A/N: Before you start reading, thank you so much for all of the support. I've never really finished a novel before so I'm super proud of how this turned out. As a special thank you, here is a playlist I made that goes along with the fic. Whether or not you want to listen to it while you read is up to you. The sequel, The Couple's Clause, will be out in May, so keep an eye out for that!
"Nope, nope, nope. It was just September. I'm not graduating in a semester. No way," Madge says, laying against the wall so she's on the ground in an "L" shape and her legs are parallel to the wall.
"Why do you sit like that?" Jena asks. Jena never hung out with them that often so she's still attempting to get used to everyone's quirks and personalities.
"It's my existential crisis position," Madge says from her spot on the floor.
"At least you're not graduating in a week," Finnick points out.
"Or already graduated," Johanna adds.
"That's what you get for being smart and having AP credits," Katniss says flatly, looking over in Madge's direction. "You graduate a semester earlier than everyone else."
"I think if we all stay here forever, we will never have to graduate and no one will have to leave and we can just be together forever," Madge concludes.
"I wish that were true," Annie says, burying her head into Finnick's chest.
"I didn't come back for all this sappiness," Johanna groans.
"It's our last night together, Jo," Peeta says. "And Finnick's leaving."
"Shhh… Don't say the 'L' word or you'll set Annie off."
Annie glares at Johanna. "I'm fine," she says, blinking back tears, before getting up.
"No! Don't get up!" Madge says.
"Madge, we go through this every year."
"Don't leave me," she says, holding her hand out. Finally, Madge gets up and hugs her. "I'm going to miss you." Then she gets up and goes over to Finnick and hugs him. "Do great things and keep in touch." She goes over to Gale and starts crying.
"Jesus Christ, Madge," Gale says gently. "You'll see them again."
"I'm an emotional person. Let me have my moment."
Katniss hugs Finnick the longest, until finally Peeta puts a gentle hand on her shoulder to let her know she should probably stop. She sits down and says nothing and the entire room is silent. "Well, this is fun," Johanna says sarcastically. "The rest of you will all see each other in a few months and Finnick isn't dying. You'll see him again. I didn't even realize you guys liked him that much." She looks over at Finnick knowing how much he hates goodbyes. "I refuse to say goodbye, but I'm still staying for your graduation anyway so I'll see you soon, you idiot."
He laughs. "I can always count on you, Jo," he says, taking Annie's hand and heading out the door.
"So what do you want to do for our second-to-last night?" Finnick asks looking over at Annie. She looks up at him, tears clouding her eyes.
Finnick notices she's crying and goes over to comfort her. "Aw, Annie," he says, enveloping her in a hug. He kisses her on the top of the head and pulls her close. She grabs the back of his t-shirt and buries her face into his chest as she starts to cry. He holds her close to him as her body shakes and he sighs. I'm suddenly regretting this decision. "Hey, let's not let this night be sad. Do you have everything packed and put away so the people who are staying here over the summer don't ruin your stuff?"
She looks up at him and cracks a smile, wiping a few stray tears away from her face. "Look at you being the responsible one for once."
"Does that turn you on?" he jokes. He notices her face get red. "It definitely does!" He smiles at her. "Now remember, over the summer you need to find someone to rent out the other room. You can stay in my room," he says, raising his eyebrows in a flirtatious manner. He meant what he said, but he also never missed an opportunity to mess with Annie. "If that really turns you on then wait for this," he says, bending down to whisper in her ear. "I'm gonna do your taxes."
"Finnick!" she shrieks, hitting his arm.
"Well, at least I got you to stop crying." Finnick picks up Poseidon, who they picked up from a very unhappy Nat when they both got home after break. He holds Poseidon up to Annie's face. "How can you be sad with a wittle kitten wike this?" he coos.
"I'm going to break up with you if you ever talk like that again," she says, taking Poseidon from him. She kisses the kitten on the head and then puts him on the floor. "Are you sure you don't want to take him to California with you?"
Finnick nods. "He was your present."
"But he likes you better," she says pointing to the small gray fluff who was currently rubbing against Finnick's leg.
"Then this will be a bonding experience for you," he says.
Annie sighs. "Do you really have to go?"
