a/n:
Help wanted? I'm wondering if any of my fellow readers would like to be my Beta Reader for my stories? I'm really bad at editing (I'm only fifteen and super duper lazy). I also really hate rereading my work because for some reason, I get bored when I edit and I end up only skimming my work. If any of you are interested and wouldn't mind working with me, feel free to contact me by PMing. Thank you so much!
And...Happy 4th to all of my fellow Americans!I hope you had a great day and enjoy! I tried to edit this chapter, so bare with me if you find any small errors.
Chapter Twelve
Three years ago...
He stares at the small piece of metal as the love of his life leaves him. His shoulders slump downwards and his heart feels like it's shattered into a million pieces. He never meant for this to happen. He's the dumbest person in the Earth to go and cheat on her.
He doesn't know what to do. He can't bring himself to follow her because he knows that if he tries to, he will just make the situation even worse.
The feeling deepens each minute as he feels himself falling into a never ending black pit.
It's when he finally realizes what just happened, he is able to move his feet and chase after her.
His heart pounds in his chest as he runs the to lobby of his apartment complex. He decides to run down ten flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator. One, due to his claustrophobia and two, because the elevators travel slower than he can possibly imagine. He runs outside like a madman and searches the whole block. He checks the parking garage and everywhere he could possible think of at the moment.
Tobias doesn't want to believe that Tris is no longer with him. They were to happy. How could a day start off so great and turn out so bad?
This morning, Tris had made Tobias a breakfast of blueberry muffins (his favorite) and several slices of bacon. She even got up early in the morning just to make the baked goodies.
His chest constricts even tighter and it's then when he notices the deep pounding in his head.
"Hey, it's Tris. Please leave a message after the beep. Wait, babe, am I supposed to make a beep sound or something? I don't know how-" her voice message is cut off in the middle of his sentence. He smiles slightly at the memory because he had tried to instruct Tris on how to make a voice message since clearly she had never done it before. After the fifth attempt, she gave up trying and left her message like that.
"It's me." His voice slightly cracks. "Uhm, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I do love you. Please come back. I miss you." He ends the message lamely and glares at his phone.
"You're a fucking idiot, Tobias. I hope you get hit by a car." Though he doesn't mean it, he can't express enough how guilty and idiotic he feels.
He goes back to his phone and makes another call. This time the person picks up which makes Tobias sigh out in relief.
"What?!"
"Zeke, I messed up."
"I swear if you're making me drive all he way to your apartment, and if I catch you and Tris doing the dance in your bed again, I swear I'm going to-"
"Tris broke up with me."
"I'll be there in five." And the line goes dead.
Present Day...
Tobias wakes up the next morning tangled with another human's body. His mind's register it at first, but when he does, he starts having a mental panic attack.
"Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Shit shit shit shit. Nooooooo. This cannot be happening. Shittttttt." He draws out as he tries to untangle him with the body. It's then again when he notices that he is not in his home, but in Christina's bedroom.
His eyes widen even larger than before if even possible. He pokes the body. "Christina?" He asks praying to the gods that he did not just sleep with one of his good friend's girlfriend. "Please don't be her, please don't be her."
"What?" Her sharp voice cuts through the silence of the room. But the voice comes from behind him and he physically and mentally relaxes.
He turns around and sighs and relief as he sees the woman standing in front of him.
"If you're here, then who is that?"
"Go see for yourself. I'm not going to answer all of your damn questions. What do you think I am? Google?" Oh Christina.
Tobias slowly makes his way to the other side of the bed and gently pulls down the blanket to reveal the mysterious girl's face. His head pounds harshly like several loud gongs constantly going off, but he tries to push the harsh feeling away.
His favorite blond is revealed as he tenses once again.
"I didn't-?"
"No you didn't." Christina answers for him.
He looks back up. Christina leans against the doorframe with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "You two are good for one another. Even when she hates your guts, she's still more verbal and open with you than me or anyone else in the past three years. I bet you she has shared more information with you last night than with me in forever.
"But if you guys ever, you know, somehow miraculously get back together, I'll support you two." Christina then clears her throat. "That doesn't mean I like you at the moment. You still have to prove yourself to her and everyone else. And if you do want to fix things, you have to be careful. She already lost you once and another person. Don't hurt her again or I'll cut your balls off."
