Tris

A toilet flushes in one of the stalls. I ignore it, splashing water over my face. There's a squeak as the stall door opens and then footsteps, although the footsteps stop just behind me. I open my eyes to see Evelyn standing behind me in the reflection of the mirror.

"Hello, dear."

I turn around, facing her directly. "Evelyn." I stare at her dark eyes, almost black; they are not Tobias' eyes.

"An unfortunate surrounding for our reunion, don't you think?"

Leaning against the porcelain sink, I say, "I thought you left the city."

"Did you honestly expect I wouldn't come while my son lies unconscious in a hospital bed?"

I realize that I'm behaving no better than she had to me when we first met. This is the wrong way to go about this. If I want to maintain my relationship with Tobias, I'll need to salvage whatever it is I have between Evelyn and myself.

"I'm sorry, it's just hard to trust people right now, especially after..."

"I know, Beatrice. I didn't come here to fight with you."

"You came to see Tobias."

"Not only that. There may have been bad-blood between us in the past, but I would like to ask you for a fresh start. I understand now that I am not the only woman is Tobias' life. I suppose after taking myself away for so long, I was the only woman he was allowed to have and if I couldn't be there, no one else should. It's stupid now, looking back. He loves you genuinely and there isn't anyone else I'd rather him choose to spend his live with other than you."

And that's exactly when I break down. I've been doing a good job—at least I thought—of holding in my tears. With Evelyn's words, the tears came spilling out uncontrollably. I'm still a little surprised when her arms wrap around my shoulders.

"Let it out Tris, it's okay."

I'm practically sobbing in the arms of my boyfriend's mother, but I don't even know if that's what Tobias is to me anymore. Before I know what I'm doing, I'm unintelligibly yelling into Evelyn's chest.

"Shhh."

I pull away from Evelyn. "You don't understand. Tobias and I had a fight the day before the bomb went off. He walked away from me."

She doesn't sat anything back, she just holds me. I realize more than ever how much I miss my mom. We did not have a lot of moments like this; growing up in Abnegation, we were not one for heavy affections but we loved each other, and despite both of my parents being gone, I still love them. The pain from such a loss is resurfacing. I've never really dealt with my grief in reality. With current circumstances as they are with Tobias, I haven't allowed myself to feel much of anything else. But the floodgates have opened and I can't seem to stop.

I remember my mom coming to visit me during my initiation, there were little cues that I either missed or didn't understand. She knew even then after I introduced her to Tobias and I just wish I had more time with her to explore my feelings. Now I'm in the arms of my boyfriend's mother, a woman whom he was previously estranged. Our relationship has pretty much been nonexistent until this moment. It's strange who we seek comfort in.

Evelyn is smoothing my hair. She's a taller woman, I reach her chest. Although she seems calm on the outside, I can hear her own heart beating against my face.

"Be there for him, Tris. You and I are all he has. The rest will figure itself out later."

Not before long, I calm down and dry my eyes. We leave the restroom, Evelyn's arm around my shoulders.

We reach the door to Tobias' room, Amar is exactly where I left him but Christina is sitting up, awake. She spots Evelyn immediately, her eyes practically bulging out of her head.

Evelyn waves with her free hand.

"Tris, what the?"

"Relax, Chris. It's okay." Her eyes return to normal but she's practically on the edge of the window seat.

Evelyn's arm drops from around my shoulders and she quietly steps to the bedside. Shaking, her hand raises to brush Tobias' hair from his forehead.

Watching her be so motherly touches something deep in my core. But I'm not bothered by it, I'm encouraged.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Amar stand. Turning towards me, he tucks the photograph of Uriah into his jacket pocket.

"I'll get word back to you as soon as I find out anything."

"Thank you."

He smiles, his eyes drifting off to Evelyn after he does so. I take it he's not a fan of hers. Amar waves to Christina before he ducks from the room.

My gaze slides back to Tobias and Evelyn. With everything going on, I'm surprised that I can still find small happiness in watching as my boyfriend's mother hums to him. I can imagine happier times, Tobias as a small child, before his father started to beat him. I like to think that they were very close.