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Maysilee traced her finger down Haymitch’s cheek, cradling his chin in her hand.
He was smiling lazily, eyes scrunched up, lips parted. His dark hair, curly and scruffy, lay pressed against the grass.
Sunlight spilled over the two of them, warm and bright.
To Maysilee, the whole afternoon felt like a dream. The perfect blue sky– they almost never had blue sky in Twelve–, the blissful conversation with the one and only Haymitch Abernathy, and, most of all, the pure and utter calm.
Birds fluttered in the sky high above them, wings straightening then bending, back and forth forever.
She’d felt like that sometimes, before Haymitch had admitted to loving her. Back and forth over a guy she thought was impossible to get, yet still flying in the same direction.
Not any more.
She smiled back at him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear.
He raised a hand to her– maybe to place his arm around her shoulders or maybe to block the sun, she wasn’t quite sure. Haymitch was like that.
Unsure, yet he always had a plan.
Calm, but he wasn’t afraid to fight for what he believed in.
Strong, but he barely knew it.
They’d come so far together, from their hands clasped in double victory after the Games, through the desolate aftermath of their return, through the drunk nights, through the wild emotions, to…
This.
She saw her sister every day. She and Haymitch shared a house in Victor’s Village. Everything was good. Life was good.
Haymitch rolled over, tugging Maysilee by her sleeves until she lay almost on top of him, feeling his heart beat steadily under his shirt.
“Hey, love,” he murmured, as she ran her hands through his hair. Her fingers detangled his curls, teasing them apart.
He always forgot to brush his hair. She always remembered to do it for him.
She laughed, but not too loud. Nothing would convince her to break this moment. He leant up, brushing her cheek with her lips before going in for the real kiss.
It was beautiful, soft and gentle like the wind fluttering the flowers around them. The press of his lips on hers, the warmth he passed to her like an electric spark, hot and cold and perfectly spring-y. Everything.
Him. Her. Together.
It was perfect, it was meant to be.
Maysilee pulled away, only for a moment, drawing a short breath before diving back in, savoring the feeling.
But it couldn’t last long.
Haymitch started laughing, mouth twitching. Maysilee gave up, and just nuzzled next to him. They stayed like this for who knows how long, staring up at the sky as birds sang around them, as bees buzzed around the flowers, and birds flew in the sky, high above the clouds where they could be together forever.
Then she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep as he wrapped his arms around her, warm and soft in the midafternoon sun.