Emergent: Chapter 1
During the time it took me to realize what was happening, Tobias grabbed my arm and yanked me out the door of the Erudite headquarters. His grip was firm, and I sensed no safety in his touch.
"Tris, you need to get out of here. All those people in there are going to be coming after you in just a few seconds. Now that they have someone to blame for…well, this," he gestured around at all the rubble left by ruined buildings. Smoke rose from a tower, and there was a screaming silence in my ears as I tried to comprehend what Tobias was saying. "You're going to get hurt."
Leave? What was he talking about? These people needed someone to help them. I couldn't just run away. What kind of Dauntless would I be if I displayed an act of cowardice at a time like this?
I stared up at Tobias. His face looked determined and rigid like the day I first met him. Like the person I thought he wasn't anymore. "I'm not just going to leave everyone here. They need me. I thought you needed me…"
He handed me a heavy orange backpack, its contents unknown to me.
"Go, Tris." Tobias broke his gaze and turned away from me, walking back to the pavilion.
"You don't have the right to tell me what to do! I know my duty to my family, to my faction, and especially to you. I thought we were past this. You know, the part where you stop treating me like a child! I don't want to be in this relationship anymore if it means that I still look like a helpless, little stiff to you, Four!"
His stride was much longer than mine so I had to sprint to keep up with him. I drove my fist into Tobias's back to get his attention, but I might as well have been punching a rock. All my anger flooded into that hit, all the hurt I'd been feeling since we'd fought.
My attention grabber worked. He stopped in his tracks to face me. Fresh tears had sprouted out of his eyes and were now flowing freely down his cheeks.
"You don't think this is hard for me too, Beatrice? I thought you would know me well enough by now to see that you are the reason for every decision I make. You are the only thing that I love in this world, and destroying you would kill me inside. Don't you remember what I said when you went to sacrifice yourself? If you die, I die too, remember? So do you want me to die Tris, is that what you really want?"
I stood on my tiptoes to become level with his face. I looked into his eyes and whispered, "I think you already know the answer," and gave him one quick kiss on the lips.
With that, I turned on my heel, jumped over the Amity gates, and sprinted into the forest.