A/N: Hello everyone! Have you all got over the last chapter? Haha ;) Well anyway on with chapter 8! :)
Haymitch and I make our way vigilantly back into the bustling hall, glad that everyone is too caught up in their own little worlds to care. Haymitch gives me a nudge in the side and indicates that he is going over to the bar and I do nothing to stop him.
I jump when someone touches my arm. "Where have you been?" says a curious Portia from my side.
"Oh just out on the balcony, for some air." I clarify. She gives me the look, the same look she gave me in high school when I denied fancying Seneca Crane. Any girl would've gladly fallen head over heels for a chance with him but he only had eyes for me. Or so he said.
"What!" I say grinning.
"You went out and Haymitch followed you. I saw, the two of you were out there for a good ten minutes." She laughs and I just roll my eyes at her.
"So? We were just discussing erm… we were discussing…" I trail off not too sure what to say. Honestly! I feel about sixteen again.
"God! You're such a bad liar Effie!" She laughs and I tap her lightly on the arm. She brushes it off anyway and after a few moments changes the subject completely. "Have you tried the lobster terrine? It's simply to die for." She says excitedly as she leads me over to the food table.
In the few hours that come, I spend them being congratulated by various citizens on my fantastic new victors, chit-chatting with people about the grandeur of the place though most of the other escorts here have already been here before. I dance with a few of the Capitols eligible bachelors whom Portia 'kindly' introduces me to. I smile and go along with the jokes, the chatter and the flirting but I don't mean any of it. I don't want to dance with these strangers. I want to dance with Haymitch again.
Occasionally I look around for him though I never see him, there must be way over five hundred guests in this room alone as all I can see is a rainbow of hair, skin and clothes.
Soon enough it is almost midnight and I politely excuse myself to find where my colleague has gotten to. I make my way through the crowds and to the bar where I expect to find Haymitch and probably his good friend Chaff but I only see the latter.
"Where's Haymitch?" I ask Chaff noticing that his drinking partner is nowhere to be seen. He gets up off the bar stool and bobs down to the ground where Haymitch is sat, drink in hand. "Oi, 'Mitch. Get up, you're escorts here." He says occasionally nudging him with his stump. I sigh and wave over two Capitol attendants when he fails to move from his current position. "Just take him up to the entrance; I'll be there in a minute." I say as I set off to find Katniss and Peeta in amongst the hustle and bustle of the party.
Eventually I find them stood by a table of elaborately decorated cakes. "Time to say thank you and farewell!" I trill and pull them both over to a series of important people they have to thank for the evening. We meet Cinna and Portia at the large oak doors leading back out to the car but before we leave Peeta asks, "Shouldn't we thank President Snow? It is his house."
I shake my head. "Oh he's not a big one for parties. Too busy," I say "I've already arranged for the necessary notes and gifts to be sent to him tomorrow. There you are!" I give the two Capitol attendants a wave and they follow behind us with an inebriated Haymitch propped between them.
We travel through the streets of the Capitol in the same car with darkened windows. The cheering crowds are thickly lining the streets just for a glimpse of the Girl on Fire, the car coming to a halt at some points. I'm glad I allowed time for this. The journey from the president's mansion to the station should only take around forty-five minutes but I have allowed an extra fifteen for this exact reason.
Once we are all back on the train, Haymitch is deposited in his room (I make a mental note to see him later) and Cinna orders tea for the rest of us. Everyone around the table looks absolutely shattered and I make quick work of tomorrow's schedule as to not prolong the agony. We all finish our tea and bid each other goodnight.
My sub-conscious takes over out of pure tiredness and I find myself back in my room with almost no idea how I got there.
I sigh as I realise that I still need to see Haymitch so I slip off my shiny red outfit and replace it with a nightdress and my dressing gown since I will be going straight to bed after I see him. I debate taking off my wig and decide to, seen as he is probably too intoxicated to notice anyway.
I head down the train towards his room and tap on the door a few times but when he doesn't answer I just walk in. For a moment I don't think he is in here but then I notice that the bathroom door has been left slightly ajar.
I knock on that door as well just in case he is reliving himself. "Haymitch," I call "you in there?"
"Yes and don't worry I'm not having a piss if that's what you want to know." I roll my eyes, same old Haymitch. I push open the door and I am greeted by the smell of vomit and alcohol. How delightful.
"What're you doing here at this late hour, princess?" He slurs from his position next to the toilet.
"Well actually," I rummage through one of the cupboards to find a washcloth "I was hoping to talk to you but I would rather talk to you when you're sober-ish." I run the flannel under the cold tap and kneel down to where he is slumped.
"Good luck with that one." He adds with a smile and I laugh lightly to myself. I begin to run the cloth over his brow and down to his jaw hoping to rid him of the groggy feeling that comes with being drunk (though I suppose he's used to it by now).
I start to remember how his lips felt against mine and the warmth I felt with his arms wrapped around my waist. I wish I could've lived in that moment forever. Oblivious to everything else in the world, only paying attention to the two of us. No rumours of rebellion, no Katniss and Peeta, no victory tour and no Hunger Games.
