Snow Lands on Top (book 2)

Chapter 10: Dates and Designs pt.2

Coriolanus stayed quiet for a long moment, staring into Lucy Gray's brown eyes.She was right, they had promised to stop lying to each other....yet....he kept doing it. Perhaps it's time to come clean about Mauvais' threat. He took one more deep breath and reached out to grab her hand.

"Listen...," Coriolanus starts, pausing once again to gather his nerves, "I've been keeping something from you...and not something small and insignificant like you might believe, but something instead that...well...something that may be an actual threat on your life?" "What do you mean a threat to my life?" Lucy Gray questioned, her eyebrows raised in confusion and her lips curled in a small frown. "Coriolanus Snow...you've been keeping a literal threat to my own life from me???" She hissed and instantly let go of his hand, taking a step back, creating a larger distance between them. "Sweetheart I didn-" Coriolanus's starts but is cut off when Lucy Gray raises a finger to silence him. "No, I cannot believe you've been keeping something like that from me...again! Didn't we promise to be open?!" She says, he voice getting slightly louder.

But what hurt the most was....she didn't seem too surprised that he had been keeping something from her, almost as if...she expected it. She sighs and meets his gaze again, "fine...What have you been keeping from me then..?"

Coriolanus pauses, trying his hardest to think of a good way to break the news. "Well...you know Léo Mauvais, my assistant...stupid question, of course you know is him...not that I'm like saying you and him uh....anyways...he well.." Coriolanus rambles, his palms uncharacteristically sweaty and his brow furrowed slightly. "He..ok he told me before the election that I and I quote 'won't have to deal with you for much longer'....and I've been a mess lately worrying about it...I didn't know how to tell you...I don't want to freak you out over something that might be nothing.." he rambled, all of his emotions from the past few weeks all spilling out a once.

There was another long tense pause. Lucy Gray stood there staring in shock at Coriolanus. She opened her mouth and shut it immediately, as if she was too overwhelmed to articulate her words. "I...Léo told you that??...no he wouldn't hurt me.." she says, her mouth agape and her eyes almost comically wide. Coriolanus' eyes narrowed...how would she know what Mauvais would or would not do? She called him Léo instead of Mauvais, which meant she was on first name basis with him. Was that more evidence of something between them? Or perhaps was it just Coriolanus' insecurity and usual overthinking taking over?

"Why..why are you on first name basis with Mauvais?" He mumbles, his tone slightly shaky with either anger or anxiety, it was hard to determine. Lucy Gray raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest defensively. "Coriolanus what are you trying to imply about me?"  He shakes his head in response, "of course I'm not implying anything, I just was...curious...never mind." He takes another pause to clear his head and tentatively  reaches out and takes her hand again, intertwining his fingers with hers. "Let's just continue our tours...ok sweetheart..?" He suggested, his tone softer than before. She looks down at their hands and then nods.  Her gaze slightly nervous but also loving.

The pair continue their tours, going through a total of 3 different venues, each lovely in their own way. However at the end they decide on a beautiful grand marble venue, flowers adorning the walls and ceiling. Mainly roses but a few vines and lilacs sprinkled in. The front archway had been wrapped in fairy lights, so it was twinkling. Coriolanus want too fond of all the flowers and lights, however Lucy Gray loved them, so he decided to just suck it up. Perhaps it would make up for a sliver of what's been going on between them lately.