She smashed her lips onto his, sending him slightly off balance. He was able to steady the both of them as he quickly grabbed onto her waist.
"What was that for?" he muttered against her lips, completely forgetting what they'd been doing before.
"I just can't get enough of you," she whispered, smirking as she felt his fingers dig into her waist a bit more.
She knew she didn't have long, he'd snap out of the haze she'd sent him into soon. She quickly moved her hand around his waist and ripped the fabric out of his pocket before sprinting off.
"I've got it Tyler! I've got it," she roared as she ran along the beach. She only had a small head start, because once Finnick realised he'd been tricked, he was off after her.
"You tricked me!" she heard him yell from behind her.
"Come on Tay! Come on Tay!" Tyler screamed at her as she ran.
She made the mistake of looking behind her to see how close he was, she was way in front, but her momentary distraction caused her to trip and tumble into the sand.
"Kenna! Catch!" Taiya yelled as she flung the cloth up, only for it to get caught in the wind and not go anywhere. "Shit," she muttered, grabbing it and shoving it between her stomach and the sand as Finnick dove on top of her.
"Give it here," he laughed as he tried to shove his hand under her stomach to pull it out.
"Kenna!" she yelled at the girl who was just watching them. "Tackle him off me!"
"No thanks," the girl snorted.
"Come on Ken, neither of them will give up," Tyler sighed.
"You tackle him then," Kenna shrugged.
"I'm out," he said, gesturing to the line they'd drawn in the sand. "I can't cross this. You're the only one that can break the stalemate."
"This game is so stupid," Kenna muttered. This caught both Finnick and Taiya's attention, and both of their heads whipped up to her in shock.
"What the hell Kenna!" Taiya gasped.
"Yeah Kenna," Finnick agreed.
"We invited you to the victor championships!" Taiya shouted in disbelief.
"You're the only non-victor invited," Finnick added.
"Do you not appreciate the honour?" Taiya added.
"Yeah, the honour," Finnick nodded.
"You two are idiots," Kenna rolled her eyes. "The only 'victor's' playing," she mocked, "are you two and Tyler. Annie, Mags, Todd and Buck are just sitting on the sand up there having a picnic."
"They're old," Taiya shrugged.
"Decrepit," Finnick added.
"Lazy," Tyler agreed.
"We can hear you guys, you know that right?" Buck asked them.
"Just get off me!" Taiya protested as she focussed on the game, beginning to struggle underneath him. "Your fat ass is crushing me Finnick."
"Oh please, you've never complained about me being on top of you before."
"Ew!" Tyler and Kenna both complained.
"Alright, I'm done now," Tyler threw his hands up as he turned away. "Let's go join the others, Ken," he waved the girl over.
"Coming!" she replied eagerly, winking at Taiya before racing over to Tyler.
"I swear their maturity levels haven't changed from when they first started dating. They're just 22-year-old children," Tyler commented to her.
"Too true Tyler, too true," Kenna agreed.
"Get off me, the game's over now," Taiya whined as she tried to move her legs.
"Oh please, the game's still on," Finnick laughed. "If I get off of you, you're going to just run over the mark and win."
"Can you two please just come over here?" Annie complained loudly.
"Don't worry about them Annie," Tyler replied loudly, making sure the couple could hear him. "They're children."
Both Finnick and Taiya whipped their heads around to stare at him incredulously and Taiya proceeded to stick her tongue out at him.
"Point made," Tyler sighed.
Seeing an opportunity, Finnick lifted his hand away from her arm that he used to pin her down, and scooped a handful of sand onto her tongue,
She yelped loudly in surprise, flinching away, allowing him to reach under her and grab the cloth.
"NO!" she yelled, with a mouthful of sand as she lunged forward and grabbed onto his quickly retreating ankle, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Running, she stood up and snatched the cloth out of his hand and raced for the finish line, running over it before he had a chance to stand back up.
"WINNER!" she roared loudly, throwing her arms up in victory before coughing on some sand she had accidentally breathed in. Coughing loudly, she began swiping her tongue with her hand, trying to remove the sand as she watched Finnick stand up. He'd landed face first in the sand so he also ended up with sand in his mouth. Karma won that round.
