"Gun. Now," Father instructed, making his way next to Bellona as Ma consoled Sejanus. Begrudgingly, Bellona complied, taking the gun out of her waistband before handing it over.

Bellona could feel her father's rage rising from next to her as he shooed Coriolanus away.

"That was extremely reckless, Bellona," Father muttered, tightening his jaw. Bellona only nodded, staring forward as she avoided his gaze.

"I expect this from Sejanus but not from you," Father continued, not leaving any room for her to speak in between. Bellona rolled her eyes, turning to face him.

"Someone needed to get him out. I did just that," Bellona shot back, causing her father to scoff.

"You only made a fool of me. Stealing a gun? Aiming it at a Peacekeeper? Hell, it's no wonder they wanted Coriolanus to go instead of you," Father spat out, eyes shaking as he stared at the girl. But his words only made Bellona angry.

"Coriolanus didn't do shit," Bellona responded with a laugh, rolling her eyes at that idea, "All he did was make things worse by killing that boy in there. You want a son like that? A killer?"

"Better than what I have now," said Father, turning toward Sejanus, who was still being comforted by Ma.

"You're such an asshole, you know that?" Bellona shot back, "Sejanus wouldn't be like this if you didn't rip him away from home. If you didn't rip us all away from home."

"You listen here, Bellona," Father warned, getting closer as his eyes filled with fury, "I did what was best for our family. I saved us. From the reaping. From the poverty. That was me."

Bellona shook her head.

"No. You did what was best for you," Bellona spat, "Don't act like you cared about us when you decided to be selfish and ship your family off to the Capitol for your personal gain."

Her father grew angrier, slamming his hand on her cheek, leaving a glowing mark where his hand had been. Bellona's hand flew up to her cheek, tears welling in her eyes from the pain as she seethed.

"Strabo!" Ma yelled out, stepping between the two, "Bell, are you okay?"

Bellona refused to answer, keeping her hand on her cheek as she looked at her father angrily.

"You know, sometimes I wish we left you in Two," her father muttered, clearly still angry, "Then maybe I wouldn't have to deal with all this."

Immediately, Ma shooed Father off, making her way next to Bellona. But Bellona lightly shoved her off.

"Fuck you," Bellona shot back, nothing but sadness and rage in her heart. Father only scoffed, not caring that he had hurt her feelings.

"Let's go," Father muttered, gesturing for everyone to get in the car. Begrudgingly, Ma and Sejanus complied, but Bellona refused to move.

"Bellona," Father insisted, voice growing angry again, "Get in the car."

"No."

"NOW BELLONA!" the man yelled, making Bellona flinch. But Bellona held her head high.

When Father could tell his yelling was getting nowhere, he resorted to insults.

"Where are you gonna go then, huh? Who would take you in?" Father spat, making Bellona's blood boil even more, "You have no one."

And even though she didn't know what else to do, there was no way in hell she was going home with him.

So, without a second thought, she ran. Ran fast and far as she ignored the pain in her ankle, hoping her legs would lead her somewhere. She didn't really know where she was going, but she did know she didn't want to see her father right now.

Finally, once her lungs felt as though they were on fire and her legs were aching, Bellona found herself by an unfamiliar doorstep, knocking on the door lightly before crouching down to catch her breath.

From above her, Bellona could hear the door unlock, swinging open before revealing where her body had led her.

"Bellona?"

Festus.

"Bellona. What are you doing here so late?" Festus asked, rubbing his eyes as he examined the girl on his doorstep.

"I didn't know where to go," Bellona muttered, finally looking up at the boy. Festus's face instantly hardened as he noticed the tears in her eyes and the blood on her knee, but unlike her father, Festus didn't take the anger out on her.

"Let's get you inside," Festus insisted, pulling her in gently as he helped her to his room. Bellona could hear the way Festus audibly grimaced as he noticed her limp, letting her lean on him more in support before making a comfortable spot on his bed for her to sit.

Bellona wiped the tears from her face as Festus reached for a blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders before kneeling on the ground in front of her.

"What happened?" Festus breathed out, confused as to why Bellona was so beaten up. It hadn't even been that long since they had last seen each other. What could have happened?

Bellona, however, stayed silent.

What could she say? That after he left, she went into the arena to get Sejanus out only for a tribute to attack them? Oh and yeah, his best friend, Coriolanus also killed a boy. That would seriously go over well.

Festus sighed at the silence before standing up again.

