FINNICK POV
6:15. On the dot. She's never left any earlier or any later during the time that we'd been here. I presume she's also ruled out the fact that anyone else would be up this time of the morning, but, I guess I caught her out there. I watch as Annie discreetly, yet with a sense of casualty, wanders off to where she's been disappearing to each morning. It's not much of a hill really, not much for hiking or climbing or anything of the sorts, but none the less it's weird seeing Annie's small figure easily make her way to the top. It's still pretty dark out but it's obvious she knows her path clearly; unlike me, who keeps tripping on the branches and twigs that pop up out of nowhere. That doesn't phase me though; there's something about Annie, something I still can't put my finger on despite the countless times a day her face would turn up in my mind for hours on end.
I reach the top of the hill a few minutes after she does to find her sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, facing toward the lake where the sun is still rising. I accidentally snap a twig, breaking my last ten minutes of subtlety. Very smooth, Finnick I think, now she probably thinks you're some creepy paedophile following her around in the morning. Annie whips her head around and looks up to me, sighing as she realises who it is.
"Oh, it's you, Finnick." She smiles
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I tell her, taking a seat on the ground beside her.
"It's alright." She says looking out over the horizon.
We sit there quietly for a few minutes and in that time it becomes clear why she's seems to like it up here; it's quite and the view of the lake it astounding as the sun reflects off the water. Annie sits there with her legs still hugged to her chest, her tangle of dark hair falling down her t-shirt. Her eyes are distant, almost as if she's forgotten I was there.
"So, what are you doing up here?" I ask her as I begin to pick at the grass beside me. But it's almost though she hasn't heard me. "Annie?" I say again a little louder this time.
"Huh?" she turns to face me, looking like I've pulled her out of her own little world. And with Annie, I probably have, it's not often she can have a conversation without getting lost at least once. I guess it was something about her that intrigued me.
"What are you doing up here?" I ask again with a laugh, looking into her eyes now that I've got her attention.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" she smiles raising an eyebrow at me.
"Didn't think anyone else was awake this early." I give her a coy smile
"I like to watch the sunrise" Annie says returning my smile.
"This certainly seems like the place to do it, then" I say, motioning at the hill around us.
"So, how'd you know I was up here?" she asks, drawing circles in the dirt beside her.
"Like I said, I didn't think anyone else was awake this early." I tell her casually
"So you followed me?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow
"Well when you say it like that it doesn't nearly as impractical." I laugh, smiling as a smile appears on her face.
"So what did I do for the one and only Finnick Odair to follow me up a hill at quarter past six in the morning?" she smiles elbowing me in the ribs.
"You're very intriguing Annie." I tell her truthfully. She looks as if I've told her I believe in ghosts when she hears me, raising both her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Intriguing? How could I possibly be intriguing? Everyone else just thinks I'm weird." she says in an offhand way, not letting herself belief what I'd told her. Typical Annie, I guess.
"Well, everyone else hasn't been paying enough attention then." I say quietly.
Annie looks at me allowing a small smile to creep onto her face for a moment. She pushes her tangle of black hair away from her face and returns her stare to the lake, the sun's half way up the horizon by now casting orange and gold streaks across the sky. Annie let out a small sigh, stretches her arms out in front of her and lays back along the ground.
"Can I ask you something then, Finn?" I couldn't deny it; my stomach did flips when she called me Finn.
"Didn't you already?" I raise my eyebrow at her, allowing a slightly smug smile to creep onto my face.
"Shut it, Odair." Annie says lightly kicking my foot with her own. The smile on her face evident through her voice.
"But, go on." I insist, encouragingly waving my hand through the air in front of me.
"What exactly do you mean by 'intriguing'"? Annie asks looking up at me.
"Well, that's the thing Annie; I can't quite put my finger on it. No matter how many times I try, I can't pin-point it. But you'll be the first to know." I say looking over the lake in order to avoid her eye contact in the highly probable chance that I'd do or say something stupid. Normally stupid didn't bother me, but all that changes around Annie.
"Oh" Annie says quietly from behind me.
"Not what you were expecting?" I ask, turning to face her.
"I don't know what I was expecting to be honest." She says with a shy smile, twisting the ring on her middle finger.
What exactly was it about Annie that had me so intrigued? It was a simple question, really, but one that I couldn't answer for the life of me. Maybe it was the way her dark hair fell gently down her back, or the way she would seem completely lost in her own little world when you were talking to her. She wasn't like the others girls at school and maybe that was what had drawn me in, practically demanded I pay her attention whether she knows it or not. Whether I wanted to admit it or not; I'd been paying a lot of attention to Annie over the last few months, and unintentionally, she'd been creeping up on me. There wasn't much point in denying myself the simple, yet childlike pleasure of thinking that maybe I had a crush on her. But we weren't two kids in primary school anymore and that didn't seem like the right way to name it, only I couldn't wrap my head around it any other way.
Annie's quiet voice ringing in the air around us brought me back to reality. "We should probably head back."
"Yeah, probably." I agreed, standing up and dusting my hands against my shorts before offering her a hand up. Annie looked up and smiled as she took my hand.
"Race ya down?" Annie smirks raising both her eyebrows.
She's just about to take off down the hill before I catch her around the waist "It's on, Cresta."
Annie wiggles from my grip with a laugh and continues making her way down the path, a few paces ahead of me. I follow her down quickly in attempt to match her speed; but for someone so tiny she's faster than she looks, her laugh ringing across the hill. Face it, Finnick I think You've been keeping tabs on her, whether you like it or not; she's creeping up on you. May as well admit it.
Hey! I've been reading too many Finnick/Annie fanfictions of late! so to suppress my urge to write full-fledge Finnick/Annie story I decided to condense it into a neat little chapter. It's pretty weak, but, by all means it you guys like their side of the story, please let me know and I'll keep it regular! Back to Katniss and Peeta next, with a little visit from the Careers and a slip of the tongue - forcing the two to spill their secret to their friends! Please R&R Hope you like it! :)