Blooming in the Spring

Chapter 2

The instant I wake, I wish I hadn't.

I hardly have a second to take in my blurry surroundings before I bolt to the bathroom down the hall, greeted with an unfriendly good morning by last night's excessive amounts of alcohol.

When I think my body has finally rid itself of everything I had left in my stomach, I slump over the clawfoot tub, my cheek resting on its cool surface. The bathroom continues to spin and I'm filled with a horrible sort of dread. Last night was meant to ease my pain but now I feel it one hundred times worse. For a second, I consider slowly making my down the stairs to open another bottle--not a good solution to cure this awful hangover, but an effective one at least. But no, there isn't another bottle; Peeta dumped the last of what I had down the kitchen drain.

Peeta. I wince, cursing myself for letting him see me like that. How long did he stay with me last night, I wonder. Was that even real? Everything feels so hazy it's difficult to tell for sure.

"Katniss?" My thoughts of Peeta and empty bottles and silent I miss yous and a splitting headache are interrupted by a knock on the bathroom door and the unmistakable voice of, not Peeta, but my old mentor. The last person I care to see right now.

"I'm fine," I manage to blurt out. It apparently does not satisfy him because Haymitch is slowly pushing the door open and is suddenly there, helping me stand up and guiding me back to bed.

"Water," he grumbles, holding out a cup filled with it right in front of my face. I take it but don't take my eyes off of him. His eyes are bloodshot and puffy like he's been awake for hours, and he has an unmistakable scowl on his face.

"Now, why don't you tell me what the hell you were thinking, sweetheart," he says, taking a seat by the window.

"Why are you here?" I ask, dodging his question.

"I was wondering the same thing," he says. "Getting a call from Peeta at 4 in the morning wasn't exactly how I planned to start my day."

I hesitate, guilt rising in my chest. "Peeta called you?"

Haymitch nods, a sarcastic tone in his voice. "He was all worked up about how you stole liquor from me and drank yourself silly--you owe me by the way--and he wasn't sure if you would, I don't know, die in your sleep or something," he scoffs, but I sense a tone of real concern behind his words.

"Well, I didn't die," I crack a small smile. Haymitch is not amused.

"Peeta was so anxious over you, he felt himself start to slip and asked me to come to babysit you instead." Ouch.

"I never intended for him to see me like that," I whisper, quiet as a mouse. I hate that I continue to hurt him. He wasn't supposed to be here in the first place, I didn't ask for him to check on me.

"Well he did," Haymitch sighs. "Now, are you going to talk or do I need to let our friend Dr. Aurelius know you took a little shopping spree in my liquor cabinet last night?"

"I don't exactly think you're one to give me a lecture, considering you were passed out drunk on your couch when I was over there," I retort back, letting my feelings of guilt turn into anger and messily spill out of my mouth. "Besides, since when do you care about anyone but yourself? I haven't even seen you in weeks."

When I see a glimpse of sadness flicker behind his eyes, I know I've hit him where it hurts and I don't care.

"Look, Katniss," he says, leaning forward in his chair. "If you want to ruin your life, I can't stop you and neither can Peeta. We've all made choices and I can't say I don't have regrets about my own. I don't want to see you go down the same road I did. But if you want to spiral, if you want to push everyone away--well, that's your choice too."