Disclaimer: I don't own divergent.
Beatrice Prior, Friday, January 8th, Natalie and Andrew's house, 5:11 pm
"Beatrice Elizabeth Prior get over here and help me," Christina demands.
Groaning, I reluctantly get up from the comfort of the sofa. After work, Chris, Will, Tobias and I came over to mum and dads to help with the wedding, and unfortunately for me, Christina's taking her role as wedding planner very seriously.
I sit on the chair next to Christina. She sits at the dining table while inspecting the fake flowers that are scattered across the table. In a long, elegant vase, vibrant green leaves and small white flowers that are all fake are arranged in a stylish manner thanks to Chris' perfection skills.
"What should I do your royal highness," I tease. Without taking her eyes off the vase, she points to the artificial tree without leaves that's spray-painted a sparkly gold colour. I walk over and see multiple pictures of both mum and dad together when they were younger.
"That tree is the photo display, the string to the branch and then attach the photos to the string, unless you want to help the guys mow the back yard," She adds when she hears me up. I quickly shut my mouth when she mentions the back year, though.
Half an hour later I'm done, and I have to say, I think I did a pretty good job with the photos. I make my way over to Christina whos finishing up the invitations. Although mum and dad are having a small wedding, Christina convinced them to still send 'cute little invitations.'
Caleb comes inside after clearing the weeds from outside. He had dirt smeared on his cheek and I can't help a chuckle. This catches the attention of Susan who was helping mum prepare dinner while the rest of us were preparing things for the wedding.
Tobias comes from behind me, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me onto his back. Will grins as Chris hops on his back and we all race to the dining table. Tobias and I make it before them all and take our seats.
Dinner is filled with laughter and random chatter. I smile as I sit with my boyfriend, parents, best friends or as I call them, my unrelated siblings, Caleb and Susan who I address as my unofficial sister law.
Christina sits next to me and seems to be aware of my pleasant attitude and leans over, "So about that shopping trip-"
"No."
Beatrice Prior, Saturday, January 9th, CPD training gym, 11:21 am
"Is that all you've got, Prior?"
"I was one centimetre off, Lynn"
Lynn smirks and aims her own knife at the target. It hits dead centre and she smiles, silently claiming victory this round. Lynn and I had made plans to work out on Saturday, we didn't spend much time hanging out before and decided that we both like throwing knives and working out, so we decided to do it together to keep each other company.
Moving on from throwing, Lynn goes to the punching bags, while I linger here. Ever since Thursday, I've been wanting to ask her what she meant when she said 'Something's going to happen soon.'
After knowing her for two years I've gathered enough information to know, Lynn usually doesn't say things she doesn't mean, and I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't somewhat paranoid as to what could happen.
"Hey Lynn," I mumble, after overthinking what I was going to say. She momentarily pauses and moves away from the punching bag that's swinging violently due to the impact of her punches.
"I was wondering what you meant the other day," I say vaguely.
She tilts her head as she squints her eyes, most likely remembering what she said that I could be talking about, "You know, Tris, you're going to have to be more specific if you want an answer out of me."
"When we were at Chris' place, you know, when we went to the balcony, you started talking about how something was going to happen soon...I was" I stammer, before taking a small breath, "I was wondering what you meant by that?"
She thinks for a moment before responding," Honestly, I don't know, it's not that I didn't mean it, it's just that I can't explain it, I guess it's a gut feeling, I don't want you to worry about it, just keep an eye out," She explains.
I nod and we both go back to working out. I decide to use the treadmill, pushing myself more and more, in hope that I'll be able to distract myself enough. Twenty minutes later I'm exhausted not to mention hot and sweaty. I move onto the punching bags when I hear Lynn gasp.
I look over at her and her eyes are glued to her phone, for a minute I let myself panic and believe something bad has happened, but when her face goes from a shocked expression into a smiling one I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"What is it?" I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me.
Lynn smiles as she tells me two words, two words that explain it all.
"Prank war"
Beatrice Prior, The same day, Christina and Will's apartment, 12:03 pm
"Can someone please explain how this happened again?"
