Hi! I am back with a fast update. Well, not that fast maybe... But totally faster than the last one!
So, I decided to divide the epilogue into two chapters. So here's part 1 of it. This chapter isn't exactly the epilogue though. The last chapter will be the next one I send so... Hope you enjoy this!
P.S.: I want to thank everyone who was reviewed, followed and favourited this story. I appreciate your support so much and they are what gives me the inspiration. Thank you so much!
A/N: English is not my native language so please ignore my grammar mistakes if there are any. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but this fanfiction. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.
It had been six weeks since Peeta woke up.
It had been a week since everything turned into a disaster and I'm going to tell you step by step, how it managed to turn into a disaster so quick and so suddenly.
First, Coin sent me and Gale together to fight the Peacekeepers and get into the Presidental Palace to fight Snow, also setting a trap on our way back so we would die before we would even reach the shelter. That was when I found out she really wanted me dead. When Haymitch had told me about it, I told him to piss off and went my way. Appearently, he was right and he was just trying to protect me. I was an idiot to have not believed him.
Luckily, we were ahead of time when we got out of the palace and so when the trap bomb set off, we weren't there. Well, we were near it but the explotion didn't quite reach us. I couldn't say the same about the Peacekeepers that kept following us since the Palace.
What's worse was, Snow wasn't even in the Palace so we had been there for nothing. Well, not for nothing.
The worst part of this all was, I managed to get Annie out of there. But she was a complete mess. She kept yelling at us, screaming Finnick's name all the time, also telling us and to an invisible Finnick how much they hurt her. She yelled at him for not having come to rescue her from them. She was trembling vehemently non-stop and nothing we said or did helped soothe her pain. We were running away from the Peacekeepers when the bomb set off and dear Lord...
I told her. I really told her to keep running but she just shook her head and told me to keep going, that she couldn't do this anymore. I caught her by the arm, tried to make her come with me but she was strong. For a petite girl like her, she was really strong. She stood her ground and snapped at me for being so persistent. Then before I could say anything else, she was snatched by a Peacekeeper and Gale was holding my wrist, dragging me along with him to run. I remember him saying we had to go and I yelled at him, told him to let go of me but he wouldn't listen.
That's when I heard the loud, ear-deafening sound and turned around to see more than ten Peacekeepers lying on the ground, blood coming out of their noses, ears... and then I saw Annie. She was lying there too, bleeding so bad. I hurriedly ran to her, kneeled beside her and checked her pulse. There was no beating. She wasn't breathing and her heart wasn't beating. She was dead. And I could have saved her. And I promised Finnick.
So when we came back to District thirteen, my first instinct was to put an arrow in Coin's heart but Gale talked me out of it. He told me we had to act strategically. He came up with a plan and forced me to agree to it. We were going to act like there was no explotion and we both saw nothing. We were already on our way to District thirteen before the bomb set off so we had no idea there was a bomb. Basically, we were going to play dumb. But no matter what, those two idiots were going to pay for this. Just, for now I had to agree with Gale.
Though, it had been hard to play dumb when she was staring right at me, making my blood boil inside me. I never wanted to kill someone so bad in my life before, not even Snow. She was a cold-hearted betrayer and a manipulative bitch. But for the sake of everyone, I kept my mouth shut. I didn't tell anything to Peeta, because well... his psychology wasn't in its best shape. He wouldn't talk much, he wouldn't eat much... The doctors said his physical wounds were gone but they couldn't say the same about his mental ones. They told me it would take time for him to recover fully. That's why I left everything about Peeta to time.
But I had to tell Finnick about everything. His beloved one died right in front of my eyes and I couldn't save her. I was the last person who ever saw her alive... and Gale saw her but that didn't matter.
So I made my way to his house, noticing how dark and cold the weather was. Absolutely a great day with a great weather to announce the great news...
I sighed.
I hated myself.
I hesitated before knocking on his door but there was no escaping it. He was going to find out about Annie, one way or another. It would be better if he just found it out from me. Plus, he deserved to know the truth. Therefore, I knocked on his door and waited for an answer. A few seconds passed and the door flew open, a just-out-of-shower Finnick appeared right in front of me. I looked at his naked upper body and gulped loudly, trying to recollect my thoughts. Yet, it was really hard to think straight when he had just a white towel covering his lower parts.
He must have noticed my anxiety because he grinned at me knowingly. I blushed and cleared my throat, remembering why I came here in the first place.
Then I hated myself once again.
"Hi." He said with a charming smile and I had to look away from him.
