The Capitals Flower

Chapter 5

Dahlia's Pov:

I have been in the hospital wing for days now. Finnick practically lives here and I have to beg him to go and eat. And even then I don't think he eats enough.

This morning I asked him to go get me and him breakfast, even if I'm not hungry anymore. I haven't been able to keep any food down since I got back, but Finnick doesn't know about that.

"I got breakfast!" Finnick exclaimed as he walked back to my room. My stomach turned at the smell of the food.

"Smells amazing." I say faking smile. I wasn't lying it didn't smell bad.

I force the sticky oatmeal down so that he does the same. At least I know he is eating, I know that he didn't eat as much as he should've well I was gone.

"How is Peeta doing?" I ask, he had been a point of concern for days but Finnick seemed to get sad when I mentioned his name.

"Not well, Dahlia."

My heart drops. Me and Peeta have spent the last months together, tortured. It was selfish of me to just believe he was fine.

"What do you mean?"

"The capital messed with his brain. They turned him against Katniss."

"Tracker Jacker Venom." It all begins to piece itself together. The doubt I had about Finnick after being injected. They must've done that with Katniss.

"How do you know?" Finnick asks his voice laced with worry.

"They injected me with it too. Not as much, obviously. Is he okay? Where is he?" I ask, my mind is all over the place.

"They did what?" Finnick asked an odd sort of calm to it.

"He wouldn't hurt anyone, at least not on purpose." I ramble, Peeta has to be okay.

"DAHLIA!" Finnick's shouts

"What did they do to you?" He demands

"It's not important." I try to brush it away, I don't want him to know the conflict in my mind. The one the Capital so carefully placed.

"Dahlia, please."

His eyes beg for the truth, it's not as if I could keep it from him forever. How the capital broke my heart so many times with a simple serum and fake thoughts, at least I hope they were fake.

"They would strap us down and inject us with tracker jacker venom. They would try to plant doubts in our heads, at least I hope they were planted." I stare at my blanket not wanting to make eye contact.

"What did they make you think about me?" He asked trying to grab my hand before I flinched back. This took us both by surprise I had never flinched from his touch before.

"That bad?" He whispers defeated.

"No, no. It's just so hard to differentiate the fake memories from the true ones. I'm just hoping all the bad ones were placed there."

"What bad ones?" He looks so broken.

"The ones that make me think you didn't ever truly love me. The ones that make me believe you were only with me to stay alive. The ones that hurt the most." I whisper looking anywhere but at his broken eyes.

"Dahlia, I love you more than anything in the world. You make me a better person, you made me appreciate the night sky. I could never hurt you. At least not on purpose." He says, hurt lacing his voice.

"I know, I know. But they've changed our memories. I know you love me, but I can't be as certain as I used to be."

He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. It feels right, like a good memory. Before he can say anything more I kiss him lightly. When we separate he has a sad smirk on his face.

"That felt right."

I nodded in agreement, tears brimmed my eyes. It felt right but something in my heart stirred. And I'm not certain if it was carefully crafted by the capital but Finnick noticed my questioning.

Finnick's Pov:

My heart sinks, she's not sure. Whatever the capital did to Peeta they did to her. Maybe not to the extent they did to him but she still went through the same horrors.

The tears in her eyes make me feel like a monster. Whatever they showed her must've been horrible for Dahlia to see anyone in a bad light. Especially me.

Anger floods my body. Why did they take her? Why couldn't it have been me or anyone else? The thought of anyone laying a finger on her makes me sick to my stomach.

I've loved Dahlia since we were fourteen. Since we were naive children who hadn't discovered half the horrors of the world. Her smile is still the same as it used to be then. It has never faltered.

Not till now, not till the capital broke her apart and stole our memories. She is shaking ever so slightly, but she places her hand over mine.

"I'm so sorry" I whisper my anger fading to sadness.

"Fin-"

"No Dahlia, this isn't fair. You have gone through hell. You've almost died so many times yet you don't get angry. You don't even seem to mind. Just scream, yell, be angry with me. Please just put yourself first for once." I interject

She just shakes her head as tear begin to fall down her face.

"Finn I can't be angry with you, because that's what the capital wants. They placed all these fake memories in my mind. I'm not going to let them win. I am angry with the capital, just like everyone else. But there is no point in yelling, it won't solve my problems." She says her grip tightening on my hand.

"Dahlia, you have to know that you mean the world to me. Your the most important thing in my life. I could hardly function not knowing what they were doing to you. Whatever happened we will figure it out. It will get better. I promise." I say

She wraps her arms around and and I can feel her tears wetting my shirt. I don't say anything, I just wrap my arms around her small frame and place a kiss on her head. It take almost twenty minutes of her crying before she finally lets out a few words.

"We have to go see Peeta."