A/N- Yes, I am still on a roll with this thing! I'm managing to keep up with this fast uploading, you'll be glad to know!

Sadly, but happily at the same time, there are only 2 more chapters after this one! But then it will be part 3 and all will be good again x

Disclaimer: I still haven't murdered and stolen Suzanne Collins' identity, so I'm just plain me :)

I throw another damp, crumpled tissue to the floor. It stays among many others, forming a little sea of tissues, hiding the carpet. My hand automatically reaches for another, but the box is bare. Empty. Completely hollow and empty.

I draw my legs up to my chest and hug my knees tightly, wiping my eyes on my trousers instead. It leaves behind a nice little darkened patch, not that I care anyway, no-one is going to see. In fact, no-one has seen me since the day after the reaping, about three days ago and I don't intend on showing my face until tomorrow.

Of course, I've had some food, but that was just left outside my room for me to take. Even so, I haven't eaten much, just the occasional bite here and their to keep me alive. Truthfully, it's not the food that's keeping me alive, it's the hope. The plan. Whenever I feel the lowest of the low, I remind myself of the plan. I remind myself that Peeta will be safe soon and that we'll all escape from the Capitol and live happily ever after... ok, maybe not the last part, but I had to keep positive.

So why, if I know everything will be ok, do I still lock myself away from everyone and drift in and out of tears? Why do I refuse to speak to anyone? Why do I sit alone, in a darkened room, staring into space?

Because the plan reminds me of other things too.

Things that I'd like to remember, but make me depressed when I do remember them. It's an awkward situation I'm in with my brain. Part of me smiles whenever I think of those memories, while the other half weeps.

Those memories of Finnick.

Like the day we first met; when he found me crying on the floor and mopped up my tears. When he put a smile on my face with his sugar cubes and cheeky grin. I'll never forget how he helped me get through those bad times. And I'll never forget the times when I wasn't sad either.

Like when we'd sneak off and explore the mansion, playing tricks on passing people and sprinting away before we got caught. Or the times when we'd just sit and talk and laugh, enjoying each other's company. I did enjoy his company and he enjoyed mine. We were like two peas in a pod.

Until we got shelled out the pod by Snow and his friend Monroe, also known as my biological father. Then everything spiralled out of control and I lost my best friend. Well, in my defence, I didn't lose him. He walked away.

He hurt me in a way that can't be ever forgotten and rarely forgiven. He turned the cheek on me, especially when I needed him more than ever. And I think to myself, in my room, feeling like a hermit, that the last time I saw him was when he found out about Monroe. And those last words he spoke to me stung like a thousand tracker-jackers. No, I don't know you.

So seeing him in the Games again, knowing that he'll be back in my life, triggered off a whole train of emotions. Hence the locking myself in my room; I figured that I'd rather deal with this alone.

My parents tried coaxing me out, so did pretty much everyone I know, but none succeeded. However, they will at last see me tomorrow, but not for long, as Haymitch is picking me up early so we can begin the plan and rescue Peeta. Peeta, who would be dead right now if it weren't for... Finnick, typically.

Yeah, Peeta was stupid enough to accidentally walk straight into a force field and almost died, if it weren't for Finnick performing CPR. I'm glad Peeta's alive, but now Finnick will have something over me. I'm supposed to hate him for abandoning me, but how can I when everything he does just makes me realise how much I miss him?

"Ugh! Why do you have to be so annoying!" I scream, flinging a cushion across the room.

It hits the bookshelf that stands in front of the door and knocks a book. It lands with a thud and the pages bend.

Just a few moments later, a knock comes at the door.

"Zinny? Are you ok? I heard you shout then something bang" Ethan's worried voice comes from outside the room.

"I'm fine." I reply bluntly.

"No you're not. You've been locked in there for days now, I'm really worried about you" He says.

"Don't bother worrying over me" I murmur.

"What?" He asks, not hearing me.

"Nothing"

"Fine. Well, I'll just go then"

I don't say anything, just listen to his footsteps fading as he walks away and down the stairs.

I start to feel a little guilty about the way I spoke to him. He didn't really deserve my attitude, did he? He's just trying to help and all I give in return is the cold shoulder. He does genuinely care about me. I wish he didn't. That way, everything wouldn't be as complicated as it is.

I squeeze my eyelids together and try to cool myself down. I'm feeling quite agitated and need to snap out of this mood before I start trashing the place... Which I've already done, the other day. But in one of my calm moods, I fixed it all and tidied the room. It was sort of stress relieving, I guess.

I'm just about to experiment with some meditation, when I hear a noise from my window. It's a scuffling noise, followed by some type of grunting and then a tap on the glass. Confused, I walk over to the window and pull open the curtains. It's Ethan, holding onto the window ledge and looking pretty unstable.

