To Be Home Again (Hunger games/Clove)

Stargazing With The Enemy

The next 10 minutes of my life was a blur, me and Rowan were helped up onto our chariot and off we went down the long hallway. We came out the other end into street which was lined with hundreds of capitol residents and holographic banners that showed each of the tributes as they came out of the tunnel. I tried to focus on the crowed, scared that if i looked at one of the banners and saw myself I'd think of my mom and start crying again. I wonder what her and my dad are thinking right now, seeing me here instead of my Sylvia. Would they be proud that I went in her place so she could take care of Maggie? I hope they're proud of me because thats all i have to hold onto right now; making them proud and surviving to go back home.

I snapped out of my inner monologue as the chariot came to a stop, almost sending me flying over the front. Good thing Rowan caught me, shooting me a reassuring smile before turning his attention forward as president snow stood up to make a speech. After his thankfully short speech our chariots sprung to life again, taking us back into the tunnels. We came to a halt and i almost jumped out of the chariot. "Eager are we?" Desdemona chuckled as she held out a hand to help me off the high step. I thankfully took it, nodding enthusiastically, "I'm to get out of these shoes, no offence." I rushed out, holding a hand up to Orion as they joined us, "no offence taken love, I'm not a fan of heels myself. I'll try to avoid them for the interviews." He chuckled as he and the rest of the prep team started making their way to the elevator.

I began to follow before i felt a hand on my back and turned to see Rowan looking at me with wide eyes then motioned to the left with his head. I followed his eyes and found none other than Clove leaning against her chariot away from her team with her arms crossed her chest staring me down. I'm not sure what came over me but before i had time to process what was going on i felt myself beginning to walk towards her. "What are you doing?" Rowan whisper yelled, pulling me back towards him. "I want to know why she keeps looking at me." I said firmly while he shook his head. "Did you not see her reaping, she punched a girl in the face. I don't want you going anywhere near her." He chuckled humorlessly, steering me towards the elevators where our team was waiting.

"Im not a baby Row." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "I promised Sylvia that I'd look after you. Letting you get a fat lip before we even go into the games isn't part of my plan." He said the last part quietly as the elevator opened up and we all piled in. "I guess you're right." I sighed, stepping in with them. As the doors closed i caught her eye once more to see her glaring in our direction, this time it wasn't at me but at my partner. My eyebrows knit together in confusion as we made our way up to our apartment. I was so deep in though that i barely acknowledged the exquisite room before me. It was dark and warm, adorned with deep wood tones, plush rugs and furniture and mint green walls.

Queenie told us that we'd be having dinner soon so we had time to get settled into our rooms. "Rowan your room is just off the dinning room, Briar-Rose, yours is down the hall." Queenie told us, gesturing as she spoke before disappearing into what i assume was her rooms. I slowly made my way towards my room, running my hand along the dark green textured walls before stopping infront of the door that i assumed was mine. I pushed open the heavy oak door and was met with probably the most beautiful room ive ever seen. It looked a lot like the whole of the apartment with all wood furniture and a dark green carpet that reminded me of the moss that coats the side of my house. The whole room itself made me feel at home and i immediately felt myself relax.

I showered and changed into more comfortable clothes before making my way back out to the dinning room for dinner. For most of the meal our mentors talked strategy, what the training days would be like and how to go about making allies in the arena if that's how we decided to go about it. "Uh, Blight. Whats through that door?" I asked as we finished up dinner, pointing to a door on the far side of the living room. "Oh thats the roof. You guys can go up there of you want, you'll just have to take the key that's hung up beside it or you'll get locked out." He said, slowly turning to look at Desdemona as she wiped her mouth. "What?" She asked. "Do you want to tell Briar what you did your first night here?" He asked, gesturing to the door with a laugh. "I went up to the roof and forgot the key so i had to sleep on the roof. "God that was 7 years ago. Im never telling you anything ever again." She laughed,throwing the napkin at him.

I excused myself from dinner, telling everyone that id be going up to the roof. I stopped short, grabbing the key and holding it up to show everyone sitting at the table making them all laugh, even Desdemona as she tried to look annoyed. After many many flights of stairs i finally made my way up there, taking in a big breath of the fresh air. I immediately noticed Clove sitting on the closest bench, arms propped up on the ledge. "Oh uh, sorry i didn't realize anyone would be up here." I stammered out nervously, turning around to leave. "You can stay, i don't own the roof." She snickered sarcastically though her eyes didn't share the same darkness as her tone. I composed myself for a moment before making my way over to the bench and sitting on the opposite side.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, each of us looking over the city. She broke the silence by clearing her throat, making my head snap towards her. "I just wanted to say that was really cool what you did, volunteering for your sister and all that. I would have never done that for my sister." Her eyes darked at the mention of her sister before softening again as she looked me in the eyes. I blushed lightly, a small smile cheeping onto my lips. "Thanks, Sylvie was always better at taking care of mags anyways. I wouldn't be able to do half the stuff she does." I shrugged coyly, not used to getting compliments. "Don't mention it, just though id let you know." She offered a small smile before her eyes returned to the city.

Well now i know why she was looking at me earlier. "Thats not why i was looking at you." She chucked and my face heated up immediately. There's no way i accidentally said that out loud. "Huh." I gasped, praying to any and every god that i could just disappear in this moment. "I wasn't looking at you at the tribute parade because i though you volunteering was brave." She smirked as if that was obvious. "W-what do you mean?" I stuttered. "Don't worry about it." She sighed, standing up. "Sleep tight princess, see you at training tomorrow." She winked and with that left me sitting there in awe as my stomach did backflips. "Did she, did she just call me princess?" I asked myself as the heavy metal door slammed shut. My whole body felt like it was on fire as i descended the stairs back to the apartment, there's no way I'd be able to sleep tonight with her words echoing in my head.