Prompt : chapter 339. Alina feels particularly bitter for some reason, even though really the mood isn't. Not sure if you have written a sequel for it, where effie and haymitch talk about Alina later on and then haymitch somewhat amends his statement that he's only loved one person, and that he loves her now? I know that you've moved away from Haymitch openly declaring his love for effie, which I noticed more frequently in the first chapters, but as of recent he rarely ever does say he loves her and its just something she should just know. So (if possible) can you write a sequel to this one where he does openly say it but its very bittersweet? Pretty pleasee?

Sneaky Missions

Effie pursed her lips when Haymitch dropped on Plutarch's chair, behind his desk, as if he belonged there. She wasn't happy about being relegated to the role of assistant but she would do her job properly – and allowing Haymitch to use the Gamemaker's office as he pleased wasn't doing her job properly.

"I really should forbid you from taking such liberties." she grumbled for the sake of it, carefully sliding the door shut and locking it for good measure. If anyone asked, she would pretend they had simply been looking for a room to themselves.

"Stop acting so fidgety." he mumbled, distracted by the computer he always struggled with. "We're not doing anything illegal."

Everything was illegal in Thirteen.

"No? Then why can't you simply ask for Plutarch's help?" she retorted, swiftly moving from the door to his side of the desk. "Let me. It will be quicker." She sat on his lap because it was easier than convincing him to relinquish the chair and she typed on the keyboard, more at ease with technology than he was. "Same as usual, I presume? You want the list of refugees?"

"Yeah." he nodded, his arms sneaking around her waist, holding her to his chest, his cheek pressed against her arm so he could peer at the screen.

He had been checking the list once a week since they had released him from rehab. She wasn't sure who he was hoping to find.

She scrolled down slowly, leaving him plenty of time to read every name. There were fewer and fewer new arrivals in Thirteen. People either remained hidden in their own District or fled to safer neutral grounds.

"Lyme's here?" he frowned. "How come I haven't seen her yet?"

"She has been sent to training duties." she hummed after checking her assignment .

"Fucking stupid." he scoffed. "She's got a sound head. She would be useful in Tactics." His irritation with President Coin's and the hundred secret moves she seemed to have planned under her sleeve was growing every day. It made Effie wary sometimes. She recognized the patterns. Thirteen might not be the Capitol but it wasn't a lot safer. He bumped her thigh. "Anyone else we know?"

They both read the list carefully but no name jumped at them.

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" she asked, closing the tab and switching off the computer.

He shrugged, letting go of her waist to slope against the back of his chair. She turned, sitting sideway so she could look at him.

"Other victors, I guess." he admitted eventually. "There aren't many of us here." He mulled the thought over for a moment and then clucked his tongue once in obvious annoyance. "Alina's family made it here but she's missing."

She wasn't sure what to say to that. He had a special relationship with that woman, one she wasn't exactly privy to. She had been his first sexual experience and a very good friend. He insisted that was the only thing there had been to it. On his side, at least.

Effie wasn't jealous, not exactly. Whatever he had shared with Eight's victor was in the past, Alina had a husband and two boys now and he had never given her cause to suspect he would have liked to start something with her again.

"You care for her." she observed.

"Of course I care for her, she's my friend." he scoffed, glaring at her as if she was the most stupid person in Panem. She didn't even flinch. She was used to being looked at that way, all the more so in that District.

"I know." she offered. "I did not mean it like that."

"How did you mean it then?" he sneered. "'Cause if this is some jealous…"

"Why would I be jealous of her?" she frowned. "You said you did not love her. If I were to be jealous of someone, wouldn't it be of the only woman you ever loved?" She forced a cheerful smile on her lips. "That was how you put it, wasn't it?"

That was what he had answered to her question about Alina anyway. Did you love her? Only ever loved one girl in my life, sweetheart.

The sneer turned into a scowl. "Don't be stupid. You're better than that."

"Better than what?" she pouted. "I am not implying anything, I am just stating a fact. If I were to be jealous, it wouldn't be of a woman you care for."

He studied her for a while and then wrapped his arms around her waist again. It seemed purposeful to her, just like the fact he was allowing her to sit on his lap without making a big fuss about how it meant nothing that they had become so… couple-y of late.

"Don't be stupid." he repeated. "You know better."

"Do I?" she challenged.

He leaned in and pressed a kiss under her jaw. It was innocent enough but her breath caught in her throat all the same – they rarely ever do innocent.

"Yeah, you do, sweetheart." he murmured in her ear.

Her heart missed a beat and then started racing. She understood what he meant. She understood what he wasn't saying – couldn't say.

She spent the rest of the day fighting her smile but it was hard to suppress.