Happy Friday evening update! I am EXHAUSTED today! It's been such an interesting week (I'll tell you about it in detail in the end note). But I have a question for everyone: do you guys want me to like make a blog or something so I can put up pictures of what Luna looks like or stuff? Let me know soon! On with the story...!
Chapter 13:
Lost and Found
I got up bright and early and tried to pack a backpack. Dad was rooting around and packing things. He was in frenzy-mode.
It was warm and humid inside and outside.
I went out to the lake and sat at the edge. I studied myself intently. I looked okay, a little bruised up. But not much physical damage was done to me.
"Hey." Finnick said joining me.
"When did you wake up?" I asked looking up from my reflection.
"Not long ago. Your dad said you went out here." Finnick said as I hiccupped. He laughed and I smiled.
"Why are you out here with me?" I asked Finnick. He didn't answer for a while, like he seemed to be mentally wording something. Like he didn't know how to respond to the question. I understand that I was insane, but he could tell me anything.
"You seemed lonely." Finnick said simply, sitting next to me. The sunrise warmed up the air and I looked at Finnick.
His bronze hair shone brilliantly in the sunrise and his cheeks were slightly blushed, like he ran here. His eyes sparkled happily and he seemed so easygoing.
"Finnick, I'm-." I said shaking my head slowly.
"Luna, you're worried. You are temporarily unnerved, but no one thinks you're a monster. So you need to stop thinking you are one. I still think you're beautiful even if I haven't plucked up the courage to ask you out, yet." Finnick said, seemingly saying too much.
I couldn't wrap my mind around all of what he just said. He said he thinks I'm beautiful even after having a mental breakdown and killing someone. If that's not love, I don't know what is. And he also just said he wants to ask me out. But that's the part I couldn't wrap my head around. So I just stuck with the things I could mentally handle.
"Finnick, my actions make me ugly, though." I said honestly. He should hate me or think the worst of me, but here he was: trying to make everything better.
"You did what you needed to." Finnick said, "Luna, you saved my life."
"Maybe I did. But I ruined other families." I said.
"But you saved your own." Finnick added.
"This argument goes both ways, Finnick. Maybe I'm gorgeous to some people; maybe I'm ugly to others." I said.
"You're actions are justifiable, though. You aren't at fault legally." Finnick said.
"I know that, but I'm a monster to everyone else." I said.
"Luna, you're not a monster. I told you, you aren't a monster. Even if you were a monster, you'd be my monster." Finnick said.
"So no one really thinks I'm at fault?" I asked.
"I think you blame yourself more than others do." Finnick said as I smiled. I was my biggest critic.
Finnick and I hung out for the rest of the day, but we got bored. We sat around.
"Hey Luna?" Finnick asked. I looked up and met his gaze. Everything blurred around me and I ended up on my back. Did I just pass out? No, I don't think so. Considering how Finnick pinned down, I think he knocked me over.
"What are you doing?" I asked giggling.
Finnick didn't answer. But instead, he put his lips on mine. I couldn't describe what just happened. My mind was in a frenzied state. But I think I liked it, heck I even kissed back.
"Luna, you are beautiful. You know that, right?" Finnick asked pulling away.
"So you keep on telling me." I muttered.
"I'm going to keep telling you until you believe it." Finnick said.
"You're going to be talking for a while then." I said as he got up and pulled me up.
He grabbed my hand.
"Let's head back." He said giving my hand a squeeze, "By the way, you're beautiful."
"Are you sure you want to do this now?" I asked ignoring his added statement.
"Absolutely." Finnick answered as I smiled.
We walked back inside the warehouse as everyone was packed up and heading out. Everyone looked at us.
"Luna's back." Maple said grinning and pulling me into a hug.
I didn't let go off Finnick's hand, but I gave her a one-armed hug back.
"I'm back." I said as Maple let me go and studied my face. I smiled and she hugged Finnick. Devin and Allie pulled me into a group hug. Mom smiled and dad and Annie laughed.
"Looks like I win the bet, Johanna." Gale said.
"You made bets on us?" Finnick asked.
"Sure, we made a bet on Maple and Jason too. I won that bet." Johanna said shrugging. I smiled and squeezed Finnick's hand.
"Well, let's head out everyone. We've got a long way to go." Mom said as we abandoned the warehouse.
Finnick and I walked behind everyone and we walked together into the woods. Everyone seemed to look back at us and I smiled.
"Your dad glances back here every 3 minutes." Finnick whispered in my ear as I laughed.
"Your mom is on an 8 minute schedule." I whispered to him.
"I think we need to stop for the night." Johanna said winking at me.
"Okay, I have a few questions for Finnick and Luna." Haymitch said pulling us aside. Finnick looked nervous and I shrugged.
"So, how long have you two been into each other?" Haymitch asked.
"I don't know. Forever?" Finnick asked as I grinned.
