𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎.

The Killing Blow

Vomit splashed in the toilet of the Hamm residence.

Snot ran down Rosie's upper lip, tears dripping down her closed eyes, her knees pressed into the cold tiles. One of her clammy hands held her long hair back, and the other steadied herself on her thigh. Marks shaped like smiles pressed into her skin from how aggressively her fingers dug into the flesh of her thigh.

Everything was spinning. Her eyes were squeezed shut so hard fractured rainbows danced around her blackened vision.

"Rosemary Blue, I need proof of life!" Nancy shouted through the door after a few too many seconds of wordless silence only permeated by choked sobs and the splash of bile. For a few beats, Rosie felt guilty for not immediately responding, but she didn't have the words. There was no way to describe how complicated her feelings were. She was so confused as to how to feel that her body's only response was to throw up anything and everything. Rosie swallowed back the continued sickness swirling in her stomach and flushed the toilet, then took a second to rinse out her mouth and wipe her face of snot and tears, before opening the door. "It's gonna be okay, love."

Rosie shook her head. "It's a Quarter Quell, I just know it's gonna be a fucking disaster." The uncertainty was killing her. "I always think it can't get worse... and it always does."

The mother sighed. The house was quiet, Jess hadn't awoken when Rosie slipped from the bed they, more often than not, shared. The only people that were awake were Rosie and Nancy. The sun had yet to even make a slither of an appearance and the birds still slept in the trees. The woman had picked up the role of a caregiver to Rosie the second Jess brought the spindly girl home; Nancy couldn't help but adore her awkward, but kind nature. And once Rosie's mother died, Nancy took her job seriously—as she knew Rosie's mother would have for the Hamm children. She saw Rosie as one of her own, through and through. And like all of her children, she wished she could take away the hurt they experienced, but Nancy couldn't. Rosie had enough hurt to last a dozen lifetimes, and there was nothing the woman could do to help.

"I mean, Kai wasn't supposed to live. The stupid odds weren't in his fucking favour, were they?" Rosie grew angry. They both knew tears were imminent. "Now he won't leave me alone. I tried saying I was a lesbian, but he won't let it go. I mean, I kissed Jess in front of him and he still won't leave me be. He didn't even stop when Kit punched him," She sounded so exasperated. "He's somehow, kind of, befriended Lois, the witch."

Nancy rubbed Rosie's arm, letting her get all her emotions out.

The woman was under no delusion that Jess had even a slither of interest in men—something Nancy couldn't give less of a shit about. But despite her mother knowing, Jess didn't get the guts to speak the words to her family—sans Rosie—until Elio died; it shocked her system to remember life is short. But, despite having kissed each other and slept in the same bed most nights, there was nothing going in between the pair of friends, it'd be too weird; almost incestuous. They'd only pecked one another in an effort to get Kai off Rosie's back.

"You're Rosemary Blue Aldine. You always make it through. Don't forget that you are powerful." Nancy rubbed Rosie's face, giving her a small, confident smile. "Don't forget that you have people both on the Earth and beyond, on your side. Whatever the unique situation is, you're going to be okay."

Rosie picked at her shirt. "I... I may have slapped Katniss..." the teenager admitted shamefully.

Nancy laughed, "I know, sweetheart. No one can keep a secret around her."

"Who?"

"Kit, of course. He said she tried talking to you, and you slapped her and walked off. Now, here's what you're going to do about it," Nancy raised an unimpressed eyebrow. She didn't approve of the violence, but she knew where it came from. Rosie was blind with rage that Katniss and Peeta got to win together when Toby and she were not afforded the opportunity. When the younger girl tried to make an awkward conversation, Rosie snapped and slapped her across the face; Finnick stood next to her and immediately tried to smooth over the assault. Katniss shrugged it off, deep down she understood. "You—under no circumstances—will hit her again, got it?" Embarrassed, Rosie nodded. "And, you will apologise–"