Author's Note: Sorry, yet another short chapter but there are more Annie/Finn moments in it. Chapter twelve will be posted up soon, most likely tomorrow some time.
Please enjoy.

Chapter Eleven

I wake up early the next morning, once more pinned to the bed by Finnick's comfortable weight. I lay beneath him, content not to move, simply letting my thoughts drift across my mind.

Today they'll be coaching us for our interviews tomorrow night.

I feel a little bundle of nerves begin to form in my belly when I think of the interview but I ignore it. Out of everything that I'm going to face because of these Games, the interview with Caesar Flickerman is the least scary. Or at least, it should be.

My stomach rolls and I remember that there is actually another reason as to why I might be feeling ill this morning. The baby.

How could I have forgotten about my child? My own child? Finnick's child?

It's just that, after my interview with Snow, I haven't been able to bear thinking about the little human being growing inside of me, so… I haven't been, to save myself from further pain.

I run a hand over my belly, feeling the ever so slight swell of it and sigh.

I'm sorry Baby. I'm sorry that Mummy hasn't been a great mother to you. You're not even born yet and I'm already messing up, forgetting about you and everything.

Finnick stirred against me, opening one blurry eye as he took in the morning and me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, running a finger down the side of my face. I kissed it as it passes over my lips.

"Nothing. Just thinking about my interview." Which was partially true.

"Ah." He said, "You'll be fine. Just smile and look pretty." He says but he sounds a tad bitter. "or maybe I'll speak to Eyria and ask her to make you look horrible."

I laugh.

"I'm serious." He insists but he's grinning and kissing my mouth gently. We kiss for a few moments before I start pushing him away.

"I need to get up and get ready and you need to disappear back to your room before anyone comes asking questions." I say as I roll away from him and out of bed, tugging on my sleeping shirt that falls to my thighs as I go. Finnick muttered something that sounds a lot like 'spoilsport' when I do this, but he rolls out of bed after me, pulling on his shorts.

He kisses me soundly before leaving my room. I smiled a small silly smile as I went and had my shower.

I managed to get some control over myself during my shower so by the time I was heading for the dinning room for breakfast; my face was no longer screaming that I was undyingly happy about something. I didn't want to be question about my good mood, though I guess everyone might just put it down to my still being pleased over my incredibly high score.

During breakfast, Marlin quickly goes over what to expect during our interviews and about what we'd be coached on today to prepare us.

I ate and listened half-heartedly to what he was saying. Merle wasn't paying any attention at all, too torn was he between trying to stay awake and eat his breakfast.

After breakfast Grandma, Coral and I headed back to my room where we're joined five minutes later by Eyria, who is carrying her sketch pad under her arm and smiling at me widely.

"Morning." She greets us cheerily. I greet her just as cheerily back until I see that she is pulling out a full-length gown out of my closet – I didn't even know it was even in there – and a pair of high-heeled shoes.

She dressed me up in the gown and shoes and plays with my hair until it's half in a bun with ringlets cascading from it before then informing me that she wants me to walk.

"You have to be joking." I spluttered when I look down at the heels that are strapped to my feet. The heel is several inches high and the only thing holding the damn "shoe" to my feet is a ribbon, knotted strategically around my calf.

I shoot Grandma a 'help me' look, but she simply smiles and gestures for me to do as Eyria says.

I wobble around in the heels for maybe an hour before I've finally learnt to master a short, straight walk that I can manage to do while my head held high and not looking down at my feet. Then I'm taught to sit correctly while wearing the gown, how my posture should be while sitting or standing. Eye contact was a big issue for awhile there, since I have a tendency to look away from whomever I'm talking to, look at my hands or at the wall behind them. Its nerves and my own shyness.

I can count on one hand the number of people I can look in the eyes of while I'm talking to them and those two are here in the Capital with me.

The only thing I seem to get right straight up is smiling. I can smile a sweet, pretty smile even when I'm a bundle of nerves inside.

Once Coral and Eyria see that I can smile this smile every time they ask, they are delighted and say that my smile will be my saving grace during the interview. I'm sure they mean that in a nice way.

By the time lunch rolls around Coral and Eyria are more or less happy with me, but they tell me that they want me to smile as much as possible; I seem to keep eye contact better when I'm smiling. I promise that I will and head for lunch, kicking off my high-heels into my closet as I pass it. Out of the corner of my eye I see Coral and Eyria wince as they listen to the thud that both heels make as they hit the closet wall, but since my grandmother is trying to smother a smile, I guess I'm not in too much trouble.

I walked into the dinning room, immediately seeing that Merle looks like he's in a foul mood over something, while Finnick looks like he's trying very, very hard not to laugh with several of the other Victor's shooting him exasperated looks.

I want to ask want has happen, but refrain from doing so. If only to keep my head from being chewed off by Merle.

After lunch, I was taken into the sitting room, where I sit on one of the couches opposite to where Finnick, Coral and Grandma sit. They all look me up and down, before talking quietly to each other. After a few minutes of this, I start to slouch into the couch, feeling bored and invisible.

"Annie." Grandma says quite suddenly and I look up from where I had been playing with my seashell necklace, to her and her exasperated look. Finnick looks like he's trying not to laugh again.

