Actions

Work Header

is this the low or is this the high?

Summary:

Everything got better as the months passed.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

i. Johanna was fucked.

As in, cheaply-made-porno-where-a-girl-too-old-to-even-be-in-school-gets-fucked-by-teacher fucked.

As soon as she walks downstairs in Star Trek panties and an overgrown t-shirt, the first thing she sees is the school's residential asshole/jock. Also known as Finnick Odair. Her mom is mortified as she sees Johanna in her outfit, putting a hand over her chest for exaggeration. Finnick's in a white shirt and blue jeans, his blonde hair in his usual faux hawk style. He looks Johanna up and down and it takes every muscle of her body not to roll her eyes.

She gives her mom the 'what-the-fuck' look she usually gives that allows people to explain before she explodes. "Jo, you know Finnick right?" Her mom says, her voice in that fake sweet voice, "You already know about the arrangements, right?"

Johanna looks at her useless step-dad, Haymitch (she refuses to call him Dad), and sighs. "At least tell me he's not rooming with me." She says, though it's a prayer in her point of view.

"Actually-"

Oh fuck no.

She goes back upstairs before she could hear one more word out of that woman's mouth and slams the door shut.

 

ii. "Stop ignoring me."

Johanna looks up at the blonde man and rolls her eyes. It's lunch time and she doesn't eat anything because who the fuck wants to eat school food. Finnick and his 'bros' (she's 99.99% certain that 3/4 of them are gay) are moving from their usual lunch table and moving over to the once quiet table that no one ever went to because of that weird kid. What's her name again?

The girl continues to finish her math homework. Due to the anger that she couldn't control last night and the incredibly loud rock music that Finnick plays, she didn't have enough time to do her math homework. Or maybe it was the deafening snoring that came from his stupid-ass mouth. Either way, she's going to beat him up when they get back home. And when Finnick sees that he's not getting his attention, he grabs the notebook from her and throws it to one of his friends. "Hey!" She shouts, reaching her arms up to the notebook and being held back by the friend. "Why aren't you talking to me?!" The blonde man asks.

"Because you're an egotistic douchebag that can't do shit without your dad so you have to kiss his ass and everyone's ass to get what you want! How the fuck did our parents even meet in the first place?! Did they fuck each other when they were drunk or something?!" She shouts, not even caring when the whole lunchroom goes silent. She pushes the friend over and snatches the notebook from his hands. "When I get home," She says, faking her peace and resisting the urge to strangle his neck, "I better not hear that dumbass music you play or, I swear to God, you will wake up in Hell the next morning."

She leaves, pushing a girl out of her way. Finnick is shocked and all of the teachers are too scared to interfere with it. One of the lunch ladies seem impressed.

Later that night, she doesn't hear any music playing. She also remembers that the girl's name is Foxface.

 

iii.  I'm sorry. I was an asshole. And my mom is making me write this. -Johanna.

Finnick folds the note and puts it in his pocket. At least it's something.

 

iv. The play was in a few weeks and Johanna was made captain of stage crew. Which means she's basically in charge of three seniors, a bunch of juniors and sophomores, and two freshmen that are surprisingly not annoying. This blonde guy named Peter or Peeta was supposed to be Romeo and the head cheerleader, Katniss, was playing the role of Juliet.

Wow, Katniss. Her blue eyes shouldn't even be compared to the sky or ocean because not even those two things could sum up the beauty of what she is. Her long, dark hair moves gracefully as she puts it in a ponytail and over her shoulder. She laughs when Glimmer tells her a joke about Principal Snow. God, her laugh is like an ongoing song that she would never get tired of.

"Are you done dreaming about your gay ass crush on Katniss?" Finnick says, moving behind her, "Why don't you just make a move?"

"She's straight as a fucking ruler. Word says that she has a thing for Gale Hawthorne." The black-haired girl replies, "Besides, I wasn't thinking about her. I was zoning out and my eyes just happened to be where she was standing."

Finnick rolls his eyes and pats her back. "She's gay as fuck. Trust me." He says, running to football practice.

 

v. The State Finals finally arrive and Finnick is nervous. His palms are sweaty as hell and his skin is colored with a flushed pink. Johanna quickly rounds the corner and into the locker room, ignoring what the other members have to say about it. She quickly finds the man and goes up to hug him tightly. "This is the last time I'm ever doing this to you." She mumbles in his ear, "Cherish it." He chuckles and hugs back, his arms moving around her back. They part away and she gives a reassuring smile. "I'll be in the bleachers." She says, "Good luck out there." He smiles as she pats his back and walks away before the Coach spots her.

Later that night, the team win and Finnick finds out that the hickey on Johanna's neck was from Katniss.

"Told you so." Finnick says, when they're both in their beds.

"Shut up." Johanna retorts, the butterflies still in her stomach.

 

vi. On the night of the play, it was a disaster. The tower had a yellow paint stain on it, Katniss's dress had a hole in it, and Peeta was getting nervous. Thankfully, one of the juniors quickly covered the paint stain with brown paint.

"Hey, Johanna?" Katniss asks, her hands holding the ripped fabric together, "Can you help me with this?" Finnick shoots her a smirk and Johanna nods happily. The two girls move into the dressing room.

