*****

Lunch seemed to draw out for an unbearable time. Kurt had just about perfected snares and moved on to fire making when they had stopped to eat. The tributes spread out along the table, careers at one end with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina choosing to sit on the opposite side as far away from them as possible. Blaine sat half way down the table, a complete picture of loneliness as he didn't make eye contact with anyone and he poked at whatever happened to be on his plate.

Kurt felt vaguely guilty at the sight of him, wondering if he should invite him to join them. Just because he didn't want to be in an alliance didn't mean he couldn't eat lunch or train with the other boy.

“What other skills do you want to attempt after lunch? Besides fire making, I mean,” Tina asked, pulling off a piece of bread as she chewed on it thoughtfully.

“Shelter making? We should probably have a look at identifying different animals and berries. It'll give us an idea of the kind of arena we'll be pushed into.”

“Good point, I'm hoping for somewhere with tree's, or maybe a field of grain. If there was a corn field I'd be fine for the rest of the games.”

“Mercedes? Any station you want to work at?” Kurt turned to the other girl. Mercedes was staring down the table, eyes on something Kurt couldn't see.

Tina leaned over the table to look too, grinning slyly as she turned to Mercedes and tugged on her sleeve to get her attention.

“Ooooh,” She teased, “He's staring at you again.”

“Who?” Kurt's head shot up at this new piece of gossip, “Who's staring at her?”

“Sam Evans,” Tina said at the same time Mercedes snapped, “Nobody.”

“He's from district four,” Tina supplied to Kurt's confused look.

“Ah, so he's a career.”

“No he's not!” Mercedes jumped to his defence, “He's different. Yesterday when I was struggling with the knot station he came over and offered to help me, he was a real gentleman about it too. Something you don't see these days.”

“Was he now?” Kurt glanced towards Tina with a wide smirk, “Interesting.”

“You should go talk to him!” Tina enthused, “Go thank him or something. He looks really bored over there, his district partner is talking to that other girl on the right.”

“Who's his district partner?” Kurt leaned forward in interest, scanning the table.

“The blonde one hanging off of the tanned girl's side, I think she's from district three?”

“District three? That's Santana. I think the other girl's name is Brittany.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her now.” Tina said, “She was the one who wouldn't stop crying before the parade because she thought they'd sewn real fish on to her dress.”

“Brittany seems a little… special.”

“Special's not the word I'd use. We're getting off topic, go talk to him Mercedes!”

“Huh? No! He's fine where he is.”

“Then why does he keep looking over here?” Kurt asked as Mercedes glared at them both, annoyance etched across her face.

“I said he's fine where he is,” She said slowly with narrowed eyes, “If he wants something he'll come over.”

“Maybe he's waiting for you to make the first move,” Tina suggested, smirking as Sam looked over to them again, embarrassed to realize he had been caught staring.

“What are you implying?” Mercedes said hotly.

“He likes you, stupid!” Tina exclaimed, “It's cute.”

“I barely know him.”

“Then get over there and start to know him a little better, if you know what I mean.” Tina waggled her eyebrows exaggeratedly as Kurt laughed, disguising it as a cough when Mercedes threw him a look.

 “Shut up.” Mercedes hissed furiously, her cheeks beginning to redden in embarrassment, “He'll hear you.”

“Maybe he can go over the knots again with you.” Kurt suggested, “And if you get stuck he can lean in close and put his hands over yours and-”

“Stop it!” Mercedes squeaked, head whirling around to see if anyone had heard.

Tina burst into laughter, rocking back in her chair as she cackled at Mercedes' horrified expression.

“I'm just saying,” Kurt continued, “If there's a moment where you're staring deeply into each other's eyes and the whole world seems to fade away-”

“Hey Mercedes?” A hesitant voice piped up from their side.

Tina, Kurt and Mercedes whirled around, wide eyed as they stared at Sam Evans standing only a meter away.

“Hi,” Mercedes said, her voice going up several octaves, “Hi Sam.”

