Chapter 12: Shelter In Place
Chaff still hadn't called back.
Effie had been resisting the urge to bite down on her nails ever since Haymitch had taken the car to drive Sae back to town. She would have done it – had volunteered to do it – but he had argued that it wasn't the smartest thing for her to show her face around town if someone was looking for her. It wouldn't take a good P.I. very long to figure out where she was staying but there was no point making it easier for them.
The storm was getting worse by the second. Lightning struck the sky white from time to time, quickly followed by deafening thunder.
The girls had relocated their board game downstairs a little after Haymitch had left, pretending they wanted to keep warm next to the fire roaring in the fireplace but, Effie suspected, really wanting to be close to an adult. She did her best to smile and reassure them all the while dying from anxiety inside.
She couldn't stop peeking outside the window even though it was really hard to see anything through the downpour, the little visibility and the hour growing late making it even harder. In her mind, she kept constructing ridiculous scenarios where a man in a trench coat and a fedora hat, directly out from a film noir, would knock on the door, framed by a timely lightning bolt, and call her by name.
She didn't hear the car engine or the usual honking of the geese because of the storm and the light chatter of the children behind her. She saw the headlights piercing the darkness though.
She had the vague thought that she should run and pick up Katniss' bow from where she had hidden it in the bathroom's cupboard – although what she would do with a bow was anyone's guess. And it was ridiculous anyway. Even if the man who was looking for her came knocking… It wasn't like he would attack her.
Unless her mother had paid him to bring her back home.
She would so love to think Elindra Trinket was over kidnapping…
The front door opened and closed, Prim shouted a delighted greeting while Katniss demanded to know where Haymitch had been in a sullen voice, even though Effie had already explained that he had been forced to give Sae a lift…
Despite the fact that he probably hadn't been out of the car for more than a few minutes, Haymitch was drenched and so were the take-away boxes he was carrying. He handed them over to Katniss with instructions to put them in the fridge.
"I'm gonna go change." he grumbled, holding her eyes a moment longer than strictly necessary.
Effie waited a few seconds and then told a baffled Prim that she broke a nail and needed her lime – that was obviously upstairs in her bedroom. It wasn't her smoothest lie and it was probably a good thing the girl was too young to know better. She just hoped the children would go back to their board game and not immediately come looking for them so they would have time to talk.
"Did you hear from Chaff?" she asked from the corridor, too impatient to wait anymore. She walked straight into his bedroom without knocking – the door had been left ajar anyway – and stopped dead in her tracks because…
Well, he was bare-chested.
Her eyes were immediately drawn to the huge swollen scar on his right side. He had been toweling his hair but he stopped when her eyes lingered too long on the scar and, as a consequence, his wet hair stuck in different directions… He tensed.
Her gaze darted up, took in what probably used to be a very fit torso but was now in the process of softening from the lack of exercising – not quite unappealing though. No… not quite unappealing at all.
A strand of wet hair was plastered to his neck and she couldn't help but follow the path of a drop down his throat, around his nipple and down, down, down to…
"Like what you see, sweetheart?" he teased, relaxing a little.
Her eyes darted back up in time to see his lips stretching into a smug smirk.
She refused to flush.
She lifted her eyebrows, dropping her voice to a seductive purr. "Why, yes, as a matter of fact."
He had switched his jeans for the frayed thick pajamas pants he often wore around the house and those hung low enough on his hips that she could see a patch of darker hair disappearing below the waistline and…
They had been playing around their attraction for so long that…
She barely noticed when he tossed the towel on the bed or when he slowly crossed the short distance between them. Her breathing, she knew, was too loud and too fast and she had to curl her fingers into fists to resist the urge of touching…
"Problem, Princess?" he mocked when he was standing only a few inches away.
He wasn't unaffected.
The bulge in his pants had grown bigger.
"The children are downstairs." was all she found to say.
