Chapter Forty-Seven; The Secrets That We Keep

(Stephanie's POV)

Breakfast was one of the most relaxed they had had, since there was no immediate rushing about for an event.

They would spend the day preparing for the interview with Flickerman tomorrow evening. Despite her anticipation Stephanie was eager to get started. Although Flickerman always did his best to help the tributes out, Stephanie knew with her track record that one slip of a comment could throw it.

As everything had been, the interviews had been lengthened.

Along with the breakfast being one of the most relaxed, it was also one of the most silent.

Isa had breakfasted earlier and had gone off to personally collect the tapes that they would also get a chance to see today, before they would be aired the day of the interviews.

The tapes would be the highlights of each tribute for the past events; the Chariot Procession, the welcome party, their dinner dates, the shopping days, the photo-shoots etcetera.

The mere thought nearly had Stephanie dropping her head in complete defeated dejection into her bowl of cereal. She couldn't bear to eat anything heavier.

Isa being absent therefore, meant there was the lack of usual commentary on anything and everything.

Furthermore Haymitch…was missing…again.

Stephanie glared at the empty chair. If Haymitch was passed out in his room drunk again it would be more than water she threw around him this time, Stephanie thought angrily.

So with Isa and Haymitch absent it left only Frenkin and Stephanie, and Frenkin was being even more silent than usual this morning.

He kept glancing up at her shyly; his cheeks permanently flushed a deep pink it would seem.

It had been the same the previous night.

When his tears had died down she had been able to direct him back to his room; Frenkin obeying numbly.

There she tucked him into bed, staying with him, combing her fingers through his hair and humming snippets of tunes from home until he had drifted off to sleep.

But even then he had stolen glances up at her, quickly averting his gaze when she would meet his. She knew he felt embarrassed. It was not in someone like Frenkin's nature to be prone to such outbursts.

Stephanie sighed deeply, startling Frenkin slightly. The knife he was using to butter his piece of toast clattered noisily onto the glass table, making Frenkin's blush only heighten to a scarlet red.

He glanced up with an apologetic expression and Stephanie gave him a reassuring smile, handing him a clean knife she took from Haymitch's place.

"We get to watch the videos today that will show us how we did at the events," Stephanie recounted Isa's rushed words as she flew past her in a blur of green and purple into the lift earlier that morning.

Frenkin frowned slightly.

"I am sure yours will be brilliant. Mine on the other hand…" Stephanie trailed off, feeling sick down to her stomach she pushed the bowl of half-eaten cereal away from her.

She had frozen on the Chariot and had looked like a sack of potatoes according to Ficen or a circuit-board according to Haymitch. Neither option seemed particularly appealing.

She had got drunk at the party, disappeared for half of it, got dragged around a dance-floor. She had also since learnt, that every tribute had had a 'few shots' with Seneca for the camera with some rehearsed questions. She evidently did not, nor did she make it through her whole shopping trip.

Her stylist at the boutique was dead so an interview with him was out the window, and at the boutique she had had a break-down and was hounded by a crowd.

Furthermore her photo-shoot was disastrous. They had a few good shots from the first takes. But after that the photographer thought that Stephanie must be suffering from some sort of paralysis that she couldn't smile or show any facial expression, except for abject fear or just barely controlled hysterics.

Although granted, she had just seen Cen killed and she doubted that many of the other tributes had to deal with Seneca's terrifying appearances. But the Capitol people would not be shown any of that. All they would see would be a terrified girl, who when she did manage to speak and not gape or faint, it was to say something mean, while all the other tributes will be shown to have adjusted well in the Capitol.

Stephanie couldn't help but groan in utter despair thinking about it.

The situation was hopeless. Which was why she needed to concentrate especially on the Flickerman interview tomorrow to try and salvage what she could, and the two people who could help her were gone.

Who knew when Isa would be back, but Stephanie would be damned before she was going to let Haymitch try and lounge about in his room staving off a hangover.

Stephanie caught Frenkin try and steal a discreet glance at the hall towards the bedrooms.

They had both finished breakfast and were now waiting a little awkwardly for the arrival of either Isa or Haymitch; Haymitch being the expected one.

Stephanie drummed her nails against the glass table irritably, eyeing up the pot of hot tea and contemplating whether throwing it around Haymitch would cause any lasting scarring or damage.

With a growl of frustration Stephanie pushed her chair out noisily from the table.

"I'll go and get him," Stephanie said and with that she marched towards the bedrooms.

She didn't bother knocking but burst into the room with an expression like thunder, only for it to deflate just as quickly.

She glanced about the room dumbly for a moment, trudging determinedly into the bathroom only to find it empty as well.

