Authors Note: Sorry, I usually don't like having authors notes at all, let alone in the beginning, but I just wanted to say that I think this is my favourite chapter I've written in either story, just saying. Enjoy!
When I meet Cassius at our door we both look around our new home. There's everything you'd expect, a kitchen, a living room, a washroom and a bedroom.
"There's only one bedroom." Cassius says, stating the obvious.
"There's only one bed." I add, crossing my arms over my chest. Cassius grabs my hand and winks at me while making a clicking sound with his teeth.
"What a pity." He says as he pulls me with him and I land on top of him on the plush bed. We both erupt in a fit of laughter together before I suddenly stop.
"What's wrong?" He asks, running a hand up and down my arm.
"Nothing," I say as I shake my head. "That's just the first time I've laughed in a long time." Cassius smiles at me and kisses me passionately.
I sense things could go fairly far in the next few minutes and I wish I could, but the voice within me tells me to stop. An image of Cliff fills my mind and I pull away from Cassius.
"Let's see what else we have here." I suggest, trying to cover for my lack of passion. He smirks and we both stand and tour the apartment.
Cassius stops in the kitchen and open the silver fridge.
"Holy crap." He says. I look up from a magazine that was laying on the counter and try to look inside the fridge, but his body blocks my view.
"What?" I ask. Beginning to walk toward him. He begins to laugh and steps back, allowing me a view of the fridge. When I see the contents I too begin to smile widely. The fridge is full of colourful foods and drinks I don't even recognize.
"Have you ever seen this much?" Cassius asks me through his wide smile. I shake my head, speechless at the contents.
"This could feed a whole district!" I say as I take a few steps closer.
"Speaking of which, there's a television. Care to watch the news?" I ask Cassius. He smiles again and nods.
"I'll find something to eat." He says.
"Like that'll be hard." I say as I turn to the living room that has a large television mounted on the beige wall. The colour scheme of the apartment is nice, mostly beige walls with navy blue and maroon decor. Much nice than anything in Twelve.
I sit on the couch and find a remote control on the glass-top table. I click some buttons, unsure of which controls what, but after a few moments of blindly hitting buttons the screen goes from black to a colourful array of lights and sounds. Even the commercials continue to amaze me. In Twelve all the television is filtered, giving us only propaganda the Capitol wants us to see. Essentially anything regarding the games or praising the government is allowed, other than that is strictly banned in the districts.
I'm not surprised to see Deion's face show on the screen behind a logo depicting the Hunger Games. I lean back on the couch and watch as theatrical music plays and Deion begins to speak,
"Good evening. Tonight we begin with some of the most interesting interviews of some of the fan favourite tributes of the recent Games. To begin we'll be showing everyone's favourite flirt, Cassius of District One."
"Oh God." Cassius groans from behind me. I turn around to see him carrying a blue bowl filled with colourful fruits.
"We can find something else." I offer, unsure if watching something like this would bother him.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm just curious to see what idiots would pretend to be all sympathetic for me." Cassius says as he sits on the couch next to me.
"What do you mean?" I ask, selecting a red berry from the bowl. This one is one of the few I recognize from Twelve, a strawberry like the ones my mother would occasionally bring home when she went into the woods.
"Most of the other reaping age kids in One would envy Athena and I, everyone wants to be in the games. They make us look like heroes, martyrs even. People would say they feel horrible and everything when they really would give anything to be in the games." I watch his face as he speaks. I can't imagine living somewhere where you don't have to worry about being picked because someone would always volunteer. In Twelve it's a death sentence. In One, Two, and Four it's an honour.
My attention is shifted back to the television when the face of a boy about our age pops onto the screen. He looks a little like Rye, sandy hair and grey eyes, but he's much more muscular, obviously one who trained for the games.
"I worked with Cassius once, he's a good guy. He's pretty tough and knows how to talk his way out of things. He's got a heart of gold and really doesn't deserve this. He's got a really good shot at winning, but I doubt he'll want to hurt his friends. We just want him to come home." The boy says. I look at Cassius for comment. He scoffs.
"That guy hates my guts. I beat him in a race a few years back and since then he's had it out for me. But then again, I may have also taken his girlfriend once..." He trails off and I punch him fairly hard in the arm.
"Hey! Just being honest." Cassius says, mocking pain in his arm.
"I can be honest too, just watch." I say with a smirk. It may not be a lot to Cassius, but to me even making jokes is incredibly hard for me. It's really the most emotion I've shown since I woke up in rehab.
"We now show you a clip from Athena's brother, Maximus. He was the first one to address what Athena's strategy in the games might be. Let's take a look." Deion swivels his chair to look at a screen behind him that shows a man, about twenty, who looks almost exactly like a male version of Athena.
"Athena may be pretty, but she's smart. I wouldn't be surprised if she puts on a dumb girl act and really ends up outsmarting everyone. She doesn't like to be tricked and would take revenge on anyone who messes with her. She may have allies, but in the end she'd go pretty far to survive." The man says. I think back to how Cassius and I left Athena and Daria to die in the woods, and how she killed Cassius as revenge. Her brother was right, she's smarter than she looks.
"Next in our list of fan favourites is Darrow, the youngest tribute in the games this year. He was a feisty one from Six who charmed us with his young age. We'll be showing you some words from his mother," Once again, Deion turns to the screen behind him. I can't help but look away when the woman appears on the television. I recognize Darrow as one of my kills. One who wasn't rescued.
