The moment they entered the house, they could already hear Mrs. Odair scold them.
"I told you Drew to take the laundry upstairs. How is it possible that you always leave when I tell you to do the laundry? I am not your servant young man, you can do…."
The words died on her lips when she appeared in the hallway and saw why her son had so suddenly left without saying a word.
"Good Lords…", she breathed and dropped the towel she was holding in her hand.
"Sorry Mom, urgent call from Finnick. I'll do the laundry later tonight, I think that little Miss Annie here needs your medical skills", Drew said before Finnick could even open his mouth.
"Take her upstairs, use Maisee's bed. Kenna! Please bring me the black box from the bathroom. Finn, go outside and get your father. I want him to be home in case Mr. Cresta shows up here", Ever Rose ordered after a short moment of shock and followed Drew upstairs, where he gently lay Annie down on his sister's bed. Little Maisee stared at the guest and disappeared into her parent's room because she was scared of so much hectic.
Annie felt embarrassed that everyone stared at her so bewildered, but she was also extremely grateful that the Odair's were willing to help her.
Ever Rose was a tall, pretty young woman with auburn long hair, sea green eyes and freckles all over her face that made her look younger than she probably was. Her touch was as gentle as her voice when she brushed a strand of hair out of Annie's face and smiled.
"I'm Rose, Finnick's mother. It was good that he brought you here. I will wash out your wounds now. It may hurt a little but I'm sure you are a brave girl", she said and looked over her shoulder when she heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. Her husband appeared in the doorway and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"I called the doctor, he'll be here any minute. Let that bastard come here to get 'em back! I'll teach him some respect", he growled and his blue eyes looked dark in the dim light of the room.
"Liam, no such words in front of the kids. Be useful and bring me a wet cloth", Rose said and shook her head.
"You have to forgive my husband, he is a bit too honest most of the time. The boys know a lot of curses from him I'm afraid."
Annie grinned a little, although it hurt, and looked to Finn, who sat down on the side of the bed and took her hand in his.
"Squeez it if my Mama hurts you", he generously said and smirked. His father reappeared with a wet cloth in his hand and handed it to his wife.
"Will you tell me what happened?", she asked both the girl and her son before she started wiping the blood from Annie's face. She tried to be as gentle as possible but Annie still winced.
"Annie didn't come so I went to her house and she was like this, Mama. I couldn't just leave her! And I couldn't leave Aylee either! Please, they can stay, right Mama? Maisee and Kenna can share their bed, and I'll share mine with Drew so we have one free bed left. Please, Mama", Finn begged, but his mother just rolled her eyes.
"Silly boy, as if I would send Annie back to that monster. You two girls will stay here of course. No one will send you back. But I cannot promise you that you can stay here forever. When they report it to the Peacekeepers they have the right to have at least Aylee back. She is their daughter and we have no right to keep her here if they want her back", Rose said and looked over to the little six year old girl that was sitting next to Finnick. She looked scared and desperate but she nodded.
"It's alright. Maybe they don't want me back. Maybe they are glad we're gone", she whispered and looked down at her hands. Rose leaned forward and hugged her, before she turned back to Annie.
As soon as she was done cleaning the wounds, the doctor arrived and took care of Annie's injuries. It turned out she had a broken foot, two broken ribs, a broken nose, needed stitches on her lip and a lot of ice to cool her eye. She fell asleep right after the doctor left because she was so exhausted from all the stress that her body just couldn't take it anymore.
It was in the middle of the night when Annie woke up from a nightmare, her heart pounding against her sore ribs. She had dreamed her uncle had come to get her back. He had hurt Finnick and his family and killed her in his rage. For a moment she sat in bed, keeping her breath and listening to the soft sound of the three other kids in the room sleeping. No one was banging against the door, no one was screaming. It was completely quiet in the house and Annie sighed with relief.
Her cousin Aylee was curled up next to her, her thumb in her mouth and the blanked pulled up to her nose. Annie's whole body ached but she slid out of bed and walked the few steps over to the bed Finn was lying in. Drew had decided to sleep downstairs so that the room was a little less crammed and Finnick could stay in his own bed.
"Finn?", she whispered and touched his arm.
His green eyes fluttered open and he blinked.
"Annie…are you alright?", he asked and sat up in bed, rubbing his tired eyes.
"I'm scared", she admitted and stared at the wooden floor beneath her naked feet. "What if he comes tonight?"
Finn smiled and shook his head before patted the bed next to him.
"Then my Papa will tell him to get his sorry arse back home. Don't worry, my Papa was a carriero, he is strong. Come on, lie down here, you are not supposed to walk around with your foot and you are shivering", he said and slid over so that she had enough space to lie down. Annie crawled under the blanket and cuddled up next to him.
"What if we HAVE to go back to him because the Peacekeepers say so?"
"We'll talk about it then, Annie. There is no sense in being scared of things that haven't happened yet", Finn said and yawned.
For a moment there was silence between them.
"Thank you, Finn. You saved me", Annie then whispered and kissed his cheek.
"No need to thank me. I'm a natural born hero, you know. Saving you was my duty, I take my profession seriously", he said and giggled softly. Annie couldn't help but giggle as well before he snuggled her head against his shoulder.
"Good to know. I'll pay you later then", she said and closed her eyes.
She fell asleep thinking how wonderful it was to finally have a friend like him and Finnick stayed awake a little longer, thinking how pleasantly her kiss had tickled on his cheek.
Another quick chapter before I go to bed. Hope you all enjoy it! Please excuse grammar errors or spelling mistakes, I'm not a native English speaker :) I hope it's all understandable tho :)