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Peeta's eyes widen as he turns to Katniss when he sees the letter that had arrived from the capitol, grimacing to see that it's an invitation to Effie's wedding, Katniss sighs as she closes her eyes for a second, then directs her concerned glance in the direction of Haymitch's house. "How do you think he's going to take it?" Peeta asks in a concerned tone of voice.
"I highly doubt he's conscious right now, or at any time of day," Katniss says angrily with a frown, referring to all the times she's had to go check on Haymitch to make sure he's still alive and hasn't died of a sudden death ethyl coma for more than 2 years—Every time I go to see him I worry that one day I will find him dead, so I doubt very much that he finds out—
"I talked to Effie, she told me that she's invited him, and that she hopes we'll all make it to her wedding," Peeta says awkwardly.
"I don't know why he's doing it, it's obvious Haymitch isn't going to tolerate the news," Katniss accuses annoyed, defending Haymitch.
"He left her behind Katniss, you can't blame her for rebuilding her life, and in theory they stayed as friends." Peeta tries to convince Katniss not to turn against Effie.
"I was still surprised when I found out they were together until the day they broke up 2 years ago," she murmured making an uncomfortable face. "It was weird."
Peeta before this laughs affectionately while he touches Katniss's cheek. "You can't blame them because you're clueless, love, almost everyone knew they were together or whatever they understood by together." he shrugs. "I still think they were cute." he comments this last softly as he sadly remembers the little moments where everyone was together before Effie left. Like a family, a strange, but beautiful family.
After winning from the rebellion, and Peeta being given by Doctor Aurelius to return to the 12th district, Effie returned to him, while she was with Haymitch and he really believed that they would be together forever, until after they broke up 6 months after Effie arrived in the 12th district, one day she said goodbye to him and Katniss and left for the Capitol, since that date he has never seen her again, although he is the one who kept in touch with her, and after two years received her wedding invitation to her current capitol boyfriend Henry.
"Do you think there's no way to convince Haymitch that he can still get Effie back?" At this strange question from Peeta, Katniss looks at him with a raised eyebrow as she thinks about when her boyfriend was so obsessed with Haymitch and Effie's relationship or, well, ex-relationship.
"Are you okay Peeta?" Because he's crazy, Haymitch won't agree to go to the Capitol, much less to convince Effie not to get married, and return with her to 12,” Katniss explains with all the patience in the world.
Peeta just sighs not entirely convinced, that this is the end of Haymitch and Effie, if he was aware that they were fighting too much, and many times he was afraid that he and Katniss would have to go and intervene before the fight got out of control. However, after the first time they tried and when they found Effie was against the wall being kissed by Haymitch they never returned. Since he had a hard time not remembering that moment too much, and he shudders when he remembers it.
The next day Peeta goes looking for Haymitch to check that he was okay and try to see if he can carry out his plan, when he enters Haymitch's house he realizes that it smells bad, that it is all dirty, since nobody has taken care of it. cleaning it up, as is customary to find Haymitch sprawled on the couch with several bottles of alcohol around him, he goes straight for a pitcher of water to throw at Haymitch as he walks away.
"Fuck what's your fucking problem kid?!" Haymitch yells at him, being rudely woken up and totally wet as he spits out the water he inadvertently swallowed.
“Come to see that you're not dead yet” he snorts annoyed “You're going too far with the drinks Haymitch; it's getting worse every time” he mentions it while he sees that the number of bottles Haymitch has around is actually greater than the last time he came.
“That's why I prefer a thousand times that the girl come. Where is she?” He questions while trying to locate her with her gaze, although being drunk he doubts that he would be able to locate her, even if Katniss were there, and obviously the reason why he prefers her is because he doesn't criticize her drinking habits as much as Peeta does.
