Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Chapter 24~Finnick

The next day we don't do much since we're running out of places to go and Boggs doesn't quite know what to do with Peeta. He doesn't feel comfortable leaving him but he doesn't want him along either, so we're at a stalemate. Half of us go out and film for about an hour before having the rest of the day off. Others don't know what to do, but I hijack the phone and go off to the edge of camp to talk to Annie.

"Hey love," I greet as soon as I hear her pick up.

"Finn! I was really hoping you'd call right now," Annie says. She sounds really happy, her voice bubbling with excitement.

"Really why?" I ask.

"Guess who I'm also talking to," Annie says. I don't have to guess though because Annie puts me on speaker phone and I can hear everything, including Mr. Cresta and Luke's happy voices.

"Hey Finnick!" Luke exclaims.

"How are you Finnick?" Mr. Cresta asks.

"Oh wow! Hi guys!" I say. I can feel my smile widening and I lean my head back to look at the clouds. "I'm doing okay. It's pretty boring here. And I miss Annie."

"Aww I miss you too, Finn," Annie says.

"Ugh they're being all mushy and gushy again," Luke complains.

Annie and I both just laugh while Mr. Cresta tells Luke to be nice. The four of us talk the entire afternoon and it was almost like we were all together in Annie's house on a normal afternoon.

"Oh!" Annie exclaims suddenly.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Nothing. The baby is very jumpy again," Annie says contently.

"That reminds me," Luke says. "You owe me money."

I groan. I was hoping he'd forget, but it was a long shot. Luke never forgets anything, especially when it involves money.

"Fine, I'll give it to you when we see each other again," I tell him.

"Good. Thanks," Luke says.

"Yeah whatever."

Luke continues to rub his win in my face and I just make noises pretending I can't hear him. That just makes Luke talk louder and I, of course, need to match his volume.

"Nice to see the brother-in-laws getting along," Annie says.

That effectively shuts us both up. I guess it never really clicked that we're brother-in-laws. I always thought of Luke and Mr. Cresta as my family, but now it's official.

"Cool, I've always wanted a brother," I say.

"I always thought you were my brother," Luke says.

The statement catches me off guard and makes my heart swell, as cheesy as that sounds. I guess Annie is really rubbing off on me.

I hear a little sniffle on the phone, and I doubt it's Luke or Mr. Cresta.

"Annie, honey, are you okay?" Her dad asks.

She sniffles again. "Yeah. Yeah I'm good. Luke and Finnick are just so cute. I couldn't help it."

I laugh and hear the two boys join in. "You're so adorable, love. I wish I was there to kiss you."

Annie is just responding when Luke interrupts her. "We're both still here!"

"Okay then we'll save all the mushy and gushy stuff for later," Annie promises.

We talk some more and then the phone suddenly beeps. I look down and frown. The battery is running low. I only have ten more minutes.

"Guys, I have to go really soon. The phone is about to die," I say sadly. You'd think with all of the technology they'd have found a solution to batteries running out of power.