Taiya winked at her boyfriend before proudly threading the cloth through the rope in her hair, wearing the victory proudly. The two of them then walked over to join the others.
"You two can't sit with us if you're going to be gross," Kenna teased as she made room for the pair by moving herself closer to Tyler. It'd been years but the girl still had a thing for the man.
Taiya shot her a smirk before clumsily sitting down on the sand, making sure to bump Kenna so that she spilt some of the wine on her shirt.
"Sorry," Taiya apologised, sending a wink her friend's way.
Annie let out a loud deranged cackle at the exchange and everyone turned to look at her with pitying smiles as they watched her eyes go dull as she fell out of their reality and back into the prison of her own mind.
Taiya felt a tug on her hair and flung her hand around to feel her hair come loose. "Don't steal my prize you cheater," she complained to Finnick.
"I don't want the stupid cloth," he rolled his eyes. "I wanted the rope. Here," he smirked as he threw the cloth in her face, making Kenna giggle as Taiya pulled it away.
"You always steal my stuff," she rolled her eyes as she snatched the rope away from him and tied her hair up again before leaning her head on his shoulder.
"The food looks great Mags," Finnick smiled as he picked up a slice of pie and placed it on a plate. He was about to lift it up to eat when Taiya took the plate.
"Ladies first," she teased as she took a bite.
"Let me know if you see one," he quipped and she laughed as she nudged him lightly.
"I think I preferred it when you two argued all the time," Kenna muttered. "Was much less nauseating."
Taiya and Finnick both looked over at her with a smile. "I thought you told me to go out there and get my girl, Ken."
"Yeah, that was before I knew you'd turn Taiya nice and you guys would be all gross. Honestly, I miss the days when she'd shove you off the dock because you tried to hug her."
"If it makes you feel better Ken I shoved him off our pier last night," Taiya smiled.
"Why?" Kenna asked and Taiya just shrugged. "Your right, it does make me feel better."
"Is that why you two were arguing last night?" Tyler asked. "I could hear you from my place."
"No," Taiya shook her head. "That's how we ended our argument," she smiled up at Finnick.
"I still say you were wrong," Finnick muttered as he kissed her head.
"Well let's do a poll. If you're making tea, do you put the milk in first or the water?"
"It's the milk!" Finnick declared.
"No, it's not you sociopath!" Taiya complained as she sat up. "Ken?"
"Water, duh. You're insane Finnick."
"Agreed, water," Tyler nodded. "Dude, what's wrong with you?"
"Todd?" Taiya asked.
"Don't care."
"Good point," she nodded. "Buck?"
"Water."
"Mags?" she asked and Mags signed water with her hands.
"Annie?" Taiya asked calmly. "If you're making a tea, what do you put in first?"
"Milk," she answered with a wide smile, making Finnick cheer.
"Finnick you only had one vote. It's my 4 to your 1. I win."
"I feel vindicated," Finnick smirked. "Someone else does milk."
"Still not sure it warrants being thrown off a pier," Tyler scoffed.
"No, it absolutely does," Buck agreed with Taiya. "If I were you," he said to her, "it'd make me question my whole relationship. How can you live with someone who puts milk in first?" he shuddered, effectively teasing Finnick whose eyes widened in response.
"Don't be so gullible, he's joking," Taiya smiled at her partner.
"No, I'm not," Buck retorted as he took a bite of pie.
"Today was fun," Finnick smiled as they walked in the front door.
"I still have sand in my mouth," Taiya complained.
"Really?" he asked and she nodded. "Let me check," he smirked as he shut the door before quickly attaching his face to hers, making her smile into his kiss.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him. Walking backwards they ended up pressed against the banisters of the stairs.
"I don't trust stairs," he whispered against her lips.
"Why not?" she murmured as she went back in to kiss him.
"They're always up to something." Taiya immediately froze and pulled her face away as she looked at her boyfriend in shock. "Babe," she sighed as she looked at him. He had a wide grin, incredibly proud of himself. "It's a good thing you're pretty my love," she tapped his cheek as she pulled away and walked into the kitchen.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," he laughed as he followed her.
"Babe, I'm embarrassed for you," she sighed, placing her bag down on the bench.
