CHAPTER TWO
First Training Day

The following morning was as complicated as she had predicted–Victoria was no stranger to waking up early as she used to go fishing with her dad but today was different, and she didn't want to get out of bed. Sadly, Violet's voice echoed behind her door, begging for her to join them for breakfast. Rising to her feet, she put her hair in a ponytail and walked to the living room where the table was. Finnick was already eating some toast with marmalade while Violet drank her morning tea.

"Morning," Finnick said, wearing his usual dashing smile. "How are you?"

"Tired," she mumbled, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Violet cleared her throat, "So the next few days will be a lot of training, you both know this but this is your chance to prove to people that together, you are on top of the world, yes? It is also a good place to observe and make some allies so Victoria, sweetheart, please smile..."

Victoria forced a smile, making Finnick laugh, "Am I smiling enough?"

"Nice smile, Vicky. Might scare off the tributes," Finnick teased as she gasped.

"Damn you, Finnick!"

Violet sighed desperately, shaking her head, "Why do I even bother with you two? It is a lost cause."

Finnick pouted, "Violet, have some faith in us. I'm sure Vicky will do her part," he joked as Victoria rolled her eyes.

After last night, there was a little part of her that thought maybe he wasn't so bad and having him as a tribute was much different than having him as a mentor. But, of course he had to prove to her that he was still that cocky person who thought himself on top of the world.

Later that morning, Finnick and Victoria entered the centre first. The lights had just turned on when Victoria squinted her eyes and noticed the Head Gamemaker–Plutarch Heavensbee. He sipped on his drink as he greeted Finnick with a slight nod–Victoria chose to ignore him, after all she had never talked to him before.

"Remember, Katniss and Peeta first," Finnick whispered behind her, his mouth near her ear making her shiver. "Of course, you're free to roam around and observe the others."

"I know," she told him, directing herself towards the ropes. "What are you going to do?"

He shrugged, "I'm going to train with some weapons on the ring. Would you like to join?" Finnick smirked, resting against the edge of the table as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Maybe later," she said, grabbing the rope and starting to practise a knot. "Try to be less cocky, Finnick. We could use some allies."

"I promise, Vicky," he replied, heading towards the ring. Victoria watched for a moment as he grabbed the trident and started throwing it around.

"Hello, Victoria," Katniss' voice echoed behind her as Katniss placed herself next to her, preparing herself to do a knot. "It was brave of you to volunteer for Mags."

Victoria hummed, "Thank you. I promised Finnick I would volunteer if her name got called," she admitted quietly, tightening her knot. "But if I was brave, you were brave too," she added, referring to last year when the shocking images of Katniss Everdeen volunteering for her sister travelled around Panem.

"Prim was too young."

"Aren't we all?" Victoria said, offering a smile. "You're doing it wrong," she then told Katniss, moving herself behind her, putting her hands on hers and moving around so she could create the perfect knot. "There. Perfect!"

Katniss smiled softly, "That's impressive. How did you learn that?"

"My dad is a fisher in District Four. I helped him when I was younger when I didn't have school," Victoria explained. "I can also make fishing hooks, perfect for fishing if we ever get stuck in an arena with water."

"Could you...show me? And I can show you how to use a bow?" Katniss proposed shyly, releasing a breath as she waited for Victoria's answer.

Victoria agreed and for the next hour, she demonstrated Katniss how to make a perfect fishing hook. By the time another tribute asked for the table, Katniss knew how to make it perfectly. So in the meantime, Victoria followed Katniss to learn how to use a bow—Victoria was not familiar with the weapon at all but was in complete awe when Katniss had it in her hands.

"It's—I don't know how you do it," Victoria said, defeated after trying for an hour to learn how to use it. "You are just too good at this."

Katniss snorted almost as if she didn't believe it herself, "I'm not that good. I know how to hunt animals."

Victoria cocked her head to the side, humming, "Well, in that arena, humans are animals. I see them as fishes that I cut in pieces, it makes things easier."

"Right—" there was a pause as her eyes drifted over Victoria's shoulder, as if something had caught her attention. "I think Finnick's waiting for you."

Victoria turned around to see Finnick waving at her, his grin threatening to split his face in two and as usual, he was throwing sugar cubes in his mouth. Victoria let out a small sigh, making Katniss chuckle. There was nothing more to say. Telling her goodbye, she headed to her partner with heavy feet.

"Don't look so pouty, Vicky," Finnick chanted when she reached his side. He put his hand on her lower back, pushing her gently in the middle of the ring. "You should know how to use this," he referred to the lance in his hand. "Could come handy in fishing or killing someone."

Victoria sighed, "It's too heavy."

"No, not if you hold it right in the middle. Like that see?" He demonstrated, holding the lance right in the middle and when Victoria did it, she could swear it was as light as a feather. "Good."

"Is that all?" Victoria mumbled, not bothering to turn around. All of a sudden, Finnick's arms sneaked around her body as he wrapped one of his hands around hers and the other hand ended up on her waist to keep her steady. "Wha—"

"Ssh, concentrate," he shushed her rapidly, his breath hitting the back of her neck and tickling her. "To aim it right, all you have to do is hold your breath, right here," the hand that was previously on her waist moved near her diaphragm, making her heart pace at the touch. "Can you do that, Vicky?"

"Hold the lance or my breath?"

He smirked, "Both," he then whispered in her ear. "You're learning fast. That's good. Maybe we have a chance of winning this."

