A/N: So it ended up being two weeks after all. Mostly because I rewrote the whole thing three times. I think everyone is finally acting a bit more in character than my previous attempts... I hope?
I'm gonna guess 1-2 weeks for the next update as well. Now, let's see if we can get our favorite couple back on the same page.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
URIAH
Marlene starts the next game while Zeke offers to walk Tris out. I'm not stupid, I know he wants to talk to her alone. There's no other reason he would do that. I'll get it out of him later.
Marlene kicks me with her foot and I jerk my attention back to the game. I kinda sorta try to win, but then there's Tris and Zeke walking away and damn, she looks good in those jeans. It's not my fault that Marlene gets I don't know how many hits in, it's the designer of those jeans. I think it would be physically impossible for me not to stare at her ass. When she is out of sight, half my hit points are gone while Marlene is nearly at full health.
I caught Four staring after Tris, too. But, again… who wouldn't? It has to be physically impossible not to, with Tris wearing that outfit. My girl is hot. Well, ex-girl. I still don't understand why we aren't together. Maybe she is thinking about giving me another chance. She looked especially hot today in those sexy jeans and showing off her abs in that crop top…
"I won!" Marlene shouts. She pushes herself up from the bean bag chair and jumps up and down and does something like a touchdown dance. "I beat you, I beat you, I beat you," she taunts, wiggling her cute butt.
"I was going easy on you," I lie.
Marlene rolls her eyes but she is grinning the whole time, and then she flops down onto the couch, taking the spot that Tris left. She's sitting really close to me but I find that I don't mind. She smells really good, like some sort of flowers and...I don't know, just sort of fresh and... girly.
"Ready to get your ass kicked, Four?" Marlene challenges. Four cracks a smile for the first time since he got here as he lifts himself out of the bean bag. I feel this weird heaviness seeing him act so different with Marlene. I don't like it.
"Bring it," Four taunts as he snatches the controller out of my hand.
Marlene and Four start their game. He is only slightly better at the game than Marlene. I remember she only had a Wii at her house, so she hasn't gotten to play games like this very much. Maybe Four doesn't have a Playstation either. I don't know many guys who don't have extensive gaming collections. But I really don't know anything about Four. Only what Zeke has told me: that he moved here a few weeks after school started, that he bumped Peter down to second string, and that he is a damn good quarterback, and Zeke's new best friend. Looking at him I get the feeling that he could have any girl he wants, between his looks and star quarterback status, but he doesn't seem to be any competition when it comes to Tris. They hardly said two words to each other the whole time they were here together.
Marlene and Four are trading teasing insults while they play, it is easy to see that they know each other well. The weight in my stomach is back, and while I wait for their match to finish, I go over my medications in my mind. I have never had to take so many pills before. It makes me feel like I am sick and helpless. Even worse, those feelings are pretty valid at the moment.
Marlene's body moves as her character does on-screen, leaning side to side and tilting the controller at weird angles. At one point she practically goes upside down. I keep having to dodge out of the way before she can hit me in the head. I can barely keep myself from laughing at her, she's adorable and so amusing to watch.
FOUR
When I tell Marlene I'm ready to head out, Zeke follows us. I'm about to ask when he became such an attentive host when he grabs my elbow, pulling me to a stop next to him. Marlene stops at the door and raises her eyebrows. I narrow my eyes at Zeke and yank my arm away from him.
"I'll be right out, Mar," I say, dismissing her so I can find out what Zeke wants. Probably to tell me I stared too much during Tris's little display cuddling up to her ex-boyfriend. I clench my jaw.
"What do you want, Zeke?" I deadpan* in a low voice as soon as I hear the front door click shut.
Zeke crosses his arms and returns my stare. "What the hell is going on with you and Tris?" he snarls.
"I wasn't aware that you were a part of our relationship," I bite back.
Zeke snorts. "Tris is like a sister to me, Four. You hurt her, I kick your ass."