"Hunting for dinner" he replies immediately. Then she sees it and thinks that it's the only chance she has to bring it up “By the way, you've checked your email by chance, I think there's something you should see”
Haymitch makes a face, knowing exactly what the boy is referring to, and precisely the reason why yesterday after receiving it he drank a lot more in order to stay unconscious for as long as possible, and to be able to forget the chest pain he felt at the moment. seeing Effie's wedding invitation” Yes, I know what you're talking about” she murmurs so low that, if it weren't for the fact that there's no one else in that house or in the Village, it would have been imperceptible to hear her voice.
Peeta feels guilty seeing Haymitch's mood change so quickly, however, that may mean that he can accept her plan” Look, I know I honestly shouldn't interfere, however, will you let her go like that Haymitch so easily?” he questions him.
Haymitch gets enraged very quickly and even more so because he's drunk, Peeta feels like he could get hit at any moment” You’re right, girl, stay out of it” he warns him “And you better get the hell out of my house, before I regret making you hurt," he snaps as he looks at Peeta with an angry look, the likes of which Peeta has never seen before.
Peeta immediately raises both hands in peace. "I don't want to hurt you Haymitch, I know it's none of my business, it's your life…but I just want Effie to be happy," he says this last, licking his lips as he pauses so he can continue “I have always been in contact, and I know that she is really not so happy to marry Henry”
Upon hearing the name of Effie's fiancé, Haymitch immediately takes the bottle he had in his hand, gives it the last drink and then throws it at Peeta who, thanks to his reflection, manages to dodge it “It's the last time I'm warning you, get the hell out of me sight” Haymitch growls as he tries to calm down to avoid doing something he'll regret later.
Peeta just gives him a disappointed look as he shakes his head, and starts to leave the house, accepting that Katniss was right and it had been a totally stupid idea trying to convince Haymitch.
Haymitch, left alone again, gets up to go get more bottles of whiskey to continue drinking and continue with his plan to be unconscious, when he tries to do so, he slips and falls to the ground, and immediately thinks of how disappointed Effie would be to see him like this, getting angry even more for continuing to think about her, she left him, and she is the one who is marrying another man. Why should he be the one to feel guilty?
However, to this small unknown, his conscience responds that he is shit, that he always appears at the worst moments since he won his stupid games. Him guilt lies in the fact that he really was the one who caused everything, he always ruins everything he comes to love, Effie was lucky, it is better to be away from him and that she is alive, than to wait to die, since he is cursed and everything he loves go dead.
He rubs both temples, feeling the horrible headache he has right now, remembering one of the worst days of his life, the day Effie left.
"Enough Haymitch, you promised me you'd stop coming here drunk every day," Effie accuses annoyed, seeing how she has to receive once again an almost unconscious Haymitch brought by the bartender again, which is already a daily routine.
"I'm not asking you to stop drinking, I understand what alcohol means and does for you, however, we reached an agreement that you would only take what is necessary to avoid withdrawal, not drink until you pass out," she claims as she pulls him away from her. The next day when Haymitch came down to the kitchen to find Effie sitting at the dining room table.
"You're making my headache worse, honey, having to listen to your awful screaming voice," scoffs Haymitch, who has a migraine from having too much to drink last night, and having to listen to Effie yell about how useless she is and can't keep up. a foolish promise he made, makes him angrier.
“I don't mind! I'll scream louder, to see if that way your huge head can understand what I'm saying!” She increases Effie's tone of voice to make her point exactly.
Haymitch narrows his eyes, taking both hands to his head, feeling that it is going to explode” And do you think I really care or not what you have to say?” He says with all the sarcasm possible to try to hurt her and for her to feel a little the same as he feels right now.
Effie makes a face at her words “Well, you should, right? I'm your love" Effie complains immediately as she looks at him sadly, she doesn't know when Haymitch returned to the way she was when she met him, that person who, even though she tried to get close to him, was only trying to hurt her to push her away, it took her a long time to achieve for him to lower his barriers, but he's lost it for a while now.
