Chapter 3
New Year

The air hadn't been breathable in Haymitch's house since Hazelle's days.

Katniss zigzagged between bundles of dirty clothes, shattered glass and pools of liquor, her foot clanked into a bottle, sending it rolling over the dust bunnies and she crouched by the hearth to make a fire and keep Haymitch from catching his death in here.

The phone which had been heard on and off across the Victor's Village for the past hour started ringing again by the time a flame danced up from the coals and she heard a groan from behind.

She turned seeing Haymitch on the couch, a flowery sofa cushion bleached from years in the sun, pressed over his head.

"You know it helps if you answer it," she said.

Another groan and Katniss got to her feet and pulled the cushion away revealing a face that would make a less prepared person jump back.

"Morning Haymitch," she said, watching Haymitch's red-rimmed eyes squint up at her, just as the phone silenced again and they heard Peeta's voice.

"Well, hi, Effie. How are you?"

Haymitch sat up and despite the pounding inside his skull he waved both arms at Peeta like someone trying to keep from being run down by a car.

"Sure, he's here," the boy said, looking amusedly back at Haymitch, handing the phone over to him.

"What?" Haymitch said into the receiver, hearing Katniss and Peeta close the door after themselves when they left.

"Is that a way to answer the phone?" said Effie. "You ought to at least say hello when you pick up."

Haymitch grunted and reached for one of the bottles on the coffee table, trying to snap the seal while cradling the phone between his neck and shoulder.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I wanted to…"

The phone clanked against the empties by his feet when he dropped it.

"Haymitch?" he heard Effie's voice on the floor.

He opened his bottle and swallowed a mouthful, spitting into a clean spot on a soiled shirt, ridding some of the foul taste in his mouth.

"Haymitch? Are you there?"

He grabbed the phone from the floor.

"What?"

"Have you been drinking?" she asked and Haymitch would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been so hangover.

"No, I just got back from my morning run," he said. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to wish you a merry Christmas."

"Christmas's over, sweetheart."

"I know, but you didn't answer when I called yesterday. Did you enjoy yourself?"

Haymitch rubbed his fingers over his eyes. He didn't even remember much of yesterday. Katniss and Peeta used to make him join them for Christmas, but they couldn't carry him out on a stretcher. That's what he told Effie and she sucked in a breath.

"How could you not have celebrated Christmas, Haymitch? That's the most depressing thing I've ever heard. Christmas is supposed to be celebrated with friends and family…"

"Can't say I have either of those, sweetheart."

"Of course you do. What about Katniss and Peeta? What about me?"

"Wow. So we're friends now?"

"Of course we are. It's really hurtful you're even questioning it. And you do plan on celebrating New Year's Eve at least?"

"Why?"

"Why ever not? People in District 12 celebrate New Year's, don't they? And I don't want to think about you being drunk and alone in your house on such a day. That would completely upset my digestion."

"We'll see," said Haymitch, bringing the bottle to his lips.

xXx

Effie must have been very keen on having an undisturbed digestion because within a day she'd gone and invited herself to the Victor's Village for New Year's.

She claimed it was Peeta who invited her, but it was gate crashing nonetheless. That's what Haymitch told her when the train pulled into the snowy station and Effie took his arm, smiling sunnily at him.

"But think how nice it will be," she said and seemed to have forgotten all about their disastrous Capitol weekend. "The four of us all together, welcoming a brand new year."

She kept talking with him about this and that on their way to the Victor's Village while curiously looking around, as she'd never seen District 12 during the festive seasons.

When Christmas arrived at the Capitol they had the trees decorated with twinkling lights, spotlights showered many of the buildings in different colorful patterns, always changing.

A gigantic Christmas tree was put up on Heaven's Square, studded with more lights, thick silver tinsels and icicles. And if you wanted to escape the cold after a long day out you could always go drink hot chocolate or toddy at one of the many coffee houses or eat roasted chestnuts or burnt almonds from street stalls, making your breath all hot and sugary.

The city was never really still, never really quiet and she'd often fallen asleep to the sound of people caroling on the streets ever since she was a little girl.

