8. Playing Nice

"You're overreacting over nothing," I snapped at him. "It was just a simple look. You've got nothing to argue about with me about him. Like I've said countless times before, Bane, just drop it."

I stomped into the apartment. The sun was high still, but I could tell it was starting to set.

"What does it matter to you, anyway, if he looked at me?" I ranted.

"He could have been trying to pull you away from us," Bane protested hotly, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Are you seriously—?" I snorted, stopping to wheel around to look at Bane. My ice-blue eyes were hard. "Look, I'm part of the pack; I've got no other alliances other than to the pack. Do I need to keep saying 'the pack' to make you forget about him?"

"If you stop bringing him up, I'll forget about him." Bane crossed his arms.

"Ugh!" I screeched.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sienna bellowed, scurrying out of the hall. "I take a nap for two hours and I wake up to this?"

Bane and I stopped glaring icily at each other to stare at Sienna.

My eyes softened. "Sorry," I said immediately.

"Now, what's all the ruckus about?" Sienna said calmly, smoothing her rainbow-streaked hair down.

"Bane apparently thinks it's wrong for strangers to look at each other," I said stiffly, folding my arms over my chest. "He's making a big deal over nothing! He's acting like the boy attacked me or something."

"Bane, dear," Sienna whimpered, coming to him to rub his muscled arm, "if Crystal says it's nothing, then it isn't. That's that, and don't question me on this. You don't want to get on my bad side."

Bane opened his mouth to speak but shut it. Oh sure, when she's in a bad mood, he won't cross her, but when I'm in a bad mood, he decides to poke fun at me. It's like poking a hibernating bear.

"Just let me know when dinner's ready," I said, stalking away.

"Where are you going?" Sienna called.

"My bedroom."

I shut the door and locked it, soon sliding down it to the floor. What was Bane's problem? So what if the boy stared at me for, like, five seconds? I didn't know what planet Bane was on, but in this world, it was natural for strangers to look at each other.

I sat on my bed, slowly calming down from fuming. I was huddled into a ball, breathing slowly through my nostrils, constantly counting in my head. I had tried counting to ten, but it didn't work. I figured counting until I felt better was the way to go since ten wasn't the number I stopped at.

* * *

I didn't come out of my bedroom at all, not even when Sienna called that dinner was ready. I sat rooted to my bed. I was not about to go out in the same room as Bane. I was still pissed at him. I didn't expect him to have such a short temper. That could be a deadly thing for everybody in the arena—including the members of the pack. If any of the other five got on his nerves, he'd probably kill them in an instant, totally forgetting about our alliance.

I shuddered at the thought. All it would take would be one rogue in the pack to lead it to collapsing.

I watched night fall. I figured since I was coming out of my room, I'd dress for bed in yet another fancy nightgown. This one was strapless and a sleek black that brought out my figure. I thought it was more of a dress than a nightgown, but it had the right material to be considered sleepwear. I fiddled with the moon charm on my necklace when someone knocked on the door.

"Go away," I called.

"It's me," Demi said. Demi? What's she doing here? "I brought your dinner; Sienna told me you hadn't come out to eat."

"I wasn't hungry."

"Can I come in?"

I sighed. My stomach rumbled at me, yelling for food. I slid off the bed, unlocking the door to let Demi in. She had the puffiest fur coat on you'd think it was snowing outside. I closed the door behind her, locking it once again.

Demi sat on the bed, putting the covered plate of food on it. She patted a spot next to her. "What's wrong, dear?" she whimpered.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" I leaned against the locked door, arms across my chest.

"Sienna told me what happened between you and Bane earlier today." She rubbed her ear.

"You think I'm right, right?"

"Of course, Crystal."

"See? Bane doesn't get it!"

Demi sighed. "I'm afraid you don't get something either."

"What?"

"Please, sit."

I took a seat on the side of the bed, smoothing out the nightgown. Demi slightly turned to me.

"Honey, what you have to realize is that...how do I put this? Bane is...protective of you."

"I got that when he flipped out," I grumbled. "I mean, I know he's my district partner, and we're part of the Career pack, but it wasn't like the kid just sprinted across the room to beat me up or anything."

