Finally! An update! I've been so excited for the chapter but let me tell you why it wasn't up sooner... I was in Colorado on a mission trip! I'm sorry I forgot to give you guys warning, but I am alive! Updates will increase again! So sorry guys but we reached 300 reviews while I was there! Thank y'all so much!
TARDISRose : Oh my gosh! I am sorry if I caused any trouble... XD I'm glad you liked it!
smileywiley : I'm glad I am one of the first HG FF's you read and hope to set a good example! I'm glad you liked it!
MiaBelles : The trailer was so good! I love Finnick! Have you seen his sugar cube pic? I'm glad you liked their orgasm reaction.
Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades: Shall do! PM is going to come up!
Mikey Jacquez : Glad you liked it! I love writing Jo.
Anarchy Girl: Glad you liked the title. Thanks!
Axes trident sna: Glad you liked!
Izzy: I am very innocent and not too big on sex scenes. There will more than likely not be an alcohol, mostly because I have no personal experience with it and know pretty much nothing. (I'm not the kind of person to go to those parties and neither are my friends...)
TurtleThompson: I think it is blue actually... I'm not completely sure XD I wish I had said that!
pumpkinking5 : Lol heck yeah! I'm really glad you liked the Peeta and Katniss scene that was going on... :)
MewWinx96: I don't write porn. I am not a Fifty Shades of Gray author. No worries! The most sexual scene will probably be this chapter and it isn't too terribly sexual. No alcohol at Sonic either :) Go for it! Murder them! I will add that as a recipe! It sounds yummy!
HP-LotR-SW-HG : Aww thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
MeaganOneDirection: Glad to hear it! While I was in Colorado, I was at the 16th Street Mall while One Direction was there! I hope that doubley made your day :3
hungergamesgirl999 : Lol the girl I based Katniss off of (my best friend named Candice) uses Twilight Woods!
HungerGamesAddict3 : You shall see...
RunnergirlI : I like that idea! Sounds yummy!
Guest : No sex! Lol :)
TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites : Well, you shall see this chapter! I hope it doesn't disappoint.
Addicted2-Your-Story: I'm glad you're excited and I don't disappoint.
MahoganyMagic12: They are complete jerks!
FallenPetals712: I know right! Don't hate me after this chapter...
FallenPetals712: I'm glad you're having strong feelings about this...
Guest: Josh has a Libra tattoo on his wrist, but Finnick has an anchor on his hip...
Seraband: Glad you liked!
Seraband: I don't think I would eat a steel fish though...
Guest: I'm glad you like it!
Chapter 18- Everyone Can Cry
Gale
I am completely and utterly pissed off. I am the first to storm off and Annie is the first to cry. Katniss and Finnick are just too stunned to say anything. Only Jo seems to have a proper head. I go as far away as possible, running down the beach, past the cliffs, past the sight of Graceland, past everything. I see a beer bottle on the beach. I pick it up and throw it as far and hard as I can. I see the bottle shatter when it hits its destination. "Argh!"
Somehow, this is worse than the fact we are being sued because someone everyone knew is betraying us, no matter how much we didn't trust her in the first place. I don't know her but I know what it feels like to be betrayed. Mom did that to me. She did that to Rory and Vick. She never gave Posy a chance. She decided for us our life would be torture. I look up to the sky, my hands thrown up in anguish, and yell. "Why do their lives have to suck even more?"
I fall to my knees, letting the damp sand cover my jeans. I don't care. I feel arms come around me. They're smaller than mine, so I know they belong to a woman. Of course the only woman they would belong to is Johanna. "What?"
Johanna makes her way around me, finding herself in my lap. "You're not about to give up, are you handsome?" I shrug, not knowing what else to do. "You can't do that."
I look at her, inquisitively. "Why not?" She doesn't answer. I feel my hands become fists and the sand get crushed in my hands. "Why not, Johanna?"