Here there were sheaves of wheat fastened to poles outside many of the houses with mockingjays hoping about, chirping and picking, the snowy ground sprinkled with yellow seeds. There were snowmen and heaps of snowballs glowing from within in people's gardens and mats of fir twigs on their doorstep, to scrape your shoes clean before entering probably. And so all the snow. On the roofs, the trees, the meadows. White as far as the eye could see.

Smoke was rising from the chimneys when they arrived at the Victor's Village. From Haymitch's house too, but Effie didn't notice that until she was about to knock on the children's door, realizing Haymitch was by his own home.

"Katniss and Peeta," she began.

"They're at the bakery," he said and went inside, taking the bag she made him carry for her with him.

He bet she was forming a comment in her mind about his poor standard of living while crossing the space between the two houses and he heard her gasp when she entered.

"What, sweetheart?"

"It's just… so…"

"Clean?"

Effie stared around the kitchen. The chattered glass was gone, the floor lighter than she'd ever seen it, the kitchen sink shining in the sunlight. Clean curtains were put up before clean windows, a fresh cloth spread over the table.

"However did you manage to get this place so nice?" Effie mumbled. "It's so welcoming and cozy." She smiled at Haymitch. "Did you do all of this for me?"

"Under penalty of death by Peeta."

There was even a Christmas tree in a corner, under-furnished but decorated with candy canes and apples on string, frilly paper angels and pinecones. She admired it for a long time.

"Did you and Katniss and Peeta decorate it together?" she asked and Haymitch could hear on her voice how much she liked that thought.

"Mm."

"You know what we should do?" she said and Haymitch frowned when he heard the eagerness in her voice. "We should throw a big New Year's dinner party here and everyone would see what a lov…"

The exhausted expression on his face cut Effie off. She was silent for a long moment, perhaps remembering Haymitch on the run from his birthday.

"What if …", she said slowly, "it's just us? And… maybe the Hawthorne family?"

"They're in Two."

Haymitch sank down on the couch and Effie took a seat across from him, sitting like a queen in his armchair where the stuffing showed here and there.

"It's a wonderful day," she said. "We should not waste it. I could show you my new winter outfits or we could go into town or how about a nice cup of tea?"

"Nope," said Haymitch, his stomach churning at the very thought of the stuff Effie called tea. "You decided everything we did in the Capitol, Effs, so I get to choose what we'll do here."

"OK. Fair enough. What do you want to do then? And remember, Haymitch," she added quickly. "I never meant for you to fall on the ice or get lost in the park so you don't have to choose the thing you hope I'll hate the most just for revenge."

Haymitch raised his eyebrows at her.

"I was gonna suggest we go join the kids and you'll see the bakery. But now that you mention it, we will go… hiking," he said, uttering the first thing that came to mind.

"Hiking?" said Effie, in disbelief.

"Hiking," nodded Haymitch. "We'll have ourselves a good and nice day, enjoying nature. Livin' in the moment. You're into that kind of nonsense, aren't ya?"

"Since when do you move your butt willingly?" Effie asked with a wrinkled forehead. "And we can't go out in the woods today! Have you seen how much snow it is? No, no, that's out of the question."

"That's sad," said Haymitch with a sigh. "Alright. Not much left for me to do then 'cept getting drunk, I guess."

A crease appeared between Effie's eyebrows.

"There's absolutely no need for you to drink, Haymitch."

"Well, I wanted to go get some fresh air and maybe enjoy a cup of joe with you but I guess I'll have to make do with the booze."

He got up from the sofa and when he returned from the kitchen he brought with him a bottle of white liquor and a glass.

"Why can't we just take a nice long walk down the road? What do you want to go hiking for?" Effie asked.

"Don't wanna go hiking," Haymitch said. "I want a drink."

He made a point of pouring the liquor into the glass. All the way to the top. Emptied the lot right in front of her causing Effie to frown even more. He refilled the glass and raised it to her in salute, making satisfied noises as he drank. Then he tipped the bottle up again and,

"Stop!" Effie said, hand on his arm. "Stop drinking! I'll go with you if it's so important." She huffed in irritation for rising to his provocation. "At least you get to see my newest winter outfit. It's spectacular! I had it especially made for the cold winters here."

