A/N: So, yeah... Mixed reactions on the last one shot... Because of that I've decided to scrap the Gale/Madge one shot that I had planned. But the good news is that removing that part of the series actually inspired me to do something a little different with the remaining three (maybe four, depending on how the first three are received) one-shots. The rest of the First Times collection will all take place in the same Alternative Universe. I've changed things up quite a bit this time. I've messed with the timeline, I've moved Victors around, and I've even changed what Districts some people are from. So yes, a lot of things are quite different. More and more things will be explained with each new one shot, which (in theory) will give the readers a better view of the universe I've messed with.

I would also like to say that I was definitely inspired by the one-shot by aimmyarrowshigh called Five Loaves of Bread: Capitol Pastries.

By the way, I would like to thank all those who did review the Gale/Katniss story and I would like to apologize again to all those who didn't feel like it met their expectations. It was me trying to challenge myself and I didn't quite hack it like I had thought I had. Lesson learned... no more Gale POVs for me.

Hopefully this one won't antagonize anyone and I'm actually pretty proud of it. Of course, if you find issue with the story, you're always welcomed to let me know through a review or a PM. The only thing I ask is that you be civil.

I do hope you enjoy the second installment of the First Times Collection and now I'm off to write the third one...

First Times:
The Calm Before the Storm
(Finnick and Annie)

I hate everything about the Capitol. I hate how bright it is, how loud it is, how cold it can get… But most of all, I truly hate the people in it.

If only the feeling was mutual, I think bitterly. But no, everybody just LOVES me, the beautiful Victor from District 4. I wish that they would love me a little less, as my muscles are sore from all the "entertaining" I had to do on the trip. My jaw aches and I regret again not taking the little orange pill that I had been offered.

And then you could add a whole other slew of problems to your plate, I have to remind myself. No, it is better to deal with the pain than to open myself up to the world of drugs. Mags would've been so disappointed in me; that was one thing that I wouldn't be able to stand. After all she had done for me, I just wanted to make her proud of me.

I had missed Mags terribly and still wish that she had gone to the Capitol with me, but she had suffered a stroke a few days before the reaping and she was still recuperating. We had been lucky that it hadn't been a major one, but it had caused some facial paralysis. The damage was probably permanent and it made understanding her speech quite difficult. I had the distinct feeling that her appearance had been the main reason why she was told to stay away from the Capitol this year. Not having had her with me just made the whole ordeal that much harder to deal with. In fact, the only good thing about the entire trip had been getting to see Peeta again.

I had liked the blond boy from District 9 immediately after seeing the way he handled himself with Caesar. Peeta had the grace and charm of a person much older than his 12 years. I can't deny that the young boy had reminded me of myself, especially the way he got the crowd eating out of his hand. However, the best part of the whole thing was that Peeta's interview was the first time in a year that I hadn't felt all of Panem watching me.

I hadn't been terribly surprised that Peeta had won his Games through some rather unconventional means. I remember thinking how unprepared the boy was to handle what was waiting for him outside of the arena and I had decided that I would take Peeta under my wing. It didn't matter that I had just won my games the previous year; Peeta was three years my junior and he was going to need as much protection from the Capitol as possible.

This year had been Peeta's first year mentoring and his district partner, Barlia, had left the poor boy to fend for himself. It wasn't exactly out of character for the woman. Barlia was about as old as dirt, and almost as useful, with a crippling affection for Capitol delicacies- I often wonder how the woman hasn't managed to choke to death considering the way she eats. Because of that I had taken it upon myself to be there for Peeta and show him the ropes, despite just having learned them myself. I couldn't help but think about how proud Mags would be of the way that I handled myself when I tried to console Peeta after the deaths of his tributes in the initial bloodbath.

Despite the similarities between the two of us, I really liked Peeta for our differences. Mags had told me that I had been forced to grow up too fast and had lost all of my naiveté and I didn't want Peeta to suffer the same fate just yet. I was pleased that it had been about a year since Peeta had won and he had somehow managed to keep his boyish innocence It was probably due to my attempts at shielding the boy from the horrors that awaited him, but I know that I wouldn't be able to keep him from the harsh realities of his future forever. I was grateful that I didn't have to break it to him this year as he had left the Capitol before I had taken my first appointment.

