I am SO sorry for taking so long to get this done! I'm just a lazy, horrible person! Please forgive me!

Also, this is mostly a filler chapter, but next chapter we're finally going to get some real Annick action!

And I'm skipping ahead a month, so now it's the middle of February.

Now onto the story . . .

Gale's POV

"Are Finnick and Annie sleeping in again?" Katniss asks the table.

"Yes," Peeta tells her. "I think the nightmares are getting worse."

"Isn't Annie in therapy now?" I question. "Is it not helping at all?"

"Her therapist is trying to get her to embrace her nightmares. She thinks it will make them go away overtime. At least that's what Finnick understands," Peeta explains.

"I still can't believe they're not together yet," Johanna says as she takes a sip of orange juice. "They would be a really cute couple."

"Who would be a really cute couple?" Finnick asks as he groggily walks into the kitchen.

Johanna smiles and looks at the floor. "It doesn't matter," she says. "Are Annie's nightmares getting better?"

Annie stumbles in after Finnick. "No. They're getting worse."

"You should tell your therapist to try something different," I suggest.

"Yeah . . ." She looks at her hands. "I just want them to stop."

Finnick puts an arm around her. "Hey. It's going to work out fine. Don't worry about it." He pulls her closer.

Katniss and Peeta share a look. A beeping noise comes from Katniss's computer and she goes to check on it.

"Gale!" she calls. "It's Prim and Rory."

I sit down next to her on the couch and smile at my little brother and his girlfriend. "Hey, guys," I say. "I didn't know you'd call today."

"We didn't either," Prim tells us. "But we kind of have something important to tell you."

"Is everything okay?" Katniss asks worryingly.

"Oh, yeah! Better than okay actually. You see -" She holds up her left hand. It has a ring on it. "- we're engaged!"

"Are you serious?" Katniss questions. "Because . . . that's great!" Katniss plasters a smile to her face. "I'd love to talk about it some more, but I have to get to work. Congratulations, you guys!"

She shuts the computer with a huff. "This is most-definitely not great," she mutters.

I cross my arms. "I completely agree with you."

Johanna's POV

"You two look glum," I say to Katniss and Gale as they walk back into the kitchen. "Did your siblings break up or something?"

"Worse," Katniss growls. "They're engaged."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see the problem," Finnick says.

"They've only been dating for a few months," Gale announces.

"And they're twenty-one! Just barely adults," Katniss adds.

"Could they maybe be getting married because of a pregnancy?" I suggest. They look as if that solution just dawned on them.

"She sure as Hell better not be," Katniss says.

"If she is then I have to have a serious talk with my brother about the importance of using protection," Gale mumbles angrily.

Katniss mutters something under her breath. "I have to go to work," she says. "And I'm sure I'll get an angry phone call from my mother about me rubbing off on my perfect little sister! This is gonna be a fun day!"

She pulls her lunch out of the fridge, picks up her bag, and storms out of the house. We all stare at where she was a moment ago.

"I have to go to work too," Peeta says, standing up.

"Ditto," Annie agrees.

"I'll drive you," Finnick tells her. "I'm meeting up with some friends for an early lunch and then we're spending the rest of the day at the pool."

"More of your model friends?" Annie teases.

"No," Finnick says. "A couple of my college buddies. Do you think that all of my friends are models?"

Annie just laughs. "Whatever. Let's go."

They exit, leaving just Gale and me. "So . . . I guess it's just you and me," I say, grinning.

"Whatever shall we do?" Gale asks me.

I smile and crash my lips against his.

Finnick's POV

"Brick! Patrick! Will one of you toss me the goggles? I'm going to dive for Sean's key," I shout to my friends. My idiotic college roommate, Sean Nathanson, keeps his house key on a band around his ankle and forgot to take it off before he backflipped into the pool. Needless to say, it slid right off.

Patrick tosses me the one pair of goggles we brought to share; I put them on. I take a deep breath before plunging into the water. I see a circular black shape on the bottom of the pool, and as I approach, I see that it's Sean's key. I grab it, and swim toward the air.

"I got it," I call to the guys. I throw it at Sean's lawnchair. "Next time, take it off! Am I the only one who goes to the pool?"

"No, but you're the only one who has a second home at the pool," Patrick says. "We'll get back in. Just give us a minute."

"You guys are such wimps," I mutter. I spot Annie walking out of the locker room and in the direction of the car. "Hey, Annie!" I yell.

I swim over to edge of the pool and she walks over to meet me. "Are you leaving already?" I ask her.

"Yeah, my last student of the day cancelled, so I'm good to go," she tells me.

"You should stay with my friends and me. It'll be fun," I insist.

"It's fine. I'll just wait in the car."

"Annie, please," I say. "My friends are being douchebags. You'll be doing me a favor."

She laughs, making my heart flutter. "Okay," she says. "Let me go change back into my suit."

As soon as she walks back into the locker room. Brick and Sean run up to me, slowly followed by Patrick.

"Nice, dude," Sean says. "Seriously, nice."

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"That chick you were talking to," Brick tells me. "She's smokin'. I mean - I can't believe you're hitting that! You're not horrible-looking, but she's something else."

"Oh," I say, my eyes practically popping out of my head. "You mean Annie. She's not - we're not - I mean -"

"So, you're not sleeping with her?" Brick questions. "Because if you're not hitting that, I am!"

"No!" I snap, surprising Brick and myself. "Brick, she's been through Hell and back these past few months. I will not let you sleep with her, and then dump her!"

"Finn, no need to get touchy," Brick says. "I get it - you like her. You should go after her! You've been with some pretty attractive people, but she beats all of them. Go for it!"

"No! I-I don't -" I begin stuttering but am interrupted by Annie.

"Finnick! Will you tie this for me?" she calls.

Sean and Brick give me looks like, Go get 'em, tiger, and Patrick just rolls his eyes. "Sure," I shout to her, pushing myself out of the pool. I jog over to where she's standing.

"This isn't your usual suit," I say as I tie the back of her bikini.

"I have one suit for work and one for fun," she replies. "So, how are your friends doing?"

"They're perverts," I tell her. "Watch out for Sean and Brick. Patrick is married and has a daughter, so you shouldn't have to worry about him but -"

"Finn," she interrupts. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

I grin at her. "Of course, you can. Excuse me for trying to be helpful."

She smiles up at me. "You are excused."

Annie's POV

"We really should head home," Finnick says after about an hour with him and his friends. "Peeta's meeting up with his brothers tonight and Johanna, Gale, and Katniss are all horrible cooks."

"That's probably a good idea," I agree. "It's our civic duty to make dinner before Katniss tries to."

"Definitely," Finnick says.

We swim to the side of the pool and climb out. I dry off with a towel and throw on a coverup. Finnick just puts on his SEXY AND I KNOW IT t-shirt.

"You really like that shirt, don't you?" I say.

"I really do," he tells me. "You did a great job picking this out." He turns to his friends in the pool. "Hey, guys! We have to go!"

"Okay," Sean shouts. "Have fun."

"Will do," he calls.

We start walking back to the car. "Sorry about my friends," Finnick says to me. "Sean and Brick are creeps."

I laugh. "Finnick, don't worry about it. They are terrible flirts, but my mom taught me how to ignore guys like them a long time ago."

"I still feel bad," he admits.

"You shouldn't." I climb into the passenger seat of Finnick's truck. "Plus, Patrick was smart and polite. I had a couple of good conversations with him."

"So . . . you don't totally hate me for pressuring you into staying?"

I roll my eyes. "Finnick, you should really realize this by now: after all you've done for me, I could never hate you."

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