Ch. 4 Tris' Pov

I wake up in strong arms and memories from last night come flooding back. How Four listen intently the whole time and was genuinely interested in what I had to say about myself and my dreams and whatever came up. He said that he comes to every one of Uriah and Zeke parties and questioned how we hadn't met before, but I know exactly what the reason behind that is. Peter would come with me every single time and keep me isolated in a corner the entire time. I thought he was just really protective of me, but now I know it was all about his power over me and thinking he could control me. I didn't say anything to Four about Peter because then I would have to explain everything and I'm not quite ready for that to happen yet and I don't want to have him thinking I'm weak for staying with him all that time. Four is nothing like him in any way which is very refreshing and makes me like him even more. I could tell that Four has a dark past as well, but didn't want to pressure him into talking about it. Christina is so happy for me from the brief discussion we had when the boys were out off taking some drunk guy to a cab. From what she says she thinks that if I'm happy I should go for it, but that she would have to learn more about him, which was totally a Christian thing to say because she has been more protective of me ever since Peter. When Uriah came down he told me how Four built this house and I was truly amazed at how talented he is. Uri also said that he has never seen him act the way he is with me and that it's a little weird, but a good type of weird because apparently he was always not interested in anything or anyone for that matter. But with me he's different which makes me smile and baffled because I have never seen the "Four" mask come out yet, whatever that means. He made me laugh saying that Four deserved a "sweet piece of ass" like me and I pushed him back in his chair.

My favorite part of the night was the kiss...oh that kiss. My stomach tightens just by thinking about it. I have never in my entire life been kissed like Four kissed me. He put so much devotion and want into the kiss that I was left breathless when we parted. He is a damn good kisser with those pouty lips. I could feel how turned on he was and I was turned on equally the same. He makes me feel beautiful every time he looks at me which is very strange to me because I have never felt beautiful before. Now I still think I look like a 12 year old, but maybe I get a hint of beauty when his eyes are on me.

I check my phone to see what time it is and it's 9 which makes my eyes pop out of my head. I haven't slept till nine in about 2 years. I look around and see everyone is sleeping and try not to make too much movement so I don't wake Four. I kiss his cheek because he is too irresistible and head upstairs to make breakfast for everyone, but first clean the whole kitchen. I find the ingredients for pancakes and bacon and start mixing everything together. At 950 Zeke makes his way upstairs while I put the bacon on a plate.

"I wonder what smelled so good." he says and fills a plate to start devouring the food. "Damn woman this is good. Four's wicked lucky. And you cleaned?! You didn't have to do that." he says.

"It's really no big deal. It needed to be done anyway and I have this OCD thing." He chuckles and shakes his head.

"You're going to be good for him, I can tell. He's had a tough past and he hasn't had a stable girlfriend his whole life so he's new at that stuff so just give him some time. And don't hurt him please, he's been through enough." He tells me with a mouth full of pancake. I'm so shocked that he hasn't had a girlfriend that my mouth hangs open not knowing what to say. He's so good at the girlfriend type stuff that I would have never guessed.

I finally clear my throat and say, "I would never hurt him on purpose I promise, but we aren't even together so I don't have the right to hurt him yet." I joke and he lets out a laugh. Just then I feel strong arms wrap around my waist and a head on my shoulder. Four gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"What's so funny?" and before I can say anything Zeke answers,

"Your little lady friend." which makes Four smile and I turn around in his arms and put my arms around his neck with his around my hips.

"Goodmorning," I whisper and give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Goodmorning. Did you make this?" he asks and I nod and bite my lip because I finally get a good look at him and he leaves me speechless just by how hot he is especially with his deep morning voice and messy hair with a slight stubble across his jaw.

"You are amazing, have I ever told you that, beautiful?" he says this and it makes me smile.

"I think once or twice, hotstuff." I reply which evokes a chuckle from my use of a nickname. He kissed me before getting two plates and filling them up with food and setting them on the island and sitting on the stool next to Zeke and pats the seat next to him for me, but I have to climb up the chair before sitting on the stool which makes both Zeke and Four chuckle.

"Hey, if you were five foot 2 inches you wouldn't be laughing, it's not my fault my friends are trees." I say the last part under my breath and this time they both full on laugh.

"You are so adorable." Four says and kisses my cheek before digging in.

When everyone is up and has eaten, we all take showers and change. Christina always has tons of extra clothes and makeup and hair products in her car so I take one of her tops that she made my brother buy her from UM and sports bras (of course it's a push up) and wear my shorts from last night. I left my white converse in her car from when we visited my parents together a couple weekends ago. My feet are a size 6.5 and her's are a 9 so I would never fit in her shoes and I will not wear those uncomfortable ass boots for two days in a row. I throw my hair up in a messy bun and put a layer of mascara on and decide that this as good as it's going to get. I walk out of the bathroom and see Four looking sexy as hell in tight navy blue t-shirt, white shorts, and a navy hat with Oakley sunglasses sitting on top of it. I see him cleaning up the living room and go over to help him. He sees me and smiles.