"How old are you both?" Haymitch asked.
"Umm... Grandpa, we're sixteen and seventeen. Not eight." I said.
"Well, nothing inappropriate happens until you're married. Deal?" Haymitch said.
"Are you giving me the sex talk?" I asked, thoroughly amused. Haymitch laughed.
"Gosh, no. I think you would know by now how that stuff works out. But I do not want you pregnant at sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen. Deal?" He asked.
"Okay, Haymitch. Here's our pitch: we're not thinking about that stuff now. We haven't been together that long. We only just mutually decided it a few hours ago. Officially, I haven't even asked her. We just decided to pick things up a bit. So, obviously, we aren't thinking that far ahead. Is it great if we make it there? Yes. But are we thinking about it at this very moment? No." Finnick said summing it up pretty easily.
"Great. As long as I don't become a great-grandpa anytime soon." Grandpa said hugging both of us.
"Not done yet, are you?" Dad asked coming out with Annie and mom.
I shot Finnick a look.
"I'll do the talking, if you don't want to." He whispered to me.
"Feel free. This is more your element than mine." I said.
"Well, you two? Care to explain?" Annie asked.
Finnick told her everything.
"Speaking of which," Finnick said, "Luna, I never really asked you." Finnick continued.
"You didn't have to." I said smiling.
"This is so romantic. He's going to ask her out!" Dad said, watching us like a soap opera.
"Would you do me the great pleasure of being my girlfriend?" Finnick asked.
"Stop using big words. Then, yes." I said grinning. Annie laughed and we turned to mom.
She was the hard one of the lot. I could see the gears grinding in her head. She looked between Finnick and me intently. She met Annie and Dad's gazes and nodded her head. She scrutinized her gaze on my face, and then on Finnick's. She turned her face back to me and I stared into her eyes. She was thinking long and hard about what she thought about all of this. But she seemed to be the person to please out of Annie and dad. It was like the decision relied on her thoughts alone.
As if. Even if she said no, Finnick and I would still find a way to work something out.
"You have my approval." Mom said. And then, she began to lay down the laws for us. No getting pregnant until marriage, no getting married unless we're 18 or older, no having one-night stands. Overall, no having one-night stands or anything gross like that until we're married. And no getting married until we're both 18 and ready.
"Mom, before you continue, I'd like to remind you that we're smart children. You trust a couple of thirteen-year olds more than us. We're not going to get married the minute I turn 18. Because, by then, Finnick will be six months away from 19. We're going to do the important stuff when we're older, if our relationship lasts that long." I said as she met my gaze. Mom seemed to think about what I was saying for a while. And she nodded.
"I'd say this is the safest option for now." Annie said.
"What does that mean?" Finnick asked.
"It means that we don't want our children to be single forever. Clearly, we're on Capitol territory. If they discovered Luna was single, it would be chaos and many men would- ugh. Same goes for you, Finnick." Mom said.
They supported us only because Capitol men would do something to me? Yikes.
"We were going to give you until tomorrow, anyway. We could hear the rumors stirring. But, if you two didn't get together by tomorrow, we were going to suggest a public relationship." Dad said.
"So the bet was if we would get together before you made us?" I asked.
"In a nutshell, yes. A few more technicalities." Dad answered.
"Like?" Finnick asked.
"Who asked who, ages, when, where. Basic stuff." Dad said. Finnick and I nodded.
"Peeta, come talk with me please? Luna, if you'd like to come, too." Finnick said. He was offering me to come along. But I had the difficult tasks and their names were Katniss and Annie.
"No, you go ahead. I'm going to talk with mom and Annie." I said as Finnick nodded and went off.
"Mom, you can trust Finnick completely." I said seeing her insecurities behind her eyes. She had a hard time trusting people, but I understood why.
"I know I can. But I don't know what I think." Mom said.
"Mom, for all of my life, people have been jerks to me. They modeled me from you and dad. That is great, but they modeled me to be just like you and dad and not an individual. I'm not charismatic, I fumble a lot, and I've seen people act like they weren't humane. People have called me 'Looney' and 'Moony' for years, now. I will admit, Finnick used to be some of those people, and I hated him. But mom, what I'm not good at Finnick is." I said as Annie smiled.
"And what would that be?" Mom asked.
"Well, if you haven't noticed, Finnick is quite handsome. And he sees the best in people; he's what made me feel almost the same after- yeah: the incident. And he's been trying effortlessly to teach me to use the trident, even though I'm positive it's futile. I've been teaching him archery, and he's not up to standards but that's okay. He makes me feel alright after someone was being a jerk to me." I said.
Mom studied my face.
"You underestimate your appearance. You got mostly my looks. But how much do you know about Finnick?" Mom asked.
"I know enough. His favorite color is blue because of my eyes and the water. His birthday is June 12th. He is smarter than he lets on. He respects dad more than anyone." I said.
"How do you know all that?" Annie asked.
