Chapter 2
TRIS P.O.V
The phone rings. Then I hear his voicemail. "Hey, it's Four leave a message after the beep." I end the call. I decide to stop. I don't want to seem needy. This is exactly what happened at my old school. A guy and I would get close, then he disappears. I should have known I couldn't start over. I growl in frustration. The sound echoes throughout the empty house. Caleb is gone again. Dad is still with his soccer team. Mom is still in Italy.
I hear a knock at the door. I assume it's Christina. She's the only one who will come over. I go to the door and swing it open. It's not Christina. It's Four. "Hey," he says. Hey? He's been ignoring me, and all he has to say is hey? "Hi," I say back, my voice tight. "Can I come in?" "Sure." I close the door and turn around. Four pulls me into a hug and squeezes me tight. "I'm so sorry, Tris. I've been having issues." As soon as he says that, I am relieved. I could start over now. I tell him everything that's been going on, how Caleb never wants to be around me anymore, how Mom and Dad are never here and they feel like strangers to me when they are, and suddenly I'm crying. Four holds me close. "Shh, it's okay, I'm here for you." Four strokes my hair. "I just want them to notice me! Or at least acknowledge that I'm there!" I whimpered. Four grips my shoulders. "Hey look at me. I notice you, okay? I always have." Then I realize something. Four hasn't seen the bruises on my neck yet.
"Are you okay, Tris? Your neck, I mean," Four asks. Oh no. Here we go. He hasn't seen it because I am wearing a turtleneck over my tank top. "Tris," Four warns. "What?" I say, not looking at him. "Let me see," comes the answer. I yank my shirt over my head, leaving me in a very tight tank top. Four gasps. "It was that bad?" I nod. My entire neck is black and blue and purple and in the shape of handprints. Four pulls me close. "Can we talk?" he whispers into my ear. "Um, yeah. Let's go into the living room. I need to sit down."
"So." "So." "About the party, when we played Truth or Dare, and Christina asked if you like me, you didn't answer. Why?" "I already told you why, Four! Remember? We were at your house and that monster did this to me?!" I snap, pointing to my neck. Four looks sad. "Are you mad at me?" he asks gently. "Yes!" "Why? I didn't know he was going to be there!" "You shouldn't have taken me there in the first place! You should've just left me at my house! Or gee, maybe I shouldn't have gone to that stupid party in the first place!" I scream at him. Four grabs my wrists, mainly because I was thisclose to smacking him. "Stop," he says firmly. I just sit there and look at him, breathing heavy. "You're stressed, okay? You're mad because no one's ever here, and you had to take it out on someone. I understand it had to be me," he says, looking into my eyes. I look down. Four still holds my wrists. "You can let go now," I say softly. "What if I don't want to let go?" he smirks. He looks deep into my eyes and leans toward me. I lean too. Our lips meet, and sparks fly. His lips are soft and warm. He pulls back, smiling. I smirk back. "I was waiting for you to do that," I say. "I know," he says back. We lay there on the couch together, and I'm smiling happily as I drift away into sleep.
The colors are so pretty. They make me happy. They are on a screen, the magnificent purples and blues, the floating yellows. I turn away from the screen, and there is Four's dad. He picks me up and slams me against the wall. Not again! I close my eyes for a second. When I open them again, it's not Four's dad pinning me against the wall. It's Four himself. He squeezes harder and his eyes, his beautiful dark blue eyes, turn into black pits. He hurls me onto the ground, and I wake up, gasping. "What? What is it?" Four asks frantically. "I had a nightmare about-about this!" I point to my neck. "And it wasn't your dad doing it this time. It was you!" I start trembling and burrow into the couch. "Tris." I am not listening. I hear only my panicked sobbing. Four wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to him. "Tris, look at me. I would never do that to you. You know that," he soothes me. My heart is still racing, and he puts his hand over it. "Calm down, okay? It was a dream, you're alright. Slow down your breathing," he says calmly. A few minutes later, I am calm. Four is flirting with me. It's quite funny. He'll make fun of something, then I pretend to get mad, he grabs my wrists, and I steal a kiss.
Everything is alright now.