THIS CHAPTER WAS TAKEN DOWN BRIEFLY BECAUSE I NEEDED TO EDIT A BIG PART OF IT.
To those who have read the un-edited version, basically, all that I did was reclarify a conversation which was confusing and did some major editing on the scene where Tobias brings Tris to his room. So you might want to read through that part.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
~Lynda
A/N: :)
Here is my attempt in seeking for forgiveness for the previous cliffhanger. And please, do excuse me and notify me if you find any typos or grammatical mistake. I just ran through this chapter twice to make sure that it is okay and I am not so sure if it is but... I thought that it'll be nice to post this up extra early as a thank you to you guys who have been staying with me throughout the story. Believe me, posting a story which no one reads is like an opera singer singing in an empty auditorium- sad, weird and lonely.
And I am feeling very fever-ish actually (I am going to kill that guy who got me infected with his germs). So there might be a lot of typos and grammar mistakes which slipped through my filterings. And the writing quality might lack somewhere here and there, but please notify me and tell me where, if you find any, are the lacking parts. Because I'd like to look through them and maybe fix them once I feel better.
Have a great week and don't stress too much through school, work, or anything you're going to need to go through! x
The end is near.
Have fear.
Divergentmaniac: Hey ,Sorry that i have not reviewed for a long time...life was giving me a tough time recently and so i couldn't read fanfiction...but when i checked it today and saw so many updates from u..it literally made my day. I absolutely love the way this story is progressing. Every chapter holds a new surprise and had i read each them individually i would have probably died of suspence waiting for the the next chapter! I feel very sorry for Tobias and Beatrice. just as thing seem to be going good for them..something or someone has to spoil it..it almost seems as if fate does not want them to be together. But hopefully this long wait and these struggles that they are facing will make their relationship much stronger and their reconciliation 100 times better. This chapter was very surprising. can't believe that albert and edward and the dean are all involved in this racket. and dear old fernando...i sincierly hope he gets the idea and backs off. I cant wait to see what happens next.
Until the next chapter
Divergentmaniac :)
Hi! I have been wondering where have you been to. I hope that you'll have the strength to go through your life's trials.
:) Yeah, that's what I have in mind. Struggles and trials will test a relationship's strength and make them much better- if they survive throught the trial that is.
The Albert, Edward and the dean's story will be explained through the dean's words in this chapter. But I am thinking of making another Tumblr post where I will compile all the clues which hints at the Peters' plans which I dropped throughout the story. I will be sure to notify you once I have posted it up.
Fernando is like a dog without a bone, running after one. He's just looking for someone to love and care really. He just got a little bit too obsessed and possessive of Beatrice since he's sort of like... imprinted himself on her and couldn't find a way to leave her, even if it's better that way. I pity him.
Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent.
A familiar high pitched scream tears through the night once more and Tobias finds himself running towards the direction which she went.
His heart drops when he reaches the end of a staircase.
A trail of green glass shards litters across the ground in front of him and right at the middle lies his student—knocked out cold.
"Goodness, Tris!" He cries, running towards his student.
"I told you that you are going to fall, but you are so stubborn. You and that stubborn little head of yours, how many times have you fallen off a flight of steps because of your pretty but so freaking stubborn head?"
"Eaton?"
Tobias turns around to look at the man behind him.
"Eaton what happened?"
Tobias checks her bones to make sure that there aren't any serious damage, cursing when he finds out that her left ankle is definitely broken. "I heard a scream." He quickly lies, also noticing that there is a very red spot in her forehead, ready to turn into a bad bruise in a few minutes. "And so I ran from our apartment."
"Well what exactly happened? She seems pretty badly hurt, it couldn't just be a simple fall—what with the glass shards and all."
Tobias doesn't reply as he pulls the unconscious girl into his arms, striding back towards the university in hurried steps yet being extremely careful to not drop her down or he is going to kill himself for it.
The path towards the infirmary seems to stretch even longer by the passing minute and the blood seeping from her fingers starts to soak into his brown coat.
