Stay with me? [Finnick Odair]

11

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Chapter eleven: Wish you were here
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Oliver finally showed up and a tall, thin man wearing a very smart uniform began pouring wine into our glasses. I hadn't refused since it was the first time I had wine offered to me, they only filled my glass up halfway, I took a sip and it was rather dry but had a rich taste of grapes— though it could've used a little extra sugar.

All of the food becomes a blur, all I really know is that it all tasted incredible, every taste blended with each other perfectly and the wine kind of added to all of the flavours— enhancing them in a way that I didn't understand. What made it all better was that an extravagant chocolate cake was brought out for dessert, cinnamon dusted over the top and cinnamon sticks decorated the whole cake; making it look incredibly delicious.

"The cinnamon was my idea," I heard Finnick say beneath his breath, eyes flickering upwards, I noticed his eyes trained on me as his lips curled upwards into that damned smirk again. I gave him a look, sighing gently, he shrugged innocently and I rolled my eyes as the cake was cut and served to us. "The first training session is tomorrow morning, I wouldn't stay up too late if I were you," Finnick advised with his eyes flickering between me and Oliver. "After dessert, you two should head back to your rooms and get some rest."

Oliver and I share a silent nod, digging into our dessert, clearly in no rush to finish, but it was over faster than we thought it would be. Oliver gave a sigh as he rose from his seat, I went to follow and disappeared into my room without another word.

I sat on the bed, fingers running through the plush fur bed covers, my eyes were instantly drawn to the large window overlooking the Capitol. The city looked so beautiful at night. The darkened buildings, not a single light to ruin the aesthetics except the lights from the windows of the high rise buildings; looking so calm and peaceful, like there wasn't a fight to the death right around the corner.

It was so beautiful.

I saw a panel lying on the bedside table, picking it up with curiosity, my eyes flickered from the panel to the window and I tapped on the screen. Suddenly the window switched like a channel on a TV, but a lot smoother than the TVs back home, it faded into a totally different scene. A beach. It stretched out along the whole wall, not just the window, and there was a gentle breeze playing with a faint call of a bird. It was like I was really there. I could already feel the steady warmth from the grains of primrose sand beneath my bare feet, the hue as gentle as a vintage photograph, already the stars glow overhead as if they have kept a sacred pocket of daylight to shine all throughout the night sky.

I couldn't bring myself to look away, there I remained, breathing in the faint ocean carried air, listening to the percussion of waves that had been my lullaby since before I could remember.

My sister's face popped into my head, smiling absentmindedly at the crystal waters, breeze blowing her dusty blonde hair behind her back. A feeling of regret filled my body, hitting me like a punch to the stomach, a frown appeared on my lips and tears prickled my eyes as I kept staring at the scene in front of me.

"Hey."

I turned my head, seeing Finnick staring back at me and leaning against the doorframe. I laughed.

"We have to stop meeting like this," I joked and shook my head at him, he joined in the laughter as he took a step towards me. His eyes flickered up to the window, smile fading slightly, he swallowed hard and pointed towards the scene in front of me.

"You were thinking of home," he said, hand falling to his side. "Weren't you?"

I nodded, shrugging my shoulders, he took a seat beside me with his eyes glued to the beach in front of us, I could see the reminiscence in his eyes as they flickered wildly between the different aspects of the scene; from the ocean, to the golden sand, to the palm tree in the corner, even to the piece of driftwood washed up on the sand.

He was remembering a simpler time.

Suddenly, he rose from his seat and cleared his throat, shaking his head, he took a moment to contemplate before moving backwards towards the door.

"I um... I have to go," he stuttered, swallowing hard once more. "Goodnight." With that, he left the room like it was on fire, rushing out the door and letting it slam shut behind him. I stared at the door, completely confused as to what just happened.

I knew I should've let it go, but my mind wouldn't allow me to, I pushed it to the back of my mind for now and moved towards my bed— not bothering to change into any pyjamas. I climbed under the covers, pulling them over my head and screwing my eyes closed, hoping this was all just a dream and I'd be back home with my mom and Mae.

I eventually slipped into a dreamless void of unconsciousness within minutes of tossing and turning, pushing my blankets away, pulling them back over me, and eventually finding a comfortable spot and drifting away...