She wipes away a tear I didn't know I was crying. I completely lose it. She just holds me in her arms as I let the severity of the situation really get to me. Everything is too awful to comprehend. "How do you do it, Jo?"
She looks at me with her beautiful brown eyes. "What do you mean? How do I do what?"
"Stay so strong? I always thought I was strong and yet I'm crying here on a beach because of someone I don't even know." Johanna shakes her head and holds me in her arms.
"I think that makes you strong, Gale. The fact you can cry. I haven't cried since I got to Graceland. I bury everything about me and just allow a mask to take over my face. Right now, I'm crying. You just cannot tell." She takes my right hand and places it over her heart. "Gale, it is beating too fast to be normal. My heart has got to be crying, hasn't it?" She lets out a sigh and drops my hand, crawls out of my lap and sits on the sand. "Imagine me, being romantic, emotional and corny. I hate it." I let a small grin come across my face.
Johanna starts to get up to walk away but I grab her hand and pull her back down to my level. "Jo, can't we just stay like this?"
"Just stay like what?" There is a flirtatious smirk on her face and she intertwines her fingers with mine.
I take her face with my free hand and cup it with all her beauty. I then lean in and got lost in the feeling of my lips on hers. Her lips are soft and form to mine perfectly. I place my tongue on her lips, asking her to allow myself into her. She opens her lips slightly and I let my tongue explore her mouth. I can taste the cake on her breath, but I can also taste something strong and sweet, which must be what Johanna tastes like. It is a pleasant taste. She wraps her arms around my neck and she pushes me down. I can feel her warmth pressed against my body. I run my hands through her hair, letting them go lower, caressing her neck, shoulder blades, her back, letting myself feel each vertebra as I trace her back, and finally reach the end of her shirt. I start to pull it up, let my hands feel her skin when I remember Rory and Prim. I stop caressing Johanna and pull away. "What's wrong?" Her voice tickles my ear, sounding confident, and hurt at the same time.
I look into her eyes. "I yelled at my brother for making out with Prim. I'm doing what I taught him not to do."
Johanna has the all too familiar smirk on her face. "Your brother is twelve. There is a reason he shouldn't be making out with girls, especially not Prim. They are too young to know what they want."
I pull her close, to where we are sharing our warmth. "What do you want?"
She presses her lips up to mine in a romantic and soft gesture. "I want you."
I cannot stop the smile from crossing my face and let myself kiss her even more. If there was a way for a kiss to be perfect, this would be it. Still, the next words I mutter catch me by surprise. "I think love you."
These words catch Johanna off guard too, yet, despite the suddenness of it all, we are still perfect. "I think I love you too, Gale."
I let my lips crash back onto hers, letting myself become consumed by the fact Jo is with me, perfectly and wonderfully Jo. She and I both know good things must end, but that doesn't mean they are done forever. We walk back to Graceland hand in hand and see Finnick comforting a crying Annie right where the waves meet the sand. We walk past them, assuming they are still stressed out over the mess with Coin. Peeta and Katniss are talking in hushed whispers on the back porch. We don't listen in to them either. I wish I did though when I see the woman of ice standing in front of Johanna and I. When we see Annie's mom.
Finnick
Anger is the first thing I feel. I feel anger for being betrayed by a teacher. A teacher is someone a student should be able to go to during the hardships in their life. They shouldn't cause the hardships. The only time I've been this angry at a teacher was freshman year, when Annie and I were in orchestra. Her and I both played the cello and because she was the only female cellist in our class, the teacher had his hands all over her. She was terrified to go anywhere alone with him. We dropped the class at semester and took PE instead. He was fired at the end of the year.
Still, the fury I had for him pales in the anger I have for Ms. Coin. She had five out of the six of us in her class. It angers me she would betray us like that. I hear Gale storm off and hear Johanna follow him at a slower pace. I hear Katniss' breathing as she takes in what Peeta said, and I see him consoling her in hushed whispers. The loudest noise and the one that wrenches my heart is the noise closest to me. Annie.
