IT TOOK EVERYTHING IN ME TO LEAVE THAT APARTMENT building. I didn't want to ever leave that hug. When he kissed me, I didn't want to ever pull away.

I'll likely never see Coriolanus Snow again and it breaks me.

I swipe my finger against the tip of my nose, sniffling as I quietly shut the door to my family's house behind me.

With a sigh, I bite my bottom lip--trying to prevent the sob that begged to escape from out my mouth.

I want nothing but to collapse on my bed and live in a well of pity for just one day. I want to close the curtains and live in a dark room of sadness just once.

While on my way to my own room, I noticed Sejanus' door open. Inside, he's setting folded shirts and pants into a duffel bag of his own and it hits me suddenly.

The two people closest to me, Sejanus and Coriolanus, are both going to be away in the districts for years and I'm going to be stuck here. Alone.

I lean my body onto the doorway of his room and sniffle once more. "You're leaving tomorrow?"

He looks past his shoulder, eyes meeting mine as he nods. "You going to be okay?"

I try to smile but it doesn't quite work out in my favor. Instead, I hum with a nod accompanying it. "Can I help you with anything?"

He shakes his head, but I go to stand beside him anyway. He looks down at me with pure. optimism in his eye and a smile of pure hope. "I'm going to make a real difference out there, you know."

He sees my bloodshot eyes but he doesn't ask me why I'm crying. I don't want him to and he knows it.

No one would volunteer to be a peacekeeper in the districts except Sejanus. He's good through and through; always optimistic.

"What are you going to do in the future, Mari?" He asks me but it's such an odd question I don't expect it.

I haven't really thought about it, to be honest. I guess my entire life, the plan was to go to university and live a good life for myself. But now that I have it in my grasp, I don't want it anymore.

I sigh. "University, maybe? I won the scholarship."

His face contorts in confusion. "But Coryo--"

"Cheated." I finish his sentence, looking away from him. I'm not the one who cheated yet I still feel ashamed.

His furrowed brows relax back in their regular state, and he nods as if it makes sense. "He did always like cheating off of you."

A small laugh escapes my lips. "Shut up."

His goal was to make me laugh--to cheer me up, and it worked.

"Coryo's shipping out to District 12 tomorrow morning. He has to serve 20 years." The sentence feels bitter as it slides off of my tongue.

He nods as if what I've just said isn't at all concerning. "We're all going to do great, Mari."