I know I promised Christina I'd catch up with her as soon as the meeting ended but Tobias needs me right now. I've never seen him look the way he did when Marcus was in that room with us. I finally make it to his apartment and knock. He opens the door after a few seconds and pulls me straight into his arms, and I kick the door shut with my foot. He holds me tightly pressed against his chest for what seems like an eternity before he finally lets me go and turns his back on me. He doesn't want me to see him like this, appearing weak, but he isn't weak. He's the strongest person I know. He left everything he knew behind so he could make a new life for himself. If that isn't brave, I don't know what is.
"Tobias," I say, walking over to him. He keeps turning away from me. I take a deep breath and say, "You can talk to me when you're ready. I'm just going to relax for a while." I walk across the room to his bed, kick off my shoes, and lie down. Before I know it my eyes are closing. The stress of the morning has exhausted me, and I drift off to sleep. When I wake up I'm curled up next to Tobias with my head on his chest. I breathe in his scent, and I feel like I'm home. I don't even remember him getting into bed with me. I look up into his eyes, and they seem bright and definitely happy to see me.
"What time is it?" I ask, stretching.
"A little after one," he says. "Would you like to get some lunch? We both missed breakfast, and I for one am starving." He seems lighter, happier somehow. I wonder if something has changed. I sit up next to him and look him in the eyes. "We'll talk later, Tris. I promise. Eat now, please!" I can't help but smile at him.
"Okay, let's get some lunch," I say. Then I remember, "Oh, what if I run into Christina? She's gonna want to talk."
"You should spend some time with her," he says. "You already put her off this morning."
"Don't you think we have a lot to talk about?" I ask.
"Actually, we do have a lot to talk about, but I don't want any distractions or interruptions. So how about we go to lunch, you spend the afternoon with Christina, and I'll meet you in the cafeteria at six. Then we'll spend the rest of the evening making any decisions we need to make."
"Can I ask you one thing?" I say apprehensively.
"Anything."
"Are you okay?"
"With the exception of seeing Marcus this morning, I'm perfectly wonderful." He takes me in his arms and lowers his mouth to mine, kissing me with newfound purpose. Yes, something happened while I was asleep. What could it be?
It's a little nerve-racking walking hand-in-hand down to the cafeteria. People keep staring at us. This time yesterday, Tobias and I had a public instructor/initiate relationship and now everyone can see I'm his girlfriend. Before we get to the cafeteria, I remember something.
"Christina knows about our meeting this morning. What should I tell her about it?" I ask.
"Tell her the truth."
"I think I'll ask her opinion about becoming a leader because I'm really struggling with that notion. I know she can sometimes be Candor-annoying but once in a while she has a good idea." We both laugh at my Candor-like honesty.
"Get her opinion. I think it's a great idea." He leans over and places another kiss on my lips. I think he means for it to be a quick peck but something bubbles up inside me, and I grasp my arms around his neck. He lifts me off my feet, I press myself against his body, and I let him explore my mouth with his tongue.
When I hear someone walk by and mutter, "Get a room," it breaks the spell, and I stiffen in Tobias' arms. He sighs and sits me on my feet. I look up at him, heat rushing into my cheeks, and he glides his knuckles across my cheek and down the side of my neck. After regaining our composure, we walk into the cafeteria and sit down at Tobias' regular table. I look around and see Will and Christina at my old table. I tell Tobias I'll be right back and head over to my friends.
"Hi, Will. Hi, Christina," I say. I slide into the bench across from her to gauge how mad she is at me. She just smiles.
"How did your meeting go? What did Max want?" Well that tells me something. Apparently our leaders' arrests aren't common knowledge.
"It's a long story, which I'll tell you later. I don't think the cafeteria is an appropriate venue for that conversation. How about we catch a train to the Navy Pier after lunch?" I ask. Then I add, "Do you guys want to sit over at Four's table?"
