Sorry for the wait! This has been an extremely tough chapter to write. So there's going to be one more regular chapter after this one, then the epilogue. So here we go. And I apologize if it's not my best.

Chapter 34

Violet POV

The weeks pass by. Bethany and I spend as much time as possible together. When I'm not with her, I'm with my parents. As I spend time with her, I'm able to visualize living with her in District Four, in our own little house, with no worries and no Hunger Games. There's still a nagging feeling inside that appears when I'm with my parents.

I remember when I first told my parents about the possibility of leaving.

"Absolutely not!"

"Mom, listen to me-"

"No!" she thunders. "You're only seventeen!"

"Miranda, she'll be eighteen in a couple of weeks," my dad says.

"See? Dad gets it-"

"And Bethany?" Mom inquires. "She's still seventeen! And are her parents even okay with this?"

"Bethany turned eighteen last month," I answer calmly. "Also, her parents have given her permission to move here if she wants. Besides, they're dying to meet me."

"I think both of you are still too young to be in such a serious relationship," Mom argues. "Think about this: you two met in the Hunger Games, you barely know each other."

"Which is why I'm spending so much time with her now," I say. "You don't understand, Mom. If we don't win this war, I'll never see her again!" My voice gets higher. "I'm not completely sure if I even want to go! All I know is that I've never felt this way about anyone before!"

My words linger in the air. Mom and Dad are silent as they take them in.

"No."

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Don't lose it.

"Why?"

Mom takes a deep breath and sighs. "We just got you back. We almost lost you."

"Which is why I'm spending as much time with you as possible."

"Violet." Dad rubs his hands. It's a habit that he does whenever he's nervous. "Do you truly feel that way about Bethany?"

Didn't he just hear me say that I've never felt so sure about her? "Yes," I answer, looking at him straight in the eye. "Why do you ask?"

"You were so heartbroken after Scarlett."

"I think I was with her because it was convenient."

"Can you explain?"

"I couldn't take keeping it a secret anymore. So I let it out on the first girl I knew. You know what I mean?"

"So... tension?"

"Yeah. Tension."

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"You do?" Mom asks.

"Of course," Dad says. "I feel the same way about you. I'm sure you do, too." He takes Mom's hand.

Mom smiles and rubs her finger on the back of his hand. "Why else would I be married to you for seventeen years?"

After that, they told me that if I wanted to go, I could, but I would have to be eighteen and I would have to call by phone every day to check in. Easy. Done.

And now, the second requirement is fulfilled.

"Happy birthday Violet!"

I look at the small crowd of people surrounding me. Mom, Dad, Bethany, David, his dad, Oriane, Star, and Steel. I look back down at the chocolate cake. Taking one big breath, I blow out the candles. Everyone cheers.

"All right. Everyone line up for the cake!" Mom turns to me, her knife pointing carelessly at me. "Violet?"

The knife flies into Kalliope's forehead.

The knife sinks into Taylor's hand when I fight him off.

The knife goes in my shoulder.

"Violet?"

"Huh?"

"Your cake?"

"Oh." It's sliding off my plate. My hand saves it from going over the edge. "Thanks. And don't point the knife at me."

"Oh sorry, honey..."

"It's okay." I sit down. Bethany gets her plate and sits down next to me. Mom moves the rest of the party outside our compartment. (Those are these little rooms deeper underground where the citizens of Seven stay.)

"So," Bethany starts.

I swallow a mouthful of cake. "Yeah?"

"You're eighteen."

I place my fork on my plate. I knew this was going to come up today. "Yeah." How else can I reply?

"Have you made a decision yet?"

My eyes glance over to Bethany. She's staring at me, her eyes hopeful. I bite my lip. How do I say this? No? No, not yet? No, and quit bothering about it? God, that last one sounds straight up mean.

She notices my hesitation to answer her. Her smile falls. "You haven't decided yet, haven't you?"

"Beth, it's so hard." I drawl out "hard." "There's just this little voice in my head telling me no. Well, it's not really a voice, it's more of a-"

"Don't you want to come live with me?"