It takes a while for Tobias to comprehend all of the information that was just revealed to him. When he soaks it all in, he slowly nods his head. "You won't be disappointed."
"I know. You should probably leave though." She says motioning to Tris's still asleep body. "I'll take care of her. Knowing her terrible hangovers she get, she's going to need it. And I don't know about you, but I wouldn't drive home. Take an Uber or something and I'll get Will to drop you car off."
Christina may be incredibly honest and rude in her own way, but deep within those truthful remarks and sarcastic comments, lies the impenetrable care she has for her close friends and family...and boyfriend.
"Yeah." He breathes. "And Christina?"
Christina hums. "Yeah?"
"Thanks." She gives him a nod before he finally leaves.
Once he is gone from view, Christina sits at the edge of the bed and gives Tris a shake. "Hey sleeping beauty. Wake up."
Tris stirs and groans in protest. "Why do I feel like shit right now?" She groans as she clutched the back of her head.
"Oh honey, you drank way too much. Do you happen to remember anything from last night?" Tris continues to clutch onto her head as she tries to recall any form of memory that may have still lingered from her mind.
The first thing that pops up is Uriah's conversation with her and the confession he made about his feelings towards his best friend.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Depends."
"But first, will you close the damn blinds? It's feels like the sun is staring right into my eyes. It fucking burns. Can you speak softer too?"
Christina looks at Tris with a small smile. "What are you talking about? I'm already whispering."
"Then whisper softer." She says earning an eye roll.
Once the blinds are closed completely, Christina makes herself comfortable on her own bed.
"Talk to me."
Tris stays silent trying to formulate a way on how to explain her situation with Uriah. "He still like me." She says not realizing how vague and unclear she just sounded.
"You're going to have to be a lot more clear if you want my help. Are you talking about Tobias? Unless you have a secret boyfriend you never told me about. Oh gosh. Don't tell me you dated like ten other guys. Okay, I have ice cream. I know mint chip is your favorite. I have mint chip. But shit, you probably shouldn't eat that since you're hungover. I have fruit. Fruit works right? I don't know. Oh gosh. Oh no-" Christina's rambling is interrupted and Tris cuts her off.
"Whisper. Please." Tris looks disapprovingly at her friend. "Uriah. Uriah told me he still had feelings for me. And fuck, do you have any Advil or something? And water. Lots and lots of water." Christina gets up and Tris decides to follow her and to carry on with their conversation.
"Yes. Follow me." There is a moment of silence before Christina fully comprehends what Tris had just said. "Wait, Uriah?"
Tris hums, "mhm."
"For how long?"
"He never stopped apparently." Tris answers.
"For once, I don't know what to say." Christina hands Tris the correct dosage amount of Advil pills to Tris as well as a large glass of water. Tris leans her head back and downs the two pills in one big gulp of water.
"I don't know what to do."
"Well," Christina starts, "you should have a talk with him. Just tell him that he needs to get over it and move on."
"It's not that easy. He's been my friend since, oh gosh, since forever. I don't want to ruin that friendship."
"Well Uriah has already ruined it. You just need to set him straight."
Tris hears her phone vibrate from the kitchen counter. "I don't even remember leaving it there." She looks to see who is calling her.
"Hello?" She answers. "Hey boss. Nope I cannot come in today. -No!- It's my day off!-Plus, I am completely hungover, so unless you want me getting sick all over you and your thousand dollars worth of equipment, I recommend you ask Volker to come in. I'm sure he'd love to. Bye." Tris makes eye contact with Christina and makes a face.
"I hate it when my boss does that."
"Tell me about it."
There is another moment of silence before Christina says, "do you think you'll ever have feelings for Uriah?"
Tris contemplates her answer for a while, "no. I don't think so, to be honest. Even in high school, I didn't think we'd last forever. He's my best friend and I don't think it'll ever be more than that."
"Then tell him what you told me."
Silence fills the room as Tris gathers her thought together. "I guess you're right. But if anything happens between us, I'm blaming you."
An easy smile makes its way to Christina's face. "Yeah, yeah. But on a serious note, you need to get yourself ready. You look like shit."
