A/N: hello! So I'd already put this on my tumblr but I forgot to put it on here, sorry! I hope you like it! P.S I know people don't ship Seneca and Effie but it fit better with the plot!:)

Prompt: Haymitch finds Effie's birth control pills and wonders if she's dating someone then confronts her.

Amidst our lives there is no shortage of emotions, surely you should know that?

Alcohol. That was undoubtedly what he needed. Haymitch could feel the want coursing through his veins like a river, longing for the drink. He rummaged through the kitchen cupboards to no avail, he had either run out of bottles or his dammed escort had chucked them. Most likely the latter.

Grumbling, Haymitch made his way down the hall, passing her room and then doing a double-take. He knew Effie liked wine... Perhaps she had some stashed away? Creeping closer to her door, he pressed an ear against it. He couldn't hear anything. Oh! That's right, Effie had mentioned something about going out for a while. Which meant he was alone and could do what he pleased.

He opened her door slowly, taking in the brightness of her room. He could smell her perfume, some designer brand he'd never heard of, but Haymitch found himself liking it. Too much maybe.

He shook his head and started raiding her room. He looked under her bed and found nothing but a pair of lost shoes and sheets- letters to sponsors about tributes that had been killed before she could send them. Shaking his head, Haymitch lifted himself from the floor and continued his search: between her beauty products, in her wardrobe, in the bathroom, he even ransacked through her drawers, spying more than his fair share of lacy underwear.

After an amidst of hopelessness and new found arousal by the escort, Haymitch had almost given up. With just her bedside drawer to go, he opened it with his hopes almost non-existent.

With his rough hands moving everything in there, his eyes caught sight of an unusually, clinically white box. Curiously picking it up, Haymitch sat down on her neat, made bed and inspected the peculiar package.

Needless to say, it was pretty obvious what they were. Haymitch felt a numbness grow from within his gut as he turned the little box over in his fingers. Angrily shoving them back in her drawer and closing it roughly, Haymitch almost stormed out of her room. As he entered the penthouse and threw himself onto the couch, he couldn't help but wonder why he was feeling this way. It wasn't as if Effie was dating him, or even sleeping with him. She could fuck whomever she wanted to- what was it to him? His emotions were a mixture of anger and... Jealousy? To distract himself from these alien thoughts, Haymitch switched on the TV. Not normally liking the technology in the capitol, the television came in useful- the NEWS channel in particular told him some information he hadn't know before. Although it was primarily about the games this time of the year, the NEWS sometimes shot pictures of the districts and how they were reacting to their tributes in the arena.

The presenter's voice was cheery and high pitched, not unlike Effie Trinket's. Haymitch also noticed that they only showed good-looking capitolites on any show, (apart from the hunger games of course, they couldn't really help that). The people featured were also most likely wearing tight short clothing, showing off a lot of skin. Haymitch shook his head at the news presenter today. Did she even know what she was reading as she plastered a smile onto her face? Or was she brainwashed to portray happiness whether she felt it or not. Haymitch couldn't help but notice another similarity between Effie and the news anchor.

Speak of the devil, Haymitch distinctly heard her name mentioned on the TV. Being too lost in his own thoughts, he rewound it to the beginning of the piece, listening hard as she spoke:

"The gorgeous district 12 escort, Effie Trinket, was reported to be leaving gamemaker, Seneca Crane's, Apartment this morning."

In the corner showed Effie walking down a pathway, swarmed with paparazzi and flashing cameras.

"Sources have told us these 2 new celebrities have recently been meeting on more than one occasion; sometimes a bit too close to be "just friends". So, are these two 'hunger games hotties' going to be the next big couple? Or are they just really good friends? Find out more

on our website, or tune into Caesar Flickerman tonight, where He will be speaking to Seneca himself."

Unable to hear anymore, Haymitch switched off the TV. 'That explains the birth control pills' he thought to himself. Suddenly, his mind overflowed with images of Effie in compromising positions with Crane. In his mind her hated her, for enjoying herself whilst he was here, miserable, wondering why he was upset in the first place.

The elevator tinged from outside and in walked Portia and Effie, discussing the best material for Effie to wear to attend some party or another. The girls stopped nattering for a moment as they say down.

"Hello Haymitch," Effie greeted breathlessly. "I'm sorry I'm late. I know I said a few hours but-"

"Don't worry princess, I know where you were," he said sourly, he hadn't meant it to come across so bitterly.

"Oh you did? I-"

"Did you have a nice time?"

Effie looked confused. "Yes, of course,"

"I bet you did. How was he? Any good? I mean, you should know. You've probably done a lot. Especially given that even the news has picked up on it,"

Portia laughed out loud, finally understanding what Haymitch was talking about.

"I don't understand," Effie said, looking at a howling Portia.

"Fine. Shall I ask you straight out? How long have you been fucking Crane and when were you going to tell me?"

Effie went bright red, continuously opening and closing her mouth, resembling some sort of fish.

"I, I, umm. How did you get this information?" Effie stumbled on her words, panicking for reasons unbeknown to her.

"Well, for one, it was on the news,"

"Wow! Really?" Portia said quickly.

Haymitch nodded. Not once did he take his eyes off Effie and not once did she look away, although her face almost matched the colour of her crimson dress.

"And two, I went in your room and found your birth control pills,"

At this revelation, Effie did talk.

"You went in my room! Why?!"

"I was searching for booze! You should have known that seeing as you threw it all away!"

"I did not!"

"Are you dating him?!"

"No I'm not! Not that it's any of your business anyway!"

"It is my business!"

"Why is it?"

"Because..." Now he was stuck. "Because if my escort's whoring herself out to game-makers to get my district to win, it most certainly is my business."

Expecting a shout back his way was what he expected but it wasn't what he got. Instead, she stood silent for a moment, looking down at the floor, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Is that really what you think of me?" Her almost-whisper sent shivers down his spine. "That I'd really do that?"

Haymitch sighed as she started to walk away. He knew that walk. She had unspilled tears in her eyes, and she was adamant that she would refuse to shed them.

"Look, Trinket, I'm sorry. I just-"

"Don't Haymitch. But thank-you, for telling me what I already knew but I refused to believe, about how thoroughly I disgust you," the sound of her door shutting made his heart drop. Of course he lived to annoy her and bully her, but even now he knew he'd gone too far.

Portia got up slowly and made her way down the hall to her room, throwing a "I'll talk to her" over her shoulder.

Haymitch kicked the couch before slumping back onto it again. Wiping his face with his hand he longed for the alcohol once more as the soul crushing monster named guilt tore into his mind and settled there, evidently not planning on moving.