𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞➳𝐟.𝗼.➳

𝟶𝟼 - 𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜

Song- Waves by Dean Lewis

⚠️Trigger Warning⚠️
•Panic attacks
•ED
If you are uncomfortable with these triggers, I do not suggest you read this chapter. Also, this chapter starts a few days before the Victory Tour.

My eyes burst open to see that the girl from 3 had tried to get a kill in before getting killed. I saw her run off into the distance.

I looked over to Dylan who had a knife lodged in his chest."Hey kid..."I couldn't help but start to cry. "Win-no survive. Survive for me. Tell my parents I did all I could." He smiled, and I smiled too, only slightly. "There's that smile." He said. Dylan slowly stopped breathing, and his canon boomed. I let out a few sobs, just holding his huge body in my tiny hands.

I sat up gasping for air, only managing out a few small screams. I was drenched in my own sweat, and tears flooded my eyes and face. Annie came rushing into my new room, looking worried. "Hey, hey it's okay. You're okay. We're okay. Finnick is okay. We're all safe." She held me in her arms, which is all I wanted right now. "The Games are over, you're here with me and Finnick in district 4. No Peacekeepers are going to hurt you. You're not going into the arena again."

Annie hushed me as I held onto her like a baby. I couldn't catch my breath, I just kept crying, and I couldn't see when I opened my eyes. Partly from the crying and the black dots swarming my vision. I had calmed down a bit, just enough to talk."Annie-I can't-breath" I coughed. She looked at me, she was terrified, but calm.

"You'll be okay Tessa, you're having a panic attack. I want you to breathe with me okay?" She asked calmly as she got me to sit straight. "In, and out."

It seemed impossible for me to achieve, as my chest felt like it was shrinking, and my lungs like they were closing up. A sob left my lips again as my breathing became unsteady. I could barely see Annie. She placed my hand on her heart, as she wiped away some of my tears. "Try to match my breathing." I steadied my crying and lowered my breathing as the panic attack went away.

The time was 5:23 A.M. So we just lay in bed for a bit, making small talk as we awaited the day ahead of us. My alarm beeped at us, telling us we had to get up. 7:00 A.M. I got into the shower after laying out some clothes for me to wear.

It seemed like there was no sunshine ever since I returned from the games. I had finished the shower and walked out with Annie to the beach. We used to do this with mom and dad, stroll across the sand as the waves came up to our ankles. Usually it felt quite nice considering it was warm whenever we would go out, but this time it felt uncomfortable because of the coldness in the air. Not even the sun could warm us since it hid behind the clouds.

"How long until the Victory Tour?" Annie asked me, breaking the icy silence. "2 days...I think..." I mutter, my eyes still turned down at the grey water. She nods. Eventually, Annie just stops. I look up at her, my hair still blowing crazy because of the wind."I-" She starts. "Hmm?" I wonder, considering she's never really acted this way. "I want you to know that if I could take the pain away from you, I would in a heartbeat. I know I don't completely understand how hard it is for you, but it hurts me to see you like this...having panic attacks every night."

"Annie..." Her eyes fill with droplets again, but I can't see her cry today. "No don't-"

"I shouldn't be the one crying. I know I shouldn't. But you're so much stronger than me. And I know that you always will be. I just love you so much."

"Shh. Don't talk."

I hold my finger up to my lips. A vehicle. A Capitol vehicle. We look at each other in fear, as we don't know at why more peacekeepers were coming to district 4. We both ran over to investigate.

It parked near the town square with peacekeepers on each side of the doors. They got off and opened the door to see a lady with a rag in her mouth.

"Sapphire!" I ran up to her and took her from the peacekeepers that were shoving her around. "What are you doing here?! I thought you wanted to live in the Capitol." I asked as she took the rag out of her mouth."Eh. I figured district 4 was better than that fake frenzy. I broke a few vases." I laughed.

"Is this Annie?"

"Yes. Hi." Annie smiled at her as she welcomed Sapphire with her soothing voice. It differentiated us because mine had gone scratchy.

Sapphire waved. "You two look so much alike." I smiled.

~

We had finally gotten Sapphire situated in her house back in Victor's Village and we were now back at our's. Annie was heating up some food for dinner when there was a knock at the door. I got up from the couch and answered the door.

"Finnick, what're you doing here?" I asked as he looked down."Um..." He looked up to the roof and I saw his eyes glistened, and his tear stained cheeks."What happened? Are you okay?" I asked as I shut the door and looked him over for any injuries.

"I hadn't seen you in a while and...I was worried because of the Tour coming up and-" He brought his hands up to his mouth in a prayer form. "Hey, slow down. Can you repeat that please?" I wiped his face with my sleeve. More droplets ran down his face, I knew he was trying so hard to keep it in. "Breathe, Finnick. You're okay, I'm okay." I hugged him, and he sobbed for a few minutes.

"Here, sit down." I motioned for him to sit on the steps.

"So what were you saying?" I asked calmly.

"The Victory Tour is coming up and I hadn't seen you in a while. I was just worried for you and I wanted to see you before the 'check in' and stuff." I smiled at him. "You're welcome to stay over." He looked over and nodded, beaming like he usually would.

We both stood up and went back in the house.

"Hey you two! I just finished. Come sit down." All 3 of us then sat at the table as we used to, laughing and joking while we ate fresh scallops.

A/N
Hey everyone! I hope you had a very merry Christmas! This chapter is a bit shorter and I'm sorry for the wait. Make sure to eat and drink today, even if it's only a little bit! I love each and every one of you!

edited 01/27/24

Word Count
{1196}