Days turned into weeks, weeks into a month, and Coriolanus still had not heard from you. He wrote letters, but didn't know your address. So he tracked down the address for the mayor's home in District Twelve, sending them there and hoping they would get passed on to you. One by one, they would all be returned unopened to his mailbox, large red stamps with 'return to sender' plastered across the envelopes. Every day he reread the note you did write to him, that he had shoved into the snake tank to save you, pretending that somehow you had written back. He held onto the fact that you wanted it to make it back to him, you had put it inside the compact to be returned to him. Hopefully, that meant you stood by what you wrote, but not knowing was killing him. He was tired of this game, but he was beginning to give up hope. Perhaps the letters had made it to you, but you didn't want them, and it was you who was having them sent back. Or you were dead. He didn't even want to consider that, but at some point, he should.
He graduated. He walked across the stage and shook Dean Highbottom's cold hand as he was handed his diploma, but the only one there to cheer him on was Tigris. He couldn't even enjoy it, he had sent you an invitation in the mail saying he would come get you himself with funds he was given from receiving the Plinth Prize, (much to High-as-a-kite-bottom's dismay- it turns out saving Strabo Plinth's only son's life was a good way to win over the board), but that was returned too on the very morning he was set to walk the stage. Tigris was proud of him, but she could see his heart was broken.
He takes a deep breath, banging on the front door of the Plinth's home. This time, Sejanus was the one who opened the door. As much as he didn't love chatting with his previous classmate, he was just the person Coryo needed right now.
"Coryo." He smiles, opening the door wider to let him in. "It's been a while. What can I do for you?" Even Sejanus could tell he wasn't just stopping in for fun- that was not something his friend ever did.
"Do you have a phone?" Coryo asks, stepping past him into the house.
"I do." Sejanus nods, closing the door behind him. "Do you not?"
"Not one that works well enough." Coryo mumbles. "But I also need your help."
Coryo's leg is bouncing in the chair at Sejanus's father's desk, phone pressed to his ear as he listens to yet another dial tone. It turns out that finding District phone numbers from the safety of the Capitol was not as easy as he expected. They were on the third phone book, and Sejanus had just read him the District Twelve operator number, hoping it was updated. This was the most recent book they had, but it was still several years old. "Anything yet?" Sejanus whispers, sitting on the other side of the desk and waiting hopefully.
Coryo shakes his head in response. He wasn't fond of the idea of Sejanus listening in on him talking on the phone, especially if he was somehow able to reach you, but he would take what he could get at this point.
"District Twelve, how can I connect your call?" He practically jumps when he finally hears a voice on the other end, and Sejanus perks up too.
"Hello, I'm hoping to speak with the Y/L/N family, please." He answers, and Sejanus gives him an excited thumbs up. He can't help but smile, though he's fighting it.
"Okay..." The operator hums, and he can hear pages turning on the other end of the line. "Oh, I'm sorry. We have no line under that name. Is there another name it could be under, or an address I can look up for you?"
"Oh, well... Do they have any neighbours you could connect me to? I just really need to reach their daughter." Coryo knew they likely wouldn't care, but without another name to give them he wasn't sure what his options were. He was desperate by now.
"No... Unfortunately, if you don't know the address there's nothing much I can do."
"Oh, okay, then." He frowns, chewing on the side of his thumbnail.
"But... Would you happen to be looking for Y/N? The girl who won the games?" She asks, and he furrows his brow.
"Yes, I... I was her mentor in the games, my name is Coriolanus Snow. I just wanted to reach out and see how she was doing."
"The best I can do is connect you to something closer, I know the area she lives in. The mayor's office or the library, perhaps? They might be able to tell you more about that."
"Yes!" He answers quickly, and Sejanus looks like he's being driven insane by the anticipation. "The library, please. That would be amazing."
If anyone would have seen you, it would be the people working at the library. Maybe you were there right now, it was mid-morning, after all. "Okay, I'll put you through." The operator replies, much more chipper now than when the call began.
"Thank you." Now it was back to anxious waiting.
"What did they say? Are you gonna speak to her?" Sejanus whispers excitedly as the dial tone rings again in Coryo's ear.
"Shh..." Coryo hushes him. "They're putting me through to the library. Figured they might know how to reach her." He adds after seeing the disappointment of more suspense on his friend's face.
"Hello?" A female voice on the other end answers, and he's just as excited again.
"Hi there, my name is Coriolanus Snow. I'm looking to contact Y/N Y/L/N, I was hoping you might be able to help."
