Skinny Love

7. Push

Ella's POV

This isn't right... Our family is being forced to suffer through the pain of losing someone all over again. I'm so close to being safe from the reapings and I'm chosen as the tribute this year.

With Clove being the volunteer... My only hope of not being in the Games...

She's so young... She's so young and I know that she's not going to let me be the one entering those Games. She won't let it happen since she's the volunteer this year. I don't even think that I'll be able to get to the stage before she'll be volunteering for me. I can't let that happen. If I can only get the chance to talk some sense into her. She has so much more time to live. So many more years than I do... But I know the answer already. She's going to say no to whatever I tell her. She's going to tell me that I'm suppose to be getting married soon. That it's meant to be me who gets to stay home. To live the best life possible in our family. I won't be able to without my sister being home with me. She's suppose to be at my side for the wedding. She helped me plan it more than she actually realizes probably.

I need to figure out how to make this work. How to have the wedding now or something of the sorts. If I get married to Dan now then he'll be able to get some of the money that the Capitol would be giving Mom and Clove to honor them for me participating in the Games. I don't think that they do that for other Districts, but they do that for the career Districts. I know that much about how the Capitol works. It's complicated though. The laws that they impose and bring up nearly every time... Those aren't easy for me to understand. Somehow, I need to figure out if it's possible or not for me to get married now and still work with Clove to make sure that she made it back to us. That her big mouth was still here and would always be around. I don't think that I can handle losing my baby sister to the Games.

"El?" Dan's voice was soft as he knocked on the bathroom door. I jumped slightly and looked towards the door. How long have I been in here? "You okay in there sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute. Sorry," I looked down at the towel that I was still in and began to pull on the clothes that were on the counter. Something about me worrying about Clove has me all over the place lately. There were fresh burns on my hands from working downstairs at the bakery after training.

I unlocked the bathroom door and opened it to let some of the steam out of the bathroom. Dan was leaning against the wall across from the door and he looked up after a moment. I could see the worry on his face and I didn't know what to do or say to comfort him. He knew it was either Clove or I going into the Games. That there was the chance that he would be losing me to the Games. I can't do anything to make him feel better though. We both know that. All I can really do is just enjoy the time that we have together. To just have to good memories to carry us through the times that are going to come.

"Come lay with me for a while?" His voice was hopeful and I paused while bringing the brush up to my hair.

"Well, what about the bakery? One of us needs to be down there and you look exhausted..." I frowned slightly and began to brush the knots out of my hair. There wasn't that many, but there was still enough for me to know that it was going to hurt for the most part.

"Right..." He nodded a little bit and walked away from the bathroom, heading for our bedroom door. I sighed softly and yanked the brush through my hair.

I hate doing this to him. I know that his family is pretty well off when it comes to closing the bakery for a few hours . They can do that and make back that money nearly instantly when they open the doors again. But if his parents are down there, it shouldn't have to be closed. Maybe that was why he was asking me to lay with him for a little bit... I sighed in frustration and started to pull my hair back into a braid. I could take the chance and go lay with Dan for a few hours like he asked. I guess that I could do that. I mean, I should be trying to keep him pretty happy right now, should I? Might as well. I sighed and finished braiding my hair back, checking it to make sure that it looked perfect for him. I walked out of the bathroom and padded down the hallway to find my love sitting on the bed. He looked exhausted and a little heartbroken at the same time. I don't know how I can really make it up to him. At least not in any other way than I was already considering.

"Dan...?" I hesitated and looked down slightly. I moved in between his legs and lifted his head up slightly.

"Hmm?" His brown eyes locked on mine and it was like he knew instantly. I didn't have to say anything at all though. He knew what I was going to say and what I wanted.

"I love you, Daniel..." I cupped his cheek gently and kissed his nose gently.

"I love you, Ella..." He kissed me softly and cupped my cheek gently as his left hand slid to my waist. He slid his hand underneath my shirt and rested it there on my waist. His touch was firm, but gentle at the same time. We fell into a steady pattern of kissing that soon lead to more between the two of us.

Next Morning
I woke up a few hours later to the feeling of the bed shifting besides me. Daniel was laying back down after getting up for something. Either that or he was sitting down to put on some shoes before heading down to the bakery. His hand gently rested on my shoulder and gave it a tender squeeze.

"El...?" Dan gently shook my shoulder and I woke up slowly, rolling to look at him. "Come on... Time for closing. Mom went home sick and needs someone to work the register for a little bit." He started running his fingers through my hair and I couldn't help but feel relaxed even more. I just wanted to drift off into a peaceful sleep again.

