Favour
"Haymitch, I need a favour" came Effie's voice through the phone.
"You in trouble, sweetheart?" Haymitch asked, concern lacing his voice.
"No, not at all" she responded quickly. "I just, well, I... I've been telling people at work about my partner at home as an excuse not to go out with them and well, now they want to meet him."
His heart pounded in his chest at her mention of a partner. The logical part of him knew that he'd be aware if she had someone but he couldn't shake the image of her with another man.
"Who's the lucky guy sweetheart?" Haymitch asked, trying, and failing, to keep his voice casual.
"That's the favour. I know you'll hate it, but I wondered if you could come with me to the next work thing, just show your face for an hour? Pretend we're together, show them I'm not lying..."
"But you are lying, right?" he clarified for his own peace of mind.
"Please do continue to remind me how alone I am- yes I'm lying! Look, I'll buy your drinks, it's a night out of your four walls. Will you help me or not?" she demanded.
"Sure, but you'll owe me" he said with a smirk and hung up the phone. She didn't need to he'd already agreed the second she'd said she needed a favour- the free drinks would be a bonus.
His neighbours, the kids as he affectionately called them, had staged an intervention about a year ago. He was drinking himself into an early grave, he was a mess, his house was a mess. They'd dragged him out of the lonely hole he'd been living in for years, invited them into their home, gave him the makeshift family he hadn't had for a long time and slowly his life began to feel worth living again. A few months after that, he'd begrudgingly stepped foot in a clothes shop for the first time in fifteen years and had been taken under the wing of a colourful shop assistant who'd made him her personal project.
At first, Haymitch couldn't stand her positivity, how much she talked, how she ignored everything he asked for, which he was pretty sure was the opposite of good customer service. She was persuasive though, Haymitch had always had a weakness for piercing blue eyes, and, at the end of the trip, he'd left the shop with several bags of clothes, all chosen by her, to fill his wardrobe.
With cutting down on alcohol, Haymitch had started to find himself at a loss most days and binge drinking was harder to resist when he was alone and bored. When Peeta suggested he help at the bakery, he'd be damned if he let the boy down after everything he'd done for him. Peeta needed the help and, surprisingly, he found himself rather enjoying having something to learn and do again. When the woman from the shop walked through the doors at the beginning of his second shift, Haymitch was taken aback. She smiled brightly when she recognised him and slowly looked him up and down whilst commenting on his exquisite taste in clothes. He had already known she was beautiful from their previous brief encounter but, in his frustration in the shop, he didn't appreciate how much so. When she asked for a cinnamon latte, he rolled his eyes and prepared her a bitter black coffee and, when she'd complained about his service, he'd thrown that back at her. They connected immediately. In the following weeks, she'd often come to the bakery with a new shirt she thought would suit him from the shop and he'd prepare her whatever coffee she looked like she might need that day regardless of what she actually ordered. It became a routine- one he very much looked forward to.
When she didn't show up for a few of days in a row a while later, Haymitch conducted a full investigation to find out where she lived and managed to track her down to her a rough part of town finding her ill at her apartment. Despite her insistence that she was perfectly capable of caring for herself and had done so for many years, he quickly deduced that she didn't have anyone to rely on. In the name of friendship, or so he told himself, he took it upon himself to visit her every day, bringing her supplies and making sure she wasn't alone through the worst of it. When she fell asleep in front of the television one evening with her head on his shoulder, he started to question the nature of their relationship. Other than the kids, she was the only person he'd willingly spend time with and she had wormed her way into his life and daily routine so easily. His growing dependence on her friendship was starting to scare him.
Over the next few months, seeing each other in the bakery turned into regular texting, her of random pictures of her day, him with gruff responses that didn't let on how much he enjoyed interacting with her. They occasionally had a coffee together and she would randomly appear at his front door with food every so often. It became increasingly obvious to Haymitch that she was lonely and, in the same way the kids had set out to cure his loneliness, he wanted to do the same for her. They grew closer every day and the line between friendship and something more romantic was becoming more and more blurred. Haymitch, adamant that he didn't want to ruin what they had, and very sure that she wouldn't be interested in an old drunk like him, kept his distance as much as he could. Still, he savoured the times she'd fall asleep with her head on his lap after dinner or when she'd seek him out for a cuddle after a hard day. He knew she had nobody else for company or comfort so put it down to her loneliness rather than anything more. He would take what he could get without risking their friendship and he'd be content with it.
"What time are you picking me up this evening?" she asked whilst ordering her morning coffee several days later.
Haymitch could feel Peetas raised eyebrows at that comment even though he currently had his back to him.
"Picking you up? You know this isn't a real date sweetheart?" he mocked.
