I love how determined Haymitch is to protect Peeta in Mockingjay. He is always on his side, always believing in the good in him even when it seems to be gone. He stands up for him in front of everyone, even Katniss. He’s the one following his recovery and trusting that their sweet boy is still in there somewhere.
The warning for District 13 is more ambiguous in the book, and a lot of people refuse to believe Peeta’s words, but Haymitch stands up for him to Coin: “You don’t know him,” Haymitch says to Coin. “We do. Get your people ready.”
He follows Peeta’s recovery up close, and he is hopeful about every step he takes to come back to them. For him, a man who used to believe hope was as addictive as white liquor, "hope seems a lot like white liquor. It can fool you in the short run, but like as not, you’ll end up paying for it twice."—he interrupts his sobriety to trust in his boy.
"But it’s the first connection to you that hasn’t triggered some mental meltdown,” says Haymitch. “It’s something, at least, Katniss.”
"I don’t want to talk about Peeta. One of the best things about training is, it keeps me from thinking of him.” “Haymitch says he’s getting better,” she says."
He even stands up to Katniss to defend Peeta, even though he understands the pain she is going through and how that might be affecting her. He’s there to remind her that Peeta is not the one she should be punishing
"You do! You’re punishing him over and over for things that are out of his control."
He promised to get Peeta out alive, to make sure he made it out of the Games, and he is still fighting for that, for Peeta to find peace again and live a life worth living. He loves that boy. It’s that love that keeps him and Katniss together and it’s that love that brings them home.
“You and me, we made a deal to try and save him. Remember?” Haymitch says. When I don’t respond, he disconnects after a curt “Try and remember.”
The bond Peeta and Haymitch have is so especial to me
