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am-i-interrupting · 13 days ago

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Worth Keeping | Haymitch x Everdeen!Reader

Prologue

Summary: For the first five years of mentoring, Haymitch was not numb but indifferent to these new tributes, on their way towards death. This year, he's forced to change that approach when his childhood friend's little sibling is called at the reaping.

Haymitch Abernathy was a constant in your life.

He'd been there for as long as you could remember. All the way back into those fuzzy, not enough to be memories but pictures in your mind.

He was friends with your brother, Burdock.

Burdock was older than you by three years and Haymitch was less than a year older than him. The two boys had been linked at their hips from at least four years old, if not earlier.

They were rather like you and your childhood friend, Louella McCoy. You couldn't recall when you'd become friends with Louella. You'd just always had been.

She held your hand tight on the day of the 50th reaping for the annual Hunger Games. It was her second time being eligible and your first. You were more nervous than her but the warmth in her hand kept you more steady than you otherwise would have been.

Burdock told you, reassured you, as you left your home in clothes too formal for your tastes, that you had nothing to worry about. You would be fine, he'd said.

Your name was only in there once.

And you had been fine. Sort of. Kind of. In a way, you supposed but that day would change everything forever.

Louella would be reaped. You'd get sprayed with blood as Woodbine Chance got shot in the back of the head. Haymitch would be forced to take his place, all while simply trying to protect your cousin; his girlfriend.

Burdock would lead you home, a hand on your shoulder. He'd clean the blood off your face. Then he would pull the itchy wool dress you wore off your body and replace it with more comfortable clothes.

You disappeared for several days after that. As soon as he left you alone, you grabbed a bow and a couple of arrows and gone off into the woods.

When you came back, it was getting late in the evening. Nightfall was beginning to come.

You heard your cousin's tune box. Immediately you sought out it's angry and mournful tone. You found Lenore Dove playing on the very stage which you'd been when two of the most important people in your world were taken from you.

“The law locks up the man or woman

Who steals the goose from off the common

But leaves the greater villain loose

Who steals the common from off the goose"

You placed the couple of squirrel which you'd tied to your belt down beside the steps to the stage.

People began to creep towards the stage. A small crowd had started to form and you didn't know how long it would be until the peace keepers would come. The logical part in your brain supplying you that much.

Yet, you didn't care about the peace keepers.

You sat on the top step. You pounded your hand against the wood planks. Lenore Dove's head snapped towards you. The hollowness beneath the stage caused something which sort of resembled the sound of a drum. She smiled at you and continued.

Yours was the first voice to join her.

"The law demands that we atone

When we take things we do not own

But leaves the lords and ladies fine

Who take things that are yours and mine"

Your voice was the last voice to still linger with Lenore Dove's as she continued to sing, even being taken by the so called peace keepers.

"Are you, are you coming to the tree?

Wear a necklace of rope

Side by side with me"

You picked up the squirrels and finished out the song, walking in the opposite direction of that which she was being dragged.

"Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree"

You got to a small, modest house in the seam.

Three doors down was the McCoy house but that wasn't where you went.

The McCoy family was a large one. They would. .

They would be alright.

It was the Abernathy residence which you walked into. You pushed open the door. It creaked ever so slightly. The house was silent except for your footsteps.

That was the only way in which you broke the silence. Even when a second pair of footsteps joined your own.

A call of your name, confused, "What are you doing here?"

You held up the squirrels in reply.

You knew your way to the kitchen. You'd become well versed in how to skin and prep all assortments of animals. You worked silently.

Sid joined you eventually. He prepared himself a cup of water. Then he hauled himself onto the countertop. His legs curled against his torso as his arms wrapped around them.

Your hands were covered in blood. You knew that your hair was filled with tangles and knots and leaves and branches. You weren't exactly a pretty sight. Dirt was lodged beneath your nails. That and pollen coated your clothes.

It didn't matter though.

Sid ate. You got water for Mrs. Abernathy. She barely drank it. You did neither.

"What did he score?" you asked. “Lenore Dove seemed pretty upset about it.”

"A one," Willamae answered.

"What about Louella?"

"A three."

All that ran in your mind was the cynical thought, accompanied by dry and pained laughter, that you were going to lose them both.

