𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 ‣ 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

vi. victory isn't sweet

act one, chapter six – victory isn't sweet

The train ride back was just Fallon, Finnick, and Zelda. As soon as the doors shut, exhaustion catches up to the girl but she forces her eyes open, hoping she could meet Finnick later. Zelda whistled on and on about how "incredible" Fallon was and how the future of Four would be changed forever thanks to her joining the ranks of Finnick, Iris, and Callum. The escorts' well-natured nagging started to annoy the girl after the first hour. Fallon's responses started to get shorter and shorter, and she eventually excused herself to her room.

Staging at the ceiling soon got boring and nothing seemed interesting in the plain dorm. All she wanted to do was talk to Finnick even if it was just for a little. There would probably be cameras recording the conversation but innocent questions shouldn't cause trouble.

Unable to wait any longer, she leaves her room and sits in the same spot she did before, finally allowing herself to think about much everything had changed in just a matter of weeks. How Evan was peacefully sleeping in the room next door. How the gore haunts her mind like the vultures pecked at her skin. In random bursts of pain. She doesn't expect Finnick to come out automatically. It's not like he knows she's here. But a hopeful part of her flickers like the dying flame of a candle, finally extinguishing when he never emerges. Every click makes her wishfully peek up only to see nothing in the doorway.

Maybe hours passed; she's not sure. All Fallon knows is that the train doesn't stop on the way back to Four. She takes a breath, finally able to breathe since she left the Games, and slumps back. Just a few more minutes. But a few more minutes go by and he never shows.

Fallon allows sleep to take over and reclines back to her room feeling slightly defeated. She can't place why though. She could ask him when they arrived back in Four without the fear of being watched. However, she knows that the sensation of stalking cameras will never leave her. As she pulls the covers over, she thinks about her brother and how the Capitol grows farther and home grows closer.

A nightmare comes as she shuts her eyes, as expected. She dreamed that the train stopped back in the arena, forcing her, Zelda, and Finnick into podiums against their will. Of course, nobody dared to fight each other, but the vultures dove in and picked them apart. Agonizingly slowly. They don't touch Fallon though, they just force her to watch them die tortuously. Two booms of a canon jolt her awake. Frantic heartbeats. Skin moistened by a layer of cold sweat. Matted hair.

A door burst open, making her back jump to the frame of the bed. Her pulse calms as her hand lays against her pumping chest. "Are you okay?" Finnick, messy-haired, leans halfway through the open door. His eyes are wide and his own chest rises and falls as hers does.