Chapter 2: His Brother's Keeper
He thought, illogical as it was that if he just remained in his study for a while, the world outside would right itself. His characters existing in the same world and breathing in the same air as him was not right.
Or at least, he could stay here until all traces of alcohol had left his body and only when he was stone cold sober would he leave this room. Katniss and Peeta could just be his drunken delusions.
But his gaze strayed to the bread that in his rush had been mindlessly discarded on a stool near the door. That exchanged had been real. He had talked to Peeta and the boy had given him the bread.
Haymitch slapped himself to ensure that he was awake. He wouldn't put it passed him to dream the whole scenario out. His dreams were often vivid, as was his imagination.
That could be it – a product of his overactive imagination.
The knocking on the door told him otherwise. Instead of going down, Haymitch pushed open the window and peered down. Peeta glanced up and shaded his eyes from the sun's glare.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "You left in such a hurry."
"Have you met anyone other than me?"
The question gave Peeta paused but he did not comment on the oddity of it.
"Yeah, sure," he nodded. "I've met a few people. Been to the restaurant that's owned by Sae. I met her granddaughter, too. Um, I also met Ripper... Bought some alcohol from her for my paint."
Haymitch released a shaky breath.
He had known Sae and Ripper all his life and they were definitely not a product of his imagination. Not when Sae had looked after him and Lief when his mother needed a babysitter. This also meant that they could see the boy, leading him to come to the horrifying conclusion that Peeta and Katniss were definitely not a trick of his mind.
So what are they?
He curled his fingers, his nails digging against the surface edge of the window panel.
"I was actually going to invite you over for dinner, Mr. Abernathy," Peeta continued. "Sae told me who you are when I told her where I'm staying. I think we will be seeing a lot of each other now."
For fuck's sake, he rubbed his temple, he wants to play neighbour.
"I'll let you know," Haymitch muttered and pulled his window shut.
The two days following that, he spent it sequestered in his study reading materials he had written previously. There were individual notes on their characters, some scribbled on yellow post-its describing their attitudes and physical descriptions. It was haphazard and messy but he was often that way when an inspiration struck. He missed it; the buzz of having something new, the many different ideas fighting to be heard and the hurried scrawl on any writing materials before he lost all of his exciting thoughts.
It struck him as his finger trailed the words describing Peeta's past that if his characters truly were alive, then he already knew their history. He already knew of Katniss' tragedy with her sister and losing a mother who couldn't look at her without being reminded of the family's shared lost.
He wrote Peeta as being the youngest boy in his family who was often overlooked and pushed aside by his older siblings, and punished constantly by an overbearing mother. By virtue of that, he was often kind and gentle to others simply because he did not want to do unto others what he faced at home. He knew of Peeta's family who eventually perished in a fire which to this date, he still blamed himself over.
The second page contained several paragraphs which he had struck savagely with a black pen – the beginning of a story that he disliked. Below it, in bulleted format was a skeleton of a plot he meant to write but lost the drive to do so.
In his story, Peeta and Katniss had not even met but he knew that they would eventually under unfortunate circumstances. He had not figured out what those circumstances would be but with certainty, he could promise that at the end of the story, as cliché as it sounded, they would be each other's road to recovery.
Theirs was a story of two star crossed lovers in a volatile world.
They're here. Ask them, a voice suggested.
That drove him to accept their dinner invitation eventually and the fact that the girl did drop by a few days after her fiancé to give him some cheese tarts. They had exchanged very little small talk but her presence made him curious.
He needed to know more than anything else if they were exactly as he had written them to be.
"So… why here?" Haymitch asked as he accepted the bowl of butter corn from Peeta. "Nothin' much to see 'round here."
"That's why we chose this place. We were looking for someplace quiet. We need it."
At that, Katniss shot her fiancé a look of warning.
Distrustful, he noted.
He had written her as such. A girl hardened by her circumstances since the loss of her father, generally distrustful of people except for the few she deemed worthy and stubborn to a fault.
"Odd for two young people such as yourself," Haymitch commented. "Any of your family livin' in the next town…. Somewhere close?"
He was fishing for information to confirm their backstory.
"I – I don't have a family," Peeta answered.
Peeta looked Katniss' way but she resolutely kept her mouth shut, not volunteering further information about her life to the old next door neighbour.
"My family used to own a bakery, not far from here actually. That's no more now," the boy went on.
The bakery had gone up in flames and devoured his family with it. Peeta had burnt the bread that very afternoon had been banished to the pig sty to feed the pigs and clean the area as punishment. It also saved him from a certain death.
Haymitch listened without interrupting, amazed by the fact that Peeta's story was exactly as it had been written even if to sit here and hear it for himself made him feel immensely sorry for the boy and the girl. He was not blind to the fact that there were primroses growing in their garden and he knew that those were tribute to her sister. After all, he had been the one to name Katniss' sister after the flower.
"I've been thinking of setting up my own bakery here," Peeta said and looked at him eagerly for his opinion. "What do you think?"
The fork hovered just inches away from Haymitch's mouth. That question threw him off.
They are writing their own future. He had not written this part of Peeta – the desire and ambition to continue his family's business.
"You'd be doing the town a service with your bakery," Haymitch said. "Your stuffs are good."
"They're more than just good," Katniss scowled, as if she personally took offend that Haymitch's opinion of Peeta's baking abilities were not up to her standards.
"I had practice since young," Peeta replied humbly, "just as Katniss was taught to hunt since she was young. She gave you the squirrel she shot, didn't she? Clean shot between the eyes."
His gaze flitted from Katniss to Peeta, watching this exchange with amusement.
"Katniss, I was thinking," Peeta said, "that maybe we can invite Finnick and his family for dinner next time. Haymitch can meet them, too."
The fork clattered noisily against the plate, startling Peeta. Haymitch grabbed his glass and washed down the stew that was stuck to his throat.
"What did you say?" Haymitch demanded. He probably looked and sounded crazy.
"Uh," Peeta glanced at Katniss.
"He said he wanted to invite Finnick and his family – Annie and his son. They moved to this town a week or two before we did. Good people," Katniss answered. "Don't think you've ever met them 'cause they've never met you."
Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta.
This was impossible. First Katniss and Peeta, and now….
He felt something sharp twisting in his chest; the familiar feeling of guilt and despair.
He had written Finnick during one of his loneliest night when he had missed his brother too much. He didn't know how to deal with that pang of loneliness so he had tried to picture Lief growing up as a teenager and then as an adult. He had tried to picture his brother alive and Finnick Odair was born.
It was his way of keeping Lief's spirits alive through that character.
Haymitch had written Annie Cresta as a friend and companion to Finnick Odair. He imagined that his brother would have loved to have a lady friend.
Now, to hear that both Finnick and Annie were in this town and with a son to boot felt a like a knife twisting in his gut.
He had never written them as having a son but from what he had learnt about Peeta, he shouldn't be surprised anymore.
His characters were alive and writing their own future. It made him wonder if he could still change the course of their lives with his words.
But that, he thought, was not as pressing as wanting to meet Finnick and his family.
Thank you so much for you reviews and your interest in this story! I really appreciate it.
I know you're all by now very curious about Effie, so I will leave you to speculate about her just a little bit more while I introduced the Odairs in this chap. Let me know what you think!
(also, i will likely be publishing two chaps/week but if I'm a little busy, then the usual once a week routine!)