The name's Harlan, seventeen years old. I spent my entire life living in a tiny apartment in downtown District Eight with my parents. It was 'rustic' at best, but hey, it was home. We lived a quiet life for the most part. I spent most of my time back home working in the factories. Yeah, I'm kind of one of those 'all work, no play' types. I'm rather good with my hands and I can fix just about anything and textiles are my specialty. I preferred to just stay home and work on my art when I wasn't at the factory. Friends might be for some people, but the streets of District Eight aren't exactly safe so I was probably better off staying inside anyway. Can't say my life is exactly glamorous but hey, who can complain?
This is the start of something beautiful. This is the start of something new \\ a death oneshot
Its so quick I don’t understand what is happening. And when I open my eyes the pain is gone, the hunger too, the sadness too. Its mean two thing. I am not dead and they all kill each other and I am in the hospital in the capitol. Or I am dead.
In this place some things are just instinct. You can sense things here that you can't when you're alive. It's difficult to explain, but the moment Mila joins us I can feel it in my core. Grabbing Adrian's hand, the two of us hurry to go meet her. She deserves someone waiting for her. She deserves more than I was ever able to give her in life.
A smile crosses my lips as I see Izzy already pulling her into an embrace. I've never been happier to see the two of them. Adrian is next to welcome Mila, and then finally I can't wait any longer. I playfully push Adrian out of the way and pull my sister into the tightest embrace I've ever given anyone. I smile, because suddenly all that crap that seemed to make things so difficult during life fades away. I stroke her cheek, kiss her on the mouth, love her the way I should have, the way I was too afraid to admit. I trace my hand along her chest, where her capitol seal should be. But It's disappeared, just like mine. I rub my thumb against the smooth skin gently. "We're free." I whisper. And with that, I kiss her again, the way I should have been able to all along.
But then I feel her stir against me. I turn to see what has gotten her attention only to find Devon. A warmth spreads through me at the sight of my only true friend before the games. I give Mila a few minutes alone with him before I can't wait any longer. Running over, I throw my arms around each of their shoulders, pulling the two of them in for a hug. "I missed you Dev." I say, giving my friend a squeeze. We stay this way for a few moments, joking and laughing until we finally part. And as I walk away to rejoin the others, I turn back to Mila. "And you still have to teach me how to read." I tease. "You've got forever now. So no excuses."
I recall the way Devon had mentioned he had an artist friend he wanted me to meet, back when I was in Eight. It crosses my mind that the only time the three of us were ever able to meet at the same time was in death. It doesn't bother me though. I'm just glad I had both of them for some time, and that now I can have them forever.
I leave Mila to catch up with Devon, and slipping my hand into Adrian's we walk off together. We wander back to the shore. Kicking off our shoes again, we walk along the shore line. The water feels cool on my bare feet as we walk together, gathering seashells, laughing. As I link my arm in his, I know there is nothing else I could ever need.
We walk for quite some time until finally we stumble upon a beautiful beach house. I tug his arm, leading him inside. Again, it's one of those moments where I just know this was meant to be. We step through the doors to reveal a beautiful foyer. It's painted a warm white, brightly illuminated by the sun streaming down through skylights. But it's what's on the walls that takes my breath away. Lining the entire foyer are my paintings; the one of Adrian, the one of Mila, the one of the beach. I walk up to the one of him, my fingers grazing the canvas in the same awestruck way he first had when he had seen it. I'm distracted however, when I hear a soft mewing coming from the hall. I peak my head around the corner, only to find a small orange tabby wandering about. He walks straight up to us, rubbing his head against Adrian's leg as he begins to purr. I laugh, picking the kitten up and cradling him in my arms. "We can name him Hadrian." I tease, planting a kiss on his cheek.
And as I stare out the window to view the ocean, I muse that I have never permitted anything more in my life.
"I love you too, Adrian." I whisper. We continue this way, making love on the sand until we are both spent. I lay beside him, content as we try to calm our breathing. Resting my head on his chest, I place gentle kisses on his neck and shoulders, finally moving up to capture his lips again. We lay together for a few moments before Adrian suggests we clean ourselves up. He always was the neat one. Returning to the water, his arms fold around me, pulling me close to him as the waves wash away the evidence of our amorous entwine. We remain wrapped in the water's embrace for quite some time, before finally we decide it's time to depart. After we dress ourselves, we walk away, hand in hand. And in that moment, it crosses my mind that this is the way it was always meant to be.