He showed Effie to her room upstairs and then he had to wait almost an hour for her to get ready. By the time she finally showed, a light but definite snow had begun outside.

Haymitch rolled his eyes at the sight of her.

"It's the latest in fashion!" she said, throwing her arms out.

Of course it is, he thought. Because like everything in Effie's wardrobe, the oddly shaped cross between a dress and a snowsuit that she wore now looked more decorative than functional; not suited for a Twelve winter by a long shot.

"Better ask Katniss if you can borrow her snowsuit", he said.

"What for? I'm already wearing this."

"You'll freeze your lil' ass off."

"I'm perfectly equipped, Haymitch. What's going to be really interesting is watching you hike."

"Suit yourself," said Haymitch. He was never one to waste breath on Effie when she insisted on being a fool. "Just don't get all whiny on me when you've lost a toe or two."

It really was quite cold Effie noticed when they got outside. It wasn't just snowing. It was windy too, pinching both your nose and cheeks. But she told herself she'd warm up as they walked and followed in Haymitch's tracks without complaint.

"Where are we going exactly?" she asked once they were surrounded by trees on all sides.

"You want it written down on a clipboard or something?" Haymitch called over his shoulder. "Hiking's just walking with sturdier clothes on. Well, some of us," he added. "And there's no place we need to be so just relax, why don't ya?"

"It's, it's too much snow," Effie said, already getting behindhand. "Hold on!"

Haymitch held on. Effie joined him her, with cheeks already reddened by the cold and the sleet and the effort of walking in snow that reached her mid-calf. She looked at her wristwatch and said, out of breath,

"Well, that was a nice little walk. I don't know about you, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. What do you say we head back and brew ourselves a nice cup of …"

"Seriously, Eff? We just left the house. What are you, a wuss?"

"That's no way to speak to a lady! Don't you call me names! Manners!" She huffed a breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this even safe? There's no signs or anything. Do you know these woods?"

"Better than you."

Already starting to regret this whim, Haymitch headed on without another word and Effie walked in the footsteps he plowed up. The snow was coming down in earnest now. Even though he was taller than her, with longer legs, Haymitch felt himself getting a little winded himself, as they crossed the space right were the fence used to go.

The trees were clothed in white after the great snowfalls of the last few days. You could see the sun but it was dim, like a lamp behind a shower curtain and the silence was only broken by the whistling wind. The occasional flap of birdwing and…

"I'm cold!" Effie called, several steps behind again. "I'm really cold, Haymitch. What if I get pneumonia? What then?"

"Well, it'll be one less whiny bitch in the world, I'd say," Haymitch shouted over his shoulder.

"That's very hurtful!" Effie shouted back. "Very!"

Haymitch didn't response. He just kept walking deeper into the wild and, despite her complaints, Effie followed in his tracks. It was a beautiful winter day really, or it would have been if not for this insane snowfall that stuck to you and filled your eyes and the gusts of wind knocking you this way and that.

"Waait!"

Haymitch sighed and stopped, to let Effie catch up. And for himself to catch his breath. Sweat was trickling down his back, but his face was ice cold. He shook his body like a dog to get some of that snow off but there was just more coming on.

"My hands, they hurt," Effie said, clutching them. She looked about as cosy as a frozen turkey. "I've got snow in my shoes. I can't feel my ancles. What if I do lose a toe? Do you really want that on your conscience?"

The wind blew more ice crystals in their faces and Effie whimpered, shoulders up to her ears.

"I'm hungry. I'm tired. And I've already travelled all day! You could at least let me settle in first. Made me some tea with honey and spices and maybe some of Peeta's rolls with strawberry jam. Sitting by the fire together, having a nice conversation. Why, why are we plodding through the snow right now going absolutely nowhere? Oh, I know! It's because you're so petty you want to get back at me for that Capitol fiasco of mine. That's all! You want me to be sorry? Fine! I'm sorry!" Then, as if getting a brilliant lightbulb idea, she added in an eager voice, "In the Capitol we have sightseeings. Hovertrains which take you around the mountains. My mountains! We could do that? Next time. We'll go back to the Victor's Village now and then, the next time you visit…"

"You give up so easily, sweetheart," Haymitch snarled. "The Effie Trinket can't handle a little snow?"

