A Baird and the Snow

Trust

Coriolanus stared at the gun he was holding, terror banging in his chest like the sound the gun had made when he used it to kill Mayfair.

Bang.

He turned slowly towards Lucy Gray who was already looking at him. "This is the gun," he said, his voice sounding like it was drowning in an abyss.

He didn't need to explain what gun this was. She was there. She had stared at him, her terror then mirroring his terror now.

Spruce must have known about this place when Coriolanus had told him to hide the guns.

This was the evidence he needed to clear his name. Throw it in the lake and he was free. He could go back, then go to 2, slowly working his way back to the Capital. He could see his family.

Lucy Gray didn't say anything. She was letting him decide this on his own.

No more loose ends. Except for one. He snapped his eyes towards Lucy Gray.

No. It's Lucy Gray. She wouldn't ever sell him out. He knew that. He knew it in his bones.

Her eyes were asking him what he was going to do, even if she wouldn't ask aloud. She took a deep breath before saying, "I'll come with you to get fish and we can take those guns with us. We'll dump them in the lake."

Coriolanus nodded slowly. "Okay," he whispered, putting the gun he was holding back into the tarp it was wrapped up in with the others.

"Do you want to wait and see if the rain will slow down?" Lucy Gray asked, reaching out to touch her dripping white sleeve of of his t-shirt.

He shook his head. They need to get moving again as quickly as possible. "We should do it now."

Lucy Gray made a hum of agreement before opening the door. "C'mon then," she said, smiling at Coriolanus. She turned towards the threshold and before she could walk through, Coryo grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a kiss.

"Thank you, Lucy Gray." He whispered against her lips.

She laughed softly. "Now whatever for?"

Coriolanus smiled at her. He was thankful for her for so many reasons. If only he had time to tell them all. Only one was important right now though. "For being the one person that I can trust."

"It's like I said," Lucy Gray said, standing on her toes to kiss him again. "If there's anyone in this world that you can trust, you can trust me."

•••

He trusts me, Lucy Gray thought proudly.

Truthfully, she hadn't been sure what Coriolanus would decide. She had stared, waiting for him to make a decision while she waited anxiously. She loved him. She was sure of that and she wanted him to stay with her. But that was selfish of her. He wanted to go back to his family in the capitol and that was something she could understand.

She missed The Covey desperately but this is for their safety as well as their own. Hopefully someday they can follow her north.

And finally, Coryo stood and kissed her and relief flooded her body. He was staying.

They walked together to the dock where the row boat was waiting, Coriolanus with the guns and Lucy Gray with the fishing poles.

"We'll have to get pretty far out into the lake if we want to leave no chance of the guns being found," Coriolanus said as he tucked the bundle under one of the seats in the boat.

Then he helped Lucy Gray into the boat, not letting go of her hand when he followed her in. Not too long ago they had been at this lake together with the rest of The Covey, singing and laughing while they swam. It felt like it was forever ago.

How she wishes they could be back in that moment, without any troubles or fears.

She could never have that back. The rest of her life is meant for hiding, running from the capitol for as long as she can and until she's far, far away from here.

"What's on your mind?" Coriolanus asked as he sat across from her and began to row away from the docks.

Lucy Gray shrugged, reaching down to skim the water with her fingers. It's lukewarm. "Just thinking about what our future is looking like right now. We're on the run, Coriolanus," she said, looking up at Coryo grimly. "We'll always be looking over our shoulders without a moment of peace."

He stopped rowing and reached out to put a hand on her knee. "Once we get far enough, we won't have to worry abt the capitol catching up to us. They'll completely forget about us, I know it."

Lucy Gray nodded with a sigh. "Maybe."

"Not maybe, Lucy Gray," Coriolanus said, speaking with such a determination that she almost believed him. "We'll have a life after this and I promise to make it happen."

Lucy Gray smiled at him, not able to help admiring him. This is the same determination that he had when he told her he would make sure she won the games. "Do you think we could survive in the ruins of District 13?" She asked when Coryo stopped rowing. They had reached the middle of the lake.

He shook his head. "It's completely deserted and uninhabitable from what I've heard. We'll have to go through it though. That's why it's best to gather all the food that we can now."

And so Lucy Gray lifted one of the fishing poles, hooked on some bait, and swung it out into the lake.

As she sat there, she watched Coriolanus gingerly pick up the bundle of guns that, alone, held more danger to them than all 23 of those tributes. Then, he lowered them into the water, and watching silently as it sunk farther and farther out of sight.

The rain left thousands of ripples in the water and sent streams down Coriolanus' face. It was rather poetic, watching him stare at his reflection in the pouring rain.

He met Lucy Gray's eyes. "You're free," she whispered, the corner of her mouth lifting into a hesitant smile.

"Not yet," Coriolanus whispered, his hand bundling up the fabric of her sopping wet skirt. "Not until you're safe and I've fulfilled my promise. And it's a prison I choose to be in." He smiled at her, his icy blue eyes seeming to melt into a cascading river. "No complaints. In fact it's more of a mansion than a prison really."

Lucy Gray was grinning when he pulled her lips to his. They kissed for a long moment before he pulled away, both of them smiling without restraint. It was a smile that lingered for a long time, even as they waited patiently for a catch.

***

Author's notes:

Ahhh oh my gosh. I love them. Do you guys start freaking out over your own characters? 😂 let me know what you think so far and votes appreciated!! :) <3