Haymitch wasn't there.

Where the hell does he keep disappearing off to?

In the general commotion of things, Stephanie had yet to get to pin point him about where exactly he had been the day of the photo shoot. She had always just assumed that he had been passed out in his room all day. But now as she cast one more sceptical glance over the empty room, she began to have her doubts.

She made her way slowly back to the where Frenkin still waited at the table, lost deep in thoughts.

She was snapped out of them by Frenkin's sudden call.

"Haymitch!"

Stephanie looked behind her to the bedrooms; half-expecting Haymitch to be there, explaining how he had managed to construct a secret wine-cellar full of alcohol in his room and that's why he didn't hear her.

"Sweetheart - this way," Haymitch called, and Stephanie snapped her head around to find a fully dressed – and rather presentable in fact – Haymitch, coming from the hall that led to the lift.

"Where the hell were you?" Stephanie demanded, masking the relief in her voice with annoyance.

"I wasn't aware I had to give a full account of my where-abouts everytime I went out?"

Stephanie folded her arms stubbornly. "We have an interview with Flickerman tomorrow," she said.

"Stephanie, as hard as this is for you to believe…I have been doing this for ten years," Haymitch answered in a painfully obvious voice.

Frenkin stifled a grin and made his way into the main room.

Haymitch smirked at her scarlet flush and made to follow when he was hauled unceremoniously back by the collar.

"Sweetheart, I think you may be taking the dog analogy thing too far. You do not need to haul me back by the scruff of my collar to get my attention, unless…you were hoping for some specific type of attentions…"

Stephanie folded her arms unfazed. Any other time she may have been blushing furiously but she was focused on one thing.

"Where were you the day of the photo-shoot?" Stephanie let her gaze bore into him.

The change in Haymitch's demeanour was immediate. The smirk was immediately wiped from his face, his jaw tightened and his eyes were hard and keen. He grasped Stephanie's wrist firmly, pulling her closer to himself so there was barely a hand's breadth between them.

"Stephanie…" His voice was low and calm as he said her name, shaking his head softly.

But Stephanie understood the implication.

Whatever Haymitch was up to it was dangerous; extremely dangerous.

Stephanie swallowed, feeling the familiar nausea seize her stomach.

He made to release his grip, when Stephanie grasped his hand tightly instead.

He glanced at her, holding her gaze for a moment. She willed her eyes to say everything that she couldn't voice.

You better not be doing anything stupid and get caught. Because if you do, you will be begging the Capitol to arrest you by the time I am through with you, because I damn well love you, you idiot! And I couldn't bear it to lose you…

As if being able to read her thoughts Haymitch smirked slightly, his own grey eyes glinting mischievously for a moment and Stephanie dropped the death grip she had on his hand.

Stephanie only hoped that Haymitch knew what the hell he was doing.

…

"So a lot of the questions will be similar to the ones we rehearsed for the party?" Frenkin asked, after they had been practicing for over two hours and there had been no major problems.

"Exactly kid," Haymitch replied, ignoring the glare Stephanie was sending him when he took a generous drink from the vodka bottle.

"Is that really necessary?" Stephanie asked, wrinkling her nose.

Haymitch didn't need to look at her, to know what she was talking about.

"It helps me think sweetheart."

Stephanie said nothing but when he glanced up he saw that she was still sending daggers at him.

With a sigh tinged with frustration, Haymitch pointedly slammed the bottle down on the coffee table.

Just then the sound of the lift arriving reached them.

"Isa," Stephanie said distractedly, trying to think how she was going to edge the bottle away from Haymitch without him realising it. She doubted if such a thing was possible.

However all three of them suddenly froze as the sound of a whole stampede of approaching footsteps reached them. There was definitely more than one person.

Stephanie, Haymitch and even Frenkin were on their feet immediately. Frenkin and Stephanie waiting anxiously, knees slightly bent, hands flexing. They were ready to run. It was a District thing.

Back home when there were any signs of trouble you didn't wait around to see the outcome; you high tailed it out of there.

Haymitch was a Victor though, and he moved himself slightly in front of Stephanie and Frenkin almost instinctively, and just as instinctively as Frenkin clutching Stephanie's hand.

Stephanie's thoughts were racing. Haymitch must have been caught in what he was doing and they were all going to be arrested and tortured…! Stephanie tried to regulate her breathing.

Isa appeared first, slightly throwing them all a little. They were all expecting a guard or something.

The escort looked a little dazed and a little confused but otherwise completely innocent.

"Isa?" Haymitch demanded immediately.

And then Haymitch was just in time to catch Stephanie as she collapsed soundlessly, when Seneca Crane walked into the room.