"Yes, Haymitch, you've made that crystal clear" she said with a smile on her face, although Haymitch couldn't help but think it seemed a little forced. "Please kindly remember the purpose of this evening is to get these people off of my back, so could you at least try to pretend to like me?"
"I'll come get you at seven, ok?" he countered.
"Thank you. And Haymitch.." she called back on her way out the door (with her whiskey infused coffee that she absolutely didn't order,) "do not be late."
Haymitch could see Peeta approaching out the corner of his eye and tried to look absorbed in the ingredients list on the back of the sachet he was holding with his best 'I'm concentrating face'. Peeta knew better.
"What's happening tonight?" Peeta asked curiously
Haymitch sighed, his attempt at keeping this from the kids to stop any awkward questions had failed miserably.
"Nothing, she needs a pretend date for the night, she asked me, I said yes. I'm doing her a favour, end of." he said trying not to leave the conversation open to further questions.
The boy wasn't deterred. "A pretend date? Haymitch, are you sure she wants it to be pretend, she seemed pretty disappointed when you reminded her. You two have been getting cosy, maybe you should just ask her out?"
Did she look disappointed? Haymitch had thought something was off. He tried to shake the thought. He was the disappointed one, she had asked for it to be pretend after all.
That evening, Haymitch approached her apartment door as he had done when she was ill several months ago. When she'd opened the door then, she'd looked like hell. Now, well, she took his breath away.
"Is the dress awful?" she asked awkwardly smoothing down her tight red dress. The blush spreading down her neck was absolutely not helping Haymitch in his attempt to keep his voice neutral and his eyes on her face. "I should change, I did think it was.."
"No!" Haymitch interrupted, "you look beautiful" he added quietly.
"Oh... my colleagues aren't here Haymitch, you, erm... you don't need to say things like that. Although I commend you for getting into character. I..."
"I meant it Effie, you look beautiful- take the compliment" he interrupted again to stop her incessant nervous chattering.
"Shall we go?" she asked in what Haymitch felt was a distinct attempt to cut the awkwardness which had just enveloped them.
When they arrived, Effie approached a group sitting at the bar and enthusiastically greeted her colleagues.
"So, this is the infamous Haymitch Abernathy" a young woman who he recognised from the shop said as she took a good look at him. "I think I know you better than I know my own husband with the amount Effie has talked about you these last few months. I can see why she'd prefer to spend her evenings with you rather than us" she told him with a wink.
Effie let out a nervous laugh. "Portia, please stop talking!" she begged with a fake smile and gritted teeth. If Haymitch thought the blush earlier was bad, it was nothing compared to the beetroot face Effie had now.
"Where is this free drink then sweetheart?" Haymitch whispered in her ear while the attention of her colleagues had been taken by another newcomer to the group. Effie tried to ignore the shivers that went down her neck while she got the attention of the barman.
Effie was starting to think she'd made a mistake inviting him here this evening. She should have just come clean to her colleagues, what did she care if they pitied her for being single? She was trying to avoid the incessant and embarrassing setting up they insisted on but perhaps it wasn't worth this feeling. Faking a relationship with Haymitch, knowing that it could never be real and seeing what she was missing, was worse. She felt his hand on her lower back, dragging her from her thoughts, as Haymitch leant over to pluck his drink out of her hand, an orange juice and not the beer that he'd asked for, while she took a sip of her much needed cocktail.
Effie and her colleagues kept the conversation going seamlessly and they were all gradually getting drunker and drunker as the night wore on. A sober Haymitch observed the couples around him, their closeness and intimacy which he absolutely hadn't been showing Effie that evening. He hadn't missed her longing glances or the wistful look in her eyes. He thought perhaps it was the loneliest he'd seen her despite being surrounded by a large group of people. He had a compelling urge to show Effie a bit of the affection she was clearly craving and, as if it was a natural, everyday occurrence, he slipped his hand into hers under the table. She didn't miss a beat in her conversation but he felt her tense. When she didn't immediately react to his hand, he started to pull away feeling foolish but she quickly came to her senses and gripped his hand tightly in hers. She turned to Haymitch and smiled brightly when the conversation lulled and he promised himself at that moment that he'd do what he could to keep that lonely look out of her eyes. Her eyes were too beautiful to look sad.
Throughout the evening, her colleagues started slipping away to the dance floor with their partners and the group they were sitting with was gradually dwindling. "We can go now" she said quietly, snapping him out of his thoughts. "They're drunk" she gestured to her colleagues "and this should keep the wolves at bay for a while." She slipped her hand out of his, grabbed her jacket and strode out of the room without a look back at him. He caught up with her outside, surprised at her sudden escape, and made a grab for her hand to spin her back round to face him. She looked at him confused and he discreetly nodded his head towards a small group of her colleagues who had slipped outside for a cigarette.
