"HAVEN? HAVEN?" MALLORY SPOKE SOFTLY, hovering over the blonde, who laid unconscious on the couch. The Cleary girl blinked her eyes open, very disoriented. "Where am I? What-" Haven quickly sat up, the memory of the reaping returning to her. The blonde marched out of the room, into the dining cart of the train where everyone else was.
Haven walked up to her brother, giving him a swift slap on the cheek. "IDIOT! What the hell were you thinking." She screamed at him. The rest of the Victors, Pandora and Melody sat silently as the girl exuded her rage.
"Are you fucking serious? I cannot-" The blonde was cut off by Collin putting his hand over her mouth. "Hey! Hey! Enough! Back off princess." He said, pulling a chair out for her next to him, removing his hand from her mouth. "Fine." Haven grumbled. "Why don't you let him explain?" Collin continued.
"Yes , please tell me what kind of fucked up rationale you had for this one, Sawyer." The Cleary girl spoke, turning towards her twin.
"Yeah, I know it was dumb, okay? I just would've hated myself if I'd let him go into the Games, knowing I could've stopped it." Sawyer responded. Haven dropped her head, shaking it slowly. "Damn it, Sawyer. Why did you have to be the one to do it. I'm sure there were so many other people who would've volunteered." She replied quietly. "Or no one would've Haven! I couldn't just sit by and let it happen. And, not like I can change it now." He responded.
Haven stood up abruptly, storming out of the room, saying nothing else. She walked into one of the bedroom carts, slamming the button to shut the door behind her, before crumpling down to the floor. Tears uncontrollably flowed from her eyes, and she couldn't quite pinpoint whether it was sadness, anger, fear, or a mixture of emotions.
The blonde wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there when she heard the door open and click shut again, someone walking over and taking a seat next to her. Haven already knew who it was before she glanced up, her teary eyes looking into Finnick's sea green ones.
"You wanna talk about it?" The Odair boy asked softly. Haven shook her head. Finnick wrapped his arms around her, letting the girl cry into his shoulder. He kept one arm wrapped around her, the other fiddling with and gently stroking her hair.
A point came when the Cleary girl had no more tears to cry, leaving her feeling numb. The girl lifted her head from his shoulder before finally speaking. "I hate this. I hate this." She sighed deeply. "I know why he did it. 'Cause Sawyer is the most selfless, wonderful person I know." Finnick nodded his head, grasping one of her hands.
"I feel helpless. There's a 23/24 chance that my brother, my best friend, is going to be dead in two weeks, and I can't do anything to stop it." She spoke, her voice hollow. "I know it feels like everything's out of your control. We can't guarantee it, but I promise you we'll do everything we can to help him before and in the arena." He responded, before wrapping his pinky around hers. "Pinky promise." Finnick said.
Finnick stood up, extending his hand to help Haven get up. "C'mon, let's go eat dinner with everyone." He said, Haven nodding. Before they left the room, he gently wiped the makeup smudges off of her face with his sleeve. "Thanks, Fin." The blonde replied. "Anytime." Finnick said.
Haven and Finnick walked into the dining cart, sitting in the two empty seats between Collin and Chloë, and across from the tributes. Haven looked at her brother, softly smiling at him. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just worried about you." She apologized. "It's okay, Haven, I know. Plus I kinda expected it, it's definitely not a sane decision I made." He said. Haven giving a light giggle.
"Alright, moving on from family time." Sebastian chuckled, before shifting to a more serious tone. "Let's talk strategy. Tomorrow is the Tribute Parade. Your number one job is to make them like you. Scratch that, make them love you. Sponsors make the difference between life and death in the arena." He finished.
"Training starts the morning after, but we'll get into that more after the parade. We want you both to focus on impressing the audience." Chlöe cut in. Melody and Sawyer both nodded, their mouths full of food.
➸
"I WONDER WHAT THEY'RE GONNA BE WEARING." Finnick said to the other mentors as they sat in the waiting area for the parade. "I'm praying they aren't fish again like last year. That was tragic." Mallory responded. "I don't know about you all, but I could work the hell out of a fish costume." Collin joked.
"Theta is back to styling tributes this year after taking a break last year, so I'm sure they'll look stunning." Haven said. The blonde was ecstatic when she'd received a call from Theta a few weeks prior telling her she was returning to being a stylist after taking a year off to promote her designs.
Tributes began filing into the room, and a little while later the two District 4 tributes, along with Theta strolled over. Melody wore a mid length dress, the skirt covered in small pearls, with a silver netting trim extending to the floor. Sawyer was shirtless, and had a pair of pants, similarly adorned in pearls. The pair both had tiny pearls stuck all over their skin, creating a glistening effect.
"You really outdid yourself this time Theta. This might be better than my parade costume." Haven complimented her stylist, as she gave her a tight hug. "I missed you! Don't worry, I have some outfits up my sleeve for you." Theta said, giving the girl a wink and small shimmy of her shoulders.
"Tributes! Mount up." A voice boomed from the speakers. The District 4 group walked over to the fourth chariot, Sawyer hoisting himself in first, before offering Melody a hand. "All right. Big smiles and big waves. Just make sure they love you." Mallory advised them. "You've got it." Haven smiled, giving the pair a thumbs up as the chariot began to move.
The mentors from 4 watched a screen inside the waiting area, feeling a flood of relief when they saw the audience fawning over their tributes. The parade was similar to it was every year, from the echoing drums and cheers, to Snow's welcome speech to the tributes. Once the parade ended, the mentors praised Melody and Sawyer. Haven gave her brother a hug, whispering in his ear so Melody wouldn't hear. "You did it. They loved you Sawyer. You just might be able to do this." She finished before pulling away, smiling at her twin.
// author's note
1st off, i want to say THANK YOU for 10k views on this story. that's literally insane & i appreciate you all very much 🥰🥰
ok enough of me being cute and sappy
me? updating several times in one week? unheard of. here y'all go. enjoy.
xoxoxoxo
- a <3
as always meme time
sawyer after volunteering:
haven @ sawyer:
me @ y'all:
that's it peace out