AN: I skipped a day because I want the good bit to happen soon. Enjoy and review!
Day Six
Jesse
I watch Hope sleep; smiling slightly at how peaceful she looks in my arms. Her head is resting on my naked chest, my arms resting on the small of her back, her arms wrapped around my waist. Then it hits me…
Snow knows. He knows that I'm not on his side. It would make sense. He thinks I'm just going to be-friend her. I could've got away with saving her since he thought I wanted to kill her myself. But now that we've kissed, even if it was only once, and I didn't pull away… then he knows and he's going to do anything in his power to kill me along with Hope and Finnick.
I small whimper coming from Hope's slightly parted lips brings me back to reality and I look down to find her frowning, still asleep. "No," she mutters, her hands around my waist clenching.
"It's okay," I whisper.
"Jesse," she mumbles. "No!" she's having a bad dream.
She starts clawing at my chest; his nails digging into my skin and leaving a trail of thin red marks. "Hope," I whisper, shaking her gently. I don't care that she's hurting me, I care that she's having a nightmare, a dream that I know she doesn't want to see.
"Hope," I whisper again. Nothing. I shake her a little harder. "Hope!" I yell and she bolts upright, panting with sweat swimming down her skin.
The sobs that wrack her body break my heart and she wraps her arms around her knees, pulling them up to her chest. "It was just a dream," I whisper, rubbing my hand up and down her back.
"It w-was Jeremy," she sobs, burying her head in her knees.
"He's gone, okay?" I say. "He's never going to hurt you again. No one will."
She looks at me and nods her head. Even with puffy red eyes and pale skin she's pretty. Pretty? Beautiful, more like.
"How long have you been up?" she asks, wiping her eyes.
"Not long," I lie. "All night," I want to say. "I couldn't take my eyes off you." I don't say it. I don't want to scare her off.
"You are a worse liar than my mom," she says and then chuckles. "You must be up all night with those bags under your eyes."
"Maybe they aren't from last night. Maybe they were from all the sleepless nights I've being having when I was worried about you," I whisper.
"I'm sorry," she whispers back. "I-I thought he was the right guy, I was wrong."
"Everyone makes mistakes," I reply.
"Thank you," she says.
"For what?" I ask, confused.
"For saving me," she replies.
"You already thanked me," I say and then add, "But if you want to thank me again then go ahead." She laughs and leans forward. I do the same and our sleeps meet… or they nearly do but someone, Finnick, speaks up.
"You're awake!" he nearly yells, jumping to his feet. We both glare at him.
He looks at us and frowns, noticing the way we both have our arms around eachother. Obviously, he doesn't know that he ruined a moment. "Why are you glaring at me?" he asks, confused. Realisation fills his eyes and he grins. "It's about time. If you want to carry on what you were going to do then go ahead… just wait until I'm gone."
"And when will that be?" I ask.
"Umm… when I can walk for more than five minutes," he replies, grinning. "Which will not be soon so please keep the kissing to a minimum."
I like this guy but sometimes he can be really annoying. He limps towards us and then sits down, suddenly looking worried and serious. "How are you feeling?" he asks.
"I feel better than I did yesterday," she replies.
"You look better than you did yesterday, too!" he grins. I laugh.
"Thanks!" Hope squeaks. "Did any cannons go off while I slept?"
"No," I reply. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I mean, it's bad because it will be an innocent kid dead but it's good because it means that we're closer to the end.
"How many are left?" she asks.
"Six," Finnick answers.
"Oh," is all she says. We sit in silence, all of us lost in our thoughts. All I can think about is how Snow is going to want revenge and that he'll want to hurt me. The only way he can do that is by hurting Hope or Finnick. I have a feeling something is going to happen… and soon.
Maybe I should tell Hope or Finnick about Snow's plan and about how he used me. But I don't want Hope to hate me. I'm meant to kill her. What if she thinks I'm just acting and she gets afraid of me? Maybe I should just tell Finnick.