"Little snow," muttered Effie surly.

OK, a lot of snow, thought Haymitch. It was getting colder too. More windy.

This meant him losing but yeah: Probably for the best he didn't pull her deeper into the wild.

"Alright, alright. Fuck this shit."

"Language," Effie said but with an undeniable spring in her step when she followed in his wake as he turned, heading back toward the Victor's Village and Twelve.

Only where was Twelve?

Haymitch wiped the snow from his eyes, squinting ahead. Looking for any familiar landmarks.

"The fuck? Where am I?"

"That's not funny!" Effie cried, right at his heal. "Not funny in the least! Now take me home!"

The snow hit them mercilessly, making it almost impossible to keep your eyes open. They staggered on as Haymitch tried to follow their tracks back but their footprints were already getting erased.

"I truly hope – for your sake – you know where we are, Haymitch?"

"Ever heard the words pain and ass put into a sentence, Eff?"

"Just concentrate on getting us back!"

But that wasn't as easy a task anymore. They couldn't be far out but what little he could see through the snow was just the woods. Shit. No rooftops. No lights. Nothing but the trees and the whiteness that pained you face.

This is bad.

"Where are we? I can't see where we are." The annoyance had left Effie's voice, revealing the fright underneath. He heard her whimper, reminding him of the fact that if he felt cold, it was nothing compared to Effie, dressed as she was in that idiotic get-up.

"It's just a bit further," he said.

It must be. He'd go insane if it wasn't. If each step he took just brought her deeper and deeper into the wilderness. Why the fuck did he take them out hiking? What a royally stupid idea!

He rubbed his hand over his eyes, trudging ahead. Adding minute to minute. He tried to walk on top of the snow but he almost always sunk deep. It felt like swimming in molasses and he gasped for breath. The wind seemed to suck the very oxygen out of the air.

"Just keep going," he called, having to shout to be heard. But he was talking to thin air because Effie was not beside him anymore. Having fallen behind again no doubt. "Eff?" he shouted. "Eff?" And for the first time since all of this had happened he felt the first real stab of fear. "Effie? Eff!"

He turned around in a circle. Looking everywhere. Seeing only snow and those thick frozen tree trunks.

"Sweetheart!" he shouted but the wind stole most of his voice. "Princess, where are you?"

His heart pounded in his chest, filling every bit of him with adrenaline as he walked ahead, looking for her.

"Effs, come on, stop fucking around!"

No reply. Or if there was, it was drowned out by the storm. He was following no path at all now. Just lunged ahead, going nowhere. Just looking for her. Her colors. Trying to remember what colors they were.

Then, up ahead … Haymitch squinted. Wiped his face and then some. A cold hand clutched his heart at the sight, making it hard to breathe. A heap of snow, just ahead. As if someone had passed from the cold, collapsed and …

"Effie!" He leapt forward. Sunk to his knees as he dug his hands in, shoveling the snow away by the armfuls. "Effs, hold on. Hold on!"

"What on earth are you doing?"

He whipped his head around so fast, his neck all but cracked.

Behind him stood Effie. Covered in white from head to toe like a snowman. She shielded her eyes with her hand, staring at him crouched on the ground.

Haymitch's eyes flung to the heap in front of him, then at Effie, then back again.

"I thought I … I thought you …"

Flushed with anger that replaced the initial relief he staggered to his feet. He wiped his hands off in agitation and was by Effie's side in less than two seconds.

"Don't wander off like that, damn it! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I didn't wander off," Effie objected. "You walk too fast. I already told you…"

"We have to stay together, for fuck's sake!" He grabbed her by the hand to pull her along. Didn't mean to be so rough, but Effie yelped out when she staggered a step forward. He grunted something and held her gentler but still firmly, as if afraid she'd be taken right out of his hand. Blown away with the wind.

They kept trudging forward, hand in hand, like a pair of lost children as the wind squeezed tears from their eyes.

But like twenty minutes in, the snowfall calmed some. At least enough to allow you to spot the sky somewhat and the way up ahead more than just a few feet.

