AFTERGLOW // finnick odair

six

The sob story they all needed.

A slow paced morning was promised to Alivia the night before; in other words, no Finnick. He didn't seem to mind, he'd spent most of the morning at the market.

"I hurt him," Alivia said.

"Oh, he's fine," Mags dismissed it way too easily which made Alivia scoff.

"I made him bleed." Mags tilted her head fondly. "I wish he wasn't so careless around me. That wound could've been fatal."

"If you really hurt him he'll tell you."

"Yeah, that's what he said," Alivia muttered as she set the table. "He made pancakes for breakfast, which you would've had if you had breakfast with us. He added blueberries to the batter."

Oddly delicious, she thought out loud.

"Sounds like you are enjoying your time."

"No. I mean—yes? Is that bad?"

"Why would that be bad?"

"I... I don't know," she mumbled thoughtfully.

Without missing a beat, Mags asked, "What's going on inside that head of yours?"

"It just doesn't feel right. Me, having a good time when we barely spend time together lately. I worry," she gulped. "I worry we don't have enough time."

"Alivia, you are coming back home."

She bit her lip, she didn't want to ruin breakfast. "But if I don't—" The opening door and Finnick's loud entrance interrupted her.

"Good news, my ladies! I've successfully obtained the best fruit in all the market." Alivia busied herself in her cup of tea; hiding her glossy eyes from the pretty, nosy boy. "So, what did I miss?"

"Oh, Alivia was just telling me about your day."

"Ah, Yes! You should've seen her. The other day she dropped me like a sack of potatoes, did she tell you that?"

Finnick took a sip out of Mags' cup of tea and sighed satisfied. "This is perfect for me which means it's too much sugar for you. I'm confiscating it."

"I was also telling her how she should join us."

"Oh, definitely. I was thinking of taking the training to the beach this time. I realized yesterday we haven't worked there."

Finnick turned to her as he promptly ignored Mags grunting for the extremely sweet tea.

"Come with us?" Alivia pleaded to the old lady but the answer was no different this time, still it made her sigh. "So, the beach?"

Finnick smiled satisfied.

The salty breeze combed her hair back and refreshed her face. The ocean welcomed them for the training session. After that, according to Finnick, a few laps around the beach would do.

Against all odds, Alivia found herself doing something better than Finnick, nothing major, just holding her breath longer underwater. Now, Finnick was competitive by nature so it consequently developed into a round of bets and competitions.