Okay, so I have a legit excuse for not updating in a while...
Well fairly legitimate. I was in a car accident a few weeks ago (my sister who was driving and I are both fine) and the girl who hit us is fine as well. The worst thing that came out of the crash was my sister's Xterra was totaled, but no one was seriously hurt and that's what is important.
Then with the holidays and coming down with the flu It was hard for me to find time to write.
I WAS going to write while I was sick (still am sick but feeling better) but I tried to just reply to a review and I kept typing the wrong words and I sounded like a fever crazed moron, so I figured it was best not to attempt a new chapter :P
So I killed time by having "Castle" marathons, which was awesome. But! Time to be productive again ;)
So in this chapter Mags is going to be meeting Chloe, and then the next chapter is going to be about the reaping, then we're going to sort of skim over training and the games.
Then I think I'm going to do a rather large time jump...possibly a year? I'm not sure yet but we'll see!
Here goes! As always I'd love to here from you guys so leave a review!
Thaaaaank you my lovely readers ;)
PS: oh! If you've read my Finnick trilogy, then there's a little connection in this chapter that you might catch...be on the lookout ;)
Chapter Seventeen: Meeting the family.
Dash picked me up around three o'clock in the afternoon. I couldn't help noticing the uncharacteristic nervous air about him, and I couldn't help smiling.
"I'm sure they'll be overjoyed to see you."
He shrugs slightly as we continue to walk.
"I'm not sure about overjoyed."
I bump my shoulder against his.
"It's going to be alright."
He doesn't reply, stopping suddenly and staring at a quaint looking house nestled in the dunes. I look from him to the house.
"Yours?"
"Used to be."
He still hasn't moved, so I nudge him gently.
"Come on, let's go."
He blinks and then nods, taking a deep breath before walking up the porch steps and knocking on the door.
"I don't even know if they're home...they should be, well except for my step-dad, he'll be working. But Pearl and my mom should be home."
I can tell he's getting excited by the change of tone in his voice. I wonder when the last time he saw Pearl was. Before he can say anything else, the door opens.
"Were you expecting anyone? I didn't think you-"
The voice cuts off as the door swings open. Dash's eyes widen and his voice is barely a whisper as he says.
"Chloe?"
The young woman standing in the doorway is staring in shock, her mouth open slightly from her cut off sentence. She's taller than I am, and curvier, dressed in a pale pink sundress that contrasts well with her sun kissed skin. Her eyes, wide with shock and disbelief, are the prettiest I've ever seen, a deep amber color, a cross between dark brown and honey gold. Her honey brown hair falls halfway down her back in loose curls.
"Dash..."
She says, still shocked. There's no one in the world right now but her and Dash, their eyes locked on each other with fierce tension. I know the look in their eyes, the look only shared by two people who would travel to the ends of the earth to be with each other.
The spell is broken as a young girl squeals in excitement and pushes past Chloe, flinging herself on Dash and hugging him tightly.
"Dash! I didn't know you were coming!"
He smiles and lifts her up, wrapping his arms around her tightly and planting a kiss on the top of her head.
"I wanted to surprise you."
Chloe shifts slightly, and her eyes flicker away from Dash, looking at the floor, then glancing up at me, her eyebrows rising slightly in surprise.
"Well you did. I'm so happy to see you!"
Pearl laughs and kisses his cheek before noticing me.
"Mags Flint? What is she doing here?"
"Hey, that's rude. I wanted to introduce her to my family since she's introduced me to hers."
Pearl scrambles down out of Dash's arms and smiles brightly at me.
"It's good to meet you."
She bites her lip slightly, hesitating before saying quietly.
"Will...he and I were sort of friends...I mean, we talked at school. I'm really sorry."
I swallow hard and give her a small hug.
"Me too. I didn't know he was friends with you."
She shrugs.
"We weren't that close..."
Dash places a hand gently on my arm.
"Well, let's not talk about sad things alright?"
Pearl looks up at her big brother and smiles.
"Okay. Oh!"
She turns and runs back into the house, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"MOM! DASH IS HERE!"
Chloe steps back and holds the door open for us. There is a tangible amount of tension in the air between the two of them, and it's starting to put me on edge.
"I don't think we've met before."
I say, breaking the ice and offering my hand to Chloe. She smiles, and I understand completely why she is the girl who holds Dash's heart. Her smile lights up the room, and tells me so much of her character.
"I'm Chloe, it's nice to meet you."
I smile back brightly.
"Likewise."
Suddenly a tall, slender woman with Dash's stunning gray eyes appears, her face lighting up brightly when she sees him.
"My son."
She walks up and wraps her arms around his neck, holding him with all the tender love of a mother, causing my heart to clench, missing my own mother's embrace. I glance at Chloe, and recognize the same look in her eyes. She lost her mother as well?
"Hey mom. Sorry to drop in...I should have called first."
She pulls back and holds her hand to his cheek.
"Nonsense! You are always welcome. And you've brought a visitor with you."
She adds, gracing me with a smile.
"That I have. Mom, this is Mags Flint, Mags, this is my mother, Hillary Triton."
She smiles and gives me a small hug.
"Just Hillary is fine. Come on in, I'll put on some tea. Why don't you take everyone into the living room, Clarence?"
I make a choking sound as I try to hold in a laugh, holding a hand over my mouth, I bite my lip and look at Dash who is blushing and staring daggers at me.
"Clarence?"
I gasp, suppressed giggling sounds following the question.
"There's a reason I go by my middle name."
He narrows his eyes and lowers his voice.
"Speak of this to anyone and I swear you'll regret it."
With that he turns and stalks off down the hall.
"That's how I knew him when we first met, before he changed it."
