Stay with me? [Finnick Odair]

79

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Chapter seventy nine
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Finnick takes me out to a secluded part of the woods in Thirteen, within the distance that Coin gave him, we take a seat at the base of a large tree and he wraps an arm around me. Pulling me close, we allow the calm silence of the woodland around us swallow us whole. We are calmed, almost hypnotised, by the gentle breeze brushing past us and the sound of the leaves above us being disturbed.

It's almost like we've gone into a completely different world.

I move my head onto Finnick's chest, slipping my hand under his shirt and holding my palm against his warm skin, I nuzzle myself into him when I hear the heavy pounding of his heart. As if he's nervous about something. I look up to see his bright blue eyes flickering across the various trees and plants around us. "Fin?" I ask, making him hum and look down at me. "Is everything okay?" I ask slowly.

He swallows thickly, shuffling awkwardly in his seat, he then takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. He stands in front of me, staring deep into my eyes as he tries to buy himself some time. "I wanted to bring you out here because..." he trails off, his eyes wandering the scene around us. "Well, I know we've been together for a while now and I have no idea how much longer we'll have before one of us, well, never mind."

"Finnick," I laugh shortly. "Spit it out."

Finnick chuckles, shaking his head. "Right," he sighs, taking his hand out of mine, he digs in his pocket for a moment before pulling out something shiny. A breath catches in my throat at the sight of him lowering himself onto one knee. My hands slap over my mouth and I have to restrain myself from jumping on him and kissing him right then and there. "Clementine," he says and I nod, feeling tears pricking my eyes, I know I'm unable to contain my excitement for much longer. "I love you so much and I can't imagine my life without you in it as anything but my wife, will you marry me?"

I don't have to say anything, I allow the excitement to burst, and I tackle him to the ground. Ignoring the pain in my ribs, he falls back onto the grass with a thud and we both begin to laugh. Finnick looks up at me with nothing but love in his eyes, my lips meet his and he pulls me closer to him; the both of us becoming stuck in a moment of pure happiness.

When I finally pull away, he looks up at me and a smirk tugs at his lips. "So, is that a yes?" He asks and I can't help a laugh, nodding my head, a beaming grin takes over his face and he pulls me into another kiss.

"Of course it's a yes, you idiot," I laugh as I pull myself off of him, we both sit back down on the grass and I lean myself against him again. He hands the shining silver ring to me and I slip it onto my finger, beaming down at the piece of jewellery. "How did you manage to get a ring this beautiful?" I ask, looking up at him.

"It was my mom's," he explains, taking my hand in his, he pulls my knuckles to his lips and plants a kiss on the ring. "I kept it all these years, hoping I could give it to the girl I know I want to spend the rest of my life with. It's yours now."

I look up at Finnick and all I can think is: 'how did I manage to get someone this perfect?' He's the perfect guy, sweet and caring, but also funny and unbelievably handsome. I have no idea how or why someone like him would ever want to marry me, a completely broken girl whose only purpose in life is to be the face of a rebellion. I stare at him for the longest time, just trying to make sense of why someone like him would want to be with me, but I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

I zip my fingers into his and we both sit in complete silence, beaming grins spread across our lips, and a happy feeling lingering in the air around us. My head rests on his chest and I allow my eyes to flutter closed.

We sit there for as long as we can before heading back inside.

When we arrived back at my compartment, the first thing I told Mae was about what Finnick asked me. She was beyond excited and practically begged me to be my bridesmaid, which I found hilarious, not one detail of the wedding had been decided upon yet and she was already bursting at the seams with excitement.

News of our engagement spread quickly across the base, the first people we told were my sister, Coin and Plutarch and everything exploded from there. Before I know it, Plutarch and Coin are arguing about how the wedding would be carried out. Of course, Coin would've been happy with two people and a piece of paper, but Plutarch is dead-set on having a big glam wedding that lasts at least three days.

I know immediately who I want beside me on the day, who I want to be my bridesmaids and maid of honour. That's pretty much the extent of my duties on how the wedding is carried out, I don't care, I'm just happy that the person I'm getting married to is Finnick. The only other thing I'm in charge of is picking my dress.

I ask Katniss, Mae and Johanna to be my bridesmaids — of course, I'm not exactly friends with Johanna and she wasn't very excited about the invitation, but I want her to be upfront to support Finnick more than to support me. She and Finnick have been friends for a long time and I can't think of anyone else I would want up there. Katniss was reluctant as well when I asked her, but she eventually agrees and suggests that she takes me back to Twelve to see if there's anything in her Victor's home I want to wear for the wedding. Any dresses I have back home would be inappropriate for a wedding, considering I don't exactly wear dresses often, so I gladly agree to go back to Twelve with Katniss and her prep team.

Of course, I ask Annie to be my maid of honour. If it wasn't for her and her brother, I doubt I would be alive today, so I can't think of anyone better to be my maid of honour.

Coin isn't exactly glad with me taking up the responsibility of getting bridemaids and a maid of honour, but Plutarch quickly shut her up with his argument that it's my special day and I should get to do what I want. Of course, we aren't allowed to have any loud celebrations, but even the mention of a quiet celebration causes a stir in Thirteen. There's no shortage of volunteers to help out and everyone chats excitedly about the event whenever they can.

I now know for a fact that this is going to be one hell of a wedding.