Significant Other: A Finniss Story

The Family Dinner

After everyone was seated and introduced, Katniss was a ball of nerves.

She was impressed with Finnick's talent to seamlessly adapt to his surroundings, and within minutes he was talking and joking with her entire family, Haymitch and Prim included. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that the night would not end well.

It wasn't that she was untrusting of Finnick's acting abilities - after his little show at the front door she knew she had nothing to worry about on his end - it was that she didn't trust herself. She'd never had a boyfriend before, she didn't know how she was supposed to act, what to say...she was in completely foreign territory.

She swallowed nervously, grabbing a fist-full of her loose cargo pants as she gripped her dinner fork tightly.

Finnick, who was as much in his element as ever, noticed her distress, and discreetly gave a comforting squeeze to her hand beneath the table, unfurling it from her pant leg.

She looked at him, uncertain, and he winked as a form of comfort.

Just let me handle the questions, he seemed to say.

She nodded, blinking rapidly, and looked around the table at her family.

Her mother sat across from her, and her sister across from Finnick, with her aunt and uncle on either end.

They had already started eating, laughing over something Finnick had said, and she felt just a little more at ease as she loosened her grip on her fork and began piling more food onto her plate.

Suddenly, her mother spoke.

"So, Katniss," she began, taking a bite of her carrots. "How did you two meet?"

Katniss took a breath.

Okay. A simple question. She could answer that.

"Oh, we work together." She said, smiling falsely as she put a hand on Finnick's forearm.

Her mother nodded. "And is he...?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but Finnick beat her to it.

"Her boyfriend? Yep." He smiled, charm oozing from his every word.

Katniss tried hard to smile despite the disgust she felt. He was too good at this.

Her mother continued. "Just yesterday you said you didn't need a boyfriend, Katniss."

Her tone was suspicious, yet obviously hopeful, and that meant that there was a very good chance that she could walk away from this scot-free. She opened her mouth yet again, only to have her partner in crime swoop in and save her.

"Yes, well, she was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. And she knew you'd never let her live it down, so...we kept it a secret," he explained, placing his hand over Katniss' as Mrs. Everdeen nodded thoughtfully.

The dread in Katniss' stomach unknotted itself at his ease of flow and believability. She really did have nothing to worry about.

"Until yesterday, of course," Finnick continued. "When she told me about the family dinner that was going on tonight. I practically had to beg her to bring me, haha!" Everyone chuckled at his fake memory. "But, I figured after three months it was high time you guys knew about us."

Katniss' jaw dropped and her mother choked on her carrots, bringing her drink hastily to her lips as everyone silenced in shock.

"T-three months?!" Mrs. Everdeen shrieked. "You've been together for three months and you didn't tell us? Tell me?!"

"She probably thought you'd make fun of her," a new voice piped in.

Everyone's attention turned to Katniss' uncle Haymitch, who was sitting at the end of the table.

"All that yellin' and hollerin'...and for what? So she could get hitched at the first opportunity? Shoot, I wouldn't'a told you either!" He said, annoyed as he took another helping of peas.

"Oh, Haymitch!" Effie reprimanded from the other end of the table, clearly embarrassed at her husband's actions.

Mrs. Everdeen looked down at her lap and chuckled as everyone else joined her wholeheartedly, not one noticing the uneasiness in the blonde woman's voice.

~*~

After dinner, Katniss and Finnick announced they were leaving, much to the dismay of her family.

"Surely you can stay a little longer," Effie pleaded, but Katniss shook her head.

"No. I'm sorry, aunt Effie. I've got an early shift tomorrow," she smiled politely.

Though she loved them, she really didn't want to spend any more time than she had to around these people.

Finnick flung his scarf around his neck as though he were in an Abercrombie and Fitch commercial, and smiled blindingly at her family members.

"Hey, I'll be waiting in the car," he announced from behind her.

Without warning he planted a quick but firm kiss on her cheek, and before she could protest he was already outside. Her family snickered at the show of affection, and Katniss hugged her mother and sister and aunt and uncle before muttering a quick goodbye and heading out the door.

When she joined Finnick in the car, she had to fight the urge to slap him when she saw his ridiculously-pleased-with-myself expression. Instead, she clamped her jaw shut and shoved her hand into her pocket to dig out her keys.

Unfortunately, that tactic didn't work for long.

"What?" She snapped, jamming her key into the ignition and starting the car.

Finnick looked at her. "Hm? Oh, nothing...Just that I couldn't help thinking that I'm about to be $200 richer," he said, smirking.

She rolled her eyes, pulling out into the street. "Don't get ahead of yourself," she muttered.

Finnick pulled on his seatbelt. "What?" He asked innocently. "You have to admit, I was...pretty damn good back there."

She huffed indignantly, focusing on the road. "I will admit, you were...pretty good," she said, coming to a stop light. "But if you don't stop being a self-absorbed prick right now I will kick you out of this car and you'll walk home. Got it?"

He shrugged. "Fine, kick me out. I'll just hike back to Mrs. Everdeen's and have her drive me home."

He smiled sweetly as she took in his hinted threat, and in that moment she very nearly reached across the short distance between them and clawed his eyes out.

Thankfully, God invented green lights.