Snow Lands on Top (book 2)

Chapter 9: Dates and Design pt.1

The silence was tense as Mauvais's words hung in the air, like a thick fog. Coriolanus sat on the edge of his seat, 20 million ideas of what it could of meant running through his head. Perhaps Lucy Gray kissed him? No..utterly ridiculous. She wouldn't cheat on him...or...would she? Coriolanus didn't think anyone would want to touch Léo lips, where the most vile words come out of. Or at least that was his opinion.

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The day drawled by like molasses. As soon as Coriolanus stepped out into the hallway he let out a long sigh of relief. Glancing around the hallway he takes in the familiar white polished empty space, before making his way through, his dress shoes echoing as he goes. He was utterly exhausted, and he still had to go look at wedding venues with Lucy Gray, then have a fancy dinner that he unfortunately already paid for.

It wasn't like he didn't want to hang out with her or something. Coriolanus just didn't want her to think anything was up. He knew if she found out he was suspecting her of cheating, she would get upset. Especially since they both had agreed to communicate openly and stop hiding things from each other. Although, it was possible that Lucy Gray herself had already broken those agreements...so...was there anything wrong with him doing it as well??? Then again, he knew he had been keeping a lot more from her, like a literal threat to her well being, or in other words - Léo Mauvais.

Coriolanus finally came to stop at a large white set of heavy doors. Which he knew led to his fiancée's music studio, which he had so graciously paid for. He raised his hand to knock in the door but hesitated. What if Léo was in there? No. He had seen that man in his office when passing by. Thank god for that.

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The ceiling was glittering with lights, which were hung in long rows intertwined with vines and flowers. Lucy Gray gasped, her hand squeezing Coriolanus's in shock. She turned her head to look at him, and then back at the venue. It was silent for a long moment before Lucy Gray finally spoke up, "This one is...wow....I haven't seen this many flowers in one spot since leaving 12." Coriolanus looked over at her, why is she bringing up district 12? He paused for a moment, trying to articulate his words as to not make her upset. "What about that district???" He said, in a slightly harsher tone than intended. He hated district 12. That's where he betrayed Sejanus, that's where he almost got caught for murder...and last but not least, that's where he shot Lucy Gray in a fit of rage. Should he have snapped at his fiancée for bringing up the district? No. Did he anyways? Yes, yes he did.

Lucy Gray looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "what's got ya pantries in a twist this time Coryo?" He glared ahead at the flowers and crossed his arms, "nothing has gotten my, as you refer to it, pantries in a twist. I don't want you bringing up district 12 around me is all," he says, trying his hardest to sound calm, but couldn't help adding a hint of malice to the end of his sentence.

Coriolanus finally took a deep breath and looked over at Lucy Gray, who looked extremely annoyed. He started to feel very guilty, he had no reason to be rude to her. He had no proof of any of the things he was suspecting her of in the first place. The last time he had gotten all pissy for no reason, Lucy Gray had ran off into the capitol night and left Coriolanus a anxious mess the entire night until she was back safe and sound in the morning.

"Coriolanus...you've been upset all week, what's the matter? Don't lie to me again, you know how I feel about that," Lucy Gray suddenly says, breaking the tense silence.  Coriolanus huffed and adverted his gaze away from her. A second long period of silence followed, only broken by the soft sound of the leaves rusting overhead and the tense breathing from the pair below. After what seemed like hours he finally decided to say something, anything, to get rid of the tension between the pair, he hated how they only seemed to be growing apart since getting engaged. "I'm sorry...It's not your fault." Coriolanus pauses and reaches down to gently grab Lucy Gray's hand once again before continuing, "I shouldn't take out my frustrations on you when you do t deserve it...I totally messed up our venue tours didn't I? This is meant to be special and I keep fucking it up," he says, a hint of self deprecation in his voice. He slumped his shoulders slightly, not being able to look at his fiancée beside him. He didn't deserve her, not in a million years.