"I'll be right back," Festus muttered, walking away for a moment before coming back with bandages. Festus gently grabbed her ankle rubbing some type of medicine on it before grabbing a bandage and wrapping it tightly.

Festus paid close attention to all of Bellona's injuries, carefully wiping her cut before covering it up and moving to examine her face. Then, Festus softly wiped her cheek, rubbing off any dirt before applying cool pressure to where her father had hit her earlier. Bellona tried her best to wince at his touch, staring into his eyes in tears as he scanned her face for answers.

Festus's let himself admire the girl for a moment, eyes softening before his gaze flickered down to her lips where it stayed until he pulled away.

"Can you at least tell me if someone hurt you?" Festus insisted, noticing the red mark on her cheek. Bellona gulped but stayed quiet again, avoiding Festus's eye.

Festus let out another sigh before tucking a strand of hair that had stuck itself to her cheek behind her ear, growing visibly more worried by the second.

"If it's something at home, I swear. You didn't look like this when I dropped you off-" Festus muttered, starting to go on a tangent. Bellona bit her lip, wanting Festus to stop talking about home.

"I went into the arena."

Immediately, Festus's face dropped.

"What? Bellona. That's dangerous. You could've been killed-" Festus started again, only for him to be cut off by a loud noise from Bellona.

"No. You don't get it. I had to save Sejanus," Bellona explained, eyes blinking rapidly as she recalled Sejanus's persistence.

"I don't understand. What does Sejanus have to do with you going into the arena?" Festus muttered, head shaking in confusion. Bellona looked at her hands before explaining.

"When I got home, my parents were freaking out. Something about Sejanus being missing. But, I knew where he went. He was going to say goodbye to Marcus. So, I forced a guard to let me in and there he was."

Immediately, Festus's face hardened again.

"Did he do this to you?" Festus asked, a look of fiery on his face as he gestured to her injuries. Bellona quickly waved him off, furrowing her brows.

"What? No of course not," Bellona insisted, "I did everything I could to convince him to leave. Helped him say goodbye, calmed him down. Nothing seemed to be working. And then Coriolanus came-"

"What? Coryo? Why was Coryo there?" Festus interrupted, eyebrows furrowing at the mention of his friend. Bellona on the other had seemed to tense, remembering the look on his face as he murdered the boy.

"I think Gaul sent him or something. It doesn't matter. We ended up convincing Sejanus to leave, but by the time we were walking out, the tributes had already begun to wake up," Bellona mumbled.

Festus visibly tensed, shoulders stiffening as he waited for Bellona to continue.

"The boy from Eight ended up coming after us with a knife. He didn't really hit me or anything. I got hurt when I tried to get him off Sejanus, but he never really went after me. Or at least, I don't think so. I don't really know. Coriolanus-"

Instantly, Bellona froze, causing Festus to eye her carefully. There was no way in hell Bellona was telling Festus his best friend killed someone.

"What? What happened to Coryo?" Festus urged, begging for her to continue. Bellona only shook her head.

"Nothing happened to him. He's fine. It's just-"

"Bellona. What?" Festus muttered, now worried for Coriolanus. Bellona sighed, scanning her brain for something to say next.

"Nothing. The pack came after us, but we got out of there before any of us got seriously hurt. We're fine," Bellona insisted, clearly acting agitated to stop Festus from arguing. Noticing this, Festus obliged, dropping the subject even though he was still curious.

"Okay. I believe you."

Bellona nodded, awkwardly staring forward as she played with her hands. Festus watched her cautiously before making his way onto the bed, taking a seat next to Bellona and letting their thighs touch slightly. Bellona ignored the tingling feeling from the touch, chalking it up to being from the exhaustion. When had she become so tired?

Festus also seemed to be dozing off, eyes closed as he rested his head dangerously close to Bellona's shoulder. Bellona chuckled quietly at him, glad he couldn't see it.

"Festus," Bellona muttered as she watched his eyebrows raise. Still, he kept his eyes shut.

"Yeah?" the boy muttered, letting sleep take over a bit.

"Thank you. For opening the door."

From next to her, Festus began to lightly chuckle and Bellona could feel the way his body relaxed.

"Get some sleep, Bellona."

-

a/n:

oh I'm in love with them </33 festus really be stepping it up lately fr (and he really doesn't screw it up at least til like act iii i think) I will say,,, the next chapter is quite funny and exciting so I'm so excited for you guys to read it !!

anyways yall, thank you so much for reading !! I really appreciate all of you guys sm !!

love you guys,

hannah <333