"Look," Effie pointed, moments before he saw it himself.

Lights. Tiny lights, but there. The Victor's Village. Katniss and Peeta's house.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Effie said, squeezing his hand. "We're saved! Oh, heavens, I'm not going to die in the snow with you after all! I'm so relieved!"

xXx

Dressed in robes and slippers, Haymitch carried a tray of teacups, sugar and cream into the living room. There, Effie had already made herself comfortable in one of the armchairs pulled up to his fire burning on the hearth. She was dressed in a similar robe but keeping her feet in a makeshift footbath made from a bucket.

Hands outstretched, she warmed her swollen, red fingers close by the playful flames.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Haymitch warned. "I really wouldn't."

"Why? I won't burn myself," Effie said. "It's heaven! You should try it! No need to be such a mother hen all the time."

"Fine," Haymitch said, but he had no sooner set the tray on the side table between them before Effie whipped her hands back with a small gasp, as if she had in fact burnt herself on those flames.

"Ow …", she said in consternation. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, oooow!"

Without a word or even a mocking "told you", Haymitch caught one of her flinging hands in his. Then the other. Sitting down in the opposite armchair, he gently massaged her red fingers and palms, in turn.

"Don't they teach you anything in that so called school of yours?" he asked.

Effie allowed herself a half-smile.

"Well, at least these things don't happen in my town. And even if they did, I could've always taken you to the Caldarium afterward."

"K. What's that? A torture chamber?"

"Our bathhouse. It's divine."

"Well, I'll take a bath with ya right here," Haymitch said, nodding toward his own bathroom. "If you ask nicely."

"Ha-ha." Effie followed the movements of his hands as he continuously got some circulation back into her frozen fingers. "It's something of a spa" she told him. "Jacuzzis in five different sizes. Warm, fragrant water full of bubbles, hot steaming saunas, full body massages with oil or honey or melted chocolate."

"Chocolate, huh?"

"Yes." It came out like a sigh.

"What good is that? Sounds wasteful to me."

"It's refreshing. Beneficial for the skin too."

"And here I thought you guys only use that for the bedroom."

"I never use melted chocolate in the bedroom," Effie said. "Too messy."

"There's a better alternative?"

"Well, I … Oh, hush."

Haymitch grinned and Effie drew a deep, content little breath.

"What a day. I am never going out in the woods ever again." She met his gaze, a playful glint in those gorgeous blues. "I should have known better than making friends with people whose roads aren't asphalted." Then she grew serious. "Don't lose me like that again. Okay?"

Haymitch gave a slight shake of his head, re-focused on her hands.

"Never", he said. "Can't. You stick like glue."

xXx

The following days went by more or less peacefully over at the kids' house, with only Effie bustling about going over the menu for their New Year's dinner and decorations.
Haymitch was mostly in the way but he went into town when they needed stuff and then he played chess with Peeta watching Effie flit about the rooms in full escort mode. It was just the clipboard that was missing.

They spent one afternoon, well into the night dipping candles. They sat at the kitchen table making pomander balls by sticking cloves into oranges hanging them up by bright red ribbons in the windows so its fresh scent could fill the rooms.

And when New Year's Day arrived crisp and cold, she forced Haymitch to sweep the floor and make paths between the houses with the sun glittering off his shovel and the icicles hanging from the rain gutters.

But he'd had worse dinners, he'd give her that. Even if he had to wash the food down with lemonade after she managed to bribe him into a sober New Year's by promising eight bottles of his favorite Capitol whiskey when she returned home.

They spread the table with a fresh cloth and laden it with plates of wild turkey and rice cooked together in a thick sauce with carrots and cream and almonds. Most of dinner Haymitch and Peeta sat trying not to choke on their food, listening to Effie's hilarious small talk with Katniss.

"I must say, Haymitch," Effie smiled, half-through. "I'm having a really nice time."

"You sound surprised, sweetheart."

"Oh, no. I've always been convinced you must have nice moments in District 12 too. And see, I was right!" she beamed, reaching for the jug, refilling his glass.

"Glad to hear it," said Haymitch, leaning back in his chair. "Cause you know how it ends, don't ya?"

