I STOMPED DOWN THE HALLWAY OF CORIOLANUS' APARTMENT building like it was a mission. As soon as I read the three numbers, the anger deep inside of me began to come to the surface--ready to be unleashed with hardly any control over it.

Knocking on the door, I felt it rattle beneath my hand--almost as if it had been coming off of it's hinges.

Tigris soon opened the door, a look of confusion on her face washing away at the sight of me. "Marian! Come in!"

I wish I wasn't so pissed otherwise I would smile back at her and actually mean it.

"Uh—Coryo is in his room." She says, sitting back down at her desk.

I nod, thanking her before I barge through his bedroom door. The cheap door bangs against his wall, though I didn't intend for it to.

I shut the door behind me but only so that my yelling will be silenced just a little bit.

Coryo's head flies back to meet mine, instant terror on his face that is relieved when he sees me. "You can knock, you know."

I don't have time for his games. Frankly, I don't have time for him right now. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

His body freezes in place and I watch his movements slow before he eventually decides to turn and face me. "How'd you find out?"

I was almost hoping that it wasn't true. That maybe somehow Coryo and I both could have won or that he at least wasn't cheating.

"Highbottom told me when he handed me the scholarship." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

I watch his Adam's apple bob as he swallows. "Congrats, Mare. You deserve it."

I deserve it?

"Damn right I do." I scoff, voicing my inner thoughts. "You didn't have to cheat. You would have won any way."

Although Coryo and I's relationship has changed drastically in these last few weeks, I still say the last part of my sentence quietly, because it still hurts to admit.

He analyzes over me for a moment and I suddenly feel like my anger was for nothing and that I've misunderstood this entire situation.

I take one look at Coriolanus Snow and all negative feelings somehow fly out the window.

My eyes fixate on something else now, though. There's clothes scattered across his bed and he's hiding what appears to be a blue duffel bag behind him.

My body moves beforet my mind does, I walk toward his bed to confirm what I'm seeing and sure enough, he's packing for something—somewhere. "What the hell?"

I watch as Coryo's jaw works back and fourth. He's trying to decide in his head whether he wants to lie to me or not.

He exhales a slow breath. "They're sending me to the districts."

Everything stops.

My eyes meet his and suddenly I'm enveloped in a world of sadness in those deep blue eyes.

"What?" My voice is breathy and shaky. "What the fuck does that mean, Coryo?"

"My consequence," he sighs. "for cheating. 20 years in district 12 serving as a peacekeeper."

Oh my god.

I feel the entire earth shift on it's axis and suddenly all the wind has been knocked out of me.

He's watching me as I sit back on the ledge of his bed, utterly at a loss of words and unsure of how to channel the complex sadness I'm feeling.

After what feels like an hour of sitting in utter betrayal and disbelief, Coriolanus kneels down in front of me and he cups my cheeks, swiping the lone tear that has escaped my eye.

"Mare," his voice is almost as soothing as the feeling of his palm against the sides of my face. "I'll write to you every day--"

I squeeze my eyes shut, turning my head away from him. I don't want him to leave. I never wanted him to fucking leave.

He doesn't say anything either, he's just sitting there, holding me as a rugged sound escapes his lips. It's clear he's warring with himself in his mind, and I know my emotional duress isn't helping him any.

If this is a done deal, I want more than anything to suck it up and plaster on a smile. Maybe tell him I'd wait for him, and pretend I'm not fucking crumbling inside.

But I can't. I can't because I can feel my insides being ripped apart and my heart is being shredded.

"Sweetheart," he's barely speaking above a whisper. "look at me."

I don't want to. I can't bare to.

It's taking everything in me not to fall apart in his arms, much less look him in the eyes right now.

But I do. I do and I regret it and when he sees my red-rimmed eyes I can tell he regrets telling me to.

"I'll write to you. Okay?"

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