Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! There's a little progress here, but then it goes right back to square one! :P Enjoy!

Effie

Effie returned mid-morning after a night of partying with her new friends. She had had a great time, meeting all of the escorts for the different Districts. Her favourite had to be the District Eight escort, Laylah Monroe. They had the same attitude, the same outlook on life, and shared a mutual burden in the form of their Victors. Laylah had to manage Woof, an elderly Victor who had a drinking problem and who was severely disoriented all the time. At least she had two other Victors to look after him, Cecelia and Dante. Effie had just Haymitch, and she had to look after him all by herself.

Sure enough, when she walked into the apartment, she found Haymitch passed out on the floor, a spilled glass of liquor next to him.

"Oh Haymitch. What am I going to do with you?" She rolled him over onto his front and dabbed at his mouth with a cloth, as it was covered in sticky liquor, like he had buried his face in the glass.

She looked around, trying to find an Avox to help her, but it was obviously too late for them to still be here. She groaned, she definitely wasn't strong enough to carry him to his room.

Should she just leave him here? No, she'd wake him.

"Haymitch." She mumbled, shaking his shoulder. He let out a groan, but didn't wake. She shook him harder and gained the same reaction.

Contemplating kicking him, she stood up. Water would do it. She picked up his glass, filled it with water, and savoured the delight at what she was about to do.

She threw the water over his head, and he shot up, coughing. He reached out instinctively, grabbing her leg, and took it out from under her. Screaming, she fell on her bum on the floor.

"Haymitch!" She screamed.

"What the hell, woman? What was that for?" He growled, pushing his wet hair out of his face.

"I was trying to wake you up! You didn't have to pull me over!" Her bum hurt, and she rubbed it as she got up.

"Aw, poor Princess. Do you want me to kiss it better?" He chuckled.

Effie gasped in indignation. "No, I do not! And stop calling me princess! It's not funny!" She rubbed her bum again, trying to make the pain go away. She had an incredibly low pain threshold, a natural thing for a Capitol child, and couldn't handle even the slightest of pain.

Haymitch laughed again, his face creasing up as he sat up. Effie found herself staring at him. Laughter made his face look younger, more like the boy she had obsessed over twenty years ago. The boy who had had his life, and those he loved, ripped from him by the Capitol.

That thought brought her back to her senses. Now was a perfect time to help him!

"Why do you drink so much? It can't be good for you." She asked, innocently.

Haymitch sighed. "I drink because I want to. I like it." He looked away from her. He stood up and walked to the sofa, throwing himself down on it. She followed him and sat down; kicking her heels off before she knew what she was doing. They watched each other for a time.

She took a deep breath and took the plunge.

"You and I both know that's not true. You drink to keep away the nightmares. To keep away the faces of your family, and your girlfriend. You drink so you don't feel guilty."

Haymitch turned to her in shock. His grey eyes were wide, and his mouth dropped open.

"How... do you know that?"

"I guessed. I... I watched your Games last night, and I saw what they did to your family and your girlfriend. Because of what you did with the force field. I understand, Haymitch, and I'm here to help you, in any way that I can." She took his hand into hers, squeezing it gently.

His eyes met hers, and her heart thudded. For a moment, she saw the eyes of a hurt boy, looking to someone for help.

Then, a wall came down, and the eyes hardened. The lost boy disappeared, and an angry man replaced him. He snatched his hand away and stood up.

"You don't understand. At all. You can't help me because you don't know." He turned to walk away.

Effie shot up in desperation, needing to make him see. "Then help me to understand! I want to help you!"

He turned around quickly, facing her. "Why? What has suddenly possessed you to want to help me stop drinking? Because you don't want me ruining your new reputation? Because you want to be the one to fix the great drunkard, Haymitch Abernathy of District Twelve?" He gestured wildly with his hands, making fists and throwing them around.

"No! Nothing like that!" She shouted, tears bubbling in her eyes.

"Then why?" His chest heaved in anger, daring her to say something else.

"Because... I..." Her heart thudded. Should she tell him? "Because I care about you, Haymitch! I want to help you." A tear fell down her cheek.

He tilted his head in surprise. But then his eyes narrowed. "Okay, Effie. Whatever you say. I'm going to bed. Let's not talk about this again."

And with that, he swept away to his room. He stumbled for a moment, grabbing onto the wall. But then he righted himself and went to his room.

Effie let out a gasp and sank to the ground, the tears falling now. Why had he rejected her? She hadn't exactly told him all of her feelings, but she had come close. Now she was glad about what she said. If she had bared her whole soul to him, only to have him reject her, it would have truly crushed her.

She heard his door slamming, and she flinched, as if he had physically hurt her.

She started sobbing. What had she done wrong? She had offered to help him, and he'd pushed her away. Typical.

Effie pushed away all of the thoughts of him, dried her tears, and went back to her room. She had learnt her lesson. She would not try and help him again. He obviously didn't want to be helped. Obviously, her feelings for Haymitch would get her hurt. She should just learn to keep her distance. She'd be the Capitol girl that he thought she was; only caring about her reputation and her looks. She didn't want to disappoint, after all.

