Chapter 3

Fake? Real? Not real?

After Prim had (reluctantly) offered to clean up Effie since I was still uncomfortable with naked bodies and Peeta had gotten Haymitch showered and somewhat sobered, we sat in the family room. Staring. My eyes drifted to Effie's golden ring once in a while. Haymitch took his off an hour ago and literally threw it out the window.

Effie had made him go find it and put it on. She was still drunk, by the way. I don't think Effie had more than once glass of wine in her entire life. Getting drunk had really clogged her perspective. I mean, she was married to Haymitch!

"So . . ." Prim said.

"Let's get right to the point." I leaned forward to get a better look at them. "Who was the dumbass that married you?" I asked. Effie was currently playing with Haymitch's hand. He tried to pull away but after a few minutes passed she would get control of his hand again.

"Oh –he was a lovely, fellow. He had the most gorgeous grey eyes. . ." She was starting to snooze off. What had they done all night that made her so tired – wait, never mind. . . I don't want to know. "But he charged a lot to perform the ceremony –By the way, I borrowed this girls white dress for the wedding. I need to return it to her – I don't remember her name though. I think it started with an A . . ."

"It was Annie Odair. Finnick's girl." Haymitch said. "Don't try to kiss me!" Effie had raised his hand to her lips.

"You are such a meanie!" She scolded. "Why did I ever marry you -?" Her eyes widened. I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she finally understood what she had done. She let go of his hand and it fell on her lap. Haymitch quickly removed it. "Oh no!" she gasped.

"Oh yes, I'm afraid the great Miss. Effie is now a Mrs." I laughed. Just about everyone in the room threw me a look saying 'this isn't funny! They will murder each other by weeks end'! I coughed to hide my laughter and looked down at my feet. Right. Focus Katniss!

"What are we going to do?" Effie whined. She took the ring off and put it on the table. "Oh god! I called my father yesterday! He thinks I'm married to a rich, handsome, kind, gorgeous man!"

"Why would he think that?" Peeta muttured. Haymitch glared at him. "I meant the kind, handsome, gorgeous, part. Maybe I wondered a little about the man part too but . . . I'll shut up now." Prim ignored him.

"Why does he think that?" Prim asked. Her tone was sympathetic.

"I told him that – in my defense I was drunk!" she said.

"Never get a Capitol girl drunk, Peeta, my sister will kill you if you end up like this." Prim whispered. Peeta smiled.

"What about a District 12 girl? Huh, Katniss?" Peeta asked. I laughed.

"Right, I'll probably be breaking into houses and yelling at innocent kids then passing out in some random place." I said. "You wouldn't want to get me drunk, again."

"Who said it had to be Katniss." Peeta joked. i glared at him. He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"I never thought your attitude could be worse than it is now." Haymitch murmured. "Transformed from a dead slug to a zombie slug without a head." I shot him a glare. I still have my bows and arrows in the bedroom closet, it wouldn't be that hard to shot a moving target – especially a drunk clumsy one.

"I know how Effie can be single again." I said darkly. My eyes locked onto Haymitch.

"How?" Effie chirped.

"It would be so easy for Haymitch to pass away from a small accident in the next few hours making her a widow. He could eat some poisoned berries, by the name of nightlock, or he could fall down the stairs, or even worse he could be accidentally hit by an arrow that came from some unknown place." My voice was dark. "Do you want to be a widow, Effie?"

I saw Prim's eyes widen. Effie pondered over this.

"Fine, just do it when I'm not around." Effie said. The way she said this made me think she was actually serious. An evil smile appeared on my face. Haymitch struggled to say something.

"Katniss won't hurt Haymitch?" Peeta reassured Prim. But the way he said it made it sound like he wasn't sure.

"Right, if Haymitch does get hurt it will not be on purpose, Prim." I said. "Even if it isn't an accident no one will ever find out." I added under my breath. Prim seemed to hear me because she glared at me.

"Why don't we just get you two a divorce?" Peeta asked. Ah, Peeta. Always the one to find a reasonable and non-violent solution . . .

"What will my father say? No! I have to keep this up for at least a year. That's how long he was married to my mother." Effie said. I raised my eyebrows. Wow. Nice family. Haymitch groaned. Probably at the thought of being Effie's husband for a year.

"Are you sure that you guys are really married? Didn't you say that the guy charged a lot to marry you?" Peeta asked. "It could have been a scam."

"You mean; that this might not be legal?" Haymitch asked. Peeta nodded.

"If a District citizen and a Capitol citizen were to marry, a lot of commotion would have appeared – especially since the rebellion ended just a while ago." Peeta said. I nodded. Plus Haymitch was a Victor and Effie used to be a mentor so, yeah, this would be a big deal for everyone. It would be in the news for months. They would probably be the new 'star-crossed lovers' or something like that. I highly doubt anyone would think of Haymitch as romantic - least of all romantic enough for a stuck up, rich, Capitol Citizen. (I'm not referring to Effie!) It seemed almost impossible for that to happen. Unless, money was involved, of course. I doubt Effie would marry Haymitch for that. She had enough of her own, after all, every Capitol Citizen did.

