"Annie for the love of God, I am not crazy! You said you'd pick him up!" snapped Finnick.
"Oh but I am, so you're obviously right. I'm crazy so I must be making this up!" she snarled.
"You said it, not me."
Annie glared at him but beneath all the anger Finnick could see that he had hurt her feelings. "Just stay. I'll go."
"No, Annie, it's fine. I can do it."
"Well I don't want you to!" she said.
She turned on her heel and slammed the door on her way out to pick up their son at school. She'd told Finnick that morning that she had errands to run so that he had to go, but Finnick could have sworn that she hadn't. Annie had been furious when she'd arrived home from the market, forty minutes after Caspian should have been picked up.
"Where's Cas?" she'd asked him.
"I thought he'd be with you," he said. And that little misunderstanding had evolved into a full-fledged fight. They'd been arguing over everything lately. It was so frustrating.
When Annie got to school Caspian was sitting against a tree, his arms crossed and his face screwed up into a frown. His eyes were puffy and red because he'd been crying. "Sweetheart… what's wrong?" she asked.
"You forgot about me," he sniffled. "I've been waiting here like three hours and everybody else left." He looked like what Finnick must have looked like when he was five years old, except he had his mother's lighter skin.
"I didn't forget about you, Sweetie," she said. "I was just busy with some stuff and so I was running a little bit late." He stood up, picked up his bag and marched in front of his mother without saying another word. When she tried to hold his hand to lead him home he puled it away.
When they got home Finnick was in the kitchen and Caspian ran to hug him. Finn picked him up and kissed his head. "Hey, buddy. What's up?" he asked
"Mommy forgot to pick me up and I was all alone at school for like three hours," he whined.
"Three whole hours?" he asked amused, Caspian nodded. "Would some ice cream make you feel better?" He nodded once more, smiling this time.
Finn sat him down on the kitchen counter as he served him a bowl of ice cream. "Thank you, Daddy, you're the best!" Finnick smiled and winked at him while Annie stood in the kitchen doorway, glaring at him.
"Great, Finn," she barked. "No wonder he likes you more."
"Oh, what on Earth are you talking about now?" he sighed.
"You're the one who forgot to pick him up but he's mad at me and then we get home and you're waiting for him with a bowl of ice cream. I'm always the bad guy."
" Annie, that's ridiculous."
"It is not!" she yelled. "You're too damn worried about him liking you so I have to be the strict one all the time. I'm the one that makes him do his homework and you take him to the beach. I force him to eat his vegetables and you give him sweets."
"So you want me to nag him too?"
"I don't nag him!" she protested.
"Yes you do. That's all you do!"
"So earlier you called me crazy and now on top of that I'm annoying as well," she muttered, obviously wounded.
"I never called you crazy, you said it yourself."
"But you agreed!"
"STOP!" cried Caspian. He'd been watching the two of them from the counter, frightened. His eyes were teary once more and he'd set his ice cream to the side. He tried to get off the counter so Finnick helped him but he ran out of the kitchen before either of them could say anything.
"Great," muttered Finnick. "We should just go talk to him."
"Oh, no. Go right ahead. He probably just wants you to comfort him anyway." Finnick rolled his eyes but walked away, looking for Caspian. He found him in his bedroom, curled up under his covers. Finn sat at the edge of the bed and sighed.
"Cas." He didn't answer. "Caspian, sit up, talk to Daddy."
"I don't want to," he cried.
"Buddy, come on. Please"
"No, go away. You and Mommy are mean to each other so I don't want to talk to you"
"Sweetheart, we are not."
"Yes you are!" he yelled, pulling the covers back. "You fight all the time. I don't like it when you make Mommy cry."
"I don't make your Mommy cry, baby, it was just a silly argument."
"Yes you do. When you go away to the beach after you fight Mommy always cries."
Finnick sighed and hid his face in his hands. He really didn't know what was happening to them. Finnick and Annie had always been really happy. They barely argued but for the last few months things had been getting worse. He didn't understand what was going on.
"Cas, I'm sorry," he sighed. "Your mother and I, we didn't want to upset you. We shouldn't argue in front of you."
"No, Daddy. You shouldn't fight. Never," he muttered. "Don't you love Mommy?" he asked.
"Of course I love her," he said, surprised.
"How much?"
"I love your mother so much. She's the love of my life, darling." Caspian wiped his tears and nodded. He crawled closer to Finnick and hugged him. "I should go find her and apologize, huh?" Caspian nodded again. Finnick kissed his forehead and stood up.
He looked for Annie all over the house but she was nowhere to be seen. He then peeked out of the living room window that faced the beach and he saw her. He knew he'd hurt her and he knew she was right about some things yet he felt so reluctant to apologize. Why was it so hard for him to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong?