Haymitch doesn't really think, nor does he filter the words he releases next “You, my love? tell me honey, when exactly did I tell you that we were a couple, to accept that you live in my house because you had absolutely no one in the capitol and let's have sex, does not make you my couple! I don't love you, and I won't love you, you're a capitol, you're an escort, you kill children..." He can't finish the sentence because he is immediately interrupted by the slap he received from Effie, at the moment she tried to give him another one, she manages to stop him from hand, and he sees her with a look that only indicates resentment.
"I thought you had stopped thinking that way about me years ago," Effie muses while she feels her heart break, it was years, years, when Haymitch stopped throwing that in her face, she thought he had stopped seeing her as the person responsible for all those deaths of the tributes, he tries to get out of Haymitch's grip, who tightens his grip when he sees this—Get off me! You're hurting me—she hisses trying to push him away, Haymitch finally let’s go.
Effie just walks away, as she goes up to the bedroom slamming the door much harder than she should, Haymitch swears again as he closes his eyes, as he goes to the couch to lie down and tries to go back to sleep as there is still too much alcohol in his system. that helps you fall asleep. Since the days that he try to keep the lower limit of alcohol, he can't, see that always even trying to save Panem from killing innocent children every year, to achieve it, the rebels killed a lot of innocent children from the capitol, which he doesn't let him sleep, whatever he does, he always ends up being a murderer, although really the bombings in the capitol circle weren't his initiative and he only found out about them after they had already been dropped.
When he manages to wake up, he goes to the bar again, he sees how Effie was in the dining room drawing, he just sadly watches him leave, he remembers the fight, what happened and is aware that he went too far with Effie, he was taking it out on her, however It's just another silly fight, he'll leave her alone for a few days, when it passes, he'll start flirting with her until they both end up in bed or on any flat surface, it's their routine for years.
However, that day when he returns and to prevent Effie from getting angrier, he takes only what is necessary to reduce his hangover, when he enters his house he feels a strange feeling, for which he immediately goes up to the room while calling Effie “Princess, what? Where are you?” he asks before entering the bedroom, when he does so his eyes immediately go to the nightstand that belongs to Effie, which is empty, Haymitch feels how his heart begins to beat too fast, his throat closes, while him breathing begins to shake “No, not Effie, no” he murmurs quickly as he goes to the closet and confirms what he feared the most, most of Effie's clothes are not together with the suitcases he had brought when he got home “No fuck,no,” he yelled this last as he closed everything and quickly went down the stairs heading towards Katniss's house and Peeta, running in without bothering to knock.
"Have you seen Effie?" It’s the first thing he mentions when he enters, both Katniss and Peeta make a face at this, Haymitch seeing him and seeing that he doesn't respond, yells at them “Damn it, answer the fucking question I asked you”
"Haymitch, you should calm down," Katniss tries to say, but is interrupted by Peeta. "Effie left, she came to say goodbye to us, she´s going back to the capitol," Peeta says angrily, knowing that it's Haymitch's fault that Effie left and lets him know. “What did you do to him?! Why did he leave?” he questions him too annoyed and with the intention of getting closer when he sees that practicing Haymitch ignores him and sits down.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, I screwed up, I screwed up," Haymitch mutters uncountable as he puts his hands up to his face. Peeta tries to keep questioning him, however, Katniss stops him by placing her hand on his arm as she looks at the condition he's in. Haymitch is found.
Haymitch gets up and sees them both. "I screwed up boy, that happened," he replies leaving his house, returning to his only to finish all the alcohol he has. Being this day by day for two years.
He wakes up from his memory and drinks the remaining whiskey from the bottle, shaking his head. "I was an idiot," he mutters to himself, he lost Effie, who had been there for him, that person who gave him that happiness, who made her world less gray since she is a fucking walking rainbow, whom she made in a moment to stop having the urge to drink, and she ruined everything.
