post 74th - part 3
johanna’s pov
I have three options.
First: I could ask Katniss if I can spend the night with her, Haymitch, Cole, and Effie in their quarters at the Tribute Center. Since this is Cole’s Victory Tour, I know that’s where they’re staying tonight because Snow always provides it for the victor and their team. They’ll head back to 12 early in the morning, which is fine because I want to get back to 7 anyways.
Second: I could try to go home with some slutty Capitol citizen. I really try to avoid this when I can, but if it’s my only option, then I guess I could flirt my way into a one night stand. Really, I just need a place to sleep. Maybe I can find someone drunk enough to pass out as soon as we get back to their place, and then I won’t even have to fuck anyone.
Third: I could try my luck sleeping in the streets or on a bench at the train station. I’m not loving this option too much.
But it keeps getting later, and if I’m gonna ask Katniss, I just need to come out with it already. I don’t really know how to ask, because it feels like I’m inviting myself and it’s fucking embarrassing. Well, I am inviting myself, but only because I don’t really have a choice. I came to this party on a whim and didn’t plan ahead. My fucking bad.
Katniss and I are back at the food table when I decide to get it over with. I clear my throat as she reaches for a slice of some fancy-looking cake, and she freezes, looking at me nervously. “Um, I was just gonna ask…could I, uh…um…” My voice doesn’t wanna cooperate for some fucking reason, and now this whole thing just became a lot more embarrassing. “I need a place to sleep,” I declare.
Katniss seems confused.
“I need a place to sleep, so…can I take the couch in your place at the Tribute Center?”
To my surprise, she doesn’t start sneering at me or laughing at me. “Sure,” she replies casually. And that’s the end of it, I guess, because then she goes back to the food.
I don’t know why I made it into such a big deal.
Effie collects us once she decides that the party is ending. Cole’s trotting along behind her, and the four of us have to basically drag Haymitch away from his buddies. It takes a lot of yelling at him and by the end, a bunch of people are staring at him and muttering, but we manage to get him out of the mansion eventually. Leave it to Haymitch to cause a scene, I guess.
It’s so late that nobody hesitates to go straight to their rooms when we get to the Tribute Center. An Avox brings me a spare pillow and some blankets for the couch, and I’m out cold in a matter of minutes.
The first time I wake up, it’s my own fault. I was having another nightmare about the avalanche that killed my tributes this year, except I was there with them, trying to run away from the thunderous snow chasing after us. I wake up gasping as soon as it catches up with me, and I have to squint around the room to remind myself where I am before falling asleep again.
The second time, I hear someone wandering through the apartment and almost jump up to fight before I realize that it’s Haymitch. He enters Effie’s room and I hold the pillow over my ears to avoid overhearing anything else.
The third time I wake up, someone’s screaming. It’s muffled, but I can tell that it’s Katniss because it’s coming from her room and it sounds more like her than Effie. So I stumble through the hallway, bumping into the wall a few times and stubbing my toe on her doorway.
“Ouch,” I grunt as I yank the door open.
Katniss is sitting up in her bed, panting and glancing around the room anxiously, and she sighs when she sees me. Her face is flushed and her hair is a mess. Although I can barely see in the darkness, the look of exhaustion on her face makes me wonder if she’s slept at all tonight.
“It was just a nightmare,” she says softly.
“Yeah, no shit,” I snap at her as I rub my eyes. “Just…can you shut up? I can hear everything from that fucking couch.” I go to close the door and turn away from her, careful not to stub my toe again on the edge of the door.
“Johanna?”
I sigh and turn back toward her slowly. “What?”
“You could—will you stay?”
If I were fully awake, maybe I’d know better. Maybe I’d think about the fact that I shouldn’t share a bed with Katniss Everdeen, not when I don’t want to risk letting her get too attached to me or letting myself—god forbid—fall for her. And maybe she’s not fully awake either, because I’m surprised she even asked me to share her bed. No matter how she thinks of me, it doesn’t make sense for us to sleep next to each other. And I don’t wanna cross that line.
But I’m too tired to think clearly, and I really don’t wanna go back out to that couch. So I grumble a bit and crawl in beside her, lying with my back to her to hopefully show that I’m not super into this idea. Well, I mean, maybe I’d be into this under different circumstances, but that’s irrelevant.
Somehow, I fall back asleep pretty quickly and don’t wake up again til the morning.