Lucky for you, I will be writing a longer chapter, and thus, there is more for you to enjoy. I hope that you all will be happy with this. I am working really hard to write awesome chapters, and I hope this one will be one that is interesting, and possibly will change the way you think about Liz and Luke (DEFINETELY LUKE). I am seriously altering thought processes hopefully. Before I forget, I have some awesome opportunities for you to get involved in this story, mostly in contests. But I think some of them will be fun. Here are the ideas I have-
Write a wedding speech for someone in the story. Keep it in character, and have fun. What do you honestly think that that certain person would say?
When you think of Liz and/or Luke (separately, or as a couple), what do you think of? Are they stupid love struck teens? Are they the ultimate power duo? Express what YOU think, because it might be different then the way I have written them.
If you could become one of the characters in this story, who would you be? Why?
Who is your favorite character in this story? Why? Least favorite? Why did you pick that person?
If Luke and Liz couldn't be together anymore, and you got to choose who they ended up with, who would it be? Why?
Ok, that's what I have, and I would love it if you all would participate in these things. You can submit them in a review or over a PM, whatever is easier for you. I would love to have tons of entries for all of these, because you have no idea how much inspiration I get from reading them. TONS! No joke. And also, even if you don't enter any of these contests, I still want a review from each and every one of you. Reviews are amazingly awesome.
Now, I am going to shut up and let you read the chapter. Enjoy!
Luke POV-
I'm not going to lie. Liz was really turning me on right now. Sure, she was drunk, and sure, she wasn't exactly herself, but that didn't stop me from wanting something. Even if she was asleep at the moment, and not even saying anything.
She looked like an angel, with her perfect red lips, and her pale, ageless skin. She looked exactly the way she did the first day I met her. Although in this sleeping state, you would never guess that this girl was the same one that had swore at me with every profanity known to man when I made her late for training. You'd never guess that she was 15. She looked so much younger then that…or older. Or maybe she looked 15. I did say she looked ageless, so I can't really guess how she looked, besides the fact that she was beautiful as ever, and didn't have any hint of sarcasm, or any emotion whatsoever in her face.
Her dress was falling off of her, and for the fiftieth time I pulled it back up around her body. It was a gorgeous dress that Jason had made for her. I wanted to ask him about wedding dresses, but Liz would really need to make the call on that. As far as I knew, she hadn't made any wedding plans yet. And neither had I. Procrastinating seemed to be our specialty.
Anyway, back to the present, and my drunken fiancée. She groaned and sat up next to me from her spot in the limo. She gave me a little half smile, and then lifted a hand to her forehead.
"Are you alright?" I ask.
"Sure. I'm fine." She slurs.
Oh good. She's still on her hangover. I've been there. It's not fun, and I know that it isn't that fun for other people either.
"Go back to sleep. We'll be at your house soon." I say.
She scoots over next to me and lays her head on my shoulder. I wrap a arm around her shoulders as she slumps down against me, asleep yet again. As much as I would want her awake, I can watch her when she's asleep too. And that is perfectly fine with me.
We pull up to her house not 5 minutes later, and I pay the chauffeur, opening the door and gently removing Liz from her entangled embrace on me. After I get myself out of the car, I lift her up into my arms, making sure not to hit her head on the door. I made that mistake with Alice. I made a lot of mistakes with Alice. After she had made many mistakes with many boys, that, like me, had been drunk and wanting something.
I won't even think of that with Liz. She's far too precious to me to take advantage of her, especially when she's drunk and tipsy, and barely able to stand for that matter.
I decide to take her to her parent's house. If she wakes up before I come back to her, she's less likely to do something stupid when her parents are around to see or hear it.
I walk up to the door and knock gently. Its 11pm I notice as I look down at my watch. Still a somewhat reasonable hour to be knocking on someone's door at night.
Clove opens the door, and seems to get the message almost immediately.
"She was drinking, wasn't she?" She asks with a smirk.
"Yes. Honestly, I did too. Neither one of us had to drive, so I drank a beer myself. Everyone at that party was drinking. You really can't blame her. She was happy. She won Prom Queen."
Clove gestures for me to come inside, and I follow her up the stairs to a little bedroom down the hall at the end. As soon as she opens the door, I am confused.
For one thing, the room is pink and black painted walls, with a carpet shaped like a smiley face. Whose room is this?