"With a new year?" said Effie, who had already turned her focus on Katniss and Peeta. "Would you like some more lemonade, dear ones?"

"Stroke of midnight will be at the Hob," said Haymitch and Peeta's glass spilled over its edges.

As long as any of them could remember, the people in the Seam joined together at the Hob on New Year's, where the fire and company, booze and the warmth of a cup of broth could almost make you forget just how miserable your life was, if only for a moment. It'd been a Seam thing when the building was still located there, not far from where Haymitch's old house had been, but after they rebuilt the Hob closer in town it turned into something of a tradition for the whole district.

Effie was nervous, despite her great efforts to hide it. He could tell just by the way she clutched his arm on their slow walk into town. And who could blame her? He wondered if she'd ever really talked to anyone in Twelve apart from them and the mayor when not standing on the stage at the reaping. But everyone already knew she was back and if she was going to keep coming back, might as well make it official.

Effie shivered, looking enviously at Haymitch's sturdy jacket. It was so quiet, she swore she could hear his heartbeat. The road glittered in the moonlight, the night sky stretching out endlessly above them. She'd never really paid proper attention to the stars until her return in District 12 after the war.

You could never see them from the Capitol – although they did have starlight installations in some areas on special occasions – and whenever she'd been on the train in the late hours during the Games her eyes had so often been glued to her clipboard. But the starry sky above them now twinkled and glittered in a way that would put even the most excellent jeweler to shame.

People looked their way when Effie entered the Hob with Haymitch and Katniss and Peeta but it was mostly looks of mild interest, if none at all, before people returned to their drinks and food and conversations.

Place was full of people standing in groups or sitting by the tables or being squeezed together on the sofa. Some of the children sat on the rug in front of the fireplace, sharing an orange from one of the many bowls around the room. The flames on the hearth reflected itself in their eyes.

She was called Greasy Sae, the woman running the eatery – such a peculiar name – and when she wasn't taking people's food orders she talked with Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch; the sound of more people at her back, working in the kitchen.

It was strange watching Haymitch on Hob ground. There was an air of mutual respect between the people here, Effie noticed. Of knowing where you had each other. And even if Haymitch still wasn't very sociable he talked more than he'd ever done over at her place and the slightly hostile look on his face was gone.

Bristel and Thom, Gale's old crew mates, soon joined them along with a girl and a boy with identical yellow hair and they spent most of the night talking with them and with Greasy Sae.

"She's so fond of you," Effie said when she got a moment alone with Haymitch. "Mrs. Sae. Have you been friends with her for long?"

Haymitch nodded.

"She delivered me."

A startled look crossed Effie's face so Haymitch told her about the old days when Katniss's grandparents were still in charge over the apothecary. They were the closest to doctors the people of Twelve had, but Sae had always been the midwife. Since she was but a girl herself. Same as her mother who taught her everything she knew.

Before the end of the war, Sae always arrived with her little bag whenever a woman was close to her time. Seam and town's people alike hired her. The old woman was known for her safe expertise and gentle hands and not even the richest most Seam-stuckup in town had anything negative to say about her.

Effie listened to his story without interrupting him and an image flooded her mind of a tiny baby Haymitch with huge gray eyes and cute little fingers and toes and not a scowl on his face. She smiled, just as Thom returned from Ripper's counter bringing cups of something hot and steaming, too reddish to be coffee.

"That's…", Effie began.

"Mulled wine," said Haymitch, taking a mouthful. "Doesn't count."

He gave her a cup. Its rich fragrance filled her nose and Effie took a tiny sip. It tasted sweet and fruity, the alcohol was only just noticeable but its warmth spread throughout her.

She should have known it was just Haymitch being bored and wanting to mess with her when he told her stories about the barbaric district men and women who frequented the Hob eating Capitolians for breakfast, and almost bringing her own breakfast up by giving her vivid descriptions of Greasy Sae's specialties like her concoction of mice meat, pig entrails and tree bark. When in fact the tomato soup with basil leaves served today looked just as palatable as their Capitol version.

Haymitch sipped his cup of mulled wine, his eyes never leaving Effie, watching her talk with Delly Cartwright and her kid brother. Even when wearing a much more toned down dress than usual Effie still stuck out, surrounded by people's weather-bitten faces and sturdy simple clothes.