"We should go look for him." Prim said. "It would be horrible if he did that to a couple that was truly in love." Effie glared at her, just a little. I don't know why she's angry, it's not like they were ever in love . . . or were they? Oh, god, no! What am I thinking?

"Where did you see him?" I asked. Haymitch and Effie were silent.

"You don't remember do you?" Peeta sighed.

"No," Haymitch said quietly. "But I think Finnick and Annie do."

"Where exactly did you get married? I thought they were in Distrcit 4?" Prim asked. My face reddened in a blush as I remembered.

"They're here, Prim, in District 12." I said.

"Huh?" Prim said.

"Well, they, um, called me a while ago saying they were going to visit." I said. "But I didn't know they were coming yesterday. If they did then why didn't they tell me?"

"Maybe it was supposed to be a surprised." Effie said. "Let's not talk about this now. I want to go talk to Finnick and Annie now."

"It's early. They could be sleeping. . ." I started not wanting to disturb Annie with her current condition.

"If you think I give a damn then you are sadly mistaken." Haymitch said. "Let's go." He walked out of the house.

"Let's go, Kat." Peeta said. I nodded. He took my hand. Prim followed us outside.

We were laughing at Haymitch and Effie's expense the whole walk to Finnick and Annie's 'vacation' house. They had bought it a while ago just in case they visited. It wasn't that far away, really, just a few blocks away.
By now were standing in front of their home. The door burst open right before we could ring the doorbell. There stood Finnick in only his underwear. Why did Annie let him do this? If he was my husband I would yell at him if he answered the door in his underwear!

"Hello, Peeta." Finnick said. "Has Katniss finally told you?"

"Told me what?" Peeta looked at me. "Katniss?"

"Nothing." I said quickly. Oops! How could I forget to have told him that Gale was coming over. "Have you told Annie about the thing too." he glared at me.

"What thing?" Annie whispered as she came into view.

"Nothing." Finnick said. "Come in, Guys." We all shuffled into the gigantic home. Inside were splashes of blue, white, and aqua colors. Perfect home for a couple who loved the beach. The house had a watery feeling to it, making me believe we were back in District 4. It wasn't one of those houses that had strange knickknacks of seashells and light houses, no, this was more natural. The walls were perfectly painted with little waves moving along the bottom of the wall. They're furniture was light and colorful.
I like it here.

We sat down in the sunroom that overlooked the garden with its small pond full of fish and pond lilies. Around the edges were flowers of all different colors. I noticed the Primroses right away.

"Prim!" Annie smiled. Prim and Annie had become good friends in the past few years. Annie was turning back to normal thanks to Prim's help. Every once in a while, Prim and Annie got together to do a little thing Prim called 'counseling'.

"Hi, Annie." Prim said.

"Ah! Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy! Welcome to our home. How are you two doing? I see Haymitch is still alive." He chuckled. Peeta looked at me strangely. He was wondering what I haven't told him yet.

"Why does everyone assume he would be dead by now?" Effie muttered. We ignored her.

"Let's get right to the point." I said. "Do you remember who the guys that married Effie and Haymitch was?"

"Yes." Finnick said. We waited for him to continue. He. . .didn't.

"Care to tell us?" Haymitch asked.

"Not really." Finnick said. "Care to tell Peeta, Katniss?" You. Have. Got. To. Be. kidding. me. I glared at Finnick.

"No? fine." Finnick said. Annie sighed.

"Stop torturing her, Fin." Annie sighed. "His name was Anderson. Black hair. Grey eyes. That's all we know."

"That's it? Do you realize how many people here have black hair and grey eyes?" Haymitch asked.

"Don't yell at her. He had a tattoo on his shoulder of a crescent moon surrounded by wires." Finnick said. He glared at Haymitch. Prim looked disgusted.

"You wanted a guy with a tattoo to marry you?" Prim asked. "Didn't you at least suspect it wasn't real?"

"They were drunk, Prim. They didn't know what they were doing." I said. "Do you think they would have married each other if they were thinking?"

"Well. . ." she trailed off. Gaping mouths turned to her. Oh. Wow. "Didn't anyone else see it?" she asked. "Look at them! They are so – well, they aren't alike but that sort of makes them alike. You know? Oh never mind. Forget I said anything." She looked down at her feet.

"Okay," I said. I looked back at Haymitch and effie. "Well, now that I think about it, they kind of would make a good couple." Now it was my turn to get stared at strangely.

"What?" I said. Peeta sighed.

"Why don't we go find that guy?" Peeta asked. I nodded.

"I swear there is something wrong with the Everdeen sisters. . ."Effie whispered. I ignored her.

"Okay, let's get this over with." I stood up.

"And on the way you can explain to me what exactly it is you are keeping from me, Katniss." Peeta smiled.

"Right." I said. "I will – later. We have to focus on Haymitch and Effie."