#Vivian definitely got you to help with his hair lmao

[hime-bee]

The year has started out a bit rough, but things are looking up! I'll give a more comprehensive update on a separate post- in the meantime, happy (late) new year from me and Vivian, since it's the year of the snake! 🐍💞

[doomedhowell]

Let The Games Begin [Repost]

Summary: The Hunger Games is happening once again. Phil Lester has never been interested due to his grandpa shielding him away from most of it. But now, Phil wants to learn more about the Games. Then, he meets a boy from District 6 who has been chosen to take part in The Hunger Games. Phil becomes attached, and he’ll do anything to help keep this boy alive. Genre: AU, Angst with a happy ending Word Count: 8,586 Triggers/Warnings: swearing, minor character deaths

A/N: I wrote this way back in 2016. I recently rewatched the hunger games, and decided to read this again. Then, I realized that there were so many mistakes and decided to edit the whole thing. I only edited the fic, didn’t change much (but I did add a few things here and there). I hope you enjoy this fic (because I low actually do, and would love some feedback on it lmao).

[READ ON AO3]

“Grandpa Snow, are we going to find out who all the tributes are today?” Sixteen year old Phil Lester asks as he excitedly walks into his grandfather’s large office. “Yes Phil, we are going to meet the tributes,” Snow answers, sighing as he looks over at the small boy. “Can I go with you to the arrival?” Phil asks hopefully. “You know you aren’t allowed to go,” Snow says. “But grandpa, I never get to go. Can’t I go just this one time?” Phil begs. “Tell me, why do you want to go so badly?” Snow asks curiously, crossing his arms against his chest as he leans back in his chair, watching as his grandson sits down in the chair in front of him. “Because,” Phil starts. “Everybody else gets to go and meet the tributes, and everybody else gets to go to the parties and mingle with each other, while I’m stuck here in this boring mansion.” “Boring?” Snow scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief. “You should be grateful you live in a place like this.” “No, I am! I’m sorry, Grandpa,” Phil says quickly, “It’s just… it gets a bit boring sometimes. I’m lonely.” Whilst Phil truly did love living in this mansion, he is constantly stuck in it because his grandpa protective and he doesn’t want anything to happen to him, which Phil does understand considering how many deaths a day there were in the districts and even sometimes the Capitol. The mansion is still boring and Phil doesn’t have any friends because he can’t exactly go anywhere. “Phil, you know it’s too dangerous for you,” Snow says. “I’ll stay close to you then. Hire a bodyguard… or something,” Phil shrugs. Snow finally sighs in defeat, and thinks quietly for a moment. “Alright. You can go… but just this once. But, I cannot babysit you. I’ve got very important things to do with the Games drawing nearer each day. Understood, Philip? If anything happens, you’ll be brought straight back to the mansion,” he warns. Phil gasps and nods excitedly. “Thank you, thank you!” He exclaims excitedly, standing up. “Now go and find Vivian. She’ll help you find something to wear for tonight,” “Thank you so much Grandpa! You won’t regret this,” Phil grins and then instantly runs out of Snow’s office, off to find Vivian, who is basically like a mother to Phil. She cares for him, and she’s just their maid. Phil’s parents died when he was very little because of illnesses, so he was forced to live with his grandpa, who just happens to be the President of the Capitol, President Snow. You either love and adored him, or you hated him. Sometimes people told Phil they were sorry for him, that he had to live with the old man. But honestly, Phil doesn’t care what those people say or what they thought of his family. Grandpa Snow cares for him, and that’s all that matters to Phil, since he’s pretty much the only family he has left. **** “Phil, you look dashing,” Snow says once he sees Phil walk down the stairs, wearing a white suit. Phil smiles as he looks up at his Grandpa, not being to stop himself from blushing. “Thank you, Grandpa. Vivian picked it out for me. It’s weird wearing a suit though,” he says. “You’ll get used to it. Now, come. We need to get going. Hurry up,” Phil smiles, and then he follows Snow out of the mansion. **** Now they were waiting for the tributes from each district to arrive in the Capitol. Phil’s very excited, although surprisingly, also nervous. He can’t help but feel sorry for all these kids, because he knew that all but one were going to survive The Hunger Games. Phil’s definitely very thankful that he doesn’t have to go through any this, since he was the President’s grandson. “They’re coming!” Phil squeals excitedly as he sits in his seat next to Snow. “Philip,” Snow warns as he gave Phil a stern look. “That’s not how we behave.” Phil immediately goes still and looks down at his hands. He completely forgot that they were pretty much in front of the whole Capital and the districts, and he really doesn’t want to embarrass his grandpa, but can you blame him for being so excited? This was his first time witnessing this event live. Phil looks up a moment later and smiles when he hears Caesar Flickermen speaking, and then he sees the districts coming in. He sits up a little bit more so that he can get a better look of everyone. “Here from our sixth district, Daniel Howell and Louise Pentland!” “Wow, look at him…” Phil whispers quietly to himself, his eyes went wide with shock, as soon as he saw the brown haired boy come out. He’s the most beautiful boy he’s ever seen. Phil has never told anyone that he’s gay, especially not his grandpa. Because