I go downstairs, to the kitchen. I find an apple and take a few bites, but I quickly loose my appetite. I put it down and walk into the living room. I sit down in a big chair, pull my knees up and stare out the window.
I don't know how long I've been sitting here, I'm sure it's been hours, when I hear a knock on the door. It's Finnick. He told me yesterday that he would come over again today, even though he knows I don't want to talk to him. I don't move. I'm waiting for him to go away, even though I know he won't.
"Annie?" I hear through the door. I don't answer him.
"Annie, I know you're there. Please open up."
You know where the key is, I think to myself and roll my eyes. I'm still mad at him.
He keeps knocking on the door.
"Please..." he pleads. I sigh and walk over to the door. I open it, looking down, avoiding eye contact.
"Annie, can you just listen to me?" he says, as he steps inside.
"Will you tell me why you've been spending so much time in the Capitol?" I say, my voice a little shaky.
He sighs. "I... I can't. It's complicated..."
I can feel my heart beginning to pound faster and faster. That's what he always says. Suddenly, I'm taken by a wave of rage. "Why is it so complicated? How can it be complicated? All you need to do, is tell me what you're doing in the Capitol. Is it so hard for you to be honest?" I scream at him and run through the living room, out to the back yard.
As I run past the pool, I slip and fall into the water. It's cold. Very cold. I can feel the water surrounding me as I let myself sink. I want to keep sinking. But I'm interrupted by Finnicks hand, pulling me out of the water.
"Are you okay?" he asks, hastily. He grabs a towel and puts it around my shoulders. He lifts me up, carries me back into the living room and puts me down on the couch. I start shaking and breathing heavily. He looks at me with worried eyes. "I promise I'll explain it to you... just calm down."
I try to calm down, to breathe slower and to stop shaking. But I can't.
"F... Finnick... I... I can't... I can't stop... shaking." I manage to stutter out between my heavy breaths. He smiles a little at me and lifts my head up a little, so he can sit down next to my head. I quickly crawl closer to him, sitting up next to him, curled up like a ball.
He puts an arm around me and pulls me as close as he can. "You'll be fine." he says and kisses my forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you. I just don't know how to say it."
"Then don't think about how to say it. Just say it like it is." I whisper carefully.
He doesn't say anything for a long while, he just sits there with me. I cuddle into him as I wait for him to start talking.
Suddenly he takes a deep breath. "I can't just say it like it is. It makes it sound so bad. And it is bad, but I don't want it to sound like that, because I don't think you'll want to talk to me anymore then."
I close my eyes. I know him, so I know something is very wrong when he says it like that. "Just tell me, Finnick." I say shortly.
He takes another deep breath. "President Snow... he, ehm... forces me to... to sell myself. My body."
At first, I don't understand what he's saying. "What do you mean."
"I have to sleep with people. For money." he says shortly.
I stop breathing for a few seconds. "W... what?"
I autocratically pull away from him. "Why would you... why would you cheat on me?"
He grabs my hands. "I don't want to do it!" he says as his eyes starts filling with tears. "I don't want to be with anyone else than you. Ever. But Snow is threatening to kill you and Mags if I don't do it." He looks down, clearly ashamed.
I'm breathing heavily again. He lets go of my hands. I sit down next to him, and I can see the tears streaming down his face. He gets up and walks towards the door and out.