"Goodness Tris..." He mutters. "What have you been eating? You've grown so much heavier..."
Edward grips the baseball bat behind his back and swings his arm slightly to the back—
"Professor Eaton, is that... Beatrice?"
Edward's eyes snap to the brunette girl standing in front of Tobias.
Her voice runs cold inside his body, creeping its way into his heart.
His armed hand drops to his side.
His knees lock themselves in place.
"Gladwing. You're her classmate aren't you?" Eaton asks in front of him.
"Roommate even." She nods, jogging to catch up with the professor as he strides hurriedly. "She didn't come back even when it was reaching midnight and she didn't answer my calls. The security guard called me to take a phone he found on the ground since my contact number was one of the last dialled number and I panicked as the phone was Tris's and I thought that she's probably in danger since she never leaves her phone around and though her bag can get messed up, but she isn't so forgetful as to leave her phone."
"Well it's okay. I've found her now and I'll bring her over to the infirmary. You aren't supposed to be hanging around the university post-midnight so why not you get back to your dorms?"
"But Profe—"
"I'll have Mayhem here to escort you back."
Myra freezes in her steps.
"M—Mayhem?"
Tobias nods his head leaving the two of them behind.
"Ed... Edward... Edward Peters?"
Tobias freezes.
"Peters?" He gasps, slowly turning around to face the man behind him.
His green eyes stare back into his midnight blue ones and Tobias's jaw drops by an inch.
He knew that he's seen those eyes somewhere.
He knew that he hates the way they look when Edward is smirking at him.
He knew that he's always had the temptation to punch him in the face every-time Edward looks at him with mischief.
Sirens wail around them and blue lights start to flash wildly before three police cars make themselves noticeable. Edward tries to run away, but he is too late.
Three cops jump down from one of the cars and handcuffs Edward before another few dashes for Tobias with more handcuffs in hand.
"Let him go, please." A brunette lady speaks as she steps out from one of the police cars. "He's innocent, this is the Mr. Eaton I told you about."
"Aunt Zoe?" Myra asks, eyes widening in horror when she sees that her aunt has her hands locked together by a handcuff. "What... what's happening?"
"It's a long story dear." The dean sighs, watching the fallen knight running towards the infirmary with his lover held tightly in his arms. "But no matter what you'll be reading in the papers, know that I've been doing all this to save you... until I realise that I have no rights to ruin your friend's life. She deserves to be happy, just like you. You'll find out what is and has been happening when you read the papers tomorrow or maybe the day after." The dean pulls out a white envelope from her pocket. "But while that, I wish that you can pass this to your philosophy professor."
Myra bites her lower lip harshly. A metallic tangy taste of blood seeps onto her tongue, as she watches the police cars driving away from her one by one.
CCO
Tobias rushes into his bedroom, places the limp body on his bed and throws her brown book bag onto his desk chair. He pauses, watching how her chest rises and falls so peacefully despite the fact that her skin is scratched, battered, bruised...
Is it wrong for him to treat her injuries by himself?
Can he treat her injuries by himself?
Yes, you can do this, Eaton. It's not like the nurses at the infirmary can do a better job than you can.
What did you learn at school when you were younger? The best way to treat a broken bone is to rest it, ice it, compress it and elevate it. He has rested her leg, and so now he should ice it.
Tobias nods his head to himself once before he runs to his kitchen to pull out some ice, divides them by half and wraps them into two separate cloths.
Flicking his bedside lamp on, Tobias unbuttons her coat and lifts her up softly to remove it from her body as he places one of the cloth filled with ice on the bluish-red bruise on her forehead and the other on her ankle.
Compress, Tobias—compress the injury... You need a bandage for you to do that.
Where did you keep your bandage?
He marches into his bathroom to fetch his first aid kit and lay the contents out on the bed, chewing on the insides of his cheeks as he tries his best to aid her injuries.
You can do this Tobias. Just... keep a calm head and remember what you've learnt from school on first aid tips.
Biting his lower lip, Tobias places the bandage at the ball of her foot, wraps the bandage around it once before circling it around the arch of her foot.
