Dew of the Sea [Finnick Odair]

[09. Pre-Interview Jitters]

Rye

That night, Rye and Rosemary visited the roof to stare at the stars again.

Rye could not begin to explain how proud he was of Rosemary. She showed the Gamemakers how hard she had been working. She must have performed really well to get an eight, and Rye had to mentally pat himself on the back for being such a good teacher.

She had also stood up for herself, and that was huge when it came to his sister. When it came to standing up and protecting someone she loved, she never hesitated. But when it was her who was being talked down to, or beaten, or teased, she wouldn't say anything. Rye had always wondered how she could stand it and she had simply answered with, "It doesn't bother me that much."

He didn't know how it didn't bother her, because it would bother him, but they had always been different. It was why they were able to get along so well.

And he scored a ten! That was more than he could have hoped for. He was proud of himself and his hard work and he knew sponsors would be lining up to help him during the Games. From there, he just had to figure out how to get Rosemary out of there alive. He had already talked to Haymitch, but there were so many unknowns in the Hunger Games that nothing was guaranteed.

"Rye," Rosemary's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Can I ask you a question?"

He grinned. "You already did."

Rose laughed lightly. "You're such a dick."

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Rosie," he cooed sarcastically at her before chuckling. "All right, fine. Ask away."

Rosemary was quiet for a moment and he knew she was gathering her courage. What was she going to ask him?

"Do you have a thing with Kline? Like a...romantic thing?"

Well, he certainly hadn't expected that. "Yeah," he didn't even try to hide it. His feelings for Kline were real and they had been weighing him down since they arrived at the Capitol. If all went to plan, he'd never see her beautiful face again. "I really like her, Rose."

He looked over at her just in time to see her smile. "I think she really likes you too."

"Well, she won't actually let us call it official," he informed her, looking back up to the sky, absent of stars.

"When you get back, you should ask her," Rosemary told him. His heart thumped heavily and his stomach churned, wishing that he could go to Kline and ask her to be his. "And when you get married and have a baby, you should name her after me."

Tears stung Rye's eyes and he swallowed heavily. "Rosemary the Second? That's a weird name, Rosie."

"You can drop the Second if that makes you feel better," Rosemary laughed and he could hear the shake of emotion in her voice. "I think you two are great for each other, you know."