A/N: Hey people! Here's another update for you guys, we had a lot of fun writing this chapter and we hope you like it! Enjoy chapter TOBIAS (hehe see what I did there)... See you at the bottom.
I slide my hand under Four's chin and turn his face so that he's forced to look at me. "I'm so sorry, Four," I say with tears in my eyes.
"Tobias," He says. "My real name's Tobias. But please, only call me that when we're alone. I don't want everyone else to know." I nod.
"Tobias," I correct myself. "This should never have happened to you. You didn't deserve it and it isn't fair. You don't have to be afraid of him, Tobias. You're stronger than this. I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what. I will never leave you. I promise. You deserve so much better-" I get cut off when he leans in and fits his lips with mine.
Oh my god.
Tris's POV:
He's kissing me. He's kissing me! Kiss him back you idiot!
I tense up at first, completely shocked that the big, cocky, out of my league quarterback is kissing me. I forget how to think, how to move, how to breathe.
He pulls away. "I've been refraining from doing that since the moment I met you," he whispers.
"Oh?" I say, trying to sound calm even though my heart is beating so fast that I'm sure you can see it through my tiny shirt.
"Yeah. Tris, I... I like you, Tris. I like you a lot," he tells me, looking straight into my eyes.
I am, yet again, at a complete and total loss of words. I like him. A lot. I just can't find the words. Say something!
He awkwardly coughs, "I…I'm sorry, Tris. I didn't mean to just do that and I understand if…if you don't want to see me again. I just-"
"Shut up," I say. He looks up at me, confused. "Shut up and kiss me."
He takes my face in his hands, his fingers strong against my skin, and kisses me again, firmer this time, more certain. I wrap an arm around him, sliding my hand up his neck and into his short hair. I feel alive; every fiber in my being is awake and buzzing with electricity. When we pull apart, I stare into his eyes for a moment, breathing heavier than normal. Four-no-Tobias-is grinning widely.
"I like you, too," I whisper, not breaking eye contact.
Tobias looks down after a moment. "Zeke, Uriah, Will, Noah, Shauna, Marlene, Christina, and I are all going down to the beach tomorrow around noon, do you want to come, too?"
"Sure, if you think it would be alright with them," I say shyly, not wanting to intrude or anything.
"Yeah, it'll be fine, they seemed to really like you," Tobias says, smiling a bit.
I smirk, "They aren't the only ones." Tobias blushes.
"Yeah, yeah we all like you a lot." He says quietly. I grin.
"Okay, then I'll come," I say. I look away from Tobias and across the water. "Look," I whisper.
Four-wait no-Tobias's POV:
"Look," Tris whispers. I follow her gaze out and see the sun just about to disappear below the horizon. It's beautiful.
"It's beautiful," She whispers.
I repeat her words from just moments ago, "It isn't the only one." Now, it's her turn to blush. She looks down quickly and then back up at me. This time, it's her that leans in.
Tris's POV:
"It isn't the only one." Tobias whispers. I blush and look down, remembering how I made him blush just moments ago with almost the same words. I look back up at him, I can't help it. I lean in and fit his lips with mine.
"We should get you home," He mumbles against my lips. I pull away.
"If you insist," I say, smiling a little. Tobias stands, pulling me up with him.
"You know," He says, his eyes flickering down. "You should let Christina dress you more often."
I blush, again, as he leads the way down to the beach. When we reach the bottom, the tide is at the edge of the rock wall.
"This isn't good," I hear Tobias mumble.
I look up at him, "What do we do? I mean, we can't very well sleep up there. He thinks for a minute.
"Well," He begins. "I guess my only option is to carry you." He looks down at me mischievously.
"What? No I-" I don't have time to finish my protest before Tobias throws me over his shoulder.
"Tobias! Put me down!" I yell.
"If you insist," He says, dropping me in the freezing water. My scream is muffled by the water. I feel two strong arms pull me out of the water.
"That," I say, crossing my arms. "was not very nice."
"You're one to talk."
"Hey, I could be nice if I tried."
"Hmm." He taps his chin. "Say something nice, then."
"You're very good-looking."
He smiles, his teeth a flash in this dark. "I like this 'nice' thing."
I roll my eyes and smile. I suddenly realize how cold I am. I shiver involuntarily and, without thinking, pull off my wet crop top and slide off my clingy shorts. As soon as I am about to discard them to the side, I cringe. I just took off my clothes, leaving only that tiny bikini covering me. I slowly look up at Tobias.
He's holding back a smile. "You should definitely let Christina dress you more often." I try to glare at him, but I just end up smiling. My father would die if he saw me like this.