"Oh! Yes, dear. Unfortunately, I can't share any personal information about our employees, but this is where you could be able to reach her if she were in. If you were looking for a book, of course." He could hear by her intonation that she was smiling.
"Employees?" He smiles. "She works there?" The pit behind his ribcage morphs into something more peaceful. Anxiety into contentment. No- it was pride. He didn't know the feeling well, but it almost made him feel lighter as the butterflies that filled him lifted him up. Back straighter, posture stronger just at the feeling.
"She does, started just the other week." The voice on the other end confirms. "Although, you didn't hear that from me, I'm not even meant to share that, Mister Snow."
"Oh, wow. That's... That's great. Thank you." He replies, nodding to himself. "Okay, well, I take it you can't share her schedule?"
"No, I'm sorry." She sighs. "But, and again I didn't tell you this, if she did hypothetically work here, maybe you should try calling again another day. Like, Tuesday, for example. Or Thursday. The girl you're looking for may answer the call, next time."
"Can I grab the direct number from you?" He asks, gesturing for Sejanus to hand him a pen and paper, which he scrambles to do.
Coryo takes down the number, thanking the girl again before hanging up, a smile glued to his face as he tears the sheet from the book.
"Okay, so?" Sejanus asks. "What are you waiting for, is that her number?"
"No, it's the library's, but she works there, Sejanus. They said if I keep calling she's bound to answer." He's proud of himself as he says it, looking over the sheet in his hands. "She's alive." He mumbles, mostly to himself, the widest smile he's sported in years growing across his cheeks.
"That's great!" His friend smiles, but pauses for a moment. "But... have you considered just going there?"
"To Twelve?" Coryo asks, raising an eyebrow at him. "I mean, kind of, but I couldn't. We have school, and it's a long train ride and-"
"Are you scared?" Sejanus asks, but not at all in a mocking way. "We don't have school starting for almost two months. You could go. I think that would be better for you than a phone call."
"I'm not scared," Coryo replies, shaking his head. "She's the least scary person in Panem. What would I be afraid of?"
"That she still hates you, even though I'm sure she never has." Sejanus answers quickly, as if he's been waiting to bring it up.
"No, no. I don't want to see her I just... It would be nice to know she's doing alright. That's all." Coryo denies it insistently and Sejanus raises an eyebrow at him. "Besides, no passenger trains go to Twelve."
"Not passenger trains, per se, but once a month they have a peacekeeper train." Sejanus answers. "And I'm sure we could buy you a seat on it if we flash my father's money."
Coryo looks at him, thinking it over for a second. "...Who do we have to call?"
"Sweetheart, are you sure you should be working already?" Your mom says, in the process of packing up a lunch for you. "I just feel like you need more time..."
"What is past is prologue." You hum, leaning across the table toward her, a smile plastered on your face.
"I understand that, dear, but I just don't want you to rush into anything... I worry about you, is all." She sighs, holding the paper bag out to you as the sun rises outside.
"I know, Ma, but there's no use worryin' about me now." You smile, taking it gratefully. "I'm safer than ever, and after Pa took all that time off work I feel better knowing I can help." You tuck the lunch into your bag. "Besides, it gives me something else to think about."
She shakes her head, handing you an apple as you stand up to leave. You had already eaten breakfast, but she liked to send you with something to eat on the walk every day. You had just returned from The Hunger Games, after all. She fed you as much as she could. "Okay, well, I love you, and have a good day at work, honey. Come home if you feel overwhelmed or tired or anything. I mean it."
You nod, not looking at her too long. You cry every time you entertain the thought of what things were like for them when you were gone. "I love you, Ma." You give her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for-" Coryo is ignored by everyone walking past at the train station in the middle of town.
"You don't know where she lives?" Sejanus asks, and Coryo scoffs in frustration. Two days on the train with him was more than enough. He didn't know where they would stay, but that was something they agreed they would figure out when they arrived, he was hoping he could stay with you. He wasn't even sure why Sejanus came, that certainly put a damper on his plan to stay at your house.
"I didn't even know she didn't have a phone- how do you expect me to know her address?" He asks. "Or how to find it, for that matter?"
"Okay, well, she's a victor. She must be a big deal, surely someone will know." Sejanus, ever the optimist, smiles at him. "We just gotta keep asking."
Coryo groans, looking around with his bag slung over his shoulder, looking and feeling ridiculously out of place. "Come on, Coryo. They're just like us." Sejanus nudges him.
"I wouldn't say that. Clearly they're much more... rude." He grumbles.
