The next morning Kurt was very warm and very thirsty. His eyelids cracked open and he was met with a mass of dark hair in his face. He blinked in confusion until the events of the past day caught up with him. The pact with Santana. Splitting up. Fighting Harmony. Killing Andrea. Running into Blaine. Alcohol rain. Blaine’s burn. All the… other stuff.

He tried to sit up, but Blaine was holding on tight around his waist, nuzzling further into the crook of his neck. “Blaine…” he murmured, tapping his hip. “Blaine… Blaine, you have to get off me.”

“Mmmm…. No,” Blaine said decisively. He clutched Kurt tighter to him. “Warm… and soft… stay…”

Kurt would have been swayed, except he really had to pee. So he dug his fingers into Blaine’s sides and started tickling him.

Blaine jerked away from with a yelp. He attempted to sit up, but tipped over onto his side.

Kurt stretched along the ground, pulling his arms above his head to crack his back.

“Nice,” Blaine nodded appreciatively as he sat up.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” He blushed, which made Blaine smirk, so he ended up whacking him on the chest. “Here, turn around, let me see your back.

“It feels better…” Blaine said as he swiveled around.

Kurt pulled the ferns off. Blaine’s back wasn’t raw anymore, which was good. There was an odd hazy film over it that looked like it was probably part of the healing process and patches of brown and pink. “Hmmm. Let me get you some more ferns and we’ll see where we go from there.” Kurt got up and left the cave. After relieving himself by a tree he waded through the ferns before a silvery glint caught his eye. 

About five feet to the left of the cave entrance there was a stash of silver canisters still attached to their parachutes. 

He ran over to them and picked up as many as he could. “Blaine! Blaine, we got gifts from sponsors!” He brought them to the edge of the cave before running back to get the rest. 

“Wow…” Blaine stared at all the containers in amazement. Then he started opening them excitedly. “We have soup… fruit, crackers, a whole roast chicken?”

“Medicine!” Kurt exclaimed happily when he found salve in one of the cans. He moved behind Blaine and started smoothing some over his back.

“Oh my god,” Blaine moaned. “Feels so good…”

“And it’s helping!” Kurt grinned as Blaine’s back turned into a bright pink. “Your skin is almost normal again!” He took a little of the goop and dabbed some of it onto the cut on his right arm then watched the skin start to stitch itself back together, pleased.

“Did we get any water?” Blaine asked as he rummaged through the containers. 

“Here!” Kurt pulled out a bottle. “Wait, no. It says… champagne?”

“Are you serious?” Blaine took the bottle from him and frowned at the label.

“What is it? Some kind of juice?”

Blaine burst out laughing. “No… no, Kurt. It’s alcohol. Apparently they thought we were funny when we were drunk, so they sent us a bottle.”

“Oh.” Kurt wrinkled his nose in dislike. “I don’t like alcohol. It tastes gross.”

“I think you might like this stuff. Come on, it’s a nice day. Let’s have a picnic.” Blaine tugged a reluctant Kurt into the fern grove. 

“Yes, such a lovely day for killing people,” Kurt grumbled as he dragged some parachutes along with them, but he couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful day. The clearing was filled with warm buttery sunshine and the ferns glowed in it. 

They sat in the middle of the clearing, directly in the sunlight. Blaine popped open the champagne and the cork nearly hit Kurt’s head which resulted in a frightened squeal. Blaine laughed at him as he licked the foam off the side of the bottle. 

“Here,” Blaine urged, tipping the bottle towards Kurt. 

Kurt was suddenly aware of how striking Blaine looked at that moment, surrounded by golden sunlight and the vibrant ferns, his dark curls blowing in the gentle breeze and his hazel eyes full of warmth and excitement. Kurt took the bottle, but never broke eye contact as he swallowed. “Oh!” He shivered lightly. “It feels… bubbly.”

“Yeah, that’s its nickname,” Blaine laughed through his mouthful of chicken. “Urgh, this is so good. Thanks, Coop.”

“Hey, some of this could have come from my mentors,” Kurt retorted.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds then burst out laughing.

“Good one,” Blaine coughed, almost choking on his food.