But if I am truly honest with myself, I know that his innocence isn't the main reason why I kept him in the dark about the dirty dealings of the Capitol. The truth is that I really like that Peeta looks up to me and I'm afraid that he'd lose all respect for me if he knew what I was doing. There were very few things that I held precious, and I wasn't about to allow the Capitol to taint all of them.

I refuse to allow myself to think about all that stuff now. We are only a few minutes away from pulling into the District 4 train station and I shouldn't spend the time dwelling on the depravities I had endured. I had done all that had been asked of me and now I had almost five months before I had to go back to the Capitol.

Just as the train begins to slow down, I can feel the beginning of my first true smile in days.

The next few lazy days pass at an exquisitely slow rate of speed for me and I wouldn't have had them any other way. It was a nice change of pace after all the hustle and bustle from the Capitol. I guess being a Victor did have some upsides, and being able to spend the day laying on the sand watching the boats drift by was one of them. I lean my head back, closing my eyes to fully enjoy the feeling of the sun shining down on me.

I feel a shadow over my face and I frown as I hear a female voice, "Must be nice to just lay around and do nothing like that."

I open an eye, a retort already on my lips and then I stop. I find myself staring at the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I blink at few times, wondering if I hadn't fallen asleep and I'm now dreaming, I'm only broken out of my spell when I see her smirk at my obvious silence.

"You don't seem to be working all that hard," I tell her, sitting up.

"Okay, you caught me," the girl says with a smile. I watch as she wrings her wet hair out onto the sand. "It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't bear to spend it inside a stuffy classroom."

"Ah, school," I say. "I never was much of a fan of it, either."

"Another thing that the great Finnick Odair doesn't have to worry about anymore," she says. I am surprised when she sits down on the sand beside me.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," I tell her, tilting my head. "You know my name but I don't know yours."

"And that makes you uncomfortable?"

"A little bit," I admit. "I don't like it when I'm lacking information."

She considers me for a minute and I'm worried that she's going to up and go, leaving me with nothing. Finally she says, "Annie Cresta."

I grin at her, really enjoying our little back and forth. "Well, Annie Cresta, you do know that this is a private beach right?"

"The whole island of Victor's Cay is private," she reminds me. "But that's why I like it so much. No one ever bothers me here. Today's an exception, of course."

"I think you have forgotten that you where the one doing the bothering in this scenario," I tell her, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugs. "Perhaps, but you don't seem overly upset about it."

"I'm not," I say. "I have to say that I don't mind your presence at all."

"Good, because I wasn't going to stop coming here."

"How did you get here?" I ask, looking around for a boat. I only see those belonging to the occupants of the island.

"I swam," she says simply.

My eyes widen. "You swam? But we're like five miles off-shore."

She shrugs. "So? Are you saying that you can't do that?"

"I'm not saying that I can't do that," I say. "It just seems like an awfully long swim just to get a little privacy."

"I don't think that five miles is all that far," she says. "I think I'd swim forever if I had a chance for true freedom."

I look around, making sure no one heard her. That had been a dangerous comment to make and I didn't want her getting in trouble. "I think you might be part fish, then."

She laughs. "I'll try to stay away from fishing rods, then."

The next months pass quickly, much too quickly for my taste. Everyday, my little fish would swim out to the island and spend some time with me. Even when the weather started getting a little colder, she would never fail me. At only fourteen, Annie was more beautiful than any other woman I had ever seen. I knew that I would be in serious trouble if she just got lovelier with age-especially since I was already falling for the girl as it was.

Even Peeta thought highly of Annie, and that was based solely on what he's heard me say about her during our phone conversations.

Spending time with Annie was the best part of my day. She was one of the handful of people who didn't treat me like "Finnick Odair- Victor of the 65th Hunger Games." I was just a goofy boy who could swim just as fast as her. And, sometimes, when I was with her, I would forget all about what was waiting for me in the Capitol. But then something would remind me about it and the whole helplessness of the situation would just depress me further.

