Thank you for reading my story, everyone's support has been so touching! Any reviews you have are always welcome and in this chapter you'll finally find out what I had planned for Vieve (I hope it doesn't disappoint!)

I do not own The Hunger Games nor its characters.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I shouldn't have been surprised. When I woke up she'd gone, I don't know how long for, but she definitely wasn't lying next to me. I looked in every room in the house, shouting her name, but she wasn't there. I was surprised she'd even let me sleep in the same bed as her after the argument we'd had last night.

It had been the same argument for months, now. Kids. Snow. The rebellion. Vieve was desperate to be a mother even though we agreed before we got married that neither of us wanted to bring children in to this world, especially me. She knows that they would get reaped; nothing would excite the Capitol more than to see a disgraced victor's child thrust in to the arena. Victors' children have gone in before and they don't always make it out, in fact, the Gamemakers seem to give them extra struggles just to see if they're as good as their parents. I couldn't knowingly send my child in to that, let alone mentor them to kill other children.

Vieve thinks that the best way to show Snow that he isn't bothering us is to just have kids but I just can't believe that. Of course Snow is bothering us! He's bothering the whole country, whether we all admit to that or not. Everything we do and think is because of him, it's impossible to escape his snake face and evil mind. His spies are everywhere, which means he is, too.

I've only got a week left before I have to go back to the Capitol and I really don't want to spend it fighting with Vieve. I knew that being married wasn't going to be blissful all the time but I'm sure that we've fought more over the last few months than any other newlyweds have and it breaks my heart. I can feel her slipping away and no matter how hard I try I can't seem to hold on to her.

All I want right now, apart from a drink, is to talk to Titam. Or Mags or Chaff, or anyone I trust. But communicating with the dead is impossible as far as I know, as is contact between districts. You're told when you can and can't get in touch with other people, especially other victors.

There's only one person I can think of right now and I doubt he wants to see me but I'm desperate so I walk out of the door and head for the Seam. I keep looking to see if I can spot Vieve on my way there but I'm guessing that she's gone to see her parents in Town. She spends a lot of her time there, now.

When I reach my destination I knock on the door and pray that someone answers. I really have nowhere else to go.

Drake opens the door but as soon as he sees me the smile that was on his face quickly vanishes. He's only twenty-eight but all of those years down the mines make him look a lot older. In the background I can hear Herma playing with Chester, his laughter seems to fill the house.

"Oh," says Drake, "You were the last person I expected to see."

"I'm sure," I reply, "I just…I really need to talk to someone."

"No, Haymitch, it doesn't work like that. Either you're in our lives or you're not, you can't just dip in and out when you want something."

I suppose I deserve that, I'm just thinking of myself, again and not how my actions affect those around me. I can't bring myself to say anything so I just nod my head and leave. I sense that Drake wants to come after me but he has always been a man of his word and so I walk alone to The Hob.

Thankfully, Cray isn't there when I arrive. He always seems to be lurking around, taunting me, and right now I would love nothing more than to smack him in the face. Even if he has his stupid helmet on.

My stomach rumbles and I realise that I haven't eaten anything yet so I head over to Greasy Sae's stall and ask her what's on the menu.

"Beaver stew," she says, "Cliff brought me a very nice looking one this morning."

I put my money on the counter and she serves me a bowl. I can't say that I know Sae particularly well, she's middle aged and has been in The Hob for as long as I can remember. She's one of those people that everyone in 12 seems to know but, at the same time, they know hardly anything about her. She's pleasant enough but I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her.

"So have you and Vieve had another argument?" She asks and when she sees the shocked expression on my face she simply smiles. "You only ever look this depressed when it's about Vieve."

"Yeah, it is."

"So are you going to tell me?"

I pause for a moment, wondering if I should, but I have no one else to talk to and Sae seems to want to listen. She doesn't strike me as a nosey person in the slightest and I think I'm a fairly good judge of character so I tell her everything, apart from the stuff about the rebellion. I feel guilty for betraying Vieve like this; these are our problems but she has her parents and her friends to talk to whereas I only have her.