Shauna smirks as she begins explaining, "Well, it started off the same way as many of the other pranks I've ever seen did, with Uriah," Christina snorts as she laughs so hard tears are rolling down her cheeks, Marlene looks like she wants to object, but knows Shauna's right.
"What did he do this time?" Lynn asks as fiddles with a blow horn that she took out of a box that Christina labelled 'Shauna's revenge kit'
"Well me and Zeke were at home when we heard rustling by the wardrobe in the hallway, the one we store some of our lamps and fake plants in. The only people who knew where our secret keys were was you guys, but none of you said anything about coming so we assumed someone tried breaking in."
"You assumed someone was breaking in because you heard a sound in the wardrobe?" Marlene questions, "What were they going to do, steal your fake plants?" She teased.
Shauna rolls her eyes playfully as she continues," Anyway, we opened the wardrobe door and cereal just gushed out, the wardrobe was filled to the very top," She exclaimed, "How does someone do that?"
"Zeke thought it was awesome and as soon as Uriah came out of his hiding place, Zeke congratulated him. So while Uriah Zeke and most likely, Four and Will are playing in cereal, we'll be plotting revenge."
"Alright, name the plan and place."
Beatrice Prior, The same day, Marlene and Uriah's apartment, 12:56 pm
"You know, it sort of feels like I'm pranking myself," Marlene mumbles as she wraps Uriah's pillow in a sheet of tin foil.
"Just wrap his stuff, we'll leave your things untouched," Lynn mumbles as she goes to help Shauna wrap the television.
So far, most of Uriah's stuff has been wrapped in a layer of tin foil, it was Shauna's idea to initially wrap things in clingfilm, but Marlene started mentioning the impacts that it has on the environment so we changed to tin foil.
"Guy's they're coming, we need to leave now" I hiss as I watch through the window as Wills car park outside. Abandoning the small amount of tinfoil we have left, we dash out of the apartment and manage to make it back to the safety of Chris' apartment before we can get caught.
Christina locks the door behind her before sighing in relief, "Alright, anyone else think we deserve a celebratory pizza?"
A chorus of 'yes's are yelled. Christina makes the call to the pizza shop while the rest of us make ourselves at home. I change into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie that I keep at Chris' place since I come here so often.
Lynn grabs the remote first and puts on an action movie on Netflix. The others groan as they protest, Christina begins explaining the importance of romance films, but as soon as the film starts, they can't peel their eyes off the screen.
The pizza arrives and we begin eating, the pizza's hot, too hot to just be the temperature. I can feel my throat burning and it feels like I've just swallowed the spiciest slice of pizza. Will, Tobias, Zeke and Uriah who seemed to suddenly just appear laugh at our reactions as Christina darts off to the kitchen to get some water.
"The devil works hard, but Will works harder."
Beatrice Prior, Sunday, January 10th, Tobias' car, 5:21 pm
"After we got to Uriah's and discovered all his things were covered in tin foil, we were determined to get you guys back, Will managed to hack into Christina's phone and found out you guys had ordered pizza."
"We got there just before the pizza guy did and then we claimed to be you. Uriah poured the whole bottle of hot sauce on the pizza. Then we dressed Zeke in a red shirt and a red baseball cap. Thankfully you guys were not paying much attention," Tobias explains.
I roll my eyes but can't help laughing. After the prank yesterday, we all hung out at Chris and Will's. Tobias asked me if I'd like to go out tonight and I happily agreed, so right now, we're heading towards the cinema.
Once we arrive, Tobias goes to collect while I sneak off to get us both snacks. He pouts when I hand him his drink, as he mumbles something about me 'taking over his date duties,' I laugh as he explains that when I take him out I can pay for everything.
We take a seat in our cinema seats and begin munching on some sweets I purchased while getting the large tub popcorn and drinks. The film begins. Tobias and I share the love of thriller and horror films, so the zombie film he chose was a great pick.
By the end of the film, Tobias wraps his arm protectively around my waist as if he believes everyone in this room is secretly a zombie-like the film depicted. We make our way to Amity diner to get some dinner.
