OVER THE LAST WEEK, I'VE FOUND MYSELF QUESTIONING WHY I'VE COME HERE. I'm cleaning my house for the 3rd time today because I have nothing better to do.

I'm smart as hell. I should be prepping for the greatest university Panem can offer yet I'm here. In district 12.

I've left behind my parents and my friends all to sweep the small beads of dirt of the home I bought to fulfill what was an impulsive dream.

My palms are beginning to sweat from the wooden handle and I'm afraid it might begin to blister my hands.

I set the broom against the wall and I go to wash my hands just in time for Coryo to step through the front door.

I don't bother looking back. I'm confused and ticked off and these pregnancy hormones aren't helping.

He sets a pile down on the countertop beside the sink and snakes his arms around my belly before pressing a kiss on the top of my head. "How was everything today?"

Awful, I want to say, but don't.

I tug a smile on my lips. "Good."

The word is a simple lie but I'm too tired to tell him the truth. Everything is going wrong and it's all crashing down on me and I can't do anything about it except breathe in it's ashes.

He hums, his lips vibrating against my head.

I reach for the yellow cloth beside me and use it to wipe my hands.

"Oh, uh," Coryo clears his throat as he backs away from me and points to the cluster of green plant next to us. "Lucy Gray gave me these. Said the lentil was... good for pregnancy or something."

He begins unbuttoning his blue uniform and it's bewildering to me that he cannot see that I'm clearly bothered.

He's likely told Lucy Gray more about his feelings toward my pregnancy than he has to me.

A sharp intake of breath sounds and I didn't necessarily mean for it to sound as bitchy as it does. "Do you really have to tell everyone our business?"

He stops removing his shirt mid-air, looking at me with sympathy as I turn to lean my back into the counter. "I only told Lucy Gray—"

I'm going to lose this battle if I try to fight it.

I give him a wave, plastering on a smile that says I'm okay with being pregnant, doing these boring wifely duties while he's at work when I should be getting a fucking perfect education. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He slides the long-sleeve over his arms and I force myself to let out a soft laugh.

"Sorry, these pregnancy hormones are making me all fussy."

He offers me a smile, now, too.

I turn my body back around once the papers beside the lentil plant catch my eye. There's a stack of them paper clipped together with a stamp reading District 2 on them.

My brows knit together in confusion. "What's this?"

He comes to join me at my side, now in only boxers and a white tank top as his hand is occupied with his clothes. "I'm getting restationed."

Fucking fabulous.

I've just spent the last dime I had on this house and now we'll have to move.

I can feel my eyes prick with tears at the sight of the papers but only because I've been so pent up all day and now this with the Lucy Gray thing has only added immense stress on me and I'll likely be homeless if living in District 2.

I assume Coriolanus notices the tear that's now slid down my cheek because he cups my face with his free hand and meets my gaze. "Hey, you have family in District 2, right?"

Yes, but I haven't seen them since I was nine years old.

I nod, wiping the warm tear from my cheek. I'm flushed with emotion and I don't know how to express any of them to him and I feel pathetic.

His thumb strokes the side of my cheek and the feeling it brings me should wash away all others--but no. No, I feel a tingle of butterflies fluttering around deep inside of me but I don't feel how I would usually feel with Coryo's hand against my bare skin. 

Maybe it's due to the hormones, or the boredom and loneliness I feel here, or maybe it's the true thing that's eating me alive--some unspoken thing going on between Coriolanus and Lucy Gray.

"What's going on?" I can feel his eyes scanning my features. "Talk to me, Mare." 

I finally meet his gaze, and immediately regret it. "Has anything been going on between you and Lucy Gray?"

His eyes shift with something I don't yet recognize and he doesn't hesitate to set his handful of clothing down on the counter and reaches his now free hand up to grab the opposite side of my face, looking wildly in my eyes. "It's only you. It's always been you." 

"That doesn't answer my question." I'm no longer able to silence my thoughts as I let out a shaky breath. 

He shakes his head once. "No." 

I hear his words and I'm looking into his eyes but for the first time possibly ever, I don't know if I believe him.