Chapter 4: In Distress

The conversation with Elindra Trinket was brief and to the point.

Effie barely managed to get a word in. Her mother hung up on her and she ended up staring at the phone in her hand before bursting into hysterical sobs that had been the whole day in coming.

There had simply been too much stress. She prided herself on being a person who had complete control over herself but everyone had a breaking point and she suspected she had reached hers. Besides, her ankle throbbed and she was exhausted and…

"Wow." Haymitch froze when he came back into the living-room. His bad mood seemed to have slightly abated during his chat with Katniss and what was left of it morphed into obvious awkwardness when he saw her. It was clear he didn't know how to handle a crying woman. "Alright… You should… I… Some tea would do you good, yeah?"

He fled the room and Effie pressed her hands against her face, forced herself to take long deep breaths, forced the tears to stop… By the time he came back ten minutes later, looking a little concerned, with two mugs of what she supposed to be tea and an open box of tissues wedged under one arm, she had managed to turn the sobs and hiccups into irregular sniffing.

She accepted the mug and the tissues with a grateful look and immediately dabbed at her face to salvage what she could but knowing she probably looked awful. Her eyes would be red and puffy, her already bare face even uglier…

"Do you have anything stronger?" she half-joked after taking one scalding sip of tea.

Haymitch didn't answer that at once. He paused for a second and then sat down on the coffee table instead of taking any of the more appropriate seats. She supposed it was because the coffee table was the closest to her. He put his own mug down between his feet without looking at her.

"I've got a thing with alcohol." he said slowly, almost hesitantly. "Haven't kept any in the house since I got the kids. Ain't a good idea to tempt a weak man."

She masked her surprise well but her eyes still darted to the slightly unsteady fingers. Was the almost unnoticeable tremors a consequence of past addiction? She was familiar with the symptoms. In the elite, alcoholism was more common that people would suspect – except people's poison was wine or champagne rather than hard liquor and they usually treated it as a joke.

"I very much doubt you are weak." she replied.

"Yeah, well… You don't know me, princess." He snorted with clear self-loathing but he shook his head before she could pursue that line of enquiries. "So… I'm guessing it didn't go well with your mom."

A half-laugh escaped her throat. It managed to sound both hysterical and desperate. "You could say that. She informed me she is packing all my belongings and giving them out to charities first thing in the morning. After today's scandal she does not want to see me or hear about me anymore. She said that if I am stupid enough to spit on a fortune, I can provide for myself and see how I like it." Her hands were trembling so hard, the warm tea was sloshing dangerously close to the rim of the mug. She carefully put it down on the floor, using that as an excuse to not look Haymitch in the eyes as she forced some cheer in her voice. "I am a penniless woman without even a single item of clothing to her name. It might be time to take down the drapes and make myself a gown…"

"How southern lady of you." Haymitch mocked. "Ain't sure even Scarlet O'Hara could do much with my curtains though."

She glanced at the brownish shapeless fabric hanging on either side of the big window and wrinkled her nose. "With your curtains, no. With the wedding dress now… Do you have a sewing kit?"

"Think so…" he hesitated. "You know, we can also just get you clothes, right? You're tiny enough, I think Aster's stuff would fit…" At her blank look, he clarified. "The girls' mom."

"Oh, no, I could not trouble you further!" she protested, forcing even more cheer in her voice. "I will be out of your hair tomorrow morning."

"Yeah? To go where? To do what?" he scoffed.

"I will figure it out." she replied with a blinding confident smile.

He stared at her for a moment, plucked his mug from the floor and took a long sip. "You shouldn't be walking around on that ankle."

"It will heal." she dismissed, picking up her own mug. "It is not my first sprain."

But it was the first time she would be forced to find a job and provide for herself. How did one go about finding a job?

She must have been thinking aloud because he let out an incredulous snort. "You've never had a job before? Not once?"

She licked her lips and shrugged. "I almost became a model when I was young. A stylist noticed me. Mother would not hear of it, she said I was not beautiful enough to make a career out of it. And I did not have the brain for college or any fancy trade."

She laughed that off but she didn't think she made a good job at hiding the bitterness underneath.

"Bullshit." He shook his head. "I've known you a few hours, I can tell you've got plenty of brains. And as for the rest…"

His gaze told her exactly what he thought about the rest but she wasn't ready to address that just yet.

"Father did not think so and he would not pay for a doomed education." She flashed him a smile, as if it was of no consequence. "Be that as it may… I am sure I will find something or other."

