𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 ᐅ 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙧

𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉

⌌⊱⇱⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊷⊶⊰⌍
It had always been him. 
⌎⊱⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊷⊶⇲⊰⌏

"Wake up, idiot."

Those few startling moments between sleep and consciousness blurred as I was shaken awake by a very unwelcome external force, one that struck through me as I bolted upright in bed. My hand was latched onto someone's forearm, but in the haze of the early morning I could barely register who it was.

"You scared me."

"You deserved it."

"Finnick," I warned.

He grinned down at me, still allowing me to hold onto his arm. "We're sneaking out."

I blinked. "You're kidding."

"Do I look like I am?"

Usually, I would have retorted something about the fact that Finnick Odair was always kidding, and that I'd almost never seen a time where he wasn't, however the pure shock of seeing him stood in front of me with tousled hair and a crumpled shirt and the fact he was just there after our fight stunned me into complete silence. I blinked again, determined that I was dreaming. Over the course of my nightmare filled nights, that was a skill I'd perfected — forcing myself awake. If I blinked harshly enough I almost always awoke, but he wasn't disappearing.

"You said you wanted to learn more about me, didn't you?"

"I did, yeah."

"Well, that's what we're doing." Childlike excitement rose in his voice, making me smile back at him.

It'd been a day since the fight, and neither of us had spoken until now, so what changed? I knew he needed space to think, because otherwise he'd end up doing something impulsive and stupid like forgiving me for what happened, and I wouldn't allow him to do that until he'd actually thought about it. So I had ignored him. It became especially more awkward now that we were in the Victors Village of District Four — more specifically, we were all staying in his house.

But he was here now, and I couldn't ignore him any longer.

As he turned to leave, I pulled him back.

"Wait, Finn—"

His eyes trailed down to where I'd grabbed his hand. "I know you didn't mean it, Sparky."

"It doesn't matter that I didn't mean it," I said, staring into his tired eyes. How much sleep did he get? "I shouldn't have said it. I'm sorry."

"Hey, can you repeat that for me—"

"Shut up."

"No, I won't. How am I going to take you on a tour otherwise?"

I ripped my hand from his and leapt out of my bed, not caring that I most probably looked a mess, because Finnick forgave me and was taking me on a tour of his childhood home... Who ever could stay calm after that? "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

He laughed. "I've never seen you this excited about anything before."

"Uh huh!" I called from the wardrobe, which I was now hastily picking out something to wear while Finnick chuckled to himself in the other room. I was too excited to tell him to stop laughing at me, so I just focussed on what would look appropriate for a water central District. Would blue be too themed? Most people would wear blue.

"Bring something to swim in."

I poked my face out of the wardrobe with what must have been a horrified expression. "I can't."