Author's Note: This is the same chapter as last night but I've just checked for any mistakes. This is this week's chapter and I can't remember if I told you why I'm updating weekly, other than school; I am writing for the Hunger Games collaboration, This Is War and I'm the male from Two so check that out.

Today's my birthday (like Hope's, I've realised after reading this again :P) and so I'm hoping that people are just going to press that review button so I can have reviews as presents from you guys ;) especially as this is my favourite chapter! Maybe in this one you'll find out who the cannon was for...

PLEASE REVIEW GUYS AND GET MY BIRTHDAY OFF TO A GREAT START! :D


Chapter Twenty Four- Take A Chance

(Orion)

I begin to slow down my speed as I reach out to my left side and wrap my fingers around Hope's small hand whilst she holds her bow in the other. "We should probably stop running now," I tell her.

She looks at me as she begins to walk. "Why?" she questions.

"We'll be coming to a house soon and you never know who could be in there," I reply, not looking at her.

"There's not going to be a house in the Arena," she laughs, shaking her head.

"Trust me, Hope, there will be," I say surely, walking forward.

She smiles and rolls her eyes as she follows me through the low branches of the many trees around us. When I push an opening through the branches, I just point forward with the hand that's not holding hers.

She looks in the direction and gasps as she sees a beautiful cottage with an inviting door with a small golden horseshoe knocker on it and windows on each wall, covered by colourful curtains. As her eyes rise to watch the smoke drifting from the chimney, she whispers, "How did you know about that?"

"I'll tell you later," I taunt, my hand snapping away so the branches hide the picture and us from view.

She pouts and plants her feet to the floor as I try to walk away. "Why did you show it to me if we're not staying there?"

"Because someone else could be there already and I doubt that it will be as simple as it looks. It'll probably have mutts and nightmares in there," I reason, trying to drag her from the cottage.

"How do you know that?" she whines, not giving in. "I bet it's empty and you're not going in there because it was just chance you saw it so it wasn't your original plan."

"Believe me, it's not as good as it seems," I groan, turning my back to her and continuing to try to drag her. "Don't trust it but trust me to leave it."

She shakes my hand away and crosses her arms in front of her chest, acting like a sulky kid throwing a tantrum. "Make me," she challenges.

I turn back to face her, crossing my arms over my chest too. "I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

She smirks. "Good-"

"But I won't stay with you here if you chose that," I finish, spinning around on my heel and beginning to walk away on my own.

"Take a chance, Orion," she calls. I look over my shoulder to see her smirk having disappeared, replaced by a look of shock and longing. "I trust you that it could be dangerous and someone could already be there but that house looks better than the ones at home and I'm sure it'll be better inside. It will a have a bed, food, a kitchen."

"You're not convincing me," I sigh. "If you're going there, enjoy it on your own. I guess that we'll no longer be the inseparable best friends that we've always been. If you come with me, I'll tell you why I don't trust it and you won't be on your own."

She doesn't move so I walk away once again, moving my head around so it's looking in front of me as the seven cannons of the Bloodbath deaths sound. I continue away from her as I push through the trees, my grip around my bow growing tighter as I go, my mind still focussed on the face that I left with the thought that she'd follow.

She hasn't yet.

I was near certain that after all she knew I had given to look after her, she would come after me; the expression on her face gave the clear thought that she wanted to be by my side. I just wonder why she suddenly became so stubborn that she refused my idea. Why was she desperate to be somewhere with food when we had our own? Why was she desperate to be somewhere where someone else probably was? Why was she desperate to be somewhere full of nightmares? Why was she desperate to be somewhere that would probably be destroyed soon?

I slow down my pace slightly as I listen carefully to the forest around me, wanting but not expecting to hear her soft tread following me. I sigh as the only sounds I hear other than my own footsteps are the wind through the leaves and some birds, most likely mockingjays. I stop and lean against a tree to my left, sinking to the floor. I easily imagine that I'm back at home, sitting like this and listening to the birds singing instead of working; now I'm listening to the birds instead of worrying about my death in the Arena. I shut my eyes as I rest my head back against the trunk, slowing down my breathing as if I am struggling to breathe, which I'm not.

She should still be next to me, not in that death trap. Or maybe I should be next to her instead. Maybe it's me who's the one being stubborn and not her. I should go to her and stay with her, wherever she wants to be because that's the right thing to do even if it's not the safest. I am stubborn though and I don't want to go. It's her own choice that she's on her own because I said I'd tell her why it's dangerous when it was private. But would it be a good idea if I said that I'm 'teaching her a lesson'? Because what happens if she dies and it's only for the reason that I refused to go back to her. My hands clench the dry leaves and make a crunching sound as I decide I should go back to her although I think she should come to find me. I will be the better person.

I go to rise to my feet until an eighth cannon sounds, making my eyes snap open. That couldn't have been hers, could it? I quickly stand and begin to walk back to where she was just in a different direction. I make my tread silent so not even the most skilled hunter that she is could hear me coming. With my noise on my side, the animals don't hear my either so I can shoot three before I've even drawn close to the house. I put them and the ones that I later shoot into the backpack over my shoulder but don't continue on as I hear a sharp intake of breath somewhere in front of me.

I take a few more steps forward until I see a female figure with the hood of their jacket drawn over their head and their backpack in front of them with their weapon, which I am unable to see. I am pretty sure it's Hope because the person is in the same place as she was but, to be honest, none of my predictions have really been correct recently, especially the ones involving her. I stay perfectly still as I wait for something, anything to happen, just to give me a clue.

