AN : ...Sooooo... Guess who finally saved up enough to get a new laptop to update?! This girl did ^.^ I've been working on this story on my phone while I wasn't able to update. So I've got at least something to give you guys something. I'm so sorry it took so long to get the next chapter up. I really am. I really want to get this story done for you guys. Y'all've been so damn patient and I really truly do appreciate it. I don't think I could've asked for a better and more amazing set of followers. Every single one of y'alls reviews since I went down have really touched my heart and I really do love you guys. I hope this chapter is everything that you guys wanted.

My hands are on Bug's shoulders and I'm trying to keep her eyes on me. I don't chance looking over to Haymitch, who looks like he's torn between going to Peeta to get him somewhere else and not wanting to pass by Kat. Which is understandable.

Her hands are in fists at her side and they're flexing like she wants to wrap them around a certain someone's throat. Her jaw is clenched and her whole body is rigid. I'm really trying to stop a legitimate murder at the moment, but the mouth causing all the trouble is still going a mile a minute behind me.

"Just look at me, Bug. He is nothing. No. You know what? He's less than nothing." I tell her, not trying to keep my voice down.

"That's rich coming from the Capitol's most prized whore!" Peeta really has grown some balls since last night. I guess he didn't like being strapped to a chair and mouth muzzled.

I shake my head to Katniss when her mouth opens up to run her tongue across her teeth and her eyebrows raise in a 'can I kill him now?' type of way. "No, Firefly. You kill him now and it's not just him that wins. His opinion of me means absolutely nothing. The only person whose opinion I care about is yours. That's it. Do you think I'm a whore?" I ask her in earnest. I wait for her answer patiently, letting her process the question through her fog of anger. I know she didn't hear me at first but I can see when it finally does. Her hands stop flexing and she brings them up to either side of my face.

The lightest brush of her lips to mine has my shoulders dropping a tension I didn't know was there. I guess my subconscious still hasn't wrapped itself around the fact that Katniss actually does care about me and this isn't just her acting to gain something from me. "Never." Is the only thing she tells me when we part. She says it with such conviction and sincerity in her voice that it's kind of hard to not believe her. I hope I can feel that about myself one of these days.

"Then that's all I care about. You're the only one I believe. Everyone else can go fuck themselves with their opinions of me. I don't care." I shrug my shoulders and she looks like she wants to fight me on it, but gives up when she sees I really do not care. I don't trust my opinion of myself, my mom and sister are biased, and Hay and Jo would lie to me to make me feel better. Katniss hasn't lied to me yet, and I don't think she will. It's one of the reasons I love her.

She nods and then lays her head on my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist. I hug her back and drop my head down to level with her ear. "Want to go and grab all the blankets and pillows we can carry and go up to the roof?" I feel her nod against my chest and take a deep breath before taking a step back from me. "Okay?" I ask her and she takes a second to contemplate before she nods and gives me a small smile which looks forced. I think we've all had enough un-comfortableness for one night so I step back and let my hand grab onto Kat's before we turn to face the three other people we blocked out while talking. I look directly to Hay and ignore the face of disgust Peeta is wearing and the smug look Jo is giving him.

I just want Kat out of this tense situation.

"I'm bringing her upstairs. I'll make sure we're down in time to go to the arena." I tell Haymitch and start to walk with Kat away from the three of them, not waiting for a response. He can deal with it or he can deal with it. Or he can do this wild thing were he just deals with it. The only problem is that we have to walk past Peeta to get to the elevators, since he seems to have migrated in front of them.

We're just walking past him when he reaches out and grabs Bug's left arm, since I'm holding her right hand. I'm about to tell him to back off before he even gets a word out but Bug beats me to it.

By dropping my hand and letting her fist connect with the right side of Peeta's face.

You can hear the second she made contact. You could hear the small crack of bone, which I'm almost positive is his nose being broken. You could also hear the second Peeta made contact with the ground because he was most definitely not expecting to be decked.

Everyone is silent for a moment.

