Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 20

She had no idea Tyler knew the passcode to their compartment. She was in utter disbelief. She didn't even know it, she just always followed Finnick in.

Taiya knew that after not showing up to the afternoon training session the previous day, Johanna would leave her in peace and not wake her up and try to coerce her into going to training.

Amazingly, she'd slept great last night, which was a miracle in itself. The anxiety surrounding Finnick's potential journey to the Capitol had been alleviated now that she thought he'd agreed to stay.

Her precious sleep, however, was rudely interrupted when she was unceremoniously yanked out of bed.

"Get dressed," Tyler commanded, giving her a light nudge towards the bathroom.

"What?" she mumbled, half-conscious and disoriented.

"You're not dodging training Taiya. Come on, get a move on. You've got 5 minutes."

"You're my worst enemy sometimes," she grumbled, resigning herself to the inevitable as she stumbled towards the bathroom to change.

Emerging fully dressed, Taiya was greeted by the sight of Tyler and Finnick engaged in conversation.

"Did you know about this?" she interrogated Finnick, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Sorry love," he apologised with a nervous smile.

"You're getting perilously close to being on my list," she warned with a huff.

"Alright, let's go," Tyler announced, positioning himself at the doorway.

"Five more minutes?" she pleaded.

"Not a chance," Tyler shook his head, fully aware that if he let her go back to sleep now, there'd be no getting her back up. "Up we go," he declared, bending down and grabbing her behind the knees, scooping her up so she fell over his shoulder.

"TYLER!" she protested, instantly wide awake. "Put me down!"

"I'm taking you straight to training and signing you in. Like I'm dropping a child off at daycare," he smirked. "Can't trust you, kiddo."

"Finnick!" she pleaded to her husband for some help.

"Love you," he called back casually.

"List! List! You're on the list!" her voice echoed through the hallway. "I can feel you smiling. Stop it," Taiya retaliated by jabbing her knee into Tyler's ribs.

"I'm not smiling," he insisted, but she didn't believe him.

Taiya let out a dramatic sigh, allowing herself to slump down against Tyler's back. At least she was getting a free ride to training.

"Finnick and I aren't even going to the Capitol, so I don't know why you're making me train," she groaned.

"Huh?" Tyler responded in confusion.

"You heard me."

"Right..." As far as Tyler knew, Finnick was 100% planning on going to the Capitol.

"How'd you even get into our compartment? The door was locked."

"Finnick set the passcode before you came. It wasn't hard to guess. He used your birthday. Duh," Tyler snorted, well aware of Finnick's predictability. If Taiya had set it, it would have been some convoluted code she'd be challenging people to try to crack.

"Damn that man," Taiya smiled.

"Can't change it now," Tyler laughed. "Once it's set, it's set."

"I hate mornings," Taiya moaned.