"Liz's old room." Clove says, going over to the bed and sliding down the blankets and sheets so she could cover up Liz when she went to bed. After I laid her in her bed. I was carrying her. Something I'm sure she would protest about if she were awake.
"This is Liz's room? But…it's so…different….then she is."
"I know. Liz has a very interesting taste in things. She used to like pink when she was little. She was such a happy little girl, even after she started training. Her and her dad would get back from training, and she would laugh when he would pick her up and toss her over his shoulder. She was so small, even as a 6 year old. And he would plop her down on the bed, made up like a little castle for a pretty pink princess. Everything used to be pink, until when she turned 7. That's when her tomboy phase came, and some of the pink was replaced by lime green."
"That's something I didn't know."
"Yeah. Liz has changed a lot from when she was 7. She's changed a lot since she was 14 too." She says, looking at me.
She sits down on the edge of the bed, and I put down Liz behind her.
"You've changed her. You know that?" Clove asks me.
A tear slides down her cheek, and she wipes it away quickly.
"She's changed me too." I reply, trying to make her feel better.
She gives me a smile, and leans over, hugging me. This surprises me extremely. I didn't know that Clove hugged anyone. I had only seen it happen once.
She gets up, and I take it as my cue to tuck Liz in and leave.
I go to the side of the bed and pull the blankets up over Liz as she sleeps. I lean down and gently kiss her forehead. I stand up again and get ready to leave.
"Good night, Mrs. Hirsch. I had a really nice evening with your daughter."
She looks at Liz. The tiara still perched on her head, the dress still on her, and her eyes closed peacefully.
"Why don't you stay, Luke?"
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Yes. I am. You've been responsible, and appropriate, toward Liz, and I can't honestly say that there are a lot of boys in this district that would be so nice. If you would like to stay over, you may."
"Is Cato alright with this?"
"I'll find a way to persuade him." She replies.\
"Alright. If you say so."
Clove leaves the room, and I go over and turn the light off. I shut the door mostly also, leaving it just a crack open. Then I go over to the bed, slide ½ of the covers down, and get into bed next to Liz. I realize how tired I am after all the excitement. I fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow.
Liz POV-
I open my eyes. It's dark in my room, and I love that. It means that it is early morning. Wait. Something isn't right about this. This isn't my house….who's house am I in?
I see the vague outline of a rug on the floor. A smiley rug. I'm in my parents' house. How did I get here?
I hear snoring and realize that I am sleeping in the same bed as someone. I hope and pray that it's Luke, and not some football player. Before I check to see who I am sharing the bed with, I make sure all of my clothes are on. They are which means nothing happened. I have everything I had last night before the party, which is an amazing thing, since I was drunk most of the evening, and I am pretty sure I am still.
My head is throbbing, and I don't feel very good, so I think I still am drunk, or at least I'm getting over a hangover.
My previous question is answered fairly quickly. Luke sits up and rubs his eyes before grabbing me around my waist and pulling me in so I'm nestled in front of him. He pulls the blankets around us, pulling us even closer. Not that I care. It's warm under here with two bodies occupying my bed, and my bed is usually as cold as a polar bear's butt (they existed a REALLY long time ago, so don't strain your brain if you don't know what a polar bear is. (A/N This is in the future, so that's why Liz is talking about polar bears in the past tense. We all know that polar bears are around today)
"Good morning sunshine." He says softly.
"It was a good morning. And then I realized we were going to the Capitol for our post Games interview."
"What's so bad about that? At least this time we get to do it together this time."
"Yeah, and then they'll bring up our past interviews, and what went on in the Arena, and Prom, and they won't stop until we've given them every little detail about everything."
"Or when we die. They would stop when we died."
"No…I think they would keep asking our cold, lifeless corpses questions until they find the information." I reply, earning a nice laugh from Luke. And a baby just learned how to walk. That is how positive that laugh was.
"I love you." He says, kissing me on the lips viciously. I flip over to face him and keep kissing him. I let go, sitting up and noticing my Prom dress is still on.
"I'm going to change and get this makeup off." I say.
"Don't leave me hanging here! We were kissing." He screams.
My house is laid out the same way as my parent's house, so the bathroom is right off the bedroom. I walk in and look in the mirror. My lips are still red, and my eyes are still shadowed to perfection, but I need to get it off so my skin can breathe a little before my stylists and prep team start with all new stuff.
