Chuck watched the Games that year.
The year that Gally won.
He watched as the sword hit his sister's stomach.
He watched as the spear hit Newt's chest.
He watched his father swallow and release a small, bated breath.
He watched as Gally fell to his knees after killing his sister's boyfriend (he supposed that that was what he called Newt. It's what his father had said, at least).
He watched as tears poured out of Gally's eyes.
He watched as Gally rounded on Teresa and Beth, killing them both in an instant with his one spare dagger.
He watched as Zart died of plant poisoning. It was ironic, Chuck supposed, that a boy so skilled with plants swallowed a deadly nightlock berry because he had no other option.
He watched as Ben suffered at the hands of six tracker-jacker stings and went crazy trying to murder Frypan, before the skilled cook eventually had to kill him with a spear.
He watched as Gally found Frypan after Ben's death and killed him with his bare hands. A simple twist to the neck was all it took.
He watched as Gally shot Aris in the back of the head with a bow and arrow.
But Chuck did not miss the sliver of remorse in Gally's eyes as he threw his weapons down, victorious.
•••
The days continued almost the same for Chuck after those Games. He got offers of sympathy on the street for a few weeks, almost months, but people had to forget.
After all, the Games happened every year.
But Chuck never forgot his sister, the selfless girl who died fighting. He never forgot the last words he told her.
I love you, he'd murmured into her hair.
•••
Chuck's father passed away when Chuck was seventeen, five years after those dreaded Games. He left the same way as Chuck's mother had, all those years ago. The funeral was silent, and only a few families attended, one of those being Sonya's family.
Sonya was a girl from the town. For a girl two years older than him, she was pretty, Chuck liked to think, with long blonde hair similar to her brother's. She used to be called Elizabeth, or Lizzy, but after her brother had died, she refused to be called that. Lizzy was a name that only Newt was allowed to use.
Chuck understood Sonya. He understood how much pain a sibling's death could bring, and they wanted to share that with each other.
After his father's funeral, Sonya invited Chuck to live in her house from the town, to which Chuck happily agreed. Her family was more than welcoming of the boy, and he lived there until he was twenty years old, when he moved into a townhouse with Sonya.
•••
When Chuck was twenty-four and Sonya twenty-six, the pair was married under the dim lighting of Chuck's old house in the Seam.
When Chuck was twenty-six and Sonya twenty-eight, Sonya gave birth to a set of twins.
Their names had been picked out for a long time, really, ever since those Games ended.
Isaac and y/n.
A/N: First of all, I'm so sorry. Second of all, thank you for reading. Third of all, this book might not be finished yet.
I've been thinking for a while about doing a sort of alternate ending, one where y/n and Newt might actually survive. I feel like I don't want to end their story here, and if you guys agree, then I might write a few more chapters of an alternate story ending.
Tell me what you think about the alternate ending idea! If you want it, I'll write it. Let me know!
Edit: The alternate ending has been written and completed!