I lean into Cassius' shoulder, unwilling to look at the woman who likely hates me for killing her young son. I don't blame her, I'd likely hate me too were I in her place. I lean forward and take a handful of berries from the bowl Cassius brought and slowly pop them into my mouth, enjoying the flavours that I've never experienced. I was never really hungry in Twelve, we had plenty of food from my parents' supply from the Capitol, but the food always lacked flavour.
When I dare to look back at the television I see Deion again, this time introducing Dale.
"He was a force to be reckoned with from the beginning, who many thought would be a shoe in to win the games, but alas met his end in a battle for family at the hands of our victor, Rye Mellark. Let's look at his co-worker, Rich." The screen cuts to a large, muscled man who's standing in an apple orchard.
"Dale's pretty much pure muscle, he's definitely goin' for the intimidating act. He's not gonna let anyone go, no matter what. And if he goes down, he's goin down guns blazing. I'd put my money on him." The screen then cuts to Deion again, this time with a sadder look on his elasticated face.
"Now comes time for one of the most tragic deaths in Hunger Games history, that of Willow Mellark, Rye's sister. Now we didn't know much about the Mellark children before the games due to their parents, Peeta and Katniss Mellark keeping their children away from Capitol eyes. One of the most touching interviews was with Katniss Mellark, Willows mother, right after the end of the games. Let's see what she had to say." I grab Cassius' arm to support myself and keep my hands from shaking.
"You don't have to watch this." He says, making a move for the remote to shut off the television.
"No." I say, my eyes fixated on the screen that will soon show me the first images of my mother that I've seen in weeks. I don't know if I'm ready to see her, but when her face fills the screen I find some comfort in her.
"Willow was always a good person. She never complained and kept to herself." My mother pauses, looking up briefly to try and keep her tears at bay. I make no such effort and let my own fall as she speaks.
"Losing her-" She inhales sharply, "I can't even put it into words."
"Do you admire her for her actions in the games?" A voice off camera asks. My mother nods.
"She did things I could have never done. She left an ally so she wouldn't have to hurt them herself. She died for her brother. I respect her a thousand times over for that." Her words cause even more tears to fall over my cheeks and onto the couch. I never thought my mother had much admiration for anyone, let alone me. She was always so introverted, like she was fighting off her own thoughts too much to take notice of anyone around her. Having her says she respected my actions means more than anything I can imagine.
"And what about Peeta?" The off-screen voice asks. I watch my mothers face harden at the mention of my father and she takes a step forward. She raises a fist and the camera cuts to black before we see what happens next. Cassius and I sit in silence while the show cuts to commercials advertising some new cosmetic enhancement involving horns.
It's about eight now. I get up from the couch and walk over to a window to watch the city for awhile. Cassius cleans our plates from the supper we made, if you could call it that. It was more like whatever we recognized in the fridge piled onto a plate.
I look out the window and see a balcony on the other side of the apartment, just outside the kitchen window. I pry myself from the view and walk over to the kitchen window, to find it's actually a door that blends in well with the wall, explaining why we hadn't seen it earlier. I step outside and lean against the metal railing, watching the lights below flicker with celebrations of God knows what. I realize this is my first time seeing them as someone who could potentially partake in them. I'm finally free from the districts, the games and my old life. I'm not some Victors daughter, but a transfer from Two with a new life.
Cassius joins me quietly, wrapping a hand around my waist as he moves to stand next to me. We watch the lights below and listen to people drinking and laughing. After a few minutes Cassius taps my shoulder. I turn to look at him and he points upward to the sky. I let my eyes follow his finger upward and immediately notice what he wanted me to see.
Stars.
The first stars I've seen since before the games. The training centre was too sheltered by buildings to be able to see the stars, and the arena had an artificial sky that didn't include stars. This is the first time I've seen them in weeks. A large smile breaks into my face as I watch the stars twinkle above us.
Cassius brings up a hand and points to a line of stars with a drop hanging down below it to the right.
"See that?" He asks me. I nod, still smiling. I notice him shift his attention from the sky to me.
"That's called the Willow." He says with a smile. I shift my eyes to look at him, the smile still wide on my face.
"Really?" I ask. He nods.
"Well, the Willow Mansion but same thing." He says with a shrug.
"Just kiss her already!" A voice from above us calls. I quickly dart my head over the balcony to look straight up. To my surprise I see the faces of Athena and Kai looking down at us from their own balcony.
Cassius quickly joins me in looking up at the spying pair and smirks.
"Go on! You haven't got all night!" Kai calls again, causing Athena to burst out in a fit of laughter.
Cassius turns his head to look at me with his eyebrows raised.
"Gotta please the people." He says to me with a shrug.
"All in a day's work." I confirm. He takes my permission and closes the gap between us until our lips meet. I hear Athena and Kai hoot and holler above us, but ignore them, they're not important right now to either of us. Cassius and I straighten out in unison so we're no longer leaning over the balcony. I wrap my hands loosely over his shoulders, joining them behind his neck. He grabs my waist and we stand there, together, kissing slowly for a long time.
For the moment, amid all the chaos surrounding my life and the very fact that I'm alive dissolves and I allow myself to enjoy this small piece of heaven for the moment.
When the kiss ends all too soon we continue to watch the stars together on the balcony, in a blissful state.
"When I died, I told you I loved you." Cassius says. I look at him before I reply.
"You were delusional, busy dying and all." I say, afraid he'll say he didn't mean it. He shakes his head.
"No, I meant it. But I wanted you to know the very moment I knew." He says, brushing a precise of new blonde hair from my face.
"And when was that?" I ask.
"During your interview, I saw you on stage dancing. You looked like a kid, so carefree and just having fun. You weren't trying to impress the Gamemakers like with the knives. It was just-" He pauses. "You."
I smile again and this time I instigate the kiss.