I was going to make this chapter longer, but I didn't like pairing it up with anything else. So this is fluff... again, but kind of important fluff that might be referenced later if my outline works out. And I'm sorry this story is so long, but the chapters are ridiculously short which throws everything off! haha but I do plan on going through the third book, so if my math is correct, which it may not be since I'm an English person, there should be about maybe ten more chapters left...so thanks for hanging in there and for reading! Enjoy!

Bruises: Death Cab for Cutie.

Finnick changed from his costume to boxer shorts, which were surprisingly more flattering and then walked into my room. He didn't hesitate or stop, he simply climbed into bed with me, not considering consequences or dangers or rumors. He kissed me again and again. Our kissing became rushed and soon the spaces between us were closed off. I wanted more of him, but there was a lingering question in my mind. "What do you say to them when you do this?"

Finnick understood, "I try not to talk to them." He said between kisses. His hands cradled me, and then he pulled me on top of him.

I pulled my lips away from his. "But when you have to?" I asked, resting on my forearm. I was hovering over him, my hair draped over his shoulder, my eyes staring into his.

He smirked, "Annie…is now really the time?" He whispered in my ear, hooking his hand around my jaw, reaching up to kiss me on the neck.

I rolled away from him. "I just want to know." I said to the ceiling.

Finnick sat up, propping himself up on his elbow, "I tell them how nice their homes are." He said, watching me.

I mimicked his stance, resting my chin in my palm, lying on my side. "You don't even compliment them?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged and then fell back against the pillows, "Only if I have to."

"I know you flirt with them," I reached for his hand, "You have to win their hearts somehow." I said, twisting his calloused hand around in mine.

He smiled, closing his eyes and then reached out to my face with his free hand. "I am nothing with them compared to how I am with you. I would rather spend one day with you than my whole life elsewhere."

I grinned at his lovely soliloquy. "That was beautiful, but it's still in the back of my mind," I whispered, falling against pillows myself.

Finnick frowned as we both stayed there, watching the high white ceiling of my Capitol bedroom. "I tell them silly things, awful things, thoughtless things," He said, his deep voice interrupting the eerie quiet. "And then I let them return the favor. I'm a sounding board to them Ann, that's all," He said hoarsely. His right hand reached around to my left, intertwining our fingers, pressing his palm to mine.

"What would you tell me?" I let my curiosities control our conversation. Strangely, we never spoke on topics like this. We avoided them, but tonight I couldn't think of anything else.

The mattress shifting surprised me. He rolled to his side, watching me and then letting a small smile cross his lips. "How beautiful you are," He started, allowing his fingers to brush through my hair and then wrap around the back of my neck. His touch made me shiver, "How happy you make me." He inched closer, "How stupid you are for choosing some Capitol made monster." He watched me with a sullen expression, eyes windows to his swarming thoughts.

I wanted to see his smile. "Well, that's an interesting way to get my attention," I beamed, kissing him on the nose. He didn't respond. "Finnick, you're not a monster. Not to me." I told him letting my fingers run through his hair. "Even so, you're a monster, I've lost my mind…it still works out for us either way." He smiled at that, but for a short period. Then we fell back into silence. He hated this subject the most. It bothered him, my questions. But he would always answer them. "Do you stay with them long?" My whisper almost sounded foreign to me, weakness dripped from voice. It was obvious the pain his answer would cause.

But he answered right away, casually. "For some time…but once I leave I don't go back." He became more serious. "They always ask though, but I only promised one person I'd come back to them." He said, with a smile that reminded me of the night I fell in love with him.

"They like you a lot." I told him.

His eyes searched my face with a look of concern, but he had no questions to ask. "I never cared for their attention," He reassured me, then he smiled, "They like you a lot too, you know." It was a sad smile, envious even.

I scoffed, "Of course, I'm the funny little side show." I said, facing the ceiling again. I looked at my own hands, burned by ropes, bruised by punches thrown in fits of sleep. I was slowly becoming what they wanted.

Finnick chuckled, in his Capitol tone he purred, "Oh Cresta, please…your sense of humor is pathetic, you're not funny in any way." I laughed, pulling my knees to my chest and curling into a ball beside him.

I stared at him in the dark. "Really, and you think you can outdo me when it comes to being the disgrace of Panem, do you Odair?" I asked with a smirk.

He grinned and replied in the haughty voice I remember from when we were young, "I'm superior, remember?" And suddenly his smile began to fade. "A superior slave. Damn it." He breathed, rubbing his palms into his eyes.

I grabbed his hands, wrapping them in my own, "Stop it," I breathed quietly, sympathetically.

Finnick's hands balled into fists. "Annie, I hate this. I hate that I can't have you." His quiet voice was filled with anger.

I draped myself over him, "You can have me." I told him, letting my hands graze over his face.

But he squirmed out of my reach, "No. Not without their sick whispers in my head," He growled quietly, sitting up and putting his hands to his ears. "I'm a whore. A Capitol whore. Another weakling pig to add to the city of sickos, freak sideshows, and scandals!" He ranted, louder than I think he intended.

I sat up with him, "I didn't realize survival and sacrifices made someone weak." We sat, face to face, legs crossed, restless hands twisting the sheets.

Finnick shook his head, placing his head in his hands. "Don't make me the hero Ann. That's the Capitol's job, to turn an arrogant killer into a hero."

I took his hands again. "No. The Capitol turned you into an object, not a hero." I said as he looked up at me, "But Finn, you saved me on more accounts than you know." I smiled sadly, kissing the calloused hands I held captive. His bruises were worsening. Ugly blue and purple welts covered his golden arms.

He smiled, escaping my grip, "You're so pure, so innocent, so good." He said, wrapping his hands around my face.

Finnick pulled me into his chest. I could hear his heart beat. "Your heart's still here Finn," I whispered. "You can't scare me."

He chuckled lightly, "You scare me." He said softly, "Who would have thought the boy with the trident would be terrified of the girl in the nets?"

"Sometimes being trapped is more of a threat than meeting death," I muttered into his chest. The sweet smell of cologne and salt water lulled me to sleep. After that night, I never asked questions about those women again. I refused to accuse him of being a monster, and I hoped that after that night we could heal in the short amount of time we had. We didn't. In his eyes, he was still a monster. In the world's eyes, I was still crazy. And in my eyes…the bruises were getting worse. We were cheating death, and as it played, the cheat cost more than the kill itself.