Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 8

"My condolences," a lady said to Finnick and Taiya as she walked into their parent's joint wake service.

"Thank you," Finnick smiled lightly, shaking her hand as Taiya stared numbly ahead.

"I left a fish pie with Mags for the two of you, but you let me know if you need anything."

"We will," Finnick acknowledged and the lady walked through the entryway and into the wake.

Taiya scowled at everyone who was there. Barely any of these people knew them or their parents. They just wanted to see what the inside of the mayor's house looked like. "I don't want these people here," she whispered to Finnick. "None of them knew our families."

"Taiya your dad was the mayor, everyone loved him. They want to be here for you."

"They never made an effort when he was alive, what's the point now," she sighed.

"You just have to tolerate them, it's what your dad would have wanted."

"You don't know what my dad would have wanted," she snapped. Taiya turned to look at Finnick and groaned, running her hands down her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

"I know," he cut her off gently. "I know. There's only an hour left and then it'll be back to just you and me and we can relax without the pressure of people watching us," he assured. Taiya had been living at Finnick's in the week since her parents died. She couldn't stand to be in her big house by herself and neither could he. He'd offered for her to move in permanently but Taiya was going to use her father's pension to get her own place to live. She would never want to intrude on Finnick's personal space, but he was too polite to say anything like that to her.

Taiya nodded, a few tears slipping down her cheeks, "there's Theo," she said as she spotted him manning the drinks table. "I'm going to go talk to him for a bit, I'll find you later," she said squeezing his arm before walking off.

"Hey Tay," Theo greeted as she came to stand next to him while he served drinks from a punch bowl. He looked down at the forlorn girl next to him and look over to see Finnick standing in the entryway, watching them like a hawk. "You hate this? Don't you?" he asked and she nodded with a slight smile on her face. She was never one for publicity, but she wouldn't want to tarnish her father's image in the community.

"Annie was so sweet," she smiled. "She gave me these lovely orchids. They were my mom's favourite. I think they're the only gift I actually appreciate. If I see another pie I'm going to scream. All Finnick and I would have wanted was a small ceremony with those who actually knew our parents. Not a big show that drags on all week and involves people who never said a word to any of them. It's insulting."

Theo laughed and kissed the top of her head as she yawned. "You tired?" he asked in concern, he could see the bags below her eyes.

Taiya nodded before she pulled out of his hold, "yeah, I've barely slept this week. I just keep seeing the explosion every time I close my eyes. And Finnick wakes up screaming from nightmares of the games, so I just haven't had a lot of opportunities to rest."

Theo looked around and lowered his voice, "you and Finnick get out of here ok? I'll look after the rest of the wake. He looks exhausted as well so you two go back to his and I'll tidy up. You don't even have to sleep if you don't want to, you just need to recharge, read a book, go for a swim, meditate, just do something that will calm you down."

"I couldn't leave, it wouldn't be right," she hesitated.

"You can. Please, I swear I'll be fine here. My parents are helping as well. We'd all feel much better if we knew you guys were feeling better."