Annie Cresta

Haymitch finally decided to come over and say a few words to me. He smelt like strong liquor and sweat. Would this become of me? Would I drink my sorrows? I felt bad for Haymitch, he was the only living victor in District 12. He must be very lonely. Even I felt lonely sometimes, even though I was surrounded by victors.

"Congratulations." He muttered. "You survived. Now you must spend the rest of your life watching your back because they're always watching."

I was shocked at his boldness. I knew that Capitol would be watching me and probably watching him. They could be listening into the conversation right now.

"Surely I don't know what you're talking about." I said.

"Mhm..." Haymitch grumbled and eyed me.

At that moment I decided I didn't really like him, I wasn't trying to be rude. He might be a nice person when he isn't all liquored up. Maybe he just wasn't a nice man to get along with.

The night seemed to be going long and I was tempted to start drinking too.

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That night after I showered and became my less glamorous self. I padded barefoot to Finnick's room. My hair was wet and curled and tickled my bare arms. The wooden door opened before I could even knock.

My breath caught when I saw Finnick standing at the door, his bronze hair was freshly washed and dangled limply at his temples. He truly was breathtaking, but that wasn't the only reason why I was so found of him. He smiled when he saw me and leaned forward for a brief second I thought he was going to kiss me, which caused my heart to speed up. But he rested his chin on my head and looked left and right to make sure nobody was around in the hallway. When nobody showed their faces he dragged me into his bedroom and shut the door. My back pressed up against the door. Finnick's face was directly in front of mine.

"You did a great job tonight." He breathed into my face.

"T-thanks." I muttered and tried to keep my breathing controlled.

His fingers softly trailed on the corners of my mouth, he was handling me like I was glass, like I could break any minute. The expression on his face was mesmerized and hungry.

I didn't want him to be gently with me, so I tugged on his shoulders and brought his mouth roughly against mine. His lips were surprisingly smooth and they left my mouth. I frowned because I liked the feeling of him lips on mine but they came down on my nose and cheekbones. He trailed soft kisses like butterflies across my face it lead down on my jawline, my chin and then to the sensitive skin on my neck. I gripped the soft material of his shirt and pulled him as close as I could.

His long eyelashes fluttered against my chin as he pulled away. Finnick was breathing heavily. I felt normal with Finnick, even better than normal. He… he kept me sane. He was like my anchor or maybe lifejacket, either why he was keeping me steady or afloat. He didn't let me drift too far into the past. Instead he kept me in the present and he let me think I had a chance in the future.

I went over to his bed and sat down. The sheets and blankets were the color and fabric as mine, but it felt different. Maybe it was because I was with Finnick, because I wasn't alone.

Finnick came down beside me and laid on his side staring at me. One arm propped him up and his feet were resting casually near my legs. He wasn't even that close to me but it still made my breathing hitched.

"Sometimes I wonder if the games are fixed." Finnick muttered.

I was sort of surprised by his choice of words. "Finnick…" I whispered "The Capitol could be-,"

"I don't really care anymore. I don't think they would kill my family. I had some… secrets about the Capitol that they wouldn't want to be gossiped around." He said darkly.

I had never seen Finnick like that before, so I decided to change the subject "Why do you think the games are fixed?" I laid down beside him, his breath his my face and rustled my hair slightly.

His gaze turned towards me. "I think they knew that if they reaped you, I eventually would like you. Befriend you, and care for you like I do now." His hand caressed my face. "I shouldn't be having these feelings toward you. I should… I should be pushing you away, and not endangering you and your grandpa and my family."

I grabbed his hand and circled my thumb on his palm "Well I'm glad you do, because I do too. But don't worry about me and my grandfather, I think we both knew we were in danger the moment I screamed at the interviews."