I cringe a bit as he slides in with no preparation, biting my lip. But soon his lips are on mine and I'm temporarily distracted from the pain. I move against his mouth desperately, kissing and biting until finally I have to pull away to let out a moan. The pain has subsided, and pleasure has finally taken over. I groan again as he slides in and out, filing me. I bring my hand down to grasp my own neglected need, pumping myself in time with Adrian's thrusts. "Adrian." I breath his name again, gazing up at him reverently.
A dissatisfied whine escapes my lips as his mouth pulls away, but is soon replaced by more moans. My head arches back in pleasure as I feel him pressing against my entrance. "Please, Adrian." The words leave my lips in a pathetic whisper. "I need you. Now. God, please-" I press into him, begging him to continue.
The sand clings to our wet bodies as we switch positions. I moan loudly as he toys with my nipple, gasping as I feel his lips on my cock. "Adrian." I groan his name again, almost whine it this time. I grow impossibly harder under his touch, my breathing already growing ragged. My hips buck involuntarily, but his hands are steady, pinning me down. A slew of moans and curses fall from my lips as he taunts me mercilessly. "Adrian." I groan again, breathlessly. "Adrian, please. God please just-" I cut myself off as another moan escapes.
I press my hand into the sand as I straddle him, moving so that our cocks brush together. "Adrian." I moan his name again, leaning down to move kisses up his chest and neck until finally my teeth are tugging on his earlobe. "I want you to make love to me." I whisper. "I want you to fuck me."
“Oh,” I say, blushing deeply and running my fingers across Harlan’s bare torso, resting my hands on his waist. I lean into a kiss, my tongue more forceful this time while I work quickly at the pants zipper. Even now, even though we’re dead, I still want him, and I wonder if this desire this need will ever let up. I doubt it.
This hadn’t been my intention at all when I initially took off my shirt, but now it was all I could think about. My cheeks burn red as I remember the last time, how I begged and pleaded for him to fuck me.
“Harlan,” I whisper, kissing down his cheek to his neck, where I bite his soft skin, nibbling gently.
"Well, unless you don't want to?" I tease. A smirk crosses my lips as he blushes. Oh how the tides have turned. But the thought is soon lost as his lips make their way down my body. A small moan escapes my lips as Adrain nibbles on my neck. "Adrian." I whisper in response, my hand skimming along the hem of his pants. I flick the button of his jeans open expertly, but then I leave it be and instead run my hand up his chest.
This immense feeling of finally returning home paired with Harlan standing beside me is too much for me to take and fresh tears make their way down my face, though these are tears of happiness and joy. Our kisses are salty and I laugh, smiling into the kiss and then another, until our bodies may as well become one. I place one hand over his heart, smiling as I feel his pulse. Though we’re gone, I can’t help but feel more alive.
“We shouldn’t be wearing clothes,” I say, laughing. Who wears clothes in the ocean, I think. Not even bothering to step away, I just tug off my shirt in one fluid motion, discarding it into the sea.
I kiss him roughly as the waves lap at us, smiling through the kiss as I feel his hand over my heart. In this place we can be alive again. We can be together. And there's nothing I want more than that. I laugh as he pulls his own shirt off. Even here, he's still as tactless as ever when it comes to this stuff. Then again, I always loved that about him.
"I can't argue with that." I say, grinning as I work at the buttons of my shirt. I slide it off behind me as I move closer to him once again."I think I've just found something we can do to pass the time here." I tease, trailing a finger down his torso and hooking it into the hem of his pants.
I stand there for a moment or perhaps longer, agape at the sight before me. It’s District 4, yet somehow more beautiful, more resplendent than I seem to remember it. My hand clutches Harlan’s more tightly and I start running forward, dragging him along with me. The all-too familiar feeling of my feet sinking into the sand makes me laugh happily, and I all but dive beneath the waves before remembering that Harlan might now know how to swim.
We stand there in the ocean, about waist-deep, and I pull him close for another kiss, this one mixed with the salty spray.
“Thank you,” I murmur between kisses. “For showing me this.”