He was studying her. The soft glow of the lamps made the room more intimate than she would have liked. It was hard to pretend when it was so intimate.

"You can sew?" he asked.

Thinking they were going back to the conversation about what she would do about her lack of clothes she relaxed a little, her smile becoming far less strained. "I love it. I used to create clothes for my dolls when I was little… Oh, it was not good naturally, I have very little creative talents…"

"Let me guess… Says your mom?" he deadpanned.

She pursed her lips and went on as if he hadn't interrupted. "I can make something out of that dress though."

There was so much fabric, she might even manage to do two outfits.

"There used to be an old seamstress in town but she died…" he said and, at her frown, he rolled his eyes. "People are old-fashioned around here. Most of them don't go to the city if they can help it. They like local trade better. People they know. People they trust. Ain't sure they would trust you right away but I think there's work in town for a seamstress."

Her frown deepened. "That sounds lovely but… I am going to need a regular income if I am to find an apartment. And…"

And that didn't sound like regular steady work.

"You can stay here until you find something better." He said it fast and without looking at her, as if he was still considering the wisdom of that idea. An idea, she suddenly realized, he had been mulling over since he had come back downstairs. Whatever he and Katniss had talked about, she had convinced him to see her side.

"Haymitch…" The sentence trailed off because she didn't know how to finish it.

"Wouldn't be charity." he added quickly. It hadn't been her first concern, truth be told, but he was obviously a proud man so it made sense he would think of that as her first objection. "You could help out with the girls for rent. Do the hair stuff and handle the boys talks and whatever. Katniss sure does have a lot of boys talk."

She blinked. "She is ten."

And she looked like a tomboy who wasn't particularly interested in romance so far.

"She's got Peeta and Gale running after her." he explained. "And there's Finnick too." He shook his head and made a face. "Too many boys. And she's too naïve about it. She doesn't get it when I try to explain."

"Haymitch, she is ten." she insisted, amused despite herself. "I think you can wait three more years before you have to worry about anything untoward happening. Whatever… relationships she has going on are probably perfectly innocent."

He looked a little sick. "Yeah, but you could make sure. And I can keep on terrorizing the boys. See? Teamwork."

She bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from commenting about how little terrorized Peeta had looked earlier.

"I am not certain my staying would be the best idea." she argued. "You said it yourself… Prim gets attached fast. And what she wants…"

"Is a mother." he finished. "Yeah, Katniss explained that in great details. And there you went, jumping into my car in a stupid dress and now Prim thinks it's a fucking fairy tale." He sighed and took another long gulp of tea, his hand visibly shaking. "I've always done my best, you know? I swear I did. I knew I'd be shit from the start, that taking them with me was just the best of a lot of bad options for them but… I've always done my best so if they need a mother now… Then I guess I'm getting them a mother." He glanced up at her and quickly lowered his eyes down to his tea. "Ain't saying it's not the craziest shit I've ever asked a stranger and I've done some very crazy shit, sweetheart."

It was a lot of things to process.

"Language." she rebuked, a beat too late. "You do realize I just ran away from an arranged marriage, right? And now you want me to jump into another one with you when I do not even know you? Do not misunderstand me, you seem like a good man but…"

"I ain't a good man." he cut her off, his voice hard. "Never mistake me for a good man." She flinched at the sudden harshness and he made a face when he noticed. He stood up slowly, clearly taking pain not to look like a threat, and moved to the window to look outside. All she could see was his back. "I ain't proposing either. I ain't exactly an easy man to live with, princess. You're probably gonna run out the door in two days anyway…"

"This is crazy." she reiterated.

"Fuck, if I don't know." he grumbled. "You had to fucking get into my car looking like a fucking Disney princess."

She decided there was a compliment in there somewhere. Very deep down.

"The girls could use a female role model. What would you expect from this arrangement?" she asked, making her voice reflecting only polite interest and not any hint of weariness.

He snorted at that and turned his back to the window to look at her. "Ain't some kind of pervert. Ain't saying you've got to sleep with me." There was a twinkle in his grey eyes. "Though I ain't oppose to having sex with you. For the record. You ain't exactly repulsive."

She huffed. "You give the most twisted compliments."

His lips stretched into an amused smirk for a moment but then it vanished. "Look… I ain't saying it has to be forever. You could use a place to stay until you get back on your feet… We try it out. If it works out and you wanna stay longer, that's good. If it doesn't work out and you wanna find another place to stay that's also good. Just… If you want to do this, be sure you're ready to keep in touch any way, alright? Cause they're gonna get attached and…" He shrugged. "They've been hurt enough."

