A/N: Thank you for checking out my first Hunger Games fanfiction, I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: This story is centred around Finnick and Annie and their relationship, the story is my take on their relationship, how it came about, the obstacles they were put through and how it survived in the end. It is written two different time lapses, one part telling you the events of the 'now' another part telling you what had happened 'then' which is before.

Happy reading and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Chapter 1: Run

Now

I run.

I run even though my whole body flares like fire, its flames consuming me from the inside and slowly making its way out. I know if I can't run anymore I will crawl, I will go fingernail by fingernail and drag myself across. I want to be reborn and remoulded back to who I was before, but the damage is done. I am like a piece of paper which has been crumpled and no matter how much you try to straighten it the scars are still there, the intricate marks will stay forever, no one can undo them even they tried.

I run like I've never ran before, the sun beats down heavily on my back scalding me viciously, angrily as though I have done something wrong, something I should be ashamed of, I feel each feet pounding hardly against the ground, the wind rushing through my hair, I feel light and weightless, in that moment I feel like I can leave it all behind and drift away but deep inside me I know I can't. They will come after me even if I lay drowned in the water or if I lay in the ruins of a fire. They have no mercy they have no soul, they tear you apart without a seconds thought, they are lethal, they are the predator and I am the prey.

I run but I don't dare let myself look back, if I do I'm afraid I'll stop and they'll engulf me, surround me, consume me, devour me, they've taken away too much already, they've stripped me down to what there is left of me, they've taken my dignity, pride and what little shame I have left, there is nothing here for anyone left to see, my muscles strain as a run, they feel like ropes which I've been hanging on to for too long, now they burn and ache, but I continue to run like I've never ran before.

I run but I can barely breathe, my lungs are searing with pain, they burn with intensity, I feel a pain slowly rise within my chest, it travels it's way into the darkest corners of my mind and body, but I don't care if my insides tear away, I don't care even if they melt away, along with the pain I try to forget the memories which haunt me every waking moment of my day, nightmares which mangle and distort the best things in life and have forever ruined me.

I run because I want to be free, I want to fly like a migrating bird, I want to swim away into the depths of the ocean, I dream I can escape their grasp and that I can make it away from here, into the wild where the trees and plants are free to over grow and thrive, but it's just a dream too far for me to reach, I dare not grasp it because it slips so quickly away and destroys my slightest faith. District 4 was always my home but now it has become my hell, everywhere I turn I see memories ingrained within the walls and leaves. I can't let them catch me I need to get away, what they need is what I spite, what I need they will always take. There is nothing left for me, what is left for me?

I run past people I've known all my life, the fishermen, the children, the elderly, the families of district 4, but no one comes to my rescue, no one tries to help because they fear for themselves as much as I fear for myself, they all know there is no hope, there is not even a seed of faith within their core.

I run because of Annie, she's in my mind when I need the will to fight, her faintest touch is enough, the smell of salt which stains her hair, the secret smile she shares only with me, only me, it's the most I'd ever ask her, she's given me more than enough, her friendship, her kindness and her love, her dark flowing hair and sea green eyes, she is my light and she guides me from the drowning dark.

I continue to run, my heart is telling me that they will chase me forever and this race will never end, I need to keep running for my own sake but I know I can't go on. My mind stops me and I deflate.

I turn and I look, my body drips with sweat and exhaustion, heat radiates from my skin, 'I surrender' I say aloud, no one hears because there is no one there.

There was never anyone there.

I feel a tiredness grope my body and I can't put a foot forward. I fall.

There was never anyone there.

There never was.

Now I crawl with my teeth gritted, pain courses over my body and I think to myself I have no reason to live, I feel tremors passing through every nerve and muscle but I keep moving forward. A dark fog begins to cloud my vision and my body trembles, where is Annie I think in that last moment, it is all I can bare to think.

There was never anyone there.

There never was.

Then

She runs.

I watch her make her way down the beach trying to run away, teasing and playing with her friends. Each of her step holds a bounce and her hair moves wildly and ecstatically on its own, I imagine myself slipping my fingers through her delicate hair and wonder if she'll ever let me, I wonder if she'll even let me get that close. As she runs past me our eyes meet for a second, only just a second, I feel a spark whiz through my body and a shiver chills me on that sunny and light afternoon, she turns and looks away fast, a disgusted look crosses her face and I am stunned.

What have I ever done to her? I only looked, nothing more. I lay my head down on the sand and feel the grittiness of it rub against my back, the afternoon sun slowly dips into the horizon and casts beautiful colours across the water. I dream about a place where I am free and there is no one stopping me from crossing the boundaries, no one stopping me from running away to a better place, a place where I get to live happily with a girl like Annie. I close my eyes and I imagine, it is all I can ever do, I listen to the soft sound of moving water and I relax. Everything is calm and I feel it washing over me.

I think to myself, one day I will escape, one day I will have the girl of my dreams, and one day I will live happily ever after, but in a corner of my mind I know that day will never come. I realise that everything I have now may one day be gone.

A/N: Thank you for reading and I really hope you like it. Reviews are much appreciated and your feedback and is truly important.

Quote: "She has no idea. The effect she can have" - Peeta Mellark.