With a heavy heart, and disappointment blooming everywhere, I put some makeup remover on a cotton ball and start wiping off the makeup. Slowly, it comes off cleanly, leaving my face plain and ordinary once again.
My hair is still up in a bun, and I carefully undo the clips and things holding it all up. It flops down and lies there limply; slightly curly and twisted around since it was up all night.
I look at my reflection once more, just to make sure that I didn't spontaneously get blonde hair, and I'm also checking for hickies. Nothing. Sheer perfection. Nothing to hide.
I finally come out of the bathroom, just happening not to have clothes on. I should have brought something in with me before taking off the dress, the only thing I was wearing.
I walk over to the dresser, where I know my mom left some of my clothes. What I find is a pair of pink tights, a black skirt, a white ruffled top, and a pair of Mary Jane's.
I have no other options, so I pull it on as Luke looks at me with that same goofy smile as usual.
"What are you starting at?" I giggle.
"Someone beautiful."
I blush and keep yanking up my tights so they don't get baggy anywhere. Finally I am satisfied, and I go back over to the bed.
Luke is still in his Prom attire. He took off his jacket, leaving him wearing a white shirt, black pants, and his dress shoes.
"Where are you living while you're here?" I ask him.
"A house down toward the square."
"Ok. Do you want to go there and get changed? I know I am getting myself back to my normal self and going back to my house. It's weird being here knowing I have my own house right next door." I reply.
"Sure. Meet you back at your house at 11am. That's when everybody is meeting up to go to the train station, and then we go to the Capitol."
"What time is it now?"
He looks down at his wrist watch.
"7am."
"Meet you then."
He gets up from his spot on the bed, plants one last kiss on my lips, and we head out of the house. He goes left, I go right. Is it bad that I am literally missing him already? I want more kisses….
It's official. I've come down with love sickness.
I go right inside my house and up to my room. To my surprise, Gale is sitting at my desk, bent over a piece of paper.
"What are you doing?" I ask calmly.
I've gotten better at not screaming at him when he's in my room.
"Sorry. I'm just writing a letter. That's all."
"Am I allowed to ask who this letter is for?"
"Yes. And it's for Madge."
"She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"
"Yes. And….my fiancée."
"You're getting married to her?"
"Probably." He says sadly.
"Then why is that so bad? You love her, and she's obviously crazy about you. Getting married is good."
"That's what you would think. Liz, your 14. And I'm not expecting you to know everything, but I am sure that you heard Katniss and me a few weeks ago."
"It was kind of impossible not to hear you." I murmur.
"Well….can you keep a secret?"
"Of course. Always." I say. I actually suck at keeping secrets, but this is a chance for me to get something on Gale instead of the other way around.
"I love Katniss." He says softly.
"But…she's married. With a son. Who is getting married to me. You…"
"I know that. But I have always loved her. She was my best friend, and she was who I wanted to marry. I left for District 5, and she stayed in District 13 for a little while. Then she came back to 12, and from there you know the story."
"Gale….I don't even know what to say."
"Good. Because I didn't want your input." He growls.
"Your jealous of Peeta….aren't you? That's why you aren't around when he's here. Or your pissed the entire time he's here."
"I am not!"
"Ha. Your upset because Katniss chose him instead of you, and had a child with him instead of you too."
"Don't mention that foul little brat to me."
"That foul little brat, as you call him, happens to be my fiancée."
"And I feel extremely sorry for you."
"I don't. Because Luke is wonderful. His father is wonderful. And his mom is right for choosing love and connection instead of friendship and abandonment, which is what you would give her."
"I didn't abandon her! I had to go. President Coin told me to go to District 5. She's the president! I can't just say no."
"And that is what you would have to say to be with Katniss right now. If you didn't leave, she would still be with you. Maybe. If I were her, I would have chosen Peeta too."
He comes at me, pushing me against a wall with his hand around my neck. He clenches his jaw and slowly, ever so slowly, starts to add pressure. I can feel the oxygen leave my body, and I can't breathe.
