As I open my eyes I feel a body move under me. It takes me a second to remember what happened last night. I turn my head and see Andre's sleeping form, one arm above his head and the other holding me close. I don't know how I fell about this situation, I mean it wasn't planned it just happened. I was upset and he was there like he always is. Maybe this isn't a bad thing. No, what am I thinking, of course it's a bad thing. I slept with my mentor!
I slowly slide out of his embrace being careful not to wake him up and head into the bathroom. The moment I do I turn the shower on and jump in. I let the water pour over me and pray for everything that happened last night to just wash away down the drain. But of course, life isn't that easy.
Over the running water I hear moving from the bedroom and curse under my breath. I turn the shower off wrap a towel around myself before going back into the bedroom. I catch Andre pulling his pants on and I can't help but admire his toned body. No Maple, you can't think like that!
"Hey" I say quietly. He turned and half smiled at me.
"Hey" he mimics. I walk over to the bed and sit down, not looking away from him as he pulls his shirt on.
"About last night-" I go to say but he cuts me off.
"Don't. I know it shouldn't have happened. You were emotional and I shouldn't have done anything" he says.
"Oh" is all I say. I wasn't expecting that.
"I'm just gonna go. See you on the train" he says before quickly leaving me to myself. The moment the door closes I let out a huge sigh before burying my face in the duvet. How could I have been so stupid. Andre was the only person I could trust here in the Capitol and now I fucked that up. I feel like crying but I push it back and take a few deep breaths before getting dressed. I pull on simple grey jeans with a white tank top and blue short sleeved shirt, all of which were meant to be Andre's so they were a little big for me. I don't bother with shoes because I know that I won't be walking to the train so I leave the apartment and head downstairs where I am ambushed by Merinetta the moment I leave the elevator.
"Where have you been miss?!" she demands and doesn't even give me a chance to reply. "That doesn't matter. What does matter though is that we are on schedule. The car is outside and we will..." I zone out her voice as we walk. I can't get Andre off of my mind. Does this mean anything? Does he have feelings for me? Do I have feelings for him? Will Merinetta ever shut up? These questions all fly around my mind and they make me feel dizzy.
On the way to the train Marinetta talks more about people that she has met since my winning and also people that would love to meet me. She talks about parties that we have been invited too and I just want to punch her, but I restrain myself.
"Did you see Andre?" I cut her off which she does not seem too pleased about.
"Yes I did. He said he will meet us on the train" she replies so I nod in response and she goes on talking again. The car comes to a halt outside the same train, well it looks like the same train, that brought me here. Security are manning the red carpet that has been laid out while men and woman scream my name while they flash their cameras at me.
Just one more fake smile Maple, you can do it the voice in my head says so I take a deep breath and put on my best smile before leaving the car. The sound is just as deafening as last night so I quickly walk to the train door and then turn back to the crowd.
"Goodbye, I will see you again soon" I say but feel like puking the moment the door shuts, leaving me and Merinetta alone.
"Okay dear, we have a long journey ahead of us. Feel free to explore the train and I will see you for lunch" she says before walking away tapping her fingers across some device. My first goal is to find Andre because we need to talk. I search the bedroom compartments of the train but don't find him so I head towards the back of the train. I find myself in a room with a glass like dome, kinda like a snow globe. Sitting on a chair looking out of the back of the train is Andre.
"Andre?" I question and he turns his head towards me. I can see he has been crying and its strange. He has always been the one to see me crying, not the other way around. I pull a chair up next to him and just look at him. I take in all of his features, his strong jaw and his emerald green eyes. His dark hair with shades of grey. His strong arms that held me close every time I would break, his oddly soft lips that knew their way aroun- no Maple, now is not the time.
"Hey" he says after a few seconds.
"Look, about last night" I say and he goes to cut me off but I stop him, " you were right, it shouldn't have happened." This seems to hurt him, "At least not like it did, not while we were both in that state. But it did happen and we need to talk about it and move on because I am going to need to now more than ever..." The words don't seem to stop coming and it takes his embrace to stop me. I don't fight this because we both need it.
