I DO NOT OWN THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. I ALSO DO NOT OWN STRAWBERRY WINE, ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO DEANA CARTER.

Logan, West Virginia. 2 weeks later.

As Coriolanus Snow looked into the bathroom mirror, he was pleased to see that his golden curls had finally grown back to as they were before he'd been buzzcut. The best part of having his curls back was at night when he was snuggling up with his songbird. Coryo could always relax when he felt the fingers of Lucy Grey Baird running through his hair. He enjoyed cuddling with his covey girl after a long day of making Samuel Howell's life Hell.

To Coryo's delight, the seeds of doubt and distrust that he was planting inside the hearts of the Howell family were taking root quite nicely. He had been causing all kinds of mischief: breaking furniture and appliances, stealing things of value from everyone in the house; even himself. Coryo always found a way to pin the blame on Samuel for said misdeeds and everytime, the boy protested his innocence.

No one believed him after he "stole" Lucy Grey's earnings and his father had taken to giving his son a hard thrashing with his belt every time; desperate to literally beat the misbehavior out of him. It had gotten so regular that Ruth had tk bug ointment to put on Samuel's scarred up backside while Joshua was considering buying a new belt; since the leather was wearing out.

Luckily, a break for Samuel and for Coryo came one day when he came home from a shift at the auto shop to find Lucy Grey dressed in a soft dress she'd purchased with a large basket slung on her arm.

"Come on sugar, i'm taking you on a picnic." She demanded with a smile as Coryo couldn't help but smile back.

"Can I at least wash my hands, I was on repair duty today." He replied as he held up his grease stained hands.

"All right, but make it snappy." Lucy Grey warned him as she tapped her foot playfully.

"Yes ma'mm." Coryo said with a smirk as he went off to wash up.


As Coryo and Lucy Grey walked through the woods past the Howell house, she talked his ear off with stories she'd heard from the locals.

"So, this place has some kind of romantic legend attached to it?" Coryo inquired while they walked.

"Yep, Missus Ruth told me that this swimming hole was a favorite haunt for a pair of star crossed lovers: Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy." Lucy Grey explained as they finally came to the swimming hole in question. "Their families was fighting each other and they weren't ever able to get hitched."

"Sounds tragic." Coryo replied as he had never really cared for romantic tragedies.

"It kind of got me thinking of us." She remarked as Coryo laid out the blanket she'd had him bring.

"Us, why?" He asked with concern.

"Think about it, i'm a Covey girl and you're a Capital boy. The odds certainly weren't in our favor; especially with the Hunger Games." Lucy Grey pointed out as she started to pull out the food she had made for their picnic.

"If it Mayfair hadn't have rigged your reaping, we might never have met. Despite the horror of the games, they beought you to me and i'll always be partly grateful. Besides, I believe that we make our own odds." Coryo insisted as he aided her in pulling ohr the food. "Brownies...I haven't seen these since Easter."

"I remember eating these after Esther's egg hunt." Lucy Grey chuckled as they remembered the big Easter feast that the Howells had after coming from the sunrise Easter service. The family had a huge ham dinner before sending Esther out to find Easter eggs that Joshua and Coryo had hidden.

"I had never eaten so much food in my life." Coryo replied with a smile as he remembered how full he had been.

"I also made Macaroni and cheese after Ruth learned me how." She added as the lovers began digging into their meal, which they washed down with a couple bottles of root beer. After they had ate their fill, The singbird and her golden capital boy decided to strip naked and work off their meal with a good swim. Coryo enjoyed swimming with Lucy Grey; it reminded him of his time as a peacekeeper back in District 12. It had been one of the worst times of his life, but also the best because he had been able to have Lucy Grey for his own; not to mention get revenge on that spoiled bitch Mayfair and that cheating bastard Billy Taupe.

After a while, they emerged from the water and cuddled on the grass. Coryo looked into Lucy Grey's deep chocolate eyes as she hummed a song.

"What's that?"

"Something I heard in the radio, made me think of us."

"Really?" Coryo inquired as she usually preferred to sing sings she had wrote herself.

"Our love is buttersweet, sugar. You're the only fella I ever truly loved...but we've had to go through so much heartache to be together." Lucy Grey explained before singing to him.

"He was workin' through college, on my grandpa's farm.

I was thirstin' for knowledge, and he had a car

Yeah, I was caught somewhere between a woman and a child.

One restless summer, we found love growin' wild

On the banks of the river on a well beaten path,

It's funny how those memories they last...

Like strawberry wine and seventeen, the hot July moon saw everything

My first taste of love...Whoa, bittersweet; green on the vine...

Like strawberry wine."

"I'm going to give you the life you deserve, Lucy Grey; I promise you." Coryo vowed as he kissed her deeply, savori my the sweet taste of her lips upon his.

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