"Wait there." I say as I leave the cloth on the edge of the sink and go back into the bedroom. I root through a few drawers and find a pair of blue pyjamas and take them back to the bathroom. I thrust them into Haymitch's hands "put these on and I'll wait outside and make sure you actually make it to bed and don't pass out on the way." I leave the room, closing the door behind me and sit down in a chair at the far end of the bedroom and wait for him to emerge again.
He finally staggers over to his bed and I try to recall the last time I have seen him wear pyjamas and can't. I make my way over to the bedside table and move an open bottle of liquor to a different surface, just in case he has nightmares. "Goodnight Haymitch" I say but as I go to leave he grabs hold of my wrist pulling me back.
"Can you stay here tonight?" He asks me in a childlike fashion, making me wonder if he is still drunk or not. I stand there motionless for a minute but nod anyway and move round to the opposite side of the bed and lie down on top of the covers, figuring I will just leave when he is asleep. I turn off the light and roll onto my side so I can see his face clearly in the dim moonlight seeping through a gap in the curtains.
He looks so peaceful and childlike and I spend what seems like forever just watching him and listening to the deep, uneven breathing telling me that he is asleep.
I would get up and leave if his hand hadn't found mine in his dreams.
Before I can stop myself I lean over and plant a soft kiss on his brow and when he doesn't stir, I smile to myself in the dark before pulling the cotton covers round me and giving in to sleep.
When I awaken I find myself fully rested for the first time in a while. I stretch out and only remember where I am when I feel cotton brush against my legs instead of the satin on my own bed. I look to my right and see Haymitch still sleeping at my side, hand still resting limply in mine. I smile and lie back against the head board for a moment, relishing the peace and quiet. I glance over to the clock on the wall and see that it is around nine-thirty which is just as well really as we aren't pulling in to District Twelve until five o'clock this evening so I have some time to spare.
From the gap in the curtains, I can make out a sky filled with grey clouds and a ground covered with snow. I sigh and relax back into the warm sheets. Well, I might at least enjoy a moment of tranquillity.
"Good morning." Says a groggy voice from beside me.
"Oh, good morning," I say a little shocked "I'm surprised you haven't tried to kill me with that god-awful knife you keep under your pillow."
"What you mean this?" He says pulling the blade from under his pillow "oh come on, I don't hate you that much." He tucks the knife away back under his pillow and I breathe a sigh of relief.
"I didn't think you hated me at all after last night," I state matter of factly.
"Ahh, yes. Last night." He says with a grin, looking as if he is replaying the events back in his mind.
"Last night." I reply laughing lightly "I'm actually surprised you remember. You were quite drunk when I found you sat on the floor by the bar." I add and he moves a bit closer to me in the bed.
"Either I got really drunk or I'm an astoundingly good actor."
"Well that is sort of what I wanted to talk about last night." I say a little more seriously
"What my acting skills?" I nudge him in the ribs with my elbow.
"No, what happened," I say and he nods though he is still smirking so I can tell this conversation isn't going to be as serious as I had hoped .
"Are we going to have 'the talk'? And not the one about how babies are made, though you could tell me that as well. I might need reminding and don't spare me the details."
"Haymitch! Don't be so vulgar!" I say "yes we are going to have the talk because I think we need to know where this is going to-" I am cut off by his lips and I return the kiss eagerly but break away wanting to finish what I was originally saying.
"I think that we need to talk about this like two adul-" Kiss.
"Haymitch, are you going to let me finish anything I'm saying?"
"Just shut up, sweetheart." He says returning his lips to mine hungrily and with a force that I hadn't felt last night.
My hands find the collar of his pyjama top and I pull him closer until my head is resting back on the pillow. He has one of his hands tangled in my hair and I think he realises this too as he pulls away almost instantly.
"What?" I say as his grey eyes meet mine.
"Is this your real hair?" he asks and I nod in response "it looks much nicer than those wigs you wear." He says running one of my honey blonde curls between his thumb and forefinger. "Why weren't you wearing it when you came to see me?"
"Because, I didn't think I would be staying in here and also I thought you would be too drunk to notice." I laugh and he considers this for a moment.
"Seems legit." He says and kisses me again.
After a while I have to break the kiss, not only for air, but because I notice the time and realise that I told Katniss and Peeta I would be up to run through the schedule over breakfast, which ended fifteen minutes ago.
"I need to go." I say a little hurriedly
"Oh, c'mon princess. You can't leave me like this." He says with a face like a lost puppy dog.
"I'm sorry! I promised Katniss and Peeta that I would run through the schedule with them over breakfast," I say apologetically "Although, I am staying in twelve overnight seen as the celebrations don't start until tomorrow-" I begin
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to like what's coming next."
"I think you are," I say "I was going to be staying at Mayor Undersee's house but I'm sure that other arrangements could be made."
"Well in that case I will let you go," he grins cockily and I laugh.
And with that, I leave him with a kiss and a promise of tonight.
A/N: Well, that was a nice fluffy one for y'all :) Anyway, please continue to leave feedback and look out for chapter 9!
~H x