"Just, come on. Come with me." Sejanus is pulling him toward a family walking out of a nearby shop.
"Excuse me, we just have a question." Coryo tries again, but Sejanus pushes a hand to his chest, shaking his head.
"Hi, there. Don't wanna bug you, but we're looking for Y/N Y/L/N. The victor. Do you know where we could find her?" Sejanus asks, and Coryo didn't know his District accent could get worse. Worse is a strong word- maybe more pronounced. Sometimes, he sounds a little bit like you. Especially now. In hindsight, it makes total sense. A child born and raised in the Districts, who was well-read and intelligent. You and Sejanus had that in common, though Coryo is sure that you were smarter than the boy standing next to him now.
"Uh, no, I'm sorry." The man shakes his head before walking away, one child perched on his shoulders. At least someone answered them, Coryo would take that win.
"Just, respectfully, let me do the talking, okay?" Sejanus pats his shoulder, and before Coryo can reply he was already moving on to someone else. "Hi, just a quick question for ya'!"
"Yuh?" Coryo mutters, mocking his friend's tone as Sejanus flags someone else down.
It was longer than he would have liked before his personal District translator was able to get some answers. "Uh, no, I don't know where her house is at, if that's what you're lookin' for, but I seen her here and there."
"Where?" Sejanus prompts the young man who finally had some kind of answers, who was out presumably running errands with his girlfriend who stopped with him.
"Well... the usual places, shops occasionally, but I haven't seen much of her since she made it back, you know, but she's never been one to get out much I don't think."
"Okay, well, can you point us toward the library?" Sejanus asks.
"Oh! You know what," The boys girlfriend cuts in, patting her partner's chest as she remembers. "Lucy Gray! Lucy Gray would know, they're real tight, the two of 'em."
"Lucy Gray?" Her boyfriend asks.
"Baird." She nods to him like it was obvious before looking between Sejanus and Coryo. "Lucy Gray's a singer, she plays with her family on weekends at The Hob, it's a bar. You'll find her there, ask her."
Sejanus smiles, bumping Coryo's shoulder. "Okay, that's great! Thanks! Where is it?"
"Four blocks that way, take a left, it's a dodgy abandoned-looking building but I heard them rehearsing on our way here. Can't miss it." She smiles, pointing down the street to their right
"Thank you." Coryo nods at them as they continue on their way.
"Okay! Her best friend! That's helpful." Sejanus grins, following after Coryo as he's already headed in the direction the District girl pointed them in. "I told you someone would know."
"Yeah well, it took longer than I thought it would. If people had just looked at us sooner-"
"Coryo." Sejanus cuts him off. "We're in their world now. Consider for a second that maybe a couple of Capitol kids might make them uncomfortable after everything the Capitol has done to them. Honestly, we would make me uncomfortable too."
Coryo rolls his eyes, stalking forward down the dirty streets.
"Bar's closed right now, boys." A girl's voice calls over the speakers pretty much as soon as Coryo and Sejanus walk through the door.
"We know, sorry." Sejanus chuckles. "Are you Lucy Gray?"
"That depends on who's askin'..." She says skeptically, stepping back on the stage, wary of new people.
"We're just looking for Y/N, we heard you were friends with her." Coryo cuts in.
She tilts her head at them as they approach her stage. "What do you want with her?" Lucy Gray asks, defensive.
Sejanus looks over at his friend, waiting for him to elaborate on their behalf. "I- Well... She's a friend of mine. I just wanted to check up on her. My name is Coriolanus, this is Sejanus."
"Coriolanus..." She grins, placing her guitar down now and hopping off the stage. "You made a long trip just to say hello."
"Well, I- I tried writing her and she never opened them."
"And you didn't consider that maybe it's because she doesn't want to talk to you?" She raises an eyebrow at him as she walks up to face them, and his heart drops.
"Is that... What she told you?" If that was true, he was unsure he would survive the next month he would be stuck here.
"No. If she got any letters from you, she never told me 'bout them." She shrugs. "But I'd guess that if she did get them, she would've opened them." The smile returns to her face. "She'll be happy you're here."
He sighs with relief, chuckling a little with nervousness that she was able to lead him on like that. He was scared for a moment that maybe you didn't want to hear from him after all, that maybe you did hate him.
"Alright then, where can we find her?" Sejanus asks, nodding toward his friend. "Coryo here is a little antsy to see her."
"I'd imagine." Lucy Gray giggles, shaking her head. Coryo wonders what you could have told her to make her react that way. "I can take you to her."