The Heiress {Finnick Odair}

A Simple Life

Just like they said they would, Finnick and Adrien woke up almost every morning, tiptoed downstairs, and sparred. They became very good at recognizing one another's strengths and weaknesses.

There were days when they would fight light and slowly go over different moves they wanted to master. There were days when Adrien would wake up frantically and need to let out some steam. There were days when Finnick was the same way.

Then there were days when they both woke up angry, scared, or frustrated. It was on those days that they would be out until noon. If they didn't use wood instead of steel, they would have been dead ten times over by the end of the first month.

When Mags woke up in the morning, she made herself a plate of eggs and then set out to create fresh bandages. The two almost always came back bloodied and bruised, but alive.

Annie had shown up to one of their early morning sessions, but after watching her two friends beat each other to a pulp before noon, she never came again. In fact, after watching Adrien go through what he did, Annie gave up on her aspiration to be in the games. She'd been woken by enough phone calls from Finnick in the middle of the night because they couldn't calm Adrien down to know that she did not want to experience their life.

When they weren't attempting to kill one another, they would meander down to the flower shop. It had become a booming business since the games. Everyone wanted to meet Annie, to catch a glimpse of the victors, and if they were lucky and all three were present, ask Finnick what Amara was like.

Everyone was curious about everything. Unlike the Capitol, however, Finnick didn't mind their questions. He found them rather endearing. It helped that there were times that someone would look at their faces, declare they were having a bad day and shouldn't be disturbed, and everyone would clear out.

Her parents were loving all the business they were bringing. At first, they would invite Adrien over to thank him for the extra income, but it was so obvious how in love he was with their daughter that they fell in love with him as quickly as the Capitol had.

"I don't understand why this is so new," Finnick said one evening as he was laying in the middle of Adrien's bed. Adrien was furiously working on adjusting a tie for dinner that evening.

"They thought I was a joke," he said. "And they didn't want to get too attached to me if I died in the games, but then I didn't."

"And now they're making up for lost time?" Finnick asked.

"That's a pathetic way of looking at it, but I guess so, yeah." Adrien gave up on tying the knot and turned around to look at Finnick. "Well?"

Finnick stared at him for a second. "Mags!"

Mags, who happened to be walking by the room, poked her head in and immediately winced.

"I think that these people are going to be lucky to have you in their lives, and they should be grateful that Annie has chosen such an incredible young man," Mags said as she fixed his tie. She patted it when she was done, kissed his cheek, and walked out of the room.

"How does she do that?" Finnick asked as they stared at the knot.

"Magical powers?" Adrien suggested, and Finnick nodded.

"Makes sense to me."

**

"Annie!" Adrien yelled into the kitchen. "It's on!"

"I'm coming!" Annie yelled as she skidded into the living room with a bowl of popcorn. Mags turned the volume up as Annie settled between Adrien and Finnick.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The loud voice of Caesar Flickerman echoed through the room. "Amara White!"

Annie let out a cheer with the audience as Amara walked across the stage. She was wearing a dress made of black diamonds that made her shimmer in the light.

"My my my," Caesar said, "you look stunning! Doesn't she look stunning?"

The crowd cheered, and Annie hummed in agreement.

"I don't understand why you won't ask her out," Annie said, and Mags and Adrien snorted.

"We don't get it either," Mags said.

"I'll just break her heart," Finnick said. They all collectively rolled their eyes, but focused back on the screen.

"Now, I know that we're all very excited to hear your new album," Caesar said. "But tell us-- what are you most excited about?"

"This album has more depth to it than usual," Amara said. "There are so many hidden layers and deep emotions in these songs that I think everyone will be able to relate to it on some level."

"Do you have a favorite song?" Caesar asked. "Which one really spoke to you the most when you were writing them?"

"I have two actually. The fourth song on the album is called Almost which is a story of unrequited love. I think we've all been in a place when it didn't matter how badly we wanted a relationship, it just didn't work."

"You've experienced unrequited love?" Caesar asked, surprised. Amara nodded, cocking her head to the side.

"What's so shocking about that?" she asked.

"You're Amara White," Caesar said. "You're the Capitol heartthrob."

"Oh, I'm afraid that title can stay with my best friend," Amara laughed, "which is actually who my seventh song is about. The other one that I was obsessed with writing. The two of us had a strange friendship and it's something I wanted to share with you all."

"What was so strange about it?" Caesar asked.

"Well, the first time we met was at the end of his victory tour. Everyone was looking at us like we were going to be the next 'it' couple, but I wanted to meet him so I yanked him under a table so I could."

"You... pulled Finnick under a table at President Snow's mansion so you could meet him?"

"I did," Amara said, laughing with the audience as she buried her face in her hands. "So the song just tells the story of our friendship separated by the districts."

"I don't know about you," Caesar said as he looked out at the crowd of people, "but I am personally very excited to hear this album. Does it sound like this may be the best album yet or am I wrong?"

The crowd cheered, and Amara laughed.

"Caesar, you say that every year," she said. Caesar threw his head back and laughed.

"And I haven't been wrong yet," he pointed out.

In District Four, Annie, Adrien, and Mags all turned to look at Finnick.

"Does anyone else think that both songs are about Finnick?" Annie asked.

"Yes," both Mags and Adrien chimed in.

"I don't understand why you won't just tell the girl how you feel," Mags said.

"I can't possibly begin to explain this to you," he groaned. "Can you please just trust that I have her best interest at heart? That I want to protect her?"

"Protect her or you?" Adrien asked.

"Her. It's always her. It'll... it'll always be her."

The group exchanged sad glances. They may have no idea what was going on between the two, but it was obvious Finnick loved Amara more than he would ever tell them, much less her.

Mags thought back to her husband. The life of a victor was never one of ease, despite what the Capitol promised. No, if you broke their rules, there were always consequences. She wondered if Finnick had already discovered this. Perhaps all he wanted to do was protect Amara from the horrors of being a victor.