“Are you busy? I didn't mean to interrupt-”

“You weren't!” Kurt exclaimed, smiling widely as he reached back to grab at Tina's arm, fingers digging into her wrist, “We were just leaving, right T?”

“Mm hm,” Tina nodded her head rapidly, biting at her lips as her eyes widened.

“Bye Mercedes.”

“Kurt!” Mercedes whispered, shaking her head in panic.

“Don't leave me.” Her eyes threatened. “I don't know what to say to him.”

“We'll be over at the shelter making station if you need us ‘cedes,” Kurt said airily, “Take your time though.”

 Kurt jumped out of his seat, dragging Tina after him as he hurriedly moved to give the two space.

“That was mean,” Tina whispered, still grinning widely as she let Kurt pull her away.

“Maybe, but some people need a push.”

“Kurt Hummel, match maker extraordinaire,” Tina announced dramatically, swooping her arm with a flourish.

“One of my many skills,” Kurt grinned at her, “It'll be nice for them to have some time together.”

Tina hummed in agreement as they moved over to the shelter making station, sitting down as the instructor smiled at them, telling them to just ask if they needed any help.

“Do you like anybody?” Tina turned to ask him suddenly as Kurt reached over to gather a few branches of wood.

“What?”

“Do you like anybody?”

“No, no, of course not. Why would you ask?”

“That boy who sat near the middle of the table seemed to like you, he's been staring at you for days with the dopiest expression I've ever seen.”

“Really?” Kurt frowned, “Do you know his name?”

“Chandler, I think.”

“Chandler…” Kurt hummed to himself as he rolled the name around in his head, a picture of the blond haired boy flashing before his eyes, “Chand-ler. Interesting.”

Kurt vaguely recalled that he had been seated next to Blaine but he hadn't paid much attention. Even glancing in Blaine's direction had made something uncomfortable ball in the pit of Kurt's stomach.

“He's from district six,” Tina continued, “It's amazing you haven't noticed him, he's really loud and bouncy. He annoyed the careers more than once because he'd just walk over to them during training and try to make conversation.”

“He sounds like an idiot.”

“He's not that bad,” Tina protested, “In fact he might be quite nice if you gave him a chance.”

“What do you mean ‘give him a chance'? A chance to what?”

“Well you can't deny that he's kind of cute, you know, in an enthusiastic puppy dog sort of way. The two of you together would make a really-”

“Tina, stop.”

Tina glanced up in surprise, slightly admonished at how serious Kurt had sounded.

 “It was funny with Mercedes but there's no way you're setting me up with this guy.”

“I'm not trying to set you up!”

“Uh huh.”

“I'm just saying-”

“Well don't,” Kurt snapped, regretting it instantly as Tina tried to hide her hurt expression.

“I… no, I'm sorry. That was…”

Kurt sighed, reaching over to squeeze one of Tina's hands gently.

“Let's just focus on building these shelters, okay?”

“Fine,” Tina sighed, giving Kurt a small teasing smile as she leaned back into his side, “I'll leave your relationship with Chandler alone for now, but when people are writing sonnets about your epic love for each other you'll know who to thank.”

“What?” A soft voice from behind them asked.

Kurt glanced backwards, feeling his heart sink in his chest as he stared at Blaine standing behind them, shoulders curled in as his eyes fixed on Kurt's face.

“Is that true?” He asked quietly.

“Does it matter?” Kurt responded, shields rising up as Blaine refused to look away from him. There was something about the way Blaine was standing, something about the look on his face that made Kurt feel defensive, as if he had done something wrong.

Which was ridiculous, Kurt reminded himself, there was nothing he should be feeling guilty about. He had perfectly valid reasons for not wanting to be in an alliance with anyone and if Blaine couldn't accept that then it wasn't his fault. It was Blaine's fault in fact, Kurt thought angrily. He should learn how to deal with rejection without acting like a sulky five year old, storming off when he didn't get his way.

“I just- I know it's not my business-”

“You're right. It's not.”

Blaine blinked a couple of times in surprise at Kurt's aggressive tone, slumping his head down as he realized the dismissal behind the words.

