Christina gawks at Tobias and I, at our lips that have just pressed together, at his strong hands around my waist and mine wrapped around his neck. I smile sheepishly. Though we haven't shared all that many kisses yet, that was one of the best I'd had with Tobias. It was soft and sweet, yet something more was there. Something that left me longing for more. Now after seeing Christina's reaction, I almost felt guilty about it. Almost. I also notice the crease in between Will's eyebrows deepen, as he's wondering if what he saw was actually true. Tobias and I let go of each other and I wipe my hands on my black jeans before Tobias eases his hand into mine, lacing our fingers together. In this brief moment of bliss, I don't even care if anyone knows about us, if we are breaking any rules. All I want is Tobias. I quickly wonder if this is a dangerous thought, thinking back to my fear landscape earlier in the day. But, I push that away, knowing I will eventually get over that fear. Especially now that I know about what he wants and that he, too, is a somewhat afraid of me. After all this whirling in my head, I turn my attention back to matters on hand.
"What in the-" Christina stops, still too dumbfounded to speak.
"Well we um. I. um…" I stammer, not knowing how to explain myself. Tobias doesn't seem to be of much help. I can almost see the heat rising in his cheeks, and I know that he doesn't want any trouble for me, or for himself, for that matter.
"Listen, Christina, it's not exactly what you think," I begin.
"Oh, it isn't?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "I should have known. Tris and Four. They would be a good couple!" she gushes. I sigh of relief. I thought she would be a lot more angry with me. "No wonder you always admired him, Tris!" Now, the heat flows to my cheeks, and I can feel them turning pink.
"Is that so?" remarks Tobias, with a trace of a smirk on his face.
"Ohh shut up," I say with a slight grin on my face.
"We'll talk more about this later, missy!" demands Christina. "But we have a party to get ready for! We're Dauntless, now!" She runs over and engulfs me in a hug. She begins to jump up and down and the smile on her face could not be any wider. I find myself with a matching one on spread across my face. Tobias and Will stand by, neither of them saying anything, but I can tell Will is a little uncomfortable with him there. I mean a day ago, Tobias was our instructor.
"Oh my god!" exclaims Christina. "We have to get ready! I know the perfect outfit for you, you just have to try it on!"
I groan. How she gets so excited for these things, I do not know. I give Tobias a look saying, Please, save me. But he shrugs and leans over, kissing my cheek and says, "Do it for Christina. Well, and for me." The corners of his mouth tug upward, slightly. "I can't wait to see how you'll look," he whispers in my ear.
"Hey, no more lovey, dovey secrets for you two," Christina warns. "Come on Tris, we gotta go!" She looks back at Will and Tobias and declares, "We'll see you two at the party," raising her eyebrows flirtatiously. Then, she drags me away by the wrist.
-xxx-
I look into the mirror and see what used to be me. Christina has forced me into an outfit of her own, insisting that it was absolutely made for me. I have to admit, I don't look too bad. I'm wearing a black scoop neck blouse that falls onto my shoulders, revealing my collarbone tattoo. Around the neckline of the shirt are little, gray sequins. I think that Christina was right about the shirt, at least. The black mixed with a little gray was exactly what I was. It was tucked into a tight black mini skirt that came down to mid thigh. I was tugging it down a lot, but Christina claimed it made my butt look amazing, so reluctantly agreed to wear it. She had also put my in black pumps that had almost matching sequins as the shirt did. Where does she find this stuff? I wondered.
I snapped out of my daze as Christina said, "Okay, now just for the blush!" I had also agreed for her to do my make up, but she put on more than I would have liked. I was fine with the eyeliner and mascara, but she got carried away with lip liner, pink lipstick, and the blush. "There," she said. "All done. Let's go party!"
When we arrived at the party—I had no idea where we going, so thank god Christina was there—we opened the door and were hit with the strong smell of alcohol and the loud noises of music and laughing and shouting. We stepped inside and Christina left to go find Will. I searched around for him for a minute until I felt strong arms wrap around my waist and Tobias whispered in my ear, "You look good, Tris." I turned around and smiled at him. I recognized the joke from when he said that to me, not too long ago. "I'm serious though," he went on, "You look beautiful." I smiled and blushed a little.
"You aren't too bad yourself, Four." He returned the smile. He offered me a drink. I immediately started to shake my head, but then thought, Maybe, I could try… I mean, it's not every day you get ranked first in Dauntless initiation.
"Okay," I said reaching our for the cup.
"You sure?" he raised his eyebrows at me.
"Yeah, why not?" I said loosely. I took the drink from him and tried a sip. It burned down my throat, but at the same time, it was a good feeling. It was almost like the feeling I got when I went down the zip line. I hated it, but at the same time, I loved it. Weird, I thought.
A few hours and a few more drinks later, I sat on Tobias' lap with Christina and Will sharing the couch with us. I wasn't drunk yet, but I could tell that it was time for me to stop. We were all laughing hysterically, but I found myself unable to remember what was so funny. Finally, Christina asked what she had been wanting to for the whole night. "So how long has this been going on?" gesturing toward Tobias and I.
I thought for a moment, "Not too long, I guess."
"So why all the secrets, then?"
"We didn't want anyone to get the wrong ideas about Tris' rankings," Tobias supplies. "She earned everything on her own."
"Makes sense," Will nodded.
A while later, Christina and Will left for a corner of the room so they could have some "Alone time" and left Tobias and I on the couch.
"I'm so proud of you," his breath smelled of alcohol, but didn't take away his scent of metal and sweat that I loved. He pressed his mouth to mine and I kissed him back, reaching my arms over chest and around his neck. His tongue skimmed along the top of my lip, sending chills through my body. My first instinct was to pull away, but I remembered I was Dautnless. I took a breath and then slowly opened my mouth to his. I slid my hands down his chest and around to the back of his waist, sneaking them up his shirt a ways. He smiled in our kiss and then pulled away.
"Maybe we should get going," he suggested.
"That sounds good," I agree. "I think we could both use some rest." I yawned, forgetting how tired going through my fear landscape made me. I don't know how Tobias went through his so often.
We thanked Lauren for the party, and left, intertwining our hands. Unfortunately, we almost ran into Eric on the way out, literally.
"Well, isn't that cute?" He smirked, eyeing our hands. "Four and the Stiff."
I saw the anger in Tobias' eyes. "You leave her alone, Eric."
"Woah, I didn't do anything, Four. You two have fun. Face your fear safely, Tris," he turned away laughing to himself. Rage and embarrassment rose inside of me.
"Don't listen to him," Tobias said.
"I know, let's just go," I tried to brush it off. "Can I stay with you tonight?" I ask him, hopefully.
He waits a moment, making sure that I'm sure. "Yeah, cmon." He smiles.
