Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Suzanne Collins and various publishers. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The song "In Another Life" is by Vienna Tang and I do not, in any way, own it.

Currently submerged in dreams revolving around accepting an ice cream cone from who she was pretty sure was Iron Man, Annie was blissfully unaware of the fact that the day had eased into mid-morning. Having had only just arrived back home from her dorm the day prior, when she had finished her last excruciating midterm of the year, she hadn't wasted any time before passing out on the bed that housed the mattress that she had spent years molding to a state of perfection. While she had taken the time to give her father a kiss on the cheek and hold some sort of conversation as he helped her carry some of her bags into her room, the weeks of preparation for her finals had more than caught up to her.

The previous year had been particularly difficult for Annie in an academic sense. Having had waffled when it came to choosing her major early on and sat as Undecided for nearly two years, she had finally taken the dive at the end of her second year and declared her major, much to the initial relief of her academic adviser until he found out that her intentions were a double major of Art and English with a minor in Secondary Education. The time wasted prior to that meant that she felt that she had some catching up to do when it came to some of her required classes and she had made the terrible decision to pack in as many credits as possible to do so. Needless to say, Annie was ready for a few months of relaxation and reprieve before diving in once again for what was hopefully going to be her final two semesters.

Classes and textbooks and tests and papers were far from her mind, though, as she was engaged in conversation with who she had determined was, in fact, Iron Man about the benefits of chocolate over vanilla. At least, Annie had been when the two sharp knocks invaded her dreams and woke her with a start.

"What – I'm awake, what's going on?" she asked through a haze, having sat up quickly at the sound of the knocks. Her long, dark hair was sporting a severe case of bedhead as she pressed her palms into her eyes, trying to block out the light of morning.

"This is your wake up call, Annie Cresta," came her father's voice through the heavy oak door that was separating them both. She counted herself lucky that he wasn't the sort of parent that would just barge in unannounced. "You requested one last night."

Dropping her hands onto her lap, Annie's brow furrowed as her initial thought was that she would never, under any circumstances, request such a thing. But then, as her mind started to recall the events of the previous evening, she realized that she had done exactly that. Looking across the room, she saw that her digital clock was boasting that it was just after 9AM. Given how early she had fallen asleep the night before, she couldn't fathom just why she felt like she could sleep until tomorrow.

"All right, thanks," she called back to her father. It wasn't until she heard his retreating footsteps that she allowed herself to fall back into her bed. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep her vacation away, but at the same time it was so very tempting.

With what felt like all the effort she was capable of, Annie managed to roll herself out of bed and to her bathroom. She had been given the bedroom with the adjoining bathroom at a young age, her father assuming that it would make things easier come her teenage years when she would assuredly need ample time in front of the mirror to get herself ready every morning. Little did he know that, his youngest and only daughter had no interest in that. It only took her a few minutes to get herself as ready as she was willing to get, with her hair pulled back into loose and low ponytail, her contacts in and allowing her green eyes to actually see her surroundings, and a splash of cold water on her face to wake her up a bit more. After she took her daily pills and changed into a pair of jean shorts and a tank top, she was about as ready as she ever would be to face the day and meandered downstairs.

As was usual, she was greeted upon entering the kitchen by a group of men. Her father was sitting at the table with his cup of coffee and newspaper, ignoring the hustle and bustle that existed around him, while the others were scavenging for anything that looked like breakfast. Annie stood in the doorway for only a few seconds before her presence was noticed.

"Annie!"

Before she had any time to protest, she was being scooped up by her oldest brother, Adam, and her other brother, Tony, was closing in behind him. It was easy for anyone that didn't know the family personally to assume that they were twins as they both had the same swimmers build, height, and the dark hair and green eyes that all the Crestas sported. It was even more confusing when their close ages were taken into account, with their birthdays falling in such a way that they were in the same grade in school. Annie was often told by her friends and perfect strangers that her brothers were good-looking, but she just thought they were a pain. Loveable pains, but pains nonetheless.

"Put me down!" she demanded as Adam lifted her off of her feet, his arms tightening around her to keep her from being able to flail but so much.

"No," Adam replied. She couldn't see it, but she just knew that he had a giant grin on his face and that only irritated her more.

"Not until you give an explanation as to why Capitol College is only a half hour away, but we haven't seen you since Spring Break," Tony chimed in, giving her the grin that was identical to the one that she knew was on Adam's face.

From the table, she heard a loud bark of a laugh that could only be from her cousin, Noah. "Gee, I wonder why she never comes home. You apparently try to strangle her when she does."

The laughs that broke out from that comment were enough for Adam to finally put her down and revert the hug into a less violent one. She returned the hug before breaking away and pinching his arm softly in jest. She did the same to Tony, who was waiting expectantly. Yes, they were definitely pains, but she wouldn't have changed them for anything in the world.

