Defying the Odds (The 4th Quarter Quell) [The Hunger Games Fanfiction]

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Asher

Only the fact that Layla is safe and in my arms right now keeps me from leaving the tent to hunt down the rest of the Careers: Brennan and Ember. Anger rises in me for the hundredth time tonight when I think about them and what they did to my Layla. Instinctively, my arms curl tighter around her sleeping form. I let her slow breaths calm me down, anchor me.

I store the anger away in my mind, forcing myself to forget about it until I see them again. Instead, I focus on the soft rise and fall of Layla’s chest. I focus on the sweet feeling of her small body tucked into mine. I focus on the innocence showing on her face, the peacefulness.

It’s nice to see something other than the pain that is so often consuming her features. I can’t help feeling as if I’m the reason behind the pain. Like maybe there was something I could have done to spare her from what she had to go through today.

There was something you could’ve done, I remind myself. You could’ve stayed awake. You could’ve protected her. But you failed.

I can feel the sobs threatening to break through, but I hold my lips together. I don’t want to wake her. My eyes fill with tears before they roll down my face. I keep remembering that feeling from earlier today, when I believed Layla was lost to me forever. My eyes close and my body shakes from my silent crying. An endless stream of hot tears flow down my cheeks and I find it hard to breathe.

She’s right here. I try to tell myself. She’s not gone. She’s here and you’re here and you’re together.

I will myself to believe the words, to believe everything is fine now, when I know that everything is not fine. We could die at any moment. We could die and all I can think about is how grateful I am for her warm body in my arms right now.

My lips press into her hair, on her forehead, the cuts on her cheeks, her fluttering eyelids, the tip of her nose. My tears fall onto her face and I kiss those away too.

I can’t stop. The tears just won’t go away. I’m unsure if I’m crying out of shock or pain or desperation. I only know that the only thing I want is for Layla to be safe and happy and with me. Always.

I nuzzle my face into her neck, breathing in her sweet scent. Slowly, the tears subside, but the feeling stays. The guilt, grief, pain. They all stay.

Layla stirs in my arms and I suck in a breath, pulling my face away from her neck. I gaze at her sleeping face, waiting to see if she’ll wake up or stay asleep.

Nothing happens.

But then she moves again, her hands sliding across my bare chest. Even in her sleep she still has the ability to leave me breathless from the feel of her skin on mine.

“Mmmm, Lumberjack.” She murmurs, a smile framing her lips as she talks through her sleep. I can’t help but smile at the sound of my nickname. My hand slides up Layla’s waist and stops to stroke her hair, hoping to lull her back to unconsciousness. I reach my other hand to cup her cheek, so softly I’m not even certain our skin is touching.

My eyes tear up again as I stare at her.  I will not lose her.

Layla’s eyes open a little, just enough for me to see her green irises.

“Asher?” She asks, her voice husky with sleep.

“I’m here, Layla.” I tell her as I press my lips lightly to the corner of her mouth. “I’ll always be here.”

Her hands skim my chest and slip around my back. She pulls her body closer to mine and rests her head gently between my neck and shoulder. I feel Layla’s lips touch the side of my neck as she murmurs something unintelligible.