Before I knew it, the Victory Tour was underway. District 4 would be treated with the presence of the newest Victor tomorrow and I was expected to be on hand to welcome the girl. And after that, I would be on a train to spend a week at the Capitol. To say that I wasn't looking forward to the ending of today would be putting it mildly. I would be content to spend the rest of my life in this moment: sitting on my porch swing with Annie as we watch the fishing boats sail back to shore.

"I won't see you tomorrow, will I?" Annie asks, and I can hear her frowning before I even turn my face to look at her.

"No," I say, sighing in disappointment.

Her frowns deepens. "And I won't see you the next day either, right? Or the one after that, or the one after that…"

"I won't be able to spend time with you for nine whole days," I tell her. "And I can promise you that they will be excruciating."

"But you'll get to spend tomorrow with Cashmere," she pouts. "She's beautiful and sexy and everybody loves her."

"She's the newest Victor," I remind her. "Of course, everyone loves her. We're loved fiercely for almost a whole year until the next Games starts."

"Everybody still loves you," she says, playing with a string on her pants. "And it's been two years since you've won."

"That's because I'm special," I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "Wouldn't you agree with that?"

"I do," she solemnly says, her tone not softening at my attempt to lighten up the situation. "As I'm sure that Cashmere would agree with that, too."

"Annie," I say, turning her to look into my face. "I don't care about Cashmere. And to be honest, I think she's got someone back home that's already claimed her. I mean, you did see the way her brother acted when they interviewed her family? There is something deeper going on there than just sibling affection, if you ask me."

She giggles. "You're horrible. You're just saying that to distract me."

"I'm not! And I just know that you thought the same thing when his interview aired," I say and she giggles harder. Still, I grow serious, "But if you're still worried, let me assure you of something; I'm not even remotely interested in Cashmere or any other girl."

Annie scoffs. "Liar."

"I'm not lying," I tell her, hoping she could hear the honesty in my voice. I switch gears a bit and say, "Do you want to hear a secret?"

Her eyes light up in spite of herself. "Finnick, do you really have to ask? You know how much I love secrets."

"Well, don't tell anyone this," I start, and she leans in to me. "But you're the only girl that I want to spend time with."

"You have to admit that it was pretty lame, as secrets go," she tells me, but I can see she's fighting a smile. "But I guess I kind of needed to hear you say that."

"I'm glad."

"But that still doesn't mean I don't hate the fact that you're going to the Capitol and leaving me behind."

"Trust me," I say. "It's not my choice."

"I know," she tells me and her eyes look sad. I haven't told her about what is expected of me but I'm afraid that she suspects something. She turns away and looks up at the sky. "I heard that there might be a storm coming tomorrow."

"I'm glad," I say. "I hope it's raining buckets tomorrow. Cashmere doesn't look like the type of girl who likes to get wet."

Annie nods. "I hope it rains, too."

"Oh, Finnick," purrs the woman whose name I didn't quite catch. "That was worth every coin. You truly are marvelous..."

I nod, concentrating on putting my clothes back on as quickly as possible. It's too bad if she wants a conversation, because I'm sure I'm not getting paid to talk to her.

As I stand, I hear her say, "Are you leaving already?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say, starting to walk towards the door. "I'm so hungry and I haven't had a chance to try any of the fine dishes being served at the dinner."

"Well, I suppose you did work up quite an appetite," she titters. "Well, I guess that's it then. Here you go, Finnick"

I turn back to her, and see her holding out a gorgeous diamond necklace. I look at it in confusion, "What is that for?"

"It's just a little token to for you to remember me by," she says. "I would very much like it if you would accept it."

I walk over and take the proffered jewelry in my hand. It's truly a beautiful piece and I can't help but think how lovely it would look around Annie's neck. But could I give her something I got by such means? I shake my head both at that question and at the woman.

"No, thank you," I say, handing her back the necklace. "I couldn't possibly accept such an extravagant present."

The woman sticks out her comically large lower lip in what I think is supposed to be a pout. I can never figure out how they believe disfiguring their bodies in such a way is supposed to be found attractive. "But I want to give you something to show my appreciation for you!"

I think of Annie again. "What about if you tell me a secret?"

"What kind of secret?" The woman looks like she's fascinated by my request.

"How about a scandalous one?"

"Oh, I shouldn't," the woman says, looking around the room.

"You definitely should," I encourage.