"Do you ever think that maybe Bane acts that way not because you're a pack mate, but something else to him?" Demi raised a neatly plucked eyebrow.

I got what she meant: she thought that Bane was in love with me. I didn't see it that way at all.

"No," I said immediately. "Nobody who gets picked for the Games falls in love. The last tributes to do that were Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, way before my time. There haven't been tributes that've done that since them. Besides, what's the point in falling in love in the arena anyway if only one comes out?"

"People find love in unexpected places." Demi shrugged.

"Yes, but how—more like why—would you find love while you're in a televised fight to the death? There's no point if you, him, or both of you will die in the end."

"Ouch, that's harsh."

"It's the truth, though," I retorted lightly. I let out a calm breath. "Thanks, by the way, for dinner."

"Anytime. I've got to look out for my girl, don't I?" She rubbed my arm.

"Do you have a room in here?"

"No, I've got my own back home. It's not far from here, so it's not a long journey."

Demi unlocked the door and shut it behind her. I lifted the lid off the plate. There was ham, mashed potatoes, beans, and a slab of chocolate pudding. It looked like Thanksgiving dinner. This was a normal meal compared to what the Capitol could give me. Not wanting to let it go to waste, I dug in, careful to not get food on my bed sheets.

Despite how much my stomach begged me to stop, I forced down the last bites of food. I didn't want to waste a single thing. Besides, I bet other tributes would lick their plates clean, especially those who were from poorer districts, like District 12.

I slipped out of my bedroom, carrying the empty plate and lid.

"You finally decided to come out."

I heard the fire crackling. It was cold in here?

"Don't play mute with me, Crystal. I can hear you."

I sighed, giving up the quiet charade. Bane had sharp ears. I set the plate on the kitchen counter and tried to walk back to my room. I noticed that Bane was the only one out here, Sienna wasn't present, and the same went for Ross.

"Where is everybody?" I asked curiously.

"Ross should be back any second, Sienna left two hours ago," Bane reported. My feet thumped down the small step into the living room. The windows were covered with the curtains except for a little strip in the middle where the curtains couldn't touch each other. The TV was off; Bane was staring into the fire, the flames' light reflecting off his bare skin. He, like me, was dressed for bed.

"What've you been doing out here all this time? Just watching the fire?" I tried to tease.

"Yeah, pretty much." His tone was low. It looked like my playful manner didn't help him. I sat on the arm of the couch closest to him, staring into the fire as well. "I've got no more Games to watch, so might as well watch the fire burn."

"Did you tell Ross what happened today?" I asked quietly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I had to, Sienna hinted at it when he came in, and there was no point in trying to keep it from him. He's our mentor, after all. He needs to know what goes on with us both."

"What did he have to say about it?"

"He commended me on watching over you, but did admit that what I shot off about was something stupid. He's right, too." Bane looked at me, green eyes looking softly at me. "I shouldn't have done that. You were right; I was getting worked up over nothing."

"So you admit you have a bit of a temper?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't about to pick on Bane, not when he looked so vulnerable—which I thought was impossible.

"Yes." There was a silence between us. "You can sit with me, you know." He threw a teasing smile at me.

"I'm not cold."

"Really? You should be since you're wearing that. Why are you wearing a dress anyway?"

"It's a nightgown," I retorted, rubbing my arms. I felt them have goose bumps. It was cold in here. "Okay, maybe I am a little cold."

I jumped off the arm to sit next to Bane. There was a small gap between us, because consciously I was still thinking about Demi's theory about him—that he was in love with me. I was skeptical of her idea, but I couldn't necessarily rule it out. I clasped my hands in my lap, feeling the heat warm up the front of me.

"You know, this is nice," Bane murmured. I looked at him; he was staring at the flames once again. "Just us...not thinking about the Games. It's nice just to feel like me."

"I feel more like myself in the Training Center, to be honest," I confessed. "And you know...I've always wondered about who you are. I mean, I know my opinion of you and all..."

"Do you know why I volunteered for these Games, Crystal?"

"Not in the slightest."

He dipped his head. "My father was the first family member that I know of that went into the Games. At the time, he and my mother were married, and my older brother was very young—I want to say about one or two. My mom was pregnant with me."

"I didn't know you had an older brother."

