One night before the quarter quell, everyone had decided to get together and to Johanna and Chaff's disappointment Peeta had invited Effie, it was a strange night everyone was scared for what was to come, Haymitch was drinking heavily and they were all taking, knowing fine well this could be the last time they all spoke to each other. They spoke about strategies for the games and Effie stayed quiet, it's not like she could contribute anything to the conversation. They all continued to drink, it was safe to say Haymitch was wasted when Johanna started to pick a fight with Effie.
"Why are you even here? You should be with your own kind." Said Jo clearly upset Effie was here "I don't see anything wrong with me being here, two of my victors are going into the games and I'd like to spend time with them." Effie stated being perfectly polite "Do you even hear yourself you want to spend time with your two kids before you send them to slaughter, it's sick." Jo replied and Effie rolled her eyes "I got them through their first games, I can get them through this one." She said calmly which only seemed to infuriate Jo "Oh you got them through did you? Because I seem to remember them having to fend for themselves." She spat and it annoyed Effie "Who do you think got them sponsors!? Who do you think worked their ass off trying to convince anyone I could to part with their money, because it sure as hell wasn't Haymitch." She yelled now clearly as angry as Johanna.
A drunk Haymitch jumped in, not in the right frame of mind and grabbed her by the waist "Come on princess just calm down." He said and she struggled against him "Get the hell of me Haymitch, you're drunk." She yelled at him "Listen to your boyfriend Capitol girl before you get hurt." Johanna said from behind Haymitch "He's not my boyfriend, Haymitch I swear to god get off of me." She said pushing against him "Come here sweetheart, let's get you calmed down before Johanna does something she regrets." He slurred, and sloppily tried to kiss her, in a room full of people when they had both agreed to keep their relationship a secret, that was her last straw and without thinking she punched him square in the nose, he stumbled back bleeding from his nose. "That's what happens when you mess with a Capitol girl." She said back at Johanna before quickly walking away.
Peeta and Katniss looked at each other in shock for a few minutes before jumping into action "You take care of Haymitch and I'll go make sure Effie is okay." Peeta said and Katniss agreed, so Peeta left to look for Effie and found her sitting on the stairs near where they were. "Effie are you okay?" He asked taking a seat beside her, she just shook her head "I punched him, I actually punched him, I feel terrible but he humiliated me." She sighed "He was being an asshole Effie, he deserved it." He assured her "language." She chided "Sorry." He said but inside he was smiling, she was still their Effie, manners are everything.
"Do you think he's okay?" Effie asked and Peeta nodded "Although you do have a pretty strong right hook." He laughed as did she "Yeah, he taught me, in case he ever wasn't there to protect me." She smiled at the memory. "Do you think he'll forgive me?" She asked and he once again nodded "He might sulk for a bit but he'll forgive you." Peeta assured her "It's just we agreed not to confirm any rumours of us being together, I mean you heard what Jo said, I don't want to only be known as Haymitch's girl, and that's what's going to happen."
"Well you'll always just be Effie to me, and I'll know about the work you put in to save us." He assured her "Peeta I'm sorry, I've condemned you to your fate, I don't want to lose you or Katniss." She cried and he put an arm around her "Effie you didn't condemn me to anything, I volunteered, it was my decision, so if I die in that arena you'll still have Haymitch, he'll protect you from whatever the Capitol does." He promised "Peeta your not going to die, I'll do whatever it takes to stop it, I promise, I'd go to president snow himself if that's what it takes." She assured him and he hugged her "I know Effie, you've come along way from last years reaping." He said and it was true, she was staring to see all the flaws of the Capitol. "You have your token, I'll be with you in that arena, we're a team." She said and he nodded "A team."
"Now you should go upstairs and cool off, so Haymitch is still apart of that team when you see him tomorrow." He said and she nodded heading upstairs "Goodnight Peeta." She said with a smile "Night Effie." She went upstairs to her bed hoping to sleep off some of her anger and apologies to a sober Haymitch in the morning.
When she did eventually wake up she didn't bother dressing up to go to him, he preferred her natural so she stole one of his t-shirts which she wore with a pair of shorts and went to sit beside him on the couch "I'm sorry Haymitch." She said quietly "You punched me Effie." He snapped "You humiliated me Haymitch, I'm not yours to defend, it's not your place to jump in between me and Johanna." She retorted "Sorry I was trying to keep her from beating you up, if you haven't noticed Johanna is going to die in an arena in a couple of days, so she has nothing to lose."
"You kissed me, we agreed to keep our relationship secret." She pointed out "well you didn't have to punch me." He said "I told you to get off of me, you didn't listen, but I am still sorry, I shouldn't have punched you." She apologies and he didn't reply "Do you hate me?" She asked softly "Nah princess I still love you." He said lifting his arm up so he could wrap it around her "I love you too." She replied and kissed his cheek. "At least I taught you well, that right hook knocked me clean off my feet, if someone ever comes at you for real you could take them." He smile as did she laying her head on his shoulder "I really am sorry." She repeated "I know princess, I believe you."