"Hey gorgeous." he says and I give him a shy smile and start picking up red-solo cups. When we are done picking up bottles and cans and cups he starts vacuuming and I get the febreeze and spray everything down. We work silently, but it's a comfortable silence. When we're done he stretches his back out which lifts his shirt revealing a tiny bit of his tanned skin and I can't help but stare at this Greek God. He chuckles.

"Come on let's see what the others are doing." with his hand out for me to take it which I happily do.

We find them out by the pool picking up cups, but everything else looks pretty clean so I go sit on a lounge chair next to Christina while Four goes to toss a football with Will.

"What do you guys wanna do after this?" Zeke asks us with a trash bag slung around his shoulder.

"Well, I'm starving so why don't we go out to eat?" Uri suggests. We all say sure and gather our stuff to head out. When we are heading out the door Four comes up to me.

"Do you want to go with me?" he asks and I nod and smile at him which makes him smile. He puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me to the truck and opens the door for me. I literally have to jump in order to get in the fricking thing which earns a "You are so fucking adorable" from Four, but I'm not sure if I was supposed to hear it cause he said it kinda quietly. He shuts my door for me and walks to the other side and gets in and throws his duffel bag in the back. He puts the car in drive and we're off.

"Can I ask you a question, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but you said something last night and I just want to know, but it's okay if you don't want to answer I'll be perfectly fine. Just tell me if i'm overstepping my boundaries.." I ramble on which makes him chuckle.

"Whoaa slow down there tiger, you don't have to ask me if you can ask a question, just ask it."

"What happened to your mom?" I say quietly. He takes a deep breath in and puts his hand that's not on the wheel, on my thigh and squeezes it.

It takes him awhile to answer, "She was in a car accident 16 years ago. I was nine years old and a drunk driver who was driving an 18-wheeler smashed into the driver side at a four way intersection, dragged the car 20 feet and smashed into a building. The doctor said she died as soon as the truck hit the car so at least she didn't have to suffer anymore than she already had. She had all of her clothes in the trunk of the car so she was going to leave me one way or another." I look at him with tears threatening to spill thinking of a little Four finding out how his mom died, but not only that, she was going to leave him as well. When we're stopped at a red light, he looks over at me and brushes the lone tear that had managed to escape.

"Hey, no tears, it happened a long time ago. What happened, happened and I can't change that. All I can, no all I have to think about is right here, right now and what I can do to become a better man than I was yesterday." I am astounded by how strong this man is. I sit there and I stare at him baffled by how lucky I am to be whatever we are right now. So if he can be strong, I can be strong for him.

Before I know it, we are at a cafe by the Navy Pier. I've gone here many times because it is walking distance from our apartment and it's pretty good. Our group of 7 walks in and takes our order. Mine consists of a summer salad with a raspberry vinaigrette and a freshly squeezed lemonade. I am about to pay, but Four stops me saying that lunch is on him. It takes me a moment to agree which I reluctantly do. We put 3 square tables together outside because it's a beautiful day and eat outside. We all eat and chat and laugh until I look up and see my best friend from highschool walking down the Pier. I excuse myself and run over to him. He sees me and opens his arms and envelops me in a huge hug. He picks me up and spins me around much like Uri did yesterday.

"Jeffrey Yale what the hell are you doing in Chicago?!" I ask really flipping happy to see him. "Beatrice Prior, if you had your phone on you would know that I came down to see you, but alsoo that I got a job here and will be moving into my new apartment next week." and at this news I let out a squeal and hug him again.

"I've missed you Jeffy. Sorry my phone's dead, I was at a friends house last night at a party and forgot to charge it." I say and he raises his eyebrows.

"I missed you too Trissy. Are those your friends over there," he says pointing to the table and I nod, "And who is the really intimidating guy staring at me?" I look over and see Four staring over at us and i give him a questioning look, but turn back to Jeff.

"That is Four, do you want to meet them right now or do you want to meet them later?"

"I don't want to bother you guys more than I already have. I'm sure I'll meet them soon enough." He hugs me and kisses my cheek, "If you are free tomorrow text me and we can go out for lunch and if not that fine. I'll see you later Tris, it was really good to see you." He says and I say bye and go back to my seat.

"Is that your friend from highschool?" Christina asks and I nod as I eat a fork full of lettuce.

"Yah he just told me that he's moving here because he got a job. His name is Jeff, I'm sure you guys will meet im soon enough." I say and look over at Four who is looking at his crumbs expressionless. He abruptly gets up and puts his paper that wrapped his sandwich in the trash and mutters a "I'm going for a walk" and walks away. I stand up and chase after him.