"Mkay... Be down in a minute." I slowly started to sit up and held the sheets close to my body. Daniel nodded and his eyes widened slightly when his eyes locked on my neck. "What's wrong?"

"Uh... You might want to style your hair a little differently for tonight. Maybe to the left side?" He shrugged and looked at me a little sheepishly. Son of a....

"You didn't, right? Come on babe... You and I both know that your Mother hates seeing hickies. She claims that it gives the store a bad reputation or something like that." I sighed softly and swung my legs out of bed to pull on the clothes that had been left scattered on the floor from us. Dan was completely dressed already and just let out a chuckle.

"Sorry... I was caught up in the moment and you were asking for it the entire time. Practically begged me for it. Don't you try to deny that right now. We both have to take credit for this." He smiled a little proudly of himself and shrugged.

"Whatever... What did you tell your Mother?" I glanced at the clock and realized that it had pretty much been the entire afternoon almost actually. There was no way that his Mother let me sleep for so long without her having to tell him something. She's not that type of woman. If there's suppose to be someone working and there isn't anyone there... Its horrible for that person. She goes off on them. I've seen her hit a few of them before. A few slaps here and there and that was about it for the most part.

"Told her you felt sick and threw up a few times. She felt bad and said that you needed to sleep. She covered for you at the register for the most part, but now she needs to head out for the most part. They have to keep setting up the new house since they're giving us this one as a wedding present." He shrugged a little in the process of explaining to me. I blushed a little and sat down to pull on my shoes.

I didn't know what to sat in response. I mean... That was like the main thing right now that helped me to feel like she had accepted me into the family. Most of the time is was just the way that she didn't care to say anything to me. Or she never seemed to like the way that I was dating her son, with the intention to marry him. When we found each other, that was the point for both of us. It took a while for us to really confirm that we wanted to get married to each other, but when we did... His Mother never really seemed happy with the idea. When I moved in with them, it was clear that she doesn't want to spend any time with me. There wasn't anything that I could really do to get her to see that I wanted to be a part of her family. His Father accepted me for the most part though. He saw me as someone else to work in the bakery for him. Someone else that he didn't have to pay, which meant that it was best for him and the business. Daniel and his Father were the ones that taught me everything that I know about the bakery.

The pieces slowly began to click in my head. I actually have been feeling pretty sick lately. Like constantly sick and no end in sight sort of thing. I didn't even think of it until right now. Until after he mentioned that his Mother was starting to be more accepting of me. I did throw up a few times before showering and the only thing that I really could do to stop feeling so sick was just lay down and sleep for the most part. No... I can't be. There's no way that I'm pregnant without being married to Daniel right now. There's no way, right? This can't be happening. I'm suppose to be getting my period pretty soon. If it doesn't come at all then I'm definitely taking some sort of pregnancy test before telling Daniel or anyone else in his family. I might tell Clove, but that's about it. She's always better with this sort of stuff anyways.

"She accepts me..." I smiled a little bit and felt the sudden rush of nausea hit me full force. I don't know what it was, but I had to just run straight into the bathroom. Daniel was surprised for a moment and he soon came into the bathroom to hold my hair back.

"Maybe you are sick after all..." He frowns a little bit and looks at me with concern. He feels my forehead softly and frowns. "You aren't burning up at all. Is this just the sickness you get sometimes before your period?" After a few coughs from me, I slowly sat up.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm coming down with something." I sighed softly and rubbed at my eyes a little bit. He watched me with concern before helping me up without a question.

I rinsed out my mouth a few times before brushing my teeth. Daniel had left a hickey, but it wasn't one of those horrible ones that had gotten us in some worse shit with his Mother. I took my hair out of the braid and worked with it to keep it over my shoulder to hide the hickey. Hopefully, I am just coming down with something and I end up getting my period. I don't think that I can handle being pregnant on top of my sister being the one leaving to go participate in this year's Games. I won't be able to handle it without telling Daniel about the pregnancy, which will end up with his parents finding out. It can either end in a shit storm of horrible crap or for once, something good and supportive for the most part.

Let's hope for the best with this. I let out a sigh and headed down to the bakery to work the register for a little bit in case there was any more people coming at the last minute to buy some bread or some sort of treat in case they hadn't already. People don't seem to realize the concept of wanting to just close up shop and spend time as a family. At least not the ones that don't have a family yet. Or the town drunks. The stumble in around now to buy something to eat, which will end up being the only thing they eat all week.