Haymitch

Damn her! He thought as he slammed the door to his room. How dare she insinuate that he needed her help? That he needed to be changed. He definitely didn't need either!

He snarled with agitation as he realised that all the alcohol was outside, where she was. He had certainly drunk lots tonight, but this argument had left him aching for a drink.

How dare she? To think that he needed help. He didn't want her help.

He threw himself on his bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to calm himself down.

God, he needed a drink.

He heard her walk down the hallway, unusually quiet without those damned skyscraper shoes that she insisted on wearing.

She had said that she cared about him. How could she? She had only known him for a month, and the entire month had consisted of them annoying the hell out of each other.

Apart from yesterday...

The night when he had fallen and cut his head, and Effie had shown up, free of her Capitol restrictions, and had helped him. She was like an angel, with her curly blonde hair and bare face. He had told her that she looked nice, that she should come live with him in Twelve. He hadn't meant the last bit, it was the alcohol talking. But the bit about her looking nice, he meant it. Without the Capitol crap, she really was beautiful.

But it was her Capitol attitude that was pissing him off. She assumed that he was broken, and that he could be fixed. That she could wave her magic wand and make all of the guilt about the deaths of everyone that he got close to go away. But the thing was, he couldn't be fixed. There was no magic wand, and even if there was, it wouldn't work on him. He was too far gone to be saved. He was a murderer, and that was the end of it. He would drink himself into his grave, and then he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone again.

This was why he pushed Effie away. She said that she cared, and Haymitch couldn't have anyone caring for him. The truth is that he cared about her too, but everyone he loved was hurt. He couldn't have anyone hurting her.

So he would pretend to hate her. He would pretend to keep her safe.

He didn't want her help, because that would put her close to him. In such close proximity, who knows what might happen?

When he was sure that the coast was clear, Haymitch slipped out into the hallway and made for the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of liquor, keeping the bottle, and walked to the television, switching it on.

Caesar Flickerman came up, talking to Nika Hemsworth, the District Four escort, about Annie Cresta's victory. Haymitch barely listened to their blabber, until a familiar name was voiced.

"So, Nika, have you met the newest escort? Effie Trinket, the District Twelve escort?" Caesar asked, and Nika's green face lit up.

"Oh yes, I have! I adore Effie! She is so pretty, and so strong too! Imagine having to deal with that drunk, Haymitch Abernathy, every day? But she's dealing with him well! She managed to keep him under control at the party, apart from when he smashed a glass. That was just embarrassing!" Nika laughed.

Haymitch snarled and threw the controller at the television before he knew what he was doing. It went right through the television, making a huge crash.

Haymitch swore loudly, groaning into a pillow. Why did he always have to fuck things up?

He heard light running footsteps, and then Effie's voice.

"What happened?"

He turned to face her. She was au natural again, with no makeup, her blonde hair swinging loosely around her face. She looked tired, with bags under her eyes.

"The TV broke." He muttered.

Effie walked over and bent down beside the television, giving Haymitch a good view of her butt. His eyes widened, and a low growl rumbled in his throat. She had one fine ass.

"More like you threw a controller at it." She said, holding the controller up, with the other hand resting on her hip. She looked sexy like that.

"I got mad."

"Yes, well, if we all threw things around whenever we got mad, the world would be quite different, wouldn't it?"

She was mad. He could tell by the look in her eyes.

Good. If she was mad, she wasn't caring. And if she wasn't caring, then she was safe.

"Yeah, but this is the Capitol. You can just snap your fingers and it'll be fixed in no time. Unlike in the Districts, where we don't get food on a gold platter."

Her eyes narrowed.

He stood up and walked over to her. He took the controller from her, set it down, and looked into her eyes. He wanted to kiss her so much. He had to restrain himself.

He saw her look at his lips, and lick her own. It was a sign! Everything in his rational mind was screaming at him to get away, quickly, before something happened.

But primal instinct won the war against rational logic, and he leant in quickly, his lips locking with hers. She froze under his kiss, but then she relaxed, and her arms wrapped around him. Their kiss deepened, and she opened her mouth to allow him access. As his tongue wound his way around her mouth, he became aware of her breasts pressed against his chest, heaving heavily.

He was the one who broke the kiss, when his instincts faded and logic took control again. Why had he done that? He promised himself that he wouldn't do that. He wanted to keep her safe.

Effie looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Wow. You didn't push me away." He said.

"No, I didn't." She smiled, her pretty pink lips stretching seductively.

"You're not mad?"

"Oh, I'm still mad at you, Haymitch. But I want you to do that again." She moved closer to him, pressing her body against him.

He spoke before lust could overtake him.

"I'm sorry. I can't. I can't do this."

He grabbed his bottle and fled back to his room, leaving Effie standing there, gawking after him.

It was for the best, he told himself. It was for the best.

Aw, Haymitch! Just kiss her already! :P
Hope you guys enjoyed, look out for the next chapter soon! :D