Finnick takes her hands. "Annie, I know this is going to be hard. It's going to be hard for me too. But listen to me for a second," he looks into her eyes, focusing his entire gaze on her. "I wouldn't be going away if I didn't have faith in our relationship. I've never been in a committed relationship before, so the fact that I'm able to move across the country, completely confident that we are going to stay together and make it through this, shows how much I love you. Annie, I love you so much. Please know that. I decided within the first few weeks of knowing you that you were going to change my life. I didn't know in what way, but I knew. And now, six months later, I think I can safely say that you're the girl I want to marry at some point in the future."
"That sounded an awful lot like a marriage proposal, Mr. Odair," she says, wiping the tears from her eyes again before kissing him.
"That's because marriage proposals are supposed to become from the heart, and that's truly how I feel about you."
"I love you so much."
"I love you too, but we can get through this."
"I know we can."
"Okay, let me see," Annie says from outside the bathroom door.
"I hate hair gel."
"Finnick, come out."
"My hair should be left in its natural state," he continues.
"Finnick."
"The curls should be allowed to be wild…Such as myself."
"Finnick Samuel Odair," she says. "Get out here."
He emerges from the bathroom grinning. "Wow, you middle named me. That was kinda hot."
She groans. "Is it just me or have you gotten way more obnoxious lately?" She thinks for a second. "Or maybe just horny."
He laughs. "Me? A twenty-three year old man? Horny? Never!" He kissed the top of her head. "I'm just trying to be lighthearted so that we aren't moping around before I leave."
"Well, it's working," she says. "Thank you," she adds. She steps back to get a look at him. He's wearing a black gown, a gold sash, and he's carrying his hat for now. "You look good. Even with the hair."
"Of course I look good, Annie Pie. That's not why I asked you to stare at me. I asked you to stare at me because I look good."
She rolls her eyes and takes his hand. "C'mon you idiot. Your parents and Johanna and Nat are probably already waiting for us outside. Let's graduate." She grabs his hand and starts to lead him to the door.
"I never thought it would be like this."
"You never thought what would be like what?"
"At the beginning of this year, I never thought that I would be going to my college graduation with my foster parents who I've mostly forgiven, my two best friends in the entire world, and my incredible girlfriend." Annie feels her face get hot when he says the last part. "At the beginning of this year I was such a mess. I drank and smoked all the time to avoid my problems, had way too much sex with way too many people, and didn't care about anything. Now I'm building friendships, I'm sober most of the time, I'm in a committed relationship, and I'm moving back home to the place I never thought I would ever have the courage to go back to, to pursue one of my dream jobs. And you've been nothing but supportive and amazing throughout the whole thing. I guess what I'm trying to say is…thank you."
She walks up to him and hugs him tight. "I was anxious, uptight, and certain I was never going to find someone to love. You help me when I feel like I'm losing my way, you make me laugh and show me it's okay to let loose and have fun, and you've made me realize that there is love in this world, and I've found it. You've made me stronger and I'm going to miss you, but I know that because of you, we can both get through this." She buries her head in his chest. "Thank you."
"I can't believe I'm a college graduate," Finnick says as he joins everyone after the graduation.
"Well, believe it," Nat says, patting him on the shoulder before pulling him into a hug. "Welcome to the real world, Buddy."
"Yeah, because you know 'real world'," Johanna scoffs. "Mr. Sits On His Couch and Smokes All Day."
Nat flips her off and she just glares at him. Nat and Johanna never hung around that much because they usually butt heads, but they both went to Northeastern and were friends with Finnick, so they sometimes have to tolerate each other.
"Where are we going to go for dinner?" Finnick's foster dad, Allen, asks in an attempt to diffuse the tension between his son's friends.
"Diner?" Finnick asks Annie.
"Diner," she agrees.
"A diner? Finn, you can go anywhere," his foster mother, Emily says to him. "Do you really want to go to a diner?"
"It's their last meal together," Johanna mocks in a high pitched voice, not really meant to mimic either of them in particular.
"Alright, diner it is," Allen says.
Annie takes his hand as they follow him to the car. "Remember the first time we went there?"
"Here we go," Johanna huffs.
"And the waitress thought we were dating," Finnick adds, recounting the story as well.