"I told you not to touch me." Katniss makes the comment under her breath. She turns back to me, takes my hand and then asks me, "To the roof you said?" I nod and then she starts to pull me towards the elevators again, like nothing happened.

"Damn." I look back and see Jo crouching over a dazed and confused Peeta holding his nose. Which, by the by, is bleeding profusely.

"What just happened?" You can barely hear Peeta ask it. But you damn well could hear Jo's response and Hay's laughter that followed.

"You just knocked the fuck out, bitch." Jo's emphasis on the word "fuck" was accompanied with a flick to his forehead. He was weakly pushing her away and Hay was doubled over in laughter saying something about 'telling him so' when the elevator doors close in front of me. When did we get in here?

"Do you need to stop on Four, for anything?" I head Firefly ask me from beside me. She's so calm and is speaking as if she hadn't just done the honest to Poseidon hottest thing I'd ever seen. I'm trying to wrap my mind around everything that just happened, but all I can think is 'Damn'.

"Katniss." I try for a sentence but forget what I was about to say.

"Yeah, that's my name." She says with an amused smile on her lips after a moment of silence.

I flounder for a moment before I give up on words. I instead pull her to me, letting her hand go, so both of mine can find either side of her face. My forehead comes to rest on hers, and her hands come up to rest on my chest. "I never thought the sight of someone decking someone else would be so pleased or be as hot as you made it." I whisper this too her, knowing my voice would crack if I went any louder. I lean forward just that little bit till our lips meet. She melts into me and our eyes close in sync. I don't think I'll ever get used to the spark that seems to always be there, when our lips meet.

I can feel her break into a smile and we break away, "You think it's hot that I hit Peeta?" She answers the question on my face at her smile with a question of her own.

"No. I think it's damn hot, how you defended yourself to him. It was so quick and your fist landed so perfectly. It was truly a sight to see." I waggle my eyebrows at her and shake my shoulders like a shiver was going through me. The laugh that gets pulled from deep within her has my face hurting with the smile it brings me. She drops her head onto my chest, hugging me close, as she settles to a light chuckle.

"Oh, you're so weird." The sentiment is muffled into my chest, but she raises her head to look up to me for the next one, her chin on my chest and eyes big with happiness, "I love it." It makes my breath hitch and catch in my throat. I'm used to being told to tone it down or just stop. No one's ever told me that they 'loved' that I'm not like everyone and lean to being a little weird.

"You love my weirdness?" I've got to ask her, just to clarify. My eyebrow is arched and my eyes slanted, disbelieving.

"Mhmm. I do indeed love your weirdness." Such a soft confession melts my heart and has my conscious backing off for the moment. She snuggles her face back into my chest and I hear her sigh and feel her shoulders drop slowly, not as tense now. I close my eyes and wrap my arms around her waist, letting my head lay on the top of hers. I let my eyes fall closed and just bask in the calming quiet around us. The elevator ride goes relatively quick when one zones out of the moment, because we make it to Twelve's floor in no time.

It seems we're the only ones on the floor for the moment, so we walk leisurely to Bug's room so she can take a shower and I get get my backpack. We close the door behind us and flick the lights on, doing a quick scan of the room. On the cushioned chair in the corner of the room, there looks to be an extra set of blankets and pillows sitting on it. I see there's a note sitting on top the neatly stacked pile and read it out loud after a quick glance over it.

"Figured you'd need extras to make a suitable blanket nest on the roof tonight. Don't do anything we wouldn't do, and definitely don't do anything we WOULD do. Jo and Hay"

"That's really sweet." I say and then think about it for a moment. "Kind of creepy though since I didn't tell anyone my plans to steal you away to the roof tonight." I nod to myself then look over to Bug with a serious look on my face. "They're mind readers. I'm probably in deep shit."

I'll give her credit. She kept a straight face for a full ten seconds before she breaks out into a full grin and trying her hardest to not laugh too hard. She lets a chuckle out and then shakes her head at me. It brings a smile to my face. Then again, when doesn't she?