A figure eight pattern, Tobias. Wrap the bandage around her foot and ankle in a figure eight pattern.
Slipping the bandage behind her ankle, Tobias tries his best to keep it still as a voice in his head repeatedly reminds him to not move her ankle too much or he might worsen the injury.
The bandage runs to an end and Tobias holds it in place with a bandage hook.
Rest, ice, compress, elevate...
He needs to elevate it next.
Tobias reaches for one of the spare pillows on the head of his bed and places into under her wrapped ankle before he presses the clothed ice back onto it.
There, you did it Tobias. Great job.
He smiles proudly at himself, though frowns when he realises that her fingers are still clotted with blood and that there is a fierce red line which cuts across her right cheek. His fingers grazes her cheek to examine it, his eyes trained wholly onto them.
"There's still this bruise Tobias." She says, pointing at the purple swell on her cheek.
He taps his chin in a motion of keeping a serious face—a wide grin still peeks through his lips. "This one," Tobias says, pointing at the bruise. "Will disappear with a kiss."
The corners of his lips quirk up.
It was an excuse—a stupid and dumb excuse.
A stupid and dumb excuse to see how will it feel like to kiss her cheeks.
But it worked.
He kissed her.
And her cheeks... they felt soft. Her cheeks felt so soft against his lips.
And when he licked his lips the moment after, they tasted sweet.
Will they still taste sweet now?
His eyes flicker up to her closed eyelids.
She won't wake up yet, right?
Biting his lower lip, Tobias sits down on his desk chair and rests a palm on the pillow beside her head and bends down towards her face, her steady breath fans against his ear and the heady smell of her vanilla and spices cologne infiltrates his senses and his lips dances a few centimetres away from their intended target—reaching for the corner of her lips instead.
The doorbell rings twice and Tobias springs back, his chair screeching as the force of his surprise pushes it back.
The doorbell rings again before Tobias quickly rushes out of his bedroom, frowning and shaking his head at himself.
That was not supposed to happen, Eaton.
His eyes widen and his cheeks redden when he sees a short brunette girl standing in front of his front door which has been left ajar during his frenzy.
The front door which directly faces the bedroom door.
The bedroom door which has also been left opened after he went to fetch the ice pack from the freezer.
The bedroom door which directly faces the bed and his desk chair.
His desk chair which he was sitting on during his crazed stupor.
"My aunt, the dean, she gave me this." She says, a frown etched deeply on her lips.
Thank goodness she didn't notice my crazed stupor.
"And she told me to give it to you." She continues to which he frowns in return.
"Oh." Tobias replies shortly as he plucks the envelope from her fingers.
The Cincinnati University crest decorates the top left corner of the envelope and the name Mr. Eaton is carefully written in the middle of the envelope. Tobias flips the envelope around to tear the envelope open.
"Umm... Professor?"
Tobias looks up from the paper.
"Can I... see how Beatrice is doing?"
He turns to look at the lady on his bed—she still hasn't moved, still asleep—unconscious.
"Yeah." He replies to the brunette, nodding his head twice. "And can you help me clean the blood on her hands while I read this?" He asks as he locks his front door and pulls out a chair from under the dining table.
Myra nods her head before running off towards the bedroom Two pieces of folded papers spill out of the envelope as he shakes the envelope upside down. Tobias picks up one of them and unfolds it.
Mr. Eaton,
I wish to convey my sincerest apology for bringing you into this whole mess.
It was a couple of months ago when you applied to work as our philosophy professor that Mr. Mayhem, or his real name, Edward Peters, pushed for me to accept it. I didn't understand why should I enrol you as our philosophy professor when you clearly do not even qualify for the position. And as the head of the department, I refuse to accept an application simply because of Mayhem's reasoning that as a freshly graduated person, you'd understand how the students will feel and act, thus, will know how to handle them better.
If you can handle a class but are unable to teach them, what is the purpose of being a professor?
I was about to decline your application when his brother, Albert Peters, entered the office and threatened me that if I do not accept your application, he will harm my niece—who is also a student of yours. And though my niece and I are not very close, I still feel obliged to accept your application in order to save her.
