Breakfast was a very quiet affair, with little happening until Mr Schuester arrived. But even then it was uncomfortably quiet. Blaine and Kurt were avoiding each other like the plague, and Quinn was desperately trying to keep herself away from Rachel in the hope that she’d be able to lose her feelings towards her. No such luck.

“Could you please pass the jam, Blaine?” Kurt asked, not making eye contact.

Wordlessly, Blaine nodded and quickly handed Kurt the pot, their fingers brushing for a second. A tiny electric shock shot up Blaine’s arm as their hands met. With a quick intake of breath, he snatched his hand back quickly. Thankfully, nobody commented on his sudden behaviour. Again, proving just how reluctant the group was to communicate.

It had been almost as bad the previous night. Except far more awkward. It made Blaine visibly wince at the memory.

“Do you want top or bottom?” Kurt asked quietly.

Blaine spat out his mouthful of toothpaste in shock. “What!?”

Kurt looked mortified. “Bunk beds!” he squeaked. “I-I meant if y-you wanted the top bunk or the bottom bed!”

“Oh! Right. Um, sure. Okay. Yep.” Blaine spluttered, mentally cursing himself for his inability to hold a conversation with this boy without screwing it up.

“So... um... The one nearest the ceiling, or the floor?” Kurt rephrased his question carefully, and Blaine had to bite his lip hard not to laugh. It was adorable; how embarrassed the boy was getting. And it was such a cute flush that was spreading across his face...

“Shut up!” he muttered to himself angrily.

“What?” Kurt frowned, clearly confused as hell by now. Understandable. Blaine was, and he knew it, acting like an idiot.

“Not you! Oh God, I’m sorry... I’ll go on the bottom bed. Less far for me to fall that way!” he said, making a stab at humour.

“I’d catch you!” Kurt blurted out, then went an even darker shade of crimson.

They were saved from trying to work out how to speak properly by the knock on the door that signalled Rachel’s arrival.

“Guys? Blaine? Kurt?”

“We’re here.”

Somehow, Kurt’s voice was impressively normal. Well, maybe a tiny bit higher, but nothing particularly noticeable. Blaine was sure if he opened his mouth at that moment, nothing would come out. Or maybe he’d squeak. Oh God. He’d rather be silent..

“Mr Schue says dinner is ready. And April asks if we can keep the destruction to a minimum. I don’t think she’s forgiven you over the Magonny train wall.”

“We’re just coming.” Kurt replied, before turning back to Blaine. “Oh, and Rachel?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Mahogany. Not Magonny.”

“I was close enough!” She sang, before her footsteps rushed away.

Blaine stood there for a moment, trying to form coherent words. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he knew it was going downhill.

“Kurt, look, I---“

“Could I go into the bathroom?”

He motioned past Blaine, who was blocking the entire doorway. With his mouth hanging open, Blaine remained frozen. Kurt shot him a questioning look, and he sprung into life again. Smooth, you idiot.

“Oh, sorry, yeah.”

He jumped aside to let Kurt pass, which he did silently. Blaine watched him for a moment. Way to balls things up, Anderson, he thought.

So all in all, things were going badly for the pair. Kurt seemed unwilling to talk, and Blaine had just begun comparing his life to Disney movies.

But they weren’t the only two people at the table. While Kurt and Blaine stressed over their lives, two other people were mirroring their attempts, with little success.

“Y-your hair looks... nice today, Quinn.” Rachel said, for once stumbling over words.

“Thanks. I like yours too.” Quinn replied, smiling, before she could stop herself.

Out of nowhere, April suddenly appeared. Kurt’s eyes widened in horror at the horrible shade of clothes she was modelling that day.

“I went for a tangerine theme today!” she trilled happily, oblivious to the teens’ disgust. “To match the sunset we’re supposed to have!”

“She looks like a giant carrot!” Kurt whispered, pain in his voice. Blaine snorted into his food while April grinned at them all.

“So, today is the day you get to meet the other tributes!”

That sobered Blaine up very quickly.

“If you’ve all finished, we can go now?” April asked, looking round at them all. The group nodded uneasily. “Excellent! Just follow me!”

Blaine had been hoping for another few minutes with Kurt. He badly wanted to apologise for his idiotic behaviour the previous day, but there was no chance of that now! All he could do instead was watch him out of the corner of his eye, and try to come up with a decent apology he could deliver later.

The ride in the elevator seemed, if it was possible, even quicker than the day before. A small ‘ding!’ signalled their arrival at the ground floor, and April wasted no time in shooing them down a brightly lit, scarily white corridor. It felt a lot like the hospital in their district, except it didn’t have pop-out cardboard squares for a ceiling, and didn’t smell of wood air freshener.

“...Blaine? Blaine, are you listening?”

April snapped her fingers in front of his face, making Blaine leap backwards.

“S-sorry, what?”

She glared crossly. “I said, that when we get in there, Will has told me to tell you to keep to yourselves until he arrives. He’s in a meeting with some game makers, so he will be a tad late. Understand?”

“Yes, Miss.” Blaine replied meekly, well aware of the others’ amusement at him.

“Good. Now, don’t keep the game makers in there waiting.”

Rachel took it upon herself to be the leader, and strode over to the huge doors. When they didn’t open, she looked rather cross.

“How do I get in?” she snapped.

“Talk to the speaker. Got to dash!” April said, before shooting down the corridor, and out of sight. There was a moment of silence.

“There’s a button on the wall, Rachel.” Kurt mumbled.

“Where? Oh, I see it!” She exclaimed, jabbing it with her finger. “Hello?”

“Name please.” Said a voice.

“My name is Rachel Berry,” Rachel began, in her speech voice. Kurt rolled his eyes. “...and with me I have Quinn Fabray, Kurt Hummel, and Blaine Anderson. We are from District One, and we are here to---“

“The door’s open.” Muttered the voice, and a crackle told them that whoever it was had disconnected.

Rachel looked affronted for a second, but then threw open the door and walked in, leaving the others to trail apprehensively in after her.

“That’s more like the Rachel Berry I know.” Kurt muttered, and to his surprise, Quinn jumped to her defence.

“I think it’s good that someone’s taking charge!” she hissed.

“I didn’t say t---“

Kurt’s indignant protest was cut short as he walked into the back of Rachel. She’d stopped, motionless, staring at a point at the other side of the room.

“Oh my God.” Blaine murmured, following her gaze. “We are so screwed.”

“Is that...?” Quinn began, and Kurt nodded.
 

“Yep. We’re against Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.”