Chapter 2: The House In The Woods

Haymitch kept making ridiculous jokes – that often turned out to be teasing remarks aimed at Effie – and the girl remained so cheerful that Effie found it impossible to let the gloom settle over her. She found herself answering his gibes with some of her own, noting the surprised but interested glint in his eyes every time she managed to get the last word.

The car eventually left the blunt of the city behind and wandered in the country side. She would usually have been worried about being whisked away to an isolated place, where she could have been sequestered and killed without anyone being the wiser, but Prim and Katniss kept talking all the drive, telling her all about their house.

"It's not that far from the city." Haymitch told her when he saw her glancing at the lone dusty road with some uncertainty. "Just enough to get privacy. An hour drive or so." He winked at her. "Don't worry, princess. I've never needed to kidnap women, they usually come willingly enough."

She blushed, mostly because she could believe that.

"My name is Effie." she reminded him.

"Whatever you say, princess." he mocked.

She pursed her lips at him, more amused than angry.

They started passing houses, not long after that. The lone ones, first, and then they drove through a little town that couldn't have had more than a hundred inhabitants... It was quaint but she refrained from saying so from fear of being rude. Haymitch parked the car next to a small square but when she reached for her seatbelt, he placed a hand on her wrist to stop her. His skin was warm, his palm calloused. His hand was gone before she could decide if she liked it or not.

"Need to stop at the bakery." he explained. He glanced at the backseat where the girls had finally stopped chatting. Prim was nodding off, clearly tired by the eventful afternoon and the car trip. Katniss was fiddling with her plastic bow. He visibly hesitated, studied her for a moment and then let his shoulders relax. "You mind keeping an eye on the kids?"

"Of course not." she immediately agreed.

He nodded at her once and then opened his door… The moment the car door was opened, a rocket barged out of the bakery and straight into his legs. He automatically reached out to steady what Effie now saw was not a rocket at all but a darling little boy around Katniss' age with a bright smile, blue eyes, and a tuff of blond hair.

"Katniss!" the boy excitedly shouted, bypassing Haymitch to climb on the driver seat. He sat on his knees, hugging the headrest to better see in the backseat. "Hi!"

Katniss immediately thrust her bow out at him. "Look what Uncle Chaff got me!"

"So cool!" Peeta immediately commented – and Effie got the impression he would have approved of anything the girl said or did regardless of his own opinion – before finally noticing the huge white dress and the woman sitting next to him. He gaped at her a little before remembering his manners and snapping his jaw shut, suddenly looking a little shy. "Hello. Sorry, I didn't see you. I'm Peeta."

"Perfectly understandable." She smiled, she couldn't help it. He was too cute. "Nice to meet you, Peeta. My name is Effie."

He stared at her hard. "You're very pretty…"

She chuckled. "Thank you."

Katniss didn't like that, it seemed. She kicked the driver seat, bringing Peeta's attention back to her.

"Effie's gonna live with us now." the girl explained. "I'm gonna protect her from a witch."

Prim sleepily approved, her eyelids barely lifting.

"Well, that's a plot twist." Haymitch snorted. His elbow was propped on the car roof and had bowed to follow the discussion inside the car. "Didn't paint you for a knight in shining armor, sweetheart."

Peeta was studying Effie again though, his eyes lingering on the white puffy dress, obviously drawing his own conclusions… He turned back to Haymitch with a small frown. "Did you get married?"

Haymitch sputtered in shock. "No."

"Oh." Peeta's frown deepened. "But the pretty lady's in a wedding dress and Katniss says she's going to live with you."

Haymitch opened and closed his mouth, glanced around the square and seemed to notice that the few people who were around appeared to be very interested by what was going on and he made a face.

Effie tried to slump a little down her seat but there was no hiding the vast amount of tulle and organza. It puffed around her and spilled against the passenger window.

"Should have dropped you at home first." he muttered and then gently poked the boy in the shoulder. "You tell everyone who comes to the bakery for gossip that she's just a friend with an awful fashion sense, got it?"

Effie huffed at that but Peeta seriously nodded and then gave him a military salute, giggling all the while. "Yes, sir!"

Haymitch shook his head, his lips stretching into a sad smile, but he still ran an affectionate hand in the boy's hair. "Don't do that, kiddo." He glanced at Effie. "I'll be right back. Try not to fuel the gossip mill."

That was easier said than done.

She could spot a clutter of old women at the corner of the square who were talking very fast and staring at the car – and at her in particular.