he knew that he wouldn’t get a supportive reaction. He didn’t want to jeopardise any of the life that he’s living right now. Besides, it isn’t a big deal… what boy would be interested in him, anyways? Phil doesn’t pay attention to any of the other tributes, he can only keep his eyes on Dan Howell. **** “This party is huge,” Phil whispers quietly to himself as he looks around. It’s now after the arrival of the tributes, he’s finally at the welcoming party that’s being held in the Capitol. There were so many press and paparazzi here. Everybody wants to see and talk to all the new tributes. Phil never knew that it was such a big deal, even though he had a small idea of it. “Oh, sorry…” Phil mumbles as soon as he accidentally bumps into someone. He looks up and his eyes immediately went wide with shock when he saw that it was none other than Dan Howell himself. “I-It’s okay,” Dan speaks quietly, blushing deeply. Dan isn’t used to speaking to many people like this, because even though he came from district 6, he’s terribly shy and reserved, and likes to keep to himself. “You’re Dan Howell? From District 6?” Phil asks. “Nice to meet you.” “Who are you?” Dan asks, blinking a few times. “Oh, sorry about that. I’m Phil Lester, President Snow’s grandson,” Phil introduces himself, smiling. “You’re President Snow’s grandson?” Dan asked, clearly shocked to hear this. “Yeah… I get that reaction a lot,” Phil says, sighing quietly. “So, what are you doing here then?” Dan asked. Normally Dan wouldn’t strike up a conversation like this, but he can’t help but be quite interested in this boy. Phil seems like someone that he would get along with. He only has one best friend back home, and that was Louise. The fact that he’s going to lose her absolutely breaks his heart. Either she and him would die in the Games, or only one of them would live. “I never get to go to these parties, Grandpa Snow is very protective of me,” Phil explains. “I asked him if I could come tonight and he finally said yes. I’m really glad that I got to come tonight though.” “President Snow, protective of someone?” Dan scoffs. “I find that hard to believe,” “I wish people wouldn’t talk about him like that in front of me,” Phil mumbles. “Oh, I’m sorry… it’s just… can you blame me? It’s his fault that we’re here in the first place,” Dan says. “I guess I can understand that,” Phil nods. “But that’s not how I see it.” “Well, you actually live with him and see him more often than any of us… so maybe you see a different side to him then us,” Dan says, sighing when he hears his name called. “I guess that’s my cue to leave. Will I see you around?” He bites his lip. He hopes this wouldn’t be the last time he sees Phil Lester. “Yeah,” Phil smiles and nods. “You definitely will.” “See you later,” Dan bids goodbye, and then turns around and walks away without saying another word. “Lester,” Phil looks over and then he sighs when he saw that it was one of the bodyguards that Snow hired for him. “What now?” Phil sighs, crossing his arms against his chest. “President Snow wants you back at the mansion as soon as possible,” “But why? The party is just getting started! I want to meet all the tributes,” Phil argues. “Tributes aren’t here to be your friend, Lester. Let’s go now, or we’ll do it the hard way,” Phil huffs angrily, walks pass the bodyguard, and storms out of the room. Phil already knew what would happen if Snow got angry or upset with him, so he wasn’t going to argue with anyone. He isn’t an idiot. He’s actually seen how his grandpa treated people from the other districts. And Phil definitely doesn’t want to get on his grandpa’s bad side. *** “How come the tributes have to do this?” Phil asks curiously. “We need to evaluate them so we can learn what their special skills are for the Games,” Plutarch sighs, as he crosses his arms against his chest, Phil’s been asking a million questions about the Games, which is already annoying Plutarch. Phil is definitely a curious person, and he isn’t afraid to show that. Phil raises his eyebrows, but then shrugs his shoulders. Phil has been showing a lot of interest in the process of The Hunger Games, so Snow finally is allowing him to tag along with Plutarch for the day. Phil hopes to see Dan today as well. It’s been a few days since they have last run into each other and Phil misses him, even though they have only spoke a few minutes, Phil can’t stop thinking about the boy from District 6.. Phil knew there would be a chance that he would never get to see him again, which is one of the main reasons why he wanted to see him again, at least once more before the Games. “Dan Howell, District 6!” Phil’s head immediately perks up when he hears Dan’s name being announced. He bites his lip nervously as he looks over at the door, and then he takes a deep breath when he sees Dan walk out. “You have ten minutes to perform your skill,” Phil hears a voice call. Dan glances up and smiles a little when he sees Phil, to which Phil gives him a little wave and a smile. Knowing that Phil is there definitely calms Dan’s nerves a little. *** The next day they’re at the training center, where the tributes spend the day training for the Games that will be starting in less than four days now. Phil can’t believe how soon the Games were happening, and part of him is a little sad because a lot of the tributes were quite nice and lovely. Phil looks around the room, seeing that all the tributes were already working and training. He smiles when he spots Louise across the room, and he instantly walks over to her, where she is working on trying to start a fire. The only thing that’s currently on his mind is Dan, he wants to see Dan at least one more time before the Games start. They barely know each other, but