“Sorry, I'll just go then.”

When there were no immediate words to stop him Blaine turned to leave, trying to put as much distance between himself and the tension filled silence that had erupted at Kurt's words.

Kurt watched him go, every muscle frozen as his fists clenched in his lap. He could feel Tina's eyes on him but didn't turn to face her until Blaine had made his way over to the fire making station far away from them.

“Wow, okay. What was that about?”

“Nothing,” Kurt replied tersely.

“It didn't look like nothing, in fact it kind of looked like a whole heap of something. Does this have to do with earlier?”

“It has to do with the fact that I don't like eavesdroppers and Blaine can't handle not getting what he wants. Understand?”

Tina nodded slowly, biting her lip as Kurt's fists began to unclench and he sighed, rubbing at his temple.

“I'm sorry, I'm not angry at you. I'm just really stressed about everything.”

“It's okay,” Tina answered quickly, reaching out to grab one of his hands and squeeze it tightly. “We're all stressed, there's no need to apologise. How about we focus on making shelters, okay?”

Kurt sighed, rubbing at his eyes tiredly as he gave her a small smile.

“Sure,” Kurt said, casting one last look over at Blaine's solitary figure, “I don't care what we do, so long as it's away from him.”

*****

“So Sugar Motta from district eight, we're dying to know about you. What are you going to bring to the Hunger games?” Caesar Flickerman beamed at her, young and healthy and in only his second year of hosting the games.

“Well all I can say is that I'm the whole package. I've got the brains, brawn and body. This thing's gonna be a cinch.”

“Wow!” Caesar laughed with the audience, “Someone seems confident.”

“With every right to be,” Sugar fluttered her eyes to the cameraman, lounging backwards in a purple monstrosity of a dress, “Sugar Motta, remember the name. It's the one you'll be screaming when I win.”

***

“Tina I could ask you about a number of things but I think the question most people want answered is about the man at your reaping, your fiancé I presume?”

“Mike, yes,” Tina whispered, she coughed to clear her throat and winced as she attempted a smile. “We're engaged.”

The audience sighed, taken with the pretty girl, sitting elegantly on the edge of her seat in a dark green dress with her hair pinned up.

“How lovely,” Caesar cooed, “And at such a young age too, did he say anything to you before he left?”

“H-he told me to fight. He said he loved me and that I was so much stronger than I thought I was. He told me he'd be waiting for me to come home.”

The audience sighed again and Caesar placed a hand over his heart, looking slightly teary.

“Then I suppose,” He said softly, “You'll have to win. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting.”

***

“I am fierce, femme and phenomenal!” Santana got to her feet as she glared down the camera, ignoring the exaggerated looks Caeser was throwing to the audience. “I'm going to win this thing and anyone who gets in my way will be dead before they hit the ground.”

“Miss Santana!” Caesar gasped dramatically as the audience cheered, pretending to be astonished by her words, “Surely there must be at least one tribute you'd be in an alliance with?”

Santana paused, the first flicker of doubt flashing through her eyes too quickly to be recognized.

“No,” She tilted her head upwards in a defiant pose. “There's nobody I care about.”

***

 “Well Chandler Kiehl I heard from a little birdie that you happen to have a little crush on a certain tribute? Yes?” Caesar teased, leaning forward as if there were no audience and they were old friends.

“Yes,” Chandler sighed, clasping his hands as he squirmed excitedly in his seat, “His name is Kurt Hummel and he is perfection itself.”

“Ah, Mr. Hummel. We're all very aware of who he is, after he volunteered for his friend at the reaping, such bravery.”

“I know,” Chandler gushed.”He's amazing, like some kind of ethereal being.”

“My, my. Such admiration, of course you might have to fight for the young man's affections. As we all know there is another tribute in rival for Mr. Hummel's love.”

“Huh?” Chandler blinked his large owl eyes as the audience tittered in astonishment, Caesar turned to the cameraman in excitement, signalling to zoom up on Chandler's face. “Who?”

***

“You must be feeling confident, district one has a reputation of producing victors.”