I laugh, kicking off my shoes as we run toward the ocean hand in hand. Wrapping my arms around him, I hold him close as we stand together in the water. Somehow, this place is different than my time spent wandering down in the arena. I can feel the cool spray of the water on my skin, the warmth of Adrian's body as it presses against mine. And as I bring my hand up to his cheek, I notice something else. The scar on the back of my hand is gone.
A sob nearly escapes my lips as I realize how happy I am in this moment. I pull him even closer, crashing my lips against his desperately. We stay this way for a few moments before I am finally able to pull away. "You're welcome." I whisper, kissing him over and over again as the spray soaks our clothes. "Thank you for sharing it with me. This place wasn't complete until you arrived."
“Then you were by my side every moment because I can’t live without you,” I smile weakly and let out a hiccuping laugh. “You saw my dismal efforts at that. I need you,” I say simply, my arms still wrapped tightly around him, refusing to let him go for even a second. I don’t say that he was the one of us who should have gone home.
“Now that we have an eternity I sincerely hope you discovered something to do here. Although, we can do anything and I wouldn’t care as long as I was with you.” My hands move to clasp his fingers to mine. “I’m never letting you go. Never.”
"Well now you have me." I whisper. "And you couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to." I tease, intertwining my fingers with his. I smile, glancing around. "As a matter if fact, I think I have a pretty good Idea of where we could spend some time. I found a place I think you'll like." Guiding him with my hand, I begin walking forward. The blank white that seems to surround us begins to shift, and suddenly the ground softens beneath out feet, the sturdy ground replaced with grains of sand. We can hear the crashing of the waves before the ocean comes into view, smell the salty sea air, a sensation new to me, but one I know is all too familiar to Adrian. I turn to him as he clutches my hand and smile at him softly. "It's alright." I say, planting a small kiss on his cheek. "Now you'll never have to let go. I'm not going anywhere."
It’s only a second before I can’t breathe, before he and his infinite capacity for love leave me speechless. That he could forgive me for what I had done put me on the path towards forgiving myself, and my smile was full of gratitude.
“I love you too, Harlan. But I’ll never stop being sorry,” I murmur quietly, kissing his cheek.
“Have you been waiting all this time?” I ask, dreading what he saw in regards to the obstacles we faced.
"Yes." I say quietly, recalling the hall or mirrors, the way Adrian had defended me, how he hadn't fallen for the impostors. "I was by your side every moment I thought you needed me. I never left you Adrian." I stroke his cheek, unable to let him go now that I'd finally gotten him back. "I was there when you talked about your dream, during the fallen, in the house of mirrors..." My voice fades away for a moment. "I couldn't leave you. I wouldn't."
I stroke his cheek again. "And don't be sorry." I whisper. "You gave me what I wanted. You gave Mila a chance to go home."
“Nothing to be sorry for?” I cup his face with my hands, needing to see him whole, unmarred by my sword strokes. “I ended your life!” The words seem to catch in my throat and I pull him close in an embrace, my fingernails digging into his back. “I - I can’t - ” Silent tears stream down my cheeks and I quickly wipe them, not wanting to stain his shirt. Pulling back I place one kiss on his lips. “You still want to be with me? Even after…”
Instead of letting him carry on any longer, I cut him off with a kiss. Pressing my lips against his, I move up to thread my fingers through his hair. I put everything I feel, everything we are into that kiss. When we finally pull apart, I look up at him with a grin on my face. "That's what forever means doofus." I say with a laugh, rolling my eyes. I place my hand over his as he wipes away his tears. "I love you Adrian." I say, looking him in the eye. "And I forgive you. It was never even a question."
“My cause,” I murmur sadly, thinking of my entire life that was dedicated solely to revolution, only to be cut short. Now what did I have left to show for eighteen years? But then I gaze into Harlan’s eyes and I realize that my future will always be beautiful and bright because I have him. I have him for eternity.
My fingers clutch at his back desperately, needing him, needing to feel close to him after what seemed like ages apart.
“Oh God, Harlan, I’ve missed you.” I kiss him again and again, finally burying my face in his shoulder.
"For what?" I ask, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for." I place my hand on his chest, pausing a moment before looking up at him with a warm smile. "I'm glad it was you." I say simply. And I was. There was never a doubt in my mind that I was going to die. And I was happy it could have been by the hands of someone I knew, someone I loved. Even in thinking I was Felicity, it was still a merciful death. "None of it matters now." I add, pressing my forehead against his. "All that matters is that we're together."
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