"His name might ring a bell to you." He cleared his throat. "My father didn't come home. He left my mother, about to have me very soon. On top of that she had to deal with my older brother. Life was hard for her, being a single mother, taking care of two boys after just losing her husband to the Hunger Games.

"Mom never found another man after Dad, only because she knew it wouldn't be the same. She raised my brother and me alone."

"That must've been a task for her," I whispered thoughtfully. I couldn't imagine being in her shoes, being left with two little ones to raise all by herself.

"You would never know it; she kept a good poker face. As we got older, my brother became eligible for the Games. He was reaped, nobody took his place. I was old enough to remember how he died."

"What was his name?" I asked carefully.

"Lucas."

No tribute from 1 with that name came to my mind. "Sorry, never heard of him."

"Do you remember those Games? They were near the time of the fourth Quarter Quell."

"Vaguely. I was too busy focusing on my training to really pay attention." I shrugged. "You don't have to tell me how he died if you don't want to, you seem like you're hurting just by telling me this." I watched an ember fly and vanish.

"When he died, Mom was a wreck, and so was I. She let slip about my father, and then she told me about him. Lucas never got to know how our father died. Mom always told us that a maniac had killed him when coming home from work one night. But when she told me how he really died, I felt like I had to avenge my father, and Lucas."

"So that's why you volunteered," I muttered. "But, if you weren't picked, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. You could be getting a job and taking care of your mother back in One."

"I know. She's worried about me, but she has faith in me. It tore her apart when she was visiting me in the Justice Building. She told me it was like she was saying goodbye to my father all over again."

I looked at him with sympathetic eyes. I wondered how many people really knew about Bane's family. I felt like I was one of the few who actually did. As popular as I assumed Bane to be, I doubt he had many actual friends. When you're as good-looking as Bane, you had a lot of friends that were more like acquaintances that never went beyond that down the road.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. I debated whether or not to comfort him, but I figured it was best if I didn't hug him or hold his hand, he could get the wrong idea. Demi's theory still wasn't erased from my mind.

"I've never really told anybody this, except for you." He messed with his fingers. His bronze hair looked like it was on fire from the light of the flames in the fireplace. "I figured I might as well tell someone."

"But you barely know me," I said cautiously. "Don't people usually tell things to people they know? You and I don't hang out or anything. We never did."

"Does it matter who I tell at this point?" he snorted.

I didn't have a retort for him.

"You finally decided to come out of your room," Ross mused. I sprang to my feet, nearly falling backwards almost into the fireplace. Bane pulled himself to his feet. "You two are actually being nice to each other?"

"Is that wrong or something?" I retorted.

"Actually, it's good. Now that you aren't fighting, you two can give each other advice as to what you should work on for tomorrow."

"Can we actually do that tomorrow?"

"It's not that late, Crystal. Besides, you need to interact with people."

"Hey, I had good reason to shut myself in my room. Besides, I talked to Demi before I talked to Bane," I said defensively, suppressing a yawn in my throat. "Look, you'll have plenty of time to talk skills with me in the morning."

I headed for the mouth of the hallway; I stopped, looking at Bane. "Please don't wake me up tomorrow, I won't hold back in getting a hit on you," I warned him.

Bane rolled his eyes playfully, folding his arms across his chest. "You actually said 'please.'"

As I settled into bed after turning on my starry ceiling, Bane's family story kept popping into my head. No father, no brother, both victims to the Games. In a way, his mother and Bane himself were victims, too, because they lost loved ones. I couldn't imagine losing my father to the Games. There were only three of us in the Springs family. Losing one could impact the other two severely.

I should definitely be happy for the family I've got. I always thought families in 1 were never broken by divorce or death. Bane's family changed my opinion about that in a short amount of time.

Okay, so maybe I needed to lessen my attitude towards Bane. I couldn't do it too much, though. Eventually, he would become my enemy, and it was not a good idea to get close to my enemies. Even though people said to keep your enemies closer than your friends, it's a bad thing in the Games.

Keeping your enemies closer to you just might get you killed.

**What do you guys think? You agree with Demi, that Bane has a thing for Crystal? Do you agree with him wanting to try and avenge his dad and his brother?**