𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐄 / the hunger games -ᶠ.ᵒ

𝐱𝐱𝐯𝐢. 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞

▶️ karma police - radiohead

xxvi. TWO IS NEVER BETTER THAN ONE
~~~~~

SEVEN YEARS LATER...

"JUST THIS TIME TWELVE," the District Eleven tribute, Thresh, had spared the famous "Girl on Fire". She had caused quite the stir in the Capitol these past few weeks and so seeing the girl safe was a relief to many. Not Thea. Now, not too long ago, the Game Makers had instituted a new rule whereby if two tributes from the same district are still alive, there may by two Victors crowned if they win. Thea hated the idea of that. Because where was that rule when Sage died? How is that fair now? All because they were star-crossed lovers? Sage loved Thea. He would've given anything for her to win and now they propose such a rule to an outlier district of all places.

So there the girl sat, in a bed that wasn't her own, with a woman double her age. She had fallen asleep to the dulcet tones of children dying on the television. Thea however, couldn't sleep. She watched the pure horror on the coal-haired girl's face as the girl from Two lay motionless before her.
Before long, the girl was sure Katniss would make her way back to the boy, lay the act on thick in hopes of getting even a slither of sympathy.

Slipping out of the sheets and into her clothes, Thea left the penthouse silently, hoping to make her way back to Finnick's apartment before the bitter blanket of the night could suffocate her. She didn't have her own place to stay in the Capitol, despite spending most of her time there and having the money for it. She just never got around to it so Finnick let her sort of just move into his place. It was sweet of him and when he first asked her she was reluctant because sixteen year old Thea was sixteen and stubborn and hated Finnick. But now she saw past everything and he really grew on her.

Finnick had become less obnoxious and more... peacock-ey. He was humble. He was actually tolerable now. Thea's feelings for him subsided over time, she just grew to love him as family rather than romantically. Thea had matured too... well, slightly. There was no way she'd leave her snarky comments and sass at the door of her teenage years.

Thea had scaled the stairs and eventually made it to his apartment. The keys were made of gold and of all places, they were kept under the mat. After twisting the keys a few times, the door cracked ajar and she stopped inside, feeling the heat radiate from the fireplace and embrace her. She called out to the boy "Finnick?" she could hear the sound of mutts from the arena emerge from the front room. Thea trotted over to see Finnick half asleep, drifting in and out of consciousness. But upon noticing the girl was home, he sat up. "Oh hey, sorry I was-"
"No, no, no- it's okay," she smiled looking down and laying beside him. "You okay?" he looked down at the girl who had wrapped her arms around his frame. He would always ask her the same question whenever she came home and Finnick knew what the answer would be, as did Thea, but she appreciated him asking. It was nice to know someone cared. "Same as always. Could've been worse I guess," she kept her eyes fixated on the ground as Finnick played with her hair.
Now, to the average viewer, they seemed like a couple, they acted like a couple, they lived together like a couple. But they weren't. The fact that the two were friends now shocked fifteen year old Thea and rocked her to her core.
They both just needed someone who understood what they went through and coincidentally, that was each other.
And so all the physical touch, the deep conversations, that was just a way for them to regain whatever dignity they had left and it made them feel more than an object, a pawn in a game. It made them feel valued and cared for.