She takes her heels off then bring her right arm over her shoulder and left arm behind her back, trying in vein to reach the hidden zipper.

I let her struggle for a moment just to see if she'll actually get it, but then a small pout starts to form on her lips and it almost melts me into the ground so I step in with "Here let me get that for you." I walk over to her and take the dress in my hands that's just below her shoulder blades. I unclasp the small hook buried in the fabric and bring the zipper down to the small of her back.

"I appreciate you." Bug turns around to look up at me, hands in front of her holding her dress up.

"As I you." I lean down and kiss the tip of her nose. "Go get out of that dress so I can get all those pins out of your hair." Placing my hands on er shoulders I kiss her forehead and then turn her towards the bathroom. She stops at the doorway and tilts her head back when she sees me heading to her dresser to grab her some clothes to quickly change into before she gets in the shower.

"Don't worry I've got something in her to change in to." I nod and she closes the door behind her.

I walk over to the closet where my backpacks are and start to sort through them. I move everything to the first backpack that I brought up here, so the other could be used for to bring food and drinks up to the roof tonight. I look for my favorite pair of grey sweat pants and black t-shirt, along with a pair of underwear and socks to change into after a quick shower. I go and put them at the foot of the bed just as Bug walks out of the bathroom, wearing a pair training short and what looks to be a shirt she wore last time I slept up here. I nod my head to have her sit on the bed in front of me. I position her to sit away from me and start to pull out the ridiculous amount of pins in her hair.

There were more than a few pins with a little gem that sparkled on the tip of it. All strategically placed to sparkle and gleam in the multitude of lights in the capitol. I place both bedazzled and plain pins on the table next to her bed to keep track of them. I'd like to count how many were actually in her hair after they're all out.

Slowly but surely her hair begins to fall around her shoulders and I comb my hands through her hair in various spots to make sure I got them all. I pull out the last four I find and then just let her lean back against my stomach my hands brush through her hair. Lightly dragging my nails against her scalp till she's all but asleep and purring at the motions.

I stop and then slowly move her back into a sitting position. "Go ahead and take a shower and get the rest of the night off of you, Bug. I'll go take a quick shower in the Mentor room next door and then we'll go up, okay?"

She doesn't respond verbally but does nod her head as she brings herself up to stand next to me. She pulls me in for a quick hug and then ventures on towards the bathroom.

"So cute." I whisper under my breath watching as she closes the door. I look down at the pile of pins I just pulled out of my Bug's hair and shake my head. "Were all of those really necessary Cinna?" I shake my head one last time at the pile and then grab my clothes and make my way out of the room. Locking the handle before I close the door behind me. I know we're alone up here but I don't know if the others will make it up before I get out the shower and I don't want to chance Peeta sneaking his way into Bug's room.

I'd be arrested very quickly.

When entering the bathroom I can hear Bug's shower going and wonder if I can make my shower faster than hers. I hop in the and quickly scrub off everything from the night. I wasn't touched by many unwanted hands tonight but the feeling is always there. Quickly scrubbing both body and hair till I feel almost raw, I make the shower hot and fast. Shutting the water off after the last of the suds and conditioner are down the drain.

Stepping out of the shower I notice that the room is extremely quiet. "How'd she finish before me? I was literally like ten minutes at most." I ask myself only a little confused. I'll stop being surprised by her one of these days.

Maybe.

Probably not.

I towel myself dry and tug on my clothes. Slipping on my slides as I make my way out of the room, I take notice that there's noise being made in the living room and kitchen. Plates and silverware clinking, idle talk and the occasional burst of Jo's voice.

As quietly as possible, I make my way to Bug's door and knock on it just loud enough to not echo down the hall. Light footsteps make their way to the door and the door click with the lock being undone. My short little Bug smiles up at me when she sees that it's me and takes my hand to pull me inside. I smile at her and go to put my suit on the bench in the closet. I doubt my clothes would have been found if they were left in the other bathroom. I grab the backpack I emptied of my things earlier and bring it out with me.