"I don't think you running away from me is doing much for our little show princess." He pulled her closer to him and she looked up at him almost shyly, worrying her plump lips between her teeth. They stared at each other, neither daring to breathe. He wasn't sure who made the first move but before they knew it, lips were moving together tentatively, tongues were exploring the others mouth and they lost themselves in the relief their bodies felt at finally being allowed to touch. All thoughts of a fake relationship disappeared from his head as his senses were overwhelmed by her taste and smell. When they broke apart, desperate for air, their foreheads resting together, Effie kept her eyes closed savouring the moment. Whooping and wolf- whistling from her colleagues in the distance brought her back to reality and she jerked away from him as if she'd been burned.
Haymitch led her back to the car with his hand on her lower back. She was uncharacteristically quiet, wrapping her arms around herself protectively and Haymitch had a sinking feeling that he'd just made that look in her eyes worse. The evening ended with a soft thank you and an awkward "see you soon sweetheart" as she exited his car.
When she walked into the bakery the following morning, her eyes were covered by large sunglasses, presumably for the hangover she was experiencing. Haymitch hadn't thought she was drunk enough last night to feel that rough today but he couldn't be sure she didn't carry on drinking alone once he'd dropped her off.
"Hey sweetheart" he greeted "headache?" In an unprecedented move, Haymitch prepared her order of an espresso. Clearly she looked like she needed it she thought to herself when he handed it over.
"Something like that" she agreed taking a sip of her coffee "what time do you finish today? We need to talk."
He could tell she was feeling uncomfortable, and, despite his lack of experience with women, even he knew that phrase was never good. He was becoming increasingly concerned about her. "I can take a break now" he suggested "Della is working too this morning and it's not busy. Give me ten and I'll meet you in the park?"
She nodded her agreement and headed out the door.
Fifteen minutes later, she wasn't sure Haymitch actually owned a watch, she spotted him walking quickly towards her. When he approached, he sat down on the bench close to her side, looking at her expectantly. "You ok sweetheart?" he asked sincerely. She nodded and took a deep breath seemingly trying to compose herself.
"Last night was a huge mistake and I just wanted to apologise" she blurted out quickly. His heart sunk and nausea swept over him. He'd spent the night tossing and turning in his bed daring to believe she might feel something more for him.
"Sweetheart, that kiss was..."
"I'm not just taking about the kiss Haymitch" she interrupted. He had half a mind to remind her about her manners as she did with him incessantly but figured now wasn't the time to try to diminish the awkwardness with humour. "I'm talking about pretending we were together. I need a bit of space, I have some things I need to work through and I can't do it with you around. I just thought you should know I won't be coming in the bakery for a while."
"Princess, look at me" he requested softly, squeezing the hand he'd taken at some point while she was talking. She turned her head towards him. "Take your sunglasses off" he amended. He wasn't sure a headache was the only reason she was covering her very expressive eyes which he could usually read like a book.
She hesitantly raised her sunglasses until they were nestled in her hair and slowly turned her eyes towards him. It was obviously she'd not slept well and had been crying. It pained him to see her this way. "Tell me what's really wrong" he demanded gently.
He saw something snap in her, tears she'd been desperately fighting pooling in her beautiful blue eyes. "I..." she looked away again, uncomfortable with the eye contact when she was feeling this vulnerable. "I didn't realise how lonely I was before I met you. I was fine on my own but now... I let myself get comfortable with you. I know you only want to be my friend, I'm damaged goods, but I think I'm... I think I'm falling a little bit in love with you." She furiously wiped her eyes before continuing, her voice cracking. " You're my best friend, my only friend, and I can't afford to lose that. I've complicated things and I just need some distance to get these crazy thoughts out of my head so that things can go back to normal."
Haymitch started at her and was quiet for a few moments trying to gather his thoughts. Had she just told him the exact words he'd been longing to hear from her? "Nice speech sweetheart but that's not going to work for me"
"Naturally, I knew it was wishful thinking that we could remain friends after this.." she tried to move away but Haymitch held onto her hand forcing her to stay.
"That kiss wasn't pretend Effie, I've wanted to do that for a long time." She looked up at him again, her eyes widening. Surely they hadn't both felt the same way all these months? "I couldn't afford to risk our friendship either but now that I know you feel that way, I can't let you pull away."
"What if it doesn't work.. we should be grateful for what we already have. I don't think I'll survive losing you completely." she whispered, tear streaming down her cheeks.
"You won't have to.. I promise" he assured her. "You told me not to remind you that you're alone the other night. You haven't been alone for a while sweetheart... we're already in this." With that, he leaned over, pecked her lips softly and pulled her into him as she burst into tears in his arms, a tiny glimmer of hope for the future flickering in both of their hearts.