The cameras snap photographs as we take our first steps for weeks on District Twelve soil, and my hand doesn't leave Newt's, even as I bend down to scoop up the crumbling dirt, thick with coal dust. I'm home.
It takes a while to distinguish our families through the sea of District Twelve citizens and Capitol photographers, but when I finally do, it's well worth the wait.
"Y/n!" I hear, and I swivel around to see my brother, Chuck, standing there, his features alight with a smile. He runs up to me and I release Newt's hand to throw my arms around him, ruffling his curly brown hair.
"Chuckie," I murmur into his locks, and I kiss the top of my brother's head. "I've missed you so much, kid."
He looks up into my eyes. "Don't call me that," he argues, then smiles. "I've missed you too, klunk-face."
I let go of my brother and look up to see my father there, too, smiling for once. "You survived," he says, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"Yes, I did," I say. "And so did Newt."
I look around to see Newt a couple of metres away, kissing his sister's forehead. I can just make out the words he's whispering to her. "I love you, Lizzy."
I smile at him, and his gaze meets mine as he grins and winks before turning to accept a kiss on the top of the head from his mother. I turn back around, too, and wrap my arms around my father.
"We're so happy, y/n/n," my father says and I smile up at him.
"That's right," I agree. "We're happy."
•••
We've been back in District Twelve for only a few hours and the cameras have finally been packed away. I look up at Ava, who's about to leave for the Capitol with the camera crew.
"Thanks for everything, Ava," I say, and bite my lip. Newt nods his agreement beside me, his arm around my shoulders.
She nods too. "It's been a pleasure, both of you," she says stiffly, and I realise that I still don't completely trust this Capitol woman, although I do wrap my arms round her one final time before she extracts herself to walk back into the train.
She doesn't once look back, even as Minho gives a sarcastic, half-hearted wave from Newt's right, and our families, who are standing behind us, give her tight-lipped smiles.
Minho turns to Newt and I, and grasps Newt's hand fiercely, wrapping him in a tight hug. "I'll see both you shuck-faces again soon," he says, and I just nod.
"We should be moving into Victor's Village in just a few days," I reply, and he smirks before throwing his arms around me in a bone-crushing hug.
"Until then, shanks," he replies, and adjusts the backpack on his back before waving one last time and heading off to Victor's Village.
I turn to Newt and peck him on the cheek, painfully aware that our families are standing a metre behind us. "I'll see you soon in Victor's Village," I tell him, and he smiles.
"See you soon, love," he says, and I turn away, back with Chuck and my father to our home in the Seam.
When I first walk in the front door, the first thing that hits me is the musty smell. I feel a sense of melancholy as I walk into the three-bedroom house, to the dining room, and the room that Chuck and I used to share.
I shove my hands in my pockets and become painfully aware that I'm dressed in Capitol-made attire.
Chuck looks around awkwardly and claps his hands before rubbing them together. "I guess we get to live in the Victor's Village now?" he asks hopefully. I ruffle his hair affectionately.
YOU ARE READING
The Tributes of Twelve | Newt x Reader
Fanfiction(y/n) (y/l/n). A girl from the Seam in District Twelve. She lives under the control of the Capitol with her father and younger brother Chuck. She has avoided the Hunger Games her entire life and has instead focused on putting food on her family's ta...
