CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

TRIS

Tobias storms in the next morning without knocking. He has spent so much time here over the past month that such formalities have become unnecessary. I am sitting in the kitchen when he arrives, and I look up, startled.

"What's wrong?" I ask, not bothering with a greeting.

"Peter," he seethes. "It had to be Peter."

"What did he do?" I ask, feeling heavy. I can't stand that guy.

Tobias reaches out his hand and I take it without question and allow him to lead me out to the driveway.

I gasp when I see the driver's door of his car. The previously flawless black paint is now marred by four long scratches in varying depths. "He keyed your car," I whisper. I can imagine how angry I would be if I found such vandalism on my own truck. I have worked hard on that truck, just as Tobias has on his Mustang, so I can understand the fury I see in Tobias's eyes. I squeeze his hand. "Well, I have everything we need, except the paint, and we can use my garage to keep rain and dirt off while it dries. I guess that gives us another project, doesn't it? Another excuse to spend even more time together." I smirk up at him and bump his hip.

Some of the anger drains from Tobias's eyes and is replaced with amusement. "Thank you, Peter," he snickers. He starts to lead me back to the house and pauses. "Is Marlene here?"

"Yep," I answer.

"Let's go to the garage. Take inventory of equipment and supplies, just to be sure."

I laugh as I dig the garage key out of my pocket and lead him to the door.

The week passes quickly. My English test on Catcher in the Rye is handed back with a big red 'A' on it, and Tobias pulls me into an empty classroom on the way to lunch to celebrate. I return to the cheerleading squad, although I am not permitted to participate in any stunts that could aggravate last month's neck injuries. Marlene does not question the time Tobias spends at my house helping me with my math homework and working on his car; after realizing that my garage and interest in vintage cars was a good excuse to spend time with me, he decided to add a few other upgrades to the list. And in preparation for next week's basketball team tryouts, Zeke invites Shauna and me to play basketball with himself and Tobias one night after practice.

The most exciting news is that Uriah, who I still visit every two or three days, shows the first signs of responsiveness. I don't really know much about comas, but when Marlene and I visit Wednesday night I swear I feel him squeeze my hand. It is weak, but it is the first time in all these weeks that he has shown any sign of awareness whatsoever, and it takes everything in me not to run screaming through the halls of the cafeteria to tell Zeke right that instant. He must go to the cafeteria twice per visit; like Uriah, Zeke is a bottomless pit.

"Tris," Marlene says, watching me fidget in my seat, "go down and find Zeke. I'll sit with Uriah, see if it happens again."

So I speed walk down the halls, since running would probably not be well received by the hospital staff. There is a crowd waiting for the elevator and patience is something I do not have right now, so I detour to the stairwell and run down eight flights of stairs to the ground level where the cafeteria is.

I quickly spot Zeke in the dining area, now nearly finished with his plate of food, and he just about squeezes the life out of me with his hug when I tell him what happened.

"I didn't tell you because I thought I was imagining it," Zeke says when we sit back down together at the table, "but yesterday, he turned his head and I could have sworn it was because he heard me."

"Maybe he did," I grin. "Maybe he'll wake up soon."

"Yeah," Zeke says. "I hope so. Maybe in time for Thanksgiving." He frowns. "Though I expect he'll have to stay at the hospital a while longer either way, won't he?"

"Probably," I say. "Just think how upset he'll be if they won't let him eat all the Turkey Day food."

Zeke gives me a genuine smile showing the dimple in his right cheek. "I'm still hungry," he says. "Have you eaten?"

"No, Mar and I were going to eat when we got home."

"You never told me," he says. "Why is Mar staying with you, anyway?"

"If you want to know, you should ask Marlene."

Zeke shakes his head. He won't ask her. He'll be too afraid that whatever it is might make Marlene cry, and he doesn't do tears. Except for with me. He will for me. "Come on," he says, "I'll buy you a sandwich or something. You've gotta be hungry now you're back to cheer practice."

We tease each other, just like we always used to, as we take our trays through the food line and I realize how much I have missed Zeke. I have seen him at school and sometimes in the evenings and weekends as well, but always with a group of people and it just hasn't been the same. Zeke and I have always been close, my best friend second to Uriah.

We once again find a table to sit at and Zeke stuffs his mouth with his hamburger as if he hasn't eaten in a week. "So, how are you holding up?" I ask him before taking a bite of my turkey sandwich.

"Fine," he says automatically.

I glare at him. "I'd think you'd know better than to lie to me, Ezekiel."

"Sorry," he says sheepishly. "I've gotten used to… well, you know how it is. I miss him, Tris."

"Me too," I say, looking down at my food. "I'm sorry I haven't been around more."

"Don't be. You had enough of your own shit to deal with. I'm the one who should be sorry, I've hardly checked in on you. I mean I at least have Mom, and Shauna."

I raise an eyebrow. "And Shauna?" I repeat, feeling a smile creep up on the corners of my mouth. "Is there something I should know?"

Zeke smirks. "Not yet. But I was thinking, maybe I might ask her out?"

