Taiya nervously pinned her hair up. Today was the day. Finnick was coming home.
"You ready Taiya?" her father called up the stairs.
"Coming!" she yelled back, smiling one last time in the mirror before running down the stairs. Finnick had only won a couple of days ago and she'd been anxiously awaiting his return. In his victor interview with Caeser, he'd said how excited he was to come home.
"Hey," Theo greeted her at the bottom of the stairs. "Ready?" he asked.
"Absolutely," she smiled, taking his hand as they ran out of the house, Taiya's parents trailing behind her as they made their way to the train station where Finnick would be arriving. "What do we say when we see him?" Taiya asked.
"We won't get to see him for a while," Theo explained. "There'll be cameras while he reunites with his family and then he'll go see his new home. After the cameras are gone we can visit."
"Oh," Taiya said quietly as Finnick's train rolled into the station and the cameras switched on.
"He's home Taiya, you'll have forever to see him, don't stress about it," Theo awkwardly tried to comfort her. The whole district then erupted in a cheer as Finnick stepped out of the train. Taiya clapped wildly and cheered as she saw him. Finnick raced forward and hugged his mum before quickly pulling away, his eyes searching the crowd until they found hers. As soon as they locked eyes he smiled, making her smile go even wider.
Finnick subtly jerked his head towards the beach and mouthed, "20," at her and she nodded.
*********************
20 minutes later Taiya sat down on the beach in the spot only she and Finnick regularly visited when she heard footsteps behind her. She quickly stood up and turned to see Finnick standing a few feet away from her. They stared at each other, both unsure how to react to each other. "Finn," Taiya breathed and he smiled. This was all the reassurance she needed as she sprinted forward and flung herself into a hug. As soon as Taiya wrapped her arms around him she felt him start to sob. "Finnick?" she asked pulling away so she could look at him.
"Don't leave me," he cried and pulled her back in as the two slowly sat down on the sand, not breaking their hold.
"I'm not going to leave you, Finn, I swear," she promised as she pulled back to brush the hair from his eyes. "How are you holding up?"
"I can't look at my mother Tay, I can't look in her eyes knowing what I did."
"What you had to do. Finnick, no one blames you. You did what you had to do in order to survive. I sat with her during the games Finnick, trust me, she's just glad you got to come home."
"I wish I didn't."
"Don't say that."
"It's true," he said brushing the tears away. "I killed all those kids Taiya."
"Finn," she said seriously, taking his face in her hands. "They would have killed you. It's not your fault ok. You promised me you'd come home... and you did."
"Did you watch it all?" Finnick asked quietly.
Taiya dropped her hands and looked down, "I couldn't watch most of it. I'm sorry."
"I'm glad you didn't," he sighed.
"I was too scared. Which sounds pathetic because you were actually in there. But I couldn't bear to lose you." Taiya and Finnick sat in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other, before Taiya spoke up. "I got you a trident though," she smiled.
Finnick laughed softly, "yes you did. I saw your interview when I got out."
"I saw you get it. What did that note say? How'd you know it was me?" she asked and Finnick immediately blushed. "Tell me," she laughed, shoving him slightly.
"It was a note from Mags, it said 'you can thank your girlfriend back home for this'."
Taiya immediately blushed and giggled, "that's funny."
"Yeah, funny," Finnick replied awkwardly, looking back at to the water. "How was Theo?" he asked eventually.
"Good, good. He kept me sane. Looked after me. He was great."
"Glad you and Theo got so close," Finnick mumbled.
"He did it for you," Taiya smiled. "He looked out for me because you asked him to."
"He's not that selfless Taiya," Finnick grumbled.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing," he dismissed. "Don't worry about it."
"So what was the Capitol like?" Taiya asked, trying to change the conversation. "Was it every bit like we used to imagine?"
"Worse," Finnick smiled. "Everyone there is completely insane. It's a concrete jungle, there's no fresh air, no water to swim in. It's a nightmare. They do eat like royalty though."
"And President Snow? Did you meet him?"
"Yeah, he was... cryptic."
"Cryptic?" Taiya asked confused, "how so?"
"Well when he crowned me as victor he said something strange," Finnick said, debating whether he should tell her not.
"What did he say?" Taiya pushed, nudging him slightly.
"He told me congratulations and that he'd have a job for me when I was 16, he didn't say anything else. But I didn't think victor's had to work after they won so I'm confused."
"That's strange. He's old, maybe his mind's not fully there?" Taiya suggested.
"No," Finnick dismissed quickly. "No, the man is sharp. There was just something... I don't know... snake-like about him."
"I wonder what this job could be," Taiya muttered.
"I don't know. Guess we'll have to wait and see. I hope it's something fun at least," Finnick smiled.
"You deserve some fun Finn," Taiya said wrapping her arm around him as they stared out at the water.
"Come to dinner at my new place?" Finnick asked as they began leaving the beach.
"Don't you want to spend your first night back with your parents?" Taiya asked.
"If you leave my sight I might just lose my mind Tay," Finnick muttered and Taiya stared at him before nodding.
"Ok, let's just go past my house first to tell my parents. How's your new house look? It's only just around the corner from mine."
"I haven't been in yet."
"What do you mean?" Taiya asked.
"I wanted to see you. I said hello to my parents and did the camera bit then I came to meet you."
"Finn," Taiya gasped. "I can't believe you left your parents."
"I wanted to see you more," he admitted.
Taiya smiled but tried to hide it, "that's terrible of you."
"Yeah, well no one understands me like you do. You're like my soul mate," he joked.
"Yeah right," Taiya laughed. "Well anyway, I bet you'll love your new place. You know all the victors have access to the private victor's beach. We can hang out there all the time."
"I like our spot that we already have."
"So do I, but the cameras might follow you down there and then it won't be our private spot."
"I guess not," Finnick admitted.
"And the victor's houses all have their own pier. We can fish off the end of your pier Finnick, it'll be so much fun. You, me and Theo."
"Yeah, right, Theo will be there," Finnick scoffed.
"Are you ok?" Taiya asked. "That's the second time you've rolled your eyes when I've mentioned Theo."
"Don't read into it too much Taiya. I really don't want to get into it."
"Ok," she said quietly.
"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I don't know, I guess I just saw you smile at him in the interview and it made me jealous."
"Jealous of what Finnick?" she laughed, looping her hand into the crook of his elbow. "We're all friends here, there's no need to act all possessive."
"Right," he muttered. "We're all friends."