“Thanks, Cooper,” Kurt concurred, glancing briefly towards the sky so that a camera could catch his smile. “Blaine would be a lot more grumpy without this stuff.”

“Hey!” Blaine whacked him lightly on his chest. “I’m not the only one benefitting here. If Cooper hadn’t sent this stuff, we would have starved.”

“No we wouldn’t have.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Honestly, did you go to the edible plants station at all?”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing around here that we can eat,” Blaine protested.

Kurt sighed and hopped up to walk over to the nearest tree. He dug his fingers into the the bark to pull out the small clump of ferns. “Tree ferns,” he said as he plopped back down next to Blaine. “My mom always ate them when I was little. Their roots taste like licorice and she was addicted to them.” He bit into the root, chewing it as he fondly remembered his mother doing the same.

“What… what happened to your parents?” Blaine asked hesitantly. “Because I remember them when we were young, but you said during training that you’d lost them…”

Kurt looked in the other direction, towards where the mountain edge met the trees.

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me —”

“Mom…” Kurt cleared his throat. “My mom died in an accident at the textile factory when I was eight.” He looked down at his hands. “And dad… dad’s heart gave out a few months ago. He’d been overworking himself and… and he had a heart attack at work. Didn’t survive.”

Blaine carefully placed an arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” 

Kurt nested his head into the crook of Blaine’s arm and took another sip of champagne. “It’s fine. Actually, all these ferns have reminded me of her. Of my mom.” He reached out and stroked a fern stem fondly. “They were her favorite plant and our backyard was overflowing with them. She always used to say, ‘Kurt, find ferns. Because when you find ferns, you find home.’ I think it’s why I’m so comfortable staying here…”

Blaine rested his head on top of Kurt’s, smiling faintly as he rambled on. 

“Apparently in plant language, fern means shelter. And sincerity. That’s another thing she’d say. ‘Kurt, if someone tells you something by the ferns, you can know for sure that they’re being sincere.’ She had so many fern idioms. Like the secret bond one…”

Blaine quirked his eyebrow in interest. “Go on…”

Kurt shook his head. “No, no way. I’m not nearly drunk enough for that one and neither are you.”

Blaine grinned as he took the bottle from him. “Challenge accepted.”

***

“But Blaine,” Kurt moaned in protest and pulled his head back for what had to be the twentieth time. “We’re naked. And in the Hunger Games. Why are we kissing? What if we die?”

“Kurt,” Blaine mocked, sucking on his neck. “You’re a worried drunk. Stop worrying. You’re too hot to be worried. And… mmm… you taste too good to be worried.” He licked further down Kurt’s stomach as his hands idly stroked his sides.

Kurt’s fingers were lazily carding through Blaine’s hair and he had to admit that he did feel nice and fuzzy and tingly and warm and maybe Blaine was right, maybe he should stop worrying and ooh, that felt nice, what Blaine did to one of his nipples and oh goody, he was doing it to the other and—

“So what’s the secret bond thing with ferns?” Blaine suddenly asked as he abruptly detached his lips from Kurt’s nipple with a wet ‘pop’. 

Kurt groaned and snapped his head back then nuzzled into said plants. “Not gonna tell.”

“Is that so…” Blaine flicked his tongue into Kurt’s belly button and swirled it around. He chuckled at Kurt’s squirming. “Still don’t want to tell?”

“Uh…” Kurt muttered. His hands clenched Blaine’s hair when Blaine started sucking on his hipbone. “What?”

“Ferns. Secret. Bond. What.” Blaine said stiltedly, punctuating each word with a scrape of his teeth.

Kurt’s hands snapped up to cover his face as he blurted out, “Fern means ‘secret bond of love’ and is supposed to be the symbol of forbidden love. ”

Blaine’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious?” he giggled.

“Shut up,” Kurt blushed, kicking Blaine’s side with his foot. “I thought it was really cool when I was younger.”

“It is cool,” Blaine smiled. He leaned forward and kissed him. “I bet you were the coolest kid in all of Panem, what with your square knot skills and your knowledge of ferns.

