A/N: Hello my dear initiates! Just a quick announcement. I wrote a new modern day AU Divergent story which I started posting last Saturday. It's called "The heart's melody". I would love for you to check it out, if you haven't yet, and let me know what you think of it.
Love you all.
21
Tobias' POV
We watch Tris and Liam run out of the house and by the time we follow them Liam has turned into a werewolf charging at Tris.
"What the hell?" I hear Zeke next to me.
"That thing is going to attack Tris," Uriah says.
"Kids, why do you always have to fight?" Hana asks.
"You show her Liam," Max cheers.
"Don't say that," Mrs. Prior says to Max and smacks his arm lightly.
"Liam? Where is he?" Uriah asks.
"Right in front of you. He is a werewolf, remember?" Hana asks. "Come on inside. Let them smash their skulls. They'll return eventually," she says and returns inside, dragging Mrs. Prior with her, followed by my mother and Johanna.
"Max, you coming?" Evelyn asks.
"In a minute. I wanna see this," he says.
"Isn't Tris afraid of him?" Uriah asks.
"You kidding? Tris is twice as strong and fast as him. But it's fun to watch Liam getting his ass kicked," Max says.
"You serious?" Zeke asks incredulous.
"Yesterday she fought a chimera that was three times as big as her. I think she can handle Liam," Max explains and both Zeke and Uriah look at me for confirmation. I only nod. Still, I don't like it that my girlfriend is fighting this guy.
"Come on, Tris," Uriah cheers.
We watch as Liam, in his werewolf form, charges at Tris. She jumps, ducks, avoids getting bitten, scratched or knocked out. She uses similar techniques to the ones in the ring when she fights initiates. If they knew that she could pulverize them they would crawl back to their mommies and daddies.
Liam manages to hit her and throws her a few feet until she crashes against a wall. I want to run toward her but Max holds me back. I glare at him and he shakes his head smiling before tilting it toward where the two opponents face each other. How the hell did she move so fast?
"How did she do that?" Uriah asks incredulous.
"As the Guardian she needs to be quick. If this would be a real life and death fight any delay in getting back on her feet could result in her getting injured or even killed. Not to mention we would die too," Max says.
"That would suck," Uriah says.
"She is awesome, though" Zeke comments.
"Yeah, she is," I say and smile.
"I know you think she's awesome, she's your girlfriend," Zeke teases.
"That has nothing to do with that. She is a great fighter. Which brings me to something important," I say and all three men look at me. "We need to learn how to fight these things. Tris and Liam should train us," I say.
"You would really fight your girlfriend?" Zeke asks, knowing that I would never hit a girl unless absolutely necessary.
"First of all, I wouldn't fight to hurt her. Secondly, she is the best option to teach us how to fight these monsters and come out alive. And lastly, she could kick all our asses in one move," I say proudly.
"Four's right. I haven't had a good sparring partner in a while. Oh," Max says looking toward the fight and we follow his gaze. Tris threw werewolf Liam several feet away, knocking him unconscious. She turns around and smiles when she sees us. She sprints toward us and launches herself in my arms.
"That was great, babe," I say and kiss her lips.
"You're just saying that because you don't like Liam," she whispers.
"It's one of the reasons," I admit and she laughs.
"Hey, Tris," Zeke says next to me. She turns her head, but remains in my arms. "Yeah, I know you want to smooch Four here, but we were all wondering if you would teach us some of your badass moves?"
"Only if I can smooch Four some more," she says grinning, using Zeke's words. He rolls his eyes and nods his head smiling.
"Oh, good, I get to get smooched," I say and they laugh.
"That was lame," Liam says coming toward us, changed back into his human form.
"What? That I smooch my boyfriend?" Tris asks over her shoulder.
"What? No," he says and grins. "That fight. I think you're getting soft. Ever since you joined Dauntless you are fighting like a baby," he challenges her.
"Hey, not true," she says pouting.
"Uh, yeah. And what's with the pout? If I would have said something like this to you three months ago I would have had a cracked skull, a broken arm and at least two bruised ribs," he says and Tris moves so fast, wrapping herself around him, kicking, pounding and tackling him down, that I think I might have imagined it. The next moment all we know is that Tris pins Liam down and he screams for help, which gets the women's attention and they run out.
"Tris, let him go. Now," her mom scolds.
"He started it," she whines.
"I don't care. Let him go."
"But mom," Tris whines even more.
"Now, Beatrice Prior," her mother says in a stern tone.
