HURRICANE, finnick odair (hiatus)

xxii. trying to get along

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO!

TRYING TO GET ALONG.

TO SAY KATNISS and Finnick were not fond of each other would be putting it lightly. Rosalie almost winces every time they have some form of a conversation, the words often short and the tone vicious — to Finnick's defence, most of those do come from the teenager girl who rightfully has no trust in him. Peeta is a little more trusting and has absolutely no problem falling into step beside the District Four woman who is happy to have the company.

"I don't think I ever saw your games," Peeta speaks quietly as they walk beside one another. "Either that or I just don't remember them,"

"You would've been pretty young, I think. It was also very short so if it's passed by in your memory, I can't blame you. It's one of those forgetful years," Rosalie breathes, watching as the boy cuts away at foliage with his sword.

"Not for you though, right?"

Rosalie looks over at the younger boy and almost pulls him into a hug, his words seeming to have impacted himself more than her. Forgetting about the horrors you had seen is incredibly difficult, even more for somebody who only had to see them the year prior. Rosalie has had seven years to deal with the pain and whilst it still lingers deep within her, she knows she will have to let it go to move forward. Poor Peeta is so young and it's obvious to her, that he hasn't had to time to process what he experienced.

"I don't think any of us could ever forget them, Peeta. But when you have the right support system, you find ways to repress the memories even if it is only for a short amount of time," Rosalie's voice is as soft as it usually is when she speaks to her youngest brother.

"Yeah," His response is short and quiet and it leaves so much unsaid.

"So," Rosalie decides to shift the conversation away from the morbid stuff. "You two dropped quite a bombshell on interview night,"

She swears she sees a slight blush coat his cheeks as he smiles, an emotion in his eyes that she can place very well — love. She is very much aware that the pregnancy was simply just a way to get the Capitol to stop the Games, even though it didn't work, but she knows that Peeta's love is very much real. The way he looks at the sheer mention of the girl's name is enough to show that.

"So did the two of you," Peeta replies, finally looking over at her again. Now it's her turn to blush and have that loved up smile on her face. "Although, I think everybody may have known before hand,"

"Everybody but us apparently," Rosalie responds to the boy who smiles.

Peeta whacks another lot of the vines, clearing the way for the lot of them. He slashes again, Katniss yelling his name from behind, but neither Rosalie or Peeta have time to react. The boy is thrown backwards and he takes the brunette with him, the girl smashing against a tree and her head hitting the ground.

When she comes to, an arm is wrapped around her and she's gently cocooned within an embrace. Rosalie opens her eyes up and sees some time has passed, as the sun has begun to set. It's not entirely dark yet but it's getting there. Her slight movement seems to catch Finnick's attention, looking down at her.

"Hey," Finnick's voice is soft as if not to startle her. "How's your head?"

"A little sore," Rosalie's words are lightly slurred as she sits up. "Peeta?"

"He's okay, had to restart his heart. He hit a force field and it threw you both back,"

Rosalie looks up into his eyes as his left hand gently sweeps some of her hair out of her face. She lays herself back down and rests her head on his chest, needing to rest her eyes but also knowing not to actually sleep.

Katniss walks over to the two of them, holding a leaf that has some water in it. Finnick gives her a thankful gaze, taking it and bringing it to Rosalie's lips. The girl drinks down the beverage and sighs at the relief that it brings her, the dehydration is well and truly on its way still though.

The familiar music from the Capitol fills the air as the Anthem plays for all of the tributes to hear. The faces of the deceased tributes appear in the sky and Rosalie frowns a little bit, taking in the faces of the people she has grown to know over the past few years. The Capitol have well and truly reached new lows, forcing their Victors who have already suffered greatly to go back. This place is a thing of nightmares.

Some of those people who she has just seen in the sky would have children, families. They would have people waiting for them back home, people who thought their loved one was safe after the first time round. Carter is probably beside himself after the whole 'thrown back by the force field' thing. He's always been a bit of a worrier.

The faces continue to appear and after twelve, it stops. Twelve people who will have grieving families back home.

Rosalie allows Finnick to hold her to him as the sound of crickets echo throughout her ears. It's so incredibly quiet, nobody in the small group is talking nor does it seem like anybody is going to. It's actually rather nice, simply just listening to the sounds of nature. It's almost as if she is at home, laying in her room with the window open and allowing the breeze to flow through. She misses home.

Even though it is more than likely the worst possible thing to do with a suspected concussion, Rosalie slowly finds herself embracing the warmth of Finnick and falling asleep. It feels as if she has only been asleep for mere minutes when Finnick is shaking her to wake up, yelling loudly about how they have to move.

Finnick has to practically pull her up and drag her along, not wanting her to fall behind, a mysterious fog following after them.