Black. That was all she saw. Pure black. Just because she didn't want to see anything else.
Her eyes were shut tightly, her head leaned against Finnick's chest. All she could hear was his heavy breathing as well as the faint crunching sound of twigs and branches beneath his boots. His grip on her was secure, but not too tight.
"We're almost home," Finnick whispered to her, and she nodded a tiny bit in response, just holding onto him tighter.
Eventually, they arrived at the house, Finnick going through the front gate and banging on the front door. Katniss opened shortly after, her eyes widening when she saw Finnick carrying a barely clothed Annie.
"Oh my god, what happened?" Katniss asked, moving aside so that they could come in.
Finnick hurriedly stepped through the door, watching as everyone got on their feet to help.
"These men, they attacked her. I heard her screaming," Finnick breathed out. He couldn't seem to catch his breath, and he knew that wasn't because he was tired. It was because he was still so furious. "I'm going to get her taken care of."
With that, he took her upstairs, everyone's eyes following him. Finnick placed the dark haired girl to sit up onto the bed, immediately getting a blanket to cover her with. He wrapped it around her shoulders, watching her as she hugged it close to her. Her eyes were still closed, but tears started to stream down her cheeks.
Her tears quickly turned into sobs, the emotions beginning to overcome her body.
"Hey, hey," Finnick said softly, taking a seat next to her on the bed. Slowly, as to not alarm her in any way, he pulled her into his chest, his arms wrapping around her. His hand slowly moved up and down her back, the other holding her head against his chest. "They're gone. They're never going to hurt you again. No one's going to hurt you again, not if I can help it, okay?"
Annie listened to his words, and for some reason, she believed them. He hadn't been all that warm to her, but now, things had changed. He had saved her, and was a hero in her eyes. She appreciated his care and attention, but at the same time, hated the pity she knew he had for her. She felt so weak, so defenseless.
"I couldn't do anything, Finnick. I didn't even know what they were doing to me until.." she started, her eyes looking up to him but quickly looking down again when she cut herself off. She looked down at her hands, picking the dirt underneath her fingernails in a sort of aggressive manner. "I've never even.. been with anyone. They were going to take it from me by force. They didn't care," she added quietly. "The world must really hate me."
Finnick looked at her, his eyes widening in surprise upon learning she was a virgin. That just made this situation all the more tragic. He was relieved that he had saved her before those men had a chance to do anything.
"No," he said, looking down at her to meet her tear filled green eyes. "There are just a lot of bad people out there, Annie."
She went silent and just nodded, her eyes averting down to her fingernails again. She didn't have anything to say to that. Nothing he could say would help her get through this; she knew this was going to scar her for a long time.
"Do you want to take a shower? I'll find you some new clothes," Finnick said.
Annie nodded slowly, and began to stand. Finnick took her arm gently and helped her up, making sure to keep the blanket around her as he guided her to the bathroom. He went to get her clean, new clothes, returning with them and giving them to her. For an odd reason, Annie didn't want him to leave her, but she needed privacy. She needed to let herself be alone and really feel this. Nodding to Finnick in thanks, she closed the bathroom door and turned on the shower, placing the new clothes on the sink counter. She removed her tattered clothes, looking at them in her hands, her bottom lip beginning to quiver as the tears started to steam down her cheeks again.
Sighing heavily, she dropped the clothes to the ground and stepped into the shower, letting the cool water saturate her body. She focused on the feeling of the cold, slowly moving to sit on the floor of the shower. There was no escaping this feeling, no matter what. Annie knew that. She put her head in her hands and began to sob again, letting herself make all the noise she wanted. The emotional release of it felt good. God knows she couldn't keep it inside.
Finnick's POV
Listening to the shower going above him, Finnick sat down on the couch in the living room, staring off for a long while before he heard the door open behind him. Johanna was standing there, looking quite displeased. He had just now realized that he had completely forgotten about her when he said that he would come back. She dropped her heavy book bag on the ground, looking at Finnick.
"Hey, thanks a lot, Finnick," she said angrily. "I waited for a half hour before I decided you weren't coming back. Don't worry, I got the supplies myself," she snapped.
"Something happened to Annie," Finnick said, taking a deep breath in an attempt to not yell at her like she was yelling at him. Surely if she knew what happened, she wouldn't be so mad.
"What?" Johanna asked, the glare on her face faltering a bit as her eyes narrowed.
"She was almost raped. Not just raped, but gang raped, okay?" He said, not being able to help but snap at her a little. "That's where the screaming was coming from. Is that a valid enough excuse for you?"
Johanna fell silent, tapping her foot angrily as she unfolded her arms. She glanced at the book bag full of things she had collected for the household, and then back at him.
"You still shouldn't have left me there," she said, her voice a little quieter now.
Finnick just scoffed and rolled his eyes, not bothering to entertain her with a response. He would just wait until she wasn't angry anymore to talk to her. Even then, he was preoccupied with more important things. More important things like.. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the shower turn off upstairs. Shortly later, Annie came downstairs, wearing a white t-shirt with long, black sweatpants. Madge immediately rushed over to Annie, her arms wrapping around her in comfort.
"I'm so sorry, Annie," the blonde girl said, stroking Annie's hair for a moment before she pulled away and looked at her. "Anything you need, I'm here."
"Me too," Katniss said as she lightly put her hand on Annie's back, giving her a tiny, reassuring smile.
