Heart of Gold • Finnick Odair

-51-

"I have to get back to work tomorrow," Finnick tells Rosalie as they walk through the halls hand in hand.

"Where do you work?" Rosalie asks as she swings their joined hands.

"I'm in the kitchen," Finnick admits.

"No! Really? Have you poisoned anyone yet?" Rosalie teased.

"No! I have not, thank you very much." Finnick tries to act serious and offended but ends up staring down at her with a smile. "You gonna be okay without me?"

"Yeah. I've got a free day because of this," she holds up her wrist which contains her schedule which claims that she's 'unfit to work', "so i'll probably spend the day with Johanna. It'll be nice to talk with someone that won't walk on eggshells round me like the doctors do."

Finnick nods in amusement as he notices the smile on her face as she mentioned Johanna. He made a mental note to thank the now-bald girl for looking after his Rose.

"What?" she notices his staring.

"Come," he drags her towards the stairs and starts leading her upward.

"Where are we going?" Rosalie enquires.

"Coin is allowing us an hour above surface a day and, if my calculations are correct, it should be sunset now if we hurry."

Rosalie smirks, "an hour of fresh air? Well, well, what luxury."

Finnick laughs as he sees a guard before them once they get to the top stairs.

"Finnick Odair?" the guard asks, despite knowing very well who he is.

Finnick nods and the guard gestures for the pair to climb a small ladder leading to a bunker hole.

Finnick goes first, having been up this way before when he had to give a speech. He helps Rosalie out when she gets to the top.

They walk for about ten minutes until they get to a small cliff clearing.

"Woah," Rosalie smiles as she looks at the pinks and oranges in the sky. "I haven't seen something so pretty in a while."

When she's met with silence for a response, she turns around to find Finnick kneeling beside her with a ring in his hand.

"Rosalie May," Finnick pauses a second, "since my Games I've struggled to find good things in life. It's been a hard few years but when I look back on them, there's one part that always makes me smile: and that's you. Rose, you bring light to even the darkest moments. You understand me, and I you. I'll always find you, no matter how far you are, and i'll always love you, no matter what happens. So, would you do me the honours of becoming Mrs Odair?"

The proposal was delivered with teary eyes and followed by a nervous smile but Finnick's heart filled with warmth when he saw the smile on Rosalie's lips. The smile that could cure his every problem, a smile so pure it was a perfect reflection of her golden heart.

She smiled and nodded, "i'd love to marry you Finnick."

Finnick slipped the simple silver ring onto her left finger, the design matched the infinity necklace around her neck which he had gifted to her long ago. It was decorated with small gems along the infinity symbol.

Once the perfectly fitted ring was on her finger, he stood from where he had been kneeling, took her in his arms, and kissed her in the sunset.

The kiss was soft and gentle at first but soon increased with passion as their desperation to be close to each other was fuelled.

Eventually Rosalie has to pull away for air, much to Finnick's dismay, and she ended up leaning her forehead against his.

He looked into her brown eyes which were reflecting the blended orange sky, a smile automatically finds a way onto his face the longer he looked at her and eventually he couldn't stop from leaning down to kiss her again. He would never get tired of kissing his girl, his fiancé.

They sat with their legs dangling off the edge of the cliff, Finnick's arm around his fiancé as she gently traced patterns on his free hand which lay limp in her lap.

Rosalie loved the feel of the wind in her hair after so long in a cell. Whilst she listened to the birds and touched the grass and felt the wind brush her face, Finnick just watched with observant eyes as she took in her surroundings. He found himself fascinated by how much she appreciates the little things. Then again, after what she went through, of course she does.

He wipes the thoughts from his mind, the more he thinks about Rosalie imprisoned in the Capitol, the angrier he gets and the more guilt he feels for being unable to protect her.

"Can we come back tomorrow?" Rosalie asks in a quiet tone as if not wanting to disrupt the nature surrounding the pair.

"Anything you want, love." Finnick replies in an equally quiet voice.