𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 ᐅ 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙧

𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙀

"It was good thinking," Jameson said. "I think we'll need to up our game. Only a little, though."

Good. Even though I loathed the idea of pretending to be anything with Finnick, it was a vital step in the process of granting me my freedom. He was something I could use, a pawn, and nothing more than that. And the brilliant thing was, no one but Snow and I were aware of it. Did that make me was bad as Snow? I shuddered at the thought.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" I asked.

"An friendly hug wouldn't hurt anyone—"

There was no point in protesting it — I was going to have to do it whether I liked it or not, but still, I jumped to my feet. "I am not hugging Finnick, and that is final."

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

I gritted my teeth as Finnick wrapped his tense arms around me. We had to time our hug exactly as the cameras rounded the corner, and soon enough, there were flashes of lights in my peripheral vision. Cassandra hurried in front of us, shooing the camera crew away precisely as we planned, and Finnick and I rushed into the train, Jameson and Yvette following swiftly.

I shivered at the sudden loss of contact, yet I couldn't figure out why I really did so. The hug was unfamiliar, it was cold and uncomfortable. Perhaps it was that it was so uncharacteristic for Finnick to tense, or maybe it's because I hadn't had a hug in what felt like ages. Everything led back to the night before — Finnick's face so close to mine, the sound of his small gasp — and a blush rushed to my cheeks again.

Screw him.

Almost immediately, the train whirred to a start, and the refreshing nature of District Six disappeared into a blur.

"I feel like I need to disinfect myself now," I mumbled to no one in particular. I brushed my shoulders as if to rid myself of Finnick's stiff embrace.

Jameson and Yvette chuckled to each other before leaving the carriage at the look on my face that I could only assume was as disgusted as I felt. Finnick, however, flopped onto the sofa with that same arrogant smirk. Did nothing anger this guy? Did he never get insulted?

"What're you grinning at?" I snapped.

"You. Last night. I told you the stairs called you a bitch and you were not happy," he said through small chuckles. "You were punching them for a long time."

That was it. I was never drinking that much again.

"Did anyone see?"

"No." He paused. "Well, only everyone there."

"What?"

He checked his watch while suppressing a smile, no doubt believing himself to be extremely funny. I didn't think so. "Wow, is that the time?"

"I swear to—"

"I'm joking, Sparky," he teased lightly as he sank back into the sofa. However, I didn't wear the same carefree expression as he did — I'd completely jeopardised my goal. My one motive. If word got back to Snow, how would he reward me?

Even worse, how would he punish me?

I gritted my teeth as I thought about Elio, and Dad and the threats that monster made about them but would 'never act on'. It was as though he were taunting me with them. He had them in the palm of his hand. He had everyone in the palm of his hand.

"See? So serious."

I took a deep breath to expel the rage twisting with fear in my chest. Except that didn't work, of course. "So I didn't assault the stairs?"

"Oh, no you did."

I flashed him a false smile. "Next time, remind me to hit you instead."

"Next time?" he exclaimed. "Since when have you become Haymitch?"

"Since the Capitol are assholes."

"They've always been like that."

"I wasn't even that bad—"

"The fact that you wrestled with an inanimate object suggests otherwise—"

What was wrong with him? What was wrong with me? He had the ability to worm under my skin and annoy me in a way no one else ever had before. Him and his silly perfect hair and his irritating eyes and stupid voice. It was as though he was specifically put on this earth to annoy me.

"Still think I should have hit you," I concluded, observing my nails in disinterest.

"What, in front of the cameras hidden in those trees?"

"I'm quite surprised you didn't see them." My voice was exceedingly airy in my ears, and my lie must have been obvious. "They were literally right there."

He laughed. "Maybe I shouldn't drink so much, then."

"So much? You were completely sober."

"I only seemed sober to you because you were completely off your head. Even Haymitch would've seemed sober to you. I don't actually know how you could see straight—"

"Stop taking the piss."

"Rain cloud," he sang.

I didn't feel like replying to his comment, and so we fell into a somewhat uncomfortable silence, and I stared at the window, the mountains rolling by as the sun set in the far distance. The beautiful view was obscured by the rocks. Snow was like that rock, in a way. Stopping you from seeing the light. Stopping you from feeling the light as it shone on your skin.

It was impossible to hide from Finnick's light — he was always bright, always smiling, and in a way, I was the rock. I refused to see the good intentions behind his actions. I knew he was only antagonising me for fun; never to spite me. That wasn't like him at all, although it was like me.

Sometimes I caught myself wondering what about him made him so liberating to be around, but I quickly stopped that train of thought. It was because he directed all the attention to him, and I found myself focused more on him than the corrupt Capitol.

"It was good thinking," Finnick interrupted my perfectly good silence. I didn't even need to think for a second to realise what he was referring to.

"I know."

He scoffed. "You're modest."

"You're saying that as if you're not the most obnoxious person in Panem."

He rolled his eyes lightly — even the way he did that was perfect. But it wasn't the kind of perfect one could admire, no, this was an irritating perfect. He was so perfect it made my heart burst with rage. So perfect he made me want to mess up his hair just to spite him, or trip him over to get mud on his shirt.

And last night... I had no clue there were cameras. Everything I did was completely real. I'd wanted to get that close to him, even if it was just to be malicious. And that was possibly the most infuriating thing of all.

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A/N: Hello, guys! Apologies for the short chapter, but they will get longer as the story progresses and Lynx and Finnick grow closer to each other. And don't worry, both Lynx and Finnick are due a lot of character growth, and I'm really excited for it. Thank you for the support!
~ sophie xx

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