The next day they had to go to work and Finnick wasn't looking forward to it. He was still recovering from his massive hang over and he knew Brian would still be angry at him but he also knew that not going to work would only make things worse between them so he eventually got up and headed to the markets thirty minutes earlier than his shift.
"Hi Finn" said a flirty voice next to him. He just smiled at her not in the mood for a conversation. "You are here early…"
"I just wanted to talk to Brian before my shift. Do you know if he is already here?"
"No, but he should be here any second" she said and he just nodded in return. "You can tell me the truth, Finnick. Are you really here to talk to Brian or you just wanted to see me?"
"No, I just need to talk to him" he said smiling feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Really? Well I just thought that you wanted to see me after what happen in the beach…" she said in a flirtatious way getting closer to him.
"What are you talking…?" he asked but didn't finished his sentence. It had finally hit him. It hadn't been a dream but he hadn't kissed Annie. He had kissed Tania. He definitely was very drunk, way beyond his limit. A lot of thoughts were running to his head as Tania started to lean forward to kiss him again. "Look! There's Brian. I have to go to talk to him. Is pretty urgent. We'll talk later" he said leaving trying to get out of the situation. How did he ended up in this?
"Brian! Can we talk, please?"
"You are here early. That's a first. Anyway what is it that you want to talk about?" the man answer as he was opening his stall.
"I want to apologise for what happen. I wasn't thinking when I left without notice. I shouldn't have put you guys through all of that. It was selfish and I also wanted to thank you for worrying about me. It means a lot to know that you care".
"Just forget about it but next time you want to get drunk call me first so I can help you with those bottles" he joked. "Just don't do it again" he added in a more serious tone after a while.
"Brian…there's something I need to talk to you about".
Annie was late for her shift for the first time. She didn't get any sleep the night before. She couldn't stop thinking about her mother after admitting to Finnick how she felt. It was a secret she hadn't told anybody, not even her father. She wanted to be strong and she was but she couldn't helped crying some nights were the memories of her mother were more present. Telling her friend how she felt was relieving, not hidden her feelings anymore made her feel lighter. She was grateful to have him in her life.
When she got to the markets she rushed to the stall and hopped that Brian wouldn't notice her lateness. Lucky for her he was busy talking to Finnick next to the cashier so she started her shift working on packing the deliveries with Tania. Annie could notice that something was going on with her…she seemed happier.
"Why are you so happy today?" asked Annie smiling with her friend.
"I don't know... is difficult to tell you"
"Don't worry. I am sure I would understand"
"Alright but you have to promise me that you won't tell Finnick a word of what we are going to talk about. I know you and him are friends but you can't tell him anything" she said as Annie's face change into a look of confusion.
"I promise. What does he have to do with all of this?"
"Yesterday, when I was going home I saw him laying in the beach and I thought it would be a good idea to see what his doing so we ended up talking and I don't know what happened but he kissed me and he even told me that he loves me. Can you believe that? Finnick and me? It feels like a dream. At first I hesitate but I remember your words about how we would make a great couple so I just went for it. He was completely drunk but you can't lie about those things" she answered and immediately Annie felt weird and angry. Why was she angry?
"That's great. Good for you two" she said trying to hide her sarcasm to Tania.
"You don't seem to happy. Is there something that I don't know about you and Finnick?"
"What? No, no, I am just not feeling to well. Yesterday I had a bad night for some reason I couldn't sleep" she lied not even understanding her own feeling towards the golden boy. She knew she felt angry and betrayed like if he had done something to her. It was horrible. There was a strange ache in her chest and her heart beat was irregular.
Why wasn't she happy? She always said that Finnick and Tania would make a perfect couple but now that it was starting to come true she couldn't help feeling…something different that wasn't what she had expected. She couldn't be jealous she had a boyfriend that she really liked and they had always being just friends.
"It's impossible I can't have feelings for him" she thought as she continue with her work.
After the young victor was done telling the man what had happen the day before he remain silent for a couple of minutes not knowing what to say.
