Chapter 6: A Thorn in His Side

His surprise came when he sauntered into his neighbour's kitchen, as he was prone to do at times, to see Effie sitting on the table munching delicately on a cheese tart.

"Good morning, Haymitch," she greeted in a sing-song voice. "Are you joining?"

Grunting an answer, Haymitch pulled up a chair and poured himself coffee from the pot. Effie slid a plate of croissants in his direction. There was very little conversation at the breakfast table but Haymitch spent his time casting furtive glances her way, studying the way her fingers curled around her cup of tea and the way her entire body seemed to relax as she hummed quietly under the breath.

"Are you going to spend your time here staring at me or will you be making some conversation at some point? I do enjoy a good conversation."

Embarrassed at getting caught, he asked, "Where are Katniss and Peeta?"

"They left," she said simply. "They did tell me to expect you. Is it safe to assume that you are a recurring guest in their house?"

Katniss, he presumed had gone to the woods and Peeta must be at the town square selling his pastries from a basket. He was getting the town's people acquainted with his goods before the bakery was set up and personally, Haymitch thought that was a wise move to establish a customer base.

"Mostly here for the food," he mumbled. "What are you still doing here?"

She blinked, as if surprise, and tilted her head in contemplation.

"I – "

In the split second, he thought she seemed lost without a purpose. The blue of her eyes were unfocused and Effie looked the same way as Greasy Sae's granddaughter when she came up to him and forgot what she wanted to ask of him in the first place. He peered at her curiously, wondering for a moment if the fact that he had not written anything further from her was what was causing this.

"Oh, yes of course," she straightened in excitement at the sudden thought that just occurred. "I had a thought after I left your house yesterday. I believe there is some merit to your suggestion."

"I didn't suggest anything."

"Oh, Haymitch," she touched his arm with a warm smile. "No need to be so modest. I've spoken to my manager and we both agreed that it will be better for me to remain here. That way there is no need for me to make frequent trips back and forth from the city each time a client wishes to view a house in the village. In the meantime, I will take up residence in one of the houses."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely! Isn't it delightful?" she clapped her hands together in excitement. "Now, why don't you take me out for a walk and show me around?"

XxX

Curiously enough, she must have decided that there was something about him that delighted her because she seemed to enjoy his company and actively sought it.

Breakfast at Katniss' and Peeta's place turned out to be a regular practice for them. On most days, Katniss and Peeta would be there and he couldn't help but think of them as some sort of dysfunctional family. He would even gladly accept it but the fact that they were all something that he created kept nagging at the back of his mind.

The same happened with their morning walk. After two weeks of this, the sight of Haymitch and Effie strolling passed the shops with an argument on their lips and an insult to boot became a normal occurrence.

There was never a boring moment with her. Effie was infuriating and obnoxious, and had no problems speaking her mind. She would never take him insulting her clothes or heels lying down and would give a retort as good as she got. She had brought up his alcoholism, his reclusiveness and took pride in the fact that she was slowly breaking away at it.

"Don't think too highly of yourself, sweetheart," he snorted.

"Before I came around, you hardly leave your house! I know for a fact that this is true," she stood her ground. "Making runs to Ripper to stock up on your liquor hardly counts. But look at you now."

"Maybe I'll stay home tomorrow and you can take your morning walk by yourself."

He would, he swore. He would sleep in and he wouldn't be there for breakfast. He even planned on not opening his door if she came knocking.

"Don't be so sour," she grinned and looped her arms around his. She was a tactile person and must have done this often with others but this was not normal for him. "It doesn't suit you."

He cleared his throat but she didn't seem to notice his discomfort so he glanced around to see if anyone was paying them any attention because it was not often that he could be seen walking down the street with a beautiful woman on his arm.

That morning, she changed her course and veered towards the fountain in the middle of the square. Haymitch grumbled loudly but when she smiled over her shoulder at him, he begrudgingly went after her.

She toed off her heels and perched herself at the edge of the fountain.

"You do know Katniss has spare boots, yeah?" he told her again just in case she missed it the first time he said it.

She wriggled her toes to relax the aching muscles.

"Fashion always has a price," she mused. "Nothing I'm not used to."

"It's impractical," he said simply and left it at that.

If she refused to change the way she dressed, then he wasn't going to waste his breath on it. Besides, she was her own person and he liked that about her.

XxX

"Haymitch!" Effie trilled excitedly that morning.

In his daze, he was vaguely aware of his front door opening after a few knocks and then he saw her figure looming over him.

"What?" Haymitch grumbled in irritation. "I ain't late."

"No, you're not," she grinned down at him. "I've taken the liberty to bring breakfast to you instead."

Pushing himself up to make some space on the sofa, Haymitch looked at her suspiciously.

"You must want something from me."

Effie laughed good-naturedly but when he did not even crack a smile, she placed the plate of Danish pastries on the coffee table and sat gingerly next to him.

"Well," she licked her lips, an act Haymitch find to be entirely too distracting. "I've called someone... to assist in cleaning up your front yard."

"What?"

"It's just a gardener. He will be here to mow your lawn and do the necessary trimmings," she explained quickly.

"You don't ... You don't get someone to mow another man's lawn," he scowled.

She seemed genuinely confused by that before her expression changed to match his equally irritable one. "It does not look like you will be doing it anytime soon. Besides, shouldn't you be thankful for it. That's one less thing for you to worry about."

"I wasn't worried about it in the first place," he retorted. "You're so fucking meddlesome!"

"I will have you know that it is such a sight to walk passed your house and see it in such a mess. It is not aesthetically pleasing to the village as a whole. How do you expect me to be able to convince anyone to move in? One look in the direction of your house and - "

"They aren't moving in here in my damn house, are they?" he raised his voice and moved away from the sofa but before grabbing a cream cheese pastry in the process.

When he returned to his living room clutching a fresh bottle of whiskey, Effie was still there, looking around. It occurred to him then that this was the first time she was here in his house.

"Don't," he warned when he saw the way her gaze flickered at the two dirty plates he had chucked at the mantle above the fireplace.

"Are you still up for our daily walk?"

He scrunched his nose.

"Go on your own," he said because he was irritated with her. She couldn't just make decisions for him without talking to him about it. "Make some friends. No need to cling to me."

"People here seemed to think I'm odd," she pouted.

"You are," he muttered under his breath.

She tried her best to convince him but he adamantly refused to change his mind just to spite her. She was working on some brochures and helping with information on a webpage to advertise this place. The daily walks had been instrumental to her work. Still, she needed more information on existing amenities in this town. In the end, she declared with an indignant huff that he was wasting her time and left him alone.

The smirk was firmly in place as he watched her leave his house. He leaned back on the sofa and took a bite from his pastry, feeling extremely smug about himself. It took him a while before his brain processed what she had said and then he jumped out of his seat.

"Shit," he cursed. He tossed his half-eaten breakfast back on the place and dashed towards the front door, grabbing his boots and keys. "Not the fucking library, Trinket."

A lot of hayffie interaction in this which I hope you like. Tell me what you think of this chapter and what's in the library! Give me some reviews :)