Kurt thought about kicking him again, but decided that tickling was the ultimate punishment - -Blaine’s sides were very sensitive - -so he dug his fingers into Blaine’s ribs.

Blaine yelped and jerked off him. Kurt rolled on top of him with a triumphant grin. “Ha! See who’s laughing now!” He leaned down for a kiss.

“Hmm,” Blaine murmured against his lips. “Yes. Perfect.”

***

Their happiness didn’t last.

After their drunkenness had worn off and they’d put their clothes back on (“Blaine, I want to make sure that your back heals properly!” “But Kurt, you look so much better naked.”) the couple laid together in the grove, munching on fruit and watching the sky change colors.

They had not a care in the world, were completely wrapped up in each other.

Until the Head Gamemaker’s voice interrupted them.

“Tributes,” the ominous voice boomed throughout the arena. “We’d like to invite you to a banquet by the sea tonight at dusk. There will be a special something there that you need the most, marked with your district. We hope to see you…”

“It’s the third night…” Kurt muttered. “Why are they trying to get this over with so soon? Why not draw it out?”

“There must be some really big bets on shorter days,” Blaine said softly. “If anyone running the Games wants to curry favor with some rich Capitolite, then they’ll let them win the bets.” 

Kurt frowned. “What do we need that’ll be there?”

Blaine shrugged. “Weapons. Since we lost ours during the alcohol rain.” He smiled. “But no one’s found us so far, and going to the banquet defenseless is the fastest way to get killed. Plus I bet they didn’t even realize that nothing could tempt me from this field. Everything I need is right here.” He cuddled Kurt tightly to his chest.

“Yeah…” Kurt agreed, clutching Blaine tighter. “Same…”

He was lying.

“…going to the banquet defenseless is the fastest way to get killed.”

San and Tina were going to go to the banquet because they needed weapons and probably some more food. They couldn’t take down Jesse and Sebastian on their own, they’d get slaughtered. And the pact that he’d made with Santana was still weighing heavily on his mind. He wanted Tina to be the one to win. But… He looked up at Blaine’s content expression. But that had been before Blaine. Before the cave. Before…

He clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to block everything else out. He didn’t want Blaine to die. He didn’t want Tina to die. He didn’t want San to die. Hell, now he didn’t really want to die and it was so unfair.

Why did they all have to die? Why did they have to fight to the death? Hadn’t they paid enough for their ancestors? Weren’t they punished enough by having to live in their impoverished districts? He held onto Blaine tighter as his body was wracked with shakes and tears were streaming down his face.

“Hey,” Blaine murmured, stroking his hair. He tilted Kurt’s face up. “What’s wrong?”

“I—” I don’t want any of us to die. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to just become another statistic. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to be their pawn. I don’t want you hurt. I don’t want to play anymore games. “I… I love you.”

The words came out before he could even decide on what to say. But he was surprised to realize that they were true.

Blaine stared at him in shock. His blank expression stretched on for a minute and Kurt briefly wondered if that had really been the wrong thing to say but then Blaine’s face split into a grin. He cradled Kurt’s face and pressed kisses and murmured “I love you oh I love you”s all over it.

Kurt held Blaine’s head still so he could kiss him properly and everything clicked. This was why “I love you” had tumbled off his tongue before he could even properly decide on what to say. He wanted to give Blaine this, this last piece of him. Something that no one else could take from him. Because this had nothing to do with the Capitol, nothing to do with the Games, nothing to do with anything except for him and Blaine. Because his mother had been right. He’d found the ferns. He was home. Home in Blaine’s arms. Because they’d been sincere with each other. Because they’d loved each other while everything else was hopeless. They had that secret bond. Because in this moment, nobody could touch him, or Blaine, or what they had. It was something that was entirely theirs.

***

Kurt untangled himself from Blaine’s arms and pressed a kiss to his forehead after making sure that Blaine had been sleeping for half an hour and the sun had sunk low in the sky. He didn’t take anything with him as he moved into the trees.

Kurt went into the forest a good couple of hundred of feet before he tilted his head up to the sky, knowing that there’d be a camera there to catch him. “Hey Cooper,” he said evenly. “I’m kind of saving your brother’s ass right now. So make sure he gets what he needs if I don’t come back.” Almost immediately, a hole in the fog cleared and a single star twinkled. Kurt smiled grimly. “Thanks.” He set off through the forest.

