"You sing in Five?" she questions.
"We have our traditions," I reply stiffly.
"Like dying in the Games?"
I look past her, to Gale. My eyes widen in shock and Finnick storms up to him, but I pull him back. Instead, he stands at my side.
"That's rich, coming from District Twelve." I pause. "Oh wait. Maybe it isn't rich."
I hear a huge crowd of people start laughing. Yeah, I can be funny when I want to be.
It hurts terribly, but I say it. My voice is raspy and I mess up a little on some of the words, but I don't care. I try not to laugh.
Another bomb shakes the bunker, but I don't budge. Slowly, not breaking eye contact with him, I walk right up to Gale and bring my lips to his ear.
"Be careful," I whisper. "Playing with fire will only get you burned."
Faster than lightning, I flip him over my shoulder. He hits the ground hard and he stares up at me in shock. I smirk down at him before going back to Finnick, who's talking to Katniss. My throat throbbing, I kiss his cheek and go back to our bunk. Pulling the blankets up to my chin, I close my eyes and try to sleep.
"Five."
I open my eyes to see Gale. I glance up at him.
"Nice flip."
"Thanks," I reply. Nice face, I think. He's extremely handsome, but not as much as Finnick. Finnick is perfect.
He nods briefly at me, then leaves to let me sleep. And I do.
I wake up to Finnick slipping in bed next to me, under the covers. He kisses my shoulder softly before turning me to face him. He hugs me close to him and I bury my face in his chest.
"My beautiful girl," Finnick says tiredly, kissing my forehead. "My strong, brave, brilliant, kind, loving, amazing, beautiful girl."
"Cuddle?" I mumble, nuzzling my head in the crook of his neck.
"Of course, baby," Finnick says, entwining our legs. He pulls the blankets up to cover us better.
"I want to go home," I whisper.
"I'll get you back home," he says quietly, tilting my chin up and kissing me softly. "I promise." We lay in silence, him occasionally telling me about District Four. After a while, he says, "We should probably get up."
"Probably," I agree.
But we don't. Not yet, at least. I close my eyes for just a second and open them to find Finnick staring at me, smiling softly.
"What?" I ask, blushing.
"I remember the first time I saw you. You were just a tribute and it was the Tribute Parade. I was waiting with the kid I was mentoring and we were at the Four chariot, right behind Five's. You were telling Neutro how everybody thought you would die, just like every other District Five female tribute had. You said you would prove them wrong.
"From then on, I wanted you to win. Once my tribute died, I gave his remaining sponsor money to Atom. He used it to get that medicine for your neck. After you won and you came to Four, I was terrified Snow would sell you. I did everything I could to keep whoever I could alive. I-" he cuts himself off. "I got him to let Atom live."
"What?" I gasp, my eyes going wide.
"I knew there was no helping your family. I would've saved them if I could, but...there was nothing I could do," he sighs. "Snow was going to kill Atom. I knew that much. He couldn't kill Mags because she was the oldest living victor in Panem.
