A/N: Thanks to Odestalovebaby for the review!

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Finnick's mother had impressed the importance of good table manners upon her son from an early age, so he knew that balancing spoons on your nose at the dinner table was incredibly impolite. That didn't stop him from laughing every time Annie did it. Camille, District Four's escort, hadn't caught on to Annie's actions yet, but Seannan and Mags had noticed. Mags was trying to give Annie a disapproving frown, but the crinkles around her eyes revealed her amusement. Seannan looked incredibly uncomfortable with Annie's lighthearted attitude to the otherwise solemn occasion. He kept nervously glancing from his district partner to the mentors, silently pleading with Finnick and Mags to stop Annie before she was caught. Neither of the mentors wanted to stop the woman's fun. It was probably one of her last opportunities to truly act her age before she went into the Arena.

Eventually, Camille ran out of adjectives to describe the incredible party with fascinating guests and truly spectacular entertainment that she had attended two nights before. Unfortunately for Annie, her story ended while a piece of the train's silverware was dangling off of her nose.

Camille, as it turns out, was capable of going from cheerful to scandalized almost instantaneously. "Such an incredible lack of manners!" she sniffed. "I expected such behavior in Nine, those children are hardly raised as more than animals. I was surprised when they even knew how to use their silverware, they all ate like such barbarians. But you, you Annie Cresta, are from District Four! You are a volunteer for goodness sakes! I expect you to know how to sit at a table."

"I'm pretty sure that I just showed that I do know how to use silverware. Maybe not for its intended purpose, but I used it. And I am sitting at a table." Camille stared at Annie, obviously shocked by her insolence.

"Well I'll never!" she sniffed. "I can't believe this at all."

Finnick cut Camille off before anybody's feelings got hurt. "I'm sure that Annie meant no offense, Camille. She has never been in such marvelous company before. Her manners just slipped for a moment." He looked at Annie, hoping that she would take the hint and apologize. Luckily, she did.

"I am very sorry for my poor manners tonight," said Annie. "I would like to excuse myself now so that I can reflect on my behavior," she added as she rose out of her chair. She left for her room, and after ten minutes of chatting with Camille and Mags as Seannan sat silently staring out the window, Finnick followed.

"That was laying it on a little thick, don't you think?" teased Annie as he stepped into her compartment. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, avoiding touching the furniture. Finnick understood. His first night on the train, he had stared at the huge white bed in his room trying to understand why a poor fisherman's son was allowed to even be in the same room as such beautiful, pristinely clean objects. He flopped down on the loveseat by the door.

"Maybe a little, but that's the best way to deal with Capitol people. They don't tend to pick up on anything subtle." They both laughed. Annie pulled him off the couch, and they play wrestled for a few minutes. Finnick did try to win, but he ended up pinned on his back, Annie hovering over him.

"Are you okay, Finnick?" she asked suddenly. He looked up at her, surprised by the question. "The closer we get to the Capitol, the sadder you seem to get. No matter what I did at dinner to make you laugh, I couldn't get rid of the worry from your face." She paused for a moment "I'm your friend – please let me help you."

"I don't think you can help with this," he replied, his voice quiet and sad. "It's not your fault, that's all I can really tell you." He reached up and made gentle circles on her cheek with his thumb, hoping that she would be able to see how much he regretted not being able to share his secret with her. Snow had made it clear that nobody, not even his closest friends and family, was to know that Finnick did not accept his clients in the Capitol by choice. He had been a fool once, telling his mother and father what was occurring when they had become worried by their son's behavior. The murders of his entire family shortly afterwards were proof enough that Snow had not been bluffing. Telling Annie, especially somewhere as closely monitored by Snow as the trains, would be a certain death sentence during the Games. Finnick had heard whispers in the Mentors' Lounge of tributes being targeted by mutts or the supposedly pre-determined environment in the arena if Snow wanted to punish their mentor. He could not risk that happening to Annie. It would already be difficult to get her out alive.

Finnick begged her with his eyes to stop questioning him, and Annie seemed to understand. She sat next to him and enveloped him in her arms. "It'll be all right," Annie whispered. "I'll come back to you, just like you came back to me. In just a couple weeks, this nightmare will be over and we'll never have to worry about the Games again. And we'll be neighbors. Won't that be fun?"

Annie was trying to be funny, and he knew he should laugh, but Finnick could no longer stop the tears he had been holding in since Annie volunteered. He cried quietly and held Annie. She comforted him, rubbing his back and shushing him like a child. Eventually, Finnick ran out of tears, but they stayed where they were, their limbs entangled. Annie leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Finnick's left cheek. Finnick turned slightly to complete the kiss. It was barely a peck, but he was still slightly dazed by the thought that he had just kissed Annie.

"Better?" she asked. He gave her a soft smile and kissed her again.

"Getting there," he replied as confidently as he could. "I think that kiss might have helped. "Maybe another one just to check?" He grinned and raised an eyebrow.

Annie laughed. "Don't get too used to it Odair." She rested her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her. Neither of them wanted to separate, so they lay there, not talking, just enjoying the closeness, and eventually dozing off in each other's arms.

Camille's knock woke them up the next morning. Before either of them could get up to answer, she opened the door. "Oh!" she said, obviously surprised to see them laying together on the ground fully clothed. "Well I'll never! We'll have to talk to Mags about this one young man!" She left the compartment to go find Mags, the sound of her heels echoing down the hallway.

Finnick wasn't worried about Mags's reaction. She would understand the need to be close to his best friend before she went into the arena. He waved goodbye at Annie, who was trying to get the knots out of her long, dark hair, and walked back to his own compartment to find a new set of clothes for the day.

Breakfast was extremely uncomfortable. Camille was visibly upset at Finnick for what she probably saw as him taking advantage of his attractive female tribute, and was trying to punish him by not talking. Nobody else at the table really wanted to talk to Camille anyway, so her punishment wasn't working. Mags and Finnick had chatted politely for the first few minutes of the meal, but it quickly became obvious that nobody but Finnick could understand Mags's garbled speech. He made a mental note to act as a translator for Seannan if the man did not pick up on Mags's speech quickly. Annie was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the meal, only picking at her plateful of food. Eventually, Mags and Finnick gave up their attempts at conversation and the party sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Whoah," gasped Seannan. Finnick glanced up. He was so focused on Annie that he had nearly forgotten the man was there. Finnick turned so that he could see out the window. They were just starting to enter the Capitol. His vision narrowed and his heart raced as he began to panic. I can't go back … please, please … no, I don't want to, no, no, please don't force me.

Annie's touch brought him back to reality. She had reached under the table to squeeze his hand. She looked at him, concerned, ignoring the views of the Capitol to make sure he was okay. He nodded, staring stonily out the window, but he did not pull away as they neared the train station.

There were thousands of people waiting for them. District Four, as a Career district, was always popular, but this year the station was more crowded than Finnick had seen it since his own Games. He supposed it made sense. Annie and Seannan were both strong and attractive, and either one of them had a good chance of winning. Capitol citizens always wanted to be able to say they had supported the victor from the very beginning.

Finnick took moment to compose himself before stepping off the train. Once his Capitol persona was securely in place, he stepped into the mass of people. The noise of the crowd nearly deafened him, but he continued to stride purposefully towards the Training Center, not even pausing to wink at a few members of the crowd. This year, Finnick could not be bothered to be his usual, charming Capitol self. This year, Finnick was going to bring back a victor.

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A/N: The next chapter will be the week of training. Please review! I really do appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.