Chapter 4

It was the final day before the beginning of the games.

And Blaine was freaking out.  Nothing was going as planned.  Not only had he formed an attachment to a young girl, who he would help survive to the end, but he’d also managed to create a romantic relationship (is that what you would call it?) with a boy (A Boy!) from another district.  On top of that, he had absolutely NO idea what he was going to do for the game makers today.  The odds were definitely not in his favor.

Are you trying to die? he thought to himself. Because it certainly seems like it.

The tributes were going to have two hours to finish planning their performance for the game makers.  Kurt was fooling around with the bow and arrows, and Blaine was staring at him.  The other boy hadn’t even acknowledged him this morning.  What the hell?  He didn’t really know the exact protocol for this sort of thing, but he at least thought that a “Hi” or “I would like to give you an explanation as to why I attacked your face last night,” would be a necessity.  But no.  Kurt said nothing.  Didn’t even look at him.  He actually thought Kurt looked as if he didn’t even know Blaine was there.  Maybe it didn’t happen.  Maybe it had all just been a dream.  It had certainly seemed real.  But Blaine had kind of been going crazy lately, so who knew?

There was only one station that Blaine hadn’t tried yet.  Sword fighting.  It just seemed really intimidating.  Whatever, he’d give it a shot. He didn’t have any other options after all.

As he made his way over to the empty station, the boy from District 8 (the one that Kurt had brought up the other night) seemed to decide on the same thing.  Damn, Kurt had been right, that kid was huge.  Blaine thought he’d heard his name one other time, Crucis maybe… Blaine picked up a sword; it felt strange, but good at the same time.  The other kid, Crucis, mirrored him.  They had dummies set up to practice on.  Blaine adjusted himself to the weight of the sword, balancing it in his hand.  

Crucis immediately started going at the dummy, but his aim wasn’t very good, he was clumsy.  Blaine, slightly encouraged by the other’s failure, made a few precise slices at his dummy.  One through the “heart” and another through the “stomach,” perfectly aimed.  He looked up to see Crucis glaring at him, like Blaine had just ruined his day.  Against his better judgment, Blaine smiled at the other boy and snickered.  Crucis took a few more strikes at his dummy, hitting around its arms and thighs.  He was putting too much strength into it.  Blaine watched as he struggled.  When he finished, pretty unsuccessfully, Blaine once again struck the dummy in the heart and then took a final swing at its neck.  The dummy’s head went rolling across the floor and Blaine saw the utter hatred shine in the other boy’s eyes.   He set his sword down and walked away, not wanting to look back.

Well, at least he had something to show to the game makers.

Okay, so maybe Kurt was ignoring Blaine on purpose, but there was a reason for it.  He and Blaine (he presumed, though he couldn’t be positive) were not used to the sort of thing he’d done last night.  It was so spur of the moment! They’d only known each other for two days, and probably only that many more before they died.  So he was giving Blaine room, to see how he reacted, see how things panned out in his head.  Tonight, though, Kurt would go to the roof.  He was going to go and see if Blaine showed up.  If he did, well Kurt wasn’t really sure what would happen then, but something would.  Something.

Blaine’s presentation of his sword fighting “skills” to the game makers was uneventful.  He wasn’t amazing, and didn’t think he would get over a seven when the time came, but he’d tried his best.  Cindy told him that evening at dinner that she had shown them her camouflage capabilities.  Apparently it had gone alright. 

There was one last step before the real deal.  He had to impress all of the Capitol with his interview.  This would be interesting.

He was with his stylist again.  He had to look perfect, of course, after all, that was all that mattered right?  How the Capitol saw him.  Not that he was going to die. Or that he’d never see his family again.  No, no, certainly those things were just negligible compared to how he looked.  Suddenly he realized maybe Kurt’s sarcasm was rubbing off on him.

Blaine would be clad in a simple suit with a white button-up and a green and black patterned tie.   Luckily, it wasn’t anything absurd.  Cindy was dressed in an equally simple black and green dress. 

He was standing backstage when he started to get anxious.  What if everyone hated him?  As much as he hated everyone out there, they had to like him.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t survive, there was no way.  What if he didn’t say the right things or forgot to speak at the right time? Blaine was a nervous wreck.

The first person up was the girl from District 1, Briar.  Blaine watched each tribute before him on the provided television backstage; they all seemed so calm and collected, making jokes or being emotional when the time seemed right.  Then Kurt was up.

“And your male contestant from District 2, Kurt Hummel!” Caesar Flickerman shouted to the audience.