He knew he should apologize to Peeta, he was more aggressive with the one than usual, even though the boy had been pushing too hard, his intention was nice in a way, however, he couldn't come in and ruin Effie's happiest day, she deserved to be happy, while he only waited for the day that death finally deigned to bring him, more now that the children were together and they no longer needed him so much, he was more of a nuisance to them.
She grabs Effie's wedding invitation—Stupid name—he laughs sarcastically at Henry's name, sighs tracing Effie's name on the card, Peeta's idea no longer seems stupid to her at that point, he could bring Effie back she returns with him
The next day around noon, when Haymitch finally gets up and goes to the children's house, Katniss enters giving him an annoyed look that she knows he deserves. "Where's the boy?" he asks softly.
"In the studio, painting," Katniss answers, though her voice softens, seeing that Haymitch's intentions are good and he seeks to apologize to Peeta.
Haymitch goes to where Peeta is, when he enters and sees what he's painting, he stands still, and he feels a chill run through his entire body, seeing the image of Effie being painted by Peeta. "She's beautiful," Haymitch murmurs.
Peeta is startled since he hadn't heard him come in, when he sees him he just smiles. "Do you think Effie likes it?" It's my wedding gift, however, I only wanted to portray her” he murmurs.
"She'll love it boy," Haymitch replies as he approaches, "Look, you know I'm not one to do this, but I owe you an apology I shouldn't have thrown that bottle at you yesterday, I was too drunk and upset."
Peeta shrugs. "Calm down Haymitch, I know it's happening to me and it's not my place to pry."
Haymitch clears his throat. "About that… Do you think Effie will come back?" he questions awkwardly as he puts his hand to the back of his neck.
Peeta, hearing that, watches him with little eyes shining with happiness. "Are you going for Effie?" He hums too loud for Haymitch's liking, which, with his luck, Katniss obviously hears.
"Who's going for Effie?" she asks entering the studio and the conversation
"Haymitch," Peeta says quickly and too happy, seeing the boy happy, Katniss immediately gives him a small smile that's the same one she gets every time she sees Peeta happy.
Haymitch rolls his eyes. "I didn't say that, kid," he replies quickly and suspiciously.
"You should try," Katniss includes, Haymitch turns to her, it's really rare for Katniss to say those things, she expected it from Peeta, not from her, "You're too unhappy, you're out of control with your drink, when Effie was here you were happier and before you got out of control again, you were drinking less, and we were a team,” he mumbles this last. Haymitch purses his lips, if he knew Katniss liked Effie, but not to the level of missing her.
"We all miss them," Peeta murmurs as if reading her thoughts.
Haymitch swallows hard, feeling anxious at what he was about to say. "When do we leave then?" He says and repenting right after that.
"We're leaving tomorrow, the wedding is in two days, we'll be there a night early," Peeta explains with an apology at the latter.
Haymitch only wonders how much he had to have drunk to be on the verge of insanity, like what he was about to do, following Peeta's directions, they leave the next day on a train to the capitol, limiting their alcohol intake to a minimum so they won't be too drunk when they arrive.
But they didn't expect that there was an accident on the way which would cause him to be delayed and they would not arrive at night but rather on the day of Effie's wedding, when they hear that the arrival time would increase, Katniss turns to see Haymtich” You can't get to interrupt the wedding” She says scared.
Haymitch smirks. "Looking gorgeous, that's what I'll do," he comments, taking a strong drink. Peeta laughs uncomfortably as he sees the reproachful look Katniss gives him, knowing that all this madness started with the idea of him.
Upon arriving at the Capitol train station, Effie's wedding had already begun, so they take the taxi, which takes them directly to where the ceremony would be taking place. The three of them run to get there as quickly as possible, and as if it were a script for the romantic trash movies that Effie loves so much, they enter when the lawyer says the following words “Speak now or be silent forever”
Haymitch feels a rush of adrenaline course through his body that he hasn't felt since he's been in his own games, and perhaps it was because he wasn't really risking his life in question, it was worse since losing the love of his life forever at the hands of another man was now at stake. "I'm against it!" Haymitch yells as he looks directly at how Effie turns at her voice and she is totally surprised.