"Yeah whatever," I mumble as I take his hand and start to drag him across the beach. The soaking wet bundle of 'clothes' in my free hand.
Tobias walks me down to my house and gives me a kiss on the forehead before he walks to his own. When he's about halfway there, I go into my own house so it doesn't look like I'm some sort of stalker watching him go home. Tori is in the kitchen, smirking to herself.
"What?" I ask her when her smirk turns to me.
"I see you've met Four."
"Yeah he's," I pause, trying to find a casual word to describe him. "different."
"I see he gave you a kiss on the forehead before he left." Her smirk turns into a grin.
I silently curse the wide kitchen window that you can see pretty much everything outside from. "So? Friends do that all the time," I say casually, still not really sure of what Tobias and I are relationship-wise.
"Of course they do," Tori says sarcastically. She obviously isn't buying it.
I roll my eyes and laugh a little. Then I eye the pot on the stove. "So what's for dinner?" Hopefully, changing the subject will keep me from further questioning.
"Some of my not-so-famous homemade chicken wings! They're boiling right now," Tori says excitedly.
I grin. "My favorite!" I exclaim. Tori is an amazing cook. She doesn't always have time to make food so the majority of our dinners are frozen or leftovers, but when she does have the time, you can't help yourself from wanting to go back for more.
"I'm going to go get rid of these horrible clothes," I say, surprised that Tori hasn't commented on the lack of clothing I have on. Not that she would care, she just usually makes some type of remark about it out of curiosity.
"Yeah, if you could even call those clothes," Tori says sarcastically. There's the comment I was expecting.
"You can thank Four's friends for that," I laugh. "Christina especially."
"I figured they were the ones who got you into that, especially after I saw you 'just talking' to Four. How did you like them?"
"They're all pretty cool, kind of crazy, but cool," I smile, grabbing an apple off the counter.
Despite the fact that dinner is almost ready, I haven't eaten since I woke up and I'm starving.
"Don't fill up to much or you won't have room for the chicken wings!" Tori warns.
I laugh. "You know I could eat all day, every day."
"And yet you stay so skinny... If only I knew your secrets," she laughs.
I smile. "I'm going to need to go upstairs and call Caleb eventually; he wanted to talk to me."
"Alright, I'll call you when dinner's ready," Tori says, and I head upstairs to call my brother.
xXx
I sit on my back porch, waiting to see Tobias, or any of his friends, on their way to the beach. This morning, I pulled on a black V-neck top and shorts. I pull out my phone to check the time. 12:03. They should be here any minute.
As if on cue, Tobias walks out of his back porch and makes his way over to my house. He's wearing a tight black shirt that defines his sculpted body and shorts. I look down at my outfit and laugh, we're matching. When he's at the bottom step, he tosses me an orange.
"Thanks?" I say, almost like a question.
"It's from the orange tree in my front yard. My mom planted it before I was born and I've kept it up since she died," he tells me.
"Oh, thank you," I say, surer this time.
"You're welcome. Nice outfit." He smirks.
I laugh and say, "Thanks, I guess I'm not the only one with good taste in clothes around here."
He smiles, "Ready to head down to the beach?"
"Yeah, let's go!"
Tobias takes my hand and we walk down onto the beach. I see his group of friends down the beach a couple hundred feet down and steer us in that direction. The group seems bigger than I recall. I then remember Christina saying that two guys didn't want to come help me get ready. "Hey Four!" They call out.
"Tris, you've met everyone else except for Uriah and Zeke. So Tris, this is Uriah and Zeke. Uriah and Zeke, this is my girlfriend," I see Noah raise his eyebrows at me and smile. "Tris." Tobias says once we're in front of the group.
"Well, technically, you haven't officially asked me, yet," I point out and smirk a little at Tobias.
He tilts his head to the side then smiles. "Tris –whatever your last name is–," Tobias starts, "Prior." I tell him. "Ah yes, Tris Prior," He gets down onto one knee. "The girl who caught my attention from the moment I laid eyes on her. The girl that didn't fall for my cocky, overconfident self, but for the person I am deeper down than that. Will you give me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?" He says over dramatically.
I laugh and roll my eyes. "Yes Four, I will be your girlfriend."
All of the girls let out an 'aww' and Tobias stands up and kisses me. "Get a room!" Uriah yells, laughing a little.
Tobias and I break apart and we walk towards the hand in hand, causing another chorus of 'aww' from the girls and a scoff from the boys.
"So Tris, what's your story? How'd you end up in this little town in the middle of nowhere?" Christina asks once we all sit on the blanket that someone was smart enough to bring.
