Annie's POV

Sunday was my favourite day. Sunday was the day I got to spend with Finnick, have him all to myself, and honestly, I looked forward to it all week. I thought he looked forward to it too, but I started to doubt myself when he was over an hour late to my apartment.

Maybe he'd forgotten, or maybe something had happened to him, or maybe...maybe he had gotten sick of me. Maybe he didn't want to be with me anymore... I knew I had to stop how out of control my thinking had gotten, I hadn't been so self doubting in months, but it was just so easy to let the bad thoughts continue once one grew in my mind.

Finally, the doorbell rang and relief filled my body as I leapt up from my bed to answer the door.

"I'm so sorry, Annie." Finnick said, as soon as the door swung open. Before I could say anything, he threw his arms around me so tight I stumbled back slightly.

He moved to kiss me, but we heard a cough from across the room. Finnick looked up to see my uncle give him a disapproving look from his armchair by the window.

"Ah hi, Mr Cresta. I didn't see you there." Finnick said uncomfortably.

"Hmm, well I'm everywhere." My uncle said, looking at Finnick over his glasses. "Just remember that."

I rolled my eyes and took Finnick by the hand, pulling him into my bedroom. As soon as we were alone, Finnick leapt at me again. His kiss felt different though, not enthusiastic and sweet, but pained and desperate.

"Let's never break up Annie." he said softly.

"Finnick…" I searched his face, and saw sadness in his eyes. "What's happened?"

We sat down on my bed, and Finnick lay back, running his hands through his hair as if in worry. I lay down next to him, reaching for his hand.

"Katniss and Peeta broke up." Finnick told me finally.

My heart nearly stopped. "What?" I asked. So many questions were running through my head that I couldn't figure them out quickly enough. Even though I knew the decision that Peeta was faced with, I never thought that that would happen to them.

"I was with Peeta before, that's why I was late." Finnick said sadly. I knew I should never have doubted him.

"How is he?" I asked. Although Peeta wasn't as forward around Katniss as Finnick was around me, I could tell by the way he looked at her that he was absolutely in love. She loved him too, and I couldn't even imagine how they would be feeling.

"Not great." Finnick told me truthfully. "He's staying with me for a couple of days, he can't stand being at home right now."

"Do you think you should go back and be with him?"

"It sounds bad, but all I could think about when he told me, was you." Finnick said, looking into my eyes. "Annie, I promise you, that isn't going to happen to us."

"I know, Finnick." I told him honestly.

Finnick paused for a moment, as if deciding whether to say what he wanted to or not. "Look, even though we're young, I know Annie, I know." he said seriously. "You're the one."

"Oh Finnick…" I murmured. "I know too. My future is you."

Finnick pulled me into his arms. "Can you picture it?" he asked softly.

I nodded. "Our own little apartment…"

"A ring on your finger…"

"How many kids do you want?" I asked suddenly.

"A whole army." Finnick replied.

"A whole army of Finnick Odairs?" I laughed. "I fear for the future."

Finnick laughed. "Well they'll be half Annie Crestas so I think that balances out."

I'd never put much thought into marriage or children, but suddenly it was all I wanted for the future. Since I'd met Finnick, I actually enjoyed being alive, and now I couldn't wait for the next few years to pass so Finnick and I could finally have our happily ever after.

"I just want to skip ahead the next five years so I can spend the rest of my life with you." Finnick said, as if reading my mind. "I hate the idea that we might end up going to different colleges."

"Me too." I said honestly. "But have you figured out what you want to study next year?" I asked.

Finnick and I had spent many hours discussing his options for college, but so far nothing had interested him enough to spend four years studying. While I had found it pretty easy to decide on studying psychology at NYU, Finnick was having much more trouble, especially since his parents were dead set on him attending Yale.

Finnick shook his head. "Maybe I won't go to college at all." he laughed. "Instead I'll devote my time to writing poetry about you."

I laughed. "As much as I would love that, I think you kinda have to decide on something."

Finnick scrunched up his nose. "You're no fun."

"I'm realistic." I laughed. "I want a big wedding, that means we both need to being making money."

"Oh well, when you put it that way." Finnick joked. "I promise I'll decide soon. And you'll be the first to hear about it."