They both agree and follow me back to Tobias. Christina looks happy that I included her in my new circle of friends but Will just looks nervous. I'm sure he'll get over it once he gets to know everyone. I sit down next to Tobias, Christina slides in after me, and then Will follows. "Tris, I'd like to introduce you to some friends," Tobias says to me. "You know Uriah, Marlene, Lynn, and Zeke." He nods at each one in turn then motions to a very pretty familiar-looking girl about his age with multiple ear piercings, dark blonde hair, and light brown eyes. "This is Zeke's girlfriend, Shauna."
"Actually, Tris and I met at the zip line," she says to Tobias then she winks at me, remembering our conversation like I am.
"This is Samuel and his girlfriend, Ella," he says, motioning to an odd-looking couple. Although they're sitting down, I can tell Samuel, with his spikey magenta hair and life-like lizard tattoo wrapping around his neck is a lot shorter than Ella who's a natural beauty with dark skin, long straight black hair that has bright red braids here and there, and eyes black as night. "Samuel works in the control room with me, and Ella is the manager of the commissary."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Tris," Ella and Samuel say at the same time. Finally! How long has he been talking about me? I can't help my blush.
"This is James and his wife, Ciara," he says, pointing to a short-haired blonde man with unnaturally bright green eyes and so many tattoos covering his arms that I can't see any natural skin and a long-curly-haired blonde female with a single blue streak and a lip impression tattoo below her right ear. "And this is Dante and his wife, Kirsten." Dante is an intimidating looking dark-haired, dark-eyed fellow who looks slightly uncomfortable with any sort of attention. Kirsten on the other hand looks like she was born for the spotlight. She has warm golden brown eyes and short brown hair. Her clothes, if you can call them that, are low cut, skin tight, and barely there, showing off more than I care to see. So many new names to learn. "James and Dante also work in the control room, Ciara's a Faction Ambassador, and Kirsten works in the electronics store."
"Ciara, I have to ask, is that a tattoo of James lips?" I ask after exchanging hellos, pointing to her neck. I'm usually not this forward with strangers but for some reason her light blue eyes seem warm and welcoming.
"Yes! Don't you love it? Tori did it for us. She had him put a special ink on his lips and kiss where I wanted the tattoo and then she filled it in. It was his wedding present to me. I think it's romantic." Yes, she's very friendly!
"Very romantic," I agree then I turn my attention to Will and Christina. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce my friends, Christina and Will." We all exchange pleasantries while we have lunch. Once I smell the food, I realize just how hungry I am. I got a hamburger, baked potato, green beans, and fruit salad. I also took a slice of famous Dauntless cake. I eat my food too quickly because of being so hungry that I can't finish my dessert.
"You want the rest of this?" I ask Tobias, pointing down at my cake but Uriah reaches across the table and takes it then scarfs it down in two bites. Tobias and I look at each other, and then we look at Uriah.
"What?" he says, indignantly. "You snooze, you lose, pansycake!"
"I dare you to call me pansycake again," Tobias says in a very frightening voice.
Uriah just looks at him and says, "What are you going to do about it?"
"Uri, leave Four alone," Zeke says. "I refuse to explain to Mom what happened if he puts you in the infirmary."
"Fine! You guys aren't any fun anymore," he mutters. Zeke and Tobias just shake their heads.
"Christina, are you ready to go?" I ask.
"I sure am," she says. She gives Will a kiss then gets up from the table.
"We're going to the Navy Pier so we can talk," I say to Tobias before he kisses me lightly on the mouth. I can feel all eyes on us, and I blush again. When he pulls away his cheeks are pink also. He's not used to the attention either.
"Meet you here at six," he says.
Christina and I head to the tracks, making small talk along the way. We jump on the train and ride until I see the giant wheel decorating the horizon. When the train dips low we both jump off, thankfully landing on our feet. We casually stroll past the now abandoned buildings, over to the carousel where we hid our flag the night we played capture the flag. I sit on a once beautiful faded blue bench, and she sits on a paint-chipped and cracked horse that's missing an ear.
