Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Epilogue~Annie

"When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew." --William Shakespeare

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Finnick and I have been together for almost two years now. They haven't been easy ones. They were full of times of loneliness, internal struggles, and senses of betrayal. However they were also full of life, laughter, and happiness.

The two of us have somehow managed to move past everything going against us, and every time we did our love grew stronger. Finnick has stayed with me even when I seemed too broken and difficult to love, and I've done the same. Dad said that's real love, when two people help each other out through the hard times.

The night before the 74th Hunger Games the two of us are lying on the beach. The sun is setting and we're just about done with the picnic Finnick prepared. The two of us haven't said anything in a while. We're just holding hands and staring at the sky as it's painted in bright hues of pink and orange.

Suddenly Finnick sits up from underneath me. I sit up too and turn to face him. His emerald eyes are twinkling just beneath wisps of wavy hair. Finnick smiles at me and takes my hands.

"Annie, I have a question," he says in a casual voice.

"What is it?" I ask.

Finnick lets go of my hands and rummages in his pocket for a while. Finally he pulls out a small ring made of wood. "Will you marry me?"

The question completely shocks me. Marry him? He asked so casually that I never saw it coming and nothing about his behavior in the previous days indicated a proposal was coming. With everything going on lately that thought hardly crossed my mind. But I love him so much, so I do. I do want to marry him.

"Are you sure?" I ask. Marriage is a huge deal. Even up to now I'm still surprised Finnick chose me. I never would have imagined he would want to marry me.

"Of course I'm sure," Finnick answers immediately with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Then yes," I answer excitedly. "Yes I'll marry you!"

If it's even possible Finnick's expression grows even brighter and his smile widens. A happy exclamation leaves his mouth before he leans over and kisses me. Then he quickly hugs me before leaning back again.

"I love you," Finnick says with a content smile.

"I love you too," I tell him with a slight laugh. He's like a little boy on Christmas.

Finnick takes my left hand in his and places the little wooden ring on my finger. It fits perfectly and sits there snuggly.

"It fits," Finnick says quietly. "I made that ring one day just cause, but I kept it ever since. I engraved our initials in just yesterday though. I'll get you a real ring when we get married. I just wanted something you could wear without anyone wondering."

"I love it," I say as I admire the ring on my finger. It's quite good craftsmanship. If I angle the ring just right I can see the engraving, 'f&a', in the dark wood.

"Why did you suddenly propose?" I ask as I twirl the ring on my finger.

"It felt right," Finnick says with a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know why but I have a feeling things will be different this year. I guess I wanted to know that if things change, you'll still be here for me to come back to."

Finnick is looking down and drawing circles in the sand. I can see hints of that fear he feels before going back to the Capitol creeping in. I take his hands and give them a gentle squeeze.

"That's ridiculous. Of course I'll always be here. You're my forever and always," I say with a smile. I remember Dad telling Mom that before, and I always thought it was really sweet.

"I like that," Finnick says with a slight smile. "But there's still something about knowing that I won't be coming back to just you. I'll be coming back to my fiancé, the person I'm destined to stay with forever."

"Fiancé," I whisper quietly to test the word on my lips. It sounds soft, like a well kept secret. "I like that."

"Me too," Finnick answers. Then he lies back down and has me lean on his chest. "I can already see it. We'll get married, move in to my house, maybe have a kid--"

"Two kids," I interrupt. "A boy and a girl."

Finnick laughs. "Have two kids, a boy and a girl. Your Dad, Luke, and Mags will be right next door. We'll have dinners with them and parties during the holidays."

"That sounds amazing," I answer. It's everything that I could ever want and more.

"One day we'll live an uncomplicated life happily ever after," Finnick says quietly.

I look up at the sky again. The sun set already and the stars are twinkling in the sky. I scan the little dots of light until I find two particular stars dancing by the glow of the moon. They seem closer together, and I swear they're shining brighter than ever. Maybe they're looking down at us now and know, in this moment, we're nothing but happily in love.

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Ah that's it! That's the end of this story! I decided to stop it here because as you know things get crazy after this Hunger Games. I'm going to write the second half of their love story. I'm still planning it out but when it's done I'll just start adding it on to here as a part 2.

In the meantime check out this other story I've started called Double Crossed! It's about spies!

Thanks so much to anyone who read this story, voted, and commented! You guys are the best! Until the next time :)