Tris pouts and finally let's go of him. Max helps Liam up and I would have expected him to whine or look like he is in pain but he just grins and mutters "that's my Tris". I clench my fists and grit my teeth, but don't say anything. Tris isn't his nothing. She is my girlfriend.
She must have sensed something, because she comes over to me and wraps her arms around me resting her head on my chest. I embrace her and keep her close, breathing in her strawberry scent. I smile to myself thinking of other scents.
"Calm down there," she says with a chuckle and I shift so that I can see her. She looks up and stares into my eyes, before she laughs and gently grinds against me. Damn, I'm hard. But I'm not surprised. Whenever I'm with her I'm turned on like a Christmas tree. I smile and kiss her.
We head back inside and spend another hour with the rest of the group before Liam and Tris get up and walk to the door.
"You guys coming or wanna chat with the ladies some more?" Liam asks. Uriah, Zeke and I get up and follow them. Tris holds out her hand for me to take and I gladly do so.
We walk from the faction less sector to the tracks where we take the train. I have no clue where we're going but I trust Tris. While I lean against the wall with Tris in my arms, her back pressed to my chest I whisper sweet things to her. I don't know where all this mushiness comes from, but I can't help it. And it's not like I'm telling her all this because I have to, but because I want to. I love her and want her to know just how much. We both stare out the door, which we left open, to watch the passing scenery, while Liam entertains Zeke and Uriah with old battle stories, leaving out the really bad ones. I think they all figured that Tris and I want to be left alone and decided to pick Liam's brain for a while.
Just as I lean in to kiss Tris under her ear she abruptly pulls back and stares at the door.
"Liam," she says, her voice grave. "Protect them," is all she says before she runs to the door, swings upwards and I guess lands on the roof. I go to the door but Liam closes it. I look at him both confused and angry before we all hear a loud thud. Something or someone fell down on the roof.
"Don't. It's dangerous," Liam says sternly.
"I have to help her," I say and push him a little, but he doesn't leave his spot.
"You can't, because (a) she would kill me if something would happen to any of you and (b) you would distract her," he says.
"Distract her from what?" Uriah asks.
"Vampires," he says.
"Vampires?" Zeke asks.
"Yes. She must have sensed them too. They are controlled by some Erudite chick and they are super weird. Let her handle it. If she needs help she'll yell for it," he says with a smirk, but I can tell he is serious.
"But," Uriah starts saying and Liam cuts him off.
"Listen, bro. That girl fought more bad guys than all of us combined. She knows what she's doing. And I know she can be stubborn that it borders on stupidity, but she knows her limits. But if the three of you rush to her help, like she's some fucking damsel in distress, she will get so pissed that I don't know what will be worse: you getting killed by the vamps or by her. And trust me, the vamps are a lot more merciful than Tris," he ends his speech and smiles. Uriah and Zeke share a look and then they look at me, seemingly for confirmation. I know he is right. Besides we aren't prepared to deal with supernatural opponents. Heck, Uriah is still an initiate. I nod slightly and they both back down. Before any of us can say anything the door opens and we all look toward it alerted, but instead of some monsters Tris comes through. Her hair is disheveled, her clothes torn in a few places, she has a bruised eye and a split lip and a bite mark on her neck. What? The moment I realize what it is I rush to her. I tilt her head a little to inspect it better and Uriah and Zeke step closer too.
"How many were there?" Liam asks.
"Half a dozen," Tris says as she continuously pushes my hands to the side. "Stop that," she says a little annoyed.
"You got bitten," I say.
"So?" she asks confused and when she sees the disbelief in my eyes her gaze softens. "Right. I'm immune to bites, scratches etc. I won't turn into a werewolf or vampire or anything like that. Can't say the same about any of you, though," she says.
I watch as her wounds start to heal and Zeke's and Uriah's reaction mirror mine from yesterday.
"How the hell is this even possible?" Zeke asks.
"I'll let Uriah answer that after he reads the Chronicles," she says smirking. She turns around briefly to see where we are and I follow her gaze: Candor. "Time to jump," she says and we all jump out one by one.
As we walk with her and Liam I listen to the two of them talking. They aren't too loud, but they keep their voices down. I walk behind with Zeke and Uriah because she asked me to. I'm not really happy with that guy being so close to her, but at the same time I don't want her to be pissed at me. She told me Liam is just her friend and that she loves me, but the way he stays close to her, touches her annoys me.
"Relax, dude," Zeke whispers next to me.
"What?" I ask looking at him.
"You keep glaring at Liam like he is the enemy," Zeke says.
"You're imagining things," I say.
"Am I?" he asks giving me a knowing look. I sigh.