When I catch up to him, I walk beside him not saying anything for a while.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me." He says with his hands in his pockets and he's looking at the ground. I put my head on his shoulder and wrap my arms around the crook of his elbow. We sit on a bench overlooking the water.

"I'm an idiot, I know you said he's a friend and I do believe you, but the look in his eye said he wanted you. Hell, every guy wants you, but you don't see it for some reason. Look what I'm trying to say is that I like you and I get jealous when other guys have their arms around you even if it's for a couple seconds because it's not me," but I shut him up by pulling his head toward mine and crashing my lips to his, trying to say that he is the only one I want. My hands tug at the hair on the nape of his neck and he pulls me closer with his hands on my waist. I then remember where we are and pull back breathing heavily. I look into his deep blue eyes.

"I like you too," and he grins. He pulls me up with him and we start walking back to our friends with my arm wrapped around his torso and one of his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow?" Four asks looking down at me. I smile.

"Of course I would." He smiles at me and kisses the top of my head.

"You wanna know where I live?" I ask and he says yes. I stop and he looks at me confused. I point to the first floor of the apartment building with the balcony off it and say, "That's my room with the Balcony, no one lives on the second floor and the lady who owns the place lives on the third floor and gets the garage so we have to park in front of the door which is fine." He smiles.

"I'll have to remember that."

Four's Pov

I would've never guessed myself as the jealous type of guy, but when that Jeff fucker put his hands on her I immediately wanted to pry her away from him. I know I'm not her boyfriend yet and I can't do anything if she likes another guy, but I really hope that she likes me enough to not like anyone else. She likes me right? I know she does, but does she even want to date me? I don't know, and it's killing me. The way some guys look at her really pisses me off though. Like they are undressing her with their eyes, it's really disgusting. I mean I check her out all the time, but it's different because I actually know her. Anyway, after my idiot moment we all went to Tris and Christina's apartment to hang out. I have to say I was pretty impressed when I walked in. "This place is amazing girls." I say while walking around. Tris hops up on one of the barstools and tells us that if we want anything to eat or drink just take it. Then she puts her phone on Bluetooth and Out of My League by Fitz & The Tantrums fills the apartment. I sit on the stool next to her and sing the chorus because it's a catchy tune.

You were out of my league

All the things I believed

You were just the right kind

Yeah, you were more than just a dream

You were out of my league

Got my heartbeat racing

If I die don't wake me

'Cause you were more than just a dream

When I'm done singing, I take a sip of my water and look over at Tris who's staring at me with aw glistening in her eyes. I kiss her because she's too hard to resist. "You are definitely out of my league Tris," I say against her lips and this makes her smile.

We hear Uriah telling one of his stories in the living room so we go over to listen to him. "If you go out like a mile behind our parent's house you find a lake, so that party I told people to bring flashlights and ATVs so we could go explore. An hour into our journey we all get to the lake and we all are drinking and skinny dipping. Next thing you know there's a police helicopter circling the lake cause apparently someone owned the lake and there was a house on the opposite side and decided to call the cops on a bunch of 20 year olds having a good time. So the douche whips out a bull horn and starts saying to leave the premises or else we will get arrested and fined. We all get back on our ATVs and go back to the house only to find the cop at our house with his helicopter parked in the backyard. Tris here used her charm and eventually convinced the guy to party with us and he gave Tris me Will Al and Christina a tour of the city. I gotta say Tris, that cop had a major crush on you." And the rest of them agree. What the fuck? Where was I this entire time? I look over at Tris to see her laughing and when she sees me looking at her she shrugs and goes over to Uriah.

"I haven't been to a party like that in forever Uri! Those were the good types of parties." She says slinging her arm around around his shoulders laughing.

"Let's go do something spontaneously crazy right now come onnnn!" He says picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. I really try not to be jealous of all this attention that Tris is giving Uri, but it's really fucking hard when his hands are that close to her perfect ass. She giggles.

"Put me dowwwnnn!" And instead of being a jealous asshole I decide to be a knight in shining whatever and save her. I take her from his arms and gently put her on the couch and turn to Uriah and tackle him to the floor and put him in a headlock. He's laughing so hard that his face is bright red and he's trying so hard to say "let me go" which I eventually do. We give each other a "man hug" and get up to see the Zeke and Will with beers in the kitchen. I hear Tris get on the phone and assume she's going in her room. Christina and Shauna are giggling about something on the bar stools. We start talking about how now Uriah needs to get a girlfriend and also how they need to throw a party for graduation. We decided that we will go to a fancy dinner on graduation night which if Friday and then Uriah and Zeke will throw a party Saturday night because their parents said they could have the house then. Zeke and Shauna have there own place and Uriah has his apartment, but the house is big and secluded so it's better there to have a party.

