The Tribute | Max Verstappen

Chapter Three

Cheers!

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"What I am saying is that we can build on this. Truly, you made a solid first impression during the ceremony. They will love you in no time." Helmut repeated himself for the umpteenth time, seemingly not noticing that he angered Max with his talk about the opening ceremony. Shimmer had been talking with Helmut animatingly over the whole dinner until she had asked about their performance during the ceremony, which caused Helmut to express how lovely the whole event was, while Max's knuckles around his fork slowly turned white and his face took on a hint of redness. Noah just watched the whole situation with a raised eyebrow and quiet interest, while Shimmer seemed to have noticed the change in Max's mood too, causing her to stay silent too.

"And what the President said, I love this part of the Games." Helmut said with a smile, he instantly lost, as Max thrusted his fork into the mahogany table, before getting up so fast he kicked over the chair behind him only to run off to his room, which caused Noah to put her fork down and reach for the napkin which was resting in her lap only to tab over her mouth for a moment before settling it onto the table.

For a moment she thought about saying something, but then she just nodded to herself while getting up muttering under her breath, that she's better suited to take care of the male tribute, because even though Max is not a violent boy, he might hit Helmut should the old fuck gush over how lovely the speech from President Wolff was.

Walking through the large apartment down the corridor which would lead to the tribute's rooms, Noah swallowed shortly. She hated this part of the apartment, it remained her of her own time as a tribute. It remained her of the horror of the games all over again. As she stopped in front of the door of the male tribute, she had already raised her fist to knock, as she froze, her gaze on the floor. Through under the door thick and red blood was leaking, causing her to jump back and stare at it in horror, but the moment she looked at it again, the blood was gone again, causing her to swallow thickly.

She took a moment to breathe, before she stubbornly moved forward and then entered Max's room without waiting for an answer, only to find him pacing through his spacious room, his hands have found his hair, holding onto it tightly.

"He thanked the districts for sending us to our deaths for their entertainment." He told Noah reproachful the moment she entered, not looking at her. "And that old fuck weeps happy tears about how fucking beautiful it is? Nah, fuck that."

"I can't stand there, and smile thought that." Max added, while Noah moved closer to him.

"Who you are, and you need to be to survive the games are two very different things." The victor spoke but it only caused Max to huff helplessly, before he came to a stop right in front of her, gazing at Noah with all his hopelessness and worry.

"I'm going to die in a few days, and they make a feast out of my murder." Max said which caused Noah's eyes to widen for a moment.

They normally weren't so honest. Most tributes were in denial until they would enter the arena. Max seemed to be quicker than that. And Noah itched to tell him that he would survive, that there was no reason to say that, but she couldn't. There was no guarantee, she had the power to promise nothing.

She thought of Carlos's boy for a moment, Lando she had learned. They all wanted different people to survive the games, it won't only be a fight in the arena but also in the capitol to see who had the strongest pull with the sponsors. Noah was beloved, but she feared that compared to Carlos or Daniel, she won't be able to help Max the way he deserved.

"I..." Noah started to talk, only to find herself with two arms full of the younger man. For a moment she thought she couldn't breathe anymore. Nobody has hugged her since her games, not after the guy from Nine trying to squeeze her to death from behind during her games, not even Claire had been allowed to hug her goodbye before she left for the capitol ever since. But other than usually, she did not panic, she also didn't try to push Max away, who was nestling his head against her collar bone while holding onto the back of her shirt with both hands tightly.