A/N: So this is going to be the last chapter. I really hope that you enjoyed reading this. Thanks for all the positive support!
Time seems to pass by quickly. I begin teaching more frequently and trying to help as many people as I can. I spend more time with Dad and Adrienne, and even buy things for Dahlia. I hang out with Annie way more than necessary. I don't like lying to her, but it seems justifiable. I'm protecting her. One Saturday morning, we're sitting at the beach. We stayed up all night, just watching the waves.
"You know, one day, I'd like to get on a boat and just go. I don't know where though." She says quietly, her head leaning on my shoulder. "I mean I could go anywhere with you and it'd be amazing."
"Hey, Annie?" I ask her, sounding shy for probably the first time in years. "Can I do something?" She nods, and before I stop myself, I kiss her. It's nothing big, just a little more than a peck. But her lips feel so right on mine and we fit together like pieces of a puzzle. I'm seventeen years old and she's two years younger but it seems okay. She's been a part of my life forever and it just feels right. She pulls away and just smiles at me, her eyes lighting up.
"I was wondering when you were finally going to do that." She laughs. "We have a lot of missed opportunities to catch up on."
I insist on going slow with her. We don't do any more than kiss for a very long time. On her sixteenth birthday, only a few days before the next games, she really wants to, so the two of us take advantage of the fact that I live alone. I didn't want to for the longest time. Sleeping with people is what I do in the Capitol, where I'm all a big joke of an over-exaggerated flirt. Why would I want to get Annie involved? But it's her, and I'd do anything for her. I mean, I already have.
That night, we make love.
The first time I see Johanna, she notices the change in me right away. "Finnick. You're in looove," she teases me. We spend time with the newbie Gloss, who really is kind of funny. I like him. His little sister Cashmere volunteered, and Johanna shows him the ropes. It's his best chance of bringing her home.
I don't know when it happens, but I get too wrapped up in being in this state of bliss. It's only one client, but she's important and rich. I don't even notice I do it, but in the heat of the moment I say her name, Annie's name. The woman doesn't notice anything, but if she does, she doesn't say anything. I think I'm fine.
But it happens again. It happens three more times. President Snow doesn't say anything to me, and there's no apparent threat. I don't realize that he's been planning, plotting.
It doesn't get back to me, until two years later. Cashmere's won, and then after a boy from District Ten who just lasted the longest without food. But when Ariel steps up to that platform, I get this feeling in my gut that things aren't going to work out for me.
She gives the speech, and reaches her hand in the bowl a few times, before clearing her throat and reading out, as clear as day. "Annie Cresta."
And that's when everything ends.
A/N: Thanks again for everyone who read this at all. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this!