"That's not the problem." he countered, clearly amused, taking another step toward her.
"Haymitch…" she whispered when he reached for her cheek.
"Yeah?" He brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear and then cupped her face… He leaned in and she drew back a little, fighting hard to keep herself composed. "Effie…"
His tone was half-chiding and half-pleading and she wanted to give in, she wanted to let him kiss her and…
"Let's not start something we won't be able to finish." she reluctantly said.
They had been getting worse and worse at stopping.
The kissing and the making-out had gotten out of hands lately, to the point she wasn't sure why she kept putting an end to it before it grew serious. He had a gift for making her feel… When his calloused palms wandered under her clothes, it was…
Electric.
There was a flash of lightning and the lights flickered off and on again.
Haymitch's breaths were slightly labored too. His grey eyes were dark with lust and…
The boom of thunder was loud enough that she could have sworn the house shook on its foundations. It was followed by two shrieks and the hurried racing of soft footsteps on the stairs.
Effie moved away from him on instinct while he went to his dresser to get a shirt loose enough to hide his boner. He barely had time to slip it over her head before Prim came crashing into Effie's legs. Katniss was a little more dignified than that, pretending she had been worried about her sister being scared and yet still sticking very close to them.
"Time for dinner, I guess." Haymitch declared, herding them all back downstairs.
Effie managed to discreetly corner him next to the microwave while the girls were setting plates and cutlery on the table. "Did you see anyone suspicious?"
"Could barely see the road." he muttered back. "Chaff hasn't called me back either."
She pursed her lips but turned the pout into a smile for the children's sake. The food Sae had forced back in Haymitch's hands was as good as usual and, while the girls were nervous because of the storm that showed no sign of abating, diner was a nice enough affair.
Getting them to go to sleep a little afterward was not.
Katniss was asleep long before Prim, who kept dragging the bedtime ritual as long as possible, requesting water and stories and cuddles… In the end she dropped from exhaustion and Effie let out a relieved sigh.
"She doesn't like thunder." Haymitch explained, closing their door as softly as he could. He left it a little ajar and made sure to keep the lights in the corridor on so she wouldn't get scared if she woke up.
"That much is obvious." she whispered back.
They made their way downstairs by mutual agreement, because that was what they did almost every night. Haymitch usually read for a while and Effie sewed or sketched random ideas in front of a show she wouldn't truly watch – when they didn't forget themselves and started kissing like there wouldn't be a tomorrow, that was.
They had barely reached the bottom of the stairs when the lights flickered off and remained that way.
"Shit . Must be the storm." Haymitch grumbled. "I'm gonna go check it didn't short-circuit, just in case. Old house, it happens."
Effie immediately grabbed the back of his shirt. "You are so not leaving me alone to go down to the basement."
He snorted. "Don't tell me you're scared of the dark."
"I am not." she replied petulantly.
"Good. Cause I need you to stay here in case the girls wake up." he mocked. He headed toward the kitchen and she followed, still gripping his shirt.
The house wasn't pitch dark, not really, and the regular flashes of lightning provided some light but… He rummaged in a drawer until he found a torch that he tested a couple of times for the batteries and then handed her a handful of candles of various shapes and sizes.
"Light those if you want." he suggested. "Stay here. I'll be right back."
"Says everyone in every horror movie before separating and getting themselves slaughtered." she muttered.
He tugged his shirt free of her grip. If he thought she didn't know he had an amused smile on his lips, he was mistaken. She didn't need to see to know it was there.
She fumbled with the candles while he disappeared downstairs, trying and failing to keep her hands steady as she brought the match to the wicks. She had just placed the second candle on the sideboard when she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around, a part of her taking note of the open backdoor and of the rain pouring inside, and screamed when she saw the huge shadow looming over her.
