Finnick and Annie (Short Stories)

I'm not going anywhere

It had been a few days since Annie had retreated into the darkness of her own mind. Everything had been a downward spiral since that moment when she witnessed the beheading of her district partner. She'd escaped from the pack of careers only barely, and only because she was the only one who could swim across the river to safety. The remainder of the games was nothing more than a blur to Annie. Even weeks after they'd ended she couldn't decide which parts had really happened and which were just a product of her cruel imagination.

As all victors did, Annie had moved in to the Victor's Village, a series of huge, modern, comfortable homes were the Victor's were isolated from the rest of the population. Annie had brought along her father to live with her, but the poor man was clueless as to how he could help her, and after he'd realized that his attempt to comfort her were hopeless he'd returned to work. It's not like he left her completely alone, he did worry about her, so he had Mags and Finnick, the only two people in the whole district that Annie felt comfortable around, check up on her.

Mags would feed her and bathe her and talk to her. She was loving and caring, and she never pushed Annie to talk or do anything that she didn't want to. Even though Annie was often aloof, the small part of her mind that remained present was grateful for her company.

Finnick was a different story. Nobody could blame him for the way he reacted, but though Annie didn't say it or show it, she felt hurt and abandoned. Finnick had tried incessantly to comfort her and to reassure her. He had been there for her throughout her interviews after the games, and he'd helped her withstand the horror of the crowds at the Capital and even back home. Though Annie had managed to keep herself somewhat composed during the madness that had ensued after she'd been announced victor, when she had returned home it was as if the thin line she'd been hanging on to had snapped. Keeping her composure had drained every last bit of her energy so when she got home for the first time she collapsed, releasing all the tension and exhaustion that had been consuming her.

The pills the doctors had prescribed to tranquilize her kept her calm and disconnected when her nightmares got so bad she forgot they weren't real. Annie had spent the last few days, maybe weeks going between the pill-induced stupor and frenetic anxiety.

Finnick had tried to be there for her the first few days. He sat by her side and talked to her. He tried to hold her and stroke her hair when things got bad, the way he'd used to right after her games. But everything was still too recent, and there wasn't the pressure of having to keep herself together. It's not like Annie wanted to hurt Finnick, in fact it pained her to do so, but she knew that keeping still and quiet would be better than letting herself go. She knew ignoring Finnick would be better than breaking down in front of him. She was terrified of showing him just how messed up she really was. She'd been trying to avoid pushing him away and in the end that's exactly what she'd accomplished.

Mags could see how hurt both of them were. She knew as well as any other victor how hard it could be to heal. She knew deep down Finnick knew it too, but he was too involved emotionally with Annie to be objective. He'd run to her house every day the first week she was back. He'd cry and talk and Mags would listen, until one day he wasn't crying anymore, but what Mags saw in his eyes was worse than pain or heartbreak, it was resignation.

"I'm not going back there," he said. "She's gone, Mags. Annie is not coming back." Mags had been absolutely furious with him so he'd stopped coming to see her as well, but things were getting out of control and she knew she had to do something about it.

So one day, after Annie' father had returned home from his shop she went over to Finnick's house, which was just two house to the right of Annie's. She knocked on his door and he didn't answer at first, but Mags could hear him walking on the other side. "I'm not leaving," she warned him, "so let me in."