"Dammit," Johanna growled as Taiya slapped her hands.
"Are you even trying?"
"You know I am," Johanna replied between gritted teeth.
"We've been playing this game for years, Jo. Are you letting me win? Is someone paying you to let me win? You can't be this bad."
"NO!" Johanna yelled as she reached out to slap Taiya's hands in anger, only to miss yet again as Taiya pulled back with a wide grin on her face.
"You suck dude," Taiya sniggered as she put her hands back out.
"Hi Prim," Finnick's voice reached Johanna's bed which was at the back of the hospital. He was back from a meeting that was called for the whole District, the only ones excused were those in the hospital.
Taiya's eyes lit up in delight as she held a finger over her lips to Johanna before she reached over from Johanna's hospital bed and pulled the curtain closed, blocking off the direct view of them sitting together on Johanna's bed. All you'd see on approach is Taiya's vacant bed.
Taiya had slept for 15 hours after she was re-admitted to the hospital. Finnick was by her side the entire time. He'd flat-out refused to leave whilst she was asleep.
Once she woke up though, he had to go to training, he didn't want to leave but he was forced to.
Taiya was kept under lock and key for 3 days whilst her behaviour was observed. She was rational with everyone, and she was honest.
Which is why she told the truth whenever voices would begin to fill her head. Only when Finnick was around did her mind remain 100% clear.
So today was her first trial day of staying in the main part of the hospital, and not in a cell.
She demanded a bed next to Johanna, who let out a loud groan when Taiya bounded over and declared them 'bunk buddies'. But they all knew Johanna was glad to have a friend nearby.
Now they were just waiting for Finnick to come back to see Taiya, but he'd arrive to see an empty bed because Taiya was currently perched on Johanna's bed trying to contain her giggle as they hid.
"Guess what I stole from the cafeteria Tay!" Finnick's voice got closer. "You'll never guess what it is..." they heard his footsteps freeze as he stopped at her empty bed. "Shit," he muttered. "Tay?" he whispered loudly. "Shit shit shit, Taiya!"
"Yes?" she quickly flung the curtain to the side, revealing her and Johanna sitting there with smirks on their faces as Finnick leapt up into the air in shock.
"Oh my god," he held his hand to his chest as he let out a huff. "You scared me!"
"HA!" Johanna cackled loudly before she slapped her hand down on Taiya's outstretched hand. "Got you!"
Taiya slowly turned her head to stare at Johanna, eyes wide. "You cheated!"
"I thought you said you couldn't cheat?" Johanna challenged.
"Oh! Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Nope," Johanna leaned forward to slap Taiya's hand again.
"What the hell Jo!" Taiya let out a single laugh of disbelief.
"Snooze you lose," Johanna shrugged as she readjusted herself so she was lying down. "Now go away, I'm tired and I don't have the energy to deal with you two and your grossness," she closed her eyes. "Plus I want to quit while I'm ahead."
"Oh you're definitely not ahead," Taiya muttered as she spun on the bed to face Finnick. "Catch me!" she warned before she launched herself at him. He wasn't too surprised though, and immediately reached out to grab her. "That was hot Mr Muscle Man," she winked at him.
"You're an idiot," he laughed as he turned to put her down on her bed.
"See, you two are gross," Johanna sat up and reached over to aggressively close the curtain.
"So," Finnick smiled as he sat down with her on the bed. "What shall we do today?" he asked as he reached behind her and tucked on her hair rope, quickly pulling it out of her.
"Stop stealing my rope," Taiya rolled her eyes but didn't reach out to stop him. "So what did you steal from the cafeteria for me?"
"Hot chocolate," he smiled.
"No way!" her eyes widened as she spun to see a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the table. "Oh, you're amazing Finn!" she thanked as she reached out and sipped it. "Do you think if I promise not to stab Plutarch again they'll let me leave?"
"Something tells me they won't believe you," he smiled softly.
"Do you think that's because I said I wasn't sorry when he visited me?"
"Maybe," Finnick scoffed as he pulled Taiya's wrist toward him and began tying knots with the rope around her wrist.
"Well that's not fair, no one told me it was a test."
"I think that's the point."
"What if I pinky promise?" Taiya tried.
"That might work," he nodded.
"Really! Oh..." she realised he was just being annoying. "You're a pain," she laughed as she leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm so bored in here."