Seeing her smile, she looks ridiculously beautiful as only she could see herself, with her wedding dress too fluffy that looks like cotton, Effie looks directly at him and sees her blue eyes surprised and undecided to know what to do, everyone in the room is speechless and they are looking at the two of them, as if they were a game of ping pong.
Henry turns to see Effie “Who is he?” He asks, which is a stupid question since everyone knows the victor of the second quell and also one of the leaders of the rebellion knows it's Haymitch Abernathy.
"Haymitch," Effie mumbles to herself, not knowing what to do at that precise moment, she can't see anyone but him, dressed as out of place as only Haymitch could be, and standing there in front of her after not seeing him in two long years.
"Her real husband," Haymitch answers to the question that Henry had asked while looking directly at him with a look of hate, seeing how he tries to get closer to Effie. Haymitch walks right up to Effie, coming from her it's like she's woken up from the trance she's been in.
He just catches a glimpse of her as he walks out the other side of the room, none of the assistants knowing what's going on, nor the lawyer who had been so quiet, Katniss and Peeta, having the decency to walk away before Haymitch walks in and waits for him outside to see what happens.
Effie runs away as fast as she can, while she feels her heart beat out of her chest, a part of her is happy to see Haymitch there, not even in her wildest dreams would she have thought that Haymitch would try to get her back, however, another part can't believe it... The day she left and left 12, it was one of the worst days of her life, what Haymitch told her hurt her horribly, he knows that was her weak point, seeing how others always branded her a murderer for having been a murderer she knew it too well, she had to deal with guilt from the first year she was an escort until now, nightmares that torment her at night, Haymitch had stopped throwing those comments at her years ago, he had even defended her from the people who accused her of that when they were in the 13th district, She couldn't believe he was still thinking of her.
She loves him too much and leaving him hurt her more than him, however, she couldn't go on like this, it hurt her to see how Haymitch was gradually being destroyed, after she left Haymitch didn't deign to try to call her, much less look for her, and just today he had to do it. Haymitch sees her get out of it and runs after her, when he reaches a corridor he manages to catch up with her “Damn, how can you run so fast being a piece of cotton? “he says, panting to replenish the breath he feels he's missing.
"How stupid were you thinking?" Effie claims, letting go of her grip and pushing Haymitch's chest with both hands, to which he backs up until he runs into the wall with his back, while she was hitting him while she was getting even “What do you think? After two fucking years of not hearing from you, you come and crash my wedding” Haymitch knows her too well to know that if she's swearing it's because she's really mad and not her fault, he stops both arms and lowers them.
"I know, and no, I won't apologize, I don't regret it, I can't see you marry someone else." "Effie," Haymitch says seriously.
At this Effie laughs sarcastically as she tries to let go “So I can't marry anyone else, but you don't want to be with me either? “
At this Haymitch smiles ironically “Seriously princess, you're smarter than that, you really think I would come to the capitol, cause a scene, just because I want to make you unhappy” he says softly.
Effie is speechless and still as she says so softly that Haymitch must lean in more to hear her, "You don't love me, you still think I'm a murderer, and I don't know it, I'll always feel guilty, but I thought that you more than anyone had stopped thinking like that about me."
Haymitch feels as if he had received a slap in the face and to tell the truth, he would have preferred that “I'm an idiot, honey” he mutters, releasing a hand and bringing it to her face “But I don't think that way about you, and it would really be very hypocritical of me not to love you just for that, when I'm a true murderer, there's more blood on my hands than on yours, princess, I regret what I said that day, I was upset and I just wanted to hurt you”
Effie, upon hearing Haymitch call himself a murderer, sees it “You're not someone who enjoys killing people Haymitch, none of the times it was your fault, you're not a monster” she scolds him, knowing him too well and seeing that the look on his face was one of guilt and hatred towards himself for everything he had done, Effie hated that look.
