- F A L L E N -

13

Back in the hotel room, Portia paced back and forth, muttering and shaking her head, with the nervousness I'd never known was possible of anyone in the Capitol.

I sat down dumbly on one of the velvet chairs, letting the rest of my stylists and staff take turns recursing the night with me, each one having a slightly different version of my horrendous behavior, but equal contempt for my actions. Like I was a miscreant child, they hovered over me, spitting as they furiously picked apart my movements of the night.

I'd have ignored the lectures and gone off to bed, with a halfhearted remark of why woman need beauty sleep or something else equally stupid, but I was waiting for Finnick.

Hours passed, and in between all the nothing I was doing, I watched the door desperately. I noticed myself sitting up a little straighter each time I heard the faint sound of footsteps, but they just kept passing by. Eventually most my staff went back to their rooms, Portia gave me a final soliloquy on the importance of the games, and even the cut-tongued servants retreated away.

But I stayed up, reading a book in the moonlight, hunched over by the window, waiting. He had to come eventually, and I figured I'd make sure the first person he got to hear from would be me.

—-

I woke up groggily from the feel of someone placing my arms around their neck, "Hey there, C'mon you don't want to sleep here", a faint, familiar voice rolled over me. My eyelids fluttered open, and I made out his face before I felt them close again.

He tucked his hands under my spine to lift me up, and a sense of warmness came over me, and I curled my head closer into his chest as he lifted me up. "I waited for you", I cooed, cozily, already half-asleep in his arms.

I could hear from the creak of the floorboards where Finnick was moving around too, and with just a few movements, I felt myself being slipped out of his arms, being placed gently onto a bed. He grabbed the white linen blanket in a curl at end of his mattress, and pulled it over me before crawling under the sheets.
I always liked it how Finnick used the blankets, it was silly, but they made me feel closer to him when we laid together; that thin sheet of protection, protecting us from the world.

"You sir",... "are very late to dinner", I lulled, shifting over in the comforter. I felt Finnick stroke my hair behind my ear before turning over onto his back on the mattress, staring up at the wall.

He chuckled, "Aw man, what'd you have?", He asked, closing his eyes with a tired smile.

I chuckled with my eyes closed, "An entree, appetizer and main dish of Capitol disappointment".

"Mmm sounds lovely", he teased. "Sorry I missed it".

"Tell me tomorrow", I whispered, letting his hand fall over my chest as I sank deeper into his hold.