Waves Breaking Over Rocks Part 2

Chapter 3

Annie

We make love every night, we go to our beach every day, we eat with Mags, and we spend some days in bed, just laughing and eating and enjoying what little time we have.

Because the reaping is tomorrow.

I thought we would be infinite. I thought that nothing could bring us down. I thought we would love until we were old and sickly and we would die old together and asleep. I thought we would have the family we had always wanted. I thought we would get married. I thought we would live happily ever after.

I was wrong.

I'm going to die. I'm not afraid, though. Because Finnick is Finnick, so he will win. And maybe he will live happily ever after even though I will die young. He will have the chance to die old and safe and in bed.

It's the middle of the night, but I can't sleep. I feel his naked form underneath me rise and fall on an irregular breathing pattern. He's not asleep, either.

"I love you, did you know that?" I whisper to him.

"I love you just as much." He says, lacking his usual flair. But the words mean just as much to me.

I fall into a dazed sleep, never fully sleeping but never fully awake. So much for our last night.

I wake up suddenly at the sound of the alarm clock. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

"Finnick, time to get up." I tell him, because I can't make myself kiss him. If not, I would cry.

"I was up, love, I just wanted to pretend this wasn't happening." I kiss him lightly and get out of our bed, our sanctuary, our safe heaven, the place where I'm just Annie and he's just Finnick.

I don't race him, I don't even wait for him to get out of bed. I only walk downstairs slowly, to the kitchen. I make coffee without looking at our sugarcubes because if I looked at them I'd start to cry.

I hear steps, but I don't turn to look, I know it's Finnick. I just take our coffee to the table quietly. It's bitter, but I don't care. I don't want sweetness. I don't want more bits and pieces of home. I just want to get to the Arena and die already so that Finnick can come back here as soon as possible.

I kiss him goodbye when I'm done and leave, knowing I'd come back later.

I walk to my house, feeling alone and empty. I tell myself: don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

Once inside, I run to the bathroom and vomit everything, and then some bile when I have nothing left. My face is a sickly green and I have bags under my eyes. But Garcia would show up any minute.

"Annie? Are you home?" I hear her say. I open the door and let

her in. She smiles, but it contains her usual jealousy. Too bad, I think, Finnick is not your property.

"Annie?" I hear a softer voice say from behind her. It's Finnick. I know I only saw him an hour ago, but it feels like a lifetime. There's a string, pulling me to him, so I can't go far without him. And he feels the same way. Without thinking, I go forward to him and hug him, burying my face in his chest.

"Help me get through this." I whisper. He kisses the top of my head, not caring about Garcia. We were going to be dead soon, anyway.

"Well, we better get moving." Garcia says, gritting her teeth, but I only hold on tighter. I don't ever want to be separated from my Finnick ever again. I feel something pulling me away and I grab his shirt, ignoring my oppressor. I took one of Finnick's hands and put in it a necklace. It's a shell necklace I had made for him, working hard every day to carve the shell out perfectly, so that Finnick would have a piece of me when he was with his clients.