“Oh yes,” Sebastian smirked as he leaned back against the couch, legs opened wide with an arm thrown carelessly across the top of it. His hair was swooped up off of his face and he oozed arrogance, barely glancing at the audience as he eased through the interview.

“I hope the audience doesn't want this game to drag out, I plan for it to be over very quickly.”

“Do you plan to be in alliance with anyone?”

“Yes, for now.” Sebastian rolled his eyes, “So far it's me and my district partner Harmony, and districts two and four. I've also had my eye on someone else for a while now.”

“I think we all know who,” Caesar winked at the camera, “Blaine Anderson is a lucky guy.”

“Oh,” Sebastian laughed, “He will be.”

***

“You have a lot to offer Miss Jones, feeling prepared?”

“Absolutely.” Mercedes said firmly, “I'm not going down without a fight. I'm a hell of a lotta diva and I refuse to let anyone think different.”

“I never would.” Caesar promised, “Now how about alliances? Got any plans?”

“Tina Cohen-Chang and I decided to work together, we're very close friends.”

“I'm glad to hear it but I've also been hearing some tell tale whispers of another gentlemen joining you too. Mind sharing?”

“Oh no,” Mercedes laughed, waving a hand at Caesar to shush him, “Nothing's set in stone yet. But if all goes well, he'll be leaving with us before anyone's realized what's going on.”

“Sounds ingenious, I can't wait to see your plan in action.” Caesar turned to the audience with a wide smile, “It seems like this year's hunger games are shaping up to be quite the event.”

***

 “Kurt Hummel, such an honour to finally meet you at last.”

“Thank you,” he smiled tightly.

 Kurt sat with one leg crossed elegantly over the other; the perfect picture of grace, disinterest and reserve in his shiny grey suit.

“It's lovely to be here.”

“First things first, your reaping.”

“Yes.”

“Want to tell us what was going on in your head?”

Kurt paused to think, drawing out the moment slowly until he was sure every audience member was hanging on to each word. “Artie… is a dear friend of mine. When I heard his name being called it was like the world around me had come to a halt. Time stopped, I couldn't remember where I was or even my own name, it was just his name being read echoing again and again in my mind. I'd volunteered in his place before I'd even consciously thought to do so.”

“Well it was very impressive, am I right in saying that this is just a small show of the bravery that is yet to come?”

“You could say that,” Kurt answered with a cryptic smile, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, “I have a lot of talents that you'll have to wait to see. I wouldn't want to give away my secrets before the games have even begun.”

“Not even one?” Caesar asked, putting on a dramatic air of disappointment as the audience tensed, waiting to see what Kurt would answer with.

“Not even one.”

“Fine!” Caesar sighed in exasperation, throwing up a hand as if Kurt had personally insulted him. “Let's move on to my next question, a bit of gossip if you will.”

“Go ahead.”

“If you had been listening to the previous interviews then you would have heard a curious piece of information, it seems you are quite the source of enamourment."

“So I've heard,” Kurt laughed softly, ducking his head to the side as if to hide a look of fond affection. “I don't know what to say, I've never really attracted that sort of attention.”

“Interesting,” Caesar turned to the audience with a conspiring glance, “And now that you are attracting that sort of attention?”

“I-” Kurt paused, glancing to the side as if looking for the right words, “I admit that for a while now, ever since I saw him, he's been all I could think about and yet…”

“And yet?” Caesar asked, leaning in with the audience.

“No, I won't say until he makes the first move. I don't want to assume anything until I'm sure about the way he feels about me.”

“Kurt!” Caesar exclaimed, “That poor boy has already declared his love for you on national TV in front of a live audience, what more could you ask of him?”

“I need to be sure of his feelings. He might have been exaggerating for the camera or end up not liking me as much as I like him, it's too much for me to risk.”

“Fine, fine.” Caesar sighed as if Kurt had made it his mission to inconvenience him as much as possible. “We'll move on to the next question since you seem content on being so secretive. Were there any thoughts you had about alliances? I know you turned down Miss Jones and Miss Cohen-Chang.”