"Is anyone in there?" Hope asks, waving a hand in front of my face.
"What?" I ask, returning to reality.
"I said, 'I'm going to go hunt for a while,' okay?" she says.
"No," I say. "You're not going anywhere on your own."
"I won't go far away and I feel much better, please," she begs.
"And what if something happens?" I ask, frowning.
"Then I will call for my hero," she smiles.
"Hope, I'm serious."
"So am I. I'll be gone half an hour the latest, okay? I'll be fine," she insists.
"You want me to leave so you can have a little privacy?" Finnick speaks up.
"Yes," I say at the same time Hope says, "No."
She sighs. "I'm not a kid, Jesse!"
"You're fifteen, you are! And that's not why I want you to stay!" I snap. I can't just say that something bad might happen to her, can I?
"Then why?" she snaps back. Well this is a good start to our… relationship? That sounds weird. She picks up the bow and sheath of arrows and walks off without waiting for an answer.
"Just let her go," Finnick says when I jump to my feet, ready to go after her. "She needs some time to think."
He's right. Maybe this will be a good time to tell him. So, I do.
It takes about fifteen minutes to tell him everything and by the time I finish he is pale, his eyes large. "Wow," he mutters.
"What do I do?" I sigh, putting my head in my hands.
"First we pack everything up and then go find Hope. Then you're going to tell her," he replies and pats my back.
"How do you think she's going to take it?" I ask. "You know her more than I do."
"There are to ways she can take. She'll either take it like her dad will, calm and okay with it…" he trails off.
"Or?" I press.
"Or she'll take it like her mom would and probably have a right go at you." He looks up at the sky as if there's a camera looking down on us (there probably is) and says, "No offence, Aunt Katniss, but you are kind of scary sometimes."
"Let's hope it's the former," I sigh and stand up. "We better go find her."
We pack up our stuff as quickly as possible and then start walking in the direction she went. She can't have gone far. After a while we both realise that she could've gone further than she said she would. "Do you think we should split up?" Finnick asks. I shrug.
"I don't know. If you get hurt I will never forgive myself," I reply.
"Jesse, you seriously need to start thinking more about yourself than others. I'll be fine," he says.
"Okay," I say and dump a backpack on the ground, "But meet me back here in a while."
"Sure. No, wait. What if a tribute comes and takes the bag?" he asks.
"Good question," I huff.
He looks at our surroundings and then picks up a few twigs off the floor. "What are you doing?" I ask, watching as he makes something on the ground with the sticks.
"I'm making Hope's Mockingjay pin on the ground. If anyone takes the backpack then we'll still know if this is the right place," he says.
"Good idea," I reply. "Be safe."
"You too," he says and then walks off. I do the same but in a different direction.
With every step I take I get more worried. I can't hear anything that hints that she's near by. "Hope!" I yell.
"Ssh!" someone hisses. I spin around, looking for the person. "I'm up here." I look up and find that Hope is sitting on a high branch in a tree.
"We've been looking for you everywhere!" I yell.
"Sorry," she says, innocently. "I lost track of time." She holds up five squirrels attached to her belt. "Mom and dad won't have to buy us anything tonight."
I sigh and smile, knowing I can't be angry with her forever. "Just come down. We need to fine Finnick," I say.
"Okay," she whispers and starts climbing down. I watch her every move, ready to catch her if she falls. I should've known that an experienced hunter like her would never fall.
She reaches the ground and turns to face me. "We better go find little Finny," she says and starts walking. She stops, turns around, takes my hand and then starts walking again. I smile and then remember what Finnick said. I think now would be the best time to tell her.
"Hope, I need to tell-" I'm cut off by a loud groan. The thing is it doesn't sound human… or animal. It sounds like… I don't know what it sounds like.
That is until the ground starts to open up…
Uh oh, what's happening now? Review and I'll update as soon as possible but remember I have other stories so it might take a while. Sorry if there's any mistakes but I wanted to get this up quick. Review!