Chapter Thirteen

About an hour later we're at a large building that contains ballrooms used specifically for these purposes.

We walk past security and I watch as they all nod at my parents and then smile at Caleb, Susan and I. My Dad pulls Caleb off into a different direction than my Mom, Susan and I are heading.

Well, I'm heading towards the food and drinks and my Mom is leading Susan over to a group of women whose husbands are all most likely on the council with my Dad.

A voice speaks up behind me, startling me. "You know, I somehow expected to see you over here." I turn around and Tobias is standing behind me. I want to throw my arms around him, but I don't know who is here and if he's here that means his Mom is here and that can still get him in trouble.

"Yeah, well, I can hate this party all I want, but the food is amazing." I give him a smile and then I notice what he's wearing. He has on a black button up, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows - obviously he had on a nice jacket, but he must've taken it off when he got here – and he has a nice shadow of a beard going on.

I had to admit, he looked good a little scruffy.

He glances down at my dress, the same black dress I wore to homecoming, and then looks back up at me. "You look beautiful." My stomach knots up, in a good way, and I feel like my chest might burst with those words. I feel his fingers brushing against my hand and I tense up, looking around nervously.

"There are too many people here, Tobias."

Tobias nods, taking a small step towards me. "And it's crowded enough so that nobody will pay particular attention to us." He frowns. "Isn't this what you wanted? You were the one who said that in large crowds we'd be able to disappear."

"Yeah, but not when my parents are here. They can spot me in any crowd."

As soon as I say that, I see Susan maneuvering around the crowd of politicians and their families, a low 'excuse me' with her head down. She gets to me and breathes a sigh of relief. "Tris, there you are. Your parents want you."

She looks at Tobias and then at me. "Okay, let's go." I steal one last glance at Tobias and then pull Susan away.

"Who was that?" She asks, a small smile playing at her lips.

I dodge a caterer carrying a tray of red wine and slow down to keep pace with Susan. "It was nobody. Just…I was in his way."

"He's hot." She smirks and I playfully shove her.

I wasn't really going to argue with her statement, but I also wasn't going to say anything else because we reached my parents and they were standing with a group of people. The men were talking to my Dad and Caleb, one of the fatter men had his hand clasped on Caleb's shoulder and was laughing loudly.

My Mom turns to face us and smiles, wrapping her arm around my waist and pulling me to her side. "There you are! Why did you run off?"

"I went to get some food…" I trail off when I see Tobias standing with a group of guys no older than him. He's facing me and I see him wink. I bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from smiling, but it doesn't do too good.

For most of the night I'm stuck following my parents around and listening to my Dad brag about Caleb and Susan's engagement. A few of his friends ask me about college and Brown and I lie to them, telling them I haven't heard anything yet. "They must be saving the best for last!" One of the wives says and I resist the urge to hit her in her Botoxed face. I sit with everyone for dinner and then when everyone starts to drink, I steal myself a glass of champagne, earning a chastising look from Caleb.

He moves to stand next to me and I internally groan. "Caleb, I'm not in the mood right now."

"I'm not going to yell at you for drinking, trust me; I'm not too far behind you. I'm getting pretty tired of having to talk about my life." He takes a deep breath, leaning his elbows on the table and looking at me. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to get drunk. At least not here."

I'm about to yell at him for assuming I'd get drunk, but he shakes his head. "Just, please, don't drink too much. Dad will get pissed and you know it."

And with that, he leaves and walks back to Susan. Glaring after him, I down the rest of my champagne and then place it on a passing caterers' tray.

There's a voice in the back of my head telling me that someone is staring at me and I can feel it. I turn around and see Tobias standing by a table, holding a beer in his hand. He nods to me and then gestures for me to follow him. I glance around for my parents and see my Mom talking with some older women and my Dad is talking to a group of me who I recognize as the higher ups in the council.

Believing I was free of being watched, I nonchalantly make my way towards Tobias. He turns and heads down a hallway, making a left turn here and then right and then he comes to a stop.

Before I can say anything, Tobias grabs my wrist and pulls me into a room, shutting the door behind us. I stumble backwards, glancing around. The room is empty except for a few tables and stacked chairs. There are large windows at the far end of the room with heavy golden curtains draped around them. The walls are white and the floors are a deep maroon with golden patterns stitched into it.

"What are you doing?" I ask, fighting back a smile. He locks the door and turns to face me, gripping my waist and pulling me towards him.

His face is inches from mine; I can feel his breath against my face. "You didn't want us to be seen together, so now we're alone."

I can feel my heart beating quickly and my breathing is so, so heavy. His lips lightly brush over mine and I feel like my heart skips a beat or two. "This wasn't exactly…" I try to catch my breath. "What I had in mind."

He moves his hands from my waist to under my thighs, gripping them tightly and lifting me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and he walks a few feet until I feel my back pressing against the wall. His lips are on mine and there's a hunger behind them that I haven't felt the last few times we've kissed. I mean, kissing him is nice – really, really nice – but it feels different. A good different.

One of his hands cups the side of my face while the other is wrapped tightly around my waist, holding me up. His lips move from mine to the corner of my mouth, then to my chin and then down my neck and back up again.

Tobias presses his body against mine and I can feel the bottom of my dress riding up to my hips. I suddenly feel very self-conscious and I'm pushing my hands against his chest. "Stop…" I can barely form the words, my breathing so erratic. "Tobias, please."

