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Sorry it took so long! They're a little bit short but i needed to set the stage really for the rest of the story which required some spotty fast fowarding. enjoy! Happy reading!
PART TWO
31
Four Years
So now here we are. Over the years Annie's symptoms have become more stable. If she doesn't know what's going on or what is not real, she'll simply ask. It no longer makes us feel uncomfortable or upset, it's easy, like breathing. It's only a big deal if we make it that.
Pearl and Stephen had a second child, a girl, named Kiandra. She's two now, and Kai is four. They're both already the most stunning, adorable hell raisers in the entire district. For the past four years I've gotten to see them as part of my own family.
It's morning and Annie hasn't woken up yet. We did some renovating in my house and got a bed with a canopy so we could drape these thin white curtains to keep out the mosquitoes while leaving the entire left wall open to face the beach. I loved the breeze and the salty air circulating in the room and the full sky of stars above. When it rains, we simply slide the walls closed. The advantage of being far too rich between two Games victors.
Annie stirs and her eyes open, finding me for that moment of reassurance that whatever she'd just been dreaming about wasn't real.
"Did we ever leave this house during the night?" she asks calmly, keeping her eyes trained on me.
"Nope," I say, placing a kiss on her forehead. Her hands slip around my neck and she kisses me on the lips, her hair tickling my cheek. "You know I have to leave today? After the reaping?"
"The Seventy-Forth Hunger Games," she sighs, looking up at the sky. It was tinted pink with the sunrise and radiating off her face.
"Indeed," I agree, falling back against the pillows and cloud gazing with her.
"I guess I'll use the extra time to get some fishing and nets done then." Annie rolls over on her stomach and rests her chin on my chest. "Tell me the truth; did you ever tell me that you think about me when you're gallivanting in the Captiol?"
I bite my lip and look at her. There's no way I'm winning this one. "Honestly? Yes, when I'm walking around and doing normal things. If I'm with a girl, no. It's insulting to you and honestly I don't like to picture myself being with you when I haven't been. So no, I never said that."
She nods and then dives right back in. "Fin, can you tell me what it's like?"
"What what's like?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
I groan and wipe my hand down my face, "Annie, why are we having this conversation right now?"
"I'm twenty-two now Fin and I've been with you for what, five years or so? You experience it on a weekly, maybe daily basis, when I never have."
"Now it's not like we haven't done anything..."
"I'm not saying that's what I want right now," she interrupts, placing a finger on my chin, "I just want to know what it's like. We can have this conversation, can't we?"
I squirm a little inside and then explain, though I'm sure I have before. "I can't really say what it's supposed to be like Annie, you're supposed to only do it with your spouse and be in love and everything. What I do, it's just for their amusement. It's fun I guess, it's exhausting too though. But I'm sort of numb towards the whole act now."