As insane as the whole thing sounded, the thing was she had already started getting attached too.

"How did you end up with them?" she asked curiously.

"Long story." he muttered, slowly coming back toward her. He sat down in an armchair instead of the coffee table this time. "How did you end up at that shitty wedding today?"

She pursed her lips. "For the hundredth time, mind your language."

Irritation flashed on his face. "It's the kids you've got to mother, not me."

"And yet you clearly need chastising the most." she deadpanned.

Irritation turned to amusement and he lifted an eyebrow. "Kinky."

She rolled her eyes and brought her mug to her lips to give herself some countenance. The tea was tepid by now and she quickly finished it.

"Mother always insisted I marry well and to someone proper." she hesitantly explained. "In the circles I grew up in, it was expected. My first engagement was to the son of a family's friend. He was gay. It could have worked though, even if there was no hope for anything real. We were friendly enough. Mother says I am too much of a romantic and she is right. In the end I couldn't go through with what I knew would be a loveless marriage even if it would have been an amicable one." She clenched her jaws. "The second one was Father's business associate. I couldn't refuse dating him without endangering the family company. When he proposed, I felt compelled to accept for the same reason. It caused a lot of trouble when I eventually broke it off. The third one… The third one actually broke off with me after he figured out I couldn't have children but I shed no tears over him. And the man I left at the altar today…"

"Was ancient." he finished for her.

"They were all ancient aside from Seneca." she countered in a whisper. She couldn't hide her shudder. "I did try to be a good daughter and to do what was expected, you know? I just… I just want more than being paraded on an old man's arm like an eye candy all my life. Is that so wrong?"

Haymitch looked sorry for her and she realized she didn't want his pity. "No, princess. It ain't wrong at all. You want my opinion, what you did today's the best thing you could have done."

"But it leaves me without a cent to my name." she remarked.

"Better poor and free than rich and a slave." He shrugged. "It was brave running away the way you did. Cause, let me tell you, your family seems like controlling assholes to me. Couldn't have been easy."

She licked her lips and averted her eyes. "So?" She instilled some cheer in her voice. "That's my story. Your turn. How did you end up adopting two little girls you are not related to?"

He was silent for so long, she was certain he would never end up explaining.

"I'm just their guardian, it's not full adoption." he finally said before rubbing his eyes. "I'm not even sure where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place." she teased.

His lips twitched but the twinkle of mirth she had come to expect didn't dance in his eyes.

"It all started three years ago. I'd just come back to live here." He hesitated, his hand pressed against his right side. "I was…" He was searching for the right words and obviously getting frustrated because they weren't coming. "I wasn't well. Body or head."

His voice trailed off, his eyes lost in the distance or, maybe, bad memories. He was rubbing his side but she didn't think he was aware of the gesture.

"Because of the liquor?" she ventured a guess.

He startled a little, licked his lips… "The liquor was part of it. Always been a problem if I'm honest but at that point… Well, yeah… It was bad. Chaff moved here to keep an eye on me. He had nowhere else to go either anyway… Bought a house nearby… Tried to keep us both from spiraling too much. He's my best friend."

The last part was added as an afterthought, as if he had momentarily forgotten she wouldn't really understand what he meant. Although Chaff had been mentioned several times since she had met the three of them, more often than not with a honorific 'uncle' in front of his name… She had surmised he was a close family friend.

"I do not mean to pry so feel free not to answer but if it was not only the drinking…" she cut in slowly.

"I was army." he said quickly, harshly. The roughness wasn't directed at her though, she didn't think. He spat the word out bitterly as if it was poisonous. "I had been wanting out for a long time at that point. Chaff too." He snorted, toasted her with his almost empty mug of tea. "Be careful what you wish for, yeah? Ain't that what they say?"

She had troubles imagining a man like him thriving in a military environment. He wouldn't fit in with the officers in full regalia her mother often entertained at dinner parties. And his house was far from being kept with the meticulousness one would expect for an army man.

"We were special ops, Chaff and I." he added, clenching his jaw. "That means a lot of classified shit shows."

She pursed her lips. "Well, at least now I know where you learned to curse like a sailor."

He snorted again but there was barely a hint of amusement.

"Last op was a very bad op." he explained. "Went to complete utter hell. Chaff lost a hand." His eyes suddenly darted to her face, protectiveness written all over it. "He's still sensitive about that so don't go staring when you meet him."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Do you mistake me for a rude person? I am a lady, I do not stare."