“While they are close friends I thought that by working together we'd end up only dragging each other down. Although,” Kurt paused to smile shyly, “I wouldn't mind being in an alliance if the right boy asked me.”

“The right boy?” Caesar raised an eyebrow as the conversation started to take a turn back to the topic of Kurt's admirers, “May I make a guess as to whom he may be? A name, perhaps?”

“I-Not yet,” Kurt blushed, “Again, I don't want to give anything away just yet. Let's wait until he makes a move, I don't want to get ahead of myself.”

“Of course not,” Caesar said, “But you promise to keep us posted if any new details should arise?”

“Absolutely,” Kurt turned to direct a charming smile at the audience, “I can't think of anyone else I'd rather share it with.”

***

“The last name Anderson is a little famous in the hunger games.”

“Yes,” Blaine replied stiffly, attempting a smile to seem more at ease.

“Cooper Anderson won the games seven years ago didn't he? But on a more personal note, he also happens to have a close relationship with you.”

“He's my brother and mentor, in and outside of the games.”

“Well isn't that charming?” Caesar beamed at the audience.”It must have been quite a shock to your parents to have both sons reaped for the games.”

“Yes, it was quite the surprise. It was almost too much of a surprise to be a coincidence.”

“And yet what a coincidence it was!” Caesar exclaimed, “Now how has your brother been treating you? I hope he hasn't been going too easy because of your family connection.”

“Oh no,” Blaine laughed, “He would never do that. In fact I would go so far as to say that he's been harder on me than any other tribute.”

“Obviously a demonstration of his love.”

“Obviously,” Blaine smiled again, that tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

“Last question about your brother before we move on, do you feel he's trained you well? Your training score of eight certainly looks promising but I still need to ask, are you feeling confident?”

“Absolutely, if nothing else Cooper knows how to train a tribute. I have nothing but confidence in his skills.”

“Excellent!” Caesar exclaimed, “Now Sebastian Smythe, we've heard a lot about you from him but your opinions on the boy are sadly lacking. Care to share with the audience your thoughts?”

“Sebastian?”Blaine's face distorted into an unreadable emotion before his face smoothed into a hesitant smile, “I've never given him much thought.”

“But surely you must have noticed him, he's been very obvious with his affections. No thoughts about an alliance or maybe,” Caesar turned to stare at Blaine suggestively, “Something more?”

“Oh no,” Blaine laughed quietly, “No. There's only one boy I want to be with and he's- I don't think he's very interested.”

The audience murmured sympathetically as Caesar's face morphed into a surprised and curious expression.

“Oh?” His whole body shifted forward in interest, eyes alight with excitement, “Do tell.”

“It's just I-I wouldn't-couldn't be with Sebastian because there's only ever been one boy I wanted to be with. Even back in my district, I saw him from a distance when he was passing through with his parents and it was like love at first sight.”

The audience sighed to themselves. Warm, dreamy looks crossing over their faces as they leaned forward to hang off of Blaine's every word.

“Love at first sight?” Caesar asked, pushing Blaine to go into more detail.

“I was only seven when I first saw him, I don't think I even knew what I was feeling till I saw him again a year later and a year after that. It was like I couldn't stop thinking about him.”

“Did you ever talk to him?”

“No,” Blaine deflated in his chair, shoulders curling in as he shook his head, “I wasn't allowed up to the train station, I could only watch through the fence. Over the years I built up this image of him in my head, I knew that if I was only given the chance to talk to him we would have been best friends.”

“What happened to this boy?” Caesar said, “Did you ever meet again?”

The audience was more silent than they had been for any other tribute, each member seeming to collectively hold their breath in anticipation of what Blaine was about to say. Even Caesar seemed affected, leaning forward with his eyes focused on Blaine's face as if his next words would be some of the most important he would ever hear.

“We did meet again, yes.” Blaine said quietly, “But I screwed up, everything I wanted to tell him, all those years I'd spent thinking about the blue eyed boy at the station and he didn't even know I existed. I tried to talk to him but it wasn't the right time and then I ended up blurting out something I shouldn't have and now I think he sees me as an annoyance. In any case, he admitted to loving someone else.”