"Ethan, what the hell are you doing?" I ask, pulling him inside before he falls and breaks his neck or something.

"Well, you wouldn't open the door, so I decided to go through the window instead" He replies, dusting himself down.

"That's crazy, you could have seriously hurt yourself if you fell" I say.

"Well, people do crazy things for those they love" He gives me a half smile and reaches out to touch my arm.

I flinch and pull my arm away. Ethan freezes and looks at me worryingly.

"Zinny? What's wrong; have I done something?" He asks, his eyebrows knitted in a tight frown.

"No... I, um..." I stammer.

"No. Stop hiding things from me! I've noticed you changing over the past few weeks and you seem to be edging away from me, especially after the reaping, you won't even look me in the eye"

"Ethan-"

"I just don't get it, Zinny, I really don't. Why all of a sudden am I a stranger to you?"

"It's not your fault, it's mine. It's complicated"

"Then tell me; explain to me what's inside your head, cuz I'm starting to think that you don't love me anymore"

There's a silence.

"That's it. You don't love me, do you?" Ethan asks me, staring into my eyes.

I want to say yes, but I can't look at him directly and lie, so I shake my head instead.

"I'm sorry, Ethan..."

He starts to pace up and down the room, his breathing rate increasing.

He keeps muttering to himself. "I knew it, I just knew it. But did I ask, no... I was too convinced that she'd tell me!"

"Ethan, please don't-" I start sobbing, trying to reason with him.

He doesn't respond.

"Right, who is it?" He asks, turning around sharply to face me.

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb, Zinny. Who is the other guy?" He asks.

"There's no..."

"Who. Is. The. Other. Guy?" He demands.

When I don't answer, he starts to walk around again.

"It's that Hawthorne, isn't it?" He says. "I know he made you that squirrel"

"No, it's not" I try to tell him, but he ignores me.

"I'm gonna kill that Gale. In fact, I'm gonna go round there right now" He says, his fists tightly clenched.

He walks over to the bookshelf and begins to push it away from the door. I try to get in his way to stop him, but he just shoves past me.

"IT'S FINNICK!" I suddenly yell.

Ethan turns to me, his face red.

"Finnick, as in that Victor from four that everyone's in love with?" He questions.

I nod slowly, my eyes looking to the floor.

"You stop loving me for Finnick fucking Odair?" He cries out. "After all we've been through, you stop loving me for a crush on a famous Victor?"

"It's not a crush!" I protest. "We used to be really close when I was in the mansion"

"Oh. Well I see how it is then..." He nods his head slowly. "You couldn't stay with your precious boyfriend, so you befriended me instead. I'm second best aren't I?"

I'm really crying now. "I loved you, I really did. But-"

He slams his fists on a chest of draws, sending vibrations down the wood. "I can't listen to this"

"Ethan, I" I try to say, reaching out to touch him.

He pushes my arm aside and I'm knocked off balance. I crash into the side of the wardrobe, hurting my shoulder and sending me in a phase.

Ethan's face suddenly changes when he sees I'm hurt. He tries to check if I'm ok, but I shove past him and run to the window. It's still open and I duck under it and climb out, my hands shaking as I scramble down to ground level.

Tears soak my face as I run from the house, petrified. I've never seen Ethan like this before and seeing it now makes me shiver with fear. It seems like I'm not the only one who has changed.

In the distance I can hear him calling after me, so I blank it out. I'm running away from the house and turn down one of the roads. The gate to the front garden is slightly ajar, so I push it open and make my way down the path, still seeming off balance.

Shakily, I knock on the front door and wait for a response. The door opens seconds later.

"Haymitch, please can I come in for a while?" I ask, my voice quivering.

"Of course, you can stay in the spare room tonight if you want" He offers, taking my arm and bringing me inside. "And, you may want a drink to calm yourself down"

Normally, I'd say no, but today I can't think of anything else I need better that a small drop of alcohol. Haymitch puts a splash in the bottom of a glass and hands it to me. I take it eagerly and swallow it in one. It burns down my throat as I gulp it down, but boy does it feel good.

"Another?" Haymitch asks encouragingly.

"I think I'll be needed more than that" I admit, holding out my glass for another round.

A/N- Hmmm that was a short chapter, wasn't it? Oh well, it's as long as it needed to be and there's nothing else I can include, so if you wanted longer then shoot me. Not literally. That wouldn't be good.

Anyways, thanking everyone for their support so far and please keep reading and reviewing! I love you lots like jelly tots. (I've never been fond of that expression actually)

Thanks, FireflyLlama x