"This is how you torture people here, isn't it? Slowly. Painfully. That's what I'm doing, little miss smart ass. And I don't care whether your parents are paying me to protect you. There's no way to delay what's going to happen to you. You're going to die, whether I help you or not. Miklisho Macoll will come up to you with a weapon, and kill you. And I'll make it seem like an accident. Enough said. But you know what? I am in a good mood today, so I will give you a choice. You can die here, and now. Or you can make me a deal."
"What…deal…?" I choke out.
"Kill Peeta. Then you can live."
"I'd….rather die…" I gasp.
The pressure grows a little bit stronger, and there's less air….I can't even gasp now. Gale's grasp on my neck is too tight. He pushes me up against the wall a little harder. I see red and black splotches dance across my vision as my eyes roll back in my head from the intense pain. So this is what death will feel like.
I hear the door to my house open, and Gale immediately let's me go. I crumple to the floor.
"It's my word against yours. Say anything, and I will kill you. And Luke. And everyone you care about. I swear on my status as a soldier, I will do it."
I hesitantly get up from the floor.
"Get out. I'm changing my clothes and I don't want you creeping on me."
He glares at me and walks out.
I go straight into my bathroom, examining myself in the mirror. I can see the angry red marks all over my neck. It looks like someone abused me, which is the truth. I take out some Capitol concealer from the cabinet and smear it around until my skin looks normal again. Or as close to normal as I could make it. It's still a bit too dark for my normal skin, but maybe when I am able to catch my breath I'll get less pale.
"Liz?" Luke calls to me.
"Coming. Hold on one second."
I quickly examine myself one more time, and then I leave the comfort of my bathroom. Luke is lying on my bed, head on his elbows.
"Hey." He starts off.
"What's up?"
"Nothing yet."
I look at my clock. It's only 9am. We still have 2 hours.
"We still have 2 hours." I say to him.
"I thought we were meeting at 11."
"Yeah, but I got bored."
"I can't fix your boredom. I'm not that entertaining."
"There are ways to fix boredom."
He swings himself off the bed and goes over to my dresser. He opens the drawer second to the bottom, and pulls out a box of condoms.
"No." I say.
"We don't have to wait."
"I'm not ready."
"You've been saying that for months now. I know we agreed on our honeymoon, but its close enough. Please…."
"I can't. I won't. I'm not going to be in pain when we go to the Capitol and talk with Caesar."
"And I don't want you to be in pain. But I will be gentle. So gentle you won't even notice that much. Please….."
"Ask me later."
"And your answer will change?" He asks hopefully.
"Maybe it will and maybe it won't."
"You seem mad." He states.
"Just because I won't have sex with you, you automatically assume that I'm mad?"
"Mmhmm. You promised me last night…"
"I did not." I say.
"No, you didn't. I know. Our honeymoon is fine. I promise, I won't ask again. I just wanted to be like Miklisho for half a minute."
"I see. That was very much like Miklisho."
"Now you act like Alice." He says.
"I refuse." I say, turning away from him.
"Oh come on Liz…..play the game."
"And what do you suggest I do?" I ask, walking over toward Luke.
I put my knees on the bed and lean forward, catching my arms around Luke's neck. I slowly lean forward a little more, forcing Luke backward onto the bed (A/N they are not having sex. Don't get your hopes up! Ha ha. Like you would. I know you wouldn't). I kiss him, and he flips me over onto my back. I force myself into a sitting position, and he matches it, kissing me all the while. Somehow I manage to lie on top of Luke and kiss him.
"Your shirts a little low there." He says.
"I don't care." I say, kissing him yet again.
The door opens again and I leap off Luke with gymnast like agility.
"That would be my mother." I say.
"Want me to go downstairs and distract her so you can get changed?"
"Yes please." I exclaim, already rifling through my dresser looking for something…normal.
20 minutes later I have gotten myself some much more acceptable clothing. My legs are bare, and I am wearing a black swish skirt with a chiffon black top over a white low-cut tank top. I am wearing my awesome brown boots Effie brought me for Prom. They look amazing. I somehow manage to brush my hair straight…ish, and I put it back in a headband. Then I shove about a week's worth of clothes into my suitcase and head downstairs, easily managing to carry the thing this time.
Until I nearly trip down the stairs.
"Liz, be careful." Luke scolds, coming up the stairs and trying to take my bag.
"I'm fine Luke. Perfectly fine."
I walk down the rest of the steps and find both of my parents and Effie and Haymitch in the living room, all tuned in to Capitol Times with Valetta Stone.