"Why did I decide to stay here and subject myself to this?" Johanna groans.
"Didn't we get waffles and french toast?" Annie asks him.
"And you were wearing my clothes."
"And Johanna is going to vomit," Johanna adds in.
"And the second time we went was after the formal," Annie says. "Or did we go another time?"
"You're not dying! You don't have to recount every detail of every diner trip you've ever taken."
"Johanna, let them have their moment," Nat says. "How would you feel if Jena was moving thousands of miles away from you?"
"Really shitty," she says after a pause. "Sorry," she apologizes.
"Johanna Mason apologized?" Finnick asks incredulously. "Well isn't this a monumental day?!"
Johanna smacks him lightly on the arm. "Well don't make me take it back."
Finnick stands outside his apartment to say goodbye to Johanna and Nat. All three of them hate goodbyes, so he doesn't expect it to be too long or emotional. Annie went inside to get ready for bed and to leave them alone to say their goodbyes. "Goodbye you idiot," Johanna says, hugging him. "Don't die in California. Don't cheat on Annie or I'll personally fly over there and chop your dick off." She pulls away then goes to hug him again. This time she hugs him tighter and rests her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for being the little brother I never had." Then she steps away and acts like nothing ever happened.
"I echo her sentiments," Nat says, hugging him. "It would be fun to come chop off your dick." Finnick groans. "I know you'll come back to visit or whatever, but I don't know how long you're going to be out there. I know you're going to do great shit, but I'm going to miss you." He pulls away.
"And you guys always act so emotionless," Finnick says grinning.
"Wow," Johanna says sarcastically. "It's almost like we have feelings."
"Or almost like you're a great person underneath that shitty outer layer and we're actually going to miss you," Nat adds in the same tone.
"I love you guys," Finnick says as they walk to the car.
"Love you too!" Nat says back.
"I'm not saying it," Johanna says. "That's the one thing I will not say to you."
"Finn? You coming to bed?" Annie asks, stepping into his room. They had been sleeping in the room she first slept in when she moved in back in September because their normal room was cluttered with boxes.
"In a sec," he says, still sitting in between the labyrinth of boxes.
She looks at him for a long time. "Thou shalt not cry," he commands her. "I won't be able to handle it."
She weaves around the boxes and bags and sits next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Imagine how amazing our reunion is going to be."
"I've never had a reunion in an airport."
"Me neither. I'll bring one of those signs and it will say 'Phil Nick' and maybe I'll bring Poseidon… In a carrier of course. And when I see you, I'll run towards you, no matter how many people there are in the way, and I'll kiss you and it will be the best kiss we've ever had and we'll both realize that even though we've been apart, nothing has really changed."
"Now I get why you want to be a writer," he says after a while.
"Really? Why?"
"You always know just what to say."
"We never talked about the airport departure," Annie says, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I didn't want to think of that."
His foster parents are over by the beginning of the security line, waiting patiently for Finnick and Annie to say their goodbyes. Nat drove them all there and was given special orders from Finnick to stay the night with Annie so she didn't have to spend it alone before she went home. He also just wanted his girlfriend and best friend to bond. "It's only eight months right? I can come visit over the summer so it might be shorter."
"Yeah," he says. "Eight months is less time than it takes to have a baby."
She laughs. "Thou…" She starts to say, but then she stops.
"Let's not do that anymore," he says. "That was our Roommate Agreement. That's so formal."
"Then what stupid things are we going to do now?"
He thinks for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows together. "Promises."
"Promises?"
"Yeah. That's what couples do. They promise each other things."
"Finnick, I hate to interrupt, but we should probably go really soon," Emily butts in.
Finnick nods in her direction to let her know he'll be there soon and then directs his attention back to Annie. She's crying and Finnick knows nothing he can say will stop her. "I promise I'll never stop loving you," Finnick says, leaning down to kiss her. They had talked about the reunion kiss, but they had never talked about this kiss. It was long, passionate, hungry, almost as if they shouldn't be doing it in public. But it was an airport after all, and airports were made for reunions and departures. This was not the only kiss that airport had seen, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.
She looks up at him. The sea green eyes she fell in love with are red and flooded with tears. "I promise."