A/N: You guys... I don't know how to tell you just how happy your reviews make me. Guests, I wish I could message you to thank you "personally" but I can't respond to guest reviews so just know it means a lot to me. I am having a lot of fun with this story.

I know everyone wants Uriah to wake up soon and I'm trying to get there. The story seems to kind of be writing itself and has added a couple chapters more in before we get to that point.

Anyway... enjoy the party!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

FOUR

Zeke gave up his car to his mom's boyfriend for the weekend, so he rides with me to Christina's house. Since Hana is staying here in Chicago for now, they decided Harrison would visit every other weekend. I'm really wishing Zeke wasn't in the car right now, because he is currently going on about the girl that approached me on our way out to the parking lot.

"I can't believe you said no!" he exclaims. "She was hot!"

"I said I'd go to Christina's party," I tell him. Again.

Zeke rolls his eyes. "Who cares about the party?"

"If I recall correctly, you did," I remind him.

"Whatever. You still would have ended up at a party."

"Yeah," I grumble. "With people from my old school, and my old team, and goddamn Eric Coulter."

"Who?" It's dark and my eyes are on the road, but I can just picture the scrunched-up face that Zeke must be making right now.

"The asshole from outside the locker rooms," I remind him not-so-patiently.

"Oh. So? That chick was clearly inviting you out for more than just a party," he says, his smile audible in his voice. "Seriously, Four, you were crazy to pass that up. When was the last time you got laid?"

"Zeke," I warn him.

"What? Come on, man, give me some details. I tell you everything."

Unfortunately, he does. "And I really wish you wouldn't."

"Just gimme a name then."

"No."

Zeke is quiet and for one blissful minute, I think he has given up. And then he says ― no, he shouts, "No way!" I glance at him with a confused look and he keeps yelling. "You've gotta be kidding me. Most eligible bachelor of Dauntless High, a virgin. Tell me I'm wrong."

I feel my face flush and a feeling of panic. "What?! Just because I don't brag about it doesn't mean I haven't."

"Uh huh," Zeke says with obvious sarcasm. "Again, tell me I'm wrong."

My heart is pounding. Because he's right, but I really never wanted to admit to that. It isn't that I haven't had opportunities; I've had plenty. And I've done...other things. But Tris is the first girl I trusted enough to let see me without a shirt, and I care too much for her to try and jump into too much too fast.

"Don't worry, man," Zeke chortles. "We'll do something about that."

"I don't need your help, Zeke," I snap. "Just drop it."

Zeke holds his hands up. "Fine, fine, I'll drop it," he says. Then he smirks. "For now. But I'm not letting you get away with turning down another girl like that Vanessa. Man, I should have offered to go with her in your place."

"I thought you liked Shauna," I snap. Earlier tonight, in the locker room, Zeke had just confessed to me that he had feelings for Shauna. She has been a great support to him through this whole ordeal with Uriah and goes with him to the hospital to visit almost every day after practice.

"I do, I do," Zeke says. "Doesn't mean I can't look and besides, I haven't even asked her out yet."

"Zeke," I warn him. "Shauna is your friend, and she's my friend, too. So you have to cut all this player shit out if you want anything with her. Or else you're only going to hurt her."

"Fine, chill, man. I got it," Zeke grumbles.

An hour into the party, I am on my fourth beer. My conversation with Zeke on the way here did nothing to calm me down after dealing with Eric, Mom and Marcus, and losing the game, and my shoulder injury, but the alcohol does.

Tris looks good tonight… really good. It's getting harder to keep myself away from her and I keep reminding myself that she doesn't want anyone to know about us yet. I stand off to the side and watch her play a drinking game with Lynn and some people whose names I don't remember. I forget that I've finished my beer until I go to take a sip and come up with nothing. So I go to the back porch to recycle the can and get another drink. I should probably get a soda this time, I think, so that I don't end up doing anything stupid.

Zeke comes up next to me on my way to the cooler. "Brittany Emery has been eyefucking you all night," he says, nudging my bad arm with his elbow. I wince away from him.

"So?"

Zeke grabs two beers from the cooler and tosses me one. I set it on the porch railing so I can open it with one hand.

"Come on," he says, "maybe you could take care of your little problem."

"Not exactly at my best tonight if you hadn't noticed," I remind him, gesturing at the sling my left arm rests in.

"Even better. She can do all the work."

I roll my eyes and am about to retort when I hear a whiny voice that makes me tense up.

"Well, look who's here. Didn't think you'd want to show your face tonight, Eaton," Peter says from behind me. "We'd have finished out the season undefeated if it wasn't for you."

I clench my jaw and give him my best glare. "Who do you think kept us undefeated as long as we were? It wasn't you," I remind him.

"Four will still carry us through the playoffs," Zeke says.

"Unless he gets another boo-boo and pusses out again," Peter says.

"I've seen you benched for less," Zeke scoffs. "Injuries are a part of the game. That's why he should have had a decent quarterback as backup."

"Yeah, and who's fault was that? He got me suspended," Peter snaps, pointing a finger at me.

I roll my eyes. "I wasn't the one charging down the hallway knocking over anyone in my way. You did that to yourself, Peter."

Peter huffs. "Sure, keep telling yourself that, golden boy. I know it was you who put that smoke bomb under my car."

"I don't know anything about it, Peter."

