Johanna & Finnick: It Didn't End Like That

Chapter 14

Finnick's POV

"Come on Jo!" I said, tugging on her arm. She shoots me an angry look and locks the front door behind us. We take off into the streets and start a quick walk to the cake bakery.

"What cake do you want us to choose?" I ask her. We walk past the ocean. Waves crash against the rocky shores. The beach closer to our house is all sand with little seashells dotted along the shore.

"Maybe a chocolate one. Or a layered fudge cake." She gazes off at the sea. I slowly move my hand towards hers. They brush against each other. Then we both interlock fingers at the same time, continuing our walk to the bakery.

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could get a few cupcakes too," I suggest shyly.

"And cookies," Johanna adds.

"Of course. We'll have to get both then." I smile at the sky, then down at our hands. Being with Johanna makes me so happy. Everything about her is beautiful.

Ten minutes later we arrive at the cake bakery. The door chimes when we walk in, greeting us with the fresh smell of chocolate and baking sweets.

"Wow," we both say in awe. 

I inhale. I can almost taste the cakes and desserts from here. Behind the counter a few bakers work with white aprons and caps on their heads, rolling out dough or icing cakes. 

"It smells so good," Johanna sighs. "I want to buy the entire store."

I nod my head. We walk over to the counter and look down at all of the cakes. There's vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, fudge, red velvet, and dozens of others on display in perfect condition. A lady baker kindly smiles at me. I return a smile for her.

"Welcome to Cake Delight's," she welcomes us cheerily. "What can I help you two with?"

Johanna bites her lip. "We're still deciding. There's so many. How are we going to choose?" She laughs lightly.

"I know right," I agree. "What're are the highest ranked cakes in here miss?"

The lady blushes. "Let me check." She shuffles off to the back room. A few moments later she brings out a book. "A lot of people love the red velvet cakes," she reads off the first few pages. "And the chocolate ones and rainbow mixes."

My mouth is begging for all of those cakes. "What do you think Johanna?" I turn towards her.

"Red velvet," she instantly says. "What about you?"

"That one sounds good to me." I smile and turn towards the baker. "We'll take the biggest red velvet cake you have."

"Perfect. Would you like anything else?"

"Follow me," I say, taking Johanna's hand. We walk over to the cupcake display and look at all of the cupcake sets. They're decorated in little sprinkles and pastel icing colors. It's amazing to see what people can bake these days.

"I like this set," I say, pointing at a set of vanilla cupcakes covered in pink, pastel icing with rainbow sprinkles.

"They look great," Johanna agrees. "We'll take those miss."

The lady smiles and takes the box. "All right. Anything else you might like or would you like to pay?"

"Cookies!" I almost shout. 

Johanna laughs, blushing slightly. "Okay, okay." She grabs a box of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and places them on the counter. "Now this will be all."

"Okay." The lady types a few things into the cashier and it rings. "Your total will be forty-five dollars and sixty nine cents!"

Johanna starts pulling out her wallet but I place my hand on her arm to stop her. "I'll pay," I insist. 

"Finnick you always pay," she complains. "Let me be kind for once in my life and pay for something please." She pulls out her wallet and hands the lady two twenty's and three quarters. "See? Kindness," she points out, rolling her eyes.

"Look who's being kind," I tease her.

"Oh shut up. Don't make me regret it," she growls quietly.

"Here's your change ma'am!" The baker hands Johanna' six pennies. "Have a great day you two!"

"Right back 'atcha!" I tell her. Johanna takes the cake box and I carry the cookies and cupcakes. "Let's go Jo."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When we arrive home, we immediately open the three boxes and dig into everything without hesitation. 

"Did you try the cookies?" Johanna asks me with her mouth full. I nod, taking another bite of the cupcakes. After the long walk, we're starving. I could really eat twenty of those red velvet cakes.

"Thank you Jo!" I thank her, eating another piece of cake. "We really do have the best bakery in four."

"Don't mention it." She playfully punches me and eats a cookie. "Wow, I can't believe these are all ours."

"I know!" I say excitedly. "We can eat anything and not get in trouble now that he's gone."

Johanna snorts. "Hell. I'd gain weight just to make him angry. It wouldn't even be a concern since I could burn it off within a few days." She rolls up her sleeve and shows off her arm muscles. I gotta admit it. They're pretty strong looking. She's the strongest, toughest female victor out of the 75.

"I'd love to see the look on his albino face," I laugh. "That's the only reason I'd want to see him alive for just a few minutes."

"Haha, no kidding!" Johanna agrees.

We save a little of the cake, cookies and cupcakes for later because we don't want to make ourselves sick. 

"Do you wanna go for a swim?" I invite her when we're sitting in silence in the living room watching highlights from the Districts. So far, everything's been really calm and peaceful. Updates keep me relaxed knowing everything's going just fine.

"Totally," she grins. "Just let me change upstairs."

"Same here."

We both chase each other up the stairs, colliding into each other on the top step. 

"OUCH!" Johanna yells. "That hurt Finn. Not cool." She glares at me evilly. "You almost made me want to not swim with you."

"Almost," I remind her teasingly, winking.

"You're such a moron." She gets off the ground and sulks off into her bedroom. I laugh and walk into my room.

After we change, I meet her on the ledge of the pool. We both stare at the water for a moment. "Do you want to do this?" I ask her. Even after her major improvements with water, I'm still very cautious with what and how she does things. Sometimes she still shakes a little while drinking a glass or washes her hands while doing dishes.

"I'm fine. I can do this." She flashes me a beautiful smile that makes my heart skip a beat. "Come on, let's dive in!"

We count to three and splash into the water. Bubbles surround us once we're underwater. I blink at Johanna. She gives me a thumbs up and points up at the surface. Together, we both swim up.

"That felt fucking great!" She cheers, pumping a fist in the air.

"Don't you love swimming again?" I start swimming laps around her. 

"Obviously. Especially since it's with you."

I find myself blushing. Thank God she can't see me from the other side of the pool. "If you say so Jo," I shakily laugh.

A huge wave of water drenches me. I gasp in shock, looking right at Johanna. She's laughing her head off, pointing at me. "The look on your face was great!" She laughs. "You looked petrified."

"You can go to hell!" I shot at her, as a joke obviously. She giggles, swimming over to me and punches my arm playfully.

"You're so easy to work up Finn. It's hilarious." She smirks at me.

"Well? It's so easy to make you rage. I can't believe it sometimes." I let out a deep laugh to make it convincing. 

"You're such a liar," she winks. "Come on. I want to try some new dives."