You Asked For This - Finnick Odair

Game Night

"You are my home."
– Unknown

...

It had been a few months since the 68th Annual Hunger Games and Coral had begun to heal. She still had vivid nightmares of a mutated Ocean, but they began to slowly get easier.

She and Finnick had been allowed to return to District 4 for two weeks. They were on the third day and having a family game night. It was Cora, Finnick, Sean, Lyra, Blue, Mags, Annie, and Annie's new boyfriend, Crane Marin.

Crane was seventeen years old, only a year older than Annie. He had black hair and green eyes. Like most District 4 citizens, he had tan skin and freckles. He was a sweet boy and Cora noticed that his ears went a little pink every time Annie looked at him.

They were currently playing charades in teams of four. Mags, Blue, Crane, and Annie on one team (Team Seaweed). Sean, Lyra, Finnick, and Cora on the other (Team Wet Sand).

It was Crane's turn to act out what was on one of the slips of paper in an opaque bowl on the end table.

He picked a slip at random and read it. Then, he made an amused face and ran one of his hands through his hair like he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He shook his head and got up to act, his expression going from unsure to determined.

He started flapping his arms and stomping his feet.

"Bird!" Blue guessed, a wide smile on his face. Cora loved his smile, it was so rare.

"What kind?" Crane asked with an equally wide smile.

The black-haired boy then opened his mouth and leaned down and side to side, still flapping his arms. Then he closed his mouth and immediately leaned up.

"Pelican!?" Annie guessed, giggling at how all-out her boyfriend was going.

Crane's smile widened and he pointed at Annie.

"That's the one!"

Team Seaweed cheered and Mags added a tally to their score. Crane went back to his seat on the couch, giving Annie a quick peck as he did so.

The girl turned about as red as her hair and tried to suppress a giddy smile. Crane just smiled a sweet smile, as if he wasn't as affected. But, as always, Cora could see the red in his ears.

Finnick stood up for his turn and made his way over to the bowl. He picked up a slip, read it, and let out a laugh. He set the slip down and made his way to the middle to act it out.

He just started spinning.

"Top!" Lyra shouted.

"No!" came Finnick's strained response as he kept spinning.

"Do something else!" Cora shouted.

The seventeen-year-old boy stopped spinning and tried to steady himself.

"Dizzy!" Sean called out.

"Disoriented!" Shouted Lyra.

"That feeling when you stand up too fast!" Cora guessed.

"No!" Finnick laughed.

The golden-haired boy widened his stance and started moving both of his arms in a sort of stirring motion.

"Stirring!" Lyra guessed.

"Making soup!" Sean suggested.

"No!" The boy laughed again.

He stopped and started running around in a circle. As he continued, he ran in smaller and smaller circles, waving his arms in the air as he bent his knees, making himself shorter and shorter.

"Whirlpool!" Cora yelled just as Crane shouted "Time's up!"

"Yes!" Finnick exclaimed, pointing at Cora.

"That counts!" Cora shouted, "That counts!"

"It was after I said 'time's up!'" Crane countered.

"No it wasn't! It was at the same time! It counts!" Sean defended.

Crane looked at Annie, who made a just-give-them-the-point face, and submitted. "Fine," he grumbled like he was annoyed. He wasn't really annoyed, just competitive.

"Yes!" Lyra and Finnick celebrated at the same time, both making fists in the air. Cora sometimes forgot how similar they could be. It was the little things like this that made her smile at the siblings.

Finnick went back to the couch and sat next to Cora, giving her a high-five.

Lyra added a mark to their tally.

The game continued for about another hour, Team Seaweed crushing Team Wet Sand. Even though sign language wasn't allowed, Mags was still amazing at nonverbal communication and the best at charades.

When game night was over, Crane walked Annie home. Annie hugged everyone goodbye. Crane hugged everyone except for Finnick and Cora, who he gave handshakes to.

The teenage Victors were appreciative of the handshakes, glad the raven-haired boy was being respectful of the fact that they'd only known him for three days. They liked him a lot, but they weren't at the hugging point yet and that was okay.

Since game night was at Mags' mansion, the woman offered that the Newports and Odairs just spend the night. There was more than enough room and it was getting late. She also offered because she knew that Cora and Finnick would want to spend as much time with everyone as possible before they had to head back to the Capitol.

"Hey, where are you sleeping tonight?" Finnick approached Cora.

He knew that she and her brothers were also sleeping at Mags' home that night. What he was really asking was whether or not he and Cora would be sleeping together or separate.

"With you, if that's alright?" The strawberry-blonde responded.

She loved family nights, but they had a tendency to make her miss Reef and Ocean more than usual. And, the more she missed them, the worse the nightmares tended to get. Finnick knew this, that's why he asked. Cora knew that and was grateful for it.

The sea-eyed boy smirked like he always did when Cora asked to sleep next to him. As if it was some teenage scandal rather than a way to keep the nightmares at bay.

"That's why I asked," he confirmed, smirk still on his lips.

Cora rolled her eyes and shook her head at his demeanor. "I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

"Third door on the left from the stairs," he instructed and sauntered off.

...

As Cora snuggled into Finnick that night, warm under the covers, she knew she was home. Yes, with him. But also with Mags, Lyra, her little brothers, Annie, and even Crane. These people were home to her. And it was nights like this, no matter how much they made her miss Ocean and Reef, that reinforced that feeling of belonging.

Coral Newport was home.

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INTRODUCING:

Crane Marin
[The Sweetheart]