Come Back to Me

XXXVI

"Then, we jump."

Initally, Cordelia laughed. And laughed. Wiped a tear even but, the longer Finnick smirked, the more serious she became until finally, she was sending him a flat look.

"You're kidding." She said with a tone of stone.

"I am not," Finnick clicked his tongue in a false distain, overexaggerating an otherwise nonexistent sense of offense. She shook her head and he let out a feigned whine, "come on, if you do it, I'll do it."

"Of course you will, you've done it before!" Cordelia's volume had raised with the sudden panic she displayed, crashing off of her and into Finnick like the waves against the rock below.

The rock below. There was rock below them, rock that they were jumping directly in front of, that they -in an unfortunate circumstance- could hit on their way down. Finnick grabbed her hand with a light chuckle.

"And I'm still alive, standing right in front of you, more than willing to do it again."

She was able to get out of his grip, carrying a sudden sense of caution as she stepped back slowly, Finnick staying where he was. She wiped her hands along her thighs, and shook her head when his smile grew, "No."

"I promise, it will be fun." He pleaded, holding his hands out for her, offering them as support.

She didn't take them.

Cordelia crept closer to him, a hesitant expression on her face.

"Okay, I'll do it," She tooke a deep breath, "on one condition."

"Anything you need."

The phrase broke through to her, Finnick could tell, and as she put her hands out, he opened his arms, prepared to give her the embrace she would ask for. Just as her hands met his chest, there was a comforting grin on his face.

And then she spoke.

"You go first."

In one motion, Finnick grabbed the wrist that pushed him back with so much might, and wrapped his arms around the girl tightly, their bodies molding into one as they hit the deep blue water with a big splash. The water was comfortably warm, like the baths she used to take in her childhood home. The new house didn't have bathtubs, just showers that were drastically less fancy than those in th Capitol. As she pushed away from Finnick, her lips parted to let out some bubbles, leaving her tongue tasting like salt as she laughed.

"I can't believe you fell for that!"

Her laugh grew louder after pushing up to the surface, him splashing her in the face.

"I can't believe you faked that whole thing," His eyes were widened, his voice high pitched with shock, "I genuinely thought you were scared!"

"I was! For like...eight seconds," Cordelia grinned victoriously, her voice in a yell so he could hear her over the water crashing behind them, "than I got the idea to push you in, and I just had to keep it going."

"Oh yeah?" Finnick muttered.

He swam closer to Cordelia just to splash her in the face again. This time she splashed back, before wrapping herself around the back of his shoulders and trying to dunk him under the water. It was a strong attempt but, ultimately he had more strength than her and was able to swim over to more shallow water, before wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her in front of him.

"Did that go the way it was supposed to for you?" He teased, her arms wrapping around his neck as she laughed loudly.

"Oh, my plans always work." Cordelia smiled brightly.