There was a dull sound from the basement, as if Haymitch had knocked himself on something, then a curse, and then a mad dash up the stairs, but Effie kept screaming, reaching behind her for a weapon, anything, and when she found nothing she started pummeling her fists on the intruder's chest. The man grabbed her arms. He was trying to say something but she couldn't hear him over the sound of the thunder, her own voice and the blood rushing to her ears.
"What the fuck!" Haymitch roared when he barged back into the kitchen.
Instead of rushing the man and getting rid of him, he snapped at her. "Shut up before you wake the girls!"
He was so calm and matter of fact that her jaw snapped shut. It wasn't until her aggressor stepped back into the glare of Haymitch's torch that she recognized Chaff.
"You scared me to death!" she accused.
"And you blew up my eardrums, so we're even." the man complained, rubbing his ear. "The fuck, love?"
Haymitch went around the table to shut the backdoor. He had to struggle against the wind. "She's been jumpy ever since Sae's visit. You got my messages?"
Effie folded her arms in front of her chest, not quite hugging herself. Her heart wouldn't slow down, she could still feel the rush of adrenaline. "I am not jumpy. I am just… What about electricity?"
Haymitch shook his head and finished the task of lightning what was left of the stock of candles. "Like I thought. Must be the storm. I bet the town's gone dark too."
"It's cold." she remarked. "We should move to the living-room." Chaff took a step in that direction and she lifted a hand. "Ah! Ah! Wait. I will get you a towel. And take off your shoes. I am not having you leaving mud tracks all over my house."
She darted to the bathroom – because she didn't trust him to wait as instructed – but she still managed to hear him mutter to Haymitch. "Since when is it her house?"
"Her house, her kids…" Haymitch mumbled right back. "She's been claiming everything today." He paused and sighed. "It's been a day, you know?"
She wasn't sure what a day meant but she supposed he was referring to the fight that had taken place that afternoon – even though it felt like it had happened age ago because Sae's revelation had swept everything under the rug.
Had she been claiming everything?
Perhaps a bit.
She was a little subdued when she walked back into the kitchen with a couple of clean towels, unsure if she had pushed too much. Chaff, mercifully, had listened and taken off his boots. His socks were wet but at least it wasn't mud.
The lady in her insisted she should offer warm beverages but, without electricity, she wasn't keen on figuring out how to manage that, so she sat on the couch, leaving Chaff the most sought after armchair next to the fireplace. After a moment of hesitation, Haymitch flopped down next to her on the sofa. His arm casually stretched on the back, right behind her head. She wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not.
"Did you find anything?" Haymitch asked.
"More like they found me." Chaff snorted. "Barely got your message when Boggs called saying he wanted to meet."
"Boggs." Haymitch repeated without any particular inflection.
"Who is that?" she asked, her eyes darting from Haymitch to Chaff and back.
"He's like us." Haymitch explained with a small sigh, rubbing his face with his free hand. "Ex-military. Decent enough guy."
"He works for Coin now." Chaff added. "He called me 'cause he was on a case in which Haymitch's name turned up. Three guesses as to whose case it was."
Effie frowned. "I thought you were doing surveillance business, not… not private investigating."
She wasn't sure exactly what she would define as surveillance but…
"Depends of the clients." Haymitch shrugged. "Ain't surprised. Coin's company's the best in this part of the country. It figures your mom would go to them. So? Did you put a lid on it or…"
"Nah." Chaff winced. "Sorry. I tried. He called me as a courtesy. He's already mailed his report to the customer. It's safe to say your mother knows you're here, love."
Well… She had been expecting it ever since Sae had mentionned a private investigator, hadn't she? She swallowed hard, then cleared her throat and pretended she couldn't feel the tears burning her eyes. She was almost glad the lights were off because they couldn't see the desperation on her face.
"I should leave." she breathed out.
Haymitch stiffened in alarm.
Chaff only shrugged. "Boggs's good. He's just gonna follow you wherever you go."
