Disclaimer: I do not own Hunger Games Series. This is the property of Suzanne Collins.

If Only: Collection #3

#11 Disgust

"You shouldn't be doing this." Haymitch gave the ghost a sarcastic smile as he lifted the bottle, toasting to the girl before graciously sipping the white liquid. The translucent form of Maysilee Donner cringed like the alcohol was burning her throat instead and glared ferociously at Haymitch's relaxed form. "These kids need you." She said, furiously pushing her blonde curls out of her pale face. "Stop drinking, Haymitch."

"No." He replied wiping his lips with his sleeve and allowing his head to lull back against the armchair of his over decorated room. The lights of the Capitol winked outside, mimicking the stars they naturally drowned out with their brightness. But in the state that Haymitch was in, he couldn't tell the difference between the two. "Why do you care? You're dead."

He expected the girl to cringed and shy away because of the curt comment like she did in reality, ages ago at his other blunt statements. But instead, the girl frozen at sixteen huffed, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, giving him a biting scowl. "Why do you do this to yourself, Haymitch? It's not helping anyone." She whispered, her words laced with worry.

"They remind me of you." He confessed, feeling lightheaded thanks to the alcohol finally affecting his mind. The transparent form of Maysilee filled in like she was actually in the room, in front of him, frowning at his unprofessional behavior. An uncharacteristic smile tugged at his lips as the scowl left her face replaced by an adorable confused expression, his favorite face of hers. "The girl has your pin, the golden one with the little birdie on it. I guess your niece liked her enough and hope it helps. More like pin a target on her back." Maysilee crept closer, sitting on the edge of his armchair. "The boy's a Townie."

"That explains everything." Haymitch smiled, enjoying her clip tone.

"He looks like you. Soft. Warm." Haymitch listed, unconsciously reaching out to touch the memory. Maysilee stiffened and he stopped, staring longingly at the girl's pale features, golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. "He acts like you too. Charming. Likeable. Manipulated." Maysilee smiled and reached out, lightly brushing his hair back. He could feel her warmth or something similar to it. "The girl's a spit fire, another one of your wonderful traits. She's gonna cause trouble. They're both going to cause trouble."

"We caused trouble too, Haymitch." She reminded, looking into his bloodshot eyes. "It's a District 12 thing. Please, stop drinking." He reached out and gently grazed her hand, his mind tricking him that's she's really beside him and not dead.

"If I stop," he slurred, feeling exhaustion finally leaking into his weary bones. "I won't see you."

"It might be a good thing. You won't hear my nagging voice any longer."

"No. Not a good thing…" He whispered, drifting off and allowing sleep to consume him.

#12 Shelter

"Fuck you rain!" Maysilee screamed at the sky, stomping her feet against the coal dust covered ground in frustration. Holding her leather bag over her head in vain, she tried to fend off the sudden spring shower and ran towards the nearest tree. "God damn it…" she muttered, staring at her uniform. The navy skirt looked almost black as it clung to her bare legs. The required white shirt was thoroughly drenched, revealing her under camisole and healthy figure. "Shit…"

"Wow, what a dirty mouth you have, Donner." Jumping from her spot, Maysilee glanced around searching for the handsome owner of the voice. Finally looking up, seventeen year old Haymitch swung down from the branch he was napping on. A rakish smirk appeared on his mouth as he noticed her soaked appearance. "Love what you did with the outfit. A big improvement."

"Fuck you, Abernathy." She replied, using her bag to cover herself.

"Maybe later, sweetheart." He retorted, leaning against the solid bark of the tree. "Now, here I was taking a relaxing nap and the last thing I expected with a prissy Townie cussing up a storm. Literally." Maysilee rolled her eyes and settled down on one of the only dry spots. Underneath the safety of the tree, there wasn't much room. Maysilee was almost touching the heavy fabric of Haymitch's pants. The top few buttons of his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his slender neck and earthy skin. "Isn't it a little late for Townies to be wandering around?"

"I had a meeting with Mrs. Dodge." Maysilee answered, tugging her loose ponytail out and squeezing the excess water out. "She said I could skip a year."

"Overachiever."

"It's not like it's difficult in this hell-hole." Maysilee whispered before covering her mouth. Haymitch grinned, flashing his pearly whites.

"My, that's just conspiracy talk, little missy." Maysilee sighed and stared up at the sky, praying the downpour would stop so she didn't have to deal with him. For some reason, Haymitch always rubbed her wrong, more than most Seam kids. Maybe it's because of his apparent disregards of the rules and all authorities. Maybe it's because he made her seem cheap, fake, and unimportant.

"Yeah well, spending another year here will rot my brains." Maysilee said, feeling the words just leave her mouth, not caring if he listened to her or not. "The mayor been scouting students who have potential to success outside Twelve and Mrs. Dodge said I was at the top of the list. I might get a cushy job in the Capit- whoa…"Haymitch grabbed her arm, blunt nails digging into her forearm. "What the hell, Haymitch?!"

"Please tell me you're not actually considering it." His dark gray eyes bore into her light blue ones. If she didn't know Haymitch so well, Maysilee would have mistaken his stare as one of concern. "Maysilee…"

"I'll have to be a real piece of work if I was going to work for those scum bags after all they've done to us." Maysilee replied, trying to smile and reassure Haymitch. His grip loosened and he turned away, running his fingers though the mess of his dark hair. "Thanks for caring though." She whispered, messing with the hem of her skirt.

"No problem."