"Well what's the lesson we learnt from this?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't stab people with pens," she rolled her eyes. "What are you doing?" she laughed as she looked down at the knots he was tying all up her arm.
"I've got you trapped," he smiled down at her. "You're all mine," he kissed her forehead before turning back to the rope.
"What was the meeting about?" she asked, trying to blink the blush out of her cheeks.
"Oh well, now this you're going to love," Finnick's eyes lit up as he dropped the rope and turned to face her.
"What?"
"President Coin has had enough. Someone replaced all the sugar cubes in her command room with salt. Gloss has been keeping your chaos going strong."
"Good boy, just as I requested him to do. He broke into the command room! That was my idea," Taiya placed her free hand over her heart. "I'm just so proud."
"Knock it off," Finnick laughed. "You two are going to get in so much trouble. Coin said enough was enough and they'd be going through the cameras to find the culprit."
"Shit," Taiya's eyes widened.
"You don't need to worry," he smiled as he continued his knots. "Beetee's been covering for your asses and covering up all the rubbish you two have pulled. He's been deleting the video footage."
"Aw Beetee!"
"Yeah well he said he thought you were mad at him, so he's trying to make up for whatever he did."
"I am mad at him," Taiya admitted.
"What'd Beetee do?"
"He nearly got us all barbecued!"
"Almost is the key word there babe," Finnick just smiled. He wasn't really angry with anyone for what went down in the arena, whereas Taiya was verging on apoplectic. He figured Taiya had maybe been hanging out with Johanna for a bit too long given the amount of rage she had towards everyone outside their little friendship group.
"Oi, nutso!" Johanna called out.
"Yeah?" Taiya asked, turning to look at the closed curtain.
"Can you flag down a nurse for me?"
"On it!" Taiya agreed as she reached over and grabbed a pillow, ready to hurl it into the middle of the hospital to get their attention.
"Woah," Finnick grabbed the pillow out of the air and placed it back on the bed. "I'll just get Prim," he jumped up to quickly wave the young girl over. "It's much easier and quicker just to ask them you know," he said as he came back.
"Yeah, but then I have to stand up," Taiya shrugged.
"We're upping her morphling dose again," Prim explained quietly as she stepped around the other side of the curtain. She'd been keeping Taiya up to date on both Johanna and Peeta's recovery.
"Is that wise?" Finnick asked with a frown, her dose was pretty high already.
"She's in so much pain," Prim said sadly. "We have to do what we can to make her comfortable for now. We'll work on a withdrawal plan once her injuries are healed," she smiled before leaving.
"Tay?" Finnick asked quietly, her eyes had glazed over with tears. "She's going to be ok."
"I know," Taiya nodded. "It's just hard seeing her like this. She kept it together for us in the Capitol and now she's just..."
"Come here," Finnick wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him as he pressed kisses to her hair.
"Finn, can we get Plutarch in here? I'll say sorry if he needs it but I can't stay here another night. It's not fair making you stay in the hospital with me."
"Tay..."
"Look, I know I messed up when I went all stabby and yelly but I'm not injured. Well, I'm not really injured. My leg doesn't count," she retorted when she saw the look he was giving her. "But what I need right now is not a hospital room. I just... I need to be with you," she sighed as she grabbed onto the front of his jumpsuit. "You said it yourself, we're saner together. I just want to ask Plutarch to trial us staying together in our own compartment. If I lose my mind they can put me back here. But I promise I'll do my best not to stab anyone."
Finnick just tilted his head in amusement.
"Fine. I promise not to stab anyone ever. Better?"
"Much," he kissed her cheek. "I'll go speak to Plutarch, but don't get your hopes up. He's not mad, but President Coin is stringent with the rules."
"Be quick," she released her hold on him. She hated it when he left her.
"Trust me," he leaned forward to whisper in her ears. "I like to take my time with many things, but not this," he kissed below her ear quickly before he quickly withdrew and raced away.
"Woah," Taiya breathed as she felt her cheeks get hot. Oh, how she'd missed him.
*********************
He was only gone for about 15 minutes before he came racing back in and skidded to a stop at the end of her bed.
His face didn't give anything away.
Taiya immediately crawled to the end of her bed, grabbed onto the rail and pulled herself up onto her knees so they were looking into each other's eyes.
"Well? What's the verdict?"
"You're allowed out," he smiled out.