Phil is so attached to the boy. “Hi,” Phil speaks once he reaches Louise. Phil knows that Louise is Dan’s best friend from back home. Louise glances over when she hears the voice and smiles shyly when she sees Phil. “Hi,” “I’m Phil,” Phil introduces politely before he shakes hands with Louise. “Do you know where Dan is?” “He’s over there,” Louise tells him kindly as she points over at Dan, who was currently throwing knives into one of the walls. Phil looks over and raises his eyebrows as soon as he sees Dan. He really didn’t expect Dan to be so good with knives. Though Dan did get a ten for throwing knives at the evaluation. “Thank you,” Phil gives Louise a smile before walking to Dan, being sure to stay back a little though, as Dan was throwing knives, and Phil doesn’t want to get in his way. “Hi.” Phil finally speaks after a moment. Dan looks up in surprise, not expecting to see Phil in the training center, especially with the other tributes, “Hi,” Dan replies, not looking Phil in the eyes while speaking. “Can I help you?”  He asks, a bit harsh. Dan surprises him with his harsh tone. Before, Dan seemed so open to talking with him. “Um, not really, it’s just that… I didn’t expect you to be so good at this.” He shrugs. Dan gives Phil a fake sad face, and then scoffs,  “You watched me in the evaluation, you should know…”  With that, Dan walks away. He doesn’t want to get to attached to Phil, after all he is going to die. Dan looks for Louise, he knew where’d she be, and of course, he finds her with the camo paints. Before this all happened, Dan would watch her paint for hours back in District 6, he found peace in doing so. “Louise?” Dan speaks quietly, trying not to startle her. Louise’s head perks up as soon as she hears Dan’s soft voice. “Oh, Dan!” Louise exclaims excitedly. “Look at this… it’s absolutely amazing,” she picks up her hand and places it against a fake willow tree. Her hand perfectly blends in with it. Dan smiles slightly as he watches her show off her skill. Of course Dan is very happy for Louise, having this beautiful skill that would be useful in the Games… but, they both knew that she wouldn’t be the one winning the Games and with that depressing thought, Dan lets out a sad sigh, and then he plops down next to her. Dan needs a break anyways. Phil was hurt by the way Dan had just treated him. He doesn’t understand why Dan had just done that, and then walked away from him without saying another word to him. He thought they were friendly towards each other? Perhaps Phil said something before that upset Dan, or he did something wrong. Phil has absolutely no clue, and honestly, his feelings were hurt. Phil sighs as he nervously stands there, looking around, unsure of what he should do now. He was hoping to talk to Dan a little more, but it seems that wasn’t going to happen. Maybe Phil could try one last time. Phil hesitates before walking over to where Louise was, glancing at Dan once before looking back at her. “What are you doing?” Phil asks curiously, watching Louise. Louise looks over at Phil and age gives him a friendly smile. “Oh, this? Camo. It’s paint, and you can paint on yourself so it helps you to hide from the others. It seems to work. I’ve done this a lot back in District 6, right Dan?” She looks up at Dan and frowns slightly when he just shrugs. The way he was behaving now is totally unlike him, but she tries not to worry about it and focuses on her training. Phil sighs quietly as he watches Dan, and then he looks over when his bodyguard walked over to him. “You’ve been ordered to leave Lester,” the bodyguard says. Phil frowns. “But Grandpa Snow said I could stay for a few hours,” he protests quickly. “This is very serious, Lester. We’re getting complaints you’re distracting the tributes from their training. You’re going to have to leave so they can train for the Games. You, out of everyone, must know this,” Louise gives Phil a sympathetic smile before she returns to her training. Phil looks back at Dan one last time, before he follows the bodyguard out of the training center. Phil just hopes that he will be able to catch Dan one last time before the Games. He feels determined. *** “This place is so cool!” Phil exclaims as he walks into the tributes center with President Snow. “Settle down Phil, we talked about this,” Snow warns, looking down at Phil sternly. “S-Sorry grandpa,” Phil mumbles. “Where will I go while you do your um, business?” “You’ll stay down here and Vivian will watch you,” Snow tells him. “Grandpa, I’m sixteen years old. Do I really need to have a babysitter?” Phil groans. “The night before the Games? Yes,” Snow sighs. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” “Okay,” Phil smiles as he watches Grandpa Snow walk off with a few other important people. “You’ll let me know if you need anything?” Vivian asks. Phil nods in response. “Of course. I’ll just be around here somewhere. Can I go outside?” “I suppose, but stay close. President Snow will have a fit if you go off too far,” Vivian shakes her head. “I know,” Phil sighs as he watches Vivian walk into one of the lounges. Phil looks around quickly, and then his eyes light up the second he sees Dan walk out of the elevator. Even though Phil is still pretty upset about how Dan treated him a few days ago, but he still wants to say hi at least one last time before the Games, and hopefully they’ll be able to talk a little more this time. Phil takes a deep breath before he walks over to Dan. “Dan. Um-” Phil hesitates as Dan looks up at him, hoping that Dan won’t blow him off this time. Dan seems to be in a much more calmer mood this time “Um, I-I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what happened the other day at the training center.” Dan starts