The smirk came back, small but there. "You sure stare at me a lot, sweetheart…"

"That is because I am dazzled by your beauty." she deadpanned. "Or, perhaps, because I cannot believe a man can be that vulgar. Take your pick."

That earned her some chuckles and the return of the twinkle in his grey eyes. That was better, she realized, she liked the twinkle.

"You're fucking witty." he commented.

"Others would call it mouthy and it is not the quality you make it out to be." she sighed. She hugged her legs close to her chest, angling her body and arranging the borrowed shirt so nothing improper could be seen.

He shrugged. "They're idiots, then. I like it."

She had noticed. The banter between them had been slightly flirtatious from the start.

He was so relaxed now, so much more like the man she had met that afternoon, that she didn't want for him to close off again. She didn't remind him of the current topic of discussion. It was clear his army days held no good memories.

"We are playing a dangerous game, you realize." she pointed out. "If I am to stay… We are clearly attracted to each other…"

"Sweetheart, I specialize in dangerous games." he mocked.

"What happens if we act on this attraction?" she insisted.

He snorted. "Oh, we're gonna act on it, princess… I've wanted to kiss you since you jumped into my car…"

She might have been desperate to kiss him too and a confession was clearly unnecessary. She supposed it must have been obvious.

She lowered her voice to something more serious. "I am serious. The girls…"

He lost his playful edge. "I don't know. Haven't dated anyone in decades. I'm more of a one night stand kind of guy."

"Well… I am more of a "get engaged and leave them at the altar" sort of girl so I suppose I cannot judge." she retorted.

He chuckled again. "How about we go with the flow? No dating, no wedding, just… If you choose to stay, we see where it takes us?"

She could see where it would take them from where she was sitting. One of the stops would clearly be a bed but she was afraid the final destination would be disaster.

She licked her lips, averted her eyes… "I would rather not you forced yourself to date me just because of your children. Do not get me wrong, they are lovely and I am already half in love with them and your offer is too good to be true, as insane as it is, so I will most likely take you up on it but… There is a great difference between a governess and a step-mother and…"

"Didn't I say I wasn't proposing?" he cut her off. "Look… I ain't the marrying type so you can relax, I promise I won't give you any reason to freak out and leave me at the proverbial altar…" His teasing tone turned slightly mocking. "And I don't think anyone would have to force themselves much to be with you anyway… You're fucking hot."

"Sex is only one aspect of a relationship." she pointed out.

"Can we stop talking about relationships?" He made a face. "Can we just… feel it out? I like you. The little of you I've seen. You like me." He tossed her a look. "So far. Let's see how you fit in with us… If the girls really like having someone telling them to mind their manners all the fucking time… Hell, let's see if you can handle sewing fucking tablecloths and bed sheets for a living…"

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you being vulgar on purpose now?"

He smirked, proving her point. "Maybe."

She sighed. "You are going to insist on infuriating me, aren't you?"

"I've got a feeling you're gonna drive me mad soon enough too so…" He shrugged. "You're interested?"

He looked a little too eager and the fact that she was even considering the proposition…

She was loathe to damper the comfortable mood but she wanted to know the full story first.

"You were telling me how you got the girls?" she politely reminded him. "You were saying you and your best friend weren't at your best?"

"Yeah…" he slowly muttered after a silence that lasted a beat too long. "Yeah. We were both let off. Medical discharge."

Effie frowned. "Were you thatbadly injured?"

He was rubbing his right side again and, this time, she was almost certain he really wasn't aware of it.

"Yeah." He waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I'm good now. Anyway. When I came back…"

"My apologies. You grew up here, then?" she cut him off.

He looked irritated by her inability to let him tell his own story. "Yeah. Well… Not here in this house. My old house… It burned down. I bought this one when I came back. You're done interrogating me or…"

"Yes, sorry." she winced. "I simply wanted to have all the facts."

He rolled his eyes. "Here are the important facts: I was fucked up in the head, I was drinking too much and I was still in too much fucking pain. I kept to myself back then…"

"Oh, because you are so much of a social butterfly now?" she teased, she couldn't help it.

It seemed important somehow to bring some levity to a story that was so obviously still painful to him, to relieve him a little from that gloomy past.

He glared at her but she thought there was a hint of amusement dancing in his gaze as if he was aware of what she was attempting to do. Or perhaps she was imagining it. She wasn't sure.