She is sniffling, letting hot, salty tears roll down her beautiful face. I pull her close to me and press her body to mine. "Hey, it'll be alright."
She sniffs once again. "How do you know, Finnick? How!" I press my lips to her in a soft, comforting way. She kisses me back softly.
When she pulls away, I place my arms around her in a way to where she is even closer to me than she was before. "Annie, I promise I will always protect you. Nothing will hurt you while I'm here for you."
Annie nods and I pick her up, twisting her around so I am giving her a piggy back ride. I reach my head over my shoulder and peck her lips with mine. "I love you."
A smile comes across her face. "I love you too, Finnick."
I carry her back to the house, letting smiles come across our faces. We should ignore the terror of Coin for now. We will win in court. We have to. We go upstairs and sit down on the couch, turning on the television, letting television consume us. We don't bother to change the channel. Captain America is on and Annie loves most things about superheroes. The only superhero she doesn't like is Batman, and that is because of personal experience, not because she doesn't like the story.
We jump when we hear a knock on the wall. It's Haymitch who is looking extremely concerned, an act that is out of character for him. I look up at him. "What's wrong, Haymitch?"
He looks away from my eyes, he glance lingering slightly on Annie as he turns his attention to the floor. "Annie needs to come downstairs."
Her head snaps up and I can feel her heartbeat increase. I know mine is too. "What's wrong, Haymitch?" Her voice is shaking and her breaths are weak.
Haymitch looks at me. "You better come too, Finnick."
We get off the couch and I intertwine my hand with hers. Haymitch makes his way down the stairs, but I stop at the top and look her in the eyes. "Whatever happens, I love you."
"Promise me you will stay with me." She is trying to not cry.
I kiss her eyelids and her lips and look at her once again. "I promise, Annie. I promise whatever happens, I will be with you."
We make our way down the stairs slowly. Annie is running her fingers through her hair with the hand that isn't connected to mine. My other hand is resting in a fist beside me.
We can hear Effie sniffling and we can see her holding a tissue to her eye. There is a man, a dark haired, strong and cold looking one, looking at the staircase, looking at us. "Annie Cresta?" Annie tenses and nods. "Please sit down. Your friend can join us."
We sit next to one another on the loveseat, her legs tucked neatly underneath her and her head resting on my shoulder. Our hands are knotted and sit neatly in my lap. "Annie Cresta, I have done investigating on your mother," I hear Annie gasp. I do too. We both know where this is going. "We have looked at her daily life and have looked at her home. It has been decided it is appropriate for you to return to her." The front door opens and Annie's mother steps in. "On January first, you will be leaving this foster home and will be taken to your mother's home."
Annie is crying and I am holding her, letting her tears leak into my shirt. I know what everyone is wondering, and let myself ask the question. "Where does her mother live?"
The woman cracks a smile, as if this will be fun to see the reaction. "I live in Breckenridge, Colorado."
Annie cries even more. I have heard of that place. It is a pretty tourist town and would be a wonderful place for most people to live. Except Annie. In the summer the town can be forty degrees and plunge into freezing temperatures in the winter. It is not a place for a girl like Annie to live. Annie belongs where ninety degrees is cool during the summer and one hundred is as lovely weather as it comes. She needs to be where the water is filled with colorful fish and clams where pearls can be found, where the sting of salt is a constant. She needs to stay here with me.
I cannot stop the tears from flowing down my face. I take her hand and walk her back outside. We let ourselves sit in our clothes where the water meets the sand and where worries can be pretended to be washed away. Worries like Coin can be washed away here. This one can't. She is crying and Peeta and Katniss are standing on the porch, looking at us. They guessed what happened. Gale and Johanna walk back to the house. They will know what happened soon enough. They will know that Annie is about to go through the worst time of her life.
The orchestra story is a true story of what happened to me my freshman year... Just so y'all know where that came from...
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-Juliet