I turn around and stop dead in my tracks. I had turned around to find my Bug swimming in one of my shirts and a pair of my sweatpants with a dark green pair of socks that her hers. Guess mine didn't fit her small feet. Oh this pleases something dead inside me and I'm not one hundred percent I know why but at the moment I don't really care.

I make my way to her slowly with my head cocked to the side and a pleased smile on my lips. "How in the world are those pants staying up on your hips right now?" I ask her quietly as I get within arms reach of her.

"You may not have to use the stings on these but just know I do and they work wonders." She lifts the end of the shirt up just enough to show the long bow tied at the front of the pants. I nod in approval of the answer. To be completely honest I never really noticed that my sweats had drawstrings in them since, as Bug said, I never use them.

"That makes a lot of sense and I kind of feel just a little stupid t having to ask." With a grin I give her a kiss to the forehead and wrap her in lose but loving hug. I love how she doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around my waist in response. It's going to be a living hell these next few days with her in the arena. Being able to see her but not be able to protect her, body or mind.

I blink away those thoughts, not wanting to get too deep into my head right now. One quick squeeze and I bring my hands up to cup her cheeks and tilt her head back.

"Want to go fill our backpack up with food and drinks and make our way to, how did Jo and Hay put it? Our blanket nest? on the roof?" I had to think for a moment on what exactly they called our thing we have going on, on the roof. Never would have thought the word "nest". Blanket fort, blanket pile, hoard of softness and warmth, or even alarming amount of blankets and pillows, sure, but never thought the word "nest".

Regardless, her eyes light up and she nods her head with excitement. I let my hand fall to hers and I raise it my lips, doing a quick once over of it before giving it a soft kiss on the slightly reddened skin there. If her knuckles bruise it won't be dark or noticeable.

"As hot as it was, no more hitting okay?" I give a light warning, mostly to let her know that there were others on the other side of the door than to actually discourage her from throwing another punch. I've taken notice to her incredible amount of patience. I have no doubt that as long as no one touches her unwanted, we'll make it up to the roof with no incidents.

I should knock on some wood before we leave the room. I have no faith in Peeta whatsoever.

She rolls her eyes but nods anyway, to give me peace of mind probably. I smush her cheeks together, because they're just so squishable, and peck her nose before letting go. I get a giggle and light smack to my arm, which I obviously clutch at as if she punched me. I rub my arm and mumble a "So mean to me" under my breath with pout which gets me a real laugh this time. Oh I love that laugh.

She takes my hand in hers, interlacing our fingers, and pulls me out the door. I get a solid two knocks on the wooden door as I close it behind me. It earns me a raised eyebrow and a pair of questioning eyes , which I just shrug off and say "Just in case."

I get an "eh" and then I'm being tugged forward once again. I follow happily behind her, bag slung over my shoulder. We make our way through the living room, which has Jo, Hay, Effie and Cinna all sitting on the couches within. I raise an eyebrow at Hay when he catches my eye, hoping her get the question which having to be asked.

"Getting his nose reset." Is the response I get back. Hay shakes his head but he's got a proud smile on his face. His surrogate daughter showing off that she knows how to defend herself makes him just as proud as it does for me.

"Cried bitch baby tears." Jo brings a finger to the corner of her eye to simulate a tear going down her face. "It was beautiful." She flashes a smirk to Bug and gets one in return. Don't get me wrong. I'm beyond happy that my two favorite girls have found friendship in each other but I have a feeling their relationship is just going to grow more and more lethal as time goes on. I really can't fuck up around these two. They'd kill me and have my body hidden before you could even ask "Who's Finnick?" and "Never heard of him."

Bug takes the backpack off my shoulder and then tells me "We forgot the extra blankets. I'll get the food while you go back and get those." Then she walks off before I could get a word in otherwise. I shrug and then head back to the room to grab the pile we forgot.

In no time we've gotten everything together and have made our way up to the rooftop. Looks like knock on the door I did, did wonders. I should do that more often.