Her face breaks out in a grin, "Okay, but you have to promise not to repeat this! Or at least don't disclose that you heard it from me..."

"I won't," I say, giving her my most sincere look.

"I heard that Nikia Blith is desperately trying to get her hands on that adorable little Victor from last year," she says, looking all excited to be revealing this. "You know him, right? Peeta?"

"Yes," I tell her. "I know him."

"Now, the problem is that Nikia doesn't want to wait until he's older," the woman says conspiratorially. "Rumor has it that she's willing to pay quite a deal more money than the normal asking price if she's allowed to get him early."

My heart jumps to my throat and I have to fake a smile. "Now, wasn't that fun? Thank you so much for indulging me, but I really should go now before I drop dead from starvation."

I make my way quickly to rejoin the celebration. My eyes scan the room for his mop of ashy blond hair. It takes me a few minutes but I find him. My heart drops when I notice that his attention is being occupied by Nikia Blith.

I deftly maneuver through the crowd, trying to reach them. Peeta sees me when I'm a few feet away and his face lights up. "Finnick!" He waves as if he was trying to get my attention.

With a smile on my face, I saunter up to him and his admirer. "Look at you," I say, tussling his hair when I reach him. "I think you grew three inches since the last time I saw you."

Peeta shuffles uncomfortably and tries to fix the damage I did to his hair. I look to see that Nikia looks positively enraged by the interruption, but, at the very least, is attempting to hide it.

I bow down and kiss Nikia's hand. "A pleasure as always, Mrs. Blith."

"Hello, Finnick," she says not being able to disguise the aggravation in her voice. "It is such a surprise to see you; I would have thought that you would have been kept very busy tonight."

"Well, I'm a very quick worker," I say, trying to keep my voice cheerful. "Now, would you mind terribly if I steal Peeta away from you for a few minutes? I haven't seen him since the Games and we have so much to catch up on."

"I don't mind at all," she says, even though that couldn't be further from the truth. "Just be sure to bring him back when you are done."

I laugh as I put a firm hand on Peeta's shoulder and lead him away from the woman who continues to watch him predatorily.

When we are a decent distance away, I stop. Peeta looks behind him and breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you for that," he says. "I've been trying to get away from her for the last hour."

"Perhaps you should try your hardest to avoid her in the future," I tell him, my voice light as not to overly worry him.

Peeta nods furiously in agreement. "Trust me when I tell you that had already been my plan. It had been ever since she followed up her comment about my increased height with a question about if I grew inches anywhere else."

I frown, thoroughly upset by that woman's audacity. Didn't she have any semblance of what was acceptable? "Just forget whatever she said to you, okay? I'll be here to make sure that she doesn't get anywhere near you."

Peeta looks down and fiddles with his tie. "But what if you have to go?"

I stiffen. "What do you mean?"

He looks up and I see how uncomfortable he is with the conversation, but he presses on. "Mrs. Blith told me why I couldn't find you at the party."

My hatred for that woman grows exponentially at that and I have to actively force myself to calm down. "I told you to forget what she told you."

"I'm so sorry, Finnick," he says and his concern for me is completely evident in his face. "I didn't even know…"

"Don't apologize, Peeta," I say, knowing that the situation calls for some honesty. "The truth is that I've been desperately trying to keep this from you."

He furrows his brow. "Why?"

"Because I was trying to protect you."

"I appreciate that, Finnick, I do," he tells me. "But you knew that I was going to find out the truth sooner or later. I just wished I had heard it from you."

"I'm sorry, Peet."

He shakes his head before looking down at his tie again. "It's fine. Besides, it won't be long before I'm forced to do the same thing."

He's right about that. No matter what I do, I will never be able to save him from having to suffer the same fate as me. I don't know what to say on that subject so I just change topics. "So, honest opinion: what do you think of Cashmere?"

"Um, she's okay," he says carefully. He was too nice to come right out and say that he disliked her. "She didn't like District 9 much, though."

I laugh. "She didn't like 4, either," I tell him. "And she was unbearable about it. I had to convince myself not to drown her."

"That would have been a bad situation," he says, chuckling. "I think that even you would've had trouble talking your way out of it."

"You sound just like Annie," I say, putting on my best hurt expression. "She's always doubting my abilities, too."

