so sorry this took so long. my dumbass laptop completly erased this chapter so i had to re-write it and it was hell cuz honestly this chapter sucks
June 2016
"It's just a stupid tabloid magazine, Tris."
"People is not just a stupid tabloid magazine, Tobias. And you know it."
Tobias had come up to visit in the middle of the month. It was the weekend after a gala that his team attended and several pictures were taken of Tobias being very cozy with a girl in an extremely revealing dress.
He touched a hand to her cheek gently. She shoved him away. "Nothing happened." His voice pleaded with her to understand.
Tris wasn't having it. "There were like ten pictures of you and her together. Who is she, anyway?"
Tobias looked away from her piercing eyes. "Nita Hernandez." He whispered. This was going to set her over the edge. Nothing could prepare him for the storm of anger that was coming his way.
"Nita?" She rasped. "As in your fucking ex-girlfriend, Nita?" They talked about each other's exes the first month they were together. Tris told him about the short and unimportant relationship she had in high school while he told her about Nita and several other girls that probably were more meaningful than he led on.
Tobias had never seen Tris look the way she did. She was more than angry. She was fuming. He braced himself for the screaming, the cussing, (she did that a lot when she was mad, he had noticed) and the half-cried words. But they never came.
She just bit her lip and turned away from him. "Sleep in the guest bedroom."
He narrowed his eyebrows. "Do you not trust me that much?"
Tris shook her head. "I don't want to do this right now, Tobias."
"I do." He gripped the inside of her elbow when she turned away from him. "I haven't seen you in a month and we're fighting. This isn't fucking okay."
"You don't think I know that? God, I know!" Tris yelled.
"Then listen to me, Tris." He yelled, exasperated. "I love you. And just because some girl tries to sleep with me at a party doesn't mean that I cheated on you!"
"She isn't just some girl, Tobias! You dated her for three years! Why was she even there?"
Tobias sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. "Her dad is president of Adidas. She had to make an appearance."
Tris tried to pull away from him, but he had only grown stronger while he was gone. He could easily hurt her. She knew he would never, it was one of those unspoken terrors that they both knew he had, but the thought came up anyway. How far would she have to push? How angry would he have to be?
"Trust me." He whispered. His eyes were stern and insistent. She felt an ache in her chest. "Tris I… you have to."
The way he was looking at her, how couldn't she? Tris kept her distance from him. "You're an asshole." She whispered, lips forming a small smile.
He grinned, the same one she fell in love with all those months ago. Moving towards her, he connected their mouths urgently. She had missed him more than she cared to admit. "I love you."
"I know." He kissed her cheek and her nose and her jaw. "Now let's get you into bed." He grunted, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. It reminded Tris of their first time. She laughed, a light, airy sound that took Tobias' breath away.
"Tris?" Cristina snapped her fingers in front of her friend's face. "You good?"
Tris perked up and took a sip of her coffee. Despite the crowded cafe, she had almost fallen asleep. She was so exhausted; her summer classes were more demanding than she would have thought, the hours at the clinic had increased exponentially, and her fight with Tobias last week still left her on edge. She had tried over and over again to will herself to stop thinking about it. He told her what happened. He promised it wasn't a big deal. It was just such a huge misunderstanding.
"Yeah," Tris yawned. "Just tired."
Christina put the cap on her highlighter and tilted her head, a strand of brown hair falling in front of her eyes. "You've been like this for days. What's up?"
Tris sighed and felt her heart seize. Was she really about to talk about this? She felt the weight of it on her shoulders like nothing else. Christina was a rational person. She would definitely be able to tell Tris how stupid and over contemplative she was being.
"Is this about Tobias?"
Tris sagged her shoulders and rested her head in her hands. "I don't know, Chris."
"Talk to me." She urged, placing a palm on Tris's thigh.
"I just… he," Tris stumbled. "You saw the People Magazine article, right?"
Christina nodded. "I thought you said he apologized."
"He did. I know it's stupid but… what would you do?"
Her friend raised an eyebrow. "You mean if Will was a soccer superstar that dated one of the richest people on the planet and then took pictures with her at a party almost three years after they broke up?"
Tris groaned.
"Honestly, Tris." Christina tried to rationalize. "If he said nothing happened than you just have to trust him. I'm sure a situation like this will pop up again and you're going to have to live with it. It's kind of his life now- and your's too."
"You're right." She sighed.
"I know I am." Christina took a breath and met Tris' eyes. "The distance is an issue too, isn't it?"
"I mean-"
"Don't say no." She scolded. "I can tell when you're lying, Beatrice Prior."
Tris force a smile and waited a few moments before responding. "Yeah, it sucks. But I mean I love him and we're trying to make it work."
"You could drop out and be a trophy wife." Christina suggested, smirking.
Tris made a gagging noise, "First of all, the last thing I need right now is to be thinking about marriage. Do people even get married at twenty-one? Also, the day I become a trophy wife is the day I stop breathing."
"You and my feminine studies professor would get along very well."
Tris laughed shook her head, trying to focus down on her notes. Christina glanced at her friend one last time before attempting to do the same.