Tris throws the nearest object she can reach towards her friend, but missing by an unfortunate five feet. Christina squeals in surprise and ducks even though she doesn't need to.
"So you don't remember at all what happened last night?"
Tris tilts her head and contemplates. "No why, did something wild happened?" She asks trying to add the dramatic effect in her words.
"No." A small smile lingers in Christina's face. "Nothing wild...just cute, I guess."
"Well you're going to have to tell me all about it." She states as she walks out of the kitchen.
"I'm not sure you want to know."
"But now I'm just curious!" Tris exclaims loudly.
"Too bad."
Christina drives Tris home because she knows that Tris is completely incapable of getting home herself. Christina also doesn't trust Uber drivers to drive Tris home especially since who knows what can happen to a hopeless girl. Tobias on the other hand, well, Christina is sure he can take care of himself.
"Bye babe! I'll see you soon! Call me!"
Tris smiles at the playfulness between the two of them. "Not unless you call me first. I'm thinking of getting my nails done soon."
Christina suddenly becomes extremely excited. "I'm free on Saturday. I'll pick you up."
Tris smiles. "It's a date." And she winks.
Uriah is sitting on the steps of Tris' house. When he notices her approaching, he stands up and walks directly towards her.
"Hey." He breathes out. "Can we talk?"
"Uhm. Sure...Uh, ah...let me open the door." Tris is the epitome when it comes to awkward situations.
She pulls out her eyes and fumbles with the chain. When she finds the key to her house, she attempts to put it into the keyhole but missing completely. "Just give me a second." She says now noticing she actually got the wrong key. "Or two." After unlocking the door, she pulls the handle but it doesn't bulge. "Right. I'm supposed to push." She pushes the door open and tumbles in.
God damn, Tris. She says to herself.
Uriah follows her in and she throws her stuff onto the nearest couch. She then continues to walk to the kitchen.
"Coffee, water?"
"I'm good, thanks." Uriah presses his mouth into a him line.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Tris casually leans against the kitchen counter.
Uriah stares at her for a bit before saying, "it's about last night. Do you happen to remember...?"
"Yeah. I do."
"Look Tris, I was drunk and I didn't know what I was saying."
"Right, right..." The silence in the room almost makes Tris want to run straight into her glass window just to get away. "But people tend to speak what they don't want spoken when they're drunk."
Uriah sighs. "I'm sorry I never told you before. I just didn't want to ruin our friendship."
"So you never told me about your feelings for me for I don't know, a decade? Uriah, you're my best friend, you should keep these things from me."
"Oh and how did you want me to tell you. Like, hey Tris do you want to shoot a video today? And by the way, I still love you after ten years? Right? Right?"
Tris stops in her tracks. Did he just say love me?
"Uriah, you can love me. You need to get over this. Whatever is still between us." She motions to the space within the two.
"It's not that easy." He stands there staring at the hardwood floor. "It's not easy getting over someone you've liked for such a long time. Especially since I had to watch you fall in love with two other men. When I first met Four, you have no idea how jealous I was. You two were so in love and I knew my chances of having you were completely over. And the you guys were going to get married and I finally learned to move on. But when you two broke up, all these feelings emerged out of no where. And then Robert came along too." Uriah keeps his eyes towards anywhere but Tris.
Tris on the other hand, has no idea on how to respond to her friend.
"I should go, clear my head a bit." Uriah drums his fingers against the counter top across from Tris before giving a slight nod and leaving.
She lets him leave because she knows that he will need space and time to rethink this whole situation.
Her front door slams shuts as she leans against the refrigerator and closes her eyes.
"Fuck, I need a drink." She then recalls the mishap of last night and decides against it. "Oh fuck it, I don't care any longer."
She gets a call later that day from an unknown number. After having a few drinks (like five full glasses of red wine), she decides to stop herself from drinking any further. Tris had hopped into the shower and scrubbed herself clean. Unfortunately a nice long shower does not drain her problems away and she sits naked on the shower floor with her knees to her chest and arms hugging them close.
But anyways, later that evening, she gets a call. Tris quickly dressed herself in an old sweatshirt of Robert's and comfortable boy shorts.
She picks up after the fourth ring, "hello?"