"Yeah, right. I saw your Mustang driving out of my neighborhood the night before."

"Wasn't me," I lie. "I don't have the only classic Mustang in town, you know."

"Right. I'm sure it was another Mustang. Especially since I not only saw you driving, I clearly saw Tris Prior in the driver's seat. You get her into bed yet? We can compare notes. Invite Al to the party."

"Leave Tris out of this," Zeke growls.

I clench my good hand into a fist. "What does Al have to do anything?" I ask in a low voice.

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Peter says with false innocence. "He told me and the other guys all about what he and Tris got up to today."

"And what was that?" Zeke grinds out.

"Why should I tell you that?" Peter grins. He finally grabs a beer out of the cooler and with a sarcastic salute, he walks away, whistling. If I had use of both arms, I'd beat him down right now.

Zeke curses under his breath and the look on his face is murderous. He turns to me. "I think we need to find Al. What kinda bullshit rumors is he spreading about Tris? I'm gonna kick his ass. Come on."

A half hour later, Zeke is in the kitchen getting cleaned up from the fight he got into with Drew. I got a couple hits in myself, I really wish I hadn't been incapacitated with one arm in a sling. No one knows where Al disappeared to, the coward. It turned out he had been telling stories that he had felt Tris up while they supposedly made out during his seven minutes in heaven dare today. For a minute I felt betrayed by Tris. Surprisingly it was Zeke who used logic to debunk Al's claims; he pointed out that he knew for a fact they were only in there for seven minutes, so there was no way they could have done all that and also snooped through Reyes's car to find so many interesting things.

I lean back against the porch railing, drinking half of the fresh beer I just grabbed from the cooler before I come up for air. This is my sixth beer… or is it my seventh? Or eighth? I don't even know. Maybe it's good that I was out of the fight before it began, because I'm tripping over my own feet and my body doesn't seem to want to do what it's told in general.

None of my friends are around here so I am just standing here, counting down the minutes until I am supposed to meet Tris in the laundry room. She's already down there waiting for me but we can't really be seen going off together. I hate that, having to hide. Cause Tris is the best. She is so sexy and kind, and smart even if she doesn't realize it, and beautiful, and brave, and awesome.

And so I am just standing here drinking another beer and wishing I was already with Tris. My reflexes are getting even slower and the ground is unstable beneath my feet and making me sway a bit so I lean back on the porch railing.

Then I realize that I have been daydreaming about Tris for a while and I was supposed to meet her five minutes ago now. So I quickly chug the rest of my beer and toss the can in the recycling, except for that it lands a foot to the right. I shrug it off and start toward the laundry room and I stumble, I think one of the boards on the deck might be a little loose or something.

Just as soon as I have gotten my balance someone falls right into me and crutches clatter to the ground. I manage to keep my balance and hold the girl up too. Of course, it is Lauren.

"Hi, Four," she says in a weird low voice. "I'm glad I bumped into you."

She hangs onto my arm to keep her balance. "Why's that?" I ask.

"I just thought we could spend some time together, silly," she says. "I can make you feel better."

"Feel better?" I ask as I help her to reach the railing, even though it's only a couple feet away.

"Mmm-hmm," she hums as I bend down to grab her crutches. I stand back up and am meaning to hand them to her when she lunges for me.

I was not expecting her hands around my neck and I was not expecting her lips on mine. And I just stand there for a second letting her kiss me while my brain catches up. Then I want to push her off but she has a broken leg and would fall on her ass if I did. So I try to grab her upper arm with my right hand to move her away from me, but I only have the one free hand. So I hold her in place and take a big step back from her.

"What was that about?" I say, letting go of her arm and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I can feel her spit all over the outside of my mouth and I don't want it there, I didn't want her at all.

"Come on, Four, just relax," she purrs. And then she starts babbling something about being perfect together or something, but I am not listening because I see Tris standing at the back door to the house just a few yards away from us with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised. Her face is all but expressionless and I can't get a read on her. With Lauren still rambling at me and me still not listening to a word she's saying, Tris turns and walks back into the house.

"I'm not interested, Lauren," I say, dismissing her. I pay no attention to whatever she is saying as I walk away and into the house to find Tris.

Inside the house I don't see Tris anywhere. I wander around for a minute, dodging that Brittany girl Zeke mentioned, until I decide to try the laundry room even though I know it's too much to hope for.

Except it isn't, because I walk in and find Tris sitting on top of the washing machine.

"Wondered what was taking you so long, ladies' man," Tris says. "Close the door."

I do as I am told and start toward her. My nerves and all the beer I drank are not a good combination and I really hope this queasy feeling doesn't lead to me puking all over Christina's laundry room floor.

"Tris," I say, "that wasn't what it looked like. She dropped her crutches and I went to pick them up and then suddenly she was all over me. I didn't mean to kiss her, I swear. Or let her kiss me. Or―"

"Calm down, Tobias," Tris says. "I trust you, and I know what Lauren is like. I'm not mad."

"You're not?" I ask, feeling a bit confused. She shakes her head no. "You… you're not jealous?" I remember how I felt when I heard what Al was saying, even if it didn't make sense.

"No," she says. "Now stop wasting time, we can't be gone too long. Get over here and kiss me."

So I forget about Lauren, and Al, because kissing Tris is much more fun.