I smirk at him. I could beat him any day of the week, and we both know it. "And I wouldn't care if she actually were your sister. It's still none of your business."
I resist the urge to tell him to talk to Tris if he wants to yell at someone. She's the one who just spent all afternoon snuggling with her ex.
Zeke gives me a look far colder than I have ever seen on his face before. I can almost admit that it's intimidating. I keep my spine straight , fists clenched at my sides as I turn away from him and stride the last few paces to the front door.
"You fix this, Four," I hear him growl behind me.
Marlene tries to make conversation on the drive to Tris's house, but I am too annoyed. She stops trying after her first few attempts only ellicit flat, one-word responses. Unlike Zeke, she is smart enough not to push me to talk. Without any chatter in my ear, I let the events of the evening swirl through my mind.
While the confrontation with Zeke was the icing on the cake, it is hardly worth thinking about. But Tris… Tris has been acting weird all day. She showed up to school looking so hot in those tight jeans and flat stomach exposed. When she walked into math class, it was hard to resist the urge to drag her off right then and there to find someplace private and show her just how she affects me.
I tried to flirt but she hardly gave me the time of day. I know we haven't spent much time together this week and that is my fault. But she seemed fine with it until today. I have had double practices all week, my own homework. Maybe that isn't the full story, but it should be enough.
Certainly no excuse for her to run back to her ex-boyfriend.
I should have known this would happen. In the back of my mind, maybe I always did. Waking up with so much of his memory missing only sealed the deal.
I sit in my car, staring at Tris's garage door while Marlene gathers up her stuff. "Are you coming in?" she asks, the first hint of judgment in her voice. Her eyes bore into the side of my face.
Should I confront Tris? I wanted to keep my distance, just for two more days, only until the final buzzer at the end of the championship game this Saturday. If I go in there, will I even still have Tris to celebrate with on Saturday night?
"I should probably be getting home," I hedge.
Marlene looks at me with clear disapproval, which I stubbornly ignore. "Four," she warns, "I don't know what's going on, but you haven't come by since last week."
"So? I've been busy."
Marlene rolls her eyes. "Before this week, you found time to come over and see her every day. I know Tris isn't happy, and you obviously aren't either. Did you two have a fight or something?"
A shake of my head is the only answer I offer. You fix this, Zeke's angry voice echoes in my head. Did Tris say something to him? Can my being a little distant for a few days have really upset her that much?
"Okay," Marlene says sarcastically, opening the passenger door and climbing out. She leans in with one hand on the open door. "Whatever this non-fight was about, avoiding each other isn't going to fix anything." Marlene's irritation is pronounced by the hard slam of the car door. As she stalks to the side door of the house, I realize for the first time that it must have been even harder for Marlene to see Tris with Uriah than it was for me. Mine will not be the only heart broken if Tris and Uriah get back together. The thought of her going back to Uriah is unbearable. Finally, I give in.
Cursing under my breath, I pull the key from the ignition and get out of the car, taking my time in locking it up.
The kitchen is empty. As I make my way up to Tris's bedroom, I find myself consciously keeping my steps light and nearly silent, like I am afraid that if she hears me coming she will appear in the doorway and order me to leave. Her bedroom door is open and I can see her through it, hunched over her desk with a yellow pencil in her hand and her trigonometry textbook open on the desk. She chews on the end of the pencil as she flips to the back of the book. Her finger slides down the page then stops for her to use as a placeholder. She looks between the book and her paper and lets out a groan. Her pencil clatters down onto the desk before rolling off the edge and landing on the floor, but Tris ignores it, instead ripping the paper out of her notebook and crumpling it into a ball, which she throws carelessly at the wall. She is obviously struggling with the assignment. A twinge of guilt pinches my stomach.
"Need some help?" I ask from the doorway. "I happen to be a tutor."
Tris visibly jumps, then spins in her desk chair to face me. Her face is an expressionless mask, but I am taken aback by the cold look in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she demands. Already I know that she won't make this easy, and I consider telling her to forget it and walking out. Why should I stay where I am clearly not wanted?