"I can go?" a giant smile came over her face. "AH!" she squealed in excitement as she grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug.
"Calm down," Finnick laughed. "There are some rules. You're my personal responsibility. Any foot out of line and we're both in trouble. And I promised you'd be by my side at all times."
"Well I think I can agree to that," Taiya smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh, you think so?"
"Definitely," she nodded.
"Right then," she smirked. "Guess you have to come with me," he quickly placed his hands under her thighs and lifted her up, pulling her off the bed and forcing her to wrap her legs around him to stay balanced.
She let out a delighted shriek as he spun her around before he slowly lowered her to the ground.
"You're such an idiot," she placed her hand on his cheek as she lifted herself onto her toes and kissed him.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he ran his hand down her arm until he clasped her hand, giving it a quick squeeze as they made their way out of the hospital.
As soon as they left the hospital, Taiya released his hand and crossed her arms in discomfort. She'd changed into a hospital gown after she'd been re-admitted and she wasn't a fan of walking around in it.
"Please tell me you have a spare jumpsuit in your room," she mumbled as they walked down the corridor.
"Yeah," he smiled at her and threw an arm over her shoulder. She couldn't help but tense up. "I got a whole bunch of spare stuff for you so our compartment is fully stocked, don't worry," he reassured, trying to ignore the tension in her body. If she had something to say she would.
Taiya couldn't help but appreciate that the route he'd chosen to get back was a little quieter than the main hallways, even if it took longer, it decreased the number of eyes on them. People's eyes on them made her very nervous.
"And welcome," Finnick opened the door and held his arm out, letting her walk into their compartment first.
It was almost exactly the same as the room she shared with Gloss. Small, windowless, soulless. But it was theirs. The only difference was that the bottom bunk bed was slightly larger than the one above it. It was designed for a couple.
Finnick closed the door behind him and walked forward to sit on the bed.
"There's room for one more person," Taiya nodded her head to the bunk above. He just smiled and nodded. "Johanna can have a sleepover!" she smiled widely as she thought back on their antics in the Capitol before everything had gone to hell.
"Just so long as you two don't sing," he joked. "Come here," he tapped the place beside him lightly, urging her to join him.
Taiya took a few steps forward before she froze. A frown took over her face. It was like something had just gone 'click' in her brain and she finally allowed herself to realise what was happening.
She let out a loud gasp and her hands flew up to her mouth as she got teary.
"Tay?" Finnick immediately stood up, not quite sure what happened.
"Oh my god," she breathed before she dropped her hands and laughed. "Oh my god," she ran at him and threw herself into his arms.
"Hey there," he huffed as he caught her, stumbling slightly until Taiya's back was pressed against a wall. "What just happened?"
"I didn't realise it before," Taiya breathed as her hands moved into his hair.
"Realise what?" Finnick asked nervously. It wouldn't really look good to have her go back to the hospital just after he'd begged for permission to take her out.
"We're free," Taiya pulled back, resting her forehead against his. "We're actually free. I didn't realise. We don't have consequences here," she laughed before she leaned forward to kiss him. "Snow can't do anything here. He won't know what we do. He can't touch us, he can't touch this. We don't have a crowd to act for, we don't have to pretend we're not together, because who cares! Finnick! I can hold your hand in public! I can kiss you in the middle of the hall and they won't kill one of our friends! We can be together like we were in the victor's village and no one will get hurt! You'll never have to work again! We're free!"
Finnick smiled widely as he watched the realisation hit her. He'd already come to this realisation himself. The moment he held her when he ran into her room. He knew that he'd be able to hold her in front of the whole of District 13 and it would be safe. Watching this realisation finally sink into her was one of the best things that had ever happened to him.
This was the first time since they were 16 that they'd both felt as though loving someone wasn't a deadly choice, that they felt free to be in said relationship without being punished.
This was the first time Finnick felt he had the power to protect and to stand up for her. This was the first time his fiancée, his best friend, felt safe.
The sole fact that she felt safe was enough for Finnick to be happy. That's all he wanted out of this rebellion. For her to be safe. To not have to tiptoe around the Capitol. To not have the burden of condemning a cousin to death because she refused to marry a man she did not love.
All that was left was for the rebels to take the Capitol.
"I love you," Taiya grabbed his face. "I love you so so so much! Tell me this is real, tell me this is really happening."
"It's real. I promise you, this is real."
