Safe and Sound

Chapter Seventeen - Just Maybe

So that was that. Grayson and I were now allies, a team. Not like the Careers, we were there to support each other, to help keep one another alive for as long as possible. It had only been a couple of hours since we had agreed to become allies, but already I felt as if we had worked together our entire lives. We helped each other clean our cuts with the cream and special leaves that we found and we split some of the food we had in our backpacks. I gave Grayson the last of my birthday cake, seeing as he hadn't had anything like that since we set out. He argued about it for a little while, but when I showed him it, he seemed to change his mind and accept if fully.

After we had eaten for the night and sipped some of our water, we decided that we would have to find a tree that had one or two branches that could be pulled together to support the two of us. It took a while, but eventually Grayson spotted a good looking one. I thought he knew how to climb trees, so I scaled it easily and sat on the branch. After about a minute of waiting for him to come up, I looked down to see Grayson standing there where I had left him, looking slightly sheepish. I sighed and put my bow, backpack and quiver down before climbing back down the tree so I could give Grayson a hand. And a leg. And a few pushes. It was slightly awkward, seeing as I had to give him a lot of leg lifts and had to even haul him up myself at times, but I didn't complain. He would learn soon enough.

Once we had climbed onto two conjoined branches and belted and tied ourselves on, we just lay there, accepting the cold. Well. Sort of.

"I'm freezing to death." I blurted out after about twenty minutes of trying to get to sleep. I loosed my belt so I could sit up. The fact that the anthem of Panem had sprung a surprise attack on me a few minutes earlier didn't help either, but it informed us that no one had died tonight, even though I had guessed that was the case because I hadn't heard any cannon go off, "And we only have one sleeping bag. I honestly don't know how you managed to stay alive at night without one." Grayson chuckled lightly, then undid his belt completely and sat up himself. He then reached dover and took my belt off fully. He then carefully clambered over right nest to me and got the sleeping bag out of my backpack.

"Get in." He ordered. I did. Then, to my absolute shock, he climbed in after me. We were both so close to each other, but it certainly was quite warm.

"Body heat." Grayson said, most likely directing his explanation to me, because he had just climbed into my sleeping bag without another word, "It will keep both of us warm." With that, he grabbed his belt and belted it around our legs, roughly below our knees. He then got my belt and belted us in via our waists. There was no way we could fall out of the tree now. For me, and probably for Grayson, it was quite an awkward position. My head was buried right into his chest, my feet somewhat tangled with his. But I had to admit, I was feeling a lot warmer now.

"Well, this is...er, warm" I said, looing up at Grayson, who looked down at me with a slightly smug look, but he had a warm and kind smile on. I then found myself snuggling my head more into Grayson, wanting him to be closer to me. He then held me closer, encasing me in his arms under the sleeping bag, burying his head into my shoulder.

"Harper?" He muttered.

"Mm?" I replied, feeling slightly muffled by his jacket and his rising and falling chest. His breathing was slowing down slightly. He was tired.

"Do you think that one of us has a chance of winning, now that we're helping one another out?" He asked. I didn't answer for a second.

"Maybe." I replied, not quite sure. I didn't want to have to think of the future. The problem with allies is that one of them has to die if it is left to them being the final two.

"Just 'maybe'?" Grayson queried. His voice had slowed down now and it was a lot quieter than it had been. I had to hold in a yawn as we lay there in each other's warmth. I nodded against his chest, which was falling and rising slowly.

"Just maybe." I muttered.

"Harper?" Grayson questioned again. "Thanks for coming back for me...I thought I had lost you." He whispered to me as the moon became brighter in the dark sky. "Be my mockingjay and I'll be yours. Let's protect each other...until the end." He then added into my ear so quietly that the Capitol probably wouldn't have been able to hear it. I stayed silent for a moment. I had never had a true friend before, it was completely new and different. But I couldn't ignore him or this moment. It just felt so special to me. More than it should have been.

"Of course, Grayson. Until the end. The very end." With that, I fell into a dreamless yet peaceful sleep, somehow looking forward to waking up, knowing that I had Grayson by my side...but still knowing that eventually, one of us would have to die for the other.