#13 Borrow

"Really Donner, I don't think death by quicksand is very sexy." The blonde glared at him as she wiped the sand out of her face and untying her single braid. "Though, it's not really a beauty contest in here."

"Haymitch, can you shut up for five seconds?" She bit back, shrugging off the light jacket they were forced to wear. Piles of wet sand fell out of the sleeves as she shook the fabric. Haymitch sat on the side, smiling as the girl growled in frustration. "I am not going to die with sand in my pants." She muttered plunging her jacket into the icy cool river they were camping by.

"It would make quite an uncomfortable death." Haymitch commented as he watched her squat by the river, furiously washing her jacket. "But that would involve taking off your pants and flashing the Capitol."Maysilee was ignoring him. It was obvious as she spread the jacket off and contemplated her next movie. There's always the sleeping bag but I wouldn't be able to run if we were ambushed. She thought as she ran her fingers through her slowly drying hair, flicking random clumps of sand out. "Donner, all you have to do is ask." Maysilee was going to shout back at him for being an idiot but a dry shirt landed on her head silenced her.

"Wha?"

"And all the Capitol girls are screaming right now." Maysilee turned around to see Haymitch shirtless and in low rise pants. "You like?" Maysilee didn't say anything at first, kinda shock to see Haymitch standing there. His skin was tan and smooth despite the knife fights they've been in. He wasn't buff like a few Town guys but he had decent defined muscles. It was a nice male body.

"You're too skinny." Maysilee muttered instead as she slipped the shirt over her head. Haymitch rolled his eyes, biting back the remark of lack of food and money, and paused as Maysilee shimmered out of her cargo pants. Slowly, she revealed inches of milky white flawless skin of her mile long legs. She pulled her arms in and pulled out her own green shirt. "You can pick your jaw up any time you want, Abernathy."

Haymitch smirked, sitting down and playing with his knife as he scanned the area. "You know, this time tonight you're going to be the star of every boy's wet dream."

"And you're an ass."

"And you're wearing my shirt."

Maysilee closed her eyes and swallowed her pride. "Thank you, by the way."

"Totally worth it."

#14 Chair

"This seat is taken."

"Really?" Haymitch sighed as the girl continued straddling him, fiddling with his tie, flipping her hair and giggling like a brainless twit. He looked pass the wasted town girl and observed the other teens, slowly losing their inhibitions. Luke had dragged him and a few Seam kids to a Town party. It was the end of the year. The Hunger Games were over. They had the whole summer to be miserable but right now, they were going to get drunk, make mistakes and have fun. The girl leaned down, her breath reeking of cheap alcohol and whispered in a faux sultry voice. "I don't think you'll mind sharing."

Haymitch leaned forward. "And I would be so sorry to disappoint." He whispered in a husky voice before sliding her off his lap and sipping his first beer. Huffing, the girl stumbled off, looking for some other sucker to drag into a closet. Sighing, Haymitch ran his fingers through his hair and grabbed a bowl of random finger food the Town hostess left. "Thank you, townie."

"You're welcome." Haymitch looked up to see a pretty blonde standing in front of him. Unlike a majority of the teens here, she wasn't drunk off happiness and booze. Her blonde hair was knotted into a side ponytail, a look he never seen. She wore a pair of jean shorts and a red flannel button-up shirt. "Gonna scoot over, Abernathy?" Haymitch almost didn't recognize her until she opened her mouth.

"Hello, Donner." He replied, spreading his arms across the chair and taking up more than half of it. "I don't know. I'm pretty damn comfort here." Rolling her eyes, she lightly kicked his leg before sitting down. "You have to be pretty sad sit by me." Maysilee sat with her back against the arm of the chair, tucking her bare feet against Haymitch's leg. "And cuddling too."

"Look Abernathy, I just need a little help." Maysilee whispered, Haymitch could barely hear her over the music from the old stereo. He leaned in, draping his arm over the back. "You see the butcher's son." It was difficult to missed Duff with his huge arms and larger-than-a-bear stature. "He was getting a little handsy after a few drinks and you seemed to be the only guy he's intimidated by."She smiled at him like she figured everything out and he was just going to play along.

"And what makes you think I'm gonna be your body guard?" She smiled a confident smile, sat up on her knees and leaned close, lips brushing his ear. Haymitch unconsciously closed his eyes, focusing on her soft body against his side. Unlike the girl before, Maysilee commanded his whole attention. "Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Donner?" He whispered, tilting his head back to look into her dark eyes.

"Shh… you're sexier when you don't talk." Maysilee said, placing her finger against his lips and leaned forward. For the rest of the night, neither spoke a single word.

#15 Alter(native)

"Haymitch…" Marigold Donner said as she looked up from the front counter at the chime of the door bell. The fiftieth victor of the Hunger Games stood there with glassy gray eyes. His tall stature towered over her as he stepped forward. Unconsciously, Marigold backed away, hitting the counter with a light thump. Haymitch didn't stop though as he placed his hands on either side of her body, caging her in. His whole body reeked of alcohol and despair as he leaned down, lips almost touching hers. "I'm not May." She whispered firmly, pushing her hands against his chest. "I can never be Maysilee."

Like that, whatever nightmare Haymitch was trapped in dispersed. His eyes sharpened and he stepped away, turning away like her appearance disgusted him. "I know." He growled, leaning against the wall and running his fingers through his messy hair. "I miss her. God… I miss her so much, Mar." He looked at her with heartbreaking eyes. Marigold wanted to do anything to get rid of the pain in his eyes but she knew she couldn't. There was only one girl who would and she was dead.