Murmurs and whispers spread up through the audience like wild fire, each turning to their neighbour to discuss this new twist.

Caesar could feel the audience's support for the district three boy growing, a quiet companionship for the shared knowledge of unrequited love.

“Give us a name, Blaine.” The older man urged, “Does he live here in the capitol? A past victor, perhaps?”

“No, not quite,” Blaine paused as if to gather his words, leaning back in his seat as he clasped his hands tightly together in his lap.

“You said it was an incredible coincidence that I had been chosen for the hunger games only seven years after my brother had been reaped,” Blaine started off slowly, the audience following along carefully so as not to miss a single thing. “Well I don't think so. I think it was fate. I think it was fate that both I and my brother were chosen for the games and it was fate that allowed me to see the blue eyed boy at the train station that day. It was fate that brought us all together again and it was fate who decided to give me one last chance to see him before one of us died.”

Caesar tilted his head in curiosity, words forming on his lips as Blaine straightened up to stare him directly in the eyes.

“The boy I'm in love with is Kurt Hummel from district eight and tomorrow we're going to be asked to kill each other.”

*****

“Hey!”

Kurt marched forward as confused stage hands and makeup artists and other harried looking people leapt out of his way, throwing irritated looks behind them as he stormed his way towards the elevator at the end of the hall.

“HEY!”

The boy in front of him broke into a run, pushing past people roughly as he tried to reach the elevator before Kurt did.

Kurt chased after him, his pulse beating wildly in his ears as his anger spurred him on, ignoring the expressions of indignation on the workers faces as he brushed past them in the hallway. Blaine reached the elevator and pressed a button hurriedly, slamming his finger into it as the button lit up and the doors slowly began to close.

“Doors closing,” A mechanical voice informed him.

“HEY!” Kurt yelled again, racing forward the last couple of metres to grab at the nearly closed doors and force them a part.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Blaine said stiffly, “I was just going back to my room when-”

Kurt pushed past him into the elevator, letting the doors close as he reached over to press the top button for the roof.

“What the hell was that about?” He hissed, turning to look at Blaine who was pushed up against the other wall, arms wrapped around his stomach as if he was trying to get as far away from Kurt as possible.

“Kurt, I understand if-”

“No you don't understand.” He snapped, “If you want sponsors to notice you then fine, just don't drag me into it.”

Blaine paused, retort dying on his lips as his face fell into a look of confusion.

“...What?”

“You already had the perfect set up, Sebastian practically undresses you with his eyes whenever you walk into a room and instead you had to blurt out my name. Sebastian, who might I remind you, had already admitted to liking you way before your interview in front of millions of viewers and still you decided to say my name. Unbelievable.”

“...What?” Blaine asked again, “I'm sorry but it feels like we're having two different conversations.”

“You're an idiot,” Kurt snapped.

“Yeah, I think I got that part,” Blaine said slowly, still staring at Kurt as if he was talking another language.

The elevator doors slowly opened to the roof as the mechanical voice declared their destination. Kurt marched forwards, hands balled into fists as he turned around to give Blaine a withering look.

“Well?”

“Oh, right.” Blaine hurriedly walked forward to join him, letting the elevator's doors close behind him. Far down below them the sounds of the capitol partying could be heard, citizens laughing and cheering as the loud pound of music barely reached up to Kurt and Blaine's spot on the roof. Blaine seemed distracted for a second, taking in the view as Kurt rolled his eyes impatiently.

“I'm still waiting for an answer you know,” Kurt informed him, jolting Blaine out of his thoughts.

“It'd be easier to give you an answer if I knew what the question was,” Blaine replied, still looking as if he was missing half the conversation.

“Why didn't you just say you were in love with Sebastian? You could have formed an alliance and lived a little longer, sponsors would have loved it and Sebastian wouldn't have been able to kill you without losing huge favour with the audience. Not only that but you wouldn't have had to drag me into it. You're in love with me? Really? Was I honestly the first person you could think of?” Kurt spat.