Since then, they always came up with orders and instructions on what I should and should not do if I want my niece to be safe. Right then, they usually told me to keep you near Mayhem at all times so that he can keep a close eye on you and so that he can also look for ways to get you and Miss Prior closer with each other—which perplexed me, but I wasn't so worried about it.
But one day, I heard them discussing about a certain plan to kidnap and harm Miss Prior. When I asked them why, they told me that it is out of vengeance but none of it is a part of my business to know. It puzzled me... why didn't they just kidnap Miss Prior instead of trying to get her close to you first if they are having a grudge against her. But when I noticed how furious Albert Peters usually gets at the mention of your name that he even told us to only call you as the Fallen Knight, I realised that he wasn't holding a grudge over Miss Prior. He was holding a grudge against you.
And the cruellest way for a person to punish another is to take away someone who they love. And though I couldn't understand why didn't they just killed or tortured your family, I guess they have their own reasons for it. In fact, throughout the whole process, Albert Peters always seems like he has a special interest in Miss Prior and is much more excited about the part where he can torture the poor lady instead of the part where he will throw hr soulless vessel on your front doorstep and get his vengeance. I suppose that maybe you can understand that part though since you have known him before?
The paper crumples in his curling fist.
That sick bastard!
When the two of you finally got together, the plan was to simply kidnap Miss Prior on her birthday last Sunday before that sunset meeting you were supposed to have with her. (Yes, the Peters have read that letter which you left on Miss Prior's doorstep.) What they had in mind was that the Albert Peters would wait at that little corner in the library to drug her unconscious while Mayhem hold you back in your office. Unfortunately for them, Mr. Wolt ruined the whole plan by getting there right before Miss Prior entered the library and also by breaking the two of you apart.
Fortunately for the Peters though, Miss Prior ended up in a fight with Mr. Wolt about it and went physically offensive on him which gave me an excuse to arrange that 'detention' which the Peters were hoping will rekindle your relationship with her.
What happened, however, was even better. Though you didn't kiss and make up or anything near to that, you realised that Miss Prior isn't to blame for the library affair and you were feeling both guilty for accusing her of such things and your passion and longing and desperation for her dramatically increased. Thus, it was the perfect time for them to strike for you'd feel even guiltier if she comes back weak and hurt and practically dying—or maybe even dead, when you haven't gotten the chance to apologise and make up for your mistakes—she'll die thinking that you were a mistake.
Tobias bites into his lower lip as it starts to shake.
He must not tear up this letter.
He needs to know what happened.
He forces the lump in his throat down and the red cloud in his head away.
Tobias reads on.
When Mayhem returned to the lecturer's office to distract you and bring you over to his room—with an intention of overriding your systems with alcohol, and Albert Peters has instructed all of his lackeys to help him kidnap the girl, I made an immediate decision to call for the police and also to distract Mayhem by sounding his car alarm in order for me to be able to warn you about the danger Miss Prior was in.
That is when I decided to write this letter. It is not in my intention to write it so that you will understand the situation I was forced into in hopes that you will forgive and forget like I didn't just endanger Miss Prior's life, but I believe that you deserve a better explanation of what has happened instead of what I have told you in front of your apartment just now or what you will learn from the news.
I hope that my actions haven't scarred your or Miss Prior's lives badly and that the two of you will get a better life in the future—you both deserve it.
Send my regards to my niece, Myra Gladwing and if she asks for an explanation over what I have done, I won't restrict you to tell or to not tell her about the accounts which I have written in this letter—I will leave that decision to you.
The other letter consists of the details of the last action I took before I step down from my position in the university.
Signed,
Zoe Gladwing.
With a frown, Tobias unfolds the second letter.
Zoe Gladwing
365C, Bellevue Avenue,
Cincinnati, Ohio
26th October 2015
Tobias Eaton
Professor of Philosophy,
Cincinnati University.
