𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓.

Rehearsed.

"Ow!" Rosie hissed, blindly trying to whack Finnick away. "You said you'd be gentle, yet you seem to be trying to pull my spinal cord out."

Finnick rolled his eyes, continuing to gently treat the gaping wound on the back of her head. "You managed to get half a tree stuck in there. It'll feel better when all the splinters are out," he soothed, angling her head to use the slivers of moonlight as a light to help see the splinters. He washed out the wound using the water from the tree trunk. Everyone was thankful for Haymitch and Kit, who were doing their best to look out for their people.

"I doubt it, I'm pretty sure my skull is exposed back there." Not for the first time, Rosie attempted to reach back and touch the wound to feel out the size.

Expecting her to do it again, Finnick was quick to catch her wrist. "Do you want to get it infected? I washed my hands, but you haven't. Now sit still and stop squirming." Finnick adjusted Rosie back to how he wanted her to sit. Facing forward, head angled to catch the moonlight.

Rosie did catch the fact Finnick didn't dispute the fact the wound was bad. That, in and of itself, was a bad sign.

"I'm okay, Finn" The young woman whispered, her words just for Finnick. "My brain was a little scrambled for a second but it's up and running again. You know that right?"

The blond man hadn't stopped hovering at Rosie's side, even though it'd been hours since she'd become lucid–and really did feel fine–he couldn't relax. Not until they were both out of the Arena. He was terrified that if he turned around for a second, he'd look back and see her eyes rolled back again. Rosie was so limp in his arms, all while mumbling unintelligible words. Blood was all over his arm from where her head had rested. The dried over liquid itched at his skin, a poignant reminder that she wasn't safe.

Gently, he rested his forehead on the top of her head, breathing deeply. Somehow, she still smelled good–Rosie always smelled good.

"I just want you safe. You sacred the shit out of me, Ro," he admitted.

Rosie turned, looking at Finnick, taking his warm face in her hands. "I'm okay. Got a big ol' headache, but my coordination is back and I can do maths. My vision isn't even blurry," her thumb brushed his sweaty skin. "I feel a million times better now that I'm hydrated. Tomorrow we get up and kick some ass; Kai's preferably."

Before he could chicken out, he grabbed Rosie's face, bringing her lips to his.

The kiss was languid and passionate, full of pure love and unashamed obsession. They were each other's Person. The one that made life worth living, who made all the shit a little easier to burden. Rosie crawled into his lap, sitting herself between his legs as the kiss continued until they were both a breathless, heaving mess.

Foreheads pressed together, they smiled like fools.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Marry me," he whispered back.

Her face twisted, tipping to the side in confusion. "Finnick, we've missed a few steps there," Rosie laughed quietly, trying not to disturb the others. "You can't just pop the question like that."

"Who says I can't?" He grumbled. "I love you, you love me. You're stuck with me, no one else is allowed to go near you. It makes sense," he pouted.

Rosie snorted. "Just what every girl wants to hear. I'm stuck with you, getting married makes sense. You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet."

The man's face fell into the crook of her neck. "I'll get you out of here, you know that, right?" Finnick murmured into her skin.

Pain filled Rosie's heart. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in Finnick; she trusted him with every fibre of her being. If he said jump, it was only a question of how high he wanted–but this was something different. Rosie had long ago accepted her death, being surrounded by it growing up would do that to someone; all she wanted was to die in a world that still had Finnick in it. So, if it–God forbid–came down to a situation like Peeta and Katniss' the year prior, Rosie wouldn't hesitate to end her life. Some parts of the young woman thought it would be a mercy to her, Panem wasn't kind to her.