"We need to talk."
Finnick froze, a sickening feeling of fear settling in his stomach. Those words, when spoken in such a soft, quivering voice, could not possibly bear good news. He turned away from the view of the ocean that he'd been enjoying from the porch of his house in District 4's Victor's Village to face Annie, who stood a few feet behind him. She was biting her lower lip, like she always did when she was nervous or upset, and her green eyes appeared to be sparking with tears.
"Annie?" Finnick took a step towards her, holding out one hand. "What is it?"
Annie shrank back from him ever so slightly, at which point Finnick noticed the small suitcase on the ground behind her. The uncomfortable feeling in his gut increased tenfold.
"Annie, what's going on?" He could hear his own voice starting to waver with concern. "Come here and sit down."
They sat down together on the loveseat from which they always watched the sunset over the ocean. Annie stared straight ahead, still biting her lip, her entire body rigid with anxiety.
"Honey, please tell me what's wrong," Finnick pleaded.
Annie took a deep breath. "You've been wonderful to me, Finnick," she said quietly. "During my Games and all this time afterward, you've been incredibly patient and kind and I can't thank you enough for that. But…" she swallowed hard. "You don't have to keep doing this. I've caused you even more problems than you already had, especially with the Capitol. I know Snow's unhappy that we're together. I'm more trouble than I'm worth, and I won't put you through it anymore." As hard as she tried to stop it, a single tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek.
Finnick's shock and horror had rendered him speechless. He could only stare at Annie, his jaw dropped slightly and his eyes wide.
Annie seemed to take his silence as an agreement, and took one more deep, shaky breath. "I won't bother you anymore." She started to get to her feet.
Finnick immediately snapped out of his dismayed trance. "NO!" He reached out and grabbed her hand, causing her to jump. "No," he repeated, more quietly this time. "No, no, no. Annie, sit back down."
"Please don't make this harder than it already is," Annie said, using her free hand to wipe her eyes. "Just let me go."
"No, I don't want to do that." Finnick gently tugged on her hand. "Sit down."
Annie hesitated, and then slowly sat back down on the loveseat next to him. She still chose to stare out at the rolling waves rather than at him.
"Look at me," Finnick said softly, putting one hand on her cheek. She turned her head and looked at him with eyes that were now starting to brim over with tears.
"Annie Cresta," Finnick began quietly. "I don't ever want to hear you talk about yourself like that again. You are anything but a burden. Every single day I spend with you is the best day of my life, and every moment I spend with you is a great honor. You are the strongest and most selfless person I've ever known, and I am very much in love with you. Now, if there's ever something I do that bothers you, I want you to tell me right away so we can talk it over and I can fix it. But I won't let you go because you think that you're not worth it, Annie, because you are. You are a thousand times over."
Now, it was Annie's turn to be speechless. Her face, which was still streaked with tears, bore an expression of shock that matched the one that had been on Finnick's moments ago.
Finnick gave her a smile and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me."
That put a watery smile on Annie's face. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, her tears of despair replaced with tears of relief. "I love you," she whispered in his ear.
"I love you more," Finnick replied matter-of-factly.
"You most certainly do not."
"I'm really very extra sure that I do." Finnick started tickling her ribs, earning himself a playful punch in the arm and coaxing a bit of real laughter out of Annie.
"Well, if you're so sure, I think you're obligated to prove it," Annie said, grinning at him. "Dinner is sounding pretty good right about now. In fact, we should invite Mags over! I'll tell her you're cooking."
Finnick sighed good-naturedly. "I suppose I walked headfirst into that one, huh?"
"You really did."
"Ah, well." He got to his feet and held one hand out to help Annie up. "Let's go get Mags. The walk across the street will allow me enough time to decide what kind of exquisite delicacy the two of you are going to be getting."