We start arranging the extra pillows and blankets to our existing set up and make the makeshift bed even more comfortable. I lay down first and make sure that I'm comfortable before I take Bug's hand in mine and tug her down to lay half on top of me. She situates herself and brings her arms around my waist and one of her legs thrown across both of mine. I bring my arm that her head is laying on and bring it around her shoulder to bring her even closer to me.

If she's in my arms, she won't be hurt. I won't allow it.

A kiss to the top of her head and we fall into a comfortable silence, watching the stars and clouds float by above us. I focus on my breathing to clear my head and stay calm in the pure terror creeping in with what's to come by morning. I know even if she won't say it, she's terrified. Just like me.

There's always the chance that Snow will see the raging fire inside of my Firefly just like me and all of District Twelve do and have Seneca all but execute her on live television with the press of a button. My bug being slain like that, in front of everyone will not only rip the little bit of soul I have left out by the root, but it'll also start a revolution that isn't fully ready to be put in motion. We'd have to wait another 75 years or so before we could even thing about trying again. Even then we wouldn't have Bug. Which is something that shakes me to my very core even in unwanted passing thought.

I don't realize it but I've been slowly tightening my grip on Bug. So much so that she starts to wiggle against me to turn herself more to look at me in the face. She's the picture of concern.

Damn.

That's not what I wanted at all. She doesn't need me to be acting like this when she's got more than enough on her plate already.

Trying to put her back to ease, I bring my hand that was laying on my stomach to the side of her face. I bring my thumb to between her eyebrows and smooth out the stitch work she's got going on there. In turn she raises an eyebrow in confusion. At me nearly squeezing her to death out of nowhere or at the forced smile on my face. I'm not sure but I need to get the look of worry off of her face as soon as I can.

Instead of trying to say anything at the moment, I lean down and place a soft and sweet kiss on her forehead. Her hair is down around her shoulders tonight, to try to keep her shoulders and neck warm I'm betting. I take advantage of that fact and start to pass my hand through her hair and stop at just above the nape of her neck. I gently scratch there methodically and keep going till she loosens back up and her eyes fall shut.

"You're hands are magical. I don't normally like people playing in my hair, but I'll always leave an exception for you." It comes out soft but still loud enough for me to hear clearly.

A smirk comes to form on my lips and a soft chuckle works its way up and out the back of my throat. "I'm glad to be exempt from your ban. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I couldn't play in your hair from time to time. It's so soft and smells like" I take a moment to lean my head forward and bury my nose into her hair. I don't even have to take a deep breath to smell "a forest." I leave a quick kiss and lay my head back down on the pillow behind my head. It's quiet again for a moment.

Till I feel Bug take a deep breath in and then let it out slowly. Like she's trying to keep herself calm. Maybe her thoughts are starting to get to her. She doesn't feel tense. If anything she feels a bit heavier on top of me than she did moments ago. Let's try to get her mind off of what I'm sure is what's to come in less than fifteen hours from now.

"You know I came up here the night before I went into the arena also?" I keep my voice low so that I don't disrupt the calm of the night around us.

"I found this place that very night and it seemed like the best place to be alone and hide from everything and everyone. I was amazed at how high up I was. Granted this isn't the highest place I'd ever been, but it was the quietest high I'd ever been around. There's a cliff not too far from my childhood home that's way taller than this. My friends and I would go cliff diving every now and then, we still do sometimes. There though, it's loud. Nature right there is just so loud. The water at the base of the cliff colliding with rocks. The seagulls flying overhead and nesting in the trees around the cliff. The trees themselves teaming with little creatures scurrying about and trying to do as they do. It was loud. A nice serene loud but loud all the same." I absentmindedly start coming my hand through her hair again. I feel Bug's eyes on me but I don't mind. I don't feel anxious when it's her eyes.

