Clove felt particularly pained, sat at the back of the very car that would take herself, Cato and Lillia to the train station.
There had been something so particularly bitter about the goodbyes, it remained on her mind, for the majority of that day. It was a known fact that before that year's tributes were taken to the Capitol, they were allocated some time, for what would be the final goodbye for the majority. It was a sinister and quite frankly wicked practice, but was nevertheless in place, for moral purposes.
Clove hadn't expected to receive any visitors at all, if she was told that she had a visitor or two, she figured it would either be Leon or Safiya coming to wish her luck. She hadn't been wrong, because they in fact, did come visit her. It hadn't been for long, but it had been for a short while. The reason it left a bad taste in Clove's mouth was a simple one, it was obvious they hadn't visited to wish her luck, they had visited to say one final goodbye. Clove wasn't stupid. She knew Cato was the favourite to win the games, and she knew it. It didn't matter that their strength and skills were almost on parr, Cato was two things that Clove wasn't; A man and a Hadley. These were two factors that seriously tipped the scale in his favour, she knew it and apparently so did he. As they'd been ushered out of their given goodbye-rooms, Cato had briefly shot her a look. It hadn't been his usual cocky or condescending one, but one of genuine sympathy.
Something which made Clove irate.
After Leon and Safiya, Clove hadn't expected anyone else. That's why she was genuinely surprised when the door swung open to reveal, Roman, Romulus and Lysander. Clove had been admittedly excited to see them, they were the few people that could genuinely make her laugh, during the times she thought she was too angry to laugh. However, she was quickly disappointed as she realised that particular interaction, wasn't going to be like any of their usual ones. All boys were quiet, even Romulus, which was very unlike him. For the duration of the visit, neither of them spoke about anything intelligent or relevant, they simply discussed their favourite and funniest interactions they'd had over the year they'd gotten to know each other. Something which eventually became too emotional for them all.
While no one outright addressed the elephant in the room, each of them knew deep down that their interaction was not a temporary goodbye, but was in fact a permanent one. They were Cato's friends after all, not her own, it only made sense that they would assume she'd be the one to not make it back. A small smile crept up on her fact as Clove recalled the last interaction they'd had a mere ten minutes prior;
"You're going to do great." Roman said, from his seat beside Clove. "Don't tell Cato I said this, but I think you'll be the driving force of the games." He added, something which made the entire room laugh. "Cato doesn't always think rationally due to his temper, and that can cause him to sometimes make stupid decisions."
"Sometimes?" Lysander asked with a grin.
"More like all the time." Romulus scoffed, "I mean look at you for example." He said, causing Clove to look up at him in confusion. "He finally found a girl capable of besting him and instead of taking you to bed, he takes you into the arena—" He said, instantly receiving a slap over the head by Lysander. Clove didn't find Romulus' crude comments annoying like she usually did, deep down she knew she needed one normal interaction, with the people she'd spent so much time around.
"You really are a dick." She said with a small smirk.
"You wouldn't have me any other way." He replied, with a grin.
Clove was pulled back reality by the sound of the car tyres screeching to a halt, she lifted her gaze to find that they'd arrived at the train station. As she exited the car, Close wasn't surprised to find, rows and rows of peacekeepers guarding the station and the train. They were something of celebrities now, which meant rabid crowds and fans would do anything to catch a glimpse of them. According to Lillia, they'd spent the time they used to say goodbye, ushering the crowds out of the train station as they knew that was the next stop they'd make. Clove paid her ramblings no mind however, she was too busy focused on the grand scale of the silver train before them. Just by looking at it, she could tell it was bound to be something special and obscenely luxurious.
