Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 5

Taiya nervously pinned her hair up. Today was the day. Finnick was coming home.

"You ready Taiya?" her father called up the stairs.

"Coming!" she yelled back, smiling one last time in the mirror before running down the stairs. Finnick had only won a couple of days ago and she'd been anxiously awaiting his return. In his victor interview with Caeser, he'd said how excited he was to come home.

"Hey," Theo greeted her at the bottom of the stairs. "Ready?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she smiled, taking his hand as they ran out of the house, Taiya's parents trailing behind her as they made their way to the train station where Finnick would be arriving. "What do we say when we see him?" Taiya asked.

"We won't get to see him for a while," Theo explained. "There'll be cameras while he reunites with his family and then he'll go see his new home. After the cameras are gone we can visit."

"Oh," Taiya said quietly as Finnick's train rolled into the station and the cameras switched on.

"He's home Taiya, you'll have forever to see him, don't stress about it," Theo awkwardly tried to comfort her. The whole district then erupted in a cheer as Finnick stepped out of the train. Taiya clapped wildly and cheered as she saw him. Finnick raced forward and hugged his mum before quickly pulling away, his eyes searching the crowd until they found hers. As soon as they locked eyes he smiled, making her smile go even wider.

Finnick subtly jerked his head towards the beach and mouthed, "20," at her and she nodded.

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20 minutes later Taiya sat down on the beach in the spot only she and Finnick regularly visited when she heard footsteps behind her. She quickly stood up and turned to see Finnick standing a few feet away from her. They stared at each other, both unsure how to react to each other. "Finn," Taiya breathed and he smiled. This was all the reassurance she needed as she sprinted forward and flung herself into a hug. As soon as Taiya wrapped her arms around him she felt him start to sob. "Finnick?" she asked pulling away so she could look at him.

"Don't leave me," he cried and pulled her back in as the two slowly sat down on the sand, not breaking their hold.

"I'm not going to leave you, Finn, I swear," she promised as she pulled back to brush the hair from his eyes. "How are you holding up?"

"I can't look at my mother Tay, I can't look in her eyes knowing what I did."

"What you had to do. Finnick, no one blames you. You did what you had to do in order to survive. I sat with her during the games Finnick, trust me, she's just glad you got to come home."

"I wish I didn't."

"Don't say that."

"It's true," he said brushing the tears away. "I killed all those kids Taiya."

"Finn," she said seriously, taking his face in her hands. "They would have killed you. It's not your fault ok. You promised me you'd come home... and you did."

"Did you watch it all?" Finnick asked quietly.

Taiya dropped her hands and looked down, "I couldn't watch most of it. I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you didn't," he sighed.

"I was too scared. Which sounds pathetic because you were actually in there. But I couldn't bear to lose you." Taiya and Finnick sat in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other, before Taiya spoke up. "I got you a trident though," she smiled.

Finnick laughed softly, "yes you did. I saw your interview when I got out."

"I saw you get it. What did that note say? How'd you know it was me?" she asked and Finnick immediately blushed. "Tell me," she laughed, shoving him slightly.