He really would have had no idea where he was going because of the fog, but the star surely had to lead him the beach. They wanted a good show after all. So he ran as the sun sank lower and lower. He felt lost, but noticed that the trees were thinning out as it turned dark.

A cannon cracked through the arena and the fog cleared over a patch of the sky where a face was illuminated.

It was Tina.

“No,” Kurt breathed in horror. He pushed on faster. He could already hear the faint sounds of metal clanging in the distance, along with the dull roar of the ocean. 

***

Blaine snapped awake at the sound of the cannon. He let out a steady breath, moving his hand to wrap around Kurt.

There was only air.

He sat up. No weight impeded him. He looked around wildly.

Kurt was gone. And deep in his stomach he knew where he’d gone.

Before a coherent plan could even form in his mind, he ran across the grove, tearing through the trees to reach the beach on time.

***

Kurt broke through the tree line just in time to see San cut a vicious slash across Jesse’s neck. The District 1 tribute stumbled back and fell into the sand as red soaked down his front. Kurt skidded across the sand to her and screamed out a warning just as he saw Sebastian throw his spear.

“Santana!” 

She turned to look at him in surprise just as the spear lodged between her collarbones. Her mouth tried to form a word—Brett? Britt?—but then she fell to the ground and two cannons went off, one for her and the other for Jesse who’d finally taken his last breath.

***

Blaine stopped short at the sound of the two cannons. He looked at the sky in horror. “Please, please, please, please, please…” Jesse and Santana. He kept running.

***

Kurt shook with rage as Sebastian dislodged his spear from San’s neck with a laugh. Kurt ran forward to pick up two sai swords that he saw scattered by the bodies in the sand. He turned to face Sebastian, then stood stock still, waiting for Sebastian to make the first move.

Sebastian looked at him with a smirk. “Where’s Blaine? I know he’s been with you for the past day.”

Kurt licked his lips nervously. “He’s not coming.”

Sebastian laughed. “Doesn’t matter. We’re the only three left. So after I’m through with you, I’ll find Blaine and I’ll run him through with this spear.” He petted his weapon fondly, smile cruel. “Just like I did with Santana. And Tina. And… what was her name?”

Kurt locked his jaw. His hands started to shake, they were clenched so hard around his sai swords.

“Oh, right! Quinn.”

Kurt attacked. 

Fueled by his anger he swung his swords with force and quickness he wouldn’t have thought himself capable of. The left blocked Sebastian’s spear, the right jabbed at his chest, leaving a deep cut.

Sebastian staggered back in surprise then touched his cut and winced in pain. He glared at Kurt, adjusted the angle in which he held his spear, and brought it down hard.

Kurt caught it by forming an “X” with his swords. He over estimated the force behind it, causing him to lose his footing. He fell in the sand.

Sebastian stabbed down, Kurt rolling out of the way just in time to avoid the spear. He leapt back up to his feet, both sais swinging out to knock away the spear, slashing forward, but missing Sebastian as he jumped back. 

Sebastian swung his spear around and smacked the side of Kurt’s head hard. Kurt fell to the ground, seeing double as Sebastian raised his spear.

His vision snapped back just in time to see a sword knock the spear out of Sebastian’s hand and slash him across the chest. Kurt blinked several times and looked up in surprise to see Blaine roundhouse kick Sebastian squarely in the chest and knock him back several feet. 

Blaine turned back to face Kurt and he was furious. He grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him up and into a tight embrace. “Don’t you ever, everscare me like that again, Kurt.”

Kurt felt himself nod before everything seemed to happen at once and he reacted before he really understood what he was doing.

He clutched Blaine to him and turned them around before shoving Blaine away from him as hard as he could.

And it hurt. It hurt a hell of a lot more than he thought it would.

Blaine was sprawled out on the sand and staring up at him in confusion and a hurt look. Then he looked down from Kurt’s face at his chest.

Where Sebastian’s spear was sticking out. 

