Promises of a Sacrificial Lamb |Destiel x The Hunger Games|

-26-

"We should probably get that old blood off your face, though,"  he says after a beat.  "Do you mind if I do it?  I promise I'll be gentle."

"Go for it,"  I tell him with a feeble smile of my own.  I know he'll be gentle.  Every touch is.  "I trust you."

The storm outside the hollow rages on as Cas pulls down the sleeve of his shirt so he has extra fabric to crumple into a ball.  Then, carefully, he tips the water bottle and lets a thin stream trickle out for just a fleeting moment to wet his sleeve.  I watch as he inches closer to me and sits back on his heels.  I can't stop my stomach from fluttering when his fingers rest on my jawline, all the while he brings his damp sleeve to the crusted blood on my cheek.  It's cold, startling, but the warmth I feel when he looks down and meets my eyes makes me forget about it in an instant.

He's so close that I can feel his breath.  He returns his focus to the cuts, gently presses his sleeve against the dried blood to wash it off, but not once do I tear my gaze away from him.  His slightly furrowed brows, knitted together in concentration.  His tenderhearted eyes.  His parted lips.  I always thought he was attractive, but now, it just seems amplified, and I can already feel the adrenaline kicking in.

Sparks follow his fingertips as he traces them down my jaw and to my chin, tilting my head to the side to get a better angle for the cut by my eye.  Gingerly, he pats the old blood, sweeping it off my skin.  I think he inches closer.  It takes all of my willpower to restrain myself, to not nudge his arm away so I can lean forward and kiss him.  He's so close.  I can practically feel the heat radiating off him.

My heart is beating out of my chest when Cas finally lowers his hand.  His gaze falls to lock with mine, and it's like time itself freezes in place.  I barely hear the rain, the thunder, booming outside.  All I hear is my own rapid heartbeat, the blood roaring in my ears.  All I see are those bright blue eyes, those lips that I want to feel against my own.  Nothing else matters.  Nothing.

My breaths turn into a heavy, frantic mess when Cas lays both of his hands on my face and starts to lean toward me, slowly, tantalizingly.  I close my eyes and wait for the dreamy feeling of his lips to meet my own, but it doesn't come.  He stops just before my mouth, his nose brushing my cheek, his fingers pressing into my skin, his labored breaths fanning my lips.  He keeps inching his body closer, so close that he might as well be sitting on my lap, but still, he doesn't seal that microscopic distance between my mouth and his.  It's driving me crazy.

My palm finds his collarbone, the base of his neck.  His heart pounds against my hand.  I clutch the fabric of his shirt, try to pull him toward me, try to bring his lips to mine before my wild breaths make me dizzier than I already am.

Then the anthem blasts through the air, and the adrenaline dissolves into an irksome wave of disappointment when Cas draws back and rises to check the sky.  Although, judging by the look he flashes me as he stands, I think it's safe to say he'd much rather prefer to continue what we were doing.  Have to check the sky, though.  Have to keep tabs on who's left to outlive.

As he trudges up the slope and parts the vines, careful to avoid the raindrops in case they're still acidic, I find myself gnawing on my lower lip, still feeling the ghost of his warm breaths.  Of course the recap had to start now.  I hardly even think about it and who's going to be on it until I hear Cas' shocked voice piercing through the swarm of thoughts in my mind.

"Both Cresh and his partner are dead,"  he says, turning back to look at me with wide eyes.

It's such a simple statement, but its innocence cuts deep.  Terror seizes me, completely paralyzes me.  Suddenly I'm no longer in the safety of the hollow, but back in the Cornucopia.  Cresh punching me, kicking me.  Cresh pinning me to the earth.  Cresh cutting my face, spearing my hand with a knife.  His horrible cries of pain as I stabbed him, over and over and over until something finally snapped me out of my violent trance, and I realized what I'd done.  How much of a murderer I'd become.