He stops kissing me and looks at me, confused and concerned. "Is everything okay?" Shaking my head, he gently lowers me down back onto the floor.

I quickly fix my dress before he can see it and then press my palms against my cheeks – they're really warm and no doubt red beyond belief. "I just…I don't want someone walking in." It was a really shitty lie – he locked the door – but it was the only thing I could come up with quickly enough.

"You're lying." He places his hands on his hips and looks at me, a playful smile plastered on his face.

Giving him a face, I cross my arms. "How do you know that?"

"I'm a teacher – it's easy for me to tell when someone is lying." I give him a look that says that he's not very convincing. "Plus you get the same dent between your eyes that you get when you're frustrated." He lightly touches the spot between my eyes and I swipe his hand away.

Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I shrug and say "I just…I don't want to go too fast."

He casually shrugs and I notice, once again, how muscular his arms are and I'm suddenly distracted and don't hear him ask me a question. "Tris? Hello? You hungry?" When I nod he tells me to stay put and then disappears out the door.

When he comes back, I'm sitting on the floor, pulling my heels off and placing them next to me. He has two plates piled with food in his hands and a beer and water under one of his arms. He hands me one of the plates and I smile thankfully at him. When he hands me the water, I give him a look. "Why do you get the beer? I'm not driving."

Sitting down, he nods and places the beer to the left of him. "True, but you're also underage and if I remember clearly, you can't hold your alcohol." He winks and I shove him.

I start picking at the food on my plate and once I'm done, I lay my head down on his lap and he gently pushes my hair back away from my face. "How'd you know about this room?" I ask, looking up at him.

"I used to hide in here when my parents dragged me here when I was a kid." He looks around and then sighs, his hand absentmindedly stroking my hair. "Once my parents divorced I stopped coming. My…Father came here for awhile after the divorce. I guess he was hoping he'd see my Mom or me, but we avoided the gala for awhile. Then my Mom started dragging me here again and as soon as I turned eighteen, I put my foot down."

We sit in silence for awhile after that and I'm starting to wonder if my parents realized I disappeared. Normally they would've sought me out after being gone for so long. "Why'd don't you ever talk about your Dad?" I ask, not sure if I even meant to ask it out loud.

I feel him stiffen and I glance up at him, worried. "It's not really a topic I'm comfortable talking about."

"But why?"

He sighs and I can see that he's getting irritated. "Tris, it's not something I want to talk about. Not right now."

The silence returns and I know he's frustrated and now I'm frustrated and I just want to leave. So, I stand up and smooth out my dress.

As I'm putting my shoes back on, Tobias quickly stands up, reaching his hands out to me as if to stop me. "Tris, I'm sorry. But you really can't push me on that topic. It's way too personal."

"Fine, whatever. I won't push you on it." I unlock the door and look at him over my shoulder. "I'll see you in school." And with that, I shut the door behind me and head back into the ballroom.

Terrified Tobias was going to try and get me to meet alone with him again, I stay by my Mom's side for the rest of the night. I spot him every now and again, hanging out with some guys around his age and drinking. We make eye contact and his face gives away how sorry he is for earlier, but I still avoid him.

"Ready to go?" Caleb hands me my coat and I give him a smile in thanks. "You look as miserable as I feel."

I shrug, pulling my jacket on. "I'm just tired."

He laughs a humorless laugh, shaking his head and hiding his hands in his pants pockets. "You didn't take a nap when you disappeared for an hour?" When he sees my face he gives me a look. "Mom and Dad may not be that quick on the uptake, but I saw you disappear and follow that guy. Susan also said she saw you two talking earlier." He smirks. "Who is he?"

"He's…nobody. Don't worry about it. And please don't tell Mom and Dad."

"I mean, I don't know what I'd get out of it if I did tell them." The curious look on his face disappears and is replaced by one of worry. "Tris, who was he? I'm not going to tell Mom and Dad, I just want to know because I'm worried that something might happen."

I shake my head. "He's not like that. I trust him, Caleb. And I can't really…explain our relationship. It's difficult."

He shakes his head, placing his hand on my back and urging me towards the crowd of people heading out the front doors. "If it's so difficult, is it really worth it?"

His question takes me by surprise and I remain silent. Of course it's worth it, I mean, what I feel for Tobias, I've never felt for anybody else. I would fight for that until I couldn't fight anymore. I would never want to lose that feeling. But what if my feelings are one sided? What if he only likes me because of our relationship having to be hidden? Forbidden romances make everything more fun and sometimes people get bored once they're no longer forbidden.

"Don't get me wrong, you have to be able to fight for something in a relationship. But if it's too difficult to explain or you have to hide it?" He shrugs nonchalantly. "It just doesn't seem worth it to me."

I roll my eyes and playfully shove his arm. "That's because you're a guy and you're lazy."

We both laugh and we finally catch up with the rest of our family. Caleb wraps an arm around Susan and pulls her close to him. I watch them from the corner of my eye and I feel something tighten in my chest. The way Caleb looks at Susan – like she's the center of the universe, something to be worshipped – makes me smile.

It also makes me wish that I could be that open with Tobias and that we could be normal and show off our relationship.

My Mom's voice breaks me out of my little zone-out. "Beatrice, dear, are you coming?" She's holding the car door opened for me and I give her a shy smile and nod, climbing into the back seat next to Caleb.