Kurt looked down at the spear. It was metal, looked the exact same as it had at the cornucopia when he’d seen it poking out of Quinn’s belly.

And now it was poking out of him.

He heard Sebastian laughing behind him in the sand from where he’d thrown it. Kurt had never realized this before, but Sebastian had a really annoying laugh…

His legs gave out and he fell, Blaine finally snapping out of his daze and rushing forward to catch him under his armpits. “No. No no no no no, Kurt no, please —”

“Aw, isn’t that adorable,” Sebastian coughed, clutching the wound over his chest to try and stem the blood flow.

Blaine saw red.

He got angry. Really angry. So he ended up doing an extremely odd and incredibly stupid thing.

He threw his sword. He just picked it up and let go as he slashed sideways with force, aiming at Sebastian’s head.

Sebastian fell to the ground, his head rolling a couple of feet away from its body. A cannon fired.

Blaine pulled the spear out of Kurt’s chest as gently as he could in his panic. “Kurt? Kurt, come on, you have to stay with me —” He looked up at the sky desperately. “Coop! Cooper, come on, please! Will! Terri! Anybody, he’s dying!”

“Blaine…” Kurt whispered, his throat feeling oddly full. “Blaine, they’re not going to send any help.”

“Shut up, Kurt! Yes they are, they have to! Cooper!”

“You… you knew that it was going to end like this…” Kurt coughed. There was blood on the back of his tongue. “The Games… there’s only one winner in the Games…”

“This isn’t a game, Kurt, this is your life!” Blaine screeched, his body shaking in desperation. 

“We’re all just pieces in their games,” Kurt whispered, eyelids drooping. “From the day we’re born to the day we die. We try to fight it, but… but…”

“Kurt, stop. Listen to me, stop right now. You’ve got to fight this, you’ve got to —” Blaine broke off as the sobs wracked his body. 

“Blaine… Blaine… would you… sing some of the lullaby? The one I… I taught you?”

Blaine clenched his teeth, anguished, but nodded, cradling Kurt closer to him. “I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, ‘I’ll never let you go.’ When all those shadows almost killed your light.” 

He broke off, mouth gaping open as he tried to choke down his sobs. “I remember you said, ‘Don’t leave me here alone.’ But all that’s dead and gone and passed tonight…” He kissed the bridge of Kurt’s nose and stroked his cheek with his thumb. “Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You’ll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I’ll be safe and sound…” Kurt’s eyelids fluttered closed.

“I love you, Blaine.”

A cannon sounded.

***

“So, Blaine!” Caesar Flickerman grinned at him knowingly. “Last time you were up here with me, I asked you if you thought you could live up to your brother’s expectation.”

“Yes you did,” Blaine smiled, just as warmly.

“And I must say, you blew us all out of the water! What a performance! Am I right, folks?” The crowd screamed in agreement. 

Blaine laughed at them, waving his hand modestly.

“But seriously, Blaine,” Caesar turned to him as if they were each other’s confidants. “How did you even come up with that plan?”

“Well, it started just after the reaping, on the train ride over. Cooper and I were brainstorming, since he was my mentor, and we were trying to find an angle to give me an edge over the other tributes. We decided to go with “forbidden love” because what could be more forbidden than falling in love during the Games?” He flashed his bright grin as the crowd oohed and gushed in agreement. “So, the original plan was to go with Sunshine, but then we watched the tapes. And I recognized Kurt.”

“So, wait,” Caesar cut in. “All of that was true? From your childhood?”

“Yeah! I actually still have that knot back at home. I used to use it for practice!” Blaine said earnestly, with just a hint of nostalgia. 

“And Kurt just happened to be reaped?” Caesar said, astonished.

“Not even that, he volunteered, remember? It wasn’t even supposed to be him. But there he was, the perfect tool for getting through the Games. But all that comes later.”

“Right, right, of course,” Caesar waved a hand. “So first you had to get close to him?”

“Yes,” Blaine nodded. “I made sure to drop hints of our past so that he’d pick up on them later on. It wasn’t easy — he was very stubborn — but then eventually we became allies. Then the interviews…” He trailed off as he cringed.

