Peaceful Forever [Book 2]

Chapter 32

-Amily's POV-

It takes you another 2 weeks to wake up fully and the doctors keep you in the hospital for a few days afterwards for observation. You mainly use sign language to communicate as your voice is week after not speaking for so long. Finnick helps you practice talking but you can only whisper at this point.

Speaking of Finnick, he's been the best partner you could ever ask for. He's been helping you with the exercises the physical therapist sent you home with and even put stickers on your walker. Your legs are too weak to support your full body weight but the doctor says you should be able to walk on your own soon. He cleaned the house and has learned how to make pasta so you can eat in bed. Surprisingly, he has not burned the house down yet.

You are worried that Snow is going to send you back to work next month during the victory tour but Finnick keeps telling you not to stress about it. He's going to talk to Snow to see if he could have you working on something less physical till you are recovered.

-Finnick's POV-

I'm not sure whether the temporary job Snow has offered Amily is better or worse than her current one. I gave him a call to discuss pushing her appointments back by a month so she has time to heal and although he agreed to not give her usual appointments until February, he still wants her working in January. If it were up to me I would have let Amily decide which job she wanted but unfortunately Snow's employment is not optional.

'Did you hear from Snow about my appointments?' Amily signs. Her voice is getting better but it still isn't fully here.

"Yes," I reply. "He has agreed to push them back a month but in the meantime he has alternative employment for you while we're in the capital next month."

'What is it?' she signs. I can tell she's as nervous about it as I am.

"He wants you to do photo shoots with top capital photographers," I tell her.

'That's it?' she asks.

"Well," I sigh. "I don't know the details but he didn't make it seem like these were clothed photo shoots. He mentioned a lingère brand and some magazines that usually have nude models on them."

Her hands are shaking but I can make out her signing, 'Oh'.

"Hey," I sigh as I sit down on the bed next to her. "It's going to be ok. If I'm not at an appointment I can come with you so you won't be alone at these shoots. Hopefully Dimitry will be there and help to make sure that you're somewhat clothed."
She nods her head in reply.

"Please don't worry about it for now," I state. "A lot can change in three weeks."

-Amily's POV-

Unfortunately, not enough changed in three weeks and you were being prepped for your first photo shoot of the trip. You and Finnick had arrived in the capital a day before the victory party in order for you to fit in an extra shoot. Porchia and Dots kept commenting on how small you had become, while Raquel silently did your hair.

A lot of your strength had returned but you still couldn't stand for long periods of time. Finally, Dimitry enters the room in the studio where you are being prepped, holding a few garment bags that contain your outfits.

"They wanted you nude but I told them that was unacceptable for a victor," he tells you as he sets down the outfits. "Now you aren't wearing much but it's more than the original plan."

You thank him and slip on your first outfit. It's a sheer black dress that hugs your body tightly and shimmers in the light. Underneath, you are wearing a tiny black bikini and the tiniest of black thongs. Even though you weren't naked, it didn't leave much to the imagination.

The poses the photographer has you doing are tiring and you keep needing to take breaks to rest. What was supposed to be a two hour shoot ended up lasting five hours and so by the time you got back to the 4th floor suite you were absolutely exhausted. Finnick gets you into your PJs and tucks you into bed before heading off to his appointment for the night.

The victory party was uneventful and you spent most of it drinking to forget what happened in the 73rd games. Finnick was his lovely sober self and made sure that Blight brought you home before he left the party with his appointment.

You wish more than ever that you could kiss and hold Finnick in public but the capital would never allow it. Johanna managed to get out of coming this year and so you probably wouldn't see her for a long time. Your lives were all so busy and complicated.

What would life be like without the games? Would we be able to go to each other's districts and hang out? Would we be able to elect our leader? Too many questions that nobody has answers to.

-
AN: There's a 6 month gap between this chapter and the next so I may write some one shots on my tumblr for mini stories that take place in the gap. Would y'all be interested?
Also my work schedule is hectic for the next few weeks so I might post the two chapters a day in the evening instead of one in the morning and one at night starting tomorrow.