Dead in the Water | An Odesta Fanfic

Chapter Fifty-One

Annie was fast asleep and dreaming of the sea. These days, she dreamed of almost nothing else. She and Finnick had spent so much time on the water since he came home that she could feel the rocking of the boat when she closed her eyes at night. The shimmering glow of the water and the sound of Finnick's laughter wove their way between her nightmares and left her with more peaceful dreams than restless ones.

"Annie,"

The whisper woke her up, pulling her out of her dreams and back into her dark bedroom.

"Annie."

A pair of blue eyes was blinking at her from the doorway. Annie sat up, squinting through the darkness.

"Kai?"

She could see the panic and faint embarrassment on his face as he stepped closer to her bed. "I can't sleep." he whispered.

Annie rubbed her eyes, still heavy with sleep, and moved over to make room for him.  "What's wrong?" she asked. "A bad dream?"

Kai nodded and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Sorry," he murmured. "I shouldn't have woken you up."

"I don't mind." she told him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. "Not really." he said. "I just... I didn't want to be alone."

"That's okay too." Annie wrapped him in a hug. His heart was thundering so loudly that she could feel it beating in his chest. She held him tighter. "I'm right here."

Kai leaned his head against her shoulder. They had been doing this since he was a toddler, sitting up together until the nightmares went away. Annie placed her head on top of his. Her eyes were still heavy, and only a few minutes ticked by before they were falling shut. The feel of the rocking sea swept over her again and began to pull her away, lulling her back to sleep...

"Can we go outside?"

Annie's eyes flew open. "Sorry?"

Kai wriggled his way out of her grasp and looked up at her hopefully. "Can we go outside?" he repeated.

"Outside?" she laughed. "Kai, it's the middle of the night."

"Yeah, and the stars are out! We could go look at the stars."

"Mom and dad aren't going to be very happy if we sneak out."

"Please? It's been so long since we spent any time together, Annie."

It had been a while. Annie could hardly remember the last time they had sat together like this. The memories were faint and fuzzy and made her heart ache a little with some strange sadness that she couldn't explain.

"Fine." she said. "We'll go outside. But you've got to be quiet."

Kai nodded. "The quietest."

It wasn't hard to sneak out. True to his word, Kai was quiet as could be, and they crept down the stairs together and out the front door without any problem. It was a warm summer night, and the smell of the sea was in the air. Kai reached over and held her hand as they stepped outside. Annie smiled at him, and they walked down the street together, hand in hand.

"Thank you." said Kai.

"Thank me later," she told him. "Once we make it back inside without getting in any trouble."

Kai stared up into the night sky where stars were arching over them, not a cloud in sight. "I missed this." he said. He squeezed Annie's hand. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Kai."

Annie followed his gaze to the sky, finding the North Star and counting the constellations overhead. The world was peaceful here, in the quiet of the night, with no lights but the moon and stars glistening above and no sound but the waves crashing in the distance.