I laughed softly, my hands cradling the to-go cup filled with hot chocolate. Finnick's arm was draped casually across my shoulders as he led me back into the tribute center, and punched a button on the elevator. Brutus and Enobaria stood in there, staring at the two of us. We stared back, and not a word was spoken.
Until Brutus opened his big mouth. "You really do 'remember it all too well'," he said, gesturing to Finnick's arm around me.
I glared at him. "We're just friends," I told him firmly.
"It seems a little shallow that you wrote a dramatic, ten minute song just to get back together with him as soon as you see him again." he said, ignoring me.
"Just friends," I reminded him.
"Can the two of you go a whole year without speaking to each other? Like literally every other Victor does? This is an experiment I'm actually interested in?"
"You know what I'm interested in?" Finnick cut in. "Why would a big, bad career victor such as yourself choose to listen to a teenager's sad song about heartbreak? That's not very manly, if you ask me."
Brutus stared at him, replaying the words in his head, trying to figure it out. His brow was furrowed in concentration. His standards for masculinity had come back to bite him.
"Holy crap he's dumber than I thought," Finnick muttered. I laughed out loud. Conveniently, the door opened at just that moment, letting us out onto the fourth floor. Finnick waved at Britt who sat with Adonia. He opened his bedroom door for me and entered behind, turning on the light.
He grabbed my wrist gently and pulled me against him, kissing me softly. "We're finally alone," he said dramatically, pulling away.
We laughed softly at his act. "The restaurant was your idea," I reminded him.
"And it was nice, but I've waited six months to kiss you. That's not something I can do in a restaurant."
I smiled, kissing him again. He pulled me into a hug and we stood there for several minutes in silence, just taking each other in.
"I wish I could see you outside of the games," I said, breaking the silence.
"Me too," he admitted. "Unfortunately, Snow has me working around the clock."
"You need to get out of there, Finnick." I said.
"I know." He was quiet for a minute. "Hey, what did you want to tell me about earlier?"
Oh. That was not something I necessarily wanted to talk about. "It's nothing."
He pulled me over to the bed and we sat down on the edge, side by side. "It's something to me, and it's something to you, I can tell."
"Yeah," I said. I could feel tears pricking at my eyes, even just thinking of Cameron (no, it's Johanna) standing up on the stage.
Finnick studied my face, and surprise flashed in his eyes as a single tear made its way down my cheek. He recovered quickly and pulled me into another tight hug. That was the breaking point for me, and the sobs finally came out.
Why would- Why would Johanna ever even consider volunteering? She was petite, probably only 5'2". She was very thin, and she was shaking like a leaf while she stood on the stage. She was, in a word, weak.
"This is about Johanna?" Finnick asked calmly, his mouth by my ear. I nodded, even though my head was pressed to his shoulder, making it difficult. "You have to remember that she's been training like a career for years."
"I know," I muttered. "But she's still so… small."
"She's hiding something, Katniss. I can tell."
"She's weak," I argued.
"I disagree." Finnick said.
I pulled away and found the remote on my nightstand, and turned on the television in my room, immediately turning to a channel that was broadcasting the reapings on repeat. "Show me," I said.
Currently, Claudius Templesmith and Caesar Flickerman were commentating on the District 4 reaping. Elara and Martin, Finnick's tributes.
"How are they?" I asked, wiping my tears with a tissue.
"Elara tried to sleep with me the other night, and Martin is a pain."
"Do your tributes always try to sleep with you?" I asked, not sure if I should laugh or cry some more.
"Not generally. They usually respect me. How are your tributes?"
I shrugged. "They're average, like I said."
"Usually you try to get to know them, right? And you work on manifesting their talents? You haven't done that yet?"
I bit my lip. "Not really. It gets hard, you know?" I rolled up my sleeve to show him the ever-growing list of names on my wrist.
Comita, Caraway, Silva, Monroe.
Each name in a different color, making a rainbow up my arm. Finnick laid a hand on my wrist, his thumb running over the words. "I get it," he said. "I understand better than anyone. You've been mentoring since you were twelve, and haven't caught a break in five years. It's alright if you want to be selfish."
"I do," I whispered. "But if I'm selfish, then that could end them."
He didn't respond because the District 7 Reaping had begun, but he moved his hand off my wrist and intertwined his fingers with mine instead.
"I volunteer!" I high pitched voice cried out. I watched as eighteen-year-old Johanna Mason made her way up on the stage, to stand next to her loudly dressed escort.
"A volunteer!" the escort crowed into the microphone. "Stupendous! Such a rarity in a District like 7."
There she was, Johanna Mason, with her short, slight frame.
"She looks so unhealthy," I said.
