Although there were a handful of things that Haymitch would never let Katniss live down, this wasn't one of them. He thought she had made a lot of stupid decisions during their short time as friends, but these nightmares were something that she couldn't help and Haymitch didn't need to make her feel worse about them. He knew first hand what it was like to feel that helpless, to wake up in the middle of the night, screaming and confused about what was real and what had been imagined through the depths of psychological scars that would never be healed. She was too young for this, just as he had been too young at the time and he was sure that every other Victor felt the same way. Winning the Games was just as horrible as dying in them, and really, that was the whole point. Even the strongest in Panem weren't above the will of the Capitol.

When Katniss asked him to stay, Haymitch was conflicted and a little confused. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to stay with her, or not go into the Games for Peeta. One of those things couldn't be helped, and the blonde Victor assumed she meant the former. That was where the trouble started because not only was it wildly inappropriate considering his feelings, but it would be easy for anyone to think that he was taking advantage of a vulnerable situation. At the same time, refusing and leaving her side might trigger another nightmare for Katniss and it guaranteed a sleepless night for him. They needed to be ready for training, and part of that was getting more than a few hours of sleep.

Silently, he agreed to stay and shifted around to get comfortable next to Katniss. He didn't dare put his arm around her, but he reached out and gently set his hand on top of hers. It was astonishingly easy to relax when it was just the two of them, and already Katniss was joking. “They won't make that mistake again,” he chuckled. “Maybe you weren't old enough, but there was one year where the arena was nothing but a blizzard and they didn't think to put anything but rocks in there with them. Everyone pretty much froze to death.” It had been the most boring Games to date. Katniss was still on edge though, and Haymitch listened to her concerns.

“No one wants to kill anyone,” he explained, “but if you won't, someone else will.” And if no one did, if they all refused, the Capitol would find some way to kill them anyway.

The hologram on the wall across from them looked so real and Prim was slightly tempted to get up and run toward it. It looked so much like home, the way the trees moved with the wind, and the small animals that scurried intermittently across the forest floor. The design must have been on purpose, just another way to mess with them; a quiet reminder that they would never see any of this again. Regardless, she left it on when Gale mentioned his was set to the same thing and if it was a source of comfort for him, Prim didn't want to change that. Instead, she settled down against Gale's side with her head resting on the upper part of his chest. 

How Gale managed to remain so hopeful was a mystery, but as he talked, Prim actually started to believe that his pretty words could one day be a reality. In the pit of her stomach, she knew that District 12 had already accepted the loss of four people, they knew they would have no champion to celebrate. Prim didn't think that Gale was naive for wishing for a summer without fear, when they could do what they wanted without the Games constantly looming over everything, but to actually believe it could be true seemed crazy. President Snow wasn't going to let there be more than one winner—not again. The system that kept the people oppressed was fragile, and Prim didn't think for a second that the Capitol officials wouldn't do anything in their power to stop it from falling apart.

At the mention of boys, however, Prim forgot about disagreeing with Gale. She was laughing, actually laughing for the first time since the morning of the Reaping. “What?” she asked, grinning as she looked up at him. Never mind that he was the one she wanted to be with, but she didn't exactly have guys waiting in line for a date with her. In fact, Prim was convinced that hardly anyone saw her standing there in Katniss's shadow. No one wanted the quiet girl when the fearless one was so much more alluring. “That's crazy. You don't know what you're talking about,” she laughed again.

“If anyone's going to get a date when this is over, it's going to be you,” she went on, positive that Gale knew how all of the girls back home talked about him. “Everyone loves a winner, right? And you're so tall and strong and...” [i]Attractive[/i]. Prim cut herself off, not wanting to look stupid and ruin the moment. “You'll probably have to go into hiding; change your name to get away from all the girls,” she teased.