Peeta's face breaks out into a wide grin. "Well, I think this has been the longest we've talked before you've brought Annie up," he says, all the discomfort from earlier temporarily dissipated. "Finnick, I don't want to alarm you but I think you might love her."

"I don't want to alarm you, Peeta," I tell him in the same playful tone. "But I think you might be right about that."

I anxiously rock myself on the porch swing, waiting for her to appear. I had gotten back from the Capitol late last night so I hadn't been able to see her. I knew she was aware I was home as apparently my whereabouts are common knowledge now. But even so, I was worried about whether or not she would actually show up today. Unfortunately, winter had hit District 4 with full force while I had been gone. It's a very cold day, and I am afraid that she won't dare the swim in this weather. I am beginning to think that it is for the best that she didn't attempt the swim out to the island when I notice a little boat coming ashore. I see her dark hair blowing in the wind and I don't even wait for her to disembark before I'm running towards her.

I put my arms around her just as her feet hit the sand. "I missed you so much," I tell her, burying my face in her sweet-smelling hair.

"I missed you, too," she says as I let her go. She gestures at the boat. "Do you like it?"

"I do," I say, inspecting it. "Nice craftsmanship. It was too cold for you to swim out here, so you decided to steal a boat?"

She laughs. "I didn't steal it; it's mine."

"I thought you didn't have a boat," I say, knowing this fact because I had been trying to think of a way of tricking her into letting me buy her one.

"I didn't," she tells me. "My parents just gave it to me for my birthday."

My face falls. "Is today your birthday?"

"No, it was two days ago," she tells me and I feel like I've been punched in the gut. I can't believe that I missed it! "And just in case you were worried, you're forgiven for not getting me anything since I had never told you when my birthday was."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you have Capitol obligations," she says, shrugging. "And I didn't want to make it worse for either of us."

I take her in my arms again. "Well, I do have a present for you,"

She looks surprised. "You do?"

"I do," I say and suddenly I kiss her.

I've had dozens of kisses prior to this one but none of them had felt even remotely like this. Our bodies press together like waves crashing on the beach, and I allow my kiss to express how much I missed her while I was gone.

We're both panting when I finally let go of her. Her face is flushed and she can't seem to control the smile on her face. "Was that supposed to be my present?"

"A kiss from Finnick Odair is worth more than that boat's weight in jewelry," I inform her. "So, happy birthday, Annie."

"I don't think that kiss was enough," she says, smirking.

"Oh no?"

"No. But, maybe two will be…"

I grin and before I lean down to kiss her again, I tell her, "Well, how about I give you all the kisses you can handle?"

"Mmmm…" is her muffled reply.

I spent every moment I could with Annie after that. Not being a Victor like me, Annie had obligations that kept her from me sometimes. I hated it, but I understood that we all had things to do that we didn't like. I should know that fact better than most, after all.

The reaping that year had been excruciating. I hadn't been able to breathe during the whole ceremony leading up to the picking of the girl tribute. I was so worried that her name would be called that I swear I thought my heart was going to pop from the stress.

But it hadn't been Annie's name, and I was grateful.

My relief lasted only a short while before I was struck by a different emotion. I was going to be leaving for the Capitol in a little while, and I wasn't going to be returning to District 4 for about six weeks. And that's if the Hunger Games don't run long. Peeta's games had lasted almost five weeks, but I sincerely doubt that the Gamemakers will ever allow for that special set of circumstances to happen again.

However, I had been lucky this year. Cashmere's younger brother, Gloss, - the one that I was convinced held a unnatural sort of affection for his own sister- had swept through the other contestants in a most efficient manner. His games had barely lasted two weeks and I had been back home a week earlier than I had expected to be.

Even with Mags and Peeta there this year, the experience had been horrible. I had spent the entire time just waiting for the whole thing to be over and done with so I could see Annie again. Snow had managed to fill every second of my free time with customers, and I had gained some interesting information on our dear leader because of it. Peeta managed to escape Nikia's clutches once again, but I was terrified that his time of freedom was quickly running out.

But, it had only been five weeks and I was grateful for that. I had been so excited the morning of my first full day back that I didn't even eat breakfast. I couldn't wait to see her beautiful face smiling at me as she walked out of the water.