Haymitch genuinely laughs this time. "If you think like that about me, why can't you think like that about yourself, princess," he murmurs, approaching her as he directs his gaze to her lips, to later bring hers closer to hers, beginning a delicate kiss. Effie is cut off for a few seconds before following him into the kiss, when he asks for permission with his tongue to access her mouth, Effie sighs releasing her other hand from Haymitch's hand to go up to his neck to hold him, to which Haymitch responds by grabbing her with both hands at the waist and turning her so that she is the one against the wall, moving closer to her if that is physically possible, while he cannot stop kissing her, making the kiss that had started subtle, a passionate one. where they were both breathing too hard, he had missed the taste of her mouth,
Effie sighs as she feels Haymitch's scratchy beard on her neck and knows that she shouldn't be doing this outside the ballroom where their wedding was going to take place. "Haymitch…" she tries to say, although she's sure it sounds more like a moan than her serious voice, and he confirms it with a growl, before gently biting the spot where he'd kissed her earlier, Effie scrapes her throat before saying it correctly this time, "Haymitch stops—"
Haumitch sighs stopping and letting go of her, he smiles when he sees her agitated and nervous “Yes, princess? “He gives her one of him most arrogant smiles knowing the effect he still has on her and hasn't stopped since he kissed her or she kissed him the first time.
"I can't just be your whim, Haymitch," Effie says, picking up the conversation from earlier.
Haymitch makes a face, he knows her and knows that she won't agree to follow him until he tells her what she wants to hear, which is so hard for him to say “Effie, I'm an idiot, and I'll never stop being one, but you make my world less grey, I miss you, I shouldn't have let you go, I should have come for you much sooner “he comments so seriously as he looks into her eyes, conveying all the love he feels for her and that it's so hard for him to express it.
Effie smiles, knowing how to read Haymitch with what I hear him say, she knows what he means. "Just promise me you'll stop drinking to the point you've reached," she adds a little shy because she doesn't want to go back to what had led them to this.
Haymitch nods. "I promise to stop, just little by little, because I don't want to relive 13." He winces, remembering those horrible days when he went into cold turkey.
Effie is surprised to hear this “Haymitch, I never asked you for that, nor will I ask you, I understand your reasons for drinking, just don't overdo it, keep it to the minimum and we'll be fine” she replies, taking his hand.
Haymitch says sure "I promise to leave you princess, I don't want to lose you, and you are more important in my life than alcohol," Haymtich blurts out because he would rather live a life without alcohol than relive the worst two years of his life without Effie.
Effie smiles stupidly. "I love you, Haymitch," she murmurs close to his lips before aggressively resuming the kiss, knowing that her parents might hate her for the decision she just made, but no day in the last two years had she felt as happy as this day, what they told her was true, her wedding day was the best day of her life, but not because she got married, but because she returned with the love of her life.
"Let's go home princess, I can still give you your wedding night," Haymitch says with a wink, to which Effie rolls her eyes as she gently pats his arm.
Escaping to avoid all the people, they manage to find Peeta and Katniss, both of whom are grinning broadly at the sight of Effie holding Haymitch's hand. "My children!" she exhales happily as she hugs them both.
"Effie, I missed you so much," Peeta says as he hugs her tightly, Effie smiles sadly, "I'm sorry I left you both."
Katniss hugs her, which is weird for her. "Don't go away, ever," she comments seriously.
"She won't," Haymtich intervenes. "She won't escape our lives," he adds as he takes her hand.
Effie just rolls her eyes again, while smiling because she had missed Haymitch and her children so much, her strange family, she is going back to her home after two long years. Talking was already the best decision Haymitch could have made, this being thanks to Peeta as the biggest fan of Haymitch and Effie's relationship.