Chapter 37:
TOBIAS POV:
A few days later...
After having a very informative conversation with Tris's doctor and parents, I've learned that her recovery isn't going to be the delightful journey Tris and I had discussed. He had told us that it was most likely that her body would begin to reject the amount of food required, as it isn't used to that much intake. They expect her to feel sick a lot, throwing up the food, and then we will have to feed her again with a certain pill to help keep her stomach at bay.
I try to push that thought out of my head as I enter her room. She's sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, her legs swinging back and forth as she stares intently at me. I walk over to her and plop down on the bed, wrapping my arms around her torso, and pulling her body into mine, placing my lips on her forehead.
"How are you feeling?" I ask, resting my chin on her head while she curls up into my body.
"Tobias, you saw me like fifteen minutes ago. I still feel great and ecstatic to get out of the hell hole." She replies sighing into my chest with a small laugh.
"Good." I say, taking a deep breath in of Tris's hair, smelling the scent that wafts off of her, "Are you ready to go? Your parents told me that they wanted me to take you home as they have some paperwork to fill out."
She exits my grasp, standing with the clothes that Christina brought in for her, on. I can't help but look her up and down because Christina is not the most modest person in the world. The black skinny jeans are ripped so much that she might as well be wearing shorts, and the white tank top is flowy and lacy, allowing a visual of the black bra she's wearing.
When my eyes flit back to her's, I can see the evident blush on her cheeks. She hesitates as she walks towards me before standing in between my open legs. Her arms slide around my neck, and we are eye level with each other because I'm sitting. Tris gives me a small smile before leaning in and brushing her lips against mine softly.
My hands migrate to her waist, holding her securely to my body as she gives me a harder kiss. I can feel the grin spreading across both of our faces as our lips move in sync, but she backs away, instead pulling me in for a hug. Her face is lying on my shoulder, her mouth right next to my ear.
I hear her whisper, "Don't stare at me, it makes me nervous."
Grabbing her hips, I pull her away from my body so that she is looking into my eyes as I say this, "Tris you are the most beautiful person I have ever meet, there is no need to be nervous. I enjoy looking at you, and if you are nervous I'm not attracted to you physically, just move in a little closer."
Her eyebrows furrow, and she takes one step closer to me, her body touching every spot of my body it can. In an instant her face goes beat red, glancing down at my groin area then back up at me with an apprehensive look. I chuckle at the look on her face, bringing my right hand up to her cheek.
"That's what I mean, don't doubt yourself." I smile, her face clearing from those nervous emotions instead replacing it is love and a tiny grin.
Tris sighs, sucking her bottom lip in out of lust before speaking, "I love you, Tobias."
"I love you, too, Tris." I respond, no hesitation.
We kiss one last time before she completely backs out of my grasp, standing in front of me, waiting for me to stand up.
"Are we going to leave now?" Tris asks, with a hopeful look on her face, causing me to laugh a little.
"Yeah. We will leave in a minute, just give me a second to recover." I state, closing my eyes so I don't look at her beautiful body.
As the car I drive continues down the road, the cabin is void of music and the only sound is of Tris's soft laughs. The sky surrounding us is dark grey due to the consistent cloud coverage, causing it to be difficult to see exactly what Tris is chuckling about. I glance at her repeatedly, not risking a full on stare as I speed past an intersection.
I disturb the somewhat peaceful silence, questioning, "What are you laughing at?"
Her chuckling grow to hysterics as I feel her stare burning a hole through the side of my head. I scrunch my eyebrows together, displaying my clear confusion at her mysterious and random laughs.
"I'm sorry," she speaks in between giggles, "I was just thinking?"
"About what exactly?"
"You, and the way your friends view you." she states, causing me to glance at her, holding the look for a few seconds before turning my eyes back to the road.
"What do you mean?"
Tris sighs, her laughing slowing down thoroughly, "Christina was telling me how you looked very….angry all the time. She told me that she thought you were an asshole, till she realized what a softy you are."
"A softy?"
"Yeah, she told me that when you got drunk a few nights, you would talk about a lot of things, including personal subjects, and apparently sometimes, you would talk about me." I can tell she's blushing just by the way her voice sounds.
"About you? What did I say?" I ask, totally intrigued, and not really nervous due to the fact that I'm positive that even in a drunken state, I couldn't talk about my father.
"At first you said you had always wanted to see what it would feel like to kiss me again. They, at the time, had no idea who I was and would ask about it often. Christina made sure to get all information out of you, and I guess you said something along the lines of, 'If we weren't so young, that shed would have been used for many other things.'" Tris tells me, laughing through her sentences, and I can feel blood rush to my cheeks.
"Jesus." I chuckle along with her, trying to play off the embarrassment that runs through me like a heat wave.
"Don't worry about it, Tobias, if only I had known…." she trails off, and I watch her hand slide across the center console to rest on my thigh.
Her hand travels up a little, close, too close. I take one of my hands from the steering wheel and grab her hand off my leg, placing it back in her lap.
"Don't you think you've put me through enough torture today?" I ask, grinning as I steal a quick look at her face.
"I guess…." she says, smiling at me.
Finally, after about ten minutes we arrive back at her house. I hop out of the car, running as fast as I can to the other side of it to open her door for her, but she still manages to beats me to it. Instead, I take her small hand in mine, while she slides out of the car, lacing our fingers together. I gently rub my thumb across her knuckles as we make our way into her house through her garage.