"But look at her arms," Finnick said. He was right. There was quite a bit of muscle there, for someone that tiny. She was good at hiding it. "And right there! Did you see that?" He groaned. "I wish I could rewind it. There was this little smirk on her face for just a second. It's definitely an act. A very good act, but an act, nonetheless."
Again, he was right. Now that he pointed out little details like that, I began to see more for myself. It was just an act.
"Thank you, Finnick," I said sincerely, staring up at him. He stared right back into my eyes, and not for the first time, I felt my heart thumping so loud I thought it would break my rib cage.
"Wow," he whispered.
"What?"
"My heart is aching so bad right now," he replied. I smiled and kissed him. "I love you so much."
"Stop it," I said, even though I was smiling. He rolled his eyes. "In all seriousness, Finnick, I do love you, I'm just not in love with you."
He nodded slowly. "I know, Katniss. Thank you."
…
"Katniss Everdeen," A girl's voice cut through my thoughts. I turned around and saw Johanna Mason, dragging Finnick over to me. She had dropped her weak little girl act, which I thought was counter-productive. "The girl who was on fire."
"Johanna," I said, feeling a lump form in my throat.
"Glad you know my name. Since we're meant to be best friends."
"I-I didn't know that," I said.
"There are a lot of things you don't know," she said.
"I'm sure," Finnick answered for me, rather sarcastically.
Johanna looked down at the floor, her arms wrapping around herself. She was making herself seem smaller which was very impressive. She was an amazing actress. She was able to turn her act on and off like a switch. "Like how it feels to watch your twin sister die when you're only twelve years old."
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "I didn't even get to say goodbye."
I stared at her, feeling my heart plunge. "I'm sorry," I said. I felt my breath hitch, and tears well up in my eyes, hearing it all from her perspective. Part of me knew it was all an act, but the act stemmed from her real emotions, I assumed.
Finnick took my hand in his and gently rubbed circles into it with his thumb.
Johanna watched this exchange and I saw a tiny smirk appear on her face, before she wiped it off again.
"You're such a phony," I said angrily, and I was surprised to hear her say it at the same time. Johanna stared at me with shock on her face.
"M-me?" she stuttered.
"You know what you did," I said. She grinned and walked away. I gave Finnick one last quick hug before leading my tributes back to the elevator.
I still wasn't convinced that she was strong enough to win the Hunger Games, but she was smart. She knew just what made me tick, without having met me before. And she was victor material, I knew that for sure. If she managed to survive the games, she would make an excellent victor.
…
The elevator ride back up was less than ideal. A few seconds after the doors closed, I heard Gordan, my male tribute, strike up a friendly conversation with the Careers.
"-may be hot, but she's annoying as hell. She spent almost the entire train ride in her room, and left us with the drunk and her weak brother."
"She practically hangs on Finnick," I heard Finnick's female tribute say, jealousy etching itself into her voice. I remembered that this was the same girl who offered Finnick her company for the night. "She's not even that hot."
"No, she is," said Kalman from DIstrict 2. "You're just jealous."
"Well they're probably gonna break up before we even get into the arena," said Nike, the DIstrict 2 girl. "Finnick has yet to last a month with the same girl."
Before I could stop myself, I flew across the elevator, my shoe seeming to fly into my hand and drill itself into the elevator wall, the force of my entire body behind it.
The elevator went silent, and I could feel all the eyes on me.
"Don't say a word against Finnick," I spat out, my face inches from my tribute's. "You don't know him. You don't know what he's been through or what he has to do to save your precious life," I said, turning to Elara.
I pushed myself off the wall. "A note for the seven of you: If any of you happen to make it out of the arena, I'll make sure that hell is waiting for you on the other side."
The mentors slowly began to clap. Finnick, Britt, Peeta, Haymitch, Cashmere, Gloss, even Brutus and Enobaria.
I felt tears prick in my eyes once again. Finnick does so much for his family and his tributes, yet there they were, talking trash about him. He really deserved a break.
Hey guys i'm really sorry that took so long. I have no excuse. Thank you to an anonymous Guest for reviewing!
On a completely unrelated note, I put together a youtube playlist which I think would be about what an album by Katniss would sound like! (A note about the playlist: I also put a couple alternate versions of some of the songs, if there's a cover of the original that I really like or something. The last song is Till Forever Falls Apart, but then there's more after that :)) (also, it is very explicit. There is a ton of cursing. If you aren't comfortable with that, let me know and I'll make a clean version, too!)
Here's the link: playlist?list=PL8kQUwTi2EBAWOm9WvGU1FBxv2LKxchw4
If that link doesn't work (because it probably wont), my account name is Dani, I have no subscribers, and it's the playlist simply titled Album.
The easiest way to search me up would be by the only video I ever posted, You Belong With Me on kazoo, except something's off.
(Because I'm planning on making a kazoo cover channel)
*takes a deep breath* That's it!