Johanna was over in the kitchen now, detached from everything that was happening. She didn't seem very interested anyway, not even bothering to glance Annie's way as she put food supplies she had got on her run in the kitchen cupboard. Finnick noticed this behavior, and something about it didn't sit right with him. His eyes averted over to Annie, noticing how she smiled at the girls comforting her, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
As the night went on, Finnick had dinner with the others, but not Annie. She didnt seem to want to eat, in fact, she had been in her room the last couple hours. The sun was beginning to set now, the sky getting darker and darker. After dinner, Finnick decided he was going to check on Annie. He didn't want to be overbearing and bothersome, but he was worried. Why was he so worried? Bad things happened to everyone. Everyone still alive in this world had some sort of tragic story. Why did he care so much about hers?
Just as he was stepping up the stairs, he felt someone grab his arm. Turning around, he saw Johanna and stepped down from the stairs, facing her now.
"I wanted to say sorry for yelling at you earlier," she said softly, her fingers beginning to trail up and down his arm slowly.
"It's fine, Johanna. Just.. I was going to go check on Annie," he said, sort of starting up the stairs again.
"Wait," she said, grabbing his hand. She looked up at him, biting her lip and giving him that look she always did. "I can make it up to you." Her lips curled into a smirk as her hand moved to play with the fabric of his shirt.
For the first time, Finnick wasn't interested. Maybe it was the stress of today's events, or maybe it was her temper towards him earlier, but he was going to sit this one out tonight. He slowly took her hand, removing it from underneath his shirt and letting it go again. He gave her a tiny smile, and shook his head.
"Can we take a rain check tonight?" He said with a nervous laugh as he watched her face go from a smile to a frown.
"Finnick, I'm sorry if you're mad at me, but-"
"I'm not. I just don't want to tonight," he said in a calm voice, his hand moving to squeeze her shoulder lightly. "I'm going to check on Annie."
Johanna didn't say anything, she just blinked at him as she watched him go up the stairs. She didn't understand what she had done wrong, and why all of a sudden his attention was on Annie and not her.
As Finnick arrived upstairs, he made his way to Annie's room and gently knocked on her door. "Annie, it's me, Finnick. Are you okay?" There was no response for a good ten seconds, but before he could say anything else, she opened the door, looking up at him. Her dark hair was bedraggled, her face and eyes looking red from what he presumed was her crying.
"I will be, I think," Annie responded in a feeble voice. She was quiet for a moment before speaking up again. "You know, just because you saved me doesn't mean I'm your responsibility now. So, don't feel obligated to.."
"Oh no. No. I don't," Finnick said quickly. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. Just.." He took a deep breath. "I was really... bothered.. by what happened to you today. Every time I think about it, I get angry. I'll back off if you want me to. I just, I don't think you should go through this alone." His words were sincere and kind; he knew because he really meant them.
Annie peered up at him, her eyes searching his for a long moment before she nodded slowly. "Thank you," was all she said.
Finnick figured she didn't want to talk anymore. There was only so much he could do, and maybe right now she wanted to be alone.
"Okay. Good night, Annie," he said, smiling a tiny bit as he stepped away from the door and turned around, beginning to walk away.
"Finnick," Annie spoke quietly.
He turned around again, looking at her standing in the door way as he waited for what she was going to say.
"Can you stay with me? Just for tonight, maybe. I don't want to sleep alone," she said, swallowing hard as she eyed him carefully.
He noticed that she was embarrassed to ask this from him, so she wouldn't have done it if she didn't need it. He was more than happy to do it anyway. It beat having to stay with an angry Johanna tonight.
"Of course," he said with a nod, walking through her door and into her bedroom. He watched as Annie crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her. Dark circles lined underneath her eyes, and her hair was a disheveled mess. It was very evident she was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.
Finnick carefully made his way over to the bed, not daring to take any piece of clothing off even though he usually slept in his underwear. He didn't want to make her feel any ounce of discomfort around him. Slipping into bed as well, he pulled the covers over them both and settled himself in.
"Comfy," he remarked, looking over at her with a small smile.
That for some reason had made her smile as well, and she looked back at him. He felt completely different about this girl in front of him now. He hadn't really paid attention to her until today's events and he hated himself for that. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he had become so emotionally detached over the years, that it took something as drastic as what happened to Annie to make him realize that he actually cared about her.
Finnick reached over to the lamp on his nightstand, flipping the switch so that the light turned off and they were laying in complete darkness. He laid there for awhile in silence, not closing his eyes, but instead looking to the ceiling as he listened to his and Annie's breathing. After awhile of laying there, he suddenly felt her shift next to him. She moved her arm to drape across his chest, her body moving closer to his as she curled herself up to him. Finnick looked down at her face, noticing that she was asleep and that she was doing this unconsciously.
Every other time Finnick had been in bed with a girl, his thoughts were always impure. But not with Annie, not even close. There was nothing sexual about this situation, not to Finnick. He didn't have that mindset. Even though they were positioned so close, it felt.. innocent. Nothing like he had ever felt before. She needed comfort and all he wanted to do was be there to provide that to her. It was unlike him to think that way, but he wanted to be a friend to her.
His arm slowly wrapped around the sleeping girl, pulling her into his chest a bit more. Holding her closely and securely, he finally closed his eyes, letting himself become relaxed until he fell asleep with ease.