"I just hate it when that guy gets so close to Tris," I whisper.
"They are friends, have known each other for years. Besides you and her are in love, aren't you?"
"Yes," I say, but don't sound too convinced.
"Four, you're my best friend and Tris is like a sister to me. I know I haven't known her for long but she doesn't seem like the kind of girl that jumps from one guy to the other. And if she would have really been interested in Liam she would have been his girlfriend a long time ago. But as it happens she is yours," Zeke lectures.
"I know, it's just," I start saying but stop, not knowing what to say actually.
"Just what?" Zeke insists.
"They have this bond," I say.
"Of course they do. They fight evil monsters together and whether we," he says emphasizing the last word "like it or not they have been doing it for a while now. Of course they have a bond. But she told you she loves you. Didn't she?"
"Yeah," I answer and stare at them as they laugh.
"Dude, Tris isn't one to bullshit around. She wouldn't have said that to you if she didn't mean it. Now, man up and get over it. That girl loves you, a blind dead man could see that," he says and I stare at him.
"When did you get so wise?" I ask him.
"About the same time you got stupid, my friend," he says with a snicker.
We stop when Liam and Tris stop. They both turn around and start explaining why we're here. Liam goes on to explain how they go on patrol in various parts of the city and alternate their route. They usually decide that same night. Tris explains they do this for two reasons: to patrol the city as best they can and to avoid giving their enemies the opportunity to attack them. If no one knows where they're going their enemies can't prepare to strike.
Liam continues and explains that nearby is a gathering place for the demons. But until Zeke, Uriah and I aren't better prepared for an actual fight with a demon or similar creature we won't go anywhere near the action, as he put it.
Every once in a while the three of us have questions, which Tris and Liam both answer as best they can. I realize that despite their earlier playfulness they are all business now and I can tell that they take this serious.
Tris often tells me that she keeps this as casual as possible for both the people around her and her own sake. The less they worry the more concentrated she is on her job. She can't avoid the monsters and the fighting, it's her destiny, but at least she makes the best of it. I understand more and more why Tris is the way she is. She lives each day like it's her last, because it might be. She doesn't over think everything and acts mostly on instinct and experience. I start to understand why she doesn't listen to the women when they work out plans: they really never work.
I am extremely proud of her and at the same time scared to death that something might happen to her. But I will start my training. I will go on patrol with her and fight alongside her. And I'll protect her as best as I can.
When the clock is nearly midnight we return to Dauntless while Liam goes home. The ride back is mostly silent, Uriah asking the occasional question. I ask Tris to join me tonight, especially since first thing tomorrow morning Max will announce that she and I are dating. Starting tomorrow I don't have to worry about that anymore.
We say goodbye to Zeke and Uriah, each going his own way, while we go up to my apartment. The minute we both lay our heads down we fall asleep and don't wake up until the next morning, when the alarm goes off.
"Ugh," Tris groans beside me.
"Rise and shine, baby," I say and kiss her lips. She makes a face and turns around making me face her back. "Come on, babe. We need to go down to the Pit. Max will announce my resignation as your instructor and we can finally make out in public," I say and she laughs.
"Five more minutes," she pleads without opening her eyes or moving an inch.
"Tris, if I stay one more minute with you in bed I'm going to devour you," I say and my voice is much deeper, filled with desire. She turns her head around to look at me.
"Perv", she says smirking.
"Hey, you're my girlfriend," I say pouting a little.
"So? Still a perv," she says and turns around completely, snaking her arms around me and pulling me close to her body. "Morning, honey," she says and I smile. I love it when she's like this and I know she is more outgoing than me, but she reserves this particular side only for me.
"Morning, love," I say and capture her lips in a sweet kiss. "How did you sleep?" I ask when we part.
"Okay, I guess," she says and sighs.
"Just okay?" I tease her.
"I'm so freaking tired," she says and lays down on her back.
"I can ask Max to call you in first or among the first, so that you can come up here and take a nap," I offer.
"Will you take a nap with me?" she asks looking at me.
"Sure," I say grinning and she smacks my arm. "What was that for?"
"I meant napping, sleeping, not fooling around," she says with a light laugh.
"Okay. We can do that too," I say and kiss her nose. "Come on. Let's go down to the Pit and then have some breakfast."
We get ready and leave the apartment. I refrain from holding her hand. We both decided to wait until Max makes the announcement. On our way to the Pit, which is unusually crowded this morning, but since this is an official gathering most wanted to know firsthand what is going on, we run into my personal nemesis: Eric.