"Well," I start. "I'm from Chicago. I got expelled from school after beating the complete shit out of someone that was beating up my friend. My father basically disowned me and my mom decided that I should move out here with my aunt to 'learn how to behave myself' or something. My parents were always incredibly strict so I decided that while they can't boss me around, I'm going to party and dip dye my hair and get tattoos."
"You little rebel!" Shauna laughs.
"You're going to fit in real well with us," Uriah says and I smile. I look over at Tobias, who still isn't eye level with me even though we're sitting down, and I can see him grinning.
"What about you guys?" I ask. "What are your stories?"
The group looks at Christina. "Oh, I guess I'll go first." She says laughing. "Well, my dad is stationed here from some military thing. I moved in a couple years ago. My boyfriend, Will, is on vacation right now but he'll be back in like a week." That makes nine people, including Tobias and myself, in this group.
Christina looks over at Noah. "Well, I moved here during eighth grade year because I was assigned to a different foster home. I was about to get reassigned again, but Uriah and Zeke let me move in with them. Thanks, again. And uh, that's about it. Oh! I'm gay. I almost forgot about that." Noah laughs.
Uriah says, "Yeah, no problem dude. So, um, Zeke and I are brothers, twins actually. Although, I'm the funny, more attractive brother," Uriah winks. Zeke yells, "Hey! Don't lie to her! Tris, as you can tell I'm the funnier, more attractive brother." Uriah says, "Yeah in your dreams, Zeke. Anyways, we've always lived here and I don't know if we'll ever leave."
"Speak for yourself, little bro," Zeke says. "I can't wait to get out of here. Me and Four are getting out of here as soon as senior year is over."
Uriah yells, "I'm not your 'little bro'! We were two minutes apart so that does not make me the little one."
"Yes it does." Zeke grins.
"Whatever." Uriah says. "So, I don't know if you know, but Marlene is my girlfriend and Shauna is Zeke's girlfriend." I look down and realize that each couple is holding hands.
"Yeah, yeah, you all have someone to snuggle with. Whatever." Christina says.
"Watch this," Uriah whispers. "Hey Chrissy! How long until Will gets back?" Christina cringes at the nickname and checks her phone.
After a moment of silence, she says, "6 day, 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 8 seconds."
My jaw drops, "How did you do that?"
Zeke lightly punches Christina's arm. "She's our own little math genius."
"Yeah, and I'm the reason none of y'all are still failing Algebra II." Christina says.
"Excellent point," Tobias says.
"So Tris," Noah begins. "What exactly did you want to do now that you can do pretty much whatever you want?"
"For starters, I want to dip dye my hair black and get a tattoo." I say.
"The hair salon also has its own little tattoo parlor in it if you want to go." Marlene says.
"Tori's her aunt." Tobias says.
"Really?" Shauna asks.
"Yeah, she is. I guess that means I won't have to pay for a tattoo then." I say, smiling a little.
"Well if you're up to going, we should go now." Christina says. "The salon closes in 5 hours and 27 minutes and I want food."
We all agree and stand up off of the blanket. "You sure about this?" Tobias whispers.
"Definitely." I whisper back. He squeezes my hand and our giant group of friends makes their way off of the beach.
As we reach the front of my house, I hear Uriah exclaim, "Whose car is that?"
Uriah, Zeke, Tobias, and Noah all run up towards my black Cadillac and marvel at it.
"It's mine." I say quietly. All three of them turn towards me.
"This car…" Uriah starts.
"Is beautiful." Zeke finishes for him.
"It's more than beautiful," I say. "My baby's powered by a 7.2-liter V-12 comprised of two 60-degree 3.6-liter V-6 engines bolted together."
All four are gaping are me.
I pass Tobias and lift up my hand under his chin, closing his mouth.
"I call shotgun!" Tobias yells and runs around to the other side of my car. I roll my eyes and laugh as I slide into the driver's seat.
"No fair!" Uriah yells.
"I wanted shotgun!" Zeke pouts. Noah stomps his foot on the ground like a toddler.
"Well sucks for you guys." Tobias grins. "Now hurry up and get in the back before we leave without you."
The entire group shuffles towards my car.
Tobias leans over and whispers, "How in the world did you know what's in this car?"
I grin mischievously, "Jealous?" He nods and smiles a little.
As every crams themselves in, I think to myself, "We are way over the legal limit for this car."
I begin to pull out of the driveway, but quickly stop. "I have no clue where I'm going." I admit. I still don't know where that McDonalds was that I so desperately hoped to get to a few days ago.
