CHAPTER NINETEEN
When we get off at the train station in Four, having since thrown my heels off, I am running towards my father. He is standing with open arms on the platform. I find peace in the fact that he still wants me. I know that I'm crying, but these tears aren't the same; these tears are from joy. I find peace in the smell of real seawater in the atmosphere.
My father lets go of me and smiles. We smile at each other until I see Henry standing behind my father.
I find peace in the fact that Henry allows me to embrace him. I find peace in the fact that he embraces me in return. When we let go, I want to kiss him. I want to, but I don't think he wants to so I simply let go of him.
He doesn't have to say anything.
Henry takes my hand in his. It feels different and abnormal. We walk down the streets of District 4 to find the beach at our feet. I toss my heels beside his sandals and follow him down the beach to where he sat.
We sit side-by-side in silence for the longest time.
"It was really hard watching you in the Games," Henry's voice makes me jump, "it was harder than I thought it would be because I kept imagining what it would have been like if Sara had gone into that arena. . . . She wouldn't have made it." He kicks some sand up and watches as it falls back down. "But what was even harder than watching you in the Games and imagining it was Sara was seeing the news this morning with the pictures of you hanging over twelve different guys last night."
He puts his hand up to stop the interruption that I hadn't even finished formulating in my head. "Capri, despite everything that's happened in the past few weeks, I think you still love me, but neither of us can keep running from your future. . . . I'm not blaming you for winning the Games. You were doing what you had to do to survive, and I understood that. . . . But now it's over, and I can't seem to grasp why you're continuing with it. I guess I should be angry with you, but I can't be, not with everything you've been through." He stands and dusts off his shorts. "Goodbye, Capri."
On his way off of the beach, he slips on his sandals with hardly a catch in his step. I sit for a while, shocked and silent before I stand to run after him.
"No . . . no . . . NO! Henry! Henry, please!" I had sat and waited for him to return to me for too long. I had missed my second chance with him. I sink to my knees on the cobblestone street. I begin sobbing again. I cover my face with my hands so that no one will see my face, but people don't need to see my face to know it's me. My dress makes me look like a prostitute in church.
Hands pull me up off the ground. When I open my eyes and wipe away the tears, I see the entrance to the Victor's Village. I turn to see Finnick's arms surrounding me. Something inside of me snaps. I begin pounding my fists against his chest and his arms. I scream about how this was his stupid idea, how he should have just let me die in the arena, and how everything is now his fault.
Then I start crying again.
Finnick leads me into one of the houses. We sit down on what I assume is a couch until I've calmed down. When my breathing has evened and my eyes are dry, Finnick forces me to look at him. "Mags is right next door to you. I'm right across. Come get either of us if you need anything, Starfish." Without another word, he leaves the house.
When I hear the door shut behind Finnick, I sit for a few more moments on the couch before standing and deciding to go on an adventure in my new abode.
There is a dining room connected to the living room. It has a table big enough to sit eight people comfortably with a cabinet filled with china plates that takes up almost the entire wall. The next room over is the kitchen. Its cabinets are stocked with food, pots, pans, and kettles. Drawers are filed with fine silverware and cooking utensils. There's a new sink, dishwasher, stove, and oven. The kitchen connects back to the living room, which connects to an entrance hall that has a gorgeously crafted staircase.
I look out the window to see the rest of the Victors' Village. The house to my left has a beautiful garden in the front while the one across is simply well-groomed and green. I decide fairly quickly to plant lilacs around my house. Lilacs had been my mother's favorite flower even though we didn't have any at our house.
There are two bedrooms downstairs, connected by a bathroom. Upstairs there is only one. It's bigger than the other two and has a large closet and a connecting bathroom. The bathroom upstairs has a bunch of empty space in the middle. The shower is like the one from the training center. There's also a bathtub big enough to fit two people, a sink with a ton of counter space, and a mirror above the sink that takes up almost the entire wall.
I also find an office across the hall from my bedroom. It –like my bedroom- has two doors that open at the entrance. I think it's my favorite part of the whole house because it seems to bring life into the dull tan walls. There's a beautiful stained glass window behind the desk that looks out at the beach. I open the window to let in the sea air.
Plenty of rooms upstairs are empty, and I don't know what to do with them. I decide to go out to town to buy a few things to keep my mind off of the Henry's voice in my head.
In the end, I bought an easel and enough canvases, paint, and paintbrushes to fill the entirety of one of the empty rooms upstairs. I figure that with all the money I have now, I can try my hand at painting.
I also bought a few journals because when I visited Mags, she said writing big events down helps a lot. For now, I write down dreams mostly. Dreams and nightmares.
Currently, it is three weeks after returning to District Four, and I haven't left home but four times. Most of the time I sit in the spare room with all my art supplies and stare at them from the windowsill. I decide to finally try my hand at painting, but the walls are so boring and white that I decide to paint them instead of my canvases. I take a palette from the stack and cover it in shades of blue and white. I paint the wall with the window overlooking the sea. I paint the sea on the wall. The blue waves crashing in, the white foam on the sandy shore.
For the first time since I've returned from the arena, the screams in my head dim until they are blocked out completely. I no longer hear Ceaser or Mason or any of them. My head is empty for the first time in ages, and it is lovely.
Even when I stop painting as the sun dips beneath the horizon, the voices are still absent.
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A/N: Once again, I hope you all are enjoying this story. Thank you to everyone who commented, favorite, and followed since the last update.
THIS STORY WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THE WEEK (SATURDAY) YEEE! I'm excited that I finished the story in a year. It seems like so much longer, but I'm so proud to have it finished with a sequel on the way. There will be one reminder after the last chapter to let y'all know when the sequel is up.
If you don't like something about my story, I would love to know what it is. Please leave a review about what you do and don't like about what I'm writing so that I can get better. Also, if you have any ideas about at what point I should end this story and start the sequel, that would be welcome. Or if I should just continue updating on this story. Thank you and have a splendid day!