I groan.

"What?"

"Don't tilt your head."

Bethany's eyes brighten. "Oh, like this?" Her head stays tilted to the left. "Or like this?" She moves her head to the right. "Hopefully like this. It's more comfortable on my neck."

"Quit it," I say. I try to be firm, but laughs are escaping.

A mischievous grin spreads across her face. "So like the way it is now? Or maybe closer." She moves her head right in front of my face.

"Hey!" Laughing, I try to push her away. Her nose is in my cheek. "I meant," I choke out. "If you tilt your head, I'll never win an argument again- Ah!"

I'm beginning to lose my balance and I almost fall out of my chair but Bethany catches me and starts kissing my cheek. Her mouth moves to my neck.

"You almost made me fall out of my chair!" I accuse.

Bethany faces me. "You tried to move away from me. Why is it my fault?" Of course, she tilts her head to the right.

I sigh. "I shouldn't have told you that your head tilting is my weakness." I pick up my fork again and eat a bit.

"Yeah, that was a bad idea. So, listen. Don't stress about the decision."

"How could I not?"

"Don't stress about it so much. And I'm sorry I've been pestering you about it. It's weird. Today, I was hoping for an answer because you would be old enough to leave."

"It's okay. And I really do want to live with you." I squeeze her hand. "I'm not sure if I'm ready yet."

"Well, you want to. That's all I need to hear."

We're silent for a minute. I continue to eat my piece of cake.

"So, since I tilted my head, does that mean I win our first argument?"

I roll my eyes. "Shut up and eat your cake." She laughs.

One week later

The war rages on. Soldiers die. Battles are lost. More districts, like One and Five, are now in pieces. Two has joined the fight against the Capitol. One more ally.

And now, on a typical Tuesday, the war reaches its climax.

"Honey, wake up." Mom shakes me.

My eyes open only halfway. "What? I was sleeping in."

"There's an emergency meeting in the main plaza. All Seven citizens have to come."

"Did we lose the war?"

"I don't know."

I don't answer back. I only get up and get ready in about five minutes. Record time.

As my parents and I enter the plaza, the other citizens are gathered in front of a makeshift podium. No stage. Oriane is standing behind it. She doesn't look good- at all. Her rainbow curls are frizzy and her mouth is curved into a frown. Well, it's kind of a frown, I can't really tell because she's almost chewing her bottom lip.

I take a look at all the citizens, who all share similar expressions. I get horrible flashbacks of the reaping.

"Hey."

I turn. "Hey." I hug Bethany and kiss her. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" Her dad's a rebel leader, she should have some inside information.

"No idea," she whispers.

Then again, maybe not.

"I just know it's about the war."

"Do you think we lost?" I ask. I try to not look freaked out, but I'm pretty much convinced Bethany is psychic.

"I hope not." She takes my hand in hers.

Oriane clears her throat. It's unnecessary, since everyone is already silent.

We lost, I thought frantically. We lost, I know it...

"Citizens of District Seven. As you know there has been a battle going on in the Capitol for three days now. Since we did not expect the battle to go this long, we do not have enough soldiers there. We need volunteers to go fight at the Capitol. At twelve o'clock, the helicopters up above will leave. If you volunteer to fight, be there at least fifteen minutes before the helicopters leave."

The citizens murmur to each other. My parents look at each other. I look at Bethany, but her face is like a stone. Expressionless.

"I repeat, twelve o'clock. Thank you." Oriane steps off the podium.

"Volunteers," I whisper. "Now this really reminds me of the reaping. You okay?"

"Fine," Bethany answers. But her soft tone is telling me otherwise.

"Don't worry, honey, I won't volunteer," I hear Dad tell Mom.

"Good," Mom says.

"I'm too old to fight anyway."

"I don't want to fight either. I wouldn't be able to make it," Mom predicts. "I couldn't throw an axe to save my life."

"So you must have been surprised when you found out about me," I try to joke.

"Now's not the time to joke around, Vi," Mom says. "But you're right. You obviously got your father's skill."