“Hello, everyone, good evening,” Kurt seemed especially at ease on the stage.  Blaine scowled.  Kurt sat down and crossed his legs. 

Caesar smiled and began his interrogation, “Hello, Kurt, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Go right ahead,” Kurt smiled back.

“From what we know, you had a rough life in District 2, am I correct?”

“Well, I guess that depends on what you consider rough. If you mean that I had trouble finding decent clothes to wear, then yes I suppose I did.”

The audience laughed and Caesar chuckled.  “Well, no that wasn’t exactly what I was referring to.  How about you answer this for me, how were your parents doing when you left your district?”

Kurt glanced down at the floor briefly before returning his gaze to Caesar’s.  “Um, well, my father wasn’t in pristine condition, you could say.”

“And your mother?”

“Died when I was very young.”

The audience gasped, and Blaine, though slightly shocked, wondered why.  It wasn’t that strange for a child from the districts to have a dead parent.  It was sad, but he guessed the audience was just being overly dramatic.

“I see and how did you deal with that loss as a child?”

Having bounced back from his emotional downfall, Kurt replied, “Oh same as everyone else would, Grin and Bear it.” And he did just that.

“Okay, well thank you, Kurt.”

“No problem, Caesar.”

“I’m sure you’ll give it your all out there tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” and they both stood up, shook hands and Kurt left the stage.

Up next was Cindy.  Cindy did a good job of playing off the innocent act.  Although it really wasn’t an act.  Cindy was still a very innocent young girl.

“Well good luck, sweet heart,” Caesar smiled, and Blaine thought he saw a hint of genuine sadness in that smile, just a hint.

And then he was calling Blaine’s name.

There were bright lights, and so many faces staring right at him.  Blaine felt like he was going to puke.

“Hello, Blaine, mind if I ask you a few questions?”

He asked you a question, stop looking like an idiot and respond, Blaine thought to himself.  “Um, yeah, I mean no, no! I don’t mind, go ahead.” Oh, God.

“Okay then, tell us, do you have any siblings?”

“Yes, one, Cooper, he’s, um, he’s a boy,” he stumbled, he had to get himself together.  Maybe talking about Coop would help a little bit.

“A boy, I see,” Caesar smiled at the audience. “And did he come to see you after the reaping?” He looked worried as he glanced back at Blaine.  Maybe he even looked sick, that couldn’t be good.

Blaine took a deep breath before continuing, “Yes, he did.” That was better.

“What did you say to him?”

“Same thing anyone would, that I was going to try and win.”  Words were definitely coming more easily now.

“Is there anything you’d like to say to him, now, since you know he’s watching?”

Blaine thought for a second, “I love you, Coop, I really do.  Remember what I told you, Bud, stay strong for me.  Stay strong. Mommy and Daddy need you. No matter what happens, you’ll always have them to care for you, but don’t worry.  I just…Just remember that.” It was easy that way, talking to someone familiar, even if he couldn’t see him. He wanted to cry, he honestly just wanted to let everything go and cry, but he was in front of thousands of people, and was sure that would not go over well.

“Isn’t that touching?” Caesar looked out at the audience, and Blaine saw that most of them were almost in tears themselves.  Wow, they were an emotional bunch. 

“One last question Blaine.”

“Okay.”

“How was the good ol’ love life for you back home?”

Immediately, Blaine thought of Kurt, and he hoped he was watching when he said this.

“Ah, well there is someone.”

“Oooh la la, a pretty young lady?”

Blaine just chuckled.  Caesar had no idea.

“So, tell us what she was like.”

“Well, a little on the sarcastic side, but funny.  Blue eyes, brown hair, kind of beautiful, actually. They were very straight forward, though we never really established anything.  I just wish I could not have regrets, you know? That things could end on better terms, than they have to.”

“Well, maybe you could still change things.  Try and win for that special someone.  Thank you, Blaine and the very best of luck to you!”

They shook hands and Blaine left.  Caesar didn’t even know how much those words meant at that moment.

That’s all it really took, he guessed, for him to finally figure out what he felt for Kurt.  Someone asking him, though indirectly and in front of thousands.  He had to say it out loud.  He knew what he had to do, and it had to happen soon.

After the interviews, Blaine, Cindy, Caesara and Gilford all sat around the television on their floor to see the announcement of scores.  The tributes could get a score between 1 and 12.  The higher score you got, the more chance you had to get sponsors.