to open is mouth to speak but quickly stops himself and looks down at his hands. “No it’s okay, I was the one acting cold towards you. I should be the one apologizing to you,” Dan lets out a small breath before continuing, “It’s just… I didn’t want to get attached to you, because you and I both know that we won’t see each other again after the Games start.” Phil and Dan were silent for a moment before Phil speaks up again. “Look Dan, I know you don’t want to get attached to anyone but can we at least pretend to be friends, just for tonight, please?” Phil hasn’t gone against his grandfather’s orders for nothing. Dan is someone that he cares about. Dan looks up and Phil, and luckily gives him a nod. Then gently pats the spot next to him, waiting for Phil to sit as well. They sat for a while, listening to the slight breeze and the people of the Capitol below them. “Hey Dan, can you tell me about your life back in your district?” Phil asks quietly. Phil has always heard stories about what happened in the districts, but he never knew how much of the stories were true. Dan is quiet for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I guess I can, but you know it might take a little bit…” He hopes that will get Phil to change his mind, as a lot of bad things happened in his past back home. But Phil just lays back and says, “Then we better get started.” Dan leans against the pillar behind him and tries to pick a place for him to start. The day his dad unfortunately left comes to mind, he finally begins speaking. “Well... the week I turned twelve years old, me and my little brother, Alex, went to visit my dad at his job. He fixed trains and he would make sure that the control systems worked. We looked for his train, and when we finally found it, people were crowded around it. I grabbed Alex’s hand and pushed us to the front and when we got there…” Dan’s eyes stung, as he’s trying his best not to cry. The memories were painful to relive. “My dad… H-He was mangled in between the train cars,” he stops for a moment. “Neither of us could move as we watched the peacekeepers dragged his body away.” Dan finally looks up at Phil, who looks almost as if he was crying, and Dan wonders why he himself wasn’t crying yet. He has just talked about his father’s death after all, maybe it’s because at this point he had nothing to cry about, his life was pretty much over. “I-I’m sorry Dan, that must of been really awful for you and your family. I can’t even imagine what that would be like to see that at such a young age,” Phil frowns. Phil has also lost his parents at a young age, so he definitely knows what Dan is going through, in some ways. But Phil doesn’t remember his parents. Phil looks over at him and asks if he would continue the story, Dan nods. “After that, Alex  stayed in most days. He would help my mom clean the house or make all of us dinner, and I learned how to use throwing knives to hunt for my family…” He closes his eyes for a moment, remembering what it felt like to go running through the forest, being happy and free back in District 6. ”Then, I started writing. I found that I was really good at it. I would write whole stories in a day, sometimes I would go out into the woods and write there. I found it much easier. For some reason, I loved the trees. Every day I would just run through them for hours.” At this point, there were no stopping the tears now. Dan desperately wants to be home with his family. He would give anything to smell the pine trees again, he hates how life played with him like a puppet. Nothing was okay anymore, nothing at all.

Suddenly, Dan feels a pair of arms snake around his waist, and he’s shaken out of his thoughts. He looks and sees that it’s just Phil wanting to comfort him. Phil’s warm, and he even smells faintly like that smell that he missed so much, Phil is lucky that he doesn’t ever have to go through the Games. ”I’m so sorry Dan… I really am. I know you can win. Do it for your brother, do it so you can go home and run through the forest again.” They stay hugging. And, for a single moment, Dan thinks that maybe he actually has a chance of winning the games, for the first time since his name was drawn at the reaping. “Phil, I’m getting tired,” Dan yawns after he spoke. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you up,” Phil has a faint blush on his cheeks. Though, a huge part of him wishes that he could stay with Dan all night, but he knows that Dan needs as much sleep as possible. “It’s okay. I didn’t mind being out here with you. Actually… I was thinking maybe would you come with me. I don’t think that I can sleep on my own after talking about my dad,” Dan looks down at his hands shyly. “Of course. Come on then, let’s go!” With that, Phil gently grabs Dan’s hand and they walk to his room, luckily nobody sees Phil go into Dan’s bedroom with him. He was sure they would have gotten in trouble. Phil manages to stay for a few hours with Dan, slightly thankful that Dan had fallen asleep before he left, because Dan was still a little shaken up after talking about his father’s death and District 6. Phil desperately wants Dan to win now more than ever. He truly cares about Dan, even if they have only known each other for less than a week. Phil just feels so attached to the boy, and he absolutely hates that Dan is going into the Games, there’s a ninety nine percent chance that he isn’t going to make it out alive. But, Phil has hope. Phil believes in Dan, that he’ll make it through to the end. “Where have you been?” Vivian asks with frustration when Phil finally walks back out to the entrance. Phil blinks a few times, Vivian startling him slightly. “Um, I=I was... outside,” he’s partially telling the truth. He has been outside, but he