Come Back to Me

XLI

Whatever anticipation he displayed, was now clearly for this exact moment.

So, Cordelia kept her face stern and unrevealing, even though the word rubbed her the wrongest of ways. She thought of an answer that would force him to elaborate but, the chance to respond dissipated with her mentor's reentrance. It was his turn to let his actions speak, silently setting a newspaper on Snow's desk and sliding it to face him.

"It won't work," He said sternly, "how many people do you think have already seen this? I can't even tell you how many questions I've already been asked about them tonight, Cordelia too I'm sure."

Cordelia actually had no clue what Finnick was talking about but, the look he gave her made her nod in agreement nevertheless. She wanted to say something to back him up but, nothing was coming out.

"When was this taken?" Snow said slowly, staring holes into what must've been some photo.

Whatever it was, he wasn't pleased.

Finnick pulled the paper away, tossing it into Cordelia's lap, causing her eyebrows to raise and her lips to part. There she was again, this time in black and whte, by the angle of the photo they were kissing. Her and Hudson. Where did the photo come from in the first place? And how did Finnick find it so quickly?

"I'm sorry, what?"

She hadn't been aware that Snow was speaking to her,

"Who. Is, this?" He repeated, as if he were speaking to a child.

"This, is who Cordelia has actually been seeing," Finnick answered quickly, "Hudson Green, he's from her district- our district. Four."

What?

As she looked over the words, there was accusation upon accusation of a romantic relationship between her and her childhood friend, declaring her off of the market. One comment routing for their apparent love and another promising to stay tuned until she was available agaim.

"No wonder so many people have been asking me so many questions about my love life." She breathed out unsurely.

Not a single question had been asked about her love life but this lie felt like the difference between life and death.

"Everyone's already interested in this," Finnick pointed out, her eyes wild as they glued to him, "and if such a big storyline ends on such a random, sudden note, then what will people think? They'll lose interest like that."

Snow tilted his head thoughtfully, truly contemplating what had been laid out in front of him, Cordelia still too stunned to say anything.

"Is this true?" He finally said coldly.

Still out of it, she looked to Finnick who subtly nodded his head.

Yes.

Yes. She nodded slowly, still trying to force the image into her brain.

Silence fell over the three of them, Finnick finally sitting down, awaiting the next move. He partially regretted the outburst, no idea what could be waiting for them now. The last time he didn't give Snow what he wanted, there was pure hell to pay.

"And surely it's evident, the consequences of this not being true, yes," His eyes switched from Cordelia to Finnick, softening slightly when he received the shaky nod he was undoubtedly searching for, "the last thing we want is others having to pay the price for our mistakes."

This also seemed to warrant the response being requested, because as Finnick sunk back in his chair, falling into the memory of their conversarion during Cordelia's time in the arena, the faintest smile appeared on Snow's red blotted lips, the smell of his white roses taking over all of the boy's senses.