"I barely stepped foot out of the house. Chaff and Sae made sure I had food so I wouldn't starve…" He paused. "Sae's…"

"The old lady who owns the only restaurant in town." she finished for him. "She may or may not use rats in her soup."

He blinked, staring at her in disbelief. "You've been here five minutes. How the fuck do you know that?"

She flashed him a mysterious smile. "You always have to know who the important people are, Haymitch. It is the first rule of moving in society."

"Thought it was that rich men were always looking for wives?" he mocked. "Though in your case…"

Not appreciating being reminded of her runaway bride act, she had to resist the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him. "How peculiar for someone like you to be able to quote Jane Austen… I didn't peg you for a fan of romances…"

His face visibly flushed and he finished what was left of his tea. It must have been completely cold by then.

"Had a phase when I read every paperback I could get my hands on." he muttered. "Don't like romance stuff."

"To be sure." she humored him, curling up a little against the armrest so she could prop her head against the back of the couch. Her body was growing heavy.

"Do you wanna hear the story or what?" He scowled. She gestured at him to continue and he rolled his eyes but went on. "Long story short: food started disappearing from the kitchen. Didn't really notice at first… I was drunk most of the time. And when I wasn't… Wasn't really in any headspace to be sure I hadn't dreamt there was a can of beans left in the pantry."

"Someone was stealing food?" she asked, frowning a little.

"Happened all over town." He shook his head. "It took a while for people to notice cause it was always a can here, leftovers there… Little thefts really. Nothing too serious. But theft is theft and people got into an uproar over it… They were half sure the thief'd come for their money next. They started making sure their doors were locked at night, the wealthiest ones got alarms and fancy security shit… Chaff got a guard dog… Overkill if you ask me." He shrugged. "I still didn't care so I didn't bother doing any of that."

"You did not care that someone sneaked into your house at night to steal from you?" she repeated, flabbergasted.

"I've been hungry before. They never took much. I had bigger fishse to fry." he dismissed, turning the empty mug in his hands in a distracted fashion. "Chaff's dog almost got the thief one night… Scared her half to death…"

"Her?" she repeated and then gasped, putting a hand in front of her mouth in shock. "You cannot mean…"

"Yeah." he half-snort, half-sighed. "He didn't get a good look but he was sure the thief was a kid. Call me what you want but I didn't like the thought of a kid hungry enough to sneak into people's houses at night to steal food…" He shrugged. "I started leaving stuff on the table for her. Food at first, then… I don't know candies, shit kids like… It became kind of… a project." He made a face. "I'm saying it wrong. It's making me sound like…"

"No." she interrupted. "Don't. I understand. You wanted to make a child feel better. There is nothing wrong or odd with that."

"Fucking stubborn child." he commented with fondness. "She always only took one or two things, never the whole lot. The rare times she took the candies, I'm pretty sure it was for Prim. She hates the idea of charity, see? Ask Peeta. It took her a whole year to talk to him again… Poor boy used to steal bread for her and never heard the end of it… She hates the idea that she owes anything to anyone. She doesn't get that she's still a kid and adults have to provide for her… She's… In her head, she's the provider, she takes care of people. She's getting better but she's not there yet. It's fucked up."

Effie was feeling the burning threat of tears. Katniss must have been around eight, then… Perhaps even younger… Eight. Far too young for… "What about the mother?"

"Oh, the mother…" Haymitch scoffed with open dislike. Somehow, Effie was certain he would never have let the children hear him talk about her in that tone. "She ain't a bad person, I guess, but… Their dad was a miner… There was a cave-in a few years ago… Lots of dead workers… The mines closed."

"I remember that…" She nodded. "It was all over the news… Their father died in the mine collapse?"

"Yeah. Aster never got over it." he explained. "She used to be a nurse at the local clinic… The only reason they kept her on as long as they did is because it's a small town and people knew her story. They liked her, they felt sorry for her…" He shook his head. "She completely gave up after I got involved. Stopped going to work. Stopped doing anything, really…"

And she thought her mother was bad…

She curled up tighter, feeling so sorry for the girls sleeping upstairs…

"How did you find them out?" she asked. "How did you figure out it was Katniss?"

A slow rare smile blossomed on his lips. "I ambushed her one night. Trapped her in the kitchen. Fuck, did she kick me good…" He chuckled at the memory. "My little fighter… She's a survivor that one. As much charm as a dead slug, but a survivor." The smile softened even more. "Took me a good hour to convince her I didn't want to hurt her… I didn't even get a name that night… She didn't want my help. Stubborn, you know."