“No! It wasn't like that at all!”

“You were the first person I had told about seeing district three at the train station and what, you decided to throw it back in my face?”

“No!”

“That was personal! I didn't want that knowledge getting out but obviously it all worked out for you. How long did it take you to think up that plan? How long was it before you decided to get up on that stage and start preaching about the boy you ‘fell in love with at first sight'?”

“I wasn't making it up!” Blaine yelled back, looking close to tears.

“Oh of course,” Kurt drawled, “I apologise for doubting you. Why of course you were already in love with me, even though you know nothing about me. You're lucky I was able to twist the situation to both our advantages, I was going to declare my love for Chandler but had to improvise.”

“Oh yes,” Blaine laughed bitterly, eyes still red rimmed around the edges. “Your precious Chandler, I wonder what he thinks of everything.”

“He's not my anything.” Kurt snapped, “And don't try to change the subject!”

“But of course he is, he's the love of your life, the only boy you'd ever want to be with.” Blaine couldn't make eye contact, staring out over the capitol as if he wasn't capable of looking at Kurt.

“Are you-ugh!” Kurt threw up his arms in frustration.

“I'm not in love with him, Blaine,” He snapped, “I was pretending to be in love with him so as to gain the favour of the audience and attract more sponsors. I knew he liked me and decided to take advantage of that. I'd pretend that we'd gotten separated in the bloodbath; he would probably die on the first day so after that I'd have to break down into tears once and act mournful for the rest of the games. The audience would love me.”

“Are you-really?”

“Yes! And then you had to screw it all up. If I rejected you after your story with the train station and loving me as a child then the audience would have hated me. Your stupid story means that you're now one of the favourites to win, much more popular than Chandler could ever be. Chandler was easy to handle, I wouldn't even need to pretend to be in love with him, I would just have to act it up for the cameras after his death. But now you're involved and I just...”

“You just?” Blaine asked quietly, his eyes focused on Kurt's face with an intensity that Kurt couldn't understand.

“I don't know what to do. All my plans with Chandler are pointless if the audience would rather that I was with you.”

“So what now?” The hope in Blaine's eyes was unsettling and Kurt turned away, ignoring the twisting in his stomach. He couldn't understand Blaine's motive, couldn't understand why the other boy was acting the way he did. He couldn't understand anything right now and it made him want to scream.

“I-I can't be in an alliance . I-” Kurt shook his head, turning to face Blaine again. “No, this doesn't change anything. We'll get separated at the bloodbath and from there we go our separate ways. If one of us dies then the other will pretend to be heartbroken. The audience will be moved and we don't have to pretend to be in love. This works out for everyone.”

“Is it so horrible to be in an alliance with me?” Blaine asked, eyes huge and sad as they stared at Kurt from half way across the roof.

“Yes.”

Kurt watched Blaine recoil, immediately feeling guilty at the pain in Blaine's eyes as he shook his head to try and soften his words, “I mean- no, or... I just can't, okay? I- it's difficult to explain right now.”

Kurt sighed, reaching up to rub at his eyes as he felt the anger drain from his body. It was almost impossible to remain furious when Blaine was looking at him with such a heartbroken expression.

“Just stick to the plan, okay? I don't know what you intended to happen when you told everyone that you were in love with me but this is the best course of action for both of us. Do you agree? Or are you finally going to tell me what was going through your head when you got up on that stage?”

Blaine swallowed heavily, arms wrapped around his middle as if he was tightly hugging himself as he slowly nodded his agreement.

“I don't know what I was thinking when I got up on that stage, I guess I just thought it was my last chance. That maybe you would notice and...” Blaine trailed off, his words faltering, “It doesn't matter anymore. I don't know what I was hoping to happen but I guess it's not important, not when tomorrow is...”

Blaine paused again, his words hanging heavily in the air as both boys refused to mentally finish his sentence.