Effie loved to spread gossip, she didn't like to be gossip however, so she very cheerfully waved at the old women. The gaggle startled at the sudden attention and quickly turned away. One of them looked amused though and waved back.

"That's Greasy Sae." Peeta helpfully explained. "She's got the only restaurant in town. Mom tells everyone she puts rats in her soup but Haymitch says it's bullshit."

"Language." Effie immediately clucked her tongue.

"She says that a lot." Katniss remarked from the backseat for Peeta's benefit.

"Beautiful children like the two of you should not be vulgar." Effie huffed. "It is a fact." Katniss looked dubious so Effie pursed her lips. "You wouldn't want to give a bad example to your sister, would you?"

That seemed to do the trick. Katniss tossed the younger girl a worried look.

Peeta looked properly chastised and was now looking at her a little warily.

"She's nice." Katniss says suddenly. "I think. She's not a witch like your mom."

"Katniss!" Effie gasped, shocked that the little girl would insult the boy's mother in front of him.

Peeta didn't look insulted though. If anything, he nodded knowingly and then dropped back on his butt to point at Sae. Effie quickly nudged his hand down before they could be spotted pointing at people. First it was rude, second it was hardly keeping a low profile.

"If Sae likes you, everyone will like you." he pronounced.

"That… is actually useful to know." she decided. She knew how to play the social game. Find the influent people, become friends with them, control the scene. Assuming she would be staying a while. Was she planning to stay a while? Haymitch had offered to host her for a few days and she couldn't really impose longer on a virtual stranger. It was already very generous of him to have offered. And her parents had to calm down at some point…

Haymitch was walking back to the car, scowling at the gossiping old women all the while. Peeta scooted out of the seat when he spotted him.

"Can I come play with Katniss after school tomorrow?" the boy asked hopefully.

"Already arranged with your dad." Haymitch grumbled. "I'll pick you both up from school."

Peeta let out a happy whoop and briefly hugged Haymitch's midsection before hurrying back to the bakery. He shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips and sat back behind the wheel, passing a paper bag to Katniss who immediately peeked inside.

"Cheese buns!" she exclaimed excitedly, which, in turn, woke Prim up.

"Cheese buns?" the smallest girl asked sleepily.

Effie had never had cheese buns before. It sounded very unrefined and full of calories she didn't need and it probably didn't, at all, fit her diet. But the smell was delicious and it made her stomach audibly gurgle to the point Haymitch shot her an amused look.

"And bread." Haymitch confirmed, still eyeing the gossiping women with a scowl. "Next stop, home. I could eat a bear."

"Bears are too big to eat." Katniss pointed out.

"Bears are nice!" Prim countered, looking slightly upset at the prospect of eating one.

"Bears are very nice until they show up in your backyard and don't wanna go away." Haymitch scoffed.

"Please tell me that is a joke and there has never been and never will be a bear in your backyard." Effie winced, slightly frightened now.

She had never been in a place that rural before.

And it seemed obvious to Haymitch. It also seemed to amuse him to no end.

"Bear, bobcats…" He shrugged. "It's better than alligators."

"Did you know they have alligators in pools in Florida?" Katniss suddenly piped up, a lot more animated. "Finnick's from Florida and once there was an alligator in his pool."

Effie took that in stride and licked her lips. "I will add Florida to the list of places I never want to visit, then."

"But they've got the Orlando theme parks." the girl argued. "Finnick says they're awesome. Prim'd like to go to Disneyland."

If she still had access to unlimited funds, Effie would have paid the two girls' vacation on the spot.

As it was, she was slightly happy that Prim suddenly reached for her shoulder, frantically pointing at a house on the street they were driving by. "That's where our mommy lives."

"Oh?" she said, half-expecting Haymitch to stop the car so he could drop the girls of. From what they had said, she had assumed the children were living with him and now she was facing the prospect of being alone with him and…

"She's special sick so we live with Uncle Haymitch for now." Prim babbled on. "He adopted us."

Haymitch, Effie noticed, sped up a little so the mother's house would be left behind quicker. She wondered if her relief at not facing the prospect of being alone with a stranger was as obvious as his relief when they had finally driven past the street.

"Special sick?" she reluctantly repeated. She didn't want to stir bad memories or thoughts…

"It means depressed." Katniss grumbled.

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say so she winced. "I'm sorry to hear about your sister."

"Not my sister." Haymitch muttered, low enough that it wouldn't carry behind them.

"Sister-in-law?" she tried.

He shook his head but kept his voice low. "We ain't blood related. They call me uncle 'cause it's easier. It's for Prim mostly."

