CHAPTER THREE
The sea

There were very few days left before the games. All of their days were spent in the training centre as Victoria mastered her use of weapons with the help of Finnick. Nothing much was said after she came back from talking with Peeta, just a few words here and there. Victoria found it somehow sad.

The bell was about to ring, meaning their last day of training would end. When it did, all the tributes started leaving one by one—and anyone could feel the heavy atmosphere coming off the victors. After the failed attempt of cancelling the game during Caesar Flickerman's talking show, all of them wore pained expressions. President Snow, the Capitol, had promised a peaceful life in the victor's village. During his speech, Finnick had repeated a poem for Annie then Mags back in their district four—it made Victoria wonder if Annie and him were really something and she had never been aware of it. While Victoria dedicated her speech to her father.

"Victoria?" Finnick asked and she noticed she had stopped walking. He wore a confused expression, though slightly scared for her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she smacked her lips together, starting to walk again and Finnick had no choice but to follow. "The games are in two days."

"I know."

"Tomorrow's free day, then?"

Finnick nodded, "Yes."

"Great. Would you like to join me?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise but he nodded, "Alright. Is there a particular reason why you want me to be your company?"

Victoria shrugged, hiding the blush on her cheeks by looking out of the window, "I wouldn't want to bother Peeta on his last day with Katniss. They have something special."

Finnick hummed, "It looks more like an act."

She shook her head, locking a piece of hair behind her ear, "I think they love each other. Peeta is more open about it while Katniss is utterly confused," she explained. "Peeta told me he loved her."

"Right. We'll see."

"Do you reckon we are going to die?" She queried, sitting on the stone bench near the window. Victoria always found the view calming. Bringing her knees to her chest, she used her arms to hug them tightly against hers as Finnick joined her on the bench. "I would like not to."

"We won't die, Vicky," he said rather softly but these days, that was the only tone he used with her–soft. "After all, you got much better at using weapons," he added, making her chuckle.

"Do we even have a chance? All these people have so much more than I do–they trained all their lives for this and didn't win by drowning the last ones," she muttered, actually ashamed that she could have won a game. She didn't deserve it.

Finnick laughed quietly, the grin on his face growing as he looked at Victoria, "Sweet Vicky, just remind yourself that we do not care about any of them. Everytime the canon will go off, it will be music to my ears," he told her honestly. "All I care about is you."

"Good to know," Victoria replied, swallowing her saliva.

After a moment, he laid his hand on her knee, clearing his throat to catch her attention, "It is getting late. We should go to bed, especially if we have a good day ahead of us."

"Right."

Victoria offered a sincere smile to Finnick, wishing him a goodnight before heading to her bed. When she closed her eyes, she hoped to drift instantly to bed, not wanting to spiral because of her own destructive thoughts. What she didn't expect was to be woken up by the sound of loud screams echoing through the penthouse. When she hurried out of her room, the screams seemed to be coming from Finnick's room–Violet was wrapping the robe around her body when Victoria appeared.

"Is it him?"

Violet hummed, "He doesn't do nightmares often but–"

"Can I go in?" Victoria queried, cutting Violet off as the screams continued. "Go back to bed, Violet."

Entering the bedroom, she walked towards the empty side of the bed, carefully and quietly slipping under the sheets. Victoria was well aware of boundaries so she did her best to stay as far as she could, but also letting him know she was there. Bringing her hand to his arm, she caressed it up and down, just like her father did when she had nightmares and she watched as his eyes fluttered.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to be here."

"No, no, it's fine," he breathed out, sniffling. "Did I wake you up?" He asked, facing her and all she could spot in the darkness was his teary eyes. "I didn't mean to," he added, noticing she was not answering.

"It's fine," Victoria reassured with a smile. "I have nightmares too," she then said softly, laying her head against the headboard.

"It doesn't happen to me often," he muttered, almost ashamed that he could have them. "Only when I am anxious. What happens in yours?"

"I kill people during the game," Victoria whispered, licking her lips as if it would help her articulate her words better. "People I love. It is as if I can never escape the games. Sometimes, I have nightmares about my games and how I would hear the cannon late at night."

"In mine, I die," he said to her, his voice low and strained. "I die stupidly. And sometimes, I feel people's hands on me and–" he stopped, voice cracking as Victoria's realisation came in slowly.

"Finnick–" she started but decided to not continue talking. Instead, she did what she thought she would never do. Gently, she motioned for him to lay his head on her lap so she could run a gentle hand through his hair. "I know I've been complicated and–"

He shook his head, a small and tired chuckle escaping his lips, "It doesn't matter. Sometimes, people just don't get along."

Victoria sighed, ignoring the fact that his hair felt softer than she thought they would, "I know but I should have been nicer to you, Finnick."

"Maybe but I should have been less cocky," he teased as she snorted. "Thank you for being here."

"It's alright. We're partners now," Victoria whispered tenderly. "You know, when I have my panic attacks, I think of the sea."