can’t tell her that he’s been upstairs with Dan, cuddling, specifically. “Outside? I looked everywhere for you. We’re supposed to be leaving in fifteen minutes,” Vivian sighs and shakes her head. “This is exactly why President Snow never brought you to these things, you know?” Phil frowns as he looks up at Vivian. “I’m sorry, alright? I just got distracted is all. This place is massive, and I can explore it for days. I’m always stuck in the mansion so I was kind of taking advantage of being outside while I can be,” he mumbles. “It’ll only get worse when the Games start.” “At least let me know where you’re going to be at next time,” she warns. “Okay,” Phil crosses his arms against his chest and sighs. “Sorry for snapping… but can you blame me? It’s the night before the Games start and things get crazy during these times. President Snow would literally murder me if anything happened to you,” Vivian says. “Do you think I could go with Dan before he leaves for the Games?” Phil blurts out. “Dan? As in Dan Howell?” Vivian asks, and Phil nods. “Have you been speaking to him?” “Um, well… kind of, not really. We’ve only spoken to each other a few times-” Phil quickly tries to lie. “But… I want to see him one last time before he goes into the Games. Please, can I?” He asks hopefully. “That’s something you’ll have to talk with President Snow about,” Vivian says. Phil begs and pleads before President Snow finally agrees for him let him to be with Dan before he enters the arena. Dan told him the night they were cuddling that nobody would be there for him. Their mentor is going to be with Louise, and so Phil feels bad that nobody will be there to comfort Dan. Dan and Phil only have two minutes to spare with each other before the Games start. Phil’s very nervous, but he can’t even imagine how Dan’s feeling at that moment. Dan must be so nervous and so scared. “You look amazing,” Phil whispers as he stands with Dan. “Thanks,” Dan blushes at Phil’s kind words. “I don’t feel amazing though. I’m about to go into battle.” “I know,” Phil sighs sadly, and then he hesitates before reaching over and taking Dan’s hand in his. “Aren’t there cameras around here?” Dan asks, immediately looking up at Phil with wide eyes. “I’ll deal with my grandfather later. I just want to be with you,” Phil mumbles. It’s silent for a moment between the two, before Dan suddenly flings his arms around Phil’s neck and hugs him tightly., surprising Phil by his action. But, Phil doesn’t hesitate to hug the boy back. “You’re going to win,” Phil whispers as he holds onto Dan tightly. “How can I?” Dan cries, sniffing a few times. “You’ve seen the other tributes…” “Hide, okay? Just hide and you’ll be fine,” Phil takes a deep breath. “Only go out when you need to.” “One minute…” Phil closes his eyes as he continues to hold Dan, knowing that he needs as much comfort as he can get right now before all hell breaks loose in the Games. Phil wishes that he could just take Dan far away from here and take him somewhere where he would be safe, with no chance of being killed by anyone. “Okay Dan, just get what you need, and then get out. Don’t kill anyone unless you have to. Just go hide, and make sure you have enough food and water to last you. You don’t have to kill anyone,” Phil whispers, knowing that killing is the one thing that Dan has been worrying about this whole time. Dan nods and he takes a deep breath before he pulls away from Phil. “Thank you…” He whispers as he looks up at him. “For being here for me today, I mean. I didn’t have anyone unlike Louise does. Everybody loves her and nobody cares about me-” Dan sighs sadly. “I care about you… I wouldn’t have been anywhere else,” Phil smiles. “I know you can win this.” “You seem to be the only person who has faith in me,” Dan sniffs. “I know the other tributes want to work with you, so if they offer you a deal, take it when you need it, okay? I’ll be cheering for you no matter what happens though,” Phil promises. “At least I know someone will be cheering for me,” Dan mumbles. “Of course. I don’t care about those other tributes. I only care about you,” Phil tells him. “Do you really mean that? Or are you just saying that?” Dan asks, tilting his head slightly. “Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?” Phil asks, blinking a few times. “Thank you,” Dan hugs him one last time. Phil steps away when the countdown from twenty seconds started. He watches as Dan got into the tube and then it locks. Phil waves to Dan, while giving him a smile of reassurance. “Good luck,” Phil says, even though Dan probably couldn’t hear him. Twenty seconds later, and Dan’s gone. Phil sighs as he closes his eyes, hoping and praying for Dan to be okay and he would make it out alive, because Phil knew that Dan can do it. Dan just needs to have a little confidence and faith in himself. When Phil gets back to the mansion, of course his grandpa has quite a few things to say to him about being in contact with Dan this whole time. Phil knew his grandpa wouldn’t be happy about it. “I thought I told you, Philip. You were not supposed to be speaking to any of them,” Snow warns. “I’m sorry grandpa, I just… I couldn’t help it!” Phil exclaims, sighing. Of course Snow would have found out about him and Dan. Nothing ever stays a secret around here. “Couldn’t help it? You were acting as if he were your boyfriend,” Snow snaps. “He’s not my boyfriend,” Phil mumbles, looking away. “A boy like him would never date me…” “Excuse me?” Snow asks, the words Phil spoke shocking him. He’s never heard Phil speak like that, and he doesn’t like what he’s hearing either. Phil never talks to him about his personal love life. “U-Uh… nothing. C-Can we just watch the Games?” Phil asks, his cheeks turning bright red.