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That night I stayed in his room. His arms circled around me and he pulled me against him protectively. Our legs were tangled together and one of mine was falling asleep, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

Finally I fell asleep and I dreamt…

First it was a happy dream with me in Finnick's arms. One of his hands was placed on my hip and my torso was twisted to meet his gaze. But that was when I noticed where we were. Behind his shoulder I saw the leafy trees and rocky terrain and I knew I was back. I started to scream loudly trying to push myself away from and bring him with me to run but Finnick would budge, it was like he was made out of stone.

"Finnick. Let go!" I said urgently, I clawed at his wrist.

"No." He said softly "This is where we make out final stand my love."

"What are you,-"I got caught off by the earth shaking and I fell onto the ground. Finnick fell painfully on top of me. I expected him to get off quickly and apologize because that was the sort of man he was, but he didn't. He dug his elbows into the dirt and put his full weight on me. I wheezed and shrieked. "Stop it! Finnick! STOP!"

I could hear a large body of water rushing towards us. The water surrounded us and swallowed us whole. It was painfully cold and pitch black, I couldn't breathe.

The last thing I saw was Finnick's face, looking ghost pale of the roars of the ocean grinningly evilly.

I woke up screaming and gasping for breaths. It was just a dream, an evil scary dream. I sobbed and wailed loudly. I felt someone pat my back and I immediately slapped it away. Why was it still dark?! I'm blind?!

"Annie! Open your eyes! You were just dreaming." I did what the angelic voice told me to do.

Finnick sat in front of me and he desperately clung to the damp green t-shirt I wore. "Sh." He brought me close to his chest and I could hear the steady thud of his heartbeat. I couldn't stop crying though. Finnick would whisper soothing things and rub my back, he did that sometimes, whenever he wasn't at the Capitol he sometimes would stay at my house, my father was very reluctant at first so Finnick would sneak in, we would never do anything just sleep and he would comfort me, bringing me out of my nightmares. The sound of his voice usually calmed me.

"What was your dream about?" He asked almost in a causal manner. I laid on his chest and he was sprawled out on the bed, the blanket half covered his naked chest. His muscular chest was wet thanks to my tears.

"I don't really want to tell you." I mumbled. He would feel guilty even though it was my dream and he might not even touch my thinking that I would fear him.

"I don't want to force you, but what was it?"

I closed my eyes "It was just something to do with my games."

"Where were you calling my name then? You were kept yelling stop in your sleep."

I sighed "It was… uh you were just in my games. At the time it seemed scary. I'm sorry for scary you."

"I'm sorry they did this to you." Finnick said squeezing my hand.

"Do you ever have nightmares?" I asked him, his hand left mine and went to my hair and he started to stroke it.

"Yes, I like to think they're not as bad anymore, I was once scared to face slumber because I didn't have the courage to face my nightmares, to face the truth."

"And that is?" I asked, but to be honest I was sort of scared to know.

"That I killed people." His voice shook, "I'm a murder."

"I have killed people too." I whispered "With my bare hands."

Finnick shook his head "You make yourself sound like this brutal killer. You aren't and you never will be. Besides my games weren't like yours. I pretty much hunted down half of the tributes because I knew I wanted to go home and I would do anything to get it."

A long time passes and I wasn't sure if he fell asleep, so I whispered "Sometimes I can't tell what's real or not real, or even if I'm right or wrong." I sort of hoped he didn't hear what I said.

"Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear." Finnick whispered, his breathing tells me that he is half asleep.

Even though he is probably half asleep and won't remember that in the morning the 'my dear' part made me smile and those words alone made my heart pump faster.

Those words gave me hope.

….

I hope the romance sounds… right lol. I myself have never been in love, but I have read about it ha-ha, it's not the same but whatever. To be honest the "Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear" part came from a song by 'Of Monsters & Men' the song is called 'Little Talks' and I am currently loving the band at that song so feel free to check it out (if you want to and if you like that genre of music ha-ha)

Sorry for the sort of lateness, I was rereading (for like the 10th time!) just because I am doing both of their perspectives throughout the Quarter Quell and later into Mockingkay so yes. Woah this is going to be a pretty long story thank you for sticking with me