Forever was in His Eyes. [Midas's death]

In places no one will find
all your feelings so deep inside,
was there that I realized
that forever was in your eyes,
the moment I saw you cry...

Julian had barely slept or eaten since reaping day nearly two weeks ago. He stayed holed up in his room with his television since Midas was taken from him and brought to the Capitol to compete in the Games. These two weeks had not been kind to the small, yet powerful career. His golden hair seemed a pale gray, his muscles had been eaten by his starving body. He was but a shadow of the Julian, Midas had left. He couldn’t bear to leave the television one moment, fearing that if he stopped willing for Midas to return for even one moment, his lover would be lost.

Growing up in District 2, Julian and Midas had been training for this moment for half of their lives, yet nothing could have prepared Julian for the unbearable feeling of actually having to watch Midas enter the arena. Every time his body shut down for sleep, against his will, he would awake with a jolt, screaming for Midas to let him take his place. In his dreams, Reaping Day was Julian’s prison. It wasn’t fair; Julian should have been reaped… Midas should have let him volunteer! He had always been paranoid about Midas’s sight handicap, and had lied to himself for ages, saying that was the reason he secretly didn’t want Midas to be reaped. However, just two days before the Reaping, Midas and Julian had come to blows and Julian finally admitted to himself that he was in love with the boy he had saved all those years ago in the schoolyard.

Love had been such a foreign concept in the Bryze household, where nothing mattered more than achieving victory. Anything that could cause weakness was frowned upon, and Julian viewed love as a hindrance. This wasn’t necessarily a message actually taught by his parents, but ideas that Julian implanted himself based on his parent’s actions over the years.

Julian’s mother knocked on the door again, begging for Julian to eat something, or at least come downstairs to watch the games with her and his father. Julian sat still as stone in the room lit solely by his television screen. He tried to tell her no, but his voice was nothing more than a croak from lack of use over these two weeks, so he just continued to stare at the television.

Midas was back on! Julian sprung to his knees and leaned forward closer to the screen. These Games truly were not going the way this career had always planned. He had a shoddy performance in the bloodbath and was forced to kill his own alliance member for his coat. Julian knew things were looking bleak for his boyfriend, but still couldn’t bear the thought of him not returning home. He had to. He promised.

He watched silently, eyes wide as Midas prowled through the tundra. The cameras panned to the boy from District 8 and the girl from District 4. Julian continued to pull himself closer to the television as the fight commenced. Midas faltered on his offense and Julian tried to scream, but was frozen with fear. These two were still strong; the boy in fact seemed to still be in perfect shape. His heart felt as if a knife was piercing it as the reality of the situation began to seep into Julian’s mind. He couldn’t let go of his hope though, not yet. He had to see Midas again! He promised he would come home!

The memories of their last moments together mixed with the images on the screen. “We’re going to have a real life together.” He said, “Let me take care of you now. I love you.”

Julian was jolted out of his thoughts as he heard Midas roar in agony. The awful tributes kept attacking his left; they knew it was his blind side. It was the boy from District 8 who dealt the final blow to the formidable career with his axe. Julian watched in horror as Midas fell forward into the red snow as the little blood he had left drained from him. The camera focused in on the fallen boy’s handsome face. His brown eyes were fading and Julian’s eyes began to water at the look of sorrow on Midas’s face. His last words could barely be made out, but the Capitol captioned them on the screen. “Julian… I’m sorry…”

As the canon fire was heard through the television, a bloodcurdling scream sounded through the Bryze household. Julian’s parents were already at his door, but neither knew what to say or do for their heartbroken son as he sobbed and screamed, thrashing on the floor. “Midas! No! NO! Don’t leave me! Please! I need you! I love you! Please! PLEASE!” His father, Serge, held the crying Pashmina as they waited in the hallway, listening to their broken son's sobs. Julian screamed as tears poured out of his eyes. He gripped his stomach tightly as it cramped out of starvation and stress. He dug his nails into his palms as he cried out in agony for his dead lover over and over until his body had exhausted itself at last. He collapsed on the floor in sleep for the first time in days.

I'll always remember,
It was late afternoon.
It lasted forever,
And ended so soon...