He smiled as he walked toward her placing his hand on her neck so he could trace her jaw with his thumb.
"I think this is mine," he whispered as he got closer to her lips. Before she could ask what he was on about, she felt a tug on her hair.
"Seriously," she smiled. "You have a problem. And you're a hoarder," she rolled her eyes, allowing him to keep her rope as she started unpacking some items she'd brought for the picnic.
"They get worn out eventually," he shrugged.
"You could buy your own? Brand new ones," she suggested. "They'd last longer that way."
"I like the ones that you've had," he says as he grabs her waist and pulls her back into him. "That way I feel like I always have a part of you with me," he mumbles as he kisses her neck.
She let her head fall back onto his shoulder as her eyes flutter closed.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" he asks as he taps her rear end, making her pull out of his hold with a friendly glare.
"Oh," she gasped and her eyes widened. "There's going to be a storm tonight, you need to bring in the deck chairs!" she remembered.
"That's… not quite what I meant."
"And we've got to make sure the shutters are closed because remember last time? A palm tree branch came through the window. And we should probably go make sure everything's ready for Mags as well because she won't remember. And Annie. Oh, maybe we should invite Annie here tonight? Help her stay calm?"
Finnick's eyes widened in disbelief. This was absolutely not what he had in mind. Before he walked off to start her list of chores, a wide smile came over his girlfriend's face.
"You're just joking aren't you?" he asked.
"Babe, come on, there's no storm," she laughed at him.
"You're funny," he smiles stiffly.
"Thanks, love," she patted his cheek.
"This is why it's hard to love you," he teased as he placed his arms on the bench, trapping her between them.
"Oh really?" she hummed, as her eyes flickered down to his lips.
"Tay," he said quietly, pulling her focus completely to him as she looked into his eyes.
"Mm?"
"Do you ever think about the future?"
"Like what we're having for dinner tomorrow?"
"No," he smiled. "Like us."
She smiled as she reached up and threads her hand through his hair, twirling the one curly lock that always fell down his forehead around her finger.
"All the time," she confessed.
"What do you see?"
"I want to live here. In our house, by the sea… and children. Four of them. Two boys and two girls. I imagine you teaching them all to fish off the end of the pier. Family nights on the beach cooking. A big happy family," she smiles before it falters slightly. "But… when I imagine that, I imagine us not having to teach them to throw knives or use swords," she admits as her eyes get slightly teary. "I imagine them getting to go to school, and not the training academy. I imagine them as teenagers, resting their heads on their pillows every night and not wondering if they'll be here in a year. I imagine them free," she confesses. "I don't think I could bring children into this world the way it is now."
"I imagine the same," he admitted. "But with six kids."
"Nope," she denies straight away and he laughs.
"Yeah well it's not my choice, is it? It's however many you're willing to have."
"You imagine them with me?" she smiled at him.
"I couldn't imagine having them with anyone else," he smiled. "Besides, with us two we can guarantee the kids would be absolutely hot," he joked and she laughed.
"Well," Taiya placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back slightly so she could step away from the bench. She grabbed his hands between hers and started walking backwards out of the kitchen, pulling him along with her. "We won't be making one tonight, but I'd love to show you how it's done," she smiled widely at him.
His eyes immediately lit up. "I'm very, very eager to learn," he teased, walking towards her quickly, capturing her lips between his. He pulled away when they reached the bottom of the stairs. She stepped up onto the second step and turned back when she noticed he wasn't following. "I love you," he smiled up at her. "More than anything in the world."
"I love you," she replied. "You are my world now," she whispered before she turned and ran up the stairs to their room.
He didn't need any more encouragement, he took off right after her.
Another update woo! This is an extra chapter, I didn't plan for this. But I thought it'd be nice to add in something peaceful before the shitstorm hits.
It might be a few days before I update again, the next chapter is the start of the 74th HG's, and I want to just go over it all and make sure I include everything I want to be important in Catching Fire.
I've added an extra chapter into my 74th HG's plan as well, so that means 3 more chapters until the start of Catching Fire.
But in the meantime enjoy the District 4 shenanigans, let me know your thoughts. Love you all