That was too close, and Phil can’t allow his grandpa to find out about his real sexuality. **** Dan’s stomach is churning, a feeling of nausea arising in his throat as he ascends in the tube. His eyes were hurting with the artificial light when he finally emerges, blinking around at the other tributes as the last ten seconds were counting down. Dan can’t believe this is actually happening right now, even though he’s been preparing for the Games for almost a week now. Louise catches his eye from across the field, and then she gives him a smile and a nearly miniscule nod. Just from that, Dan can tell that she’s was going to be meeting him wherever he went. He then quickly looks at the items in the middle of the arena, taking notice of a certain bag with a few throwing knives, which would be excellent if Dan can get his hands on those throwing knives. The entire arena is silent when the clock down struck zero. And then, all hell broke loose.   With as much stamina and agility as possible, Dan takes in a small breath and leapt, falling into the grass with a harsh sting in his legs. He wills himself to ignore the pain. A second in, and he’s already hurt. But, he’s ignoring the way his ankle twists under him as he sprints to the middle of the arena. There were tributes all around him, screaming, and his ears were ringing as the first canon strikes the air. The first death. Dan reaches out as he nears the bag, grabbing it with a shaking hand before stuffing the throwing knives into the bag as soon as he gets them. He’s almost pleasantly surprised at how utterly easy this seems. That is, until something hit his back with a large thump and threw him to the ground. He falls onto his stomach, the breath being knocked out of him instantly. Then, someone’s on top of him, pressing his face into the dirt to where he could literally taste the mud, gritty and covering his tongue with the disgusting substance. He thrashes his arms and legs, bucking in an attempt to throw the person off, but all he achieves is turning his body around so he can see who exactly is on top of him. He recognizes the girl from District 2, beautiful platinum hair in a messy bun and black eyes full of death. She’s much stronger than him, that much is obvious, from having years of training for this exact moment. She grins evilly as her arms wrap around his neck, Dan can feel her nails pressing into his skin now, choking him and he’s already preparing himself for his death. This is it, he decides, flailing his arms in an attempt to throw her off. To no avail. Five minutes into the games and I’m already dead, Dan thinks. Just as the thought fills to his head, a thud resonates through his ears, and the girl falls limp on top of him. A hand then pulls him up, forcing him to stand though his throat is sore and he couldn’t stop coughing from being shoved into the dirt and mud, and then the same hand was forcing him to run. He looks up through teary eyes to find the blonde head of Louise in front of him, practically dragging him to the forest. “You saved my life,” he gasps once they’re finally far enough away from everyone else, his free hand gently stroking at his already now sore neck. Half of his body is aching and he’s done nothing. “Of course I did, you numpty!” She snorts. Dan briefly wonders how she wasn’t worn out from running, but doesn’t question it as there were more important things to worry about. “We’re not friends for nothing.” “I really thought I was going to die,” Dan breathes, trying to catch his breath back. “Good thing you’ve got me to look after you, huh?” Louise grins. “I think we’re pretty far from the others…” “We should find a place to hide,” Dan says. “A tree or something.” “A tree? You think a tree is the best place to hide?” Louise asks, raising her eyebrows. “If we hide in a cave, then it’ll be too obvious. We have to be high up,” Dan explains. He’s already getting a headache and becoming stressed. Dan doesn’t want to leave Louise, but it’s obvious that there is absolutely no other choice. They’d both be dead if they stay together. “So, we’re sticking together then? Is that a good idea, Dan? Only one of us can win this whole thing... and I really don’t want to have to be the person to kill you,” Louise says quietly Dan takes a deep breath, nodding in agreement to Louise’s statement. “I suppose you’re right…” “We both have different ways of survival. I’ll be fine. Just, be careful?” Louise steps closer to him and she pulls him into a hug. “Here-” She holds up the bag she had in her hands and hands Dan a bottle of water. “Are you out of your mind?” Dan asks, his eyes going wide. “I have one for me as well, so no need to worry,” Louise smiles. “Don’t do anything stupid.” “Shut up,” Dan laughs, surprising himself. But, this is Louise. She can make him laugh in any situation. “Good luck, Louise.” He watches as Louise turns around and she starts heading off deeper into the forest, his heart breaking at the thought that this can be the very last time that he sees her. Louise is too pure and innocent to have to go through something like this. Someone like her shouldn’t be here. Dan looks around and sighs, feeling of devastation washes over him when he realizes that he no longer has the throwing knives that he collected earlier. Now, he only has the bottled water that Louise gave him, which he’s very grateful for. This should last him for a day. Maybe even two days if he’s careful. Dan walks around for nearly an hour until he finally finds a tall enough tree that he can use for hiding, and climbs to the top, hoping that nobody saw him climbing the tree. Hopefully, he’ll be safe here for awhile. **** Relief. That’s how Phil feels once he sees that Dan’s finally found someplace safe to be in the arena. Phil’s been watching him all day on the television, only taking breaks when he absolutely needs to. “It’s late, Philip, you need to go to bed,” President Snow sighs as he stood in the doorway of the lounge, where Phil has been watching the Games all day, watching Dan’s every move. “But, I don’t want to miss anything,” Phil whines, though you could tell by his voice that he was tired. “With the way things