"And later on tonight, the 88th Hunger Games victors Elizabeth Hirsch and Luke Mellark will be on with Caesar Flickerman. Tune in folks! You are not going to want to miss this."
Effie squeals and I roll my eyes.
"Well, we have a train to catch. Everybody have their suitcases packed?"
I nod, and everyone else does too, so we all leave and walk to the train station, since it isn't too far away. Everyone we pass wishes us luck, and I genuinely smile. I look down at my hand. The pink diamond of my ring glistens in the sunlight as I pull my suitcase, wheeling it down the sidewalk.
We reach he train station fairly quickly and only then do I start to get nervous. Only then do I start to wonder if something bad will happen, or if the Capitol still likes Luke and I the same way they did before we went into the Games. I wonder if President Snow will believe that Luke and I are in love now. I don't want to know what the consequences are if he doesn't believe us.
"We're going to be fine." Luke says, as though he can read my mind.
I give him a brave smile, and we climb onto the train.
"We'll be there in about 3 hours. Go and do what you want." Effie says.
I don't need to be told twice. I go to a compartment and put my suitcase down on the bed, falling back and looking up at the ceiling. A groan escapes my lips, and I close my eyes.
I hear a knock on the door. Much to hard to be Luke. I ignore it and continue to lay there with my eyes closed, not wanting to do anything.
A hear the door creak open and I lay there, still ignoring everything.
I even keep my eyes shut as the bed moves slightly, and someone lays down next to me.
I slowly open my eyes, and see Luke.
"I was thinking of going to watch our parents Hunger Games. Would you like to come and watch with me?"
"No thanks. I think I'll have to take a rain check on that one."
"What? Come on Liz. You love watching the Hunger Games. There's blood….and you get to watch people die….I know you like watching that."
I roll over onto my stomach and lay my head on my arms, facing him.
"Am I a bad person Luke? A good person wouldn't like the Hunger Games."
"But someone from District 2 would. It's natural, and it's the way you were raised. You're a good person, and you always will be."
"But…I know I'm not a good person. At least, I am not a good girl. I smoke. I drink. I party until the early hours of the morning. And I don't even know if I'm a virgin."
"if it makes you feel better, I don't either. I think I am, but I have gotten drunk before, and Alice was with me when I woke up. I didn't know what had gone down, and she wouldn't tell me. You're a good person for worrying about that kind of stuff. If you were bad you wouldn't care."
I lay my face down against a pillow.
"Why the sudden personality doubt?"
"I want to be a good person. But I don't know what good is. If you ask my parents, it's what they are. Killers. Monsters. Murderers. But if you look at your parents, that is what I see as a good person. And I'm not either one of them….which makes me bad."
"If you were bad I wouldn't have allied with you in the Games, and I wouldn't have followed you that first day we met."
"You mean that?"
"Every word of it."
He lifts my chin gently and kisses me so softly. His lips part slowly, and he smiles at me.
"Do you know how long you've been laying here?" He asks.
"No. How long?"
"2 hours. We need to get ready for our appearance."
"I don't want to go." I say calmly.
"But you have to. So let's get it over with. Ok? We'll be there together. I won't let anything bad happen to you. No matter how bad things seem, things will always be ok, and we will always be safe. I will keep you safe, until me dying day."
I hesitantly get out of bed and we walk down to the compartment that I smell smoke coming from. That is probably Vilnius and Argentina.
As I go into the room, I see that it is true. They are smoking, but for once they aren't kissing. Tari stands on the other side of Vilnius, looking at both of them with a smirk on her face.
"Come on Argentina." Vilnius says.
Argentina continues to give him the silent treatment, as she usually does with everyone.
"Just because I put my tongue in your boyfriends mouth does not mean you have the right to be mad at me." Tari says to her.
And I know that today will most certainly not be fun. Luke might be there, but I am not going to have fun in the Capitol tonight.
It's official! That is my longest chapter EVER. And I am so proud of myself. Please review and participate in the things up above. I would love to hear from you. Dead serious. Please please please please please PLEASE review, and if it's easier to send me things over PM, DO THAT! I check my reviews and PM's REGUALRLY, AND VERY OFTEN. So please, I am begging you, get involved. I know there are more fans of this story than there are showing themselves. I will update as soon as I can. Thanks so much for all the support.