Should I volunteer? No... I don't think I can take watching people I know die around me again. Caleb, Kalliope, and Flame were enough.

"Violet?" Oriane stands in front of me. I'm able to get a better look at her. She looks even worse than she did up at the podium. The stress must be killing her.

Ugh. Bad metaphor.

"Y-Yes?"

"Violet, we need you out on the battlefield today."

Bethany squeezes my hand tightly. "No."

"Beth." The way she almost growls the word out scares me.

"I agree," Mom says. "Surely you can find other people who are willing to fight."

"We do have enough people, many of them are signing up right now. But we do not have enough soldiers who are able to use an axe efficiently."

"Is that why you came over here?" I ask.

"Yes. Violet, I'm not ordering you to go out there. Don't think that," Oriane tells me. "I know how hard it would be for you. But please consider it."

Mom and Oriane launch into a full-on argument, with Dad and Bethany interjecting at different times. I watch the four of them snarl at each other and I let go of Bethany's hand. She doesn't even notice.

If I join in, I can help defeat the Capitol. If we defeat the Capitol, no more Hunger Games. And Beth and I...

"I'll do it."

The argument stops so abruptly, it reminds me of a person running into a wall. Only the pain that follows is worse.

"Violet!" Mom cries.

"Vi, are you sure?" Dad asks.

I expected these replies. I didn't expect Beth's reply, which was nothing. Total silence. Paired with the look of disbelief, anger and pain, it's the loudest reply of all.

Oriane has a look on her face that says, That was fast. "Violet, have you thought about this thoroughly?"

"Of course she hasn't!" Mom snaps. "It's only been a couple of minutes!"

"Violet, do you realize that there are Peacekeepers and others who are more trained to fight than you are?" Dad asks, his face serious.

"To me, they're just like Careers," I say. "I think being in the Hunger Games is enough training."

"Violet, no," Mom says. "I don't want to lose you."

"I promise I'll come back."

This brings tears to her eyes. She starts crying for probably the millionth time this year.

"I made it out of the Hunger Games. I can make it out of this." She hugs me.

Oriane stands there and clears her throat. "Okay, I'll go sign you up. Violet?"

I don't answer right away. I only see Bethany staring at me, her eyes are empty.

I let go of Mom. "I need to talk to her." I motion to Bethany.

"We'll give you some privacy," Oriane says. She leads my parents away. My dad is practically holding up my mom to prevent her from collapsing.

I watch them leave, then I start to walk to Bethany. Only I find her next to me. I didn't notice her walk up.

I jump. "Oh God, you scared the-"

"Why?" Her voice doesn't go above a whisper.

"Beth-"

"Why?" Her voice raises.

"Please-"

"Why would you do that?" she screams. Heads turn towards us.

"Beth, will you listen to me!"

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" She screeches.

"Beth, don't you get it?" I shout over her. "I can help us win, then we'll be together!"

"What good is that if you're dead?"

"I'm willing to take that risk."

"No."

"Beth, please."

"No!"

"Let me go, Beth," I plead. "I'm doing this for us. Please."

When I see one tear fall down her face, I feel my own tears come in.

"Fine." She turns and walks away from me. She turns to look at me one last time, tears streaming down her face. This breaks my heart. I've never seen her cry this much before. It freaks me out because she's always been so strong...

Her walk turns into a sprint, then she's out of my sight.

I stand there, shocked. Then, wiping the tears away, I walk back to my compartment, mentally preparing for battle.

Yeah, originally I had the battle in this chapter, but I had been working on this one for three weeks and I decided it was long enough for a chapter. So! Will she make it? Find out in the next chapter! Hopefully that will be up next week!

Songs for Chapter: (Heh, this chapter practically has a playlist of its own)
~Drive My Soul by Lights
~Hush by Automatic Loveletter
~Birthday by The Beatles
~Like O, Like H (Live) by Tegan and Sara (The song for the reaping! Plus Sara Quin is the girl who's in the picture on my profile for Violet!)
~Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) by Florence + The Machine (I think the lyrics describe Violet)
~Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day
~Free to Decide by The Cranberries

~LDD