are going now, I highly doubt you’ll miss anything,” President Snow says. Phil bites his lip as he looked over at the television again, debating quietly to himself. “Okay, how about this… as soon as anything interesting happens, I’ll wake you?” President Snow suggests as he crosses his arms against his chest. “It’s late. Go to bed. You need sleep.” “Fine,” Phil groans before he finally turns the tv off. “Promise you’ll wake me up if something happens?” He takes a deep breath. “I just need to know if he’s okay.” “I told you I would, didn’t I?” President Snow raises his eyebrows. Phil pouts, and then he stands up and walks out of the lounge to go to his bedroom. The only thing on his mind is Dan, and hoping that the boy is okay. That he’s safe. When Phil wakes up in the morning, he quickly finds the nearest tv he can find, and turns on the Games, and he’s happy when he sees that Dan is still alive. They have already announced deaths that happened on the first night, and Phil’s heartbroken when he sees that Louise didn’t make it. Phil doesn’t even want to imagine how Dan felt when he saw her picture up in the sky. Though, it’s bittersweet because Louise was a lovely girl, but Dan is still alive. “Why do I have a feeling Howell will be the one to win?” Phil jumps at the sudden voice and sighs in relief when he looks over only to see that it’s just Vivian. “You think Dan will win?” Phil asks, sitting up a little on the couch, trying to hide his smile. “Perhaps,” Vivian nods before she hands Phil his plate of breakfast. “He’s a very smart boy.” “Oh, he is. I know it doesn’t seem like it at first looks but… I’ve seen him, he’s very smart,” Phil nods, and quietly thanks Vivian as he takes the breakfast plate from her, setting it beside him. “So, what’s gotten you so attracted to this boy?” Vivian asks as she crosses her arms against her chest, smirking slightly as soon as she noticed Phil’s cheeks turning bright pink from blushing. “What do you mean?” Phil asks, biting his lip nervously. “I saw how you were with him when you were saying goodbye to him. It’s obvious you care about him,” “Well… of course I care about him,” Phil says. There’s no point in denying that he cares about Dan, because it’s the truth. He does care about Dan. “But, that doesn’t mean anything?” “Okay, if you say so. But, you should watch yourself. I’m not sure how President Snow will feel about this,” “It’s not like he would do anything to me, right? I’m his grandson. We’re family,” Phil frowns. This talk with Vivian did not make him feel any better about telling Snow about his sexuality “You’d be surprised. Just, promise me that you’ll be careful?” Vivian asks softly. Phil nods and gives her a reassuring smile. “I’ll try my best,” he tells her. “Eat your breakfast. Don’t let it get cold,” Vivian warns before turning and walking away. Phil sighs and glances back at the tv, biting his lip as he keeps his eyes on Dan. *** As days pass by, Phil’s getting more anxious and scared for Dan the longer he’s in the Games. It’s been five days since the Games have started, and there were now only six people left in total. Dan’s doing pretty well for being on his own while other tributes teamed up with each other. Of course, Dan’s seriously injured and starvation isn’t helping either, and Phil desperately wishes he could help him. But, President Snow wouldn’t allow it as he has already helped Dan with fresh water once. “We can’t do anything?” Phil asks, crossing his arms as he stands in front of his grandpa’s desk. “No, Philip. Don’t make me tell you again,” President Snow snaps. Phil sighs sadly. “But, he’s the only one fighting on his own!” “That��s his choice. He chose to stay up in the trees the whole time while the other tributes made alliances with each other and now he’s the odd one out,” President Snow says. “It’s kept him alive, hasn’t it?” Phil asks. “And he’s only come down when he needs to.” “But the other tributes know that he’s hiding in the trees now,” President Snow points out. Phil bites his lip. “Well I have faith in him. He’s going to win. I just wish I could help him,” “I’ve got more important things to do. Go find Vivian and get yourself lunch,” Snow tells him. “Fine,” Phil huffs before turning around and going to find Vivian. Phil can hardly think about eating when the only thing that’s been on his mind for a week is Dan. Phil desperately wishes that he could do something to help, but in reality, he knew there was nothing, because even though he’s President Snow’s grandson, he still doesn’t have the power. Only just a few more tributes left. Phil has faith that Dan will be able to win the The Hunger Games, and make it back home safely. He’ll get to go back home to see his family. *** Dan can’t believe that he’s made it this far, considering he nearly died within’ the first five minutes. Two people left. Him, and the boy tribute from District 1. So far, Dan’s been hiding up in a very high tree and he’s doing a good job at keeping himself hidden, while also keeping his eyes peeled for the only other boy left. Dan desperately wants to go back down and try to find him, and kill him, but he was terrified of making a mistake and ending his life completely. But, Dan is starving, and he hasn’t been able to eat anything in over two days now. Dan needs to take a risk, and be brave. Dan needs to be the one to end this whole thing. All he can think about is going back home to his family, and making his mother and his brother proud, and he wants to be able to see Phil again and thank him for everything that he did for him in the Games. Because without Phil, Dan would most likely be dead. Phil went out of his way to help him. Dan takes a deep breath as he finally steps foot onto the ground for the first time in over two days. His legs are wobbly, but that’s to be expected when he’s been sitting in a tree with having no food at all. It’s almost completely silent in the arena, and the silent terrifies Dan more than anything. Anything can happen at any given moment from this point on, so Dan needs to keep his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. It’s completely exhausting, and honestly... Dan can’t