She took that in stride and then frowned. "I am not quite sure I understand but…"

"Haymitch found us." Katniss supplied, suddenly looking a lot older than her age. It was like a switch had been flicked. There was a haunted look on her face and she had discarded the bow as if the toy was too childish for her when she had been raving about it the whole car drive. "And he kept us. And he's never going away."

"Damn right, I'm not." Haymitch answered firmly, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. The two of them shared a long complicated look and then Katniss relaxed, picked the bow back up and went back to chatting with Prim as if nothing had happened, looking and sounding like a child once more.

There was a story there, Effie surmised, but the look Haymitch tossed her warned her not to ask any more questions about it.

It wasn't long before they left the town properly behind and crept along dusty roads again. The kids helpfully pointed out landmarks. 'That's the road to the old mine' they would say or 'that's Uncle Chaff's house' or 'Gale lives here' and Effie nodded and made the appropriate enthusiastic answers even though she had no clue about half of what they were talking about.

Finally, they reached a slightly rusty iron gate and Haymitch stopped the car so Katniss could bolt out and open it – and close it once they were through. Once that was done, it was a five minutes drive on a narrow dusty lane before the house came into view.

It was small compared to her parents' house but big compared to the houses she had seen on the way there. The yard around it was abandoned. Patches of grass reached as high as the waist, there were weeds and dead thistles… It was a shame in her opinion because with a touch of landscaping the property could have been gorgeous. The house itself was two stories high. It was painted a peeling white that would have contrasted nicely against the grayish blue of the roofs foundations if the paint had been fresh. There was a large wraparound porch equally cluttered with what appeared to be junk and old wicker furniture… The windows weren't that clean either.

Effie's first thought was that it was a shame the house wasn't better kept. In her head, she applied some different layers of paint, imagined a few potted plants here and there, vanished the junk and decided it could have been pretty if it had looked a little less neglected.

Katniss was already tinkering with her sister's seatbelt before Haymitch had properly stopped the car in front of a garage with a half-opened door. The latch was visibly broken and had been propped up with various cardboard boxes. She could see that there was more junk inside, too much to park a car. The girls were off, all giggles, as soon as Haymitch had cut off the ignition. He got out of the car and walked around to the trunk, calling for Katniss to come back and help him carry whatever bags they had in there.

Effie hesitantly opened the car door and swung her legs out.

Two things happened simultaneously: her ankle – that had mercifully gone numb at some point during the drive – started throbbing in earnest the moment her foot touched down and she spotted the first of the monstrous flock of white and dove grey birds who were rushing straight at the car with flapping wings and… Teeth?

She shrieked.

"They're just geese." Haymitch chuckled, clearly finding her reaction hilarious. "Calm down, they won't hurt you."

The geese surrounded him and the girls, honking like crazy birds, and ended up following Prim away when the little girl lured them with weird clucking noises. She was a little concerned about the fate of the child and would probably have followed her instinct, ran after her and snatched her up so she wasn't so close to their awfully pointy teeth if her ankle had cooperated.

It was obvious, however, that her ankle was not cooperating.

She hitched the voluminous dress up and glanced down at her feet, sparing a grieving thought for the Jimmy Choo that would forever be ruined by the countryside. Although given how the strap was digging into her swollen skin, the shoes were probably ruined anyway.

By the time Haymitch and Katniss had carried their purchases inside, Effie hadn't tried standing up yet. She startled when the man came back, suddenly crouching in front of her to get a better look.

He let out a long whistle. "Sweetheart, that's bad."

She wasn't sure being upgraded from princess to sweetheart was a good thing.

"That's a sprain for certain." she commented, somehow detached. The day had been so emotionally taxing that she didn't have it in her to complain about the physical pain. It wasn't the first time she had twisted her ankle either. She would survive. "I will need to ice it."

"You're gonna need to rest it." he countered, wincing at the nasty shade of purplish blue. He gently wrapped his hand around her ankle to evaluate the damage. "Might even need a doc to look at it…"

"No, it is alright." She shook her head. "I know what to do. Do not trouble yourself further. I have already imposed enough."

Haymitch dragged his gaze from her injured ankle to her blue eyes impossibly slowly. "You're hurt and you needed help. I chose to do it, it ain't imposing." They stared at each other for a moment, an odd tension settling between them. She was acutely aware of his warm palm wrapped around her ankle. Then he abruptly looked away, a little embarrassed. "Besides, if I don't have to hear Katniss complain I don't know how to braid hair the right way today, I'll consider us even."