Dear Mr. Tobias Eaton,
This letter is being written on behalf of Cincinnati University. It is the formal notification that your position in the arts department of the university has been terminated due to your lack of performance. This is effective after your last day of work, which was October 26th, 2015.
You have demonstrated an unfortunate lack of productivity in teaching. We have received several complaints about your failure in explaining certain theories and concepts from your own students.
We are expecting for you to leave your room keys, office keys, and any other equipments which have been lent to you by the university on your desk and also that you have cleared your belongings from your room and desk by tomorrow morning.
I am deeply sorry for firing you from your position, but because of your lack of performance, this issue is unnegotiable. Maybe if you improvise yourself and reapply for the position one day, we will be happy to take you in.
Respectfully,
Zoe Gladwing
Dean of the Department of Arts,
Cincinnati University
The paper feels heavy in his hands as his eyes reread the letter again and again.
Terminated.
Fired.
He is to leave this place by tomorrow morning.
What is he going to tell his father?
How can he take care of Tris?
How can he even be with Tris?
How can he even see Tris?
He can't just linger around the campus like an obsessed stalker once he has nothing to do here. But who is going to take care of her while he is away and she is still in her healing process? Who is going to make sure that she will rest properly before she can walk again? And someone has to monitor her while she is still suffering from a post-concussion syndrome.
Tobias scratches his head furiously.
If this letter had come into his hands a month ago, he'd have rejoiced. He was desperate to get away from her. Desperate to not see her again, to not hear her voice again.
But now...
Now he is desperate to stay and watch her eyes twinkle and hear her merry laughter.
Desperate to stay and have ridiculous philosophical debates with her.
Desperate to stay and just... be there with her, for her, to keep on loving and caring for her.
To just see her smile, hear her talk, just...
Crumpling the paper and tossing it aside, Tobias pushes himself away from the dining table and trudges towards his bedroom. He leans his body to the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and watches the niece of the dean as she talks to Tris in a low voice.
For a moment, his heart skips a beat as he thought that Tris has actually woken up until he realises that her eyes are still closed.
"It's getting late." He announces, shocking Myra. "You should get back to your dorms."
Myra Gladwing presses her upper teeth onto her lower lip and releases a sigh through her nose. She whispers a few more words to the unconscious lady before pushing herself up from the bed and stepping out of the room.
The letter still lies on top of the dining table. Tobias picks it up.
"The dean—your aunt," He starts, scratching the back of his neck. "She's been a brave woman and a great aunt."
Myra furrows her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
He hands the letter to her which she slowly unfolds until Tobias stops her.
"Keep it, read it later." He says, placing a hand behind her back as he escorts her to his front door. "I was serious when I told you that it's getting really late and that you should get back to your room. You don't know what may lurk in the shadows."
Myra offers a small smile and a silent thanks as she pockets the letter and steps out of the front doorway. She takes another step forth before pausing and turning around to face him.
"You know, Beatrice she... loves you very much."
Tobias frowns. "She mentioned that she loved me. She probably doesn't any longer."
"Well no matter whatever she said, professor, you should know better than to trust her exact words without analising her actions." Myra crosses her arms over her chest. "She said that she loved you, yes. Maybe her lips had utter that. But how can you be sure that she meant those words? How can you be sure that it came from her heart? How can you be sure that her heart agreed on it?"
Tobias fidgets with his fingers in his pocket.
"Love comes from the heart, professor. And unless her heart agrees on what she said, her lips can never define her feelings."
"You should probably go now." Tobias blurts out, looking up to her eyes for a split second before they avert themselves to glance at the wall behind her head.
"I will." Myra replies, nodding her head. "And I hope that, since I am incapable of it, you'd take a good care of her. Just... think of all this as a trial to test the strength of your faith and love for one another."
Myra shrugs her shoulders a little before walking away from him.
His eyes linger on the young lady until she disappears from the corridor.
His lips curl up into a small, shy smile.
"Thanks." He whispers through the darkness.
P/S: Please, do not just wrap your broken ankles with a bandage and think that it is good enough. It is not and we will see what happens to her injury in the future chapters (don't worry. It isn't something too bad.).