Taiya lowered herself down to the ground, moving her hands down to hold his upper arms as she looked around the room again.
"Once the rebels take the Capitol, we can go home," she breathed. "Finn! We can have the life we dreamed of! 4 kids, you could teach them to fish, we could have dinner on the beach with them. They'd never have to go to the academy like we did, they could just be kids. Playing in the sand, making sand castles. This is our actual future now," she laughed with delight. "We can go home and get married and not have to hide it!"
"We're going to have the best-looking kids in District 4," Finnick pulled Taiya closer.
He was captivated by her eyes. They were radiating relief. An emotion he hadn't seen her show in years.
Taiya's hands returned to the nape of his neck, pure joy spreading through her every fibre.
Then she kissed him.
Finnick responded immediately with absolutely no hesitation. Pressing his mouth harder against hers. His tongue swiped her bottom lip and they both fell into a rhythm so familiar, and yet always thrilling to them.
They both knew that a love like what they had was rare. From the very first kiss, neither one of them had any doubts. There may have been some nerves and fear, but no doubt. Even when they'd gone on a break after Taiya's games, they both knew they'd end up back together. It was as though they were made for each other.
It was very unlikely anyone would interrupt them. Finnick had barely stayed in this room, only a couple of people knew Taiya was even out of the hospital. Neither one had a schedule to follow today. They would have a few undisturbed hours together.
And Taiya couldn't think about anything but the feeling of his lips on hers.
Without even breaking contact, Finnick led Taiya over to their bed. Taiya's knees wavered as they hit the edge of the bed and she felt the edges of Finnick's mouth curve up into a smirk.
"Shut up," she giggled against his lips. "Does this door have a lock?"
"Sure does, come with me," Finnick reached to her thighs and lifted her up, not willing to part from her to lock the door. She let out a little squeal as she tightened her legs, not that he would have ever dropped her.
Finnick made quick work of locking the door, stopping the risk of anyone walking in like had happened last time.
As soon as Taiya heard the lock click, one of her hands snaked down from his neck to undo the top button of his jumpsuit.
"I don't know how you do it, but somehow you manage to pull this look off," Taiya whispered as she kissed along his jawline.
"You're certainly welcome to pull it off me," he replied as he lowered her down onto the bed.
"Don't mind if I do," she smirked as she pushed his jumpsuit down off his shoulders.
She immediately moved her hands to his chest, feeling the ripple of his muscles as he adjusted himself to pull his arms out of his suit.
Finnick's lips moved away from her lips and trailed their way down her jaw to her neck, to a certain spot where he knew exactly what kind of reaction he could illicit from her.
He kissed the spot on the side of her neck, halfway down to her collar bone and her head instinctively pushed back against the pillow with a moan, giving him better access.
A light brush of his tongue had Taiya tightening her knees around as she tried to pull him even closer to her.
It'd been months.
Taiya had been back for a week.
They'd been separated for two months.
They'd been in the Capitol for the Games for two weeks.
And they were ravenous.
*********************
Taiya and Finnick were both beaming as they made their way to the cafeteria for dinner that evening.
They hadn't passed anyone in the corridor on their way, but as soon as they stepped into the cafeteria, seeing the number of people already in there, Taiya by default took a step ahead, putting some space in between them. But then she stopped.
They were free.
They didn't have to leave space between them to avoid rumours anymore, so she turned back to him and held her hand out for him to take. Which he gladly did.
They walked step in step to the line for food. They didn't ever need to drop each other's hands again. There were no repercussions anymore.
They grabbed their plates of food and made their way over to the table at seemed to have become victor central.
"Who let you out of the nut house?" Gloss asked as she and Finnick took a seat next to Mags.
"Watch it," Finnick warned.
"Finnick staged a jailbreak," Taiya explained, not even remotely upset at Gloss' insult.
"He what?" Tyler dropped his fork.
"A sanctioned jailbreak," Taiya clarified.
"Oh thank god," Tyler released a heavy breath. "How are you feeling?"
Taiya smiled giddily. "We're free," she laughed, still not fully believing it herself as she looked up at Finnick with a smile.
Tyler looked at them sadly. That's what he still dreamed about having with his Aila. At least this freedom could be a reality for them, if not for him.
Haymitch then came to the table and loudly clattered down his tray beside Buck.