wait to sleep again without having to worry about being attacked by another tribute. That is, if he actually won the Games, of course. Dan walks around for over an hour or two, trying to find food and fresh water. Dan stops dead in his tracks and he sighs. He looks around and then he squints his eyes when he sees a pile of leaves that seem to have an object hidden inside. He carefully walks over to the pile of leaves, being careful to not make any loud noises that will get him into trouble. Dan gasps as soon as he sees what the object is and quickly grabs it. A bow and arrow with a couple of arrows still left in it. Dan assumes it must have been left over from one of the other tributes. Now Dan actually has a chance of winning the Games. He can’t believe his luck. “Well, well…” Dan jumps up at the sudden voice and quickly points the arrow at the boy from District 1. “Williams,” Dan speaks, his voice cracking as he spoke, as it has been days since he actually spoke. “Howell,” the boy speaks with a smirk on his face. “Looks like it’s just you and me.” “Yeah,” Dan breathes. “Looks like it.” His eyes didn’t leave Williams, not once. One wrong move here, and he can find himself dead. He’s so close to winning the Games. So close to making his way back home. Williams chuckles and shakes his head. “Might as well end it here,” “Don’t you dare take any steps further,” Dan warns as he grabs a bow and points the arrow at Williams. “You know it’s not nice to steal things that don’t belong to you,” Williams says. Dan blinked a few times. “What are you talking about?” He asks. “That’s my bow and arrow you have there,” Williams tells him, nodding at the object. “Well maybe you should have kept it hidden better. It’s mine now,” Dan snaps. “Do you even know how to shoot a bow and arrow?” Williams asks, raising his eyebrows. “Should we find out?” Dan asks. His hands start to shake. Of course he’s shot a bow and arrow before, but he’s not what you would call an expert. He’s never practiced shooting one for real. Never in his life has Dan killed someone, and he knows that he’s going to hate himself afterwards. But, Dan needs to end this. He wishes there could be another way out of this, but there simply isn’t. “Go ahead Howell. Kill me. End it all now,” Williams says. “You’re not even going to try to fight?” Dan asks, his heart breaking a little at how Williams is giving up. “I’ve had plenty of time to think while being in here. In the Games. I think I’d rather be dead than continue living in this type of world. So yes, I’m asking you to kill me,” Williams whispers. “There can be another way. We can get through this together,” Dan tries. “There is no other way, Howell. Just fucking kill me!” Williams shouts loudly. Without thinking for another second, Dan pulls the bow back and finally shoots the arrow, his eyes widen as he watches the boy fall to the ground. Dan gasps with shock and he falls onto the ground himself, and he quickly backs up against a tree, pulling his legs against his chest and letting tears pour out of his eyes. “Congratulations Daniel Howell,” Dan snaps his head up as soon as the voice speaks. “You are the winner of the 77th Hunger Games,” Dan sobs loudly and buries his face in his arms as even more tears pour out of his eyes. Dan won. He actually won The Hunger Games. He’s going to be able to go home to his family. It’s bittersweet, because Dan only won the Games by killing an innocent boy who begged for death. And, Dan can only hope that in the end, it will all be worth it. 10 Years Later; Dan’s eyes slowly flutter open when he hears a door open, and he spots his husband, Phil Lester. Dan can’t help but smile at the thought of the man, even though he’s extremely tired. “Sorry love, did I wake you?” Dan pushes himself up in sitting position, and leans back against the headboard. “What time is it?” “Midnight,” Phil answers as he walks over to the bed. “Did you have another nightmare?” “Yeah,” Dan mumbles as he rubs his eyes tiredly. “Nothing I’m not used to though, don’t worry.” “I’m sorry sweetheart,” Phil says before crawling onto the bed next to him. “I wish there was something more that I could do to make you feel better.” He wraps his arms around Dan and holds onto him. “What were you doing?” Dan asks quietly as he rested his head on Phil’s chest. “It appears your son is having trouble sleeping as well,” Dan chuckles. “I guess Noah gets it from me, huh?” He looks up at Phil and smiles tiredly. “Christmas is next week,” Phil reminds Dan. “We don’t have a tree yet.” “That was such a random thought,” Dan can’t help but laugh. “No it wasn’t. Come on, you know Christmas is always on my mind,” Phil grins. Dan rolls his eyes and then he pushes himself off of Phil’s chest, and sits up. “What’s wrong?” Phil asks, frowning as he watches Dan carefully. “It’s been 10 years since the Games,” Dan said quietly. “The image is still…” He takes a deep breath, trying not to allow himself to cry. He’s already cried too much over the past. “I know,” Phil whispers as he reaches over and grabs Dan’s hand. “I know, and I’m so sorry.” “I wish we could have done something different. I never wanted to-” “I know,” Phil pulls Dan close to him again. “But things are different now. Things are better. For all of us.” “Do you think my dad would be proud of me?” Dan asks, looking up at Phil with watery eyes. “Absolutely,” Phil nods. “I know he’s up there, smiling down at you. You changed the world for the better, you’re the reason why The Hunger Games no longer exist.” Dan remembers the day clearly as if it were yesterday. Dan remembers how angry people had been after Dan had won The Hunger Games. War broke out, and they had actually won against The Capitol. They were able to change things for the better. No more Hunger Games, and Dan couldn’t be more grateful.

In the process, Phil had to lose his only family member that he had left. President Snow had to be killed. Looking back, Phil understands now that he wasn’t a great person despite the fact that he was family. “I’m just thankful our son doesn’t have to go through what we went through,” Dan says. “Me too, Dan,” Phil closes his eyes. “Me too.