The disappointment had nearly crushed me when I realized that she wasn't going to come that day. I gave myself a variety of reasons why she hadn't come: she didn't know I was back, she had been terribly busy that day, she had a light cold and hadn't been allowed out of the house, etc. I held on to those excuses and tried to ignore the little voice that coldly told me that it was bigger than that.

However, when she didn't appear the next day, I knew that there was something going on. It was now two days without her and I couldn't come up with any trivial reasons for her lack of appearance. So, on the morning of the third day, I woke up and decide that I was going to look for her.

Of course, that meant that I was going to the mainland and I hate going to the mainland. Everyone there seems to have forgotten all about the fourteen years I had spent as a normal kid and they treat me as if I've been a Victor all my life. Even my father, who I had grown so close to in the wake of my mother's death when I was younger, treated me as if I was a stranger.

But it doesn't matter right now as I really need to find Annie.

I decide against swimming there; instead taking my boat. Just because I can swim the distance, doesn't mean that I have to. Besides, I don't know how long I am going to stay on the mainland and I wouldn't have liked the idea of swimming back to Victor's Cay at night.

I moor my boat and climb onto the pier, wondering where to search for my girl first. Annie didn't like to talk about her family life too much, so I had very limited information on which to work on. However, I am Finnick Odair and people tend to bend over backwards just for the chance to help me so it takes me less time than expected before I am directed to a certain patch of beach.

I see her sitting with two girls her own age and I force myself not to run to her. I am relieved to see that she is well and not deathly ill or badly injured like I had feared. One of Annie's companions turns and sees me coming. Her eyes widen and she gibbers something in a high pitch tone of voice that makes the other two turn to look at me.

The other girl I don't know looks as excited as the first one to see me, but Annie doesn't. I'm still far away enough that I can't quite catch what Annie tells her friends before she stands up and strides purposefully up to me.

I stop where I am and I wait for her to reach me. A pit in my stomach opens up when I notice that her annoyed expression hasn't changed . Annie stands a few feet from me and crosses her arms angrily in front of her chest.

"What do you want, Finnick?" Annie asks me, her irritation at my presence made obvious in her tone of voice.

"I was worried about you," I tell her, not understanding where all this hostility is coming from. "You didn't come see me and I was afraid that something had happened to you."

She lets out a mirthless laugh. "How sweet of you," she says, sarcasm dripping of every word. "Your Capitol lover is a lucky girl."

"What?"

"Don't pretend like you have no idea what I'm talking about" she says, dropping her voice down to an angry whisper to avoid being overheard. "I had to watch this hideous woman on television talk about how she wasn't sure she was going to be able to sit down after spending the previous day with you. It was right before the crowning ceremony, so I had to listen to her go on and on about what a fantastic lover Finnick Odair was..."

The pit in my stomach widens and my heart drops through the hole. "Oh."

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Annie shrieks, her voice raising just the slightest bit, causing her friends to turn to look at us. She frowns before lowering the volume again. "You made me think that I was the only girl in your life, and that was a lie! Was she the only one that you screwed, or were there other girls, too?"

"I don't think this is either the time or place to have this conversation," I tell her, looking at the small audience that we were gathering. "Come to Victor's Cay tomorrow and I'll tell you everything that you want to know-and a few things that you probably don't."

"Fine," she says. "I'll be there."

And she does come, surprisingly.

She didn't swim today and she seems just as angry with me as she was yesterday. This disappoints me because I had been hoping that the night would have made her a little more forgiving.

Annie stands there, her arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring at me expectantly.

"Well?" Annie lets out in an exasperated tone. "I'm here like you asked me to be, so start talking like you said you would."

I sigh, knowing that this would be an unpleasant conversation. "You asked me if there were other girls," I start. "The truth is that there was. A lot of them. Please don't ask me for a number because I can't give you one."

She looks disgusted and her hands go to her mouth. "Are you being serious?"

"But I want you to know something," I say, not being able to lift my eyes from my sand covered feet. "It was never because I wanted to be with them."

"I don't understand."

"As you know, a good number of Victors tend to be attractive people and Capitol citizens love to possess attractive things," I try explaining, a lump forming in my throat. "So they pay a lot of money to be able to spend time with us."