The lowest score given was a 4, to a young girl from District 11.  Kurt received a 9 and Cindy received a 6.  Blaine, though he had been scared to death, managed to get an 8.  Crucis came out with a 10, the highest score.  Kurt’s companion, Pomeline tied with Kurt for a 9. The scores seemed to be pretty evenly spread, and District 3 wasn’t the worst off by far, but Caesara and Gilford didn’t seem impressed.

Blaine had somewhere to be, so he tried to rush through the post-show conversation and claim going to bed. 

Once he thought everyone had gone to sleep, which seemed to take an agonizingly long time, Blaine snuck out of bed and went up to the roof.  He had no idea what his plans were, or even if Kurt would show up, but he had to at least try.  As long as he tried, he wouldn’t regret.

Kurt made sure to get on the roof before Blaine (if he would even show up) that night.  He had to show him that he cared and if anything was going to happen, it wasn’t just a fling, at least for Kurt. 

Kurt had always sort of known he was gay.  He’d never thought it outright, or mentioned it to anyone, but he’d definitely felt attracted to other guys before.  Never to girls.  He also knew that it was completely and totally illegal, but legality didn’t mean much to him anymore anyways.  Of course, he’d never acted on his attraction, well until now.  Plus, his attraction to Blaine seemed…different, but that was probably a result of the dire circumstances.  He needed to feel something, before he died, anything.  He would probably, honestly, be happy even if Blaine turned him down.  At least then, he’d feel anger.  He was so numb, all the time, ever since his mother’s death.  Nothing seemed to matter.  Something had to matter.

But, had it been Kurt that Blaine had talked about during his interview?  Sure, Caesar had mentioned a girl, but Blaine hadn’t.  Actually, it seemed like Blaine had made a point of not mentioning a female, but maybe that had been Kurt’s imagination.  “A little on the sarcastic side, but funny.  Blue eyes, brown hair, kind of beautiful, actually,” Kurt remembered.  Whoa there, beautiful? No. Not Kurt, maybe Blaine did have a girl pining over him back in District 3, in which case Kurt had made a total fool of himself.  Sarcastic, brown hair, and blue eyes though, that fit.  Nah, still not Kurt.

Just when he thought he ought to go back inside, that Blaine wasn’t going to show up, he heard the elevator.  Kurt stood up from where he was sitting and walked over to the other boy, to stand right in front of him.  “Blaine, I-“

And then Blaine kissed him.  Blaine kissed him.   Not that Kurt had an issue with it.  He most definitely did not, but, wow he had not been expecting that.  Blaine pulled Kurt in close to him by the waist, and Kurt wrapped his arms around his neck.  Blaine’s tongue slipped out and begged for permission to enter Kurt’s mouth, and honestly, how could he not oblige.  Blaine’s mouth is so warm, and he just wanted to envelop himself in it, but then he’s gone, Kurt opens his eyes and Blaine is smiling at him.

“You were saying?” Blaine looks cockier than he’d ever seen him look.

“Wha-Oh, don’t worry about it,” and Kurt tugs his face back up to his own, but before he can lock their lips back together, Blaine’s talking again.  God, why was he making this so hard?

“Oh, and by the way, if you were watching, I was talking about you.”

Kurt stops.  Had he misheard him?  Blaine didn’t call him- “Beautiful?” he asked aloud.

“I do believe I said that.”

Blaine had no idea where all of this confidence was coming from, but it felt good.  Taking advantage of the shocked look on Kurt’s face, he took hold of the other boy’s hand and led him to their platform.  Once they were seated, he placed his hand on Kurt’s cheek.

“Do you not believe me?”

“No…I…I do, it’s just…”

“I know.”

He kissed Kurt again, gently at first, but then more fiercely.  He wanted to memorize the feeling of their lips pressed against each other. He wanted to be able to remember this moment for however long he could.  This time, Kurt’s tongue made a light trail across Blaine’s lower lip.  He allowed him entrance and damn, did it feel good.  Blaine’s hands somehow found a way around to Kurt’s back and he pulled him closer.  Kurt came willingly, until he was practically seated in Blaine’s lap.  Kurt sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and Blaine whimpered.  Yes, he whimpered.  This was all so new.  He had no idea how he knew what he was doing, but he felt like he had a good grasp on the idea.  Or maybe Kurt was leading him through it. Either way, this was great.

They sat there, Kurt’s arms wrapped around Blaine’s neck and Blaine holding Kurt.  They were kissing like two teenagers just trying to figure things out.  And that’s exactly what they were.  For a few minutes they had each other and that was all they needed, everything else disappeared and it didn’t matter that they may die tomorrow.  Or that they’d only met three days ago.  Or even that they were both boys. 

All that mattered was the brief affection that they were able to give to one another.