After a nice dinner, we make our way back home, I brush my teeth and crawl into Tobias' bed, something I've done ever since that night when he was out till late. He kisses my forehead as my eyes droop and I fall into a dreamless sleep.
Beatrice Prior, Tuesday, January 12th, Natalie and Andrew's house, 5:47 pm
"Alright, are you sure you don't want a professionally made cake?" I ask mum.
She smiles as she nods, "You know, I made Hana's cake when she got married," She moves to get her phone and places it in my hands. A picture of Mum when she looked around twenty years younger and is embracing Hana. In the background, I can see a three-tiered wedding cake.
"You've convinced me," I tease. Dad walks into the room and presses a kiss to both mine and mums foreheads. He walks over to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water and two pills that mum swallows.
I frown but say nothing. I knew after she went to the hospital that one time they started giving her pills to make sure the cancer doesn't spread too rapidly, but the thought of her still being on pills makes me feel uneasy.
Caleb comes home with a bag of Chinese food in one hand. Since the wedding is only in a few days, and Caleb is dad's best man, while I'm mum's main bridesmaids, we've both been coming over a few days a week to finish arranging things.
We begin eating as Dad asks us all about our days. Caleb begins telling us all about how his boss promoted him and he's currently working on designing a new building right next to the Hancock building.
A fork falls onto the floor as Dad, Caleb and I look at it. Mum's body is slumped in her seat as her head rests on the table while her fork's on the floor. Although she looks like she could simply be sleeping, I panic.
The small, light snores that are audible calm me as I pick up her fork. Dad gently removes her from the seat and places her on the sofa as Caleb drapes a blanket onto her. We both turn to dad for an explanation, he must know considering he lives with her and seemed oddly calm when this happened.
"She falls asleep sometimes, it's getting worse," He tells us, and he doesn't need to specify what 'it' is. We all know it's her cancer, we all avoid using that word. As if we believe that if we don't say it, it'll just go away. But it won't.
Exhaling softly, I nod. The absence of the sun tells me I should be getting home. I hug both Dad and Caleb before gently kissing mother's cheek and exit the house. I make my way into Tobias' car that I once again borrowed.
Images of mum's slumped body enter my mind, for a second, I believe she was...gone, dead. Nothing has ever scared me more. I know mum puts a smile on her face for us, but going through every day is getting harder for her.
She was the woman who would sit through a conversation and listen even if it was boring because that's the type of person she was, but now, she can't stay awake through dinner, and I know that's making things harder for her.
And I'm scared because this can claim her life, she could leave me. I know it's just falling asleep at dinner today, but what happens if she sleeps more than she's awake and then she doesn't wake up at all.
A tear trickled down my cheek but I wipe it away. I know I need to be strong, for her, but it's hard, she was always there for me, she's always picked me up when I fall, she's one of those people, who make life worth living.
I choke back a sob, there's no word that could describe how I'm feeling, it's a raw pain that clenches my heart and nothing I've ever felt before can describe how I'm feeling now. Because I could lose her.
That is pain.
Over the years, I've perfected the style of crying quietly, but today, sobs wrack my body as I can't breathe, I wanted to scream, but nothing comes out, like all the hope that I have drains out of my body.
The sound of grief fills the car that is now parked in the garage but doesn't matter, there was no one here to witness it. I clasp the steering wheel as another wave of tears hit me, the pain was like an open wound, and I couldn't bear it anymore.
I just want her to be safe.
A/N I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Natalie and Andrew's wedding will be in the next chapter.
Thank you to those of you who liked and followed, and a big thank you to those who reviewed, I really appreciate it. We are only a few chapters away from a turning point, although, I can't promise that it's a good one.
I'll be uploading the epilogue of my other fanfic, The face behind the mirror in the next few days.
Make sure to wash your hands, stay at home, be safe and be kind. Please review and tell me what you think, I haven't fully planned the next chapter, so if you guys have any suggestions, feel free to tell me in the reviews or PM me. Until next time,
-Divergent31