BLOOD ON MY HANDS || Finnick Odair

one; the reaping

A/N: just so you're aware, I'm using this^^^^^map of the districts for reference
it's not super important but it might help clear some stuff up, idk :)

Eden Koyle walked hand in hand through the dirt roads weaved through all of District 10 with his girlfriend as they approached the town square for the annual reaping.

He was seventeen years old, having just had his birthday a week earlier, and couldn't help but smile each time he looked to his left; her loose strands of blonde hair drifting in the wind as they came lose from their simple braids. Bright blue eyes glowing in the somewhat clouded over afternoon sun. Eight month baby bump accented by her almost too big purple reaping dress.

It was a day many couldn't bring themselves to smile on, but he hadn't been able to keep a straight face while looking at Flora Flint since he was seven years old. From the moment he'd watched her sit on the back field at their school during lunch break, weaving together a flower crown out of daisies and clovers, he'd known he was a goner.

There was no one else in the world he could imagine spending the rest of his life with, have a baby with; even if it was all happening out of traditional order.

"Stop looking so happy when my whole body is aching," Flora huffed as she spared him a glance, one hand settled protectively over her belly while the other pressed into her aching back. "Besides; we could be walking off to our deaths."

Eden rolled his eyes and brought her hand up to press a soft kiss to the back of it. "What's the likelihood either of us will be reaped this year, hmm? Our names are only in seven times, and there's thousands of us."

"Famous last words," was her joking response, paired with a sweet smile.

Once in the square, they parted with a kiss and maneuvered their way to their respective check-in lines. He tried to keep his eyes on her for as long as possible, hardly even registering the prick on his pointer finger as the Peace Keeper presses his bleeding finger onto a slip and checked his identity before allowing him to continue on.

He shuffled off into his corner, waiting patiently for the reaping to be over so he could bring Flora back to his house and get her off her feet. Every inch of him was unbelievably thankful that his younger sister, Eve, was only ten and too young to be brought into the horrors of the world they lived in.

She was waiting for him in the crowd of families surrounding the pit they were all fitted in, more than likely clinging to their grandfathers hand for comfort. They had been sent to live with him after losing both of their parents in a farming accident, and didn't remember much about that part of their life.

Just their Grampa.

The crowd of boys around him, some of which he recognized from school, were talking quietly among themselves, and he said a brief hello before allowing his grey eyes to scan over the girls portion of seventeen year olds.

Hardly even listening to the introductory speech made by the Capitol escort for their district, Valynn — who was dressed in bright yellows and pinks that somehow looked both horrible and pretty at the same time — or the standard video created by the Capitol for this specific occasion. No, Edens mind was solely on the simple metal band with a tiny diamond embedded, sitting in a small box under his bed.

He had the ring.

He just needed a time and way to ask.

At first, he'd thought about going for a walk in the grain fields in the farm he lived on because she loved it there so much, but Eden felt like she deserved better than that. Deserved more. So he'd been racking his brain with Eve's help, trying to come up with ideas he could afford that could also be memorable.