So, yes, the last chapter was sad, but it was one of my best. So, yeah… Keep reading. – Rae
Tris POV
A knock at the door breaks me out of my trance. A trance which involved music, crying, and looking at family pictures unconsciously. I answer the door to find Tobias standing there, looking worried. He's called me three times since I left the hospital. Go straight home, Tris. Clean yourself up, Tris. I'm on the way, Tris. It's almost like everyone expects the worst from me. They expect me to hurt myself or jump into the Chasm. I just can't imagine doing such a thing to myself with such a scattered mind. If I had thought things through, I would probably do something, but at the moment I can barely clean myself up.
"How you feelin', babe?" Tobias asks.
"Like I'm dreaming. Like crap. Like Andrew was looking for me. Like my mother is dying. Like everything is against me. Like I never deserved what I got. Tired, Tobias, tired." I rant.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that the answer I have decided to give you is tired. I feel tired. Hungry."
"When was the last time you ate?"
"California." I say unfazed by how quickly he hops up from the couch. He picks me up and sits me on the kitchen counter. He then starts rummaging through the cabinets, pulling out a can or seasoning or a box here and there. He takes off his shirt, revealing a white wife beater underneath. I sit on the countertop and watch him work. I watch his muscles flex as he breaks the pasta and pops open cans. His deep blue eyes are set for a trained task. He works diligently, the entire time being silent.
"Toby, would you mind if I took a quick shower upstairs?"
"Isn't there somewhere you could take it down here?"
"Yeah, but all of my things are upstairs." He turns up the fire under the pasta and walks away without a word. I watch him up the stairs and I listen to the opening and closing of doors. All too soon, he runs back down the stairs and stops in front of me. Next to me he sits down clothes, shampoo, a face towel, and body wash. He takes a scrungie from around his wrist and slides it onto mine.
"Down here, Tris, for my sake." I nod my head, climbing down from the counter. I walk down three hallways and enter the second door on my left. 3 high, 2 long, my mother would say when teaching me and Caleb the anatomy of our house. I remember all the times I would come home from a dirty Softball game and she would help me bathe down here. The house always bought back happy memories from my childhood, but now it irks me. The tingling feeling I get when I walk through the dining room, the sopped up blood staining Caleb's beige carpet, the constant voices and memories playing back in my head are all too much. The tears that roll down my cheeks. Every time I'd cry Caleb would tell me about how tears defy scientific research, which led me to telling him to shut up; it made me feel better.
I turn the water on as hot as it can go and strip my clothes, stepping in to the smoky closed space. I scrub myself mercilessly, trying to scrub away all sorts of pain and trauma. I take advantage of how far the kitchen is from this bathroom and I scream. I release all of the stress and anger that had built inside of me with this one scream. After I scream, I turn off the water, suddenly feeling lighter than I did just 10 minutes ago. I take a look at what Tobias got me for the first time. It's just black leggings, a cheer camp t-shirt, and white slouchy socks, thankfully. I did not feel like another Tobias Eaton outfit at the moment.
I return to the kitchen, taking the same route that I left and am hit with a marvelous scent. Tobias didn't say what he was preparing, but from the smell of it he is going to feed me for every day I missed. The candles are lit and the table has pasta, broccoli, and garlic hread layed out precisely. Tobias emerges from the kitchen with a wine bottle.
"You need it, Tris." He says calmly. That simple statement reminds me of what is going on. My mother in a coma and my brother immoblie. The possibily of having to plan a funeral. All too much. I turn around and punch the mirror behind me. It shaaters.
Review.- Rae