"Fucking the initiates," he says with a sneer. "Very Dauntless of you."
"At least he doesn't have to fuck himself," Tris counters. I turn around and glare at her. I might be a leader and Max might be okay with our relationship, but Eric is a leader also and more importantly a threat. Why does she keep antagonizing him?
"You better watch it, Stiff," he threatens.
"Or what? You going to kill me? Or persuade some dumbasses to do the job for you?" she challenges.
"Get over yourself. You're not that important," he says and gets in her face. I step between them and push him away from her. He looks from her to me and glares. "You two will pay. After whatever Max has to say I will expose you so that the whole of Dauntless knows that you go around screwing initiates," he threatens.
"You go do that," I tell him still glaring. He turns on his heels and I look at Tris. "You have to stop doing that," I say.
"What?" she asks.
"You know what," I say sternly and she stubbornly crosses her arms in front of her chest.
We are soon joined by Zeke, Uriah and the other initiates. I watch Tris as she pulls Christina to the side and tells her something. Christina looks shocked and then looks at me and then back at Tris. She must have told her friend about us, because the next thing I see is Christina grinning widely, winking at me and hugging Tris. Tris motions her to shut up and Christina nods enthusiastically. When they both come over Christina barely contains her smile.
"What's with you so freaking happy this early?" Lynn asks.
"Oh, nothing," she says and looks from me to Tris.
"Stop that. You're freaking me out," Molly says and eyes her suspiciously. Will pulls her into his side and kisses her temple. Tris told me that these two are a couple, but I didn't really care.
Max appears on the improvised stage and starts congratulating all the initiates for their hard work and their performance in the fear landscapes. He explains that this week they will be ranked according to how well they do. Everything that happened these past three weeks was just training; it's only now that they will be tested and ranked. That being said he announces that I resigned my position as this year's transfer initiation instructor because I didn't find it ethical to train the initiates and date one of them. He tells the whole crowd, which is now a lot larger than before, everyone listening intently to what he has to say, that I came to him early, just as the fear landscapes started and told him that I developed feelings for one of my initiates. He also tells them that he decided to let me continue training them until rankings would come up and because neither one of us knew if a romantic relationship was even a possibility. But because I started seeing someone romantically I decided to step down and let him handle the rankings. Before he can continue one Dauntless asks who this girl is, since everyone knows I'm not the type to chase some pretty girl. At that Max smiles and points toward us. Tris snuck closer to me while Max spoke and now I'm holding her by her waist and she embraces my middle looking toward the crowd. They all look at us stunned for a moment only to erupt in loud cheering and stomping and congratulating us both. I decide to say something. I take Tris' hand and walk with her toward the stage. The crowd gets quiet and I take the microphone from Max.
"Thank you. I wanted just to say that while some think that I go around screwing initiates," I say and find Eric in the crowd who seems like he just got run over by a train, the shock still evident on his face, "Tris and I liked each other but kept our distance. But then we couldn't fight it anymore and we started seeing each other." I decide to go with what Max said. "I talked to Max and consulted him if what I'm doing is wrong in any way. There is no rule against fraternization, in case some of you didn't know, and I'm sure most of you saw Tris fight and know that she deserved her phase one ranking. As for phase two I decided to step down and leave it to someone who is impartial. I am not a Candor, but I am honest. I don't want you to think that I tricked you, because I have not. This was new to both me and Tris; we didn't want to rush things and make our relationship public before we even knew what it was. And if anyone thinks we should have waited until after initiation then you clearly haven't been in love before," I say and they cheer and clap and stomp again.
"You go, Four," someone yells.
"Nice girl, Four," another Dauntless joins. A few others yell some other things, mostly about how beautiful and awesome Tris is and some of the girls yell that we are cute together. Someone actually yelled very loud that we would make some damn beautiful babies. Both Tris and I blush, neither one of us liking to be in the center of anyone's attention, let alone a crowd of outspoken, crazy Dauntless. We both laugh and thank them for their support and get off the stage. I can't take it any longer and turn to face her. I cup her face and press my lips to hers, her arms snake themselves tightly around my back pulling me closer. The crowd gets louder, whistles are heard and some other things I don't even understand. The only thing I care about is this gorgeous girl in my arms and the fact that I can now do that as often as I want. I'm so going to kiss her senseless.
A/N: So, the secret is out. At least one of them.
What do you think Eric will do now that his plan of outing our favorite couple went to s***?
What will happen next, now that initiation is almost complete?
Poll. Tris for leader.
Yes
No
You decide, but do it quickly. "You don't get to pick again." (Four, Divergent)