"But that's-"

"I know," I tell her, still not being able to look at her. "It was a direct order from President Snow himself and he made it quite clear that if I refused that my father's boat would sail off one morning and would never return again."

"He wouldn't really do that!" Annie exclaims.

"He already has; to other Victors that have displeased him in one way or another," I say. I shake my head, trying to forget what Mags had told me about what happened to the family of the constantly drunk Victor from District 12.

"That's horrible."

"And I'm quite aware that now that you know the ugly truth that you won't want to have anything to do with me," I say, and I force myself to look into her eyes. I'm surprised to find hers filled with tears. "But I couldn't let the girl I love go without knowing that I didn't ever betray you emotionally-no matter what I did with my body, my heart and mind stayed with you."

"What did you say?"

I blink and try to think. I had been rambling a bit at the end there, so I wasn't quite sure what she wanted me to repeat. "I said a lot of things."

"You said 'the girl I love,'" she repeats.

"I did say that," I agree, mentally kicking myself for it.

"Did you mean it?"

"Does it matter?" I ask her. "After everything you heard me say, does it make any difference whether or not I meant it?"

"It does."

"Yes, I meant it," I say, shrugging. "I love you, Annie."

She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me. "I love you, too!"

I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close to me again. "Does this mean you're not angry at me anymore?"

"Oh, I'm still furious," she tells me. "But not as much at you, anymore. I can't believe that the Capitol does things like that… Who else is in your position?"

I give a list of names that I know for sure are also toys of the Capitol. With each new one, her face grow paler. "And Gloss will no doubt have his first customer during his Victory Tour."

"What about Peeta?" Annie asks. "You didn't mention him."

"Snow usually waits until the Victor is 16 before auctioning them off," I say, burying my face in her hair so she can't see the worry on my face. "However, there is interest in getting him before then, so he might be starting sooner rather than later."

She is quiet for a while before she speaks again, "Well, I guess we can't do anything about the situation. But you have to promise me a few things."

"Anything," I say, squeezing her tighter. I was so happy that she wasn't just abandoning me after knowing what I did that I would have tried to bottle up a storm if she asked.

"No kissing those girls," she tells me firmly. "And no unnecessary touching of them, either. And when you come home, you need to take five showers before you touch me!"

I nod, trying to suppress my laughter. "I can do that." I pull away enough so that I can look down at her beautiful face. "I do love you, Annie, with all of my heart."

"And I love you," she sighs. "If I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to keep you."

The year passes by in quick bliss. The only interruption, of course, came in the form of the Victory Tour. But it was less than two weeks and knowing that I had Annie's love and unwavering support waiting for me made things bearable.

But our little peace was interrupted again when it was time for the reaping. Annie hadn't been called again and that meant I only had two more years to go about worrying for her safety. I swear, I think the stress is going to kill me.

The Victor this year was a pretty fifteen year old from District 7 named Johanna Mason. I had written her off, like most people, but Peeta had seen something special in the scared slip of a girl. He grew even more infatuated with her once her true colors were shown in the arena; from the way the girl's eyes followed Peeta's movements at the Victory Banquet, I could see that the attraction was mutual.

I just hope that she doesn't do to Peeta's heart what she did to her fellow tributes in the arena.

I'll tell him to be careful with her when I call him in a few days, I think as I make my way into my house. The second I've closed the door I get the feeling that I'm not alone. I have a suspicion who it could be but I don't want to get my hopes up.

I quietly make my way up the stairs, and into my room; that's when I see her, sleeping peacefully in my bed. I grin to myself and climb in behind her. She stirs and opens one eye slightly.

"You're home…" she says sleepily.

"Yes, I am," I tell her, nuzzling into her neck. "And let me tell you that it was a nice surprise to find you in my bed."

I try to kiss her but she pulls her head away. "Shower."

I groan. I didn't want to leave this bed for any reason. "Come on, Annie, I showered on the train!"

"Five times?"

"No," I say with a sigh. "Okay, okay. I'll go wash up three more times."

"Good," she says with a big smile. "Take your time and wash up good; I'm not going to be going anywhere."

"You better not," I tell her before I head into my bathroom.

