darkened horizons- finnick odair

twenty-six | an arm's length

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A small gust of wind blew through the air, picking up strands of Cass's hair. Her gaze was numbly fixated on the ocean in front of her, thousands of thoughts racing through her mind. Her brother had been dead almost an entire year now.

Her baby brother, the person she loved most in this world— taken from her and murdered by a boy who's anger had overtaken everything.

She could still see the blood in the snow, hear Johanna's screams. She still remembered collapsing to the floor, feeling Finnick's arms wrap around her. She remembered every last thing that had happened and the memories plagued her mind night after night.

She couldn't get any of it out of her head.

A set of strong arms gently fell over her head, looping around her chest. Finnick pressed his lips into her hair, softly kissing the top of her head from behind. "Your dad said you wanted to talk."

Cass closed her eyes, forcing the lump in her throat back down as she turned to face him. He set his hand on the wooden railing of the pier, nothing but concern etched behind his gaze. He knew what was coming and it broke his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it. She'd been pulling away the past few months and he hadn't known how to stop it.

Cass's eyes glazed over, tears filling her dark eyes. That's when he noticed that she wasn't wearing the necklace. His eyes went round, realization flooding through him.

"I don't—I don't know how to say this, but—" Her breath hitched in her throat, the words getting buried in her chest.

Finnick didn't hesitate, instinctively wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into an embrace. "Then don't. It's okay."

"But Finn—"

"No, I know. I know." He murmured into her hair, painfully allowing the girl he loved to break his heart. It's what she needed, so he'd give it to her.

She pulled away from him after another moment, lifting her hand up. The golden necklace he'd given to her rested in her palm, the last shred of their relationship shattering into nothing.

Finnick shook his head, closing his hands around her own. "No. Keep it. It's yours. I gave it to you. It's yours." He repeated, letting his hand linger over hers.

Tears now streaked Cass's face, her heart utterly broken. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I guess we just weren't meant to be. I'm sorry. I—"

"Shhh." Finnick hushed, pulling her back into another hug. "It's okay. It's okay."

The embrace only lasted a moment before she was slipping from his grasp and walking back down the pier. Finnick's heart dropped, his eyes never leaving the back of the girl he loved. He watched her walk away, utter heartbreak etched behind his sea-green eyes.

As Cass walked away, though, the stunning shades of green and blue faded, and she wasn't on the pier back in District 4 anymore. She was in the damn white room, an endless ivory corridor just a few feet in front of her. She didn't need to turn around to know that there was a glass capsule behind her, waiting to launch her up into the arena.

She knew exactly where she was and exactly what cruel memory had been chosen next— the order no longer randomized.

"Finnick?" Cass voiced, a smile breaking out onto her face as he appeared in the corridor and entered the room. "What are you doing here?"

The seventeen year old boy had his hands clasped behind his back as he reached her, a matching smirk stuck on his lips. "I know it's last minute, but I have something for you."