I simultaneously feel giddy with excitement for Shauna, who has been in love with Zeke for longer than I can remember, and worried for her. And my smile falls as worry wins out. "You sure that's a good idea? She's your friend, Zeke. If you hurt her―"

"Chill, Bea. I already got the lecture from Four. What, do you guys all think I'm incapable of being in a relationship or something?"

"Well…" I trail off, surprised at the look on Zeke's face. He almost looks… hurt? "You don't exactly have a great track record. The longest you've ever dated a girl was three weeks, Zeke. What's changed?"

"A lot," he says. He lazily dips a french fry into a pool of ketchup. "I feel like I have a connection with her. You know, the night of the accident, Shauna was the one who kept me from going out of my mind. She always knows, you know? Like, she knows when I need a hug, she knows when to talk and when to just be there and not say anything. She's stuck around and kept me company around here almost every day, no matter how much of a dick I am sometimes. I just really think I could get used to that. And I've always been attracted to her, of course."

"Of course," I say. I can't stop the smile from creeping onto my face. "Look at you. My little Zekey is growing up," I tease.

"Shut up," he mutters, but he is smiling too. "How about you, Trissy?" I throw a chip at him for using that name, he knows I hate it. Which is exactly why he used it. "You interested in anyone?"

I freeze. "You sure that's a safe subject Zeke?" I ask, nerves rising.

Zeke shrugs. "You and my brother broke up what, a month and a half ago? And you told me that he said he was interested in someone."

"Yeah," I say, "that was why he came over that night." I told Zeke and Hana the general reason Uriah came by that night, but left out the details. I am not sure if that was for his privacy, or mine. I sip my soda trying to buy myself time to figure out how to answer questions about my love life.

"What do you think of Four?" Zeke looks at me hopefully. I nearly spit out my drink, but somehow manage to play it off, I think. "He's a good guy, you guys have gotten to know each other well with all the math homework or whatever, he's single…" He's gorgeous, I add in my head.

"Wouldn't that bother you though?" I ask. "Wouldn't it be breaking some sort of guy code or something? He's friends with Uriah."

Zeke pops his last french fry into his mouth. "I don't know about Uri, but I don't see a problem. It's not like you're cheating. I just don't want to see you with another asshole like Peter."

"I think everyone can agree with that," I say. I feel light at the idea that Zeke has told me he would approve of me and Tobias being together, but I still want Uriah to know before anyone else, so I scramble to end the conversation. "Come on, let's get back up there. I left Marlene to sit with Uri and I bet she's getting lonely by now."

Marlene is quiet on the drive home. As soon as we get into the house, she heads downstairs to her room, saying she's tired, and I go to my own room as well and text Four. He has dinner with his father tonight, but should be getting out of there soon. I am anxious to know that he came out of the meeting unharmed and I want to tell him about what happened with Uriah, and my conversation with Zeke, so I ask him to come by. If I'm lucky, Marlene will be asleep―being six weeks pregnant, she is always tired―and if she happens to still be awake we can always use the excuse of a homework crisis.

After I send the text message, I go downstairs to fold the laundry that has been gathering wrinkles in the dryer. As I am pulling my stuff out of the dryer, Marlene comes up behind me with her own basket of dirty clothes. She offers to help me fold the clothes, and we take them up to my room.

The whole time we work together, Marlene is quiet just like in the car. As I put the clothes away in the closet and dresser, I notice Marlene wringing her hands. "Something on your mind, Mar?"

She hesitates, then lets out a breath. "Yeah, actually, I needed to talk to you about something, Tris. I've been feeling really bad that I haven't told you this sooner."

"Okay…" I say. I climb up to sit on my bed, and Marlene sits facing me.

"Okay, there's no easy way to say this. And you've been so kind to me, which I don't know, just made me more scared."

I'm starting to get nervous with all this build-up. "Whatever it is, just say it."

Tears well in Marlene's eyes. "The baby is Uriah's," she whispers. I freeze, and for a second all the memories of the betrayal I felt when Lauren tried to sink her claws into Uriah last spring flood through me. But then I see Marlene's face, scared and hopeful and begging for forgiveness. I remember that this isn't like it was back then, because Uriah and I were over.

But I have to be sure. "Please be honest with me, Marlene… did anything happen with you and Uriah when he and I were still together?"

"No," she says quickly. "No, I would never do that to you. But I liked him...before. And I didn't even mean for anything to happen when it did. Tris, do you hate me?"

She is so sincere and I flash back to how hard she took it when the accident happened, and the way she looks at him when we visit―looks I never really noticed in the moment―and I can't hate her. I can't even really be angry. And I shouldn't anyway. I'm with Tobias now, and I am happy.

I can see her surprise when I reach out and hug her. "Of course I don't hate you. You're one of my best friends. Besides, I think you two are kind of perfect for each other." She hugs me back fiercely and sniffles. I see the relief on her face when we pull back and think about my own secrets.

My phone chimes out a text message notification and I know it must be Tobias. I glance down to see that he will be here in twenty minutes. I'm so tired of keeping this secret, and if Zeke was suggesting I should give Tobias a chance, certainly Marlene won't judge me for it either. I wanted Uriah to know first, but I'm sure that Marlene felt the same about the pregnancy.

I make a decision. "As long as we are sharing secrets… I have one to tell you, too."