"Up here, all there is, is wind. It wraps around you and holds you tight. It drowns out everything around you. It lets your mind go blank Or it lets you focus on everything you need to. It gives you time to think without flashing lights and screaming people in your face. The night before my arena, it was the former for me. I was able to just relax for a moment and not focus on the pure terror that was ripping through me from the moment I heard my name be called. I think that was the first time my heart wasn't hammering against my chest since my reaping. I was so scared. I wasn't even scared for myself, I was scared for my mom and sister. What was going to happen to them if I died? What would happen to them if I killed other kids and then died myself? What would they think of me if I killed other kids and then won? Would they hate me? Would they still love me? Would they be scared of me? Then I came up here just wanting to get away from the everything that reminded me of what was to come." I'm holding onto Bug tight again but it doesn't seem to faze her this time. In fact she holds onto me tighter and gives me a little squeeze when I pause to take a breath.

"That first gust of wind that hits you when you open the door had me stopped in my tracks. It was so cold but it was refreshing. It gave me goosebumps but it gave me something else to focus on. It took my breath away but it helped me breathe easier after. The closer I got to the edge of the roof, the quieter my mind got. I let my mind take a break and laid down on the ledge over there." I lift my right hand to point over at the part of the wall directly in front of the door. "I laid back and watched the stars. I had missed them. I looked at the stars I knew my family were under. I felt closer to them so how. Like they weren't as far away as they really were. I watched the stars all night, right up till the sun drowned them out. Then I watched the sunrise and the wind died down and I was calm and ready to do what I needed to do." I raised my head just enough to meet Bug's gaze and held it for a moment. It looked like she was searching for answers. I don't know what kind she's looking for but I can take a wild stab at it.

"After spending the night p here I was finally as ready as I could be to do what was expected of me. I put my mom and sister in a little box in the back of my mind and decided that whatever happened after the arena, would only happen after the arena. Whatever happened after would be grains of sand compared to what I'd go through inside the arena. Whatever happened after the arena I knew I could face it head on and either come out stronger or at the very least try to fix it. I just had to do my damnedest to try to give myself the chance to have "after the arena" time. I'm not going to lay here and tell you it's going to be easy. That everything will be okay when you come out of the arena. That you won't be looked at differently. I'd be lying if I did." Bug looked concerned but appreciative of me not trying to sugarcoat what's going to happen. Her eyes close and she lets her head drop to my chest. Her forehead directly over my heart.

I bring my free hand to her cheek, raising her head back up to meet my gaze once more. "But I will promise you this. No matter what happens in that arena, I will be right here for you. I will make sure to be the first person you see when you wake up. I'll be right there, holding your hand, making sure you now how beyond happy I am that you are still breathing and living in this world. There's not a single thing you can do in that arena that will make me think of you any differently than I do right now in this very moment. I know you're only going into this arena because of love. I know how pure your heart is Katniss Magnolia Everdeen. Going into that arena and being forced to do heinous things will never change that. You're a good person Firefly. Please don't forget that while you're in there." I finish with a kiss to first her forehead, then both her cheeks, her nose and finally a love fueled kiss to her wind chapped, warm lips.

I feel a few tears slip between us and decide to just let them fall, knowing Bug doesn't really want me to acknowledge them. I pull back a moment later and then bring my thumb to her just below her eye to wipe away the tears there. I wipe under her other eye with the back of my three fingers.

"Thank you." It's just barely above a whisper and it's a little hoarse but the emotion in her voice almost brings tears to my own eyes. "I really truly appreciate you Finnick Mason Odair." The sincerity in her voice makes my heart flutter, my insides warm and my stomach flip. I wonder if it'll always be like this. My health taking an unhealthy dip for a few seconds every now and then.

'Definitely worth it.' My mind supplied me and I agree with my subconscious. 'She's definitely worth it.' I think to myself as we settle back down to watch the stars. The stars our family are possibly watching at this very moment with us.

Feeling Bug gradually relax into my side and her breath even out I let out a small sigh of relief. She'll be getting at least a little bit of sleep before she heads off the uncertain hell. I blindly reach into my backpack next to us and grab the watch I keep in the side pocket. I wrap it around my free right wrist and see that it's 11:16. Meaning that Bug has around seven and a half hours before I need to wake her up to get downstairs and get ready.

