silently.
Prim remained motionless as she normally did, but her breathing was a bit more spaced out and held, almost like she was forgetting to. Rory sat there for a moment, counting her breaths as he normally did. But they were different this time. He slowly slid back up the wall to his feet. "Prim, I know you're awake."
The girl sighed, letting out the breath she held before slowly turning on to her back. She glanced up and back at him, almost ashamed that she had been caught so easily.
"You're a terrible actress," he said with a small grin, although nervousness etched into his voice. Had he just now been found out? Or had she known he had been sneaking into her room for weeks now? He hoped the former, but knowing his luck, it probably wasn't.
"As bad an actress as you are a spy I guess," she murmured, though her face was red and voice low with embarrassment. She turned her eyes away from him, looking up to the ceiling.
Rory's ears turned red, but he didn't move from his spot, basically frozen to the wall. "How long have you known that I'm a stalker?"
"Since you started."
Rory let out a soft groan at the revelation, pressing the back of his head briefly against the wall. "I'm sorry, I'll just leave..." he trailed off, embarrassed.
Prim, however, smiled slightly but her eyes never left the ceiling. "I'm guess I'm not as bad an actress as you said. This is the first time I've caught you. How long have you been checking up on me?"
His face instantly turned red but her manner suggested she wasn't upset. He took a few steps toward her before gripping the top of her headboard tightly in one hand. He glanced down at her. "I guess I'm not as bad a spy as you said as well, then. Because I've been here every night since you got here."
The youngest Everdeen tore her eyes away from the ceiling once he was closer and looked up towards him. In the dark, it was somewhat hard to make out, but her cheeks were a shade pinker. She pressed her lips together before her eyes shifted towards the window. "How come you never visited me while I was awake then?"
He smiled slightly and never turned his eyes from her face. "I didn't know if you'd want to see me."
His answer, however, made her face drop slightly to a frown. Sure, prior to the attack she had avoided him, but that was out of embarrassment for kissing him and fear of how he would react. But she was still close friends with him and thought he thought the same of her. In her mind, his words just proved her fears that he rejected her actions those weeks ago. "Oh," was all she could manage to say, her mind blanking for a response.
Rory recognized her disappointed tone, but couldn't quite understand what had caused that response. He paused for a moment before walking down a bit further and sitting at the foot of her bed. "I just... Katniss is always in here. Or those Capitol stylists. And we haven't exactly been speaking, although I don't know why." He paused for a moment before revealing his real reason, whispering it so softly, it was almost silent. "And I failed to protect you from the mutt snake."
Prim hesitated for a minute before turning to look back at him, almost confused. "I didn't expect you to protect me."
"No, I know you didn't," he replied, running a hand through his disheveled hair slowly, not looking at her. "But I did."
"That hardly sounds fair," Prim muttered as she pulled herself up to a sit, crossing her arms over her chest. "You get upset with yourself over something that couldn't be helped and I don't get to see my friend for a week."
He looked over at her at the word "friend". Although it wasn't the word he would have preferred, he'd take it. He gave her a half smile before scooting a little bit closer to her. "I'm selfish, I guess."
"Yes, you are. Here I've been, thinking you weren't visiting me because of..."
"Because of what?"
Prim's face turned pink again as she turned her attention towards the window, away from Rory. She stared out towards the night for awhile longer before clearing her throat. "Have you heard anything on when we're supposed to go back to training?"
"Because of what, Prim?" Rory almost instantly repeated, tilting his head a little to the side. "I told you I've been creeping into your room every night for two weeks. Nothing is worse than that, I promise."
"It's not creeping, you were checking on me."
"I like to call it that too, but it was a little creepy." He paused before narrowing his eyes. "Stop changing the subject."
"I'm not changing the subject. I'm replying to what you say."
He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, expectantly. "Now there's nothing to reply to."
"Then I won't say anything."
"Why did you think I wasn't visiting you?"
Prim bit her bottom lip as her eyes never left the window. She knew she could keep this going for a long time, changing the subject and trying to distract him. But he, like everybody else in District 12, seemed to share the same stubborn gene. He wouldn't give up. "Because... Because things would be awkward with us after I kissed you, okay?"
Rory stared at her for a moment. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. He moved closer to her and set a hand on her arm, although his touch was hesitant. "Why would it be awkward? Was it... a mistake?"
Prim's cheeks went from pink to a full rose hue but she couldn't help but look back at him, regardless. She needed to gauge his reaction on this and try to figure out his feelings before she could mess things up. "I didn't say that, it's-it's just, we've been friends for so long. And, with me suddenly doing that, I didn't want to risk losing you is all."
His face was expressionless, but his eyes instantly went from nervous, stormy gray to soft, like how Katniss would gaze at Prim when she needed her older sister. He pressed his lips together before moving a bit closer, his hip pressed against her shins. He continued studying her face, seeming to need to gauge her reaction just as much. "You'll never lose me, Prim. Why did you do it?"
The girl's lips pressed together again, trying to keep her eyes on him but her nerves were starting to kick in. She couldn't hide the worry and nervousness in her face anymore and tore her gaze to her lap. "I-I... I just, uh..."
The soldier almost smiled at her reaction. He hesitated only for a moment before releasing her arm. He slid his hand to the back of her neck and tilted her head up slightly before leaning over her knees and pressing his lips against hers softly. Prim let out a surprised little squeak when their lips touched but stayed still. All her doubts about him instantly vanished, but the nerves remained, perhaps now tenfold. She was nervous and almost bashful, growing more so with every moment passed that their lips remained locked. She'd never kissed anybody for longer then a peck before. Her inexperience and every timid emotion were easily readable by her body language.
Rory didn't keep his lips against hers for too long. A few moments later, he pulled back, glancing up at her. He was suddenly unsure about her feelings since she was sitting so stiffly. He slowly removed his hand from the back of her neck, feeling his ears burning beneath his hair. "Was that... okay?"
At this point, Prim's entire head must have been red. She mentally cursed herself for being so awkward during her first real kiss and felt like she had just messed up everything. Embarrassed beyond any kind of embarrassment she ever felt before, she hung her head almost immediately as she started rambling. "Y-yeah, of course it was. I'm sorry I suck at this kind of thing and I've never kissed anybody before like that really and I didn't mean to make you think..."
Letting out a soft chuckle, Rory just shook his head. He reached over and wrapped his arms around Prim, tugging her slightly closer to him. "Shut up, Prim. I don't care about any of that. I just... I wanted to be sure I was understanding your feelings correctly."
Prim wrapped her arms back around him, hiding her face in his chest once she was close enough and mumbled into it, "Sorry I suck at showing my emotions right too."
Rory set his chin on the top of her head, still smiling regardless of the frustration he was beginning to feel. "You don't, Prim. I just wanted to be sure you felt the same way I did."
The girl turned her head slightly so her face wasn't buried anymore. She cast her eyes up towards him, smiling slightly, managing to push her embarrassment aside at last because of his words. "Of course I do..."
He pulled his chin back slightly and looked down at her. He smiled a bit wider and ruffled her hair. "Then that's all that matters."