"What an honour." I laughed.

When Finnick kissed me, all I could think about was how amazing it was to have found him, and that in the middle of everything that had happened to me, something so good had come out of it.

"But before we think about getting married, there is something else I would like to propose." Finnick said, a grin growing on his face.

"And what would that be." I laughed, his smile was so contagious.

Finnick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, perfect shell. He handed it to me, and I ran my finger over it was before turning it over, a little confused. In small writing, I noticed that Finnick had written, 'Prom?', and suddenly it all made sense.

"So what do you say?" Finnick asked, watching me carefully. "Will you be my date to prom?" He almost looked nervous, as though I would even consider saying no.

"Well, I'll have to check that I'm free..." I replied, just to tease him. "But I'll say yes for now."

"Very funny." Finnick replied, tapping my nose. "When's your prom?"

"Oh, I wasn't planning on going, to be honest." I told him. Honestly, it hadn't even occurred to me that I should go.

"Why not? It's your senior prom!" Finnick asked, confused.

The whole idea of going to a school dance wasn't really my thing, even though I had had a good time with Finnick at his Christmas ball. Really though, it was the fact that I didn't really fit in at my high school that was putting me off. "No one at school really talks to me." I admitted. "It'd be awkward."

"Why wouldn't anyone talk to you?" Finnick sounded suddenly defensive. "You've never told me this before."

"It's not a big deal." I replied, regretting mentioning it to him. "Most people think I'm crazy after you know, what happened..."

"They're the crazy ones." Finnick said seriously. "Crazy to miss out on how amazing you are."

I rolled my eyes. "You're just saying that because you have to."

"Am not." Finnick poked his tongue out at me. "But it does mean you are definitely going to prom- turn up looking as beautiful as you did at the Christmas Ball with me by your side and they'll be lining up to talk to you."

I could suddenly picture how the girls' jaws would drop when they saw Finnick walk in with me, and it would almost make up for the things they said about me in the hallways when they thought I wasn't listening.

"Maybe I'll reconsider then..." I smiled at him. He was getting pretty good at convincing me to go to dances with him, I supposed.

"Excellent." Finnick leant in and kissed me.

Kissing him was like diving deep into the ocean, where it was only the two of us, where time and nightmares and school and other people didn't exist. Like we were suspended in our own little world for a while, where nothing else matter except that we were together.

When we came up for air, I heard Finnick murmur, "We're so lucky, Annie."

We dove back down again and only one thought crossed my mind. Yes Finnick, we were.

There was a knock at my bedroom door that sent us jumping apart from each other. My aunt appeared in the doorway, eyeing us both suspiciously.

"Will you be staying for dinner tonight, Finnick?" she asked.

Finnick stayed for dinner so often now that I was almost used to setting an extra place for him at the dinner table.

"Not tonight, but thank you anyway." Finnick said politely. He was always sure to be on his best behaviour around my aunt and uncle, which I thought was pretty cute. "It smells amazing though!"

I thought I almost saw my aunt blush, but I couldn't be completely sure. I think she was beginning to like Finnick maybe a little too much, but I supposed that it was impossible to be immune to his charm.

"I'm going out to dinner with my parents." Finnick explained apologetically, once my aunt had left the room. "My dad just got a big business deal or something, so he wants to celebrate." he groaned. "Ughh, I don't want to go."

"It's only for a couple of hours." I reminded him.

"Yeah, a few hours I could be spending with you." He kissed me softly.

As much as I didn't want him to leave, we both knew he had too. Sighing, Finnick got up from my bed and I walked him to the front door, his hand tightly holding on to mine.

"Call me when you get back?" I asked.

"The very second I'm inside my apartment." he promised.

"Okay, well I'll talk you later then."

"I can't wait."

We kissed again, neither of us wanting to break apart. Eventually, we had to though, and Finnick walked out the door, giving me a wink before he disappeared.

Suddenly it was like I was back on land again and, snapping back to reality, I joined my aunt and uncle at the table. They had somewhat gotten over their concerns about Finnick and I being together, and had now moved on to teasing me about him whenever they got the chance.