"So how long have you and Four been together?" she asks, launching into her interrogation.
"About as long as you and Will," I say.
"Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"The day you told me about Will, I wanted to tell you about Four so bad, but we decided it was best to keep it quiet until after initiation was over so it didn't look like my ranking was a result of favoritism instead of hard work, and it was the result of hard work. I swear."
"You would never let someone give you special treatment," she laughs. "That would be selfish, right Stiff?" I roll my eyes at her.
"Of course, I wouldn't but what do you think Peter, Drew, or Molly would have done? They tortured me just for being me. If they knew I was dating Four during initiation, Peter would have done everything in his power not only to get me kicked out of Dauntless but probably Four too."
"That's true. How did it start?" she asks with real interest on her face. "I didn't even know you liked him." Like ... I'm not sure that word is strong enough.
"Um, I think I've liked him since he helped me out the net," I admit.
"Wow! That long?" she asks with shock on her face. "I can't believe I didn't know you liked him. You hid it well."
"I never said anything because I didn't think I had a chance with him. He kept sending me mixed signals. I couldn't tell if he liked me or was just taking a special interest in my training." I let my mind drift back. "Then he saved me from Peter, Drew, and Al. He was almost too late. Peter had me by the throat, dangling me above the chasm. When they saw Four, Al ran off and Peter, always the coward, dropped me then ran off. Thankfully, my arms caught the railing, which kept me from falling." I shudder at the memory. "Four caught Drew trying to run and beat him into unconsciousness until I called out for him. He carried me back to his apartment, and I stayed there all night. I couldn't stand the thought of being near Peter, Drew, or Al. Then the night of Al's funeral he told me he liked me. I couldn't believe my good fortune. I still don't get it. That night he kissed me for the first time." I smile at the memory of that evening on the rocks in the chasm. It's a very special memory. "The next day, I totally freaked out in Lauren's fear landscape. I'm not sure you know this or not but I drew her kidnapping fear. When I was under the simulation, something happened and her fear overtook me, and it was like I was being kidnapped by Peter, Drew, and Al all over again, and I broke down. Four didn't want to show we had a personal relationship so he overcompensated and talked to me like I was nothing. He forgot he had the power to hurt me. That's why I slapped him. Then I left the Dauntless compound and went to see my brother at Erudite." With that confession Christina inhales sharply.
"I can't believe you left the compound."
"Yeah. Stupid I know. Eric caught me. He threatened to kick not only me but you and Will out of Dauntless but Four managed to save me again or I should say he saved us. He told Eric I tried to kiss him, he rejected me, and I ran away out of embarrassment. Eric bought it at the time. Then I went through my fear landscape and Four was in it."
"I knew it!" she exclaims. "Well at the time I didn't but when I saw you kiss him last night in the cafeteria, I figured he was the one who tried to have sex with you in your fear landscape."
"Yeah, he was. I didn't even know what was going on, Christina, and I felt so stupid. It's no wonder they laughed at me. Simulation Four was in front of me, and I looked behind me to see if there was something there I was supposed to be scared of, and all I could see was a bed. What I was afraid of didn't even dawn on me until he started to take my jacket off. Then I realized I was frightened to be with him ... physically. I took control of the simulation though and told him I wasn't going to have sex with him in a hallucination and the fear went away. I had a bit of trouble afterwards though. I kept tensing up when I was with him, which I had never done before. I finally confessed he was in my fear landscape, and it hurt him. I hated seeing that look on his face. We talked it through though."
"So has he told you his real name and why they call him Four?" she asks, always curious.
"Yeah, but I can't tell you either of those things. I promised him. Maybe one day he'll be comfortable enough to tell everyone himself."
"I understand. I thought I'd give it a shot though!" We both laugh at her honesty. Once a Candor, always a Candor.
"What was your meeting about this morning?"
"Oh, Christina, you are not going to believe this." I take a deep breath before I continue.