"Good." she declared, her voice a little stronger. "Then Mother won't think twice about Haymitch and the girls. I should… I should go pack. I should…"
She tried to stand up but Haymitch's arm slid to her shoulders, trapping her against his side. "Do you want to leave?"
"Of course not!" she scoffed. "But…"
She let her sentence trail off, unsure of how to explain.
"You should know…" Chaff cut in awkwardly. "Boggs said your parents asked about retrieval."
"Retrieval?" Haymitch growled. "We're in the country not in fucking enemy territory."
So, she hadn't been that far off the mark when she had feared a kidnapping.
"That and Effie's obviously of age and not staying with you against her will, so… Coin gave it a big frank pass. There's retrieval and kidnapping and she wants to stay on the legal side of that line." Chaff agreed.
That, however, would not stop her mother long.
There were other ways to force her out of hiding.
Effie sighed, pressed her fingers against her lips… "Haymitch, it would be better if…"
"You're not running away." he cut her off. "Not unless you want to go. We ain't letting her win."
Which was all well and good until Elindra Trinket got it in her head to do something dramatic.
"How tight is your guardianship of the girls?" she asked quietly.
The two men looked almost shocked.
Haymitch scoffed in disbelief. "She wouldn't…"
"Oh, she most definitely would." Effie interrupted. "She would hurt you to hurt me and she would hurt the children to hurt us both. She wouldn't even blink. If I stay…" She licked her lips. "Haymitch, it is not that I want to leave you but… I am trying to…"
"Don't go act all noble and shit." he grumbled. "Maybe your mom's got friends in high places but I know important people too." He and Chaff exchanged a look and then he wrinkled his nose. "I'll get in touch with Heavensbee if it comes to that."
"Plutarch Heavensbee?" Effie gasped. "How do you…"
"Classified." Chaff answered before she could even finish. "But he owes us one and he likes us." He studied her for a moment in the semi-darkness. "Look, love, I ain't really happy about her potentially messing with the kids but… Haymitch's right. We ain't exactly without friends or resources, here. You just stick with us. We can keep you safe."
"When Aster waved her parental rights to me, I got the best lawyer and made it as tight as it was gonna get…" Haymitch added. "Right now, she wouldn't even be able to get them back without my say so and she's their mom so…"
Her heart was racing.
She wanted so desperately to let them convince her…
"Still…" she insisted. "It would be easier and safer…"
"You never get anywhere in this life by doing the easy or the safe thing…" Haymitch countered. "The only important thing is…" He stopped, sighed and then shrugged. "Stay alive. That's all you can do sometimes. You don't have to go, sweetheart."
"If you want to stay, that is." Chaff tempered. There was a challenge in there. A challenge and a reminder all rolled into one.
Could they hear her frantic heartbeat? She was sitting so close to Haymitch, she was certain he could feel it.
"I want to." she breathed out, her voice raw. "But…"
"But nothing." Haymitch grumbled. "We'll handle your mom when and if we come to it."
"Maybe I'm gonna call Heavensbee anyway, though, yeah?" Chaff suggested. "Just to make sure we don't get any surprise… Preventive strike."
"He is a good friend of Mother's." she hesitated. A powerful man if there ever was one, Elindra had never been able to pass on collecting those.
"Even better." Haymitch approved. "Don't bother, Chaff. I'm gonna call him myself. Make sure that dragon knows what's up."
"Don't call my mother a dragon." she weakly protested.
"Okay." Chaff nodded. "Then, I'll get in touch with Seeder. She's our lawyer." He added that part for Effie's sake. "Damn good one, too. I'm gonna see if she can do something for you legally. Restraining order or something…"
They chatted for a few more minutes and then Chaff said goodnight, heading back to the kitchen to get his boots and leave. Effie followed the motion but was distracted…
She was a bit overwhelmed.
The way they acted, it was like it wasn't that difficult a feat to get rid of Elindra.
She had spent her whole life trying to escape her mother's influence.