"Soooo, how are things with Finnick?" My aunt asked, like she was fifteen years old and at a sleepover.

"Fine." I said, trying not to smile.

"Pretty serious then?" My uncle asked.

"I guess so."

"You know, I don't think he's quite as bad as I first thought."

"Thanks, uncle." I replied. It seemed like I was really was lucky today.

I spent the rest of the evening watching a movie in my room, but when it got to ten o'clock and Finnick still hadn't called, I figured he was talking with Peeta again. However, when my phone rang and it said it was Finnick calling, I beamed.

"About time, Finnick! I thought you'd forgotten about me!" I said happily. For a moment I heard nothing on the other end. "Finnick? Are you there?"

"This is Finnick's mother, Annie." I heard a voice tremble.

"Mrs Odair?" I replied, confused. "Is everything alright?"

I heard a sharp intake of breath, and my heart started to pound. "There has been an accident, Annie."

"What?" My voice was faint but inside my mind was screaming. I almost couldn't get the words about because my thoughts were jumbling together so fast." Is Finnick okay?"

"I don't know, Annie, I really don't know." Mrs Odair broke down in tears. "Oh God, we were arguing about college in the limosuine before it happened... out of no where..."

"But what happened to him?" I felt like I was going to faint.

"The doctors haven't told us yet. He's in surgery at the moment."

"In surgery?" No no no, this could not be happening. "Is he going to be alright?" I demanded.

Mrs Odair started to sob uncontrollably, and that was my answer.

I felt like I was going to throw up, and all I could do was let the phone drop from my hand as I sunk to the floor. I could barely breath, and the weight of what I had just heard was pressing down on my chest so hard I felt like I was suffocating.

Finnick was in a car accident. Right now, a stranger was operating on him, his whole life in his hands. His mother didn't know if he was going to be okay. If Finnick wasn't okay, I wasn't okay.

The worst thing was, it wasn't just one of my nightmares. I begged myself to wake up, maybe I really was asleep. But as I pinched at my skin and felt it sting, I knew I was awake and it was real.

As I prepared myself to go to the hospital, only one thought was running through my mind: Finnick couldn't die.

I willed myself not to have a flashback to my parent's death as I walked through the doors to the emergency room. It was no use though, and in moments I was back to that night 3 years ago, as I was taken out of the ambulance stunned and shocked, the images of my parents' lifeless bodies engraved in my mind.

I shook myself together, because I needed to be strong. Strong for Finnick, who was fighting for his life, and strong for his parents, who I found sitting in the waiting room with blank looks on their faces. They had a few cuts on their faces and arms, but other than that they were unhurt, and I just couldn't comprehend why Finnick hadn't been so lucky.

None of us said a word until Peeta arrived, looking completely pale. Immediately I jumped up to hug him, partly to reassure him but mostly for myself, because otherwise I was going to fall apart.

"Any news?" Peeta asked in a rough voice, as though he had been crying a lot.

Mr Odair shook his head. "He should be out of surgery soon."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Peeta continued.

With a far off look in his eyes, Mr Odair began to recount the accident to us. "The other car, it came out of nowhere. Ran straight through a red light and...slammed into the side of the limousine that Finnick was sitting on...It was all a blur, to be honest...but when I went to check on him..." Mr Odair choked up suddenly, "He was barely breathing..."

Suddenly I was back to the car accident that killed my parents. A dark night. Blurred lights of a car approaching. The sound of grinding metal and skidding ties. My mother's scream. Sirens in the distance. My shaking hands when I touched my parent's still faces...

I felt so faint I dropped back into the plastic waiting room chair, putting my hands over my ears in a desperate attempt not to totally loose my self in a flashback. I knew that Finnick was the only one who could talk me out of it, but he wasn't there.

Oh my God, Finnick wasn't there.

My mind was spiralling out of control when I heard the sound of running feet approach us. I looked up to see Katniss and Johanna rushing towards us, just as pale and terrified as I was sure I looked.

"Is he okay, what's going on?" Johanna demanded in an instance.

"He's in surgery." Peeta answered gravely. "We just have to wait it out."