Once inside, I guide her to her couch, letting our hands go as she takes a seat and I stay standing. Tris gives me an odd look, patting the space next to her as she wraps her body in a blanket, reaching for the remote.
"I'm going to go make you dinner, okay?" I ask, though no matter her response I will do it anyway.
She nods her head, turning her attention to the television as she plays a show that I am unfamiliar with. I head to the kitchen, taking the slip of paper that has her next month's meals planned out from her doctor. Tonight she's eating potatoes, chicken, peas, and whatever dessert she wants.
It takes a good thirty minutes for me to cook this food, adding additional seasonings while calling Tris into the kitchen. When I get no response, I make my way back out into the living room, peering around the couch. Tris's head lies on the armrest, her lips slightly parted, and her arms hugging the blanket around her. Her eyes are closed, her chest rising evenly with each breath she takes.
I hate the thought of waking her up when she looks so peaceful, but under doctor's orders, Tris cannot miss a single meal or she will have to go back to the hospital so they can make sure she's not starving herself. Gently I nudge her shoulder, then take my hand and brush a strand of hair out of her face. Slowly her eyes flutter open, meeting mine immediately in a drowsy haze.
"Hey, dinner's ready." I announce, helping her sit up as she yawns and rubs her eyes.
Now standing, we walk over to her kitchen, her grabbing her plate as I take mine. We find ourselves sat in silence at the dinner table, quietly eating out food. Occasionally I'll glance up at Tris, making sure she's eating all of her food, then continue with my own.
Eventually Tris sits back in her seat, only a few pieces of chicken and potatoes left, "Tobias, this meal was lovely. I honestly didn't know you could cook."
"Well who do you think made Marcus's meals?" I laugh halfheartedly, poking at my food with my fork, "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I'm really full." she states, looking down at her food with a pissed off look morphing her face.
"Please just finish it for me, then we can do something before your parents get home." I plead, giving her a small smile while I take another bite of chicken.
"Honestly, Tobias, I really don't think I can finish this. My stomach isn't agreeing." She says, her voice increasingly becoming agitated.
I sigh, swallowing an annoyed comment and instead tell her, "Tris, you need to eat that, it's something the doctors were firm about."
"Even if I feel like I'm about to throw up?" She exclaims, her voice raising as her eyebrows furrow in frustration.
"Yes. Even if you throw up." I say back, keeping my voice at a normal level.
Tris grunts, picking her fork back up and putting the chicken in her mouth, chewing it with an annoyed expression. When she finishes, she stands from her seat, taking her plate and dropping it in the sink before walking back to the couch. I follow behind her, copying her movement, though instead of plopping down on the couch, I go in front of her, my arms folded across my chest.
"Tobias, you are in the way of my show." She states, avoiding all eye contact with me.
Taking a deep breath, I exhale letting all of my anger flow out of me. Her face reads frustration and irritation, but when I look at her eyes, they say a different story. I lower myself onto the couch so that I'm right next to her.
"Tris, what's wrong?" I question in the softest voice I can muster.
All she does is shake her head, not even glancing at me, her eyes glued to the TV, the same stupid show on. Carefully I take her hand that was resting in her lap, lacing her fingers with mine, and pulling her arm towards me so that she has to look at me.
Once her eyes meet mine, I repeat the same question, "Tris, what's wrong?"
"I don't….I don't want you to get mad, okay?" she whispers, her expression softening.
"Mad about what?"
Tris breaths out, "I don't want you to go back to Marcus's house. I don't want you to step foot in that house once more, even if it's to get clothes or something. Tobias, I think you should tell someone other than my parents and me about him…."
"What do you mean? Who?" I ask, though I think I know what she is going to say.
"The police."
I can feel my heart rate pick up from nerves and I immediately start to argue, telling her that that is a stupid idea, but she just looks at me with sorrowful eyes. I stop rambling, just looking at her with an incredulous expression. She knows that I would rather be beat everyday then to have the cops find out, because there is no doubt in my mind that Marcus could persuade them that he did nothing.
"Tobias, you should know that I know you're probably not going to stay here, as much as you want to. I know that you are going to go back, making up some shit excuse as to why. It's unfair, Tobias. Please just, if you won't tell the police, then please stay here, for me." She begs, scooting closer to me on the couch, our faces only inches apart.
She doesn't understand.
"Tris, I have to. Marcus will find me if I don't, and matters will be worse than they already are. I've been gone for two almost three weeks from the house, he has called me nonstop, but I didn't want to make you worry through your recovery. I need to go home, Tris, I can stay tonight, but tomorrows saturday, and I need to go home and face Marcus." I explain, placing my hand gently on her cheek while speaking softly.
I watch as a single tear escapes her eye, falling down her cheek till it makes contact with my thumb, brushing it away. Soon, others follow that tear, dripping down her face.
I sigh, bringing my lips to her forehead, then saying, "Tris, I promise to come by everyday, and you can check me over and fix my wounds. I can even call you if I really need you, okay?"
"Okay." she breaths, accepting my offer and finally connecting our lips.
So, admittedly, this isn't my best chapter...and I feel really horrible for making you guys wait a month...I'm really sorry. Please don't be mad, because I finally got an idea as to where to go with this story! More chapters to come ASAP! I really appreciate all the Favorites, Follows, and Reviews, they always make my day. I love you all!
~divergent24-7