I tug her ever so slightly closer to me and make a vow in my head to be this amazing warrior's protector. Be her rock. Shoulder to cry on. Someone she can always trust and count on. Be the calamity to the chaos I know has yet to come. To be the one to keep her grounded and sane. To give her all that she's given to me and more in the short span of time we've known each other.

To be everything she needs.

"Sweetness." I whisper into my Bug's ear lowly to try to gently raise her from her slumber on top of me. She stirs slightly and it brings a small smile to my lips. I've got maybe fifteen minutes to get her back to Hay and I'd really not like to have one of the worst games to my nerves ever start with Hay bitching at me.

"Kitten. My Bug. Oh sweet blazing Firefly. It's time to wake up Hun." I rub my hands up and down on her arm and small of her back under the several blankets. This line of nicknames bring her to open her eyes blearily and quirk an eyebrow at me.

"Kitten? That's a new one." Her voice is still thick with sleep and absolutely adorable.

"Kitten because you curl up so close to me like a cat. Also the first three letters in your name literally spell out 'Kat'." She makes no protest to the nick name.

In fact she just mumbles a "You make good points there, Skipper," with a nod of her head and shift of her shoulders as if to emphasize her approval of my points made. I just let the 'Skipper' slide right past me. Hopefully she'll forget that one after the arena.

One can hope.

We both sit up after a quick good morning peck of the lips and stretch out our limbs. We gather the backpack and Bug wraps one of the blankets around her shoulders, once again leaving the makeshift bed where it is. I'll probably be up here periodically till Bug is out of that damn arena.

We make our way down to Twelve's floor and see that their escort is in a full tizzy. She looks almost all out of sorts, with her hair on a tilt and one heel on that is. She was currently in Hay's face yelling about something we couldn't really make out. He finger was close to jabbing him in the chest and I'd be concerned for the pink woman if I didn't know the gruff man harbored maybe the smallest infatuation with her. But when she catches sight of Kat her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates and they look both furious and concerned. "And you! Where have you been all this time!? We have a schedule to maintain! I have ten minutes to get you to transport and you've been missing!" She's half stomping, half limping over to us at the kitchen stairs exit, waving the heel in her hand at Bug and I to show she means business.

When she reaches us Bug, I worry that all my hard word to keep blood from being spilled will be for not. Then Bug brings her hands up to catch both of Effie's in hers. It looks like she's holding them with a gentleness that you'd treat a wounded animal with. "I was on the roof with Finnick. I wasn't trying to be late but it does seem he let me sleep a little more than he should have." Bug gives me a side glance and my hand comes to the back of my neck and I scratch at it not knowing what to say. I refuse to be apologetic for letting her sleep. Even if it upsets the eccentric escort.

Bug lets Effie's hands go and reaches up to situate the wig atop the escorts head. "I'm here now though, so let's go ahead and get together to get where we need to be. It would be improper to be late." Bug gives the pinkette a semi forced smile and nods to her heel, indicating she should put her other heel on. The frazzled escort takes a second and looks at her hand holding her shoe. Blinks. Then nods slowly, moving her shoe to her foot.

Once she's on two steady feet again she looks more stable minded. At least a little bit.

Effie turns around and straightens out her pink blazer and walks back out the kitchen to, I guess, get Shitface to the elevators. Hay looks at us from across the room and I hate what his eyes say. I simply nod back to him just as Bug turns around to look up at me.

So short.

"She's just doing her job." There's a nod at the end of her statement. She must think I'm upset at Effie, I've got to work on my poker face around Bug. I don't like worrying her.

I nod and then bring her into my arms, hugging her tightly. I don't ever want to let her go.

And soon I'll have to.

Remember to keep leaving those comments and if y'all have any suggestions or ideas go ahead and share them. My DM is always open ^.^

Till the next chapter my Gremlins =)