Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 7

"So I'm confused," Taiya said as she sat on her parent's bed helping her dad pick a tie to wear. "Who invited who?"

"The Odair's invited us."

"Why? Mom's been awful to them for nearly 2 years."

"Maybe they want to mend fences?" Caspian suggested. "This one?" he asked holding up a tie.

"No," Taiya shook her head and he turned back around to his wardrobe. "I'm surprised mom agreed to go if I'm honest. Or is it just Finnick she has a problem with?"

"It's just Finnick," Caspian smiled as he turned around to his daughter and held up a tie. Taiya rolled her eyes and nodded, approving his choice of tie. "I think Finnick's a good kid. You know that Tay, your mom is just sensitive about the Hunger Games. Have you talked to her yet since your fight?"

"Nope," Taiya popped as she stood up to hand him his jacket.

"You should. She gets sad when you two fight."

"I'm sure she does," Taiya scoffed.

"Tay," Caspian sighed, giving her a look. "She does. Trust me. Just talk to her. You don't have to apologise, just say something nice, it'll make her day."

"Fine, you win," Taiya groaned.

"So what are your plans for today?" he asked as they started to walk downstairs. "Hanging out with Finnick?"

"No, Finnick's been weird this past week. I haven't seen him since his birthday."

"And you have no idea why he was upset?" Caspian asked.

"None," Taiya replied, shaking her head. "He won't see me. I've tried. I've gone to the door so many times and he just won't let me in. He said it wasn't safe. Whatever that means. I told Theo we could hang out at the beach though so that should be fun."

"Alright well you have a good day, we need to be off," he smiled as they reached Azalea at the bottom of the stairs.

"Will you be back in time for dinner?" Azalea asked Taiya. Taiya glared at her and gave her a short nod in return, she still wasn't over their argument about Finnick.

Taiya caught her fathers eye as he gave her a look and she sighed before smiling at her mother. "Yeah, I'll be back for dinner. You look... nice," Taiya said, cringing as she complimented her mother.

"Thank you," Azalea replied, her eyes lighting up at praise from her daughter.

"We best be off if we don't want to be late for the Odairs," Caspian said, placing his hand on the small of Azalea's back and leading them to the door. "Love you, sweetie," he called back as they walked off.

"Love you," Taiya yelled after them.

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"Wait, your parents are doing what?" Theo laughed as Taiya told him where her parents were.

"They're having lunch on a boat with Finnick's parents," she sniggered.

"Geez, what did your dad have to bribe your mom with to get her to agree to that," he snorted.

"I know right! I said something similar!"

"Must be nice," Theo sighed. "Having a fancy lunch on a fancy boat."

Taiya looked over at him sadly, she knew he wasn't in the same financial position as her and Finnick's families were. "Well I'll tell you what, when the boat gets back and docks, you and I will sneak on and we'll have ourselves a little boat party, how about that?" she suggested, lightly nudging him.