"I've known Finnick for all of my life. I've learned about him. And that's why I don't hate him now. He used to drive me insane, but now we actually make an okay team." I said.
"Luna, I trust your decisions and I trust Finnick's decisions. I know Annie agrees with me when I say these are fragile times." Mom said. Here it comes, the: no-you-can't-be-happy talk.
"Actually, I was more on the lines of: in the fragile times, we need something to inspire us to keep going." Annie said grinning at me.
"Mom, you can trust me." I said.
"I know I can." She said.
"You can trust Finnick, too." I said.
"I know that, too." Mom said.
"Then, are we okay? Because this has to be the strangest talk we've ever had. And you, Annie, and Johanna taught Maple and I about stuff." I said as mom laughed.
"Yes, we're fine. And it looks like we're just in time." Mom said as dad and Finnick walked back laughing.
"How'd it go?" Finnick asked me.
"Strange. I'll tell you about it later." I promised as he nodded.
"Why don't you two go make sure we have everything packed?" Mom suggested as I nodded.
"I'll be right back." I said, remembering something.
"Thank you mom." I said hugging her.
"What for?" She asked.
"Trusting me on this one." I said.
She stroked my hair and sent me off. Finnick and I walked back in to double-check.
I collected a white backpack in the corner with a compass, some medicines, fruits, a blanket, and a knife in it.
"How'd it go?" Maple asked.
"Peachy." Finnick said grinning.
"For you. I had to talk to my mom and your mom. Your mom was the easygoing one." I said as Finnick smiled.
Everyone was waiting out.
"Ready to start walking?" Dad asked coming out of the woods.
"Yes, nothing was left. Let's go." Haymitch said.
Finnick, Maple, Jason, and I walked in a line. Devin and Allie walked behind us. Dad, Haymitch, and Gale was in front of us. And Annie, Johanna, and mom took behind Devin and Allie.
We walked for hours on end. I tripped over ten thousand logs! I groaned and the sun went down.
"Keep walking, everyone. We can make it for a few more hours." Mom said as I sighed. We continued walking until midnight.
"I think we can rest up, here." Annie said as I sat down against the base of a tree.
I took off my shoes quickly and saw a ton of friction blisters and a ton of gashes. I took one of my feet and started rubbing it. Maple took the other one and I sighed in relief.
Devin and dad passed out, Gale was getting there, Haymitch was talking about random things, Finnick was writing something in the dirt with a stick, and Jason held on to Maple's hand, mom fell asleep in a tree, Annie was watching us, Johanna was setting up a fire, and Ash was trying to get us to tell scary stories.
I put on my shoes- as much as my feet protested- and walked over to where Finnick was.
"What are you writing?" I asked.
"Nothing." Finnick answered with a grin.
I forget what happened next. I think we all went to bed and passed out.
I woke up and Finnick groaned.
"Time to wake up everyone! We have to keep moving!" Mom said.
"Finn, wake up." I said rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and shaking his shoulder. He sighed and I smiled.
"Morning, beautiful." He groaned with a smile.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." I responded as Maple laughed. I lightly patted his cheek and helped him up.
"We'd better go before mom starts screaming." I said as Finnick yawned and nodded.
So remember to answer the question in the pre-reading note! Was this one long enough or okay? Because I'm trying to make them at least 1500+ words. But what are your opinions on length? Also blog or polyvore, yes or no?
And here's how my week went:
Monday: I watched a scary ghost tv show and became terrified of leaving my bedroom. I texted my friend and she coaxed me out of my fear a bit.
Tuesday: I had to make dinner and I made pasta and meatballs. But I didn't boil the pasta for long enough and we ate crunchy pasta. Yucky.
Wednesday: Nothing really bad happened. We went out for ice cream and I got a vanilla cone, but the end of it had a hole or something and it leaked all over my lap! I went for my longest run yet and later that night, some guy tried to get 2 girls in his car. So I'm not allowed to go running on the path I ran...
Thursday: I was making Progresso soup for lunch and I cut my thumb open on the sharp lid thing. Ouchy...
Friday: I caught up on my chapters for HOH. Went out to dinner with my dad and sister. Got a salad (I am trying to be healthier). Not really bad, just really really boring!
I think that's about everything. Now you can understand why I am exhausted! Tomorrow we're going to an auction (it's actually sort of fun) and Sunday I'm hanging out in my uncle's pool all day!
I hope you all have a great weekend! Have a happy friday! Thanks for reading!
OHH! And I saw Monsters University! It was ADORABLE and HILARIOUS! I didn't think it would be that good since it was a sequel to an unbeatable first, but it really wasn't even a sequel. It was like a prologue to a great story. Such a good movie! I highly suggest you all go see it!
Now I think that's everything. Sorry for the extremely long AN's! Thanks for reading everyone!
-GirlonFire (thinking about Monsters University made me really happy)