Stay with me? [Finnick Odair]

80

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Chapter eighty
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The hovercraft ride over to Twelve is rather short and quiet, with Katniss' prep team chattering excitedly about all of the festivities going on, I sit beside Katniss and we both share short-lived conversations about whatever we can. Katniss asks me if I'm excited about the wedding and I pretty much go on a whole tangent about how excited I am, she listens patiently with a small smile appearing on her lips as I ramble on to her about everything that is on my mind.

When we arrive, Katniss leads us to the closet she mentioned. She pulls it open and we all instantly fall silent. Cinna's creations sit in front of us, gleaming ever so slightly, and I can't help but feel a drop of sorrow for Katniss. She lost her stylist. I can tell he meant a lot to her and I can't help thinking back to Cosmo. I never found out what happened to him after the games, but I think I'm coming to terms that he and my prep team were killed the second the cameras cut off.

I look to my feet to see one of the women of the prep team on her knees, rubbing the fabric of one of the dresses against her cheek as she bursts into tears. "It's been so long," she hiccups. "Since I've seen anything pretty."

I refrain from laughing at her overly dramatic reaction as we get to work on choosing the perfect dress for the wedding. They all keep suggesting something either white, pale blue, or something that would match the autumn decorations to keep up with aesthetics. Of course, I choose the option of something blue to at least have that tiny taste of home when I get married.

It takes a while, there aren't that many options of blue dresses and often the things picked out are far too flashy for me, but we eventually come across something I think would be perfect. It's a light blue colour with sleeves that barely reach my elbows, the top comes off the shoulders with a see-through panel of a mesh fabric with sequins and pearls sewn into it, and the skirt has a thick blue underskirt with a light blue mesh layered on top to make the perfect volume a skirt should have.

It's perfect.

I put the dress on and I feel like a princess, much to the relief of the prep team, and Katniss probably, I choose this dress to wear and we all head back to Thirteen. As soon as we get back, we get back to work on helping any way we can to get the wedding prepared, the dress is taken to be kept perfect until the day, I'm tasked with helping with the decorations and I barely see Finnick for the days leading up to the wedding.

The day of the wedding comes along much quicker than anticipated and on the morning that it's all supposed to happen I'm lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and my mind is racing with everything that's about to happen. Mae requested that Finnick sleeps in his own compartment until the day of the wedding so he can't see me getting ready, but that means he's not there to comfort me when I start feeling nervous about everything.

Mae collects me early in the morning so I can begin getting ready. My dress is brought in, perfectly preserved and altered to fit my body, it is hung up in my closet as Mae helps me get ready.

We don't say much to each other as she helps me with my hair and makeup, well, whatever makeup we have on hand here in Thirteen is pretty bland so we get through that part pretty quickly, but I can see her practically bursting at the seams with excitement out of the corner of my eye whenever she steps back to marvel at her work. She moves her hands into my hair once she's finished with my makeup, everything about her touch reminds me of our mom, she ties parts of my hair — which has now reached the middle of my back — up in two messy buns on top of my head; leaving strands of hair to fall to the sides of my face and down my back.

My hair is naturally curly, so she doesn't bother trying to find a way to curl it more.

Once my dress is on and I'm in my pale blue heels, I turn to the small mirror hanging on the wall in my room, and I immediately feel the urge to burst into tears at the sight of me. All I can think about is my mom. How she would've loved to see this day. She would've helped me get ready, told me everything would be okay, and cried as she sent her oldest daughter to get married to the man she loves.

"She would've loved to see you like this," Mae speaks what I'm thinking in my mind, smiling at my reflection in the mirror, and I give a weak laugh.

"Yeah, she would've," I mumble, looking down to my feet as my fingers fumble with the fabric of the dress. "I miss her."

Mae lets those words hang for a moment, smiling at me softly, she moves her hands into mine and I force myself to look back at her. "I know you do. I do too." She pauses, a sadness lingering behind her expression, and my grip tightens on her hands. "I bet she's watching you right now, really proud of who you've become. I know I'm proud."

That's the moment I do start crying. Tears roll down my cheeks and I see Mae smile widely.

She doesn't know how good it feels to hear that come from her, all I've done my whole life is protect her, and all I've ever wanted to do is make her and my mom proud. I'm glad I know I've made at least one of them proud.

I wrap my arms around her, holding her close, and trying desperately to stop myself from bawling on her shoulder. "I love you so much, Mae, you're the best sister I could've asked for."

Mae giggles, returning my embrace and burying her face into my shoulder. "I love you, too, Clem," she says, sounding like she's about to cry herself. She then pulls away, beaming at me with tears in her eyes, she tugs on my hand and pulls me to the door of our compartment. "Now, let's go. You've got a boy to marry."