Soft chuckles escaped her and she reached for his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "Thank you."

"What for?" He snorted, using the open car door to haul himself up. "For bringing a perfect stranger home with my kids? Seemed like the safest thing to do."

She pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing at the obvious joke, took a deep breath and pushed herself up, favoring her good ankle. She immediately bit down on her bottom lip to suppress a small cry though.

"Ain't sure you should be walking on that…" he remarked.

"What is the alternative?" she retorted, taking a courageous step toward the house.

He rolled his eyes and reached for her waist. Before she could ask him what he was doing, she felt herself being swung up in the air and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. He strode to the front door without looking at her, hopped the few steps that led to the porch and carried her across the threshold without a moment of hesitation.

"Well." she huffed. She would have appreciated a word of warning. "I do hope none of your neighbors are watching or they will truly think you got married today."

His lips stretched into a smirk and he glanced at her as he carried her up the stairs and to a bedroom that was slightly dusty.

"We really are doing things out of order, ain't we?" he mocked, placing her down on the bed far more slowly than the action required. His hands lingers a little too, trailing across her back and her legs. "Seems we made it to the bed though… That's my favorite part…"

He winked at her and she felt herself blush a little. She wasn't one to be outsmarted however and she pursed her lips to unsuccessfully fight a smile, tilted her head to the side in a way that immediately made him look down her neck and into the modest cleavage of the dress.

"You could have bought me dinner first." she remarked.

"There are cheese buns waiting downstairs." He shrugged, sitting down next to her on the bed. "That counts as dinner in my book." He reached for her ankle and carefully placed it on his lap. The flirtatious look left his face as he fiddled with the thin strap that held the shoe in place. Her ankle was so swollen it was digging deep and she hissed when he finally managed to free her foot. He tossed the shoe on the floor without any care as if he didn't realize just how expensive they were. "I'm gonna get you some ice. Can you move it?"

She obediently rotated it one way and then the other, clenching her jaw all the while. "I will be fine. If you have something to wrap it, it would heal quicker."

"I'll try to find the first aid kit." he agreed. "I'll get you clothes too. And sheets for the bed, don't think there's any under the comforter. Haven't use this room in ages. Bathroom's across the hall."

He carefully placed her foot back down on the bed and disappeared in the corridor. Effie lowered herself down on her back and stared at the ceiling, telling herself she didn't miss the warmth of his hand on her ankle because she had only met him and it was stupid. Even more stupid than what she had already done today at any rate.

"Effie?" a small voice shyly called from the threshold and she lifted her head to find Prim standing there, a stuffed cat under one arm and under the other… Well, it was a living cat but not one who looked very nice. He was a buttery sort of color, his nose looked flat and he was missing half an ear.

"I take it this is the famous Buttercup?" she asked, mustering a smile for the girl's sake.

Apparently, it was the right thing to say because Prim's face lit up and she wandered to her bed, placing both cats – fake and living – on her bed before climbing up.

Buttercup didn't look very impressed with Effie and made it known by hissing. It turned to purring the moment Prim grabbed him and pulled him on her lap. The cat looked positively huge next to the small girl.

"You're hurt!" the child gasped when she spotted her ankle.

And before she could try to reassure her that it was nothing, the girl had fled, leaving her with an awfully hostile cat and a stuffed toy.

She tried to stare the cat down.

It didn't work.

Prim soon came running back with her sister in toe, carrying a small red plastic suitcase with a white cross on it that she tossed on the bed before climbing right back up. Katniss remained standing, staring at her injured ankle with clear disgust. While Prim unloaded an impressive amount of medicine-related toys from the suitcase, Katniss fidgeted with the green hairbrush she was carrying.

That one, Effie decided, was single-minded.

"Come here." she invited the girl, taking the hairbrush that was hesitantly offered. She undid Haymitch's awkward work, grumbling about the knots it left behind. She brushed Katniss' long dark hair while Prim very seriously examined her ankle with her plastic stethoscope and then applied imaginary salves and used a fake syringe when she judged it appropriate. Effie answered her questions just as seriously, swearing high and low she already felt better once the last fake injection was done.

Meanwhile she had done Katniss hair in two neat fishtail braids.

"Your turn." she offered Prim. She didn't have to offer twice. Unlike Katniss, though, Prim settled directly on her lap, which threw her for a moment because she didn't have that much experience with young children.

Her braids were less of a disaster than her sister's – but, as Katniss quickly explained, that was due to the fact she was the one doing them and not Haymitch.