"Hi." I said back and walked into his house without waiting for his invitation. I was going to go straight to the point.
He closed the door behind him and stood in front of me. "Is something wrong?"
"Annie's dead." I blurted out and instantly regretted it. My hand flew to my mouth as I noticed what I just did. I just told a man that the woman he loved was now dead. I should have said it in a better way... not that there was a better way of saying someone was dead.
There was a long pause before he eventually closed his eyes and sighed. He said nothing whatsoever; he just stood there still. I couldn't be sure whether he was okay or not so I put my hand on his forearm. His eyelids fluttered open and I looked at his eyes. They held no emotion so I couldn't tell how he was feeling.
"I'm sorry Finnick." I started with a quivering voice. "I really tried to save her. But... she was a mess and she wouldn't listen to me and I tried to convince her to keep running but she gave up and she told me she couldn't do it anymore and then there was a bomb that Coin set as a trap for me and Gale and then—"
I knew I was babbling but I hadn't realised it until Finnick hugged me. He didn't let me finish my babbling and I was actually grateful for that. But him hugging me took me by surprise. He put his head on the crook of my neck, but before I could say something or move away, I felt something wet touching my neck. Then I heard a muffled hiccup and knew he was crying. My arms slowly wrapped themselves around his body and held him closer. That's when he let it all go and cried his eyes out.
I didn't know how long he cried but when a big silence filled the room, I knew he was finished. Then he moved his head away slightly but his arms were still on my waist, holding me close.
"I'm sorry." I whispered at him. He was so close that I didn't need to use a loud voice. Then he put his forehead on mine and took a long, deep breath.
"I don't even know how I feel." He explained. "I mean... I always thought she couldn't have survived it in the Capitol anyway. I was so sure she was killed already when I asked you to help me. But now... Now, knowing that she is dead for sure..." he couldn't continue and silence filled the room again.
I felt guilty for what had happened. I could have saved her, I had the chance. But she was a really stubborn girl and she didn't leave me much choice. Then there was Gale... I didn't blame him for saving me, no. His priority was me, not Annie so it wasn't a surprise when he dragged me along with him to keep running. Still, I felt guilty for everything.
I was about to apologise again when he hushed me. I shut up hesitantly and looked up at him. He was so close that I could see every single line on his face and the dark purple colour under his eyes let me know he was really tired. His sea-green eyes weren't shining anymore and it was obvious that they were slowly losing all their spark. He wasn't the lively, seductive boy who wanted to have a dance with me when we first met.
Thinking back, it was such a long road I rode with him.
We met at the Presidental Palace, then the cocky bastard kissed me and we argued like stubborn married couples—Johanna's words, not mine—and then we found ourselves back in the Hunger Games. After the games, everything slowly turned into a disaster.
Now we stood close to each other, his breath on my face, slightly tickling my nose. I suddenly remembered that he was very naked under my arms and I blushed, feeling warm all of a sudden.
I immediately looked away from him and cleared my throat, putting some distance between us. My arms fell to their sides and I took a step away from him. But to think he would do the same was a really stupid mistake.
As soon as I stepped away from him, his hand caught my arm and held me in place. My eyes opened wide as he pulled me by my arm and I found my body crashing with his. I wanted to complain, say something, do something, anything... but nothing came out. I was like a deer caught in the headlights. I put both my hands on his chest to hold him in place but when he leaned in closer to me, I couldn't push him away. I just listened to his rapid heartbeats and let him take my lower lip in his mouth, just like he did the first time he kissed me at the Presidental Palace. I—unintentionally—sighed into his mouth and found myself kissing him back. His kiss was hungry, begging for more. When he licked my lips, asking for permission to fully kiss me, I willingly opened my mouth to him and let him explore. Our tongues danced in a rhythm I didn't know existed and felt the weight of the world lift from my shoulders.
I never would have guessed that kissing Finnick Odair would feel this good. It was hot, overwhelming and passionate.
And I was enjoying it, I really was. Until my brain shouted a big NO in my head. It felt so good but so wrong at the same time.
When we both gasped for air, I knew it was my oppurtunity to escape. "This is—"
"Wrong. I know." He cut me off and continued my sentence. Our eyes locked for a second and before I managed to say something else, he crashed his lips with mine again.
Then I decided to let go.
I just wanted to feel good after feeling bad and upset for such a long time. And this felt good, really good.
No matter how wrong it also felt.
Okay, so one more chapter to go folks! Hope you enjoyed this one and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
Stay tuned!
Xoxo louvreangel