"I'll give you directions." Tobias says. I continue to pull out of the driveway. I reach the first intersection and stop at the red light.
"Turn left when the light turns green." Tobias says. I nod.
When the light turns green, I rev the engine of my Cadillac and make a quick left. Uriah and Zeke practically squeal with joy and excitement. I roll my eyes and smile at their excitement.
xXx
"Tris?" Tori asks as my friends and I –I think they're my friends– walk into the salon/tattoo parlor.
"Hey Tori!" I say. I never really thought about how she might not let me get a tattoo…
"What do you guys need?" She asks. She smirks when she sees Tobias and my connect hands.
"Well," Zeke says. "Tris here wants to dye dip-"
"It's dip dye, Zeke." Shauna corrects.
"Oh, well Tris here wants to dip dye her hair and get a tattoo. So we figured we'd come get the tattoo before doing anything else." Zeke explains.
"Alright," Tori says. "Tris, did you mention this to your parents?" A smile creeps onto her face.
"Nope!" I say.
Tori laughs, "Well, you need a parent or legal guardian to give you permission, unless in extreme conditions," Her eyes flicker to Tobias. It was so quick that you wouldn't have noticed unless you were paying attention to it. "And I'm your guardian, I guess, so yeah. What tattoo do you want?"
"I want three ravens right here," I point at three different places on my collarbone. Tori starts sketching as I sit down in the tattooing chair.
xXx
"So, did it hurt?" Christina asks while eating one of my fries. Tobias took over driving and drove us to the McDonalds that now holds so many memories.
"Yeah," I say. "Wait, haven't you guys gotten tattoos?"
The group shakes their heads. "Just you and Four," Noah says.
"Oh," I say as I look over at Tobias. "I guess the rest of you are just pansycakes then."
"Pansycake?" Noah asks.
"What's a pansycake?" Marlene inquires.
"A pancake?" Zeke questions.
"What is this said 'pansy of cakes' you speak of?" Uriah asks in, for some reason, a British accent.
"You've never heard of a pansycake?" I ask, raising my eyebrows slightly. "A pansycake is like a wimp. A delicate, little flower like a pansy. And hey, I love cake. So together its pansycake."
"Ohh." Everyone says simultaneously while some nod their heads slowly.
"I like that." Uriah says. "I think I'm going to have to start using that."
Marlene groans, "Thanks Tris, now we'll never stop hearing it again."
The group laughs and Uriah mutters, "You all are pansycakes."
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Christina yells, standing up. "Tris, we have to go dip dye your hair!"
Tobias stands up, grabbing the tray of empty food wrappers walking to go throw it away. "What do you guys need for that?" He asks.
Christina starts to ramble off a list of stuff we need, but I become incredibly distracted by Tobias's muscles as they contract. The words come out under my breath, "Why me?" It was barely audible. Thank goodness.
"What?" Christina asks, looking over to me.
"Nothing," I mumble. The look on her face says that she doesn't believe me. Tobias comes back and we leave McDonalds to pile into my car and head home.
xXx
Christina rushed all of the guys out of my house so that we could have 'girl talk' while she dies my hair.
"So Tris, what was bothering you in the restaurant?" Christina asks. She gives me a worried look as she pulls out the supplies we bought at the small grocery store about three blocks from the McDonalds.
"It was stupid." I say quietly.
"Tris, you can tell us anything. We're all friends here," Marlene says. Shauna nods her head.
"I was just thinking…why me? Of all people that Four could pick, why me? I mean, I'm not pretty. I'm short with no figure. He's way out of my league, why me?" I say. I look down a little, not wanting to see their reactions.
"Tris, are you blind?" Shauna asks me very seriously.
"No?" I answer, it was more like a question than an answer.
"You must be if you don't see how he looks at you. I mean, you've been here for like a week and he looks at you like you're the love of his life." Shauna says.
"She's right," Marlene says. "He couldn't stop talking about you at school."
Christina laughs a little, "He was so nervous about you meeting us." I laugh nervously.
"Oh, don't worry, we like you." Marlene says. I smile.
"Good, I wasn't just nervous about meeting you guys." The three look at me confused. "I was terrified."
They laugh and Christina starts to give me details on what she's about to do to my hair and how to take care of it. I'm not really listening, but instead thinking about Tobias.
"He looks at you like you're the love of his life."
"He couldn't stop talking about you at school."
"He was so nervous about you meeting us."
Their words repeat in my mind over and over again.
A/N: How did you guys like that? Shoutout to NerdiGirl for giving us a great and helpful review! Thanks!