That day started the routine. You would stay with the Abernathys during the day and go out to hunt at night as the games grew closer and closer.

You left any left over game at your own residence to let them know you were alive. You had a lot of leftover game, things for them to sell or eat. You spent most of the night gone, very little of it sleeping.

On one night, you found yourself shaken awake where you slept on the couch. In the dark you could only see the silhouette of a small figure but you knew who it was.

"What is it, Sid?"

"Can you sleep in my room with me?" he asked.

"It's too quiet without Haymitch."

You nodded as you pulled yourself up. You let him cling onto your arm as he led you to the brothers® shared room.

He didn't let go, causing you to sit on the edge of the bed with him. You ran your fingers through his light brown hair, catching in tangles which you carefully undid.

You recounted what your brother would do you sought out his room instead of your parents.

Fitting for this occasion, as it led to the grave.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass, soft green pillow

Lay down your head and close your eyes

And when the open, the sun will rise"

The interviews, they gave way to so much. So much information, packed in these little short clips, the capital gave without knowing they gave it.

That was not Louella McCoy.

Not the one you knew. Whether they'd done something to her specifically or replaced her, you couldn't tell. Neither mattered.

Louella McCoy was already dead either way.

At least you wouldn't have to grieve when you saw this body go down in the arena. At least you had that much.

A decency or a curse, you didn't know.

You let Willamae grip your hand so tight it turned white when the countdown began. You gripped back just as tight. On her other side she hand her arm around Sid, a hand in his hair.

You gave an exhale when Haymitch managed to grab a pack and sprint away from the oncoming bloodbath. You didn't know if it came from relief or what exactly, but it came from you either way.

You'd only watched the games once before. It was the year your parents decided that you were old enough to start mentally preparing for the fate you may face. Quickly, you had decided that you had enough bloodshed in your life as a hunter. You couldn't bare to watch any more.

That left you ill prepared for the bloodshed, even though you knew it was to come. You felt your stomach turn inside out, flipping itself. It took only an instant for half of these children to be gone, most only a few years older than you and even some your own age.

You had to swallow down vomit that rose up in your throat when you saw Wyatt Callow (of whom you had little to no relation with other than town hearsay) get stabbed with a sword, all while protecting the girl who looked like your Louella.

She ran off into the woods. Maysilee Donner soon on her tail.

They didn't show much of Haymitch. The only thing which allowed anyone in the house any source of comfort was that when the canon went off, they showed the tribute who'd died.

You were wrong though.

You bolted up and ran out the house when the girl who looked like Louella died. In a patch of flowers meant for healing.

You expelled the little food you'd been able to force down. Looking down the street, you saw one of her sisters doing the same.

Ima McCoy leaned her body against the exterior of her home. Her breathing a heaving and wheezing thing. You could hear her, even three houses down.

Not conscious of what you were doing, you walked forward towards her.

She startled when you grabbed her hand. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears streamed down her face. You were sure you looked no better.

You reached up to wrap your arm around her neck and pull her down. Her free arm went around your torso. Her hand clenched a tight grip on your shirt.

Together, the two of sobbed. Comforted only by the fact that you were not alone in your pain.

That night, you didn't sleep at all.

You knocked on the McCoy door, knowing it would open. You didn't say a word as you handed half of your bounty of the night to Carson. It was far more than enough for him, his parents, and his siblings. He didn't say a word as he took it.

The games went on for several more days. You weren't surprised to see Haymitch pair up with Maysilee Donner. Maybe in other circumstances but in these? No.

You were surprised to see her vocal cords torn out by pink birds.

Your shoulders shook and your eyes burned. You covered Sid's with your hand. He didn't question or object.

That last day not one of the three of you slept. All watching as Haymitch and a girl from district six slept in a tree together. The single career left was nowhere to be found.

That girl's head would end up off and thrown to the side. Sid's eyes would be covered again but by his ma. She would hold him close. A grip so hard it would leave you bruised was on your hands. The girl from district one would have her eyes gouged out and Haymitch's intestines would be held by his own hands.

Willamae let out a sob at the sight. Hot tears rolled down your eyes.

"Is he alive?" Sid asked, his hands going to his mother's.

He pulled her hand away when neither of you could form an answer. Just in time to see Haymitch collapse, the girl's head be impaled by her own axe, and Haymitch shaking in the ground as he went into shock but still alive.