"I'm sorry last night happened how it did but I don't regret it Maple, not a single bit" he says and we part a little but still holding onto each other.
"What's does that mean?" I ask. When it comes to relationships I am not the best, far from it actually. I have never had a relationship with a guy.
"It means that I like you Maple, I like you a lot." I can feel my heart rate pick up and blood rushes to my cheeks.
"I would be lying if I say I don't feel the same Andre" I reply, looking into his eyes. "But I have just gotten out of the arena where I had to fight for my life so the last thing on my mind is starting up a relationship." I can see the hurt in his eyes but I also know he understands.
"I know, I know and I understand. Can we just forget about this for now?" he asks and I nod my head before hugging him again. We sit and talk about home for a few hours and I learn a lot about him. He lives in the Victors Village but spends most of his days with his parents at their bakery in town. He has a little sister too named Adelaide or Adi as she likes to be called. I talk to him about Venia and how much she means to me.
We retire to our rooms as the sun sets behind the mountains to the west and as soon as much head hits the pillow I am taken by sleep.
My eyes open to see dirt in front of my face. Quickly I push myself up and spit out the mouthful of dirt. A glimpse of gold catches my attention to the left of me and I turn to see the golden cornucopia that I know all too well. This can't be right. I can't be back. I start to panic and jump up from my position. Then I see them, the bodies. Most of them I don't recognise but laying a few yards away is Oak, his lifeless eyes staring up into the heavens. I shakily make my way over to his body and kneel in front of him.
"I'm sorry Oak" I manage to get out and the tears start falling. I pull his tiny body into mine and bury my head into his hair and just cry. After a few moment I pull back and my eyes widen in horror. It is no longer Oak but Venia.
"No!" I cry out and throw the body away from me. "No, this can't be real. Wake up...WAKE UP!"
"Maple...Maple...Maple wake up."
My eyes shoot up and I throw my fist. I hear Andre cry out as he stumbles back and leads on the floor.
"Shit" I mutter before jumping off the bed and coming to his side, "Andre I am so sorry" I say as I check to see if he is okay.
"It's okay" Andre says as he sits back up, "damn Maple, you have some power" he jokes as he checks his nose which thankfully didn't break. He looks up at me and his eyes narrow, "You're crying" he says and takes my hand.
"Oh, erm...sorry" I mutter before using my free hand to wipe the tears away. "Nightmare" I state before making my way over to the bathroom and soak a cloth before coming back and offering it to Andre. He takes it and presses it to his nose and then we both sit on the bed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks and all I can do is shake my head. I can't even if I wanted too.
"Just tell me, do they ever go away?" I ask, looking into his eyes and pleading for the reply I want but he shakes his head and my spirits fall.
"They don't but you learn to cope with them" he replies. How? How will I ever cope with this? "D'you want me to stay?" he asks after a few minutes of just the train humming.
"Yeah" I reply and we both climb under the sheets. He pulls me into his arms and I don't resist. With my head on his chest, his gentle rhythm of breathing lulls me to sleep.
This is it. We are pulling into the district 7 station and I am a mixture of happy, terrified and tired. Merinetta wasn't happy to find Andre and me in each others arms this morning but honestly I couldn't give a crap what she thinks. She had been on our backs all morning about it too.
"Right, so there will be a lot of the paparazzi out there so big smiles" she says just as the train comes to a halt. We wait for the door to open but nothing happen. "What's going on?" Merinetta says to herself. She reaches forward to press the open button and as soon as the button is pressed an explosion throws me off of my feet and flying backwards. My head hits the window on the other side of the train and black starts to fill my vision as I am pulled under.
A/N: Le Gasp! Bet ya'll wasn't expecting that. Anyway, it has been fun changing up these last few chapters and I hope you all enjoyed them just as much as me.
I would like to shout out to all the people who have stuck with me through this.
We have a lot coming up in 'Strength of a Victor' so stay tuned.
Also go check out BittersweetSympathy as they are looking for tributes for their SYOT.