"Let me get this right. You got drunk on the beach and you were so drunk that you thought that Tania was Annie?" he asked already knowing the answer.
"I also had sand on my eyes so I couldn't see properly, but yes, that was what happen and I just realised it an hour ago when Tania tried to kiss me"
"You know why those thing happen to you, boy?"
"Because I am stupid?"
"Yes, because you are stupid" he said as his words were follow by a short silence. "So…what are you going to do?"
"I have to tell Tania that what happen was a drunken mistake and hopefully she won't hate me for long but I doubt it"
"What about Annie?"
"What about her?"
"Finnick, you obviously are in love with her and I think she will soon start to feel the same way. If you say you can't be together how can you be friends if you have feelings for each other?" asked the man. He had thought about it before but at least he felt safe for now because David was around and he also thought that he could hide how he felt and keep it like a secret. He was so wrong.
"She doesn't have feelings for me. She is with David and they seem to be happy"
"You really are stupid. Life is not just about surviving and playing it safe. Life is about taking risks, you have to learn how to be alive. Existing is easy but living is another story" he said before returning to work leaving the young man thinking about his words.
After hearing Tania's story Annie couldn't concentrate properly the rest of the afternoon. She was packing incorrect stuff into the delivering boxes and she had to double check before handing them to the customers. Normally Annie was great at her job but today was an exception. She was distracted for some reason. Brian did notice and told her to change with Finnick who was working on the cashier. It was a bad day for her so when her shift ended she felt relief but there was another problem. She didn't know if she should talk to Finnick about Tania. The thought of talking to him made her nervous.
"You can't just ask him about it. It's not your business if he wants to be with Tania. You should be happy for them, but how can I be happy when she doesn't even know him? She just wants to be with him because he is a victor. She's so superficial" she started to mumble to herself angrily.
"What was that?" asked a voice near her. "Are you ok? You seem angry" he said getting closer to hold her hand.
"Yes, a little bit tired but fine" she said smiling. "What are you doing here? I thought we were going to see each other tomorrow"
"I can go if you want to"
"No, no, of course I don't want you to go, David. I am just surprise"
"Look, I know you and Finnick have to do stuff but I really wanted to see you. Do you think you can tell him that you are not hanging out with him just for today?" asked David. She didn't know what to say as much as she was angry she was still concern for her friend, but he was with Tania now. He would understand if she went with David so she just nodded and took his hand.
The young victor had just finished his shift when he couldn't find Annie. She wasn't at the cashier anymore and she had not said anything to him earlier which was strange, but Tania was around so he decided to clear things up with her.
"Hey. Have you seen Annie?" he asked.
"She just left with David. You know you can talk to me when ever? You don't have to pretend that you really want to know where she is" the girl answer in a flirtatious way.
"Tania, listen. We need to talk"
"We can talk later…" she said kissing him, but he pulled her away gently.
"I'm serious" he said and she started to listen confused. "The day you found me on the beach I was really drunk. I don't what happen exactly I didn't remember anything at first. I know that I kissed you and told you a lot of things but it was just a drunken mistake. I am sorry for putting you through all of this. You didn't do anything wrong. You are a wonderful and beautiful person and I hope you can forgive me"
"I wasn't expecting this… I mean I probably should have thought more about it. You were clearly drunk but you just seemed genuine"
"I… am sorry. I should have talk to you earlier"
"So…is it Annie?"
"What?"
"Is she the girl that you are in love with? You said that you made a drunken mistake and now that I think about it is clearly her after all the things that you said that night about being afraid of ruining your friendship if you told her how much you love her"
"It was none sense. I wasn't thinking properly, besides she has a boyfriend" he said trying to sound convincing. Still Tania couldn't believe him but at least she wasn't angry. She was just confused about the whole situation.
"Well… You probably don't care but she seemed jealous when I told her what had happen" she said before leaving.
Thank you for reading. Remember if you want to see something in this fanfic I am open to suggestions, just write it in the reviews or message me.