Chloe says, an amused smirk hovering around her bow-shaped lips.
"So you've known him for quite some time?"
Dash never really said how long they had been acquainted.
"Almost my whole life. His father and mine were friends, died in the same boating accident. My mother too, Dash's family sort of took me in, made sure I was cared for."
Pain flickers in her eyes for a moment.
"That was a long time ago...I haven't even seen him in years."
She glances at me, hesitating before asking.
"So...you and he."
"Are just friends."
I hold up my left hand and show her the ring.
"I'm taken already."
She smiles.
"Congratulations."
I smile and shrug.
"I'm technically not engaged yet, but thank you."
She glances towards the room where Dash disappeared, her eyes sad and wistful.
"He's changed you know."
Her voice is quiet, full of sadness. I place a hand gently on her arm.
"He hasn't changed as much as you think. I haven't known him long, but I know him well, and I know that he pretends to be someone he's not, to protect the people he loves."
Her cheekbones tinge pink just the slightest bit.
"Maybe. We should go join him and Pearl."
She leads me down the hall and into a comfortable living room. Pearl is sitting on the back of the couch behind Dash, resting her chin on the top of his head and draping her arms over his shoulders.
"You know, there's an entire couch you could be sitting on."
He says amused.
"Yep. But this is your punishment for not coming to see me sooner."
He laughs and shrugs, causing her to shift slightly.
"Fair enough. Hey, there are the girls."
Pearl straightens up and smiles at us.
"I was just telling Dash about daddy's new job as a second mate."
Dash glances at me.
"Turns out he's second mate on the same ship Felix works."
I raise my eyebrows.
"Really?"
Chloe glances at me.
"Felix is your boyfriend?"
I nod.
"Daddy said you didn't come see us because you were so busy because everyone in the Capitol loves you so much that they want you to visit all the time."
Dash's eyes harden at this, and I notice Chloe's almost imperceptible shift in mannerism.
"Yes, everyone in the Capitol definitely loves him."
The trace of bitterness in her tone is lost on Pearl, but received loud and clear by Dash, who looks at Chloe apologetically, his face more ashamed than I've ever seen before as he looks away.
"Hey Pearl, why don't we go see if your mom needs any help?"
I suggest, casting Dash a knowing look as I glance at Chloe. Pearl jumps up and runs over to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room.
"Okay! I'll show you where the kitchen is."
I glance over my shoulder and see Dash stand up, rubbing the back of his neck as he faces Chloe.
"There's something I have to tell you..."
Pearl pulls me away before I can hear more, but I take a quiet breath and hope against hope that she understands. She has to, if she loves him she will understand why he did what he did.
"So you've spent a lot of time with my big brother?"
I glance down at her and nod.
"He's a good person, even if most people don't think so."
I smile.
"Yes he is. I'm glad you know that he is."
She pulls me into the kitchen and beams at her mom.
"Do you need any help mommy?"
She looks up at the two of us, and glances towards the living room, meeting my gaze with a knowing look before smiling.
"Yes, would you show Mags where the mugs and tray is?"
Pearl helped my collect the mugs and tea-tray, then poured the tea into the mugs and set honey and cream on the tray.
"Why don't you take that into the living room while Pearl and I put some snacks together?"
Hillary suggests, I take the tray and walk back to the living room, pausing in the door way as I see Dash and Chloe engaged in serious conversation. Dash's face is pained and sad, Chloe's is shocked and just the slightest bit angry.
"I thought it would be better for everyone if I just distanced myself, I didn't know how to explain what goes on in the Capitol to my family, I was too ashamed to tell you."
She shook her head slightly.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, there was nothing you could do."
He took a step towards her, his eyes glassy with tears.
"I could have been a good son and brother, I could have stayed and tried to explain. I should have. I should have stayed where I belonged instead of pushing away the people I love."
He paused, lifting his hand and brushing his knuckles gently across her cheek.
"I never stopped thinking about you, not for one second. You were the only thing that kept me going...through everything."
She has tears in her eyes as well now, and she tilts her face into his hand ever so slightly, closing her eyes as he said.
"I still love you, Chloe. I'll always love you."
She opened her eyes and very slowly pulled his hand away from her face, the tears spilling out and slowly sliding down her cheeks.
"I know...which makes this so much harder."
She takes a deep breath and meets his gaze.
"Tyler asked me to marry him, Dash."
He slowly lowered his hand, swallowing hard as he blinked the tears away, his brows furrowing as he dropped his gaze.
"Oh..."
He cleared his throat and took a step away from her.
"Do you- Did you say yes?"
She wiped the tears off her face and looked down as well.
"I told him I'd think about it."
Dash looked at her, his eyes imploring.
"Do you love him?"
She bit her lip and ran her fingers through her hair.
"I- I don't know. I have to think."
He grabbed her hand as she was about to turn away, pulling her to face him.
"Please...try to understand."
She blinked back new tears as she said.
"I do understand, I just...I don't know if I can...after everything."
He nodded stiffly and released her hand.
"I'm sorry, I just needed to tell you..."
She looked like she was about to say something, but turned around instead, brushing past me into the hall.
"It was nice to meet you, hopefully I'll see you again soon."
I nodded as she disappeared down the hall and out the front door. I turn to Dash, who is staring at the spot where she was standing, his jaw flexing as he clenched his jaw. Finally he looked up at me.
"You saw?"
I just nod.
"Okay..."
He trails off, and covers his face with his hands, taking a deep breath and then running his fingers through his hair.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
I walk in and set the tea-tray down on the coffee table.
"Alright. Do you want some tea?"
The smallest of smiles curves his lips, and he nods.
"Sure."