Willamae collapsed on herself.

"He's okay?" Sid asked.

"He's alive." you said. You reached across his mother and grabbed his hand. "He's alive."

Sid and Willamae would not be. Not for much longer.

You continued to stay at the Abernathy residence.

The feeling less like a haunted house now. A bit more lively. Although, without Haymitch's return, it was still tense.

You were lucky, people would say. You were lucky you just so happened to be out of the house when it happened but you knew better.

There had been a noise and you would forever feel guilt for not waking the two.

You saw the people who set the house aflame begin to run. You called out for help as you tried to get the water to pump. The fire spread unnaturally quick.

You were not excited when you saw Haymitch, slowly succumbing to sleep as he was held by Burdock and Blair. All you felt in that moment was a sadness so deep in your soul it caused you to fall to your knees.

Blair nodded your way. Burdock left Haymitch in his arms as he took you in his own.

You could muster no other words other than

"Why?"

" don't know was all he said each time.

A day later were five graves were dug into the ground for six people. Jethro Callow; lost to his own pride. Willamae and Sid Abernathy; lost to a fire but not one another. Maysilee Donner and Wyatt Callow; lost in the games. Louella McCoy; lost to something you didn't know.

Her casket emitted a smell, stronger than that of any of the others.

“You’re headed for Heaven

The sweet old hereafter"

You grabbed Burdock's hand. You joined him with the melody. The birds paused their own song for this one. A solemn understanding.

"And l've got one foot in the door

But before I can fly up

I've loose ends to tie up

Right here, in the old therebefore

“I'II be along

When I've finished my song

When I've shut down the band

When I've played out my hand

When I've paid all my debts

When I have no regrets

Right here, in the old therebefore

When nothing is left anymore"

When the song and funerals came to a close, you entered your proper home. You went straight to Burdock's wardrobe and grabbed a shirt and pants, a pair of shoes as well.

Haymitch looked far too much like someone from the capital in clothes like what he wore. It unsettled you and you were sure him as well.

He wasn't at the McCoy's house, which you admittedly expected. To Victor's Village you went then to see the sole resident. A knot tightened in your stomach as you walked that way.

Nearly there you saw Blair. “Oh, you have clothes." he said. You nodded.

Never before had you experienced air conditioning but it gave a small hum as it went through the house along with the lights.

You let Blair take the clothing and give to Haymitch. He then departed once again to go collect more sleep syrup for Haymitch.

Haymitch flinched when you ran up and hugged him. Then his arms slowly engulfed you. You squeezed him as tightly as you could. Almost as if squeezing him hard enough would cause the pain he'd suffered to overflow and leave him.

The next day your cousin, Lenore Dove, died. They would say she got sick but it was no accident.

Haymitch started drinking.

He successfully pushed many away from him, even Burdock and Asterid after he hit her with a rock. You let him think he'd succeeded in pushing you away as well but you still stood by him when he would wander drunken into town.

"Come on, Haymitch." you would say when you were sixteen and he was twenty. "Get up."

He groaned as you tried to haul him upright. He drank more when the reaping drew closer. From July to August he was incoherent every year. You couldn't blame him and you weren't mad.

People would ask you why you never gave up on Haymitch Abernathy and the answers you have never satisfied.

You'd known him all your life. Everyone knew everyone.

You were his friend. Well, he certainly wasn't yours. Not anymore. He was no one's friend but his bottle's.

You couldn't stand to see him like this. Then just leave him alone and you wouldn't have to.

You were one of the few who knew.

You didn't know all of it, not even most of it, but you knew. You knew he was never supposed to be in those games. You knew that Louella McCoy, his sweetheart, was not who entered that arena.

Whether her body was alive didn't matter. You knew that Willamae and Sid were scheduled to die when he would see it. You knew Lenore Dove did not sick. You knew every year he was forced to relive it all by being dragged up to the capital.

You loved Haymitch Abernathy and you always had. You couldn't imagine you never would.

You kicked him regardless.

“Get up! I will drag you if I have to! Don’t think I won’t!”

#haymitch abernathy x y/n #haymitch abernathy x you #haymitch abernathy #haymitch abernathy x reader #it fucking finally worked!#it’s in the tags!#why it wasn’t I don’t know!

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