THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

18 | THE 69TH HUNGER GAMES

Six months later, Carolina woke up in the same bed as Finnick Odair.

Her head was on his chest, and his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. The sound of the steady beat of his heart was enough to lull her back to sleep. It took her a minute to realize where she was, but when she did, she jumped away from the boy, falling off the bed in the process.

She looked around the room frantically, then realized she was in the guest bedroom at Finnick's house.

"Lina?" Finnick groaned.

His voice was heavy with sleep. Carolina realized the noise from the fall must have woken him up.

She stood up quickly and pointed at him.

"You're here. What are you doing here?"

"You were screaming in your sleep last night," Finnick said, dragging a hand across his face to wake himself up. "I came in here to check on you."

"And you decided to stay?"

"Well, when I sat down next to you, you grabbed onto me, and you calmed down immediately," Finnick shrugged. "I thought there would be no harm in staying. Plus, I would have woken you up trying to leave anyway."

"Oh," Carolina said quietly. She studied Finnick for a moment, and her entire body calmed. She felt warmth cover her face but didn't pay any mind to it. "Thank you."

Finnick nodded, getting out of the bed. No shirt, just a pair of shorts that only reached the middle of his thighs. Carolina quickly looked away, embarrassed.

"Anytime."

Carolina had gone over to his house the night before to talk about the upcoming Games, but she had no recollection of walking to his guest bedroom. She thought she had just drifted off mid-conversation on his couch.

Did he carry me here?

Carolina didn't let the thought of her in his arms linger in her mind and instead, made up a half-assed excuse as to why she had to leave immediately. Seconds after walking into her house, she heard a knock at the door. She assumed it was Finnick bringing her something she had forgotten at his place.

Instead, it was the last person she expected.

"Cyrus!" Her boyfriend. The man she should actually wake up in the arms of was standing right outside her door, holding a large bouquet of white roses. Carolina mustered up a smile and jumped into his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I decided to surprise you. My grandfather got me a train here, and I thought we could head back to the Capitol together next week after the reaping."

"Oh, this is so exciting," Carolina pulled back, and Cyrus leaned in to kiss her.

"I've missed you, darling," Cyrus mumbled against her lips.

Carolina giggled. "I missed you, too."

"And who is this?" A voice said from behind the two as another screamed, "Ewwww!"

Carolina jumped away from Cyrus and turned to the group that was now at her porch.

"Dad! Mom! Charlie!" Carolina laughed awkwardly. "You're early!"

"Answer the question, Carol," her dad said.

Carolina's mother and brother pushed past the couple and walked into the kitchen. She watched as her mother opened the fridge and started making breakfast and as Charlie plopped on the couch and tried to go back to sleep, doing her very best to ignore her father sizing up Cyrus.

"Everyone," Carolina said, focusing her attention more on her mother and Charlie. "This is Cyrus Snow."

"Right," Carolina's father nodded. "The boyfriend."