He sighed and headed towards Annie. He sat down next to her, leaving some space between them, looking straight ahead. "Hey," he said. She turned her back to him without replying, resting her head on her knees. "Annie, we need to talk."
"I don't feel like taking to you," she said softly. Her voice wasn't angry like he expected it but soft and pained. Finnick moved closer to her and before she could turn away again he saw she'd been crying. It had been a while since he'd last seen Annie cry. It was even worse because he knew it was his fault. Suddenly he didn't care about his pride anymore. He would have gotten down on his knees and begged for her forgiveness if that would wipe the tears from her face.
"Annie I am so sorry," he said. "I'm sorry. You're right about everything. I have been really unhelpful with Caspian lately. I also don't think you're crazy or annoying… I swear I was just mad and I didn't mean anything. Please forgive me," he pleaded.
"You're forgiven," she said coldly, "is that all?"
He was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. "No… can we please just talk?"
"What for?" she snapped. "What's the point?"
"I'm tired of this," he said. "I can't take it anymore." For a terrifying moment Annie thought he meant their marriage. "I can't keep arguing with you like this all the time." Annie looked at him, her eyes full of sorrow.
"What's happening to us?" she asked. "You act like you can't stand me."
"No, Annie."
"You're not sweet to me anymore…"
"That's not true," he sighed.
"Every time I talk to you I'm scared I'll piss you off!" she cried. Finnick bit his lip and shook his head.
"I'm sorry."
"Did I do something wrong, Finnick? I've been trying to figure it out but I just don't understand. I've tried to be a good wife and a mother but I'm obviously doing something wrong."
"You're not," he said, reaching for her hand. "You're a wonderful mother and a great wife. You're way better at being a parent than I'll ever be."
"Then what is it? What bothers you?"
"You don't need me anymore," he muttered. He'd said that without thinking but once he realized what he'd done he knew it was true. "You don't need me anymore."
"Finnick, don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not, Annie. You're so strong and independent. After Caspian was born you were so brave, and you raised our child for almost six months without me. You're a great mom and wife and I'm useless. Before you used to look up to me and I felt like keeping you safe and well was the most important thing I could do. I spent ten years of my life a slave to keep you and my family safe… but you don't need me now. You and Caspian would be perfectly fine without me and it's just frustrating to feel you're always right."
"So it's my fault for not being weak and broken anymore?" she asked.
"I didn't say that, Annie. Stop twisting my words…"
"I don't know what to tell you, Finnick. I'm stronger now, yeah. I had to do it for Caspian. I don't miss being a wreck, but if you think just because I no longer live in fear I don't need you anymore then you're just stupid," she said. He looked down at the sand, picked up a handful and watched it slip between his fingers.
"Finnick," she sighed. "When most people look at you they see the fourteen year old victor, and the rebel that was willing to die to overthrow Snow. They see the guy who fell in love with a mad girl and did everything in his power to keep her safe." He looked up at her "But I don't see that. I mean, it's obviously all a huge part of who you are, but you're so much more than the things you've lived. You're so damn impressive it's intimidating. Everybody looks up to you, you're a hero, you will always be that, but you're also just Finnick. You're the love of my life. You're the boy who befriended me when nobody else would. To most people you're a legend, but to me you're just my husband. I don't need you to run around rescuing me to respect you. I have never stopped needing you."
"Annie…"
"No. Shut up and let me speak. The months you were away that I had to raise Caspian on my own made me stronger, yes. They were awful. I had Caspian but I was terribly depressed because I needed you. Cas and I would not be okay without you. I'll always need you. Even if I'm perfectly fine and stable, my life without you would be miserable."
He looked at her again. Her face and body had changed over the years but she was still beautiful and her eyes were just as green and Finnick couldn't imagine his life without her. He pulled her towards him and kissed her like he hadn't in a really long time because his pride had gotten in their way. "I'm sorry I'm such an idiot," he whispered against her lips.
"It's okay," she giggled. "You'd be boring if you were perfect."
"You mean I'm not?" She punched his arm softly and pushed him down on the sand. They kissed passionately until they heard Caspian's quiet giggle a few feet away. Both their faces grew warm and red but Caspian seemed overjoyed. He ran forward and jumped on top of them. Finnick and Annie laughed and hugged him.
"Do you love each other again?" he asked with a big goofy smile on his face.
"Who says we ever stopped?" smiled Annie. The three of them spent the rest of the day at the beach as a happy family and Finnick and Annie were able to continue what Cas had interrupted once they'd put him to sleep. Things got back to normal after that day.