“Ah, yes, the infamous “I’ll kiss Sebastian” interview,” Caesar said with a knowing smile.

“I called the whole thing off,” Blaine admitted. “When you’d asked the question, I was hoping that he’d say my name, which we could play off of in the arena, add fuel to the forbidden love, but him saying Sebastian threw a wrench into that plan. So I ended our alliance. Joined back up with the Career pack.”

“But then you met again…” Caesar prodded.

“Yes, Harmony, Andrea, and I were tracking down Santana and Tina. Kurt just happened to be with them. So instead of pursuing Santana and Tina like I was supposed to, I took off after Kurt, managing to catch him after he’d killed Andrea. Then, well…” He trailed off provocatively as the audience squealed in excitement.

“Ah yes, ‘the kiss heard around the world’ caused quite the stir,” Caesar laughed.

“It even got its own nickname?” Blaine chuckled. “Yeah, that was pretty crazy… Then the alcohol rain hit, and luckily I have a brother who went through the same thing, so I knew how to deal with it. Then the cave —” The audience’s screams overpowered his mic. “Yes, yes, I know you all loved it.”

“What was your plan?” Caesar leaned forward excitedly. “We’re all dying to know.” 

“The plan was to stay in the cave as long as possible and wait out the death of the other tributes until there were only one or two left. Obviously Santana and Tina had to go quickly, otherwise Kurt would have never killed them. But once we would finally have been the last two I was going to convince Kurt to commit suicide with me.”

The audience gasped in shock.

“I know,” he said, nodding solemnly at them. “There’s nightlock all over the arena, also these odd mutt blueberries that look extremely similar. So I’d give Kurt the nightlock and take the blueberries myself so he’d think that we were dying together, too in love to live without each other, when in actuality, he’d be killing himself, and I’d live. In fact, originally that was when I was planning to tell him about meeting him when we were younger. The big bang that we were bound by fate to end up together that would really push him over. But it ended up fitting in so well earlier that I gave that a shot.” 

“I just can’t believe this guy! What a performance!” Caesar laughed, clapping Blaine on the back. “Now, just one question. Why did you chase after Kurt when it came towards the end?”

Blaine raised his eyebrows condescendingly. “Caesar, be reasonable. Who’s easier to kill, Sebastian or Kurt? With Kurt on my side, we could get rid of Sebastian and Jesse together, rather than the two of them killing Kurt then coming after me. The odds were much more in my favor if I went to help Kurt.”

“And the odds remain in your favor! Blaine Anderson, everybody!”

The crowd screamed and cheered.

Blaine grinned.

***

President Snow placed the gold crown on Blaine’s head and it was official. “I give to you the victor of the sixty-ninth annual Hunger Games, Blaine Anderson of District 2!”

The crowd screamed his name.

His smile was blindingly bright on the giant screens as he waved.

Cooper smiled at him, bursting with pride.

***

Blaine breathed in the air of the woods behind his house as he walked through it, swinging his sword idly. It was good to be home. The trees here were sparse and there was no stupid fog to clog up his vision.

He went down a different path to the one he usually takes to get to his clearing where he liked to train. He’d walked these woods so many times, yet there were so many paths that he had never taken. 

So, on a whim he took the scenic route, enjoying the change in flora. He even found a small stream so he stopped for a drink of water, resting against a large cedar.

And there, growing in a small clump to the left of him, was a patch of wild ferns. 

***

“God, I was such an idiot, thinking you’d actually be worth something as an ally.”

Blaine turned away from Kurt’s hurt expression and slammed the door. He was only so incredibly angry because Kurt had ruined his plan. That was the only reason. He ignored the blatant flare of jealousy in his chest and his irrational instant hatred of Sebastian.

***

“Kurt!”

He turned towards the scream of the name. It was Kurt’s district partner, Quinn. Sebastian had run her through with a spear. Only one thought occupied Blaine’s mind in that second.

Run.

Kurt ran.

Blaine breathed again.

***

Kissing Kurt was not like he had expected. Cooper had told him to wait and build up to it, but Kurt had been punching him and Blaine had been angry because Kurt was punching him and Kurt just looked so cute when he was angry so of course he had to kiss him…

***

He’d panicked.