It didn't matter anymore because tomorrow was the start of the hunger games, tomorrow any scores would be settled in the arena and the conversation they were having right now would be long forgotten after all the horror they would be forced to face.

“I'll do whatever you want, whatever makes you happy. If you never want to see me again,” Blaine ducked his head down, voice quiet as his arms tightened around his waist, “Then I'll stay away from you for the rest of the games.”

“Thank you,” Kurt replied stiffly, not sure what to say. Blaine was still staring at him as if there was a hidden meaning behind his eyes and Kurt could work it out if only he cared to look.

Kurt wasn't sure if he wanted to press further though and instead he decided to retreat, turning away back to the elevator as he pressed the button for his floor.

“Kurt,” Blaine called, making Kurt turn back to face him just as the elevator doors opened. “One more thing, I hope you win. I know you're not an idiot and you're more than capable of looking after yourself, but please, just… stay out of the way until the end. I don't want you to get hurt, I don't think I could handle it.”

Kurt frowned at him, studying the other boy over as he tried to work out whether he was lying or not.

“I don't plan on dying straight away but thanks for the concern. Maybe you should be more worried about yourself, after your interview you don't have a lot of options open for alliances.”

“I know but it doesn't matter. As long as you stay safe then I'll be happy.”

“I don't understand you Blaine,” Kurt sighed as he stepped into the elevator, reaching up to rub at his temple where he felt a small headache forming. “Throughout all of this I've been trying to figure you out but I still can't understand why you care.”

“I already told you in my interview.”

“Blaine, that was just-”

“No,” Blaine said firmly.

The elevator doors began to close and Blaine quickly stepped forward to hold them back, looking Kurt directly in the eyes as Kurt recoiled in confusion.

“Kurt please, I have nothing to gain from telling you this. This is my last chance to make you understand.”

“What-”

“I didn't make up that story about the train station, I saw you for the first time when I was seven years old and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since. When I was chosen for the hunger games I was terrified, but when I saw you volunteer and realized who you were? It felt like my heart had stopped beating in my chest, it was as if the entire world had come to a halt. I didn't make that story up,” Blaine said, his voice steady as the older boy stood there wordlessly.

“I know it sounds like a fairytale and in some ways it is, but I just kept thinking that the only thing that would make my situation even more horrific, the only thing that would make me want to give up completely before the games had even started is the thought that I never got to tell you how I felt, the thought that you or I had died without ever knowing how amazing I thought you were.”

Blaine breathed in deeply, letting out a shaky breath as his hand that stopped the elevator from closing clenched around the door. His eyes were wide and filled with sadness, the distant partying of the capitol like a faceless echo as only the barest pulse of drumming carried up to their spot on the roof.

In that moment Kurt realized he had never seen someone so vulnerable before, never had he witnessed someone opening themselves up completely to rejection and not flinching away from the pain.

Blaine stood only a metre away from him but the space felt so loaded and tension filled that it might as well have been halfway across the planet.

“Kurt, I know you don't believe in love at first sight, but please believe me when I tell you that I fell in love with you when I was seven years old, I loved you when I saw you at your reaping and I will love you until I die. I guess you could say you're my soulmate,” Blaine smiled tightly, “And I'm sorry. But I don't think that's likely to change.”

Kurt stood frozen, mouth opening and closing wordlessly as with a deep intake of air, Blaine looked up at him one last time and spoke softly.

“I guess what I'm trying to say is I love you so please don't die.”

With these final words, Blaine stepped backwards and allowed the lift doors to close, dropping his hand to his side as he watched Kurt go.

Kurt caught one last glimpse of Blaine's resigned eyes before his view was blocked off completely and the lift began to descend, carrying him down to his room where he would spend his last few hours in civilization before the Hunger Games would begin.

His mind wanted to scoff at Blaine's words, brush them off and dismiss them as a pathetic attempt to get him to join an alliance but there was something in Blaine's face, something about his soft, hopeless tone that led Kurt to believe the opposite. Blaine had asked for Kurt to believe him when he said he loved him and for some unfathomable reason that Kurt couldn't even begin to understand, he did.