"May the odds be ever in our favour," she mocked as he snorted. "Have you talked with Peeta?"

"Not yet. He's staying on his own for now," he told Victoria. "I've seen you talk with Katniss. How is she? Worthy of being our ally?"

Victoria shrugged, "I'd say yes. Everyone would be worthy of being our allies—they're all victors after all."

"I don't care about the others, Vicky," Finnick said seriously. "All I care about is getting you out of there alive."

"Why?"

He sighed, taking the lance back before locking eyes with her, "I've promised your father."

"What else have you promised my father?" She said jokingly as he glanced at her in a serious manner. "Finnick, what else have you told my dad?"

"That you would get out alive and he would be safe."

"Don't make promises that you may not be able to keep," she muttered, sadness consuming her. Victoria didn't mean to answer that way to Finnick, but as soon as she thought of her father, a lump in her throat formed and her eyes became teary.

"Vicky..." his voice trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Deciding to not turn around, she headed towards the exit, after all she had trained enough for today. Hurrying herself to leave the centre, despite Finnick calling out for her, she ended up bumping into someone. He or she was slightly smaller than her and rather muscular. Looking up,Victoria ended up on Peeta who wore an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Victoria," he said after a moment of silence. He then frowned, noticing the tears escaping her eyes. His first instinct was to bring the pad of his thumb under her eyes to dry them–Victoria was too shocked to even react. "Did Finnick do something?"

"No, no, he didn't do anything wrong," she mumbled, letting out a long sigh. "On the other hand, he did everything right and it pisses me off."

"Why?"

"Because–" she paused, biting her lower lip to stop herself from spilling everything to a mere teenager. "You know what, it's fine. Thank you for worrying, Peeta," she added before walking away.

"Hey, no! Wait!" He shouted, running after her. The words her father had told her when they were watching the game last year echoed in her head: 'that kid has a big heart'. And, Peeta Mellark indeed had a way too big of a heart to be there. "We can talk. You can talk to me."

"Don't you need to go train with Katniss?"

Peeta chuckled, "Have you seen her? She is better off without me."

Victoria sighed, "Don't say that, Peeta."

"It's true," he muttered. "So, I think I'll be alright without a day of training."

Victoria sighed, motioning for him to follow her through the centre. Finally, they reached the rooftop where no one could watch them or listen to them. They were free up there. Cornell had found this place first and then had shown it to Victoria because from up there, they could see a faint blue horizon that reminded them of the water. Peeta seemed to breathe again now that he was on the rooftop.

"Finnick annoys me," she admitted quietly. "He is so–he is too cocky but at the same time, kind. He promised my father that he would keep me safe and even though the idea of him taking care of me should make me happy, it makes me sad because why did he do this? We hate each other and–"

"Maybe he doesn't hate you," Peeta chirped. "Katniss hated me–well, I think she still does bu–"

Victoria snorted, "Katniss doesn't hate you. She loves you and anyone blind could see it," she told him. "What happened in the arena last year was probably because she wanted to keep you alive, so perhaps love wasn't real at first but...but she cares about you, and—"

"I know."

After a long sigh, Victoria started talking and for some reason, she could not find a reason to stop. Not even when the sun started to disappear to leave a place to a sky full of stars. When Victoria made it back to the apartment, Violet had already gone to bed and Finnick was waiting in the dark, sitting on an armchair. As soon as he heard the door closing, he rose to his feet and hurried himself near Victoria.

"Where were you?" He questioned, sounding rather stressed. "Violet and I looked for you everywhere!"

"Talking with Peeta, thank you for worrying dad," she joked tiredly, getting her arm out of his grasp and started to head towards her bedroom but Finnick was following her from close. "Finnick, it's fine."

"No, no, none of it is fine, Victoria," he pressed, hurrying himself in her bedroom before she could close the door to his face. "I know you despise me, okay? I know it is a torture for you to be here with me, I know you'd rather be with Peeta or whoever is better than me! But, I'm sorry that you got stuck with me. We're in this together, Victoria."

"I know, Finnick. And I don't despise you," she said after a few moments where all they could hear was Finnick's quick breaths due to his ranting. "I miss home and I miss my dad."

"I know."

"I hate that you did everything right because parts of me want you to not do right so I can have reasons to hate you!" She argued, sighing tiredly.

Finnick frowned, "Why?"

"Because hating you is easier, much easier."

He hummed quietly, resting his body against the cold wall that looked like polished stone, "I'm sorry that I promised your father to keep you safe without telling you."

"No, no, no, it's fine," she replied. Peeta had convinced her that it was totally fine for him to do that, and she couldn't hate him for that. "Thank you."

"No problem," he replied quietly. "I will just let you sleep. We have to be up early tomorrow."

"Okay..."

The door opened itself as Finnick got closer to it but before leaving her bedroom, he threw one last glance at her, a small smile on his face.

"Goodnight, Vicky."

When Finnick reached his bedroom, he went to bed with a slight smile. Perhaps Victoria and him would get along better, and she wouldn't hate him anymore. He truly had no idea why she despised him so–he knew he was cocky most of the time and that annoyed her, but what had he done to make her hate him so? Besides, was it truly easier to hate him? One thing he was completely sure of was that he never loathed Victoria Rosebrook.

—————
authors note, sorry for taking so long to update, i don't have wifi at home so i can't access my google docs on my computer... so it took a little longer!

anyways, we're back with a filler chapter? but with some peeta/katniss/victoria interactions 😍😍