The only reason she had managed it at all was because of a terrible case of wedding jitters that had drawn her to jump into the first car she had spotted. And there Haymitch and Chaff were, absolutely confident the whole thing could be handled through phone calls and lawyers and…
She startled when Haymitch placed a hand on her shoulder and she realized, belatedly, that Chaff was gone. She thought she could hear the rumble of his car but it might have been the storm. They should have asked him to spend the night, it probably wasn't safe to drive…
"You're okay?" he asked softly.
It had been a day indeed, she mused.
"I want to stay."
She hadn't meant for the words to tumble out of her mouth again but as she repeated them, she realized just how true they were. She had made enough money, in huge part thanks to Halloween, that she could have supported herself for a couple of weeks, found a more regularly paid job, a place to stay… But she didn't want to leave. She didn't want to leave the house and the ridiculous pets and the girls and Haymitch.
She didn't want to…
"Nobody's kicking you out…" he snorted fondly, as if she was being ridiculous.
"No, that's not…" she whispered. She felt something unlock inside her chest. "I want to stay."
She had never really been one for commitment but right there, right then…
Their eyes met and it was hard to see in the semi-darkness but she must have managed to convey her meaning because he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek, coiled it around her neck…
She was reminded of earlier, in the bedroom, the surge of lust.
She wasn't sure who initiated the kiss but there was nothing gentle or tentative about it. It was hungry and brutal and he immediately walked her back into the wall, pinned her there, his hands searching her body more boldly than he had ever let himself be. It was alright with her, she fumbled with his shirt, struggled with its buttons too long and lost patience, forced it over his head instead…
He grabbed her under the thighs, lifted her up, nestled his hips between her legs…
His mouth was on her neck, hot and possessive…
She felt drunk or high or possibly both.
She wanted this.
She wanted this so badly that she let out a keening sound when he suddenly froze.
His fingers were trembling with the self-control it asked him.
"I'm sure." she said before he could ask the question – because she had always stopped him before it got that far but she didn't want to stop him anymore, she was sure, she was sure.
"We spent the whole afternoon fighting…" he pointed out, his voice rough and raw.
"And I am still here." she retorted. "And I still do not want to go. Fuck me, Haymitch."
Her unusual vulgarity made him groan.
He tore the clothes off her more than he took them off and she wanted to chide him about that because she didn't have that many but she was too distracted by the strangled sounds he made when she bit down along the length of his neck to properly worry about it.
When she had let herself imagine their first time, she had envisioned a bed and something sweet, tender maybe, drawn out for both of their pleasure…
She probably should have known better.
It happened right against the kitchen wall. It was certainly not sweet, neither of them had the patience to draw it out so it was quick and rough, the release almost too short to be entirely satisfying.
She wasn't disappointed per se but it had felt more like getting it out of their system than actually enjoying it.
He must have been of the same opinion because once he had his breath back, he lifted her up again and carried her up the stairs, careful to miss the creaking step, and eventually dropped her on his bed.
Then he started kissing and exploring every inch of her body so she reciprocated in kind and it was…
That time was better.
Explosive.
Perfect.
When he touched her, she felt she could die from bliss.
"Do you believe in fate?" she mumbled afterwards, snuggling into his side under the mess of blankets. For an ex-soldier, he didn't seem to know how to make a bed properly.
His fingers tangled in her hair, his other hand found her arm where it was slung across his chest… She hooked her leg over his hip, seeking his warmth…
"Fate's a bitch." he muttered, still a bit out of breath.
"I cannot stop thinking fate brought me to you." she argued. What were the chances of his being parked right there in front of the hotel?
"Poor you." he joked, but his fingers clenched on her arm. "You're sleeping here?"
It sounded hesitant, a little lesssleepy than he had been before…
She frowned because she hadn't thought it was even a question. This wasn't a one-night-stand, was it? This was serious, wasn't it? It was why they had waited so long, for her to be sure of her feelings, for her to be sure she wouldn't run away and leave two broken-hearted girls and a sad man behind.