Katniss sighed, and took a seat next to me. She reached for my hand and squeezed it tight, and for a moment it reassured me. I couldn't make myself speak though, and I had no idea what to say, so the four of us sat in silence for what felt like hours.

"What's taking so long, he's been in there for ages!" Johanna half yelled, breaking the silence and standing up from her chair. "I'm going to go speak to one of the doctors, make them tell us what's happening."

"It's no use, they won't tell us anything." Peeta said sadly.

"But we have to do something!' Johanna wailed. She started to pace back and forth in front of us, and it was making me feel a little motion sick.

"How about I go get some coffee then?" Peeta suggested. Despite everything that had happened, Peeta was still so nice and so thoughtful, and I was glad that he was there. Without his gentle demeanour, I'm sure the rest of us would have gone mad by now.

"That would be great, Peeta." I said softly, the first words I had spoken since arriving.

"Yeah, thanks Peeta." Johanna sighed, accepting that she just had to wait for the doctor to arrive.

"Would you like some coffee, Katniss?" Peeta asked politely.

"No, but thank you anyway." Katniss replied stiffly.

"You're welcome." Peeta spoke just as formally.

"Brrrrr!" Johanna exclaimed. "What happened between you two?"

Peeta looked at Johanna, then to Katniss, then back to Johanna, before sighing and walking away down the corridor. Once he had disappeared around the corner Katniss spoke up.

"We broke up." she said simply.

"You what?" Johanna's eyes widened in a state of disbelief.

Katniss shrugged, looking defeated. "We broke up."

"When?" Johanna asked. "Why?"

"It doesn't matter now." Katniss said dismissively. "It's not important, considering..."

Before Johanna could press the issue any further, Peeta returned with the coffees. Even though mine was scolding hot, I could barely feel it as I drank it quickly. With each moment that passed and we didn't hear any news of Finnick, I felt more and more numb.

Finally, a doctor arrived and we stood up quickly.

"Finnick is out of surgery and the internal bleeding has stopped." The doctor told us.

"Is he awake?" Mrs Odair asked, sounding faint.

"I'm afraid that the head injuries Finnick suffered were extensive, and to be safe he has been placed in an induced coma. "

"My son is in a coma?" Mr Odair spoke up, disbelieving.

"Will he be okay?" Mrs Odair started to tremble.

"Currently Finnick is stable, but he needs constant monitoring. We won't be able to tell the full extent of his injuries until he wake up."

"How long will that be?"

"Three weeks is the average duration, but it could be longer."

"Can we see him?" Tears started to roll down Mrs Odairs face.

"Of course."

I stood back and let Mr and Mrs Odair follow the doctor into Finnick's room. As much as I needed to see him, I knew that his parents needed to see him first. However, Mrs Odair stopped and turned back to me.

"Annie, aren't you coming?"

Surprised, I nodded and followed after them in silence. My heard was pounding when we reached the door, but I was sure it nearly stopped when it opened and I saw Finnick lying in his hospital bed.

Machines were beeping, lights were flashing, and tubes and wires were hooked up all over Finnick's head and chest. My tears began when I realised that those machines were the only things keeping Finnick alive.

I walked to him, and for a moment just looked at him. His hair was a mess, and I knew he wouldn't like to be seen like that, and his eye lids were gently closed, hiding the beautiful sea green colour of his eyes. He wasn't smiling, like he usually was, and it didn't look right. I reached out to touch his cheek, and it wasn't as warm as it had been when we last saw each other.

How long ago it seemed since he was in my apartment, and I still couldn't believe that it was really happening. I couldn't understand how it was possible for Finnick to have been so lively and happy only hours ago, and now so motionless and silent.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Mrs Odairs sobs, and I looked up to see both Mr and Mrs Odair in tears. I hadn't realised how much I was crying too, and the tears were streaming uncontrollably down my cheeks. I reached over and took Mrs Odair's hand in mine and she offered me a small smile. Despite what Finnick's parents had said to me in the past, I needed them just as much as they needed me in that moment.

As I looked back to Finnick lying in his hospital bed, I felt my whole world crumbling around me. It wasn't fair, that wasn't supposed to happen. My mind was screaming for him to wake up and be okay, but still he remained motionless.

I knew that Finnick had to get through it, he just had to.