Falling For You

Chapter 14

Peeta and I walk with Brooke and Nathaniel to their chariot. Both of them are barely clothed. Brooke has some kind of strapless bra on that appears to be made of leather and clings to her skin tightly, along with some underwear of a similar looking material, and boots. Nathaniel has a pair of leather shorts on as well as boots. Both of them are covered in sparkly black powder, it's smeared on their faces and bodies like ashes. I watch them climb into the chariot, as far away from each other as possible, both of them facing forward. She runs a free hand over one of her braids and then places it back at her side. As we're leaving to take our seats I notice Nathaniel sneak a glance at Brooke when she's not looking.

As Peeta and I are walking away, I spot some of the other mentors standing in a group. When we get closer to them I see that they're looking at a screen. This must be where they've decided to watch the tribute parade from. There's plenty of places to watch it from, as there are screens everywhere. Last year Peeta and I stayed by a table of alcohol, where Haymitch told us he stood for ours, neither of us really wanting to approach the other victors. But this year they've moved to our spot, leaving us with no other choice but to go socialize with them. I grind my teeth, walking slower as we get closer. We're still almost ten feet away from them when Finnick intercepts us. "Katniss!" I turn to him, avoiding looking at him too directly. "Finnick." I go to look at his face but can't resist taking a peek at his body as well. He's wearing a seethrough-white button up shirt, unbuttoned over his chest, and dark green pants. "They don't dress you in much do they?" I say, before I can stop myself. I've only seen Finnick Odair a handful of times, and I'm still not used to seeing him, or anyone, in so little clothing. "I suppose you could say the same for yourself." I follow his gaze down to my dress- that's barely a dress- and blush. He's right. The Capitol has taken away any sense of modesty I previously had. He smirks at me, catching my gaze, before his eyes flicker down my exposed body again, causing the blush to spread over my chest and a warm feeling to flood down to my core. I force myself to make eye contact and the realization hits me. He's flirting with me! I can feel Peeta staring at us, but he hasn't said anything. I glance over at Peeta for help, but he's just watching us awkwardly, his hand holding mine just like before. Finnick's laughter breaks the stare between Peeta and I, forcing me to look back towards him. He leans in towards me seductively, making it obvious Peeta was never included in our conversation. "Congratulations on your wedding." He says, then he walks off towards the other mentors. I turn to Peeta trying to get my thoughts together. "It's starting." I hear someone say. "Come on, let's go watch." Peeta pulls on my hand and we walk over to stand in front of the screen like the rest of the mentors.

We watch as they show close ups of both Brooke and Nathaniel, then they zoom back out. Nathaniel looks at Brooke again, then leans in and whispers something to her. She turns to him and stares for a while, but I can't tell if she says anything back because they're now focused back on the tributes from district one. "It seems like something's going on between them." I say, turning away from the screen to look at Peeta. "Yeah. I talked to Brooke about it but all she said was that they went to school together. I think he likes her but she probably doesn't even notice." Peeta says, with a hint of irony in his voice. My stomach drops, that sounds all too familiar. Peeta's interview during our games flashes through my head, making me cringe.

After dinner, Peeta and I go back to our room to lay down. Now that i'm not keeping myself busy, I'm forced to confront what's been gnawing on me all day. I roll over on my side and stare at the wall as Finnick's words flood my mind. "I suppose you could say the same for yourself." I mentally repeat it to myself over and over, trying to decipher it's real meaning. I''m nothing like Finnick. He's a sex symbol. Constantly with a new Capitol girl. Always at all the important parties. I obviously can't say the same for myself. But what if I was..... If I didn't have Peeta... Would I be the same way? I start to feel sick for the second time today. Peeta seems to sense my uneasiness. "What's wrong?" Peeta asks, his hand grazing my shoulder. I cringe, pulling away from him. "Nothing. I'm just gonna go get something to drink." I start to get up but he stops me. "I could get you something." I glare down at the bed. "No. That's okay. I wanna go." I try to act like nothing's wrong but I know it's useless. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong." I scowl at him and he smirks at me, clearly not upset by my refusal to tell him. He wraps an arm around me pulling me closer to him and starts tickling me. I thrash around and try to fight him off but it's no use, he's stronger than me, and part of me doesn't really want to make him stop. My laughter and his fills the room and for a second I forget why I was so upset in the first place, enjoying the feel of his hands on me. He stops abruptly, leaving us both breathless from laughing so much. "Better?" He asks, as I struggle to catch my breath. "Mhhmm.." I nod, breathing heavily. His eyes flicker down my body for a second, and he gets that look in his eyes again. The same one he had on the first night we were together. His hand grabs at my side, pulling me against him again. "Do you wanna tell me what's wrong now?" He asks. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine now. I was just in a bad mood I guess. I don't know. Hormones or something?" I smile at him, unable to stop myself. The way his face lights up every time I mention anything that has to do with me being pregnant is priceless. "Let's go get something to drink then." He suggests, sitting up.

A/N: TOMORROWS FRIDAY I'm really excited. For reasons I'm not gonna mention. I know the finnick part was a bit ooc but I want to have finnick in this story even thought it can't be in the same way as cf.