Thirty minutes later and Tris still hasn't come out of her room so I go over to Christina to ask her if I should go check on her. She gives me the go ahead and I go over and knock on her door.

"Tris? Are you okay?" I say, but don't get a reply. I knock again but still no response, "I'm coming in, if you don't want me in here scream or something." And I open the door to find her room empty. I look in the bathroom, but the light is shut off. Her room is very cosy and simple and makes me wanna fall asleep at 6 in the afternoon. I go over to her balcony door and see it's a little open so she must be out here. "Tris?" I say as I open the doors and find her sitting on her little chair thing with her knees up against her chest. She looks like she saw a ghost and all the color is drained out of her face, plus she is breathing erratically. I know this look, she just had a panic attack so I sit down next to her and put her in my lap and hug her as tight as I can while rocking her back and forth. She finally relaxes after a couple minutes and she slumps back into my chest and whispers an I'm sorry. "Hey look at me," I say and wait for her to turn her head to look at me, "you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm here for you if you want to talk, but if not we can just sit here until you're ready to see the others or I can just kick them all out if you want." I say and she turns her whole body so her legs are swung to the side, but her face is in the crook of my neck.

Ten minutes pass by and I thought she fell asleep, but I was wrong because she starts talking, well, whispering.

"A little over a year ago I had an abusive boyfriend named Peter. I have a restraining order stating that he can't come within a mile radius of me. He's not even supposed to call me or talk to me in any way shape or form, but I just got a call from him." With her words I tense. Why the fuck would anyone want to hurt Tris?! She is so innocent and beautiful both inside and out that what God damn fucked up mind would want to taint such a person. I need to control my temper before I go find the fucking asshole right now and beat the shit out of him so I focus on my breathing and being strong for Tris because she needs me right now. I want to know more, but don't want to push her because I know she will tell me when she's ready to.

"Do you want me to send them home because I will you know. I would do anything for you, Tris." I say truthfully. She gets up and helps me up. She pulls me into a hug and thanks me. "You don't need to thank me, just know that I'll always be here for you no matter what, okay?" And she nods. We head back inside and Tris goes into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. She grabs my hand and I follow her into the kitchen where everyone is already eating pizza and watching a movie. Christina sees us and jumps us to talk to Tris, but Tris shakes her head and whispers a "Peter called, I'll tell you about it later" to her. Since everyone is taking up the couches and chairs, we sit next to each other on the floor leaning against the couch. She leans her head on my shoulder and I slip my fingers into hers tiny ones.

Everyone leaves at around nine because people have to work and stuff and the last people remaining are Tris, me, Christina and Will. Tris fell asleep on my shoulder a little while ago so I scoop her up in my arms and bring her to her bedroom. I put her under the covers and plug her phone into her charger and see texts from several people. Her brother, the Jeffrey guy, and some other dude named Eric. Great, more competition. I sit on the edge of her bed and stare at her thinking how lucky I am. Never in my life entire life would I think that I would have this pure, kind, beautiful, intelligent, strong woman in my arms, but here she is. I think about how much of an ignorant, corrupt, morbid human being that dumb fuck Peter is for ever laying a finger on the most enchanting, good-natured woman I know. She is incredible and I will do everything in my power to protect her so she doesn't have to constantly look around her shoulder to see if someone's going to hurt her. I place a gentle kiss to her forehead so I don't wake her and write a note out so she can see it in the morning and leave it on her nightstand. I slowly walk out of her room and shut her door. I see Christina sitting on one of the bar stools and she tells me to sit down next to her. I don't think I can sit down yet, I'm too pissed off thinking about someone hitting her so I stand on the opposite side of the island and clench my fist pressed into the counter and jaw when Christina starts to talk.

"I can tell by you looking like you want to kill someone that she told you, right?" She asks and I only nod unable to say anything from my overwhelming anger filling my veins. "Look, Tris would be really pissed off if you hunted him down and killed him trust me I know. She has been desperately trying to get over it for the past year, but let me tell you he still haunts her dreams. At least she's not an insomniac anymore so she's getting better, but we don't want to reopen anymore wounds so if you're intentions are wrong I say you leave and never come back. She doesn't need to be with another dick, but I can tell that you are different. I can tell by the way you look at her even if you guys haven't known each other for a long time I can tell that you guys like each other a lot. I do not ever want to see her hurt physically or emotionally anymore do you understand what I'm saying Four?" I look at her dead in the eye.

"I will never hurt her." She nods and walks into her room. I go down the stairs and out the door to my truck. When I slam the door shut I yell, "Fuck." And speed off to the gym.