"Well?" I ask sounding and feeling a tad impatient. Coral and Finnick look at each other before Coral spoke.

"We're just trying to think of what to do with you." Coral explains and I feel my face immediately snap into a frown.

"Smile Annie." Coral commands before continuing, "What I mean is, how we're going to present you to the audience during your interview. What angle you'll play during it. Charming? Fierce?" I pull a face. "Sexy?" I cringe away from that and Finnick laughs silently by Coral side.

I peg a cushion at him, which he annoyingly catches and throws back at me. I aim it once more at his head, but Coral's shrill voice stops me.

"Stop it, both of you. Finnick!" She gave him an exasperated look, "if you're going to be nothing more than a distraction, then get lost."

"Do you find me distracting?" he asked teasingly, a slight purr to his voice. I glare at him while Coral grabs a cushion herself and smacks it against his grinning face.

Grandma heaves a great sigh and says that she needs a cup of tea. She sends Finnick and me a look that clearly read that we were to behave ourselves.

"What's Merle's angle? Am I allowed to know?" I ask Finnick, hoping to pacify Coral who looks ready to strangle Finnick and me by being serious.

However Finnick obviously has other things on mind because he just starts laughing again.

"Finnick!" Coral snaps and Finnick forces himself to gain some control over his laughter.

"Ah, sorry. Um, he was trying to go for likeable but it came out somewhat more comical than he meant it to be." Finnick finished sniggering again.

"So what angle is he actually going with?" Coral asked.

"Um, oh confident. They wanted him to try and be like me, during my interview for my games but that proved to be impossible for him so he's going with more Trouts approach. Being a confident ass." He chuckles.

"You didn't say that to his face, did you?" Coral demanded. Finnick simply grinned at her and she sighed.

"You're going to get punched again." She says and I look at him wildly. Punched, again?

"I actually dodged his punch, if you do remember." Finnick replied back easily, lounging out on the couch.

"Who punched you? Or tried to?" I demanded.

"Uh, Trout." Finnick informed me with a shrug. "We didn't get along during his games."

"And you do now?" Coral and I both ask as one and he simply smiles back at us.

"Alright, enough already. Come on, back to business." Coral says after a couple of moments. She gives Finnick a warning look to behave and not distract me, before she turned back to me.

"Alright Annie, I want you to pretend that Finnick and I are the audience. Alright, go."

I did try. I honestly did. But I've never been one who was any good at talking to a crowd. Speeches at school, at school assemblies? Forget it.

The last time I made a speech a school, I ran out half way through it and hid down by the rock pools, in this little rocky cave that is my hiding place when I want to be alone. It was hours before I came out and the only reason that I did was because I heard Finnick calling me.

"Annie, eye contact." Coral groaned after what had felt like hours of being asked question after stupid question. "And you're mumbling. I can barely hear what you're saying."

I think of several fairly nasty things to reply to that with but I keep quiet, staring sullenly down at my bare feet.

"Coral, why don't you take a break and I'll try for a bit." Finnick offered suddenly. He's kept quiet for a huge chuck of this stupid process.

Instead of arguing as I thought she would, Coral simply stood up, giving him a look that clearly read 'she's all yours' before stalking out of the room.

I glare half-heartedly after her as she leaves.

Finnick moves over to sit by me, taking hold of one of my hands and stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"I thought you said you were going to try." He says softly.

"I am trying. I'm just not good at speaking. I'm not like you, with your words and smiles and having everyone follow you around, doing everything that you say, believing every word that you speak." I grumble while he chuckles.

"It's true." I insist and he laughs some more. "Plus why do I even want to talk to these people, look them in the eye, be nice to them, praise them and their city. Why do I want to answer questions that are all about me?"

"Sponsors." He says and it's the only reason he gives. "You want Sponsors and to get them, you need to win them over. You need to get them to like you, make them like you so much that they want you to win, make them want to help you win."

"But I…" I start but he holds out his hand and shakes his head.

"They don't care Annie. They don't give a damn that you don't want to talk to them, that you hate them with every being in your body. All they care about is if you can win them lots of money and fame and so on if they choose to sponsor you. That's all they care about. And really, that's all you want them to care about. Make them want to sponsor you, Annie. Make them want you to win."

I look at him and he looks straight back at me, right in my eyes.

"Will you be there?" I asked softly and he smiles, cupping my left cheek with his hand.

"Of course. I'll be right there in the front row." He smiles and I smile back, before biting down hard upon my bottom lip and closing my eyes.

"Annie?" I'm in his arms and he is rocky me against him.

"Only two more days to go." I whisper and he tenses before his grip on me tightens. I don't know how long we stay like this, hours I think, before we are called for dinner.

When Marlin asks how everything went, Finnick lies and says everything went fine and I was right to go, that my interview with Caesar would be fantastic and memorable.

I don't say anything, simply staring down at my plate, thinking over and over again, two more days to go.

Two more days to go.

Author's Note: And so the count down for the Games begins. Next Chapter will be Annie's interview with Caesar, plus... some of the stuff but you'll just have to wait and read about all that.
Thanks for reading and reviews and favourites are deeply appreciated and loved.