I have a prompt... I'm not sure if you already did something like this before, but if not can you write one based on Adele's "All I Ask" song? Maybe CF era, before Haymitch leaves? Or whatever works for you. Thank you in advance. You are my favorite writer and I don't think anyone can write this prompt better than you.

All I Ask

I will leave my heart at the door
I won't say a word
They've all been said before, you know
So why don't we just play pretend
Like we're not scared of what is coming next
Or scared of having nothing left

He looks up when she leans against the doorframe of his bedroom, the bag he's been packing dangling from his fingers – a proof she doesn't need. They stare at each other for the longest time. She wants to speak but the words are stuck in her throat and she's not sure of what she could say anyway. Don't leave me? Take me with you? Both seem equally impossible.

In the end, she does the only thing she can. She crosses the distance between them, frames his face and kisses him hard, pretending she doesn't know he'll be gone come morning.

Look, don't get me wrong
I know there is no tomorrow
All I ask is

The bag hits the floor with a dull thud, mostly empty. It can't contain much, she thinks in the middle of the kiss. It can't contain much because he doesn't have much. She can count the things he cares about on one hand. It hurts a little to know she isn't one of them.

"Effie…" he whispers against her lips.

She shuts him up by kissing him harder, pulling on his hair.

She doesn't want to talk.

She doesn't want him to be forced to lie.

She knows already. Tomorrow, hopefully, he'll be far and the children will be safe.

If this is my last night with you
Hold me like I'm more than just a friend
Give me a memory I can use
Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do
It matters how this ends
'Cause what if I never love again?

Their hands entwine on the pillow when he slowly pushes into her and, for a second, she forgets how to breathe. She closes her eyes tight and she plays pretend once more. She pretends this means more than it does. She pretends he's not about to leave her forever. She pretends he loves her.

She wishes he would tell her the words even if they're a lie.

She knows he won't.

She can't decide if she hates him for it or love him even more.

She wonders if she will ever get over him, over this…

She doesn't think so.

I don't need your honesty
It's already in your eyes
And I'm sure my eyes, they speak for me
No one knows me like you do
And since you're the only one that matters
Tell me who do I run to?

His forehead presses against hers, their ragged breaths mix and the whole thing is so sweet it's almost painful. She wants to scream. She wants to rage. She wants to wrap herself around him and never let him go again.

"Sweetheart…" he whispers, his voice so broken it's her heart that shatters.

"I know." she answers. And she doesn't. Not really. She's tired of seeing rejection in his eyes when her own feelings are plain to see in hers. Doesn't want to risk it.

He hesitates but stays silent.

He knows her too well.

What will she do without him?

Let this be our lesson in love
Let this be the way we remember us
I don't wanna be cruel or vicious
And I ain't asking for forgiveness

She watches him getting dressed from the bed and she feels numb. It's too familiar even without the harsh words and the insults being hurtled back and forth. There is only silence instead. Silence and sorrow and this bitter feeling of losing something great before it could bloom.

He brushes his fingers against her cheek before leaving the room. "Stay alive."

That's all he asks and it's perhaps more than she can give.

She nods all the same.

He kisses her. Too soft. Too wrong. It tastes like goodbye.

When he picks his bag and goes, he doesn't look back.