Flames to Embers

15- Johanna Mason

I laughed softly, my hands cradling the to-go cup filled with hot chocolate. Finnick's arm was draped casually across my shoulders as he led me back into the tribute center, and punched a button on the elevator. Brutus and Enobaria stood in there, staring at the two of us. We stared back, and not a word was spoken.

Until Brutus opened his big mouth. "You really do 'remember it all too well'," he said, gesturing to Finnick's arm around me.

I glared at him. "We're just friends," I told him firmly.

"It seems a little shallow that you wrote a dramatic, ten minute song just to get back together with him as soon as you see him again." he said, ignoring me.

"Just friends," I reminded him.

"Can the two of you go a whole year without speaking to each other? Like literally every other Victor does? This is an experiment I'm actually interested in?"

"You know what I'm interested in?" Finnick cut in. "Why would a big, bad career victor such as yourself choose to listen to a teenager's sad song about heartbreak? That's not very manly, if you ask me."

Brutus stared at him, replaying the words in his head, trying to figure it out. His brow was furrowed in concentration. His standards for masculinity had come back to bite him.

"Holy crap he's dumber than I thought," Finnick muttered. I laughed out loud. Conveniently, the door opened at just that moment, letting us out onto the fourth floor. Finnick waved at Britt who sat with Adonia. He opened his bedroom door for me and entered behind, turning on the light.

He grabbed my wrist gently and pulled me against him, kissing me softly. "We're finally alone," he said dramatically, pulling away.

We laughed softly at his act. "The restaurant was your idea," I reminded him.

"And it was nice, but I've waited six months to kiss you. That's not something I can do in a restaurant."

I smiled, kissing him again. He pulled me into a hug and we stood there for several minutes in silence, just taking each other in.

"I wish I could see you outside of the games," I said, breaking the silence.

"Me too," he admitted. "Unfortunately, Snow has me working around the clock."

"You need to get out of there, Finnick." I said.

"I know." He was quiet for a minute. "Hey, what did you want to tell me about earlier?"

Oh. That was not something I necessarily wanted to talk about. "It's nothing."

He pulled me over to the bed and we sat down on the edge, side by side. "It's something to me, and it's something to you, I can tell."

"Yeah," I said. I could feel tears pricking at my eyes, even just thinking of Cameron (no, it's Johanna) standing up on the stage.

Finnick studied my face, and surprise flashed in his eyes as a single tear made its way down my cheek. He recovered quickly and pulled me into another tight hug. That was the breaking point for me, and the sobs finally came out.

Why would- Why would Johanna ever even consider volunteering? She was petite, probably only 5'2". She was very thin, and she was shaking like a leaf while she stood on the stage. She was, in a word, weak.

"This is about Johanna?" Finnick asked calmly, his mouth by my ear. I nodded, even though my head was pressed to his shoulder, making it difficult. "You have to remember that she's been training like a career for years."