Secrets of the Sea | Finnick Odair

- chapter 11 -

CORDELIA

It had been weeks since Finnick's birthday party, and she still hadn't managed to find out what was in that letter. All she knew was that Finnick would only talk to Mags about it and that his nightmares had gotten worse. Overall it wasn't a lot to go off. Not knowing what the letter was about was annoying and Cordelia would think of every and any possibility. Especially since Finnick had taken to following her around whenever she left the house. In Finnick's defence, he usually did everything with her anyway. But she didn't know what to think when she went for an early morning swim before he'd woken up and he'd appeared out of nowhere still in his pyjamas. Calling for her so loudly she'd heard it underwater.

It wasn't the first time Finnick had searched for her as soon as he woke up and Cordelia was certain it would not be the last. It was however the only time she'd seen his head on a swivle. Constantly checking every direction for no other reason than paranoia. She'd put up no fight when he'd all but carried her home. All the previous times a nightmare had woken Finnick up, he'd just needed some fresh air. Sometimes asking her to join him so he wasn't alone. Cordelia was more than happy to join him whenever he wanted, but she was stuck on his first major reaction.

Originally, Cordelia assumed it was some kind of trauma response connected to the games. But Finnick assured her it wasn't and she sensed no lie. After all, Finnick wouldn't lie to her. Right? He had promised he never would. Mags had agreed with him, saying this was probably a one-off and not a response to the games. But now she was certain that it had something to do with the letter Finnick had received. During the first week after his birthday, Finnick carried the letter around with him while simultaneously searching for a hiding spot. All spots were failures and Cordelia had caught Finnick snatching the letter out of its place when his mother came a little too close for his comfort. In the end, the letter was moved to stay with Mags.

Once the letter was, in Finnick's words, 'safely hidden away' all his attention was put on her and all his effort into following her around. Most of the time this was fine. But it had started to become a hassle when Finnick was inputting himself into things he didn't need to. Sometimes this was fine, helpful even. Like when he was helping her train. She was still at risk of being reaped every year until she turned eighteen.

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˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙

...

"Finnick can we take a break? I'm exhausted." The mats on the floor were a welcome break from Finnick's never-ending attacks. Cold and comforting, unlike her skin which was warm and sticky with sweat. From what Cordelia could see, Finnick looked fine. barely breaking a sweat. He hesitated but nodded reaching out his hand, ready to help her up. Cordelia let him do most of the work to pull her up from the floor.

"Here water." Where Finnick had pulled that water from Cordelia had no idea, but she was grateful nonetheless. It wasn't as cold as it would have been if it was fresh, but Cordelia couldn't imagine going on without it. Especially not with the newest training schedule Finnick had come up with. She'd never had a training schedule before, not even when Finnick still went to the academy with her. Mags and she were enjoying a nice breakfast while Finnick was rushing around, scribbling things down scowling, scrunching the paper and starting all over again. When Cordelia had gone to refill everyone's tea, she'd returned to Finnick in her seat beside Mags, getting the older woman's opinion on whatever it was he was working on.

Cordelia knew now it was the schedule.

"I know it's a lot," Finnick spoke after a moment of silence. Cordelia tried her hardest to focus on whatever it was that her best friend had to say, but she was so tired. "I keep thinking." He continued. "About what would happen if you were reaped and had no proper time to prepare without being watched at all hours by everyone." She sat up straighter. Finnick didn't like to talk about the chance she might be reaped. If this were any other moment he would have shut the conversation down already.