Against the Odds (A Crossmare Fanfiction)

District Tweleve

Cross woke up to the sound of screaming.

He jolted, sitting up straight and flinging the blankets from his body and watching them tumble to the floor in a messy heap. Looking around groggily, he made out that the screams were coming from his left. The direction of Chara's room.

Chara.

He lurched to his feet, stumbling over to his bedroom door and shoving it open and immediately turning down the hallway and pushing open the door to his little brother's bedroom.

"Chara?" He called, stepping into the room to see his distraught brother.

The small boy looked up at him with scared eyes, his hair damp and matted with sweat, sticking up all over the place. His face looked wet from tears, his body trembling as he dug his fingers into the thin blankets that covered his bottom half. He looked terrified.

Sighing softly Cross padded over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed, his arms outstretched.

Chara immediately threw himself into Cross' arms, letting out small sniffles and hiccups into his chest as Cross ran his boney fingers through his hair. "I-I dreamed it was m-me... M-My name was p-pulled out."

"I know, I know..." He whispered, pressing the smaller's face into his chest. "But it's not real. Your name will only be in there once, they're not going to pick you."

"B-But if th-they d--"

"They won't Chara, they won't." He closed his eyes, gently rocking his brother in his arms. He could remember having horrible nightmares the day before the Reaping. It happened to everyone. Fear could do just about anything to someone."It won't be you, I promise."

"You can't promise s-something like that..." He mumbled weakly.

"Watch me." He smiled softly, pressing a kiss against Chara's forehead.

The smaller tried to return the smile, but couldn't. "A-And what if you're the one picked?"

Cross shook his head softly, rubbing his back. "I wont be Chara, I won't be."

"Promise?" He whispered, looking up at him with watering eyes.

He nodded, gently wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "I promise it won't be either of us, okay?"

"You never break a promise..."

"Exactly." He gently nudged Chara off of his lap, pushing him back down onto his back. "Now sleep, forget about it."

"You can't just 'forget about' the Reaping, Cross." He mumbled, leaning into his touch as Cross rubbed his cheek softly.

"Try, okay?"

"Okay..." He whispered, already starting to drift off once more.

He stayed by his side until his breathing subsided and went back to its normal pace and his face grew calm instead of tense and restless.

Once he was certain the small boy was deeply asleep once more, he stood up and tucked him in with a sigh. "I'll be back before morning, okay?"

He didn't get a response. But he hadn't expected one.

Stepping out of the bedroom, he made his way downstairs as quietly as possible, making sure not to wake their sleeping cat that always slept splayed out across the windowsill above their dirty kitchen sink.

Then he unlocked the front door, slipping outside where the sun had only just started rising over the tips of the ancient houses down their street. The golden rays cast an orange glow over the outline of everything, making the village actually look pretty for once.