Kurt was walking towards the entrance of the cave, looking down. Blaine had heard the odd clicking, the one that Cooper had described to him a million times. He saw the flare. So he ran. He protected Kurt.

Because he had to.

***

Kurt was frustrated because he couldn’t figure out Blaine’s angle.

Blaine was frustrated because he was slowly losing one.

The only thing that made sense was why he had chosen Kurt.

So he told him about their childhood.

And Kurt sang to him that night.

And he kissed Kurt because, well…

Because Kurt was Kurt.

***

He laid on top of Kurt in the warm sunshine. His tongue lazily traced Kurt’s stomach, vibrating whenever Kurt giggled.

Kurt glanced down at him. His blue eyes twinkled.

It was the happiest Blaine had ever been in his entire life. 

***

Kurt told him that he loved him.

Blaine told him that he loved him back.

He was surprised that the words on his lips weren’t a lie.

Okay… no, he wasn’t. 

***

Kurt was there, laying on the sand, staring up at him in shock. 

Blaine was furious. Kurt had almost gotten himself killed. Blaine would make sure that nobody — not even he himself — caused that to happen again. He picked Kurt up and held him tight, and the relief just to be in his arms was overwhelming.

But then Kurt had turned him around and shoved him away. And for a split second, Blaine wondered. Wondered if maybe Kurt had had his own agenda this whole time.

Wondered if now, now that only Blaine was left, would Kurt turn around and show his true colors?

Then he saw the spear.

***

Of course he still knew all the words to the lullaby.

There should have been two cannons fired.

***

They had to sedate him. He wouldn’t let go of Kurt’s body, swinging his sword at anyone who came close. It took eleven medics.

He had to be strapped down at the hospital.

His biggest regret was that he hadn’t picked up nightlock on the way to the beach.

It really would have come in handy after that last cannon fired.

***

Blaine gripped the soil between his fingers, on his hands and knees as his body convulsed with sobs. He ground his forehead against the cedar bark, gritting his teeth together as he tried to stifle his scream. He grabbed his sword and started swinging, hitting the tree as long and hard as he could, until his sword was dull and ruined. He fell to the ground and stared at the wild ferns through his tears. He grabbed them at the roots, prepared to pull them out…

“…’find ferns. Because when you find ferns, you find home.’ I think it’s why I’m so comfortable staying here…”

“Apparently in plant language, fern means shelter. And sincerity.”

“Fern means ‘secret bond of love’ and are supposed to be the symbol for forbidden lovers.”

-

“It is cool,” Blaine smiled. He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. “I bet you were the coolest kid in all of Panem, what with your square knot skills and your knowledge of ferns.” And he meant it, too.

Kurt started tickling him with a cute giggle, his face getting all scrunchy, little teeth showing.

Blaine yelped and leapt off him. Kurt rolled on top of him with a triumphant grin. “Ha! See who’s laughing now.” He leaned down for a kiss.

“Hmm,” Blaine murmured against his lips. “Yes. Perfect.”

And it was.

-

He sagged against the tree and loosened his grip on the ferns.

They said he was the winner of the Hunger Games.

But he wasn’t. He was the one who lost the most out of all the tributes. 

He was the one who thought he could beat the Games with his own plan, manipulate everyone, be the chess master for once. 

But it had backfired horrifically.

Kurt had been right. 

He knew his place now.

No matter how hard any of them tried…

They were all just pieces in the games.

I don’t know where I am

I don’t know this place

Don’t recognize anybody

Just the same old dainty face

See these people they lie, and I don’t know

Who to believe anymore

But there comes you to keep me safe from harm

There comes you to take me in your arms

Is it just a game? I don’t know

Is it just a game? I don’t know

Pleading eyes that break my heart

So hopes that I can feel

But I know I must play my part

And tears I must conceal

There comes you to keep me safe from harm

There comes you to take me in your arms

Is it just a game? I don’t know

To keep you safe from my bow

Take my hand and my heart races

The flames illuminate our faces

And we’re on fire

Blow a kiss to the crowd

They’re our only hope now

And now I know my place

And now I know my place

We’re all just pieces in their games