She was holding a very low profile, Haymith noted, undoubtedly because she was so aware of her history here. But despite what she'd been known as to the people in Twelve, they treated her with kindness and respect. Her friendship with Katniss and Peeta seemed to be enough for most of them to accept her or at least tolerate her.

Effie felt his eyes on her and gave him a warm smile and the emotion that filled him was so strong it almost overwhelmed him: he was so glad that she was here.

At the stroke of midnight, when people counted down from ten, both of them actually joined in until finally everyone in the Hob called out a "Happy New Year!" hugging and kissing each other, left and right.

Effie smiled at Haymitch and Haymitch smiled at her.

"Happy birthday, Eff," he said and without a word Effie rested her hands against his elbows, stood on tip-toe and kissed him on the cheek. The kiss landed at the corner of his mouth, which was never her intention.

It lasted only a second and yet it was enough to make his heart jump in his chest. Then the moment broke and he stared at her, blood flooding his cheeks. Effie's face was as red as his and she barely dared looking him in the eye.

Despite how innocent the kiss had been, her heart pounded and she tried to hide her embarrassment by hugging Katniss, hugging Peeta and then excused herself, heading for the restroom to escape Haymitch's eyes.

The sound of the bathroom door closing shut seemed to resonate inside her, like the echo of a stone gate. Her whole body was tingling. His touch still lingered on her mouth and the feel of his scratchy cheek and the softness of his lips made heat build up between her legs.

This is Haymitch, she thought, over and over again. Compose yourself, Effie. This is Haymitch.

Someone pulled down the handle on the other side of the door.

"It's occupied," Effie called but it opened and shut still and there he was. They stared at each other as Haymitch towered over her in the small space and her heart hammered in her chest. One second passed, two. She saw the fever in his eyes and her breaths quickened.

"Haymitch." That was all she got out before his lips were on hers so brutally they stumbled back a step. His hand shot out to keep them from falling over the toilet. Effie wrapped her arms around him, a moan escaping her lips as she kissed him back, his hands all over her body, touching her shamelessly.

She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, tugging it off, kissed his neck, his shoulder and up to his mouth again, driving him crazy. She was so warm and soft, God help him! He moaned, flat-out gasped when her hand went down his chest and stomach until it came to rest over his hardness, stirring his body more awake than it'd been in years.

"Eff," he gasped, the desperation clear in his voice. "Effie."

She stroked him through the fabric and he moaned again, pulling at the top of her dress, freeing more skin and when his stubble grazed her when he kissed her there Effie gasped, head thrown back, close to release just by this, desire coursing through her in hot waves leaving her so wet she could barely think.

Her breathing grew more and more labored as he caressed her up her inner thigh and when he grazed over her centre through the undergarments Effie muffled a pleasure scream behind her hand when suddenly, without warning, the door swung open.

Katniss stared at them, mouth agape, seeing her former mentor and escort half-naked tangled together in the small bathroom. Effie stumbled back from Haymitch, eyes darting from Katniss to Haymitch and down to her half-exposed chest and she turned her back to them with a gasp and burning cheeks.

"What?" Haymitch barked out, looking at Katniss. His face was smudged with Effie's lipstick.

"I'll never be able to unsee this…" Katniss said, looking nauseated just as another familiar face came visible around the corner. Peeta, who called out in surprise, actually taking a step back and Haymitch slammed the door shut, locking it.

Effie still had her back turned to him, fervently trying to adjust her dress, her makeup, so embarrassed she was close to tears. And as the lust for her slowly faded again he tried to make sense of what the hell just happened.

"Effie, I…"

"I shouldn't be here," Effie whimpered, still trying to get her clothes back in some sort of order. "I will never be able to face them again! This wasn't supposed to happen! It wasn't supposed to happen!" She met his gaze, face hot with anguish. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered and fled the room.

Author's Note: Hope you liked that and remember: reviews are love :) Pardon me for any typos. English is not my first language.
Also, thanks to all of you reading and reviewing, following and favouriting. It means a lot and it's motivating me to keep writing.