The Name of the Game I Finnick Odair

Reunions and Confessions

The brunette flinched slightly, "I'm sorry, Finnick, but please don't. Please just back off."

Finnick frowned at her words, taking a step back and regarding her worriedly. He had went to hug her, but as soon as he was in her reach she had flinched back against a wall. She shifted under his gaze, as he noticed that she was wearing nothing but a sheet.

"You heard her," Finnick told a doctor, who had taken a step towards them. "Don't touch her."

The doctor looked like she was about to object, but Kenzie shook her head.

"I don't have any physical problems." she said, leaving out the mental part, which Finnick picked up on immediately.

"All right, Miss," the doctor gave in. "However, as soon as anything hurts I will need to check on you."

Kenzie nodded and the doctor left the duo alone to talk. If someone wanted to they could surely hear what the duo talked about, but for the most part they had their privacy.

"Kenzie, what did they do to you?" Finnick asked after a few seconds of silence, his hands clenched into fists.

It was unbearable for him to see her like this. Her hair now went below her mid-back, looking quite bedraggled, there were bags under her eyes and she had become incredibly thin, besides her eyes were constantly wide in fear, jumping from one point in the room to another.

A few tears escaped Kenzie's eyes, as she prepared herself to talk. After another minute, maybe even longer than that, she spoke up.

"They made me an offer which I could not refuse. If I slept with them," Kenzie spat that word out as if it was acid in her mouth. "Peeta and Johanna would get a short break from their torture."

Finnick found himself crying as well now, feeling as if he was drowning. He had never felt so helpless before. When he usually comforted her he was hugging her, just quietly being there for her, but now he couldn't touch her and just staying silent didn't seem right either. Their relationship had always been based more on physical contact, so it was unusual for them not to touch.

"That's horrid, Mackenzie. I'm so sorry you went through that." he exclaimed, sniffling slightly, as he looked over her body for scars or bruises.

"Why did you never tell me that's what they did to you?" Kenzie questioned, closing her eyes and silently counting to ten. "When they told me I- I felt so bad. I remembered our first fight and what I said and-"

"Woah, Mackenzie, hold up!" Finnick interrupted her. "You didn't know that back then. God, Kenzie, we were sixteen. Don't feel bad for this, you don't have to at all. I'm just sorry I couldn't protect you."

Despite the situation Kenzie couldn't help but laugh at his words, a weak smile spreading out on her face.

"Look at us feeling bad because we couldn't protect the other." she muttered, shaking her head softly.

"I've missed you." Finnick told her, making her smile widen a fraction.

"I missed you too, Finnick," Kenzie replied, her smile dropping. "I'm sorry I can't bring myself to hug you."

Finnick shook his head at her words, "You don't have to apologize for this. I love you, Mackenzie. I can wait, I've done so for years. I will help you to deal with the trauma the best I can. We don't have to rush this."

Kenzie gaped at him, a blush spreading on her cheeks. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, her eyes flickering to his eyes for a moment. She regarded his face for any sign of discomfort or for any sign that he was lying, but she could tell that he wasn't. He was actually content with waiting for her and helping her through this additional trauma without physical contact. She felt over the moon. After all those years Finnick had finally told her he loved her and this time they weren't in the arena, so this made it easier for her to believe it.

"Oh, so it wasn't just a phase." Kenzie noted, a humorous edge in her voice.

"No, I don't believe it was." Finnick replied in the same voice she had used.

"I love you, too." she said sincerely, staring deeply into his sea green eyes.

"Finally," A new voice commented drily. "Took you two long enough. Gosh, about time."

Kenzie's eyes widened, gasping quietly. Laughter left her lips, as the person sat down at Finnick's other side in front of Kenzie, seemingly already aware of her fear of touch.

"Sirius!" Kenzie exclaimed happily. "You don't know how happy I am to see you again. I've missed you two so much."

"We missed you, too," Sirius said kindly. "I'm glad you're back."

"I can't wait for you to tell me what I've missed, but first I'd like to, uhm, wear clothes." Kenzie mumbled, pointing to the sheet.

Finnick was already on his feet, getting clothes for her, when Sirius leaned closer to her.

"Mackenzie, it's not hard for me to guess what happened to you," Her friend and former escort whispered to her. "I'm sorry that happened to you and I want you to take your time to heal, but Finnick is a good man and he would never do anything to hurt you. Just remember that."

Kenzie nodded, biting the inside of her cheeks as she had flashbacks from her time at the Capitol. She clasped her hands over her ears to block out what she herself didn't know. The noise? The memories? Probably the latter.

"Hey," Finnick returned, putting a blanket around her shoulders, a bunch of clothes draped over his arm. "Are you okay with this?"

Kenzie nodded in response, rocking back and forth.

When she had asked Sirius and Finnick to stand guard she had felt a bit embarrassed about it, but they had been really understanding, which made her feel relieved. Mackenzie knew that she was safe from the horrors Snow and the Capitol had put her through in the last few weeks, but she couldn't help but feel as if this was only a dream that would be over soon. She couldn't believe that she was safe, reunited with Sirius and that Finnick had just confessed his love to her.

Then she moved behind a curtain and changed into her clothes, uncomfortably tracing some parts of her body with her index finger. She made sure not to stay naked for too long though, worried about whatever could happen if she did, even if the rational part of her brain knew it wasn't likely.

As soon as she was dressed she walked back to Finnick, only to find Sirius gone.

Upon seeing her questioning look, Finnick sent her a reassuring smile, "We thought it'd be easier if you would just get used to me at first and slowly start living again. Well, as good as you can in here."

"That's considerate of you." Kenzie remarked, sitting down next to him.

It made him happy to see her already making progress, even if they didn't touch each other and even if she looked quite tense. Finnick knew this would take time, but she was willing to try her best and he was willing to be there for her. It was a start.