Sometime later, I return to my bedroom, fully expecting Annie to be fast asleep. I was quite surprised, then, to find her sitting up in bed waiting for me to come back.

"Hey," I say, climbing in under the covers. "What are you doing up?"

"I wanted to ask you a question."

"Now?" I ask. "It must be important if you couldn't wait until morning."

"It is," she says. She bites her lip as she looks at me and I can see her eyes shining in the moonlight. "Finnick, why don't you want me?"

"Wh-what?"

"I know that you have loads of lovers in the Capitol, and that you're forced to do despicable things with them," she starts. "But why don't you want to do things with me?"

"Who says that I don't want to do things with you?" I ask.

"The fact that you never seem to have any interest in doing anything more than just kissing," she tells me. "All my friends tell me how their boyfriends keep pressuring them into things and I realized that I never have that problem with you."

"Annie, you need to believe me when I tell you that I want you," I try to reassure her. "In fact, there are times that I want you so bad that it physically hurts."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," I tell her.

"Then why don't you ever try to take things further with me?"

I sigh. "Because I was convinced that you wouldn't want to be with me in that way," I tell her, brushing her hair away from her face. "I mean, why would you after everything I've been forced to do?"

"My poor Finnick," she says and she caresses my face. "You still can't wrap your head around the fact that I love you, huh?"

I shake my head. "Not when I have to take five showers before I can even kiss you."

She frowns before she pulls my face close to hers and she kisses me. She gazes lovingly into my eyes when we part. "Take me."

I blink. "Annie, I-"

"Shush," she commands and puts a finger to my lips. "I want you and you want me, so let's just show the Capitol that they don't own you."

I nod and capture her lips with mine. She pulls me on top of her as our kisses deepen and the movements of our hands intensify.

When we get to the cusp of the point of no return, I kiss her softly. "It's your first time, so I promise that I'll be gentle with you."

She laughs. "It's your first time, too," she says, winking at me. "So I'll try to be gentle with you, too."

And when we were done, I knew that she had been right. Because being with her had made me feel like I was sharing something special with her.

Another year passed and it was once again reaping day. Annie and I spent the previous night trying to cram every second of affection that we could to make up for all the time we were going to spend apart from each other for next month and a half.

Being with her made me feel invincible. For the first time in ages, I am not scared of anything. While we lied in bed, watching the rising sun color my bedroom in red and orange, I made a decision-when I came back from the Capitol this time, I was going to propose to her. We wouldn't be able to get married until she was nineteen, but I needed her to know how much she meant to me.

The Capitol will probably hate it… but fuck them.

Annie and I walk hand in hand as we make our way slowly to the market square where the reaping would take place. Our relationship had somehow become common knowledge in the District, but neither of us really cared about that. We are in love and it doesn't matter to us who knows about it.

Annie looks up at the large, angry gray clouds in the sky. "Looks like it's going to start raining at any moment."

I nod, following her gaze. "I'm glad the storm waited until today to come. I would've hated our last few days to be ruined by the rain."

"We spent the last week inside," she reminds me, with a girlish giggle. "How would the rain have affected any of that?"

"Because you would've wanted to go outside and dance in it," I tell her.

"I guess you do have a point," she says shrugging. "But then, just think of all the things we could have done in the rain."

"Great," I tell her. "Now you know what I'll be thinking about all during the reading of the Treaty of Treason. I just hope they keep the camera above my waist for it."

She laughs at that and we continue to make our way to the square. I don't let go of her hand until we reach the area for the seventeen year olds. She gives me a big kiss and I walk up to my seat on the stage. I catch her eye and we both smile at each other. I mouth that I love her and she mouths it back to me.

The boring ceremony starts and I tune it out. I've heard it all enough times to be able to recite it by heart. I was far more interested in watching the way the sunlight shone off of Annie's hair.

Liart Bell, the Capitol escort, walks over to the globe containing the names of all the eligible girls in District 4 and I make a funny face at Annie. I watch as she covers her face, probably to keep herself from giggling at my antics.

"And the female tribute for the 70th Hunger Games will be…" Liart says as she unwraps the small piece of paper in her hands. "Annie Cresta!"

And the rain starts to pour as my world falls apart.