𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬

𝟎𝟗. 𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞

— 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐱 —

━━━━━━ ☽【❖】☾ ━━━━━━

I'd watched the night sky fade from onyx to navy to violet to an orange-pink hue. Neither Romulus nor I had spoken since the cannon echoed. We simply kept eye out focused on the sky and laid there in silence. If neither of us spoke, then we'd be trapped in a moment of eternal bliss and would never have to face the moment of dread looming just behind us.

"Juneaux..." he whispered my name.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Juneaux," he repeated himself. "If we stay here much longer, the gamemakers are sure to move things along by their own hand."

He rose to his feet, then offered me his hand. I was hesitant to accept the gesture—desperate to deny the inevitable as long as I could—but I eventually I reached out and took his hand. He pulled me back to my feet and there we stood, staring into one another's eyes while simultaneously begging the other to wait.

The fingers of his free hand twitched, then pointed back to the cornucopia behind me. "We can wait for nightfall inside."

I nodded my head, following his step as he took the lead. I bit my lip, doubting the question that my mind begged me to vocalize. "And then what?"

"We decide how we're going to finish this," he replied, little hesitation in his response time. He must've seen the way my expression fell because he sighed with a look that matched my own. "We both know this can't last forever."

"Why not?" I asked, stopping in my tracks, forcing him to turn back to look at me.

"Because this world isn't real," Romulus's gentle tone tried to remind me, but it only patronized me.

"How is it any different than the world out there?" I asked, gesturing vaguely somewhere off to the right. "Both worlds are controlled by corruption and lead by twisted people who don't have our best interests at heart. At least here we know how to survive."

"Only because they've let us," Romulus contradicted. I tried to turn away, but he took me by the hand and pulled me back. The second my eyes met his, they began to water and silent tears slid down the sides of my face. "You have a family in district nine that needs you."

"And what if my father's not waiting for me?" I asked. "What if the stress of the games was too much. What if I go home and nothing is there for me?"

"And what if everything is there waiting for you?" Romulus countered. "Panem doesn't need another mutt that blindly follows corruption, but it could use a goddess and her blessings."

I held out my bloodstained hands. "And what kind of goddess am I now?"

Romulus lifted my hands to his lips, tenderly kissing each palm before looking into my eyes with adoration. "A goddess whose mercy is not to be taken advantage of."

He wiped away the tear stains on my face, but his hands lingered. My eyes drifted to his lips, a signal that I wanted to be close to him. That I needed to be close to him. His hands cupped my face and he leaned down, gently pressing his lips into mine.

I inhaled his earthy scent, soaked with blood and sweat. His hands drifted into my hair, pulling me closer while I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck. My thumbs brushed against the edge of his jaw while his left hand trailed down my back. Only after neither of us could breathe did we break away. Our chests lifted in synchronization.