During that impromptu hair session, Effie learned three important things: Katniss was ten, Prim had just turned six, the girls had been with Haymitch for almost two years and Buttercup only liked Prim and would hiss and scratch at anyone else.

When Haymitch came back, Katniss was telling her about one time she had tried to pet him and ended up with her hand clawed to within an inch of her life. It didn't sound like a very safe pet to keep around children but Prim obviously loved the cat too much to be parted from him.

"I see Doctor Prim got there before me." he teased. "All better now?"

"A miraculous recovery." she humored the girl who beamed. "Here you go, darling."

Prim patted at her newly braided hair, twisted around and tossed her little arms around her neck. Effie hugged back after a second of surprise.

"Alright." Haymitch said quickly. "Now that you've both got your hair done, you go. Bath and pajamas, you know the drill. Then we'll eat, alright?"

It was a while before the girls actually left, time enough for them to gather Prim's toys. Haymitch had already applied the ice by the time they were gone.

He didn't seem all too pleased suddenly however. The flirtatious look was gone.

"Prim grows attached quickly." he muttered.

"She is a darling girl." she ventured.

"That she is." He nodded. "So… Be careful." Because there would be hell to pay if she broke his girls' hearts. That much was plain. There was a beat of heavy silence and then he cleared his throat. "Got you clothes. Might be too big… And the sheets. Can do the bed while you change if you wanna take a shower or whatever…"

He looked so awkward… As if he wasn't exactly used to being around new people and he didn't remember how to act.

She hadn't seen or heard anything about a woman in his life aside for the obviously absent mother, the house was far enough from the town that there didn't seem to be any immediate neighbors… She wondered if he was one of those people who isolated themselves until they forgot how to properly socially interact with anyone.

"Thank you." she answered sincerely. "For everything. Really."

The tips of his ears were red but he shrugged. "It's fine."

Getting to the bathroom was a bit of a conundrum but she managed by hopping and leaning against the walls – he did offer to carry her again but he had already witnessed the worst day of her life so she estimated it was enough humiliation for one day without him having to carry her to the shower too. Of course, after having successfully managed to reach the bathroom, she realized she had another problem. Five minutes of fighting with the dress told her there was no way she would get out of it by herself.

Which was how she found herself opening the bathroom door and listening for the sounds of someone making a bed in the opposite room, wincing. "Haymitch?"

It took him a moment to appear on the threshold, a frown on his face. "Clothes don't fit?"

"I cannot get out of the dress alone." she admitted.

He blinked, his eyebrows furrowing a little and he tilted his head to the side, his lips stretching into a smirk. "Is that a come-on?"

She rolled her eyes despite how rude it was. "Would I issue a come-on to join me in a shower when I can barely stand on my feet?"

"Well… You wouldn't have to stand if I joined you in the shower, princess…" he taunted and then waved his hand to dismiss that. "Fine, let me see." She turned around, offering him her back. "Don't suppose there's any zipper handy?"

"You have to undo the row of buttons on my spine." she instructed.

She had managed to undo exactly two. They were tiny and slippery and not easy to access.

"We really are doing things out of order, princess." he chuckled.

It was a long process and his breathing grew heavy as more and more of her back was revealed. His fingers bumped against her skin from time to time. She wasn't sure but she thought they were shaking a little. His hands certainly weren't as steady as she had expected them to be. But he was warm and big behind her and she felt herself getting lost in the moment.

When he finally reached the last button at the small of her back, his knuckles slowly brushed all the way up her spine in a soft caress, as if he couldn't quite help herself.

"All done." he said, his voice rough.

It would have been so easy to stop holding the dress in place with a hand on her chest… To let it gap loose and flop down to the floor… And in that moment, she wanted to.

There was… something there.

Even if he was a complete stranger.

Or maybe because he was a complete stranger.

She had no doubt he wanted it just as much as she did and she wanted to feel better.

He hovered behind her. She heard him swallow and wondered what he would do if she did just that. Just dropped the dress. Just…

She wasn't sure what she would have done if the joyful ruckus of the girls leaving their bedroom hadn't burst the bubble. Haymitch muttered something and fled the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

She finished undressing, banishing any thought of that momentary folly out of her mind.

Soooo Effie's in the place and sparks are already flying! ;) Did you enjoy the geese and Buttercup's appearances? How about Peeta? Is Prim getting to attached to the "princess"? Will the whole town send good wishes to Haymitch's on his nuptials? Tell me everything!