The 70th Hunger Games

Chapter Eleven

I wake with a start and sit up. I glance around but everything is how it was when i fell asleep last night. Chris lies just to the side of where I previously lay, his hand still clasped tightly around mine. I smile slightly and feel my shoulders relax. I lean back against the cold wall of the cornucopia and watch him sleep. He looks so peaceful compared to Finnick. Right now Finnick would be squeezing me tighter and tighter as he fought against his nightmares, desperate to escape.

I wonder how he is coping right now. Is he thinking of me? Knowing Finn he'll sit up, gasping for breath, silently begging for my soothing voice to calm him down.

But he won't hear it. I turn my attention back to Chris. I softly stroke his face and lie down beside him again. He opens his eyes and smiles. "Hay."

"Hay," I reply.

"You're cold," he frowns, sitting up to grab my jacket.

"I'm fine. You've kept my hands warm," I smile.

"You warmed my heart," he says, and I blush. I look away and bite my lip before looking back. Is it for the camera's or is it the impossible? Does he really mean it?

I shake my head. Of course he doesn't. He knows I'm taken and to tell a woman who's pregnant with someone else's child is wrong. Chris is rarely wrong.

"Can we go for a walk? I love the lake," I say. I don't want to stay here. Marla looks even more ugly in sleep than she does when she's awake.

He stands, pulling me to my feet, grabbing his sword and insisting I wear my jacket. I roll my eyes, smiling fondly and doing as I'm told. I guess Chris is more than like Finnick than I thought. For one thing they both tell me what to do. Finnick is because he battles for control, something he desperately craves, a sense of security. Chris is because he gets protective, as all big brothers do. Do I mind? Not at all. I think maybe it makes me love them more.

By the lake I heave a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. I turn to Chris. He sits down, bathing his feet in the shallows, looking across the horizon as the sun rises. When he feels my gaze he turns to look at me. He tilts his head. "Go on. Say it. What you thinking?"

I sigh, my smile fading. "How are we going to do this?"

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Win. Don't get me wrong, Chris, I love my grandmother but I can't win without you," I say.

"Neither can I," he says in a quiet voice.

"So what are we going to do?"

"You're going to win," he says.

I look at him in horror. "Not alone."

"Yes alone. When we first came to the capital, may plan was to make you win because I loved you. Now, I have other motivations too. You're going to win this Annie, no question about it," he says, and I see the determination Finnick warned me of. There is no fighting it. I have to accept it.

I go quiet, turning my head to the lake, looking out at the first lot of sun that the morning brings. I look back, breaking the silence. "Try," I say. "For me."

He looks back at me, a small smile growing on his lips. "For you I'd do anything." Then he leans over and kisses my cheek.

I know the camera's are on us now. I know by the way the crowd went berserk in the interviews that the capital loves a bit of romance. They'll all be feasting on this. I pray silently that Dekklan and Mr Rif have been warned that this is all part of a plan. Then when we reveal about the baby they won't get to shocked, excited, sad. Whatever a person can feel is a situation like theirs. I wonder for a moment how Finnick feels to watch this. Is it as hard for him as it is for me to be here? I have no doubt of that. But I remember what he said to me before he left me before the games. "Do whatever it takes to survive. I don't care what that means. Chris is willing and you must be too. I love you." Do whatever it takes. So I will.