"I can't lose her Sae," I finally whisper, to myself more than to Sae.

"You won't, not if you start appreciating where she's coming from. Maybe if you tried to see things from her point of view a little bit more you wouldn't be so hasty to dismiss what she's feeling."

"But…having kids would destroy her in the long run. If they got reaped, that would be far worse that not having had them at all!"

"I get it but having children is something a lot of women, and men for that matter want, you can't just ignore that."

She's right, I know she is, but there just seems to be no way of dealing with this so that both Vieve and I are happy. I know a child would make her happier than anything in the world and it breaks my heart that I don't want to give her that but what else can we do?

I finish off the stew and Sae tells me to get home straight away before things escalate even further, the longer we avoid each other the worse it will be. I try to remind her that Vieve is the one who left but I get a clip around the ears instead so I just say thank you and leave.

When I open the door to the house it seems eerily silent, I call out for Vieve and she tells me that she's in the living room. A feeling of relief washes over me, she's come home. However, when I walk in to the living room that feeling quickly disappears once I see that her face is red and puffy from crying and a suitcase is standing next to her.

"What's-" I begin.

"I'm sorry, Haymitch," she interrupts. "This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do and I really don't want to do it."

"No, please, don't," I plead, "You can't." I can feel my eyes begin to burn with tears and my heart is pounding against my chest. I don't think I've felt this afraid since I was faced with Opal in the arena.

"I don't want to but, all the arguing and the fighting, it's too much for me." She walks a little bit closer and takes my hands in hers. "I love you so much but this isn't a life either of us deserves. I can deal with the nightmares and the outbursts but I can't deal with me growing resentful of you."

"Then don't, let's have kids! We'll have a whole brood if that's what you want!"

A trace of a smile breaks out across her face. "But it's not what you want."

"I want you. More than anything." I lean and kiss her, expecting her to pull away, but she doesn't. Instead she reciprocates with equal force and passion and all I can think is that I can't let her leave me. We're meant to be together, I know it.

When we finally pull away the tears are streaming down her face. "You'll always be the love of my life, Haymitch."

"Then why are you going?" I'm trying to keep my voice soft but the overtones of anger are hard to hide.

"Because I love you. I hope you'll understand someday." She picks up her suitcase and gives me one more kiss on the cheek before walking out of the door. All I want to do is run after her but making a scene in the middle of the street isn't going to win her back.

Instead I just fall to my knees and howl like a dying animal that knows it has only minutes left to live. Everyone I've ever loved has gone, they're either dead or I've pushed them away. It's like every time I get close to someone I curse them, they cannot possibly be happy while they're in my company. I'm like some sort of monster that's grown worse with age.

Vieve was the only good thing in my life, the only thing I would die for if I had to. I'd loved Tilly as a boy and I know that was real, I know it was, but the love I have for Vieve was completely different. It was as if we were two halves of the same body and there was no way one half could function without the other. That's what I felt, anyway.

The white liquor from the kitchen doesn't last long, I only had two bottles in, anyway. I spend the next week drinking and sleeping, watching myself as I waste away and not caring one bit if I live or die. I don't want to eat because I don't see the point in living right now. It isn't until Marsella marches in to my house one day that I remember I'm supposed to be heading for the Capitol. I miss the Reaping for the first tie ever because I'm trying to pack but when I leave to go to the station and I pass the people leaving the square I catch a glimpse of Vieve.

She's standing with her parents, with a look of nothing across her face. There is no sadness, no pain, no happiness, just nothing. She looks paler than usual, as if all the colour has drained out of her. Her red hair is still dazzling but it seems out of place next to her pale skin, as if it's the last part of her body not to give in to the sadness she's feeling. She looks up towards me and all I want is for her to run up to me and throw her arms around me but she doesn't. Instead, she looks away and walks home.