The Roommate Agreement [The Hunger Games Fanfiction]

Chapter Thirteen: Thou Shalt Not Tell Anyone About This

"I'm not going to dress up to prove how much I love you. That's dumb."

"Well, that's cute in your own way..." she says, trailing off as everyone starts to walk towards the bus. "But the non-couples are dressed up like couples and we're not!"

He takes her hand. "I don't care what they do. We don't need stupid costumes to let people know we love each other. Also, we all know that Katniss and Peeta are probably going to get together for the tenth time, and Finnick and Annie are basically married so..."

Madge laughs and Annie looks down and blushes. A lot of the tension in the air dissolves and Annie feels much more relaxed.

***

Their friend Aly opens the door and smiles when she sees all of them. They all met Aly at a Northeastern party, and they hang out with her every once in a while. "Look at the Disney theme! I love it!" she yells. "Madge, you are the cutest Tinkerbell ever." She continues to greet everyone as they walk in. "Katniss, Peeta, are you dating again?"

"No," they say in sync, as if they practiced it.

"Cute costumes," she says after a long pause. Annie wonders why it's so weird to everyone that people wear couples costumes even if they're not a couple. She and Finnick aren't a couple, but they look great as Meg and Hercules and that's all that should matter. Peeta and Katniss look great as Belle and the Beast. "Finnick!" she yells. She must be drunk because she hasn't said anything above a whisper the whole time. She hugs him and Annie notes that he's the only one she hugged. Finnick hugs her but still grasps onto Annie's hand. "You look so cute! I haven't seen you in forever."

Annie looks at her costume. She's wearing one of those Captain America costumes that they made into a girl version by making it a crop top and a tutu. Her long black hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she had on bright blue eye shadow. Annie hates buying Halloween costumes because all of the girl costumes are so skimpy and she doesn't feel comfortable wearing those. For Halloween she prefers to buy separate pieces and make the costume herself. She and the gang all went shopping one weekend to a thrift shop and found most of the components of their costumes that way.

"We saw each other last week," Finnick points out, squeezing Annie's hand. She's sure it's more for his own reassurance than for hers. She can tell that he's incredibly uncomfortable.

She laughs. "I know, but it just feels like ages. We should hang out tonight."

Annie's chest tightens. Finnick promised her before the party that he wouldn't leave her side the whole night. He told her if he absolutely needed to leave her for any reason, he would bring her to one of their friends first so she wouldn't have to be alone. Annie feels a little more comfortable at this party because she knows Aly, but it still makes her nervous being around all these people she doesn't know.

"I would, but I promised Annie I would stay with her all night," he says, gesturing to Annie. Annie had only met Aly a few times and it was before she and Finnick became roommates.

"Are you guys dating? I knew you were both friends with Jo, but I didn't know you knew each other and I definitely didn't expect this."

Annie tries not to feel embarrassed. Even though she and Finnick aren't dating, she knows people think they're an unlikely pair. They are, that's what probably makes them click so well. "We actually live together," he says. She sees his face flush when he realizes how that must sound. "We're roommates. We're not dating," he quickly corrects himself.

Annie feels uncomfortable standing on the steps with Aly staring at Finnick, and she hopes Finnick can sense it. They spend so much time together these days that they can basically feel what the other is thinking and feeling at any given moment. "We should probably catch up with the rest of them," she says to both Aly and Finnick. Aly nods and she can feel Finnick relax just by how his hand loosens its grip.