With her entrance now done and over with, the conversation at the table returned to whatever they had been talking about before and Annie was able to pour herself a bowl of cereal. She was used to their house being filled with people that didn't actually live there; her father's boating business was employed by mostly relatives, but even those that weren't were treated as though they were family. That usually meant that they were often invaded and any junk food that Annie bought and wanted to actually eat herself had to be hidden. She actually thought that the latter was why she had taken to eating health food; kale chips didn't get eaten as fast as a bag of regular potato chips.

Given that it was still May and the summer tourist rush hadn't quite arrived yet, the men were more relaxed and taking their time when it came to eating breakfast. Annie imagined that they probably didn't have their first appointments until later in the day. The business was called Cresta Tours, but anyone could rent one of their boats for the day for whatever they wanted – an actual tour of the nearby beaches and cliffs, diving further off the coast, fishing in some of the better spots on the coast, or just floating.

Annie pulled herself up onto the counter with her bowl of cereal and surveyed the scene as she took slow bites. Her brothers had sat back down at the table next to Noah. She also recognized Griff, her father's best friend since they were kids and business partner. He was loud and boisterous in all ways that Peter Cresta was quiet and unassuming. Annie thought that was why their friendship had lasted as long as it did. Next to Griff was his son, Tom, and then Noah's brother, Jonah. At the end of the table, eating a piece of toast and laughing at a dirty joke that Griff had just told was someone that Annie didn't recognized, which struck her as odd.

Unable to help herself, she found herself studying this stranger. He was undeniably good looking, which might have had something to do with why Annie couldn't help looking at him, with a mess of bronze curls that could have either just naturally fell that way or required a great deal of dedication to look both unruly and perfect. Even from across the room, she could see that he had eyes that were the color of the sea that she had come to love. His tanned skin made it clear that he spent a lot of time outside and he had the same body of a swimmer that her brothers had, something that could only be achieved by the right match of genetics. All in all, he was absolutely ridiculous; people who were that handsome didn't exist outside of movies, Annie reasoned.

"God, Annie, stare much?" Tony said with a loud laugh as he placed his plate in the sink next to where Annie was sitting. Those four words were enough to break her from her reverie and also instantly make her face flush. "Finnick's ego doesn't need any more boosting."

At the sound of his name, the handsome man looked up and grinned at her. "Shut up, I wasn't staring," she said to her brother, then looked back at this Finnick and repeated, as though she needed to make sure he heard, "I wasn't staring."

"Yeah, okay," Tony replied, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry. None of the ladies seem to be immune."

Annie could understand that and spared another glance in his direction, her stomach sinking when she realized that he was advancing toward where she was seated, too. She took a deep breath and practiced the calming techniques she had long since mastered in an attempt to keep her face from burning, but she could tell it wasn't helping.

"Hi," he greeted simply upon reaching her, his bowl slipping into the sink. He held out a hand to her for a handshake and added, "I am Finnick Odair."

The way he announced it, Annie thought, was like how someone might introduce themselves if they were royalty. It made her lips twitch into what was almost a smirk, but she controlled herself and returned the handshake. "Annie. You must be new."

He nodded, still giving her a grin that she had a feeling could have knocked over a lesser woman. "I've been working for Pete for about a month now." Finnick paused for a brief moment, his hand still shaking hers, and the he added, "I've been looking forward to meeting you. Your brothers talk about you a lot and, if you don't mind my saying, you're even more beautiful in person than the pictures your dad has out led me to believe."

The compliment was unexpected, although Annie reasoned that maybe it shouldn't have been. She pulled her hand away from his and hesitated a moment, before raising an eyebrow. "Are you saying that I'm not photogenic?"

This seemed to have equally caught him off guard, his grin wavering just a moment before he let out a laugh. Annie had a feeling that he wasn't used to anyone showing resistance to his charms. "Definitely not," he countered, leaning against the counter next to her. "Those cameras just failed to capture your beauty."

Annie was just about to let him know that that was probably the worst pick up line she'd ever heard, when her father set his newspaper down and got to his feet. There was an unwritten rule, she had noticed from many similar breakfasts, that when Peter Odair finished breakfast, that meant everyone else was done, too, and it was time to get to work. The others started to get up, filing out of the kitchen and giving smiles or waves to Annie in goodbye as they did.

Looking back to Finnick, she noticed that he was following suit, but looked back to her just before slipping out. "It was nice meeting you, Annie Cresta," he said with a slight wave of his hand, the wide grin back on his face and paired with a wink.

"You too," Annie replied quietly, although he had already left before she'd managed the reply. Her face was returning to what felt like a normal temperature and, she hoped, color, but she could still feel the aftereffects of that interaction. Slightly raised pulse. A surge of adrenaline. The strange desire to grin. Lingering hope that his showing for breakfast was a regular occurrence.

Damn it, Annie thought to herself with a shake of her head. She did not have time for that.

Hello, friends and welcome to "In Another Life"! I am excited about writing this and hope that you enjoyed the beginning taste. Reviews make the world go round and I'd love to hear what you think, so please let me know. Thank you for reading! - Han