As I continue to wait, a slight gust of wind blows and I watch the way the figure stands and I don't recognise it as the way that Hope normally would. I roll my eyes at my mistake and begin to move back until I hear something heavy dropping to the floor. I look back through to the girl and see her backpack and weapon, still hidden, laying on the floor in front of her as she massages her stomach and groans in pain.

At this noise, my mind is finally decided: that is my best friend and there's no longer any question about it. I quietly walk out of the cover of the trees and stop just behind her, far enough away so she can't feel my silent breathing. I take one final step forward and wrap my arms around her waist, resting my lips on her neck as I whisper, "What's wrong?"

She spins around almost instantly as her hand connects with my cheek. "You're wrong!" she screams, tears beginning to stream down her face as she stares at me, trying to work out if it's truly me. "Everything you've done since last night has hurt me!"

I wrap an arm around her as I drop my bow too, using my free hand to try and wipe the tears away from her face. "I'm sorry, Hope," I say. "I just presumed that you would realise that there was a reason why I refused to go in there and follow me away."

"You guessed wrong then because I'm not always going to follow you," she sighs, looking down as the tears stop flowing.

I breathe deeply as I rest my chin on the top of her head and rub her back. "I am sorry for everything again. Because I have never wanted to hurt you and you know that."

She stays quiet as her breathing slows once again to a regular pace. She moves my hand from her face and places it on her hip as I begin to draw circles, relaxing her.

I feel her almost fall her asleep as she stands there and I can't help but smile. I move the hand off her hip so that I can bend down to the floor, picking up the backpack and bows, throwing them over my shoulder. As I straighten back up, I put my arms around her so I pick her up and carry her away.

"Where are we going?" she asks quietly, not fighting with me as I take her from where she wanted to be.

"I'm taking you to somewhere safe," I promise. "You can just relax now."

Without any question, she curls up against me and shuts her eyes and I smile again. She looks just like a baby would do: peaceful, beautiful, perfect. If she ever had a child, which she would never do, that child would be the most amazing person after her. I only wish that I could be the father of her child but I know I won't unless...

"Orion?" she whispers gently, cutting through my thoughts.

"Yes, angel," I reply, stopping as I reach where I was headed to originally.

"You haven't told me yet why you knew the cottage was there," she reasons, playing with the material of my jacket.

"Wait just a second," I say, bending down and carrying her through the entrance of a cave to place her on the floor once we're inside. Her eyes flicker open as I walk away to cover the entrance so that no one or no thing will find us.

When I return to her, she's sitting up with her legs crossed in front of her, staring at me. "So?" she presses, eyes not leaving my face.

I laugh slightly as I sit down opposite her, in a similar position to her after I've deposited the bows and backpacks beside us. I take her hands into mine as I simply answer, "Fairy tales."

"Fairy tales?" she repeats, raising her eyebrows as she looks unconvinced at me.

"Have you not listened to all the clues they've given?" She shakes her head. "I noticed it when we arrived here. They've incorporated all the settings from fairy tales into the Arena and they've no doubt added in the villains."

She sighs. "Are you a genius?"

I laugh again. "I never considered myself to be a genius before."

"Well you are." She shuts her eyes once more and lies down onto my lap.

I stroke her side gently, slowly tracing each bone of her body as she breathes steadily. "I really want some eggs and flour," I admit.

She chuckles. "That's a strange wish, Orion. Since when have you had a craving for those things?"

"Since today was your birthday," I reply. "I want to make you a cake though I'm sure it would fail most miserably."

"I'm sure it wouldn't," she disagrees. "Though saying that, I've never actually tasted your baking before."

"Precisely," I agree. "I've never baked."

"Oh." She tries to look serious but can't hide her smile. "This has probably been my least favourite birthday."

"But I'm with you," I complain. "How can you not like it?"

Her smile grows wider as she answers, "Of course, my sweet, you've made this day most brilliant but I think I'd prefer to be with you in District Eleven and celebrating rather than here."

"I had a brilliant plan for what we could do today," I sigh. "If we were at home, that was. Because our birthdays always have to be the best because it means we've survived another year."

"Our twelfth birthday was good," she mutters. "We survived our first Reaping that year."

"I only wish you could have survived every Reaping," I whisper.

"So when you said that if one of was reaped and we both volunteered," she begins.

"That was a joke, I wouldn't want that to happen," I finish. "Because if you or I had ended up here without the other, we could have returned home and stayed together."

"What if we both got reaped or one of us volunteered for some reason and the other got reaped?" she asks.

"Then I'd do exactly the same as I'm doing now," I reply. "I want to go home with you, Hope, but I know I can't. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to live with you forever-"

"Be quiet, Orion," she shushes as she sits up, staring at me. "You never know. This year they could change the rules."

"I highly doubt we'd be subject to a rule change," I argue.

She throws her arms around me, saying as she buries her face into my neck, "I never want to be anywhere without you either. I want to go home with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to live with you forever. And I'd change any of the things I planned just so you could be happy." As she pulls back, tears have begun to run down her face again but she's trying to smile. "I hate you for doing this to me but I swear you've made me fall in love."

I smile and, before I get to do anything, her soft lips are against mine and I know in that instance for sure that I have to make her win.


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