Finnick hummed, listening closely as she opened up to him. If he was honest, the sea reminded him of her eyes. They were so blue and so mesmerising. They felt like the sea to Finnick. He didn't mean to wake her up, those nightmares happen rarely now. They used to happen every single night when he was younger.

As she kept talking, his eyes became heavy and without realising he had fallen asleep. Soon, Victoria followed as she fell asleep with her hand in his hair. When she woke up the next morning, Finnick was already out of bed and she could hear his chuckles coming from the living room. After all, he had always been a morning owl compared to her.

"Morning, Victoria," Violet cheered softly, inviting her to join them for breakfast. "How would you sleep, dear?"

"Good," Victoria mumbled, feeling Finnick's eyes on her as she sat in her usual place, next to Violet. "How would you sleep, Violet?"

"Just fine," she muttered. "I had trouble falling asleep, I am scared for you two," she added with a small squeal as she rose to her feet and headed towards her bedroom upstairs.

"How did you sleep, Finnick?" Victoria queried, spreading butter on her toast. He looked up, smiling gratefully.

He drank some orange juice before answering, "I slept fine, Vicky," he said softly as she nodded. None of them wanted to acknowledge the fact that they had shared a bed yet. "So, what are we doing today?"

"We are having a picnic on the rooftop," she replied with a small smile. "Cornell brought me up there because the blue horizon feels like we are watching the sea from the beach in District Four."

"Perfect," he smiled, bringing his thumb to suck off the marmalade off it. "Shall I get ready then?" He teased, bringing once again a small smile on Victoria's face. "I will take that as a yes. See you in thirty minutes, Vicky."

Finnick opted for a shower and a rather long one. He felt so silly when he realised Victoria had slipped in his bed after hearing him scream, no one had ever heard him besides Violet. But, as soon as her soothing voice echoed through his ear, everything felt better. Finnick stepped under the water, letting it cascade against his back as he closed his eyes, and imagined how her hand in his hair felt.

Heavenly was the only word he was able to think of.

Finnick didn't know what those confusing feelings were but he couldn't hide to himself anymore that he somehow liked her. He always had, from the moment she argued with him in the train because of what he had said to Cornell. Victoria seemed shy and reserved at first, but she was fierce and determined. Finnick didn't recall seeing her that way in District four, well he had heard things but never seen it from his own eyes.

Finally, he finished getting ready as a nervous feeling settled. When he walked out of the bedroom and joined her in the living room, she wore a long summer dress with her hair up. Finnick could swear his breath stopped when he saw her.

"You're late," Victoria commented with an arched eyebrow as Finnick chuckled to himself, apologising rapidly as he made up a lie. He could not tell her that he had spent all of his time in the shower, thinking of her. "Have you ever been up there?"

He followed her as they reached the elevator, "No, never. I didn't know we could go."

Victoria smirked, looking at him as they stepped in, "I'm not sure we can," she told him as he snorted, biting his lower lip in an attempt to stop his smile from growing.

The pair reached the rooftop and Victoria inhaled the air deeply, smiling softly to herself. Finnick laid out the blanket as Victoria instantly headed to the barrier, gripping it tightly as she admired the view. Thankfully, today was a sunny day. Finnick soon joined her, his hand brushed against her back and she tried to ignore the surging feeling of warmth through her body–he stood next to her, his shoulder against hers as he looked ahead of him.

"So this is it," he finally said.

She nodded, "This is exactly it," she whispered softly, glancing at him as she noticed the small grin on his face. "I miss the sea, I know I say it too much but I just don't know how to deal with tall buildings and no water."

"I don't know either," he muttered honestly. "I hated my time spent here. President Snow was awful and so were the people. It is much different from our district. When I came back, I felt alive again."

"I understand."

"Annie and Mags helped me too."

Victoria bit her tongue but ended up asking, "Are you and Annie–"

Before she could finish, he laughed loudly, throwing his head back, "No, we're not. We're more like sisters and brothers," he said as Victoria hummed. "My poem to her was just a mere attempt to cancel the game. I thought that if their capitol's sweetheart had someone he held dear back at home, they would think. It was stupid," Finnick said with a snort.

"It's not," she argued, closing her eyes softly as the warm summer breeze hit her face. "Tomorrow, in the arena, please don't let go of me," she then added, wincing at how pathetic she sounded but he was her only chance of surviving this and seeing her dad.

Finnick nudged her gently, "I promise I won't, Victoria."

Wordlessly, they sat down and started eating in utter silence. None of them minded because they both knew that the next days or weeks would be filled with grunts, yells and the infamous cannon throughout the night. Silence was for now the best thing to ever exist. The food too. Both ate as if they were ready to hibernate like savage animals would do during winter in order to stay alive.

"Thank you for today," Finnick whispered sweetly behind her as they made her way to floor four.

"Of course," she smiled.

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authors note, happy new years, my loves!! i hope your christmas and nye was good!! anyways, im a sucker for the nightmare part HEHEHEHEH