"Do you want me to go?" she hesitated, her heart racing in her chest.
Had she read the whole thing wrong or was he one of those men who just went back on their promises once the deed was done? She thought she knew him better than that but…
"Nah." He dropped his head against hers, his nose bumping against the crown of her head. "It's just… I've got nightmares sometimes. They can be bad."
"Oh." she breathed out, relieved. She couldn't help the small smile as she pressed a kiss against his shoulder. "For a second, I thought you were trying to get rid of me."
He snorted. "I ain't done with you yet, Princess. Just give me a couple of hours…" She dropped another kiss on his skin at that leering promise, about to suggest she could get him ready again sooner than that, but his tone grew serious again. "The nightmares… It's more like night terrors, really… You know what that is?" She shook her head, a small frown on her face. He started petting her hair but she had the feeling it was more to calm himself down than to soothe her. "It's… bad. Lots of screaming. My eyes can be open but it doesn't mean I'm awake, yeah?"
"That sounds awful." She traced soothing circle on his chest with her thumb. "Does it happen often?"
"Not anymore, not really." he sighed. "But the important thing… Never try to touch me when I'm like that, alright? If it starts happening, you get out of bed and as far away from me as you can. The girls know to stay away until I'm good. You need to know too 'cause…"
"You would not hurt me." she scoffed.
That much she was certain of.
"Won't even know it's you." he countered. "Almost stabbed Chaff twice before."
"Stabbed?" she gasped.
He shook his head, tightened his hold on her as if he was afraid she would bolt. "Don't sleep with the knife anymore, not since the girls moved in. It's just… I can still be dangerous with my hands. I don't wanna hurt you so… If I wake you up with a nightmare just… Promise, you'll get out of bed?"
"Yes." she answered at once, a little thrown. "Yes, of course."
His body was tensed and he didn't relax in the following minutes. She didn't quite relax either.
"I get it if you wanna go back to your own bed." he offered after a moment. "It's a lot, I get that, sweetheart."
"No." she refused, pressing herself harder against his side. "I want to stay with you. I just… I hate the idea of you suffering like that, it is all. There is nothing I can do to help if it happens?"
He sighed again, trailed his fingers up and down her arm… "You can try to talk me out of it but make sure you're far enough I can't reach you." He nudged her head with his, dropping a kiss on her hair. "Sorry. Ruined the mood. Just want you safe. You sleep with me, you need to know how to stay safe. Even that, I can't fucking do right…"
"Language." she chided. "It will be fine. I never heard you have a nightmare in all the time I've been here."
"Told you." he yawned. "Doesn't happen that often anymore. Just want…"
"To keep me safe." she finished for him, melting against his side. She wasn't sure anyone had ever wanted to keep her safe before. Not like this, at least. "Well, you better get some rest because I have big plans for you."
"Yeah?" he chuckled. "What sort of big plans?"
She hummed, faking the need to think about it. "I do want to suck you off… But, then again, I also want to ride you until I scream… I cannot decide which one I should do first… What do you…"
Her question ended in a shriek that he muffled by placing a hand on her mouth, half-laughing while he shushed her. The sounds of the storm were covering a lot but he didn't want her to wake up the girls and she must admit it would have been awkward to explain.
Then again, she wouldn't have shrieked if he hadn't rolled over her.
She poked his palm with her tongue and he took his hand off only to nuzzle her neck.
"Don't you want to rest a little?" she teased.
"I'm all rested, sweetheart…" he swore, amusement in his voice. "I'm ready to get on with the program…"
She couldn't help but laugh.
She bet he was…
soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo they did the nauuuuughty. Also Boggs won't be kidnapping Effie anytime soon so there's that. Next chapter is Halloween... Are you ready to be spooked? Special cameo, next week.
I want to know your thoughts! Let me know!