He had so much love for that child… Effie was glad that, however bleak her past had been, at least Katniss now had this.

"It went on like that for a while." he continued. "She showed up on some nights. I gave her food. Tried to get her to tell me her name. Could have found out through Sae by then but I wanted her trust, you know?" He sounded unsure and when she nodded her understanding, he cleared his throat and went on. "I was doing better too. I just… It gave me something to focus on. I slowed down on the booze… Good thing too because, one afternoon, Katniss just came hammering on my door in a panic… Never happened in daylight before… Never seen her cry before either, not even when she was frightened…"

"Prim?" she guessed.

"Yeah." he said flatly. "Prim. She told me her sister had swallowed some of her mother's pills, that her mom was out cold from the meds and that she didn't know what to do…"

"God." Effie breathed out, feeling nothing but horror. Intellectually, she knew Prim was alright, that both of them were alright, but she still felt the horror of it, some sort of helpless rage…

"Their house… It was a shit hole." His jaw tightened and his hands clenched around the armrests of his armchair. "Dirty. Not safe. Katniss was doing what she could… Not her fault…"

"Of course not." Effie growled in anger. "She was a child. She should not have had to… This is outrageous."

"Prim was three." he answered. "She was a baby. Shit, she was still just a baby…"

"Was she alright?" she asked anxiously.

"Yeah. It was just the one pill. More worry than serious harm." He made a visible effort to relax. "I ripped Aster a new one. Hell, the doctors at the clinic ripped Aster a new one… It was like she cared but she didn't… I don't know how to explain better." He shook his head. "It took all I had in me to let the girls go back there… Made a point of dropping by every day after that. Brought food and stuff so Katniss would stop sneaking around at night… Hired someone to do some cleaning too because… Well, Prim was walking around and putting everything in her mouth and it wasn't safe."

"Did Aster accept that?" she wondered.

"She was wary of me at first, I guess…" He shrugged. "Didn't blame her. I was asking myself what the fuck I was doing sticking my nose in her business most of the time… Chaff sort of got involved too at that point. The whole town knew… It's a good town here, you know, good people… We look out for each other…"

"But it did not get better…" she supposed. Or he wouldn't have been the girls' guardian now…

"It did." he denied. "For a while. Aster tried, that's the thing. She still does from time to time. She remembers she's got children and she will come up here and take them to the cinema or to the old carousel but… It's never regular and it's always more upsetting than it's worth for the kids."

"You allow it, though?" she asked, curiously.

He shrugged. "She's their mom. And I guess I'm still hoping one day she's gonna wake up and realize she's got the two best girl on the planet and it's worth busting her ass out of her depression. They sure were enough for me…" He stood up and walked to the window again. "I tried to get her to seek treatment, you know… She went to a clinic for a while but she didn't stick to it."

"How did they end up with you?" she wanted to know.

"One morning two years ago I came downstairs and found Katniss on the couch with Prim on her lap…" he recalled, his voice hard. "She handed me an envelope full of legal paperwork… All sorted out already… Just needed my signature. Sometimes I think I gave her the last excuse she needed to quit. She knew I'd never leave the girls to hang, that I'd keep them safe, so… She just gave them to me"

"I see." Effie whispered. She rubbed her eyes as much to make the tears disappear as because she was tired. "This is… Honestly, this is awful to hear."

"Prim doesn't remember much from before." he added.

"Small mercies." she huffed. "But Katniss…"

"Katniss is a process." he granted. "One minute she's gonna act like a regular kid, the next it's like you're talking to an adult."

"I noticed." she remarked.

He hesitated a long moment and then sighed."She goes to see a head doctor in the city one time a week. Ain't sure how much it helps though."

It could not hurt, she supposed.

He had turned to lean against the window, his arms crossed in front of him and he was studying her. He studied her for a long time.

"So…" he said eventually, with far too much amusement. "If I carry you to bed again, do I get to stay this time?"

She frowned. "What?"

She would usually have been more vocal in her indignation but she had been slipping down the couch and little and…

"You're falling asleep in the middle of our very depressing chat, Princess." he mocked. "Ain't that all kind of rude or something?"

It was.

Terribly rude.

Terribly.

And yet her eyelids were drooping and she was drifting.

The only sound she managed to utter in answer was a low hum.

That was a loooooong chapter! So... Is there any chance of Effie convincing Elindra to take her back? Will she do the crazy thing and stay with Haymitch and the girls instead? What did you think of their respective backstory? Let me know your thoughts!