After the Interviews

Nicanor made his way up the the floor that had been assigned for the tributes from district 12. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out slowly, trying to figure out how he was going to possibly get any sleep tonight with the Hunger Games starting tomorrow. He knew that he would never be able to get to sleep, so he decided to go somewhere and think things through, think about his dad who might be watching his son die tomorrow, even think about Lori and what could have been if they had not been reaped into these games. Would they have even had something together? Or was it them being thrown at each other in this environment that made Nic like Lori. His mind was spinning at a million miles a minute when he stepped out onto the balcony just off of the common area. Only to see that Lori was standing there in a t-shirt and some pants. "She looks nice in everything", Nicanor thought to himself has Lori said hi, somewhat awkwardly, at Nic. "Hello Lori", he said to her, "What brings you out here?"

Nicanor's heart sank when she asked if it was just an act or if it was truly real. "I guess I never did tell her", he thought to himself, "This would be as good as time as any i guess." He took a deep breath and looked at the ground while leaning on the rail. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and then looked at Lori, "You know when Franklin on the train said I new about the chemistry? Well that is because I have not needed to act. I was already there." He quickly looked away from Lori, almost scared to hear what she was going to say to him. So while he waited for her to do whatever she was going to do next, he looked up at the stars and made a wish.

Nicanor knew that he had caught her off guard with his confession. But he had never expected her to kiss him. He had never been kissed by a girl before, but he knew that he would never forget the feeling for as long as he should live even it is brief. He was completely stunned when Lori apologized and started to walk away. Nicanor quickly grabbed her hand and said, "Please don't leave Lori. Stay here with me for awhile."

Nicanor locked eyes with Lori. This was the first time that they had truly looked each other in the eyes and Nicanor had never noticed how beautiful her dark brown eyes were. He was happy to see that she did not let go of his hand and instead she walked back towards him. A little smile came across his face as she stood beside him, hand in hand. That is when Lori apologized again. "You do not have to apologize, you have done nothing wrong Lori. Even if i did find you mean at times, I know its cause you did not want to get close to someone who you will lose."

Nicanor listened to Lori talking about Gunnar. He knew that it must be pretty hard for her to do, since it seemed like they were pretty close when he was alive. He pulled Lori in closer to him, he then wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. Even though she did not show signs of emotion when she talked about him, Nicanor knew that deep down she had to be feeling something. "Not everything that happens in our life makes sense and we have to accept that some things are just out of our control", he whispered into her ear. It was probably not the perfect thing to say but he hoped it might make her feel a little better.

Nicanor could feel Lori starting to push away from him. he did not ever want to let go of her but when he looked down at her it was apparent that she did not get the exact answer that she was looking for. So he let his arms go back to his side as she asked him the question. He felt a little stupid for not picking up on it before, but he knew that he could answer it. "I do not see the harsh person that you keep saying that you are. I see a strong, independent, innocent girl that I helped back in that street. And whenever I got the feeling that you just wanted to be alone, you surprised me and came up to me and talked", He had a massive smile on his face just thinking about it, "You have another side to you that I see and that you do not even acknowledge."

Nicanor was a little surprised to hear Lori talk in an almost playful voice. He certainly had never heard anything like this come from her. He gave a little smile before he answered back in as playful voice as he could do, which was not very good, "I would love to get to know you better then." But that mood was short lived when she brought up dying. Of course only one person could come out of the arena alive, so the odds were not exactly in there favor. But all that Nic knew was that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she was that one person to go home once more. Nicanor tried to lighten to mood a little by looking at Lori and saying. "Well i am looking at something more beautiful then any skyline."

A smile came across his face while Lori was trying to dismiss his compliment towards her. "None of them look anywhere as good as you do though", he said to her, almost sure that she did not expect him to come back with another compliment. Lori started to move closer to Nicanor. He knew what he was going to do, he just had to work up the nerve to do it. He looked deep into Lori's Brown eyes that were looking at him through her eyelashes. He took his hand and brushed the hair out of her eyes and back behind her ear. That is when he leaned in and kissed Lori once again.

Nicanor embraced Lori close to his body. He made sure to wrap his arms around her in an attempt to try and warm her up a little. He let go of her momentarily to take of the jacket that he was still wearing from the interview. He put it around Lori's shoulders and took her into his arms again. "We should go inside, you are freezing", he said to her as he started to direct her into the common area.

Nicanor smiled from what Lori was saying. He felt like the luckiest guy in Panem to have someone like her like him. He quickly sat down beside her on the couch and said, "I know how you feel", he winked as he said it, "Besides, i would much rather spend this time sitting here with you then to go and sleep." He really was not tired at all. he seemed to be wired from what had happened today and what was to come tomorrow when they get into the arena. He knew that he would probably not win and he accepted that way back on the train. But he knew that he could at least help someone win. That someone being Lori, but he would never tell her that.