** A/N: Alright people, so Malick and Annie's relationship gets a little heated up here. I am giving you fair warning, stuff goes down. But, this is crucial for the development of the story. I don't like to put stuff like that in my stories, but this one needs it. So... This chapter contains sexual references/tension (but not anything graphic!). Reader's discretion is advised!**

Chapter 7: One Last Chance

The breath escaped my mouth slowly; my chest moved minimally; my eyes strained hard. Then, with all the power I could muster up, I threw the trident as far and as hard as I could. It landed in the middle of the target; right in its heart. Confidence lit up my face and I turned to face my fellow Careers. They clapped and looked at one another with sly, foxlike eyes.

"You give it a try, Malick." I prompted him. He was standing behind me, clapping as well. Astonishment filled his eyes. How could I ask him this? He shook his head no, but I thrust the trident in his hands anyways. Malick had nothing to lose, because he either could hit the target or miss it. Either way, the Careers would pass judgments. "For me?" I whispered.

"For you, I guess." He took the trident and stepped up on the pedestal. I stepped back a little ways. Malick shook his head a little, took aim, held his breath, and threw the trident. It hit the target in the head.

"Just as lethal as a shot to the heart." I sauntered over to the Careers.

"No matter what you do, District 4, we are only taking you. That's it." Shimmer mused.

"Annie, we can't afford any one else." Catia said quietly when I went and stood beside her. Malick threw another trident, and hit the heart. A flicker of something flashed in the Career's eyes. But they wouldn't budge. With disappointment in my bones, I made my way over to Malick.

"No good." The words were quiet, but Malick heard them all too well. We walked away from the station, away from the Careers, away from Malick's last chance at survival.

"I told you, Annie. They want you, not me." He ran his hand through his longer, thick sandy blonde hair. His green eyes screamed at me, and I couldn't stand that.

"Well at least you have me in there, with them. Don't panic! I'll keep you safe. You know that."

"And how are you going to do that?" He stopped me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and spun me to face him.

"By steering clear of you; keeping you as far out of the Career's line of fire as possible." Although I was saying the truth, I could tell that it wasn't sinking in.

"The only good thing in that arena is going to be you. And now you're going to take away the only good thing there? You're going to leave me?" He leaned his mouth close to my ear and whispered.

"I'm not taking anything; I'm giving you everything." It took a while to formulate it, but it came out eventually.

"That's what I love about you, Miss Annie Cresta. You can make me believe anything." He kissed my forehead.

"What you love about me?" To hear the word, while being so close to death, didn't feel right.

"Well, it's not all I love about you." Malick looked around and realized where we were. "Let's continue this conversation some other time, okay?" He asked cryptically, but I knew what he meant. I nodded, and we went our separate ways. So that was that; I was a Career, he wasn't.

After training, after dinner, after being fitted for our interview costumes, after Finnick's lecture, Malick and I had time to ourselves. We sat in his bedroom which had the best view. We had pulled the fluffy lounge from the far right wall to the back wall, which was one big window. We laid on the lounge together, wrapped in one another. The Capitol twinkled below up, fireworks were set off here and there, and traffic whizzed by. We sat in silence for some time, just feeling each other breathe.

"So, like I was saying earlier. Your persuasiveness isn't what I love the most about you." He finally spoke.

"What?"

"I love how your hair is brown in some lights and auburn in others. I love how your eyes twinkle constantly, but more when you're in the sun. I love you're smile, everything about it. Really, I could go on forever." He laughed a little. "I hope that doesn't make me sound creepy."

"That doesn't make you sound creepy at all, Malick. There are a lot of things I love about you."

"Like?"

"I love how your hair is just the right length; not to long not to short. I also love how it shines constantly. And your eyes just make me melt; I love how green they are. I love how your skin isn't to tan, but it's not to pale. I love the way how you can always make me smile. I adore how you make everything bad look good."

"Wow, so I take it this feeling is mutual?" Malick said. I didn't understand what he meant. "What I meant is-" He paused.

"What did you mean, Malick? I can take it."

"I don't just love a lot of little things."

"So what do you love?"

"I love you." It took a while, but he came out with it. After he said it, there was more silence. Malick loved me. We were going to both die in a few days, so I don't know why this shocked me so much.

"I love you to." The words came out before I could even think of them. My heart spoke for my brain.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm positive, Malick. I know you, and I love you." I looked up at him. He leant his head down until his chin touched his chest. I shuffled up his chest and brought my lips to his. When our lips parted, we looked at one another for a long time. Then, without any words spoken, it happened. We kissed again, but with more passion that ever before. We couldn't stops pulling each other closer; pulling so hard it was like our bodies could collapse into one another at any moment. The kiss progressed to something more, something that I never expected to happen.

That day had been one last chance in training; one last chance to prove ourselves. And now, in this moment, we had one last chance at something else. We had one last chance at love, one last chance at romance, and one last chance to start something.

The next morning, Malick and I woke up in each other's arms. I looked around the lounge, hunting for what articles of clothing where mine and which were his.

"Why can't I help but feel that last night was a mistake?" It was out of his mouth before he could think.

"What?" I was a little angry now. What we had shared was special; it was more special when you factored in our circumstances.

"I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was maybe this will bit us in the butt in the arena. This might mess things up for us. We have a special bond now, Annie. How do you expect me to be able to kill you or watch you be killed?" He gently caressed my bare arm.

"Malick, you won't need to kill me." I laid back down and ran my hand through his messy hair. "And you won't need to watch me be killed. Just stay away from the Careers and you will never need to deal with either of those things."

"I just can't help but think 'what it', you know?" He finally spoke after a few minutes of silence. I gave up hunting for my clothes and stole a sheet off the bed.

"Don't think that, it'll only mess with your mind." I advised as I went into his bathroom. When I was done, I emerged wrapped up in the sheet. Malick was already up and dressed.

"I like the sheet." He gestured to my make shift dress. I twirled around like a model, and we both laughed. "You need to wear that look more often." He kissed me gently, sweetly.

Little did I know, that wasn't the last time I would be wrapped up messily in a sheet, greeting the man that I love. And I also didn't know that the man I was running towards wasn't the one I was with now…

**Up next: Chapter 8: The Judgments**