𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙡, 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙊𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙧

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 30: 𝒜 𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝒮𝑜 𝒮𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 16

𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒲𝑒𝑒𝓀𝓈 𝐿𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇... 

"What is it that they call it... a sweet 16?" Raven thinks aloud to Finnick, who she then glances at and smiles. "Congratulations," Raven genuinely says. 

        "I'm just glad you could make it," he says, sipping the drink he had in his cup. "It's a very small thing, hardly a party. Just Mags, a few victors and you." Raven looked at the extremely small gathering for Finnick's birthday. It was hardly a gathering at all, but just a casual meet up between friends. The other five victors were mingling amongst themselves, and Mags was busy sampling all the seafood. Finnick was saving all the excitement for tonight when he had to go to the Capitol for all of Panem to celebrate his birthday. 

       "Of course, I needed a break from District 6 anyways," she says as she grabs a glass from the table next to her. "What is this?" She asks, looking at the light greenish contents of the glass.  

       He glanced at the champagne flute in her hand, realizing- "Oh, that's a diluted sort of alcohol? It's green cause they incorporate some sorta seaweed. I don't know, to be honest. Mags likes it so I brought some," he admitted. Raven smiled, finding his consideration towards Mags extremely sweet. 

       But she would never say that. He's far too obsessed with himself already. "Alcohol? Say no more-" Raven rushes the glass to her mouth, before Finnick plucks it out her hand hastily, much to her disappointment. "Aye, what's your deal?" Raven whines. 

        "Alcohol? Are you trying to break the law?" Raven rolls her eyes, hiding a small blush at Finnick's care towards her. It doesn't go unnoticed by Finnick, who himself feels all fuzzy inside. He clears his throat, about to put his hand on the small of her back to guide her to other drinks, but he finds himself hesitating. He's never felt nervous about simply moving a girl towards a place. With a wavering arm, he rests his hand on the small of her back. "Lets get you some other drinks." They make their way to where various fruit juices and water is. Around 7 more people, who judging by their eyes are from district 4- stream in. "Excuse me, Raven." He goes on to greet all the guests, who give him hugs and congratulations. 

       Raven sees the smile on Finnick's face, and feels happy seeing him smile. She takes a sip of apple juice while looking at Finnick. She's never paid too much attention. But now, she can't help but notice his purposeful movements, the glint in his eyes, and his perfect facial expressions that match his words. She snaps out when she sees his neck turning, and veers her eyes away from him. He walks on back over, grabbing a drink from behind Raven. "Kind of a small gathering," Raven notes aloud.  Finnick shrugs, but his demeanor very obviously changes. Raven shifts her body towards Finnick, feeling concerned. "What's wrong? 

        He shakes his head, before deciding to speak. "I mean... It would've been bigger. I just... my friends. You know, the ones who died. It's just not the same without them." Finnick sniffs, taking a sip from his drink, forcing it down his throat as he holds back tears. Raven feels as if a bullet just pierced her chest. "And this year, I'm going to be getting more," he puts in air quotes, "clients." She scoffs, grabbing a champagne flute and chugging it down in one gulp. Raven glares at Finnick, perfect just a moment ago, now unraveling. He shakes his head, closing his eyes and muttering to himself, almost like he was trying to center himself again. 

        "Finnick?" Raven asks, a note of concern in her voice. She sets aside her drink on the table, placing a hand on Finnick's shoulder. "Do you wanna go outside?" Finnick looks at Raven's shoulder, and then at her. He nods. "Ok, you go on ahead. Clear your head." Raven nods, using her hands to motion him outside. 

        Finnick looks at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Alone? No no. Can you please come with me?" His voice almost pleads. Raven nods without a second thought, walking outside with Finnick. 

        He looks completely distraught. More so than when Raven caught Finnick with that woman. Raven knows hugs make Finnick feel better, but she can't exactly do that as they walk to the beach, so she offers her hand instead, which Finnick immediately interlocks his hand with. He offers a small smile as a thank you, before glancing back at the ground, deep in thought. 

         The moment their feet make contact with the warm sand, she can immediately feel Finnick loosen up. Once they get closer to the ocean, Finnick begins sitting down, bringing Raven down next to him. They sit next to each other for a few minutes, just silent, watching the crashing waves and hearing the slight breeze. Finally, Finnick speaks. "Did I ever tell you about the first person Snow sold me too?" He looks at Raven, his eyes red and glassy. Raven shakes her head, bringing all her attention to Finnick. He gives a one puff laugh. "Well, it was this woman. She's like 28 or something. And she was just..." He hangs his head low, squeezing his eyes shut as he recalls the memory. 

        "You don't have to tell me, you know." Despite knowing how much Finnick is hurting because of being sold as a prostitute, she can't help but feel much of his sadness is because she killed his two best friends. The guilt in her chest is building up, and she isn't sure how far away she is from a breakdown. 

        "No, I want too." He declares, sitting up straighter. "The things she made me do. I've never felt so... degraded in my life. I just, I don't even know if I'm human after what I did. I can't even put into words what I felt like the entire time," Finnick admits. Raven truly can't imagine what Finnick felt like. How lonely he must be, how terrified he is.  "We should head back," he says, wiping his eyes. 

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·..·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·..·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.

"Happy Birthday to you!" The room then fills with cheers as everyone lines up to feed Finnick a small piece of cake. When it is Raven's turn, her movements are stiff. Finnick takes notice, but simply accepts it. Once that is done, everyone gets a slice and gets back to mingling with each other.  

        Finnick walks up to Raven, who is all alone. She can't even stomach eating a bite of cake. She feels sick, as if she is ruining everything. "Hey." Finnick says, leaning against the counter Raven is at. Raven smiles in greeting, picking at the cake with her fork. "What's wrong?" Raven shakes her head, instead sipping some water from a cup. "Well uhm..." He clears his throat. "I just wanted to say thank you. Truly. I don't know what I'd be doing today if it weren't for you." Finnick smiles, engulfing Raven in a hug. Normally, Raven would find his comforting, but instead, she feels her barrier shattering as the knot in her stomach finally snaps. Raven pushes Finnick back, putting a hand on his chest.

        "Finnick..." Raven inhales a shuddering breath, biting her lip to hold back tears. Finnick's face fills with worry. "I... I'm not who you think I am." Finnick looks at her, confusion lacing his face. "I'm not helping you take away your pain, in fact, I'm probably causing it." Raven's eye lets out a stray tear, as everything comes to the surface. "President Snow has been... making me kill people in order to keep my family and I safe." Finnick eyes flicker, processing everything she was saying. He has not yet reaches the conclusion of what Raven has done. 

         "Raven- what are you saying?" Finnick forces out. 

          Raven closes her eyes, finding the strength to say the words that will crumble both her and Finnick's world. "I'm saying that your friends were the first people I had to kill." She lets out a soft cry, covering her mouth with her hand. "I killed them. I didn't even know they were your friends before, I just... he said he'd kill Robin if I didn't." Finnick freezes, staring at Raven in shock. He shakes his head, refusing to accept it. 

          "B-but-" he stammers, not able to find his words, glaring at the floor.  

           "But nothing. I just... I'm so sorry, Finnick." The waterworks stream out of her eyes. 

            "Leave." Finnick says, looking back into Raven's eyes, his eyes laced with confusion, hurt, and worst of all, the sense of betrayal. 

A/N: 

I like this chapter a lot lowkey, wut do u guys think???? LMKKKK PLSSSSSIPLSPLSPSLSPLS! 

Sorry I took a while hehe :)