"Hey Tris, it's me." Her breathing suddenly quickens as she hears the voice from the other line. Tris briefly remembers her encounter with Tobias the other night.
"Tobias?" She clears her throat. "What are you-?" She doesn't know what to say. "Oh, Uhm, hi...I guess." She now wishes she ran through that glass window of hers...several times.
"Are you free this Friday? Do you want to grab a cup of coffee or something?" Did he hear him correctly? Wait, did he just ask her on a...date?
She quickly answers and prays that her voice does not betray her.
"Uhm, uh...sure." Smooth Tris, real smooth. "Six o'clock? I'll meet you at Copenhagen's, kay?" For a second, she forgets about all she went through the past week and focuses on the man on the other line. A small smile makes it's way to her face and she unconsciously starts playing with her hair.
"Yes! I mean, I'll see you. Bye, Tris."
She is silent for a second not realizing what had just happened.
"Bye." I love you. She almost catches herself saying the three words. Her eyes suddenly widen at her confession.
"No, Tris. Just friends. It's not a date. We're just friends. Shit shit shit." She hangs up the landline and dials Christina's number.
"Waddup? Waddup, girl? It's you girl, Chrissy in the house!"
"What the fuck are you saying?"
"I honestly don't know, but seriously, what happened? You wouldn't call me especially since I saw you like eight hours ago. Oh shit, don't tell me someone died. If someone did, I have ice cream. Oh wait, we already went through this-"
"Christina-"
"I went grocery shopping with Will today and I made sure to stock up extra with mint chip. But you already knew that. I think."
"Chris-"
"Did you know that there is such thing as period pants? I ordered one. I can order you one if you want. Also-"
"CHRISTINA?!"
"Oh fuckshit. Sorry. Why did you call again?"
Tris lightly bangs her head against the wall. "I got a phone call just now."
Christina has to hold any further comment. "And?"
" I think Four just asked me out on a coffee date?"
"Oh my gosh, someone just asked you out on a date?!" She hears a squeal from the other line. "Wait." And then silence. "Did you just say Four asked you out in a coffee date?"
"Mhm. I told him to pick me up at six."
"YOU WHAT?" Christina then continues to say, under her breath, "well he works fast."
Tris could only hear soft mumbling. "What was that?"
"Oh, nothing!"
"What is this supposed to mean?"
"Well obviously he wants to get in your pants!"
"Christina!" Tris scolds.
"Tris, I'm joking! But on a serious note, I'm sure he still has feelings for you. And maybe, who knows, you two might get back together."
"You think?"
"I know." Tris smiles a little. "Now, tell me how Uriah went."
"Oh god. I think I just lost a strong friendship with him. Let's say I had feelings for you for ten years. Wouldn't you be a little annoyed that you I never told you after a decade long?" She sighs. "I don't know. I wish he told me a lot sooner and maybe we could have worked it out."
"You can't blame him though. If I were Uri, I would have been scared to death to admit those feelings especially since you were dating Four and Robert. Those boys are supper muscular and a little intimidating when jealous. Maybe that's you type, girl. You go for those big arms and hot abs."
"Christina-!"
"I'm not wrong though, am I?"
Tris greatly appreciated how her best friend can turn such serious and deep conversation to light and joking. Tris doesn't want to keep thinking about her friendship on the line.
"But anyways, I have to get going. Will and I are going to a Brazilian steak restaurant and I'm so excited. I love my meat." Which is ironic because in high school, Christina tried going Vegan after watching a horrific documentary of how cows are killed. But obviously she couldn't carry through after the first half an hour. She had stayed home at the Priors and it happened to be their monthly barbecue.
"Have fun!" While Christina may think this is an innocent dinner, what she doesn't know is that Will is actually going to pop the question. "But don't have too much fun, if you know what I mean."
Tris remembers how she has to sneak into their house while Christina and Will are going out for dinner. As much to Tris' dismay, Will asked her to set up candles and put rose pedals all over their house.
"Oh barf. I don't need to know about where you two are planning to bang after you ask her. Just tell me where to light the candles and I'll do them." She recalls herself saying to Will.
"Yeah, yeah. Bye, love. I'll see you soon."
"Bye, Christina."
Now Tris just wonders when she'll ever get her happily ever after...