Finnick and Annie

Invitation

Two years after that day at the beach Annie and I were still together. We were happy. I was with her all the time, except when I was invited to the Capitol for parties.

"Are you staying over for dinner?" I asked her as we walked towards my house.

"No, Finnick, I've had enough of you for one day," she teased.

"You can never have enough of me," I smirked. She rolled her eyes, and I pulled her towards me to kiss her. She had to stand on her toes, which made me smile every time.

"I love how modest you are," she whispered.

"Yeah, it's a gift."

"Finnick, could you have a bigger ego?" she asked.

"I'm sure I could," I mumbled, "Would you like me to be more confident?"

"No, no... please," she begged. I chuckled and kissed her again. My mother walked out of the house and cleared her throat.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, amused. "But, Finnick, you have a visitor. Annie, you can come with me to the market; Percival wants me to buy him another net."

"Alright," I said confused. "See you later, Anne."

The first thing I saw when I walked into the living room was President Snow, which I didn't expect at all.

"Uh, good afternoon, Sir," I said.

"Hello, Finnick," he said. "I'll skip over the pleasantries. I'm obviously here for a reason."

"Well, yes. It's a pleasure to have you, Sir," I mumbled.

"I come to you, with an invitation," he said.

"An invitation to what? Sir?" I asked.

"Ariadne, the daughter of one of my dearest friends, who was also your greatest sponsor during the games, is turning eighteen. You are being invited to her birthday party, and as a grateful young man who survived the arena thanks to her father's donations, well... I'm sure you will accept the invitation."

"Uh... of course," I mumbled.

"Fantastic. You're the guest of honor, Finnick. I'm sure you'll do anything to please the girl, won't you?" he smiled coldly.

"What exactly do you mean, Sir?"

"Oh, you'll see. Just follow along, but remember, you owe her your life." He bowed his head and stood up. He sipped the last bit of his tea and then walked away. "I'll see you in three days, Mr. Odair."

"Three days? But it's Annie's birthday!" I whined, but he was already gone.

"Annie, I'm really, really, really sorry," I said.

"Whatever, Finnick," she rolled her eyes.

"Annie, if the president of Panem comes to my house and asks me to go to the party of my biggest sponsor's daughter, I can't really refuse!" I complained.

"I don't like it when you go to the Capitol! You flirt with everybody, and the girls are always all over you!" she whined.

"It's not my fault," I said, "you know I have to be a different person over there. It's just an act, Annie; you're the only girl I love."

"Maybe. But not the only one you like." she said.

"No, they're superficial and weird," I said. "You're way more beautiful than any of them."

"No, you're just saying that because you're my boyfriend."

"No, I'm saying it because it's true," I insisted. She sighed. "Annie, I promise I'll make it up to you. We'll celebrate your birthday tomorrow. Please, I feel guilty enough already." She looked at me and rolled her eyes but agreed reluctantly.