"Where's Peeta?" One of the actors asks. They all looked everywhere but Finnick wasn't that much of a dumbass to know that if someone freaks out, they go in the bathrooms. He slids out of the door and runs to the boys' room. Fortunately, he finds Peeta in an open stall, wiping away his tears. "You okay?" Finnick asks, crouching down to the boy. The nervous boy shakes his head and looks down at his hands.

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay." The taller man says, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy flinches away from the hand. It makes sense now. "You're scared." Finnick notices as Peeta looks up at him through his eyelashes.

It reminds him of the time when his mom left. When his father started to cry every night while drinking beer. When his grandma stopped visiting him. No, Finnick thinks, Not today.

Quickly, he puts his arms around the boy. Peeta buries his face in his shoulder and starts to cry but not as hard because he doesn't want to make up an excuse for why his eyes are so red. Finnick's eyes start to water but he stays strong because this time, he's the older brother now. He'll always be.

He helps Peeta up and puts an arm around him as they walk backstage just in time before the play begins. Johanna quickly gives Peeta a tissue and wipes away his tears. She leans into Finnick's ear. "Don't worry. He's gay as fuck." She whispers, before leaning back with a smirk on her face.

 

vii. The three nights were a success. Katniss gives Johanna a kiss because 'it was well-earned.' Finnick hugs Peeta a little bit too long and everyone is already thinking of what they should be called. (Peenick? Finnta?) Finnick drives him and Johanna home.

"Finnick, are you awake?" Johanna says, turning over on her right side. Finnick yawns and says' yep' before forcing his eyes to open. "Thanks." She quickly says, "For helping me with Katniss. I'll help you with Peeta."

"Peeta's straight." Finnick quickly replies.

"Really? You must have missed it when he came out to the whole school last year."

"He came out?" A pillow is thrown in his direction.

"Yes, he came out. He dated Cato for a little while too. Well, until that son of a bitch cheated on him with Glimmer."

"...Shit."

"Yeah." She chuckles, "Hey, I think he likes you too."

"How?" He asks, arching an eyebrow.

"Because in Language Arts today, we were supposed to describe the person we liked. Does 'blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes with dashing good looks' ring a bell?"

Silence.

"Are you blushing?"

"Shut up!"

"You are so into him."

A pillow is thrown into her bed, shooting her right in the stomach.

"Go to sleep." Finnick says.

"Okay, okay." Johanna replies, laughter dying out.

A few moments pass before Johanna quickly says, "I don't really mind having you as a brother forever."

Finnick smiles. "Me neither."

 

viii. When graduation day comes, Katniss is crying because she's placed into different classes than Johanna. She makes up for it by being placed into her dorm. Finnick is scurrying to find Peeta and finds him in the nearly-empty gym. "Congratulations Mr. Mallark." Finnick says, grabbing him by the shoulders, "To be honest, I didn't think I-"

And Peeta kisses him before he goes any further. He grabs the taller man's tie and brings his head forewards. Instantly, Finnick is indulged in it. He turns his head to one side and slides his hands down to his waist. When their lips part, they both gasp for air and Peeta is shocked and embarrassed. "I'm sorry." He mumbles, awkwardly smiling. "Don't be." Finnick says, slowly lacing his fingers with Peeta's, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

They both rush out of the gym to join in a group picture. Johanna's smiling and her arm is around Katniss's waist. Katniss's lips curve as she brings her arm around her shoulders. Finnick has his arms around Johanna's neck and squeezing her tightly, his smile showing it. Peeta has a hand on Katniss's shoulder. Gale Hawthorne photobombs the picture, jumping in the back where he's visible.

Finnick and Peeta kiss again after Finnick says, "Meet you in college." Peeta smiles and waves goodbye to the trio.

Katniss looks up to Johanna and her eyes start to water. "Hey, we'll call each other all the time and we'll meet up sometime this summer, okay?" Johanna reassures her, hugging her tightly, "I'll be the best girlfriend ever." Katniss chuckles and hugs her back. She hugs Finnick too, because he was basically the whole reason why Johanna asked her out. The girl leaves, blowing a kiss to Johanna.

The siblings go home that night and eat pizza as a celebration.

 

ix. "Do you have mace?"

Johanna groans as her mother asks her that again. "Duh." She says, putting up her keychain that also included a whistle and her key. "I was just making sure honey." The mom says, "Oh, I'll always miss you and your brother. Call me when you get to your dorm safely!" Johanna and Finnick wave goodbye to their parents.

"A fresh new start, huh?" He says, putting her in a side hug.

"Shut up." She gives him a smile.

 

x. Johanna graduates with a Masters Degree and Finnick gets a Doctorate Degree. Peeta and Katniss both get Bachelor Degrees. Later on in their lives, Peeta and Finnick marry as soon as their state passes the marriage equality law. Johanna and Katniss are next in line.

The two men both adopted a girl, a boy, and a Golden Retriever. The ladies, on the other hand. adopted a girl and a Scottish Fold. They meet once a month at the same bar. They attend Principal Snow's funeral and mourn over him. They celebrate Gale Hawthorne's wedding with him.

Oh and remember that graduation photo? Johanna has two copies of it. One on the nightstand next to their bed. The other one sits perfectly still in the hallway, capturing the moment when everything fell into he right place.

Notes:

so this turned out to be more of a family story than love but i couldn't help it i fucking love the idea of step-siblings could you blame me??
the title is from high by the young rising sons if anyone was wondering :))

also first fic here yoo-hoo (ノ • ヮ • )ノ*:・゚✧