Defying the Odds (The 4th Quarter Quell) [The Hunger Games Fanfiction]

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Asher

A sweet smile spreads across my lips just as hers collide with mine. My hands are burning as they travel up her arms, barely brushing her skin. The fingers on my left hand tangle in her soft hair as my right hand travels down her back and stops at her waist, pulling her closer, closer, closer.

We break apart from the kiss gasping for air. I keep my lips on her the whole time though, placing light kisses across her jawline and down her neck. I kiss up and down her neck and across her jawline over and over, each time getting closer to her sweet, sweet lips. I can feel her body trembling under mine. Finally, I place a kiss right on the corner of her mouth and pull back, just far enough to look into her eyes. I wait for her to open them.

And then her green eyes capture mine the way they always do. I’m paralyzed by her. A small smile frames her lips as she gazes right back into my eyes. She leans in slowly, never taking her eyes away from mine. Closer and closer and closer until we’re breathing the same air and are lips are almost touching.

 

I throw a hand over my face as the light streaming in from my window threatens to blind me. Taking in everything around me, I’m confused. Where the hell am I?

And then it hits me. The Capitol. I grimace as I sit up in bed.

Suddenly, memories of my dream flood back into my mind and I can’t help but smile. My fingers trace my lips. God, I can still feel her around me.

Layla.

Something must be wrong with me. I kissed her yesterday. I kissed her. God, I’m stupid. I know there’s no point in trying to be with Layla. I know we have no chance of being together. I know it. But somehow, when I’m with her, all of my thoughts fly out the window and I’m left acting off of instinct alone. And that is so bad, because, damn, my instincts are pulling me towards her. My instincts are shouting at me to pull her small body against mine and hide her away from the rest of the world…from the Capitol…from the games.

I walk to the bathroom and decide to slip in the shower for five minutes. The shorter the shower, the quicker I get to see her again. As I strip off my clothes and step in, I start to wonder if a five minute shower is even possible in the Capitol. Why do I need so many choices? I speed through the process of picking the temperature and the pressure of the water, stopping when I’m given a choice of a hundred different soaps. I’m overwhelmed by all of the options. At first, I’m tempted to choose the first one I see, but then I stop. Which one will she like? I find myself asking. I scroll through the options, but the more there are to choose from, the harder the decision. Rose, Lemongrass, Cotton (what does cotton even smell like?), Mint, Strawberry, Cinnamon. The choices are endless and I have no clue what most of them smell like. I’m freaking out.

As I’m scrolling further and further down the list, my eyes catch sight of a scent that reminds me one-hundred percent of Layla. So I pick it. Ocean.

The shower fills with the crisp scent that must be what the ocean smells like. I wouldn’t know. I close my eyes and pretend that I’m in District Four with Layla. I pretend that I grew up with her, that we were always friends. I pretend that I have even the smallest chance of being with her.

I open my eyes and turn off the water, effectively ending my fantasy. As I step out on to a mat, heaters turn on, instantly drying my body. I place my hand on a box that sends a blast of warm air through my hair, drying and untangling it in seconds. The vast differences between life in the Capitol and life in District Seven make me feel as if I’m on another planet. For a second, I’m homesick. For the woods, the smell of pine in the air, the familiar faces everywhere…for Lindon. Tears prick the back of my eyes, threatening to overflow. I wish I could see him again. Just once more before the games, to know that he’s going to be okay, to know that…God, just to know that he knows I love him. I feel a few tears escape and trickle down my cheeks.