In Life | Finnick Odair

( 02 )

Despite the warm temperature, Bentley felt like he was going to freeze; he hated it. Being cold is not something he enjoyed, at all. The goodbye room, as he liked to call it, was tackily decorated with red velvets and brown golds; it was hideous. Looking at it all though — taking in the room — was the only thing stopping Bentley from absolutely breaking down.

As soon as he and Lillith had finished their handshake, they were taken to separate rooms to each say goodbye to their loved ones. Bentley had probably not even been in the room for five minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. He was just pacing, taking in the atrocity that was the room, and trying to see if he could recognize anyone out of the window.

Not much longer, he got his first guest. His parents. Wendy's eyes were already red rimmed and her cheeks were puffy, while it was blatantly obvious that Gregory was doing everything in his will power to be strong for his wife. Seeing them like that was enough for Bentley to finally break.

The first sob left his mouth as soon as he and his father made eye contact. The tears spilled over his pretty brown eyes and down his cheeks. Both of his parents were on him in seconds, hugging him tightly like it was the... the last time. It could be, it very well could be the last hug ever shared between the three. That just caused Bentley to cry more, more broken sounds coming out of his mouth.

His father had started to cry too and his mom again as well. They were all crying, blubbering messes. No one wanted to let go, but they all had words that needed to be said before the five minutes given were up. Gregory pulled away first, resting a hand on the nape of his son's neck. "I need you to try your best, son. I know it'll be hard, but... but you need to promise us that you'll try." The older man's voice cracked and was raw with emotion.

Bentley didn't know if he could promise that. He didn't want to die, no — especially not in the Hunger Games — but he wouldn't be able to kill anyone. He was a gentle boy with a kind heart that was way too big. Just the thought of having to take someone else's life made him sick to his stomach. Nonetheless, he nodded at his father's words to give him some reassurance. "I'll try my best." He didn't say "I promise" because he wasn't going to.

He wasn't going to promise to try his best because he knew that meant that there would be at least one set of blood on his hands. His mother had yet to say a word, still clinging onto him; breathing him in. He was her only child, her baby boy. "I love you so much, Ben." She muttered, pulling back just enough to look him in the eyes. "I love you too, mom." His voice was hoarse due to all of the tears.

His dad opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by the door opening. "Time's up, get out." The peacekeeper demanded. Bentley brought his parents in for one last strong hug before letting his arms flop to either side of him. "I love you both." He says. They say it back, then are told once again to leave the room.

They're just barely out of the room when his next guest walks in. Hayden Scraper. The best friend's just stare at one another for a few seconds in silence. Bentley breaks it, "Hayden?" He questions, confused on why the older boy had stopped so far away from him and had yet to talk. Said boy sucked in a deep breath, almost like he was contemplating something. He didn't say anything though, just took the last couple of steps towards the younger boy and pulled him into a crushing hug.

Bentley returned it, squeezing around his waist and burying his head into Hayden's chest. "I believe in you." He says, resting a cheek atop of the shorter's head. The Korean sighs and tries to push his head deeper into the chest in front of him. "I don't," He admitted somberly, "I can't kill a person." He pulled away with a shake of his head, "I won't!"

Hayden didn't know what to say. Oh, hey, I need you to kill everyone it takes to get home to me. No, that wouldn't go over well. He knew how Bentley was, he couldn't even watch the rat dogs do their job and it was very rare that he stuck around long enough to hear either. Hayden sighed this time and pulled away from the hug, maneuvering Bentley so he was arms link away.