But I can't. This is the first time we have been alone in almost a week, and no matter how annoyed I am with her, she is pulling me in like a magnet.
I decide to jump right in. "What was that this afternoon?"
"What was what?" she snaps.
I narrow my eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, Beatrice. You know what. You and Uriah. You were practically on top of him."
"What do you care?" she snarls. "You've given zero fucks where I am or what I am doing all week."
"I've been busy," I defend. "You know that. It's not like I haven't texted you every night."
"Oh yes, your texts." Tris leans back in the chair, arms crossed over her chest and her lip curled in defiance. "Mommy wants you home every night all of a sudden, right? I may not be able to do trigonometry, but I'm not an idiot, Four."
I flinch at the accusation in her voice when she uses my nickname. She called me Four in her text last night, too. "Stop calling me that," I warn.
"Why? Tobias wouldn't treat me like this."
"Oh, and you're so innocent. Or were you so busy cuddling up to your ex-boyfriend that you forgot I was even there?"
"He's my best friend," Tris growls.
"Looked like more than that to me," I snap.
"Yeah? Well maybe it should be. Only guy I've been with that didn't run off and dump me the next fucking day." For the first time I notice the way she bites her cheek, and the water pooling at the rims of her eyes, and I suddenly feel sick. "God, this is just Peter all over again," she mutters.
Just his name sends fire through my veins, burning with anger. "Did you seriously just compare me to Peter?"
"Yes, I did," she condemns with an insolent tilt of her chin. "This is exactly like Peter. You got what you wanted and have ignored me ever since."
All my anger is washed out, replaced with regret as I watch her deflate, wrapping her arms around her middle. I want to reach out and touch her, hold her, banish that heart wrenching look from her face. My nails dig into my palms, distracting me so I can hold myself back. I don't deserve to hold her right now.
Tris's voice is barely a whisper when she speaks again, eyes downcast. "God, I feel so stupid. And I just...I needed my best friend."
"Tris," I choke. I tug at my hair, looking for words that will fix everything...words that probably don't exist. "Baby, I'm sorry, I never wanted to make you feel like that, I―" I begin to pace her small room, having to turn on my heel and change directions every few steps. "After… that night… practice went really badly. Amar confronted me and somehow he knew what, um, had me distracted. He told me… not to… you know, until after the playoffs were over and I just didn't ― fuck!"
I stop in front of her, pinching the bridge of my nose and trying to concentrate on what I need to tell her. My mind is racing and I feel sick. I treated her just like Peter… I can't believe I made her feel just like Peter did.
Petite, warm hands touch my elbows and slowly travel up to my wrists. Tris is gentle as she lowers my hands from my face, then slides her hands into mine and laces our fingers together. I look into her eyes. They are calm, but still cautious.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" she asks.
"I didn't want you to take it the wrong way." I scoff at the irony. "I didn't want you to think I only wanted one thing. But now that I've been with you that way, I can't help wanting you, and I don't think I can trust myself alone with you."
Tris smiles and shakes her head, looking down. Then she starts to chuckle.
"Beatrice Prior," I say slowly, "are you laughing at me?"
She lets out an unladylike snort. "Tobias," she says, and I smile at the way she says my name. I always love the way my name sounds on her lips. "You are an idiot." My jaw drops. "Why on earth would you think I wouldn't understand that? Do you really think I don't want you just as much?"
I stare at her. "I don't think it's possible for anyone to want someone as much as I want you, Tris." My voice sounds lower and huskier than I expect it to, and I find that I have been unconsciously moving closer to her. Or maybe she has moved closer to me. I can smell her familiar scent, feel the heat radiating from her body. I watch, mesmerized, as her tongue darts out to wet her lips.
I can't hold back anymore. I lean in and capture her lips in a kiss filled with apology, passion, and love. I never, ever want to make her feel unloved again.