Buck immediately tensed up at the man's arrival. He'd spent the last few days trying to avoid Haymitch, assuming that Taiya had given up his secret when she told him about her scaring him.
"Taiya, can I speak to you after you're done?" Haymitch asked.
"If you want to talk about me just say it to my face!" Buck whined. "Don't gossip behind my back."
"What are you on about?" Haymitch drawled, having no idea what Buck was complaining about now.
"You're going to make me say it are you?" Buck challenged. "Really? Here? Now?"
"Well I'd love it if you filled me in," Haymitch gave him a half smile. Haymitch's default tone was sarcasm, even if he wasn't being sarcastic, so Buck immediately took this as a challenge.
"Go on then! Tell the whole table about how I'm Mrs Bake-a-lot!" he snapped as he angrily pointed between Haymitch and Taiya.
Tyler and Finnick's reaction was identical as they both spat out their soup in shock.
Even Mags and Annie were shocked, both staring at him with open mouths. They were stunned.
No one outside of 4 had a clue what he was talking about though.
There was a mystery character in District 4 who had been active for years, no one knew who they were.
Each week they'd have a new cake recipe to share with the District. They'd make these beautiful recipe cards, complete with lovely watercolour drawings of the cake of the week and post them on all of the District 4 notice boards.
It had widely been assumed it was some sweet little old lady making these recipes. No one would ever have assumed it was the gruff, antisocial victor who wouldn't speak to anyone without grumbling.
When Taiya had been hiding in the pantry, she heard him enter the house and he conveniently headed straight for the kitchen. She gave him a few minutes to get comfortable before she leapt out at him.
When she had, a flurry of pages flew up in the air as he panicked and swiped all of his work off the bench. She'd leant down and picked one up to see exactly what it was. The excitement she felt when she picked it up. Buck was a big softie!
He'd begged her not to tell anyone. It'd ruin his reputation as the village grump if people found out he was Mrs Bake-a-lot. So she promised she wouldn't tell and he avoided her for the next two weeks. She hadn't broken the promise.
"Buck!" Taiya gasped in shock. "You think I told Haymitch that?"
"Ye... wait, what?" he frowned.
"Buck! I would never! You asked me to keep it secret so I did," she smiled sweetly as she rested her head on Finnick's shoulder.
"You set me up," Buck stuttered.
"Buckaroo I did no such thing."
She glanced at Gloss who shot her a subtle thumbs up.
"You're Mrs Bake-a-lot?" Tyler asked before he started cackling.
"Does someone want to explain it to me?" Haymitch asked.
"It's this legend back home in 4," Taiya explained. "Each week there's a new cake recipe that's put up on all the news boards. These intricate stunning cakes, and there are hand-drawn watercolour illustrations. They're always signed off with; Happy baking - Mrs Bake-a-lot."
"That's you?" Haymitch's eyes were glowing with delight as he turned to Buck. "Oh my god!" he joined in Tyler's laughter.
"You never told me this," Finnick looked down at Taiya.
"See," Taiya made the point to Buck. "I told no one, you're the one who blurted it out to everyone," she smirked.
"Oh my god," Buck's eyes widened.
"I only told Haymitch I broke into your place to scare you, nothing else," she smirked at Buck.
"Oh my god," Buck repeated. "I have to go," he stood up and hurried out of the cafeteria.
"Buck's Mrs Bake-a-lot," Tyler mused to himself as he returned to his soup. "I tell you what Tay, you have made my night," he smiled with delight as he returned to his soup. "I am going to make our resident baker's life an absolute hell."
"Oh, now we've got to get the man baking! I've got to try one of these Mrs Bake-a-lot cakes," Gloss smirked.
"He could make the cake and Peeta can decorate it!" Taiya got excited.
"Hey, that's actually not a bad idea," Haymitch pulled out a notepad and jotted down a note. "That could be good therapy."
"Therapy comes second Haymitch. Torturing Mrs Bake-a-lot comes first."
"You know we wouldn't have much to tease him about if he didn't call himself Mrs Bake-a-lot," Finnick mused. "I mean really. Mrs Bake-a-lot. Who gave him that idea?"
Mags' hand slowly raised in the air. She had suggested this idea to Buck years ago. The name Mrs Bake-a-lot had been a joke, but the man had taken to it straight away and adopted it. Even she knew it wasn't a good name choice. And now Buck was going to have to put up with a hell of a lot of teasing.