Tris POV:
After the party, Four and I walk back home hand in hand. He's going to drop me off, and after what happened this morning, I don't go the back way, near the alley. It's a bit of a shortcut, but once we get there, I immediately wish that we had taken the long route.
Peter walks up with Eric, Drew and Al. Four and I turn around, but then Eric speaks.
"I believe that we have some unfinished business to take care of," he says, then takes a puff of his cigarette and slicks back his extra greasy hair.
Four sighs, "Is this because you got cut from varsity in your senior year? I told you, and everyone saw, I had nothing to do with that."
"I don't suppose that that's the case. Mrs. Matthews told us that your father is running for mayor. You see her husband is also," snarls Peter, "And you see, being allies and all, that won't make for very good competition."
Four puts his hands up in mock defense and laughs under his breath, "Believe you me, I stay out of my father's way as much as possible."
"Gentlemen, I think it's high time, don't you?" starts Eric. The others, except for Al, I notice, grumble and charge in response.
Peter pins me against the wall and kicks my privies. My head lurches forward and he punches me cheek to make my head fall back. I swallow a scream and look to Four, who's being held back by Drew.
"Make him watch," commands Peter, "He needs to see the Stiff suffer." The others nod and grumble in response.
Then Eric walks over and slaps both of us. Four's anger takes over as he knees Drew in the balls and swings his leg in a roundhouse kick to Eric's temple. They both collapse almost instantly. Peter lets go of his chokehold on my throat, and swings his leg at Four in a poor attempt at a kick. Four catches his leg and twists it in the opposite direction, causing a popping sound and a teary eyed Peter to fall down. I see Al look at Four, then clumsily run around broken glass bottles that were left in the alley before running away.
"Four," I croak out from the ground.
He runs over to me and picks me up. My head is against his chest and the last two things I hear are Four's heartbeat and him mumbling about how come stuff like this always happens to him, before my world goes hollow.
I wake up to running water in a familiar room. I try to sit up, but a bruise near my ribs tells me that it's a bad idea. I slowly sit back unto an extra bouncy bed.
"Ah, good. You're up."
"Four?"
"Yes, Tris? You hungry, or something?"
I shake my head. "What happened last night?"
He smirks, "'If I told you that, I'd have to kill you.'" I smile. It's a quote from one of his favorite movies that we watched the previous day, Casino Royale. Four's smile goes away. This is not a good sign. After a while, he speaks, "Well after the party, we walked home. But we ran into Eric, Al, Peter, and Drew, who apparently had some 'unfinished business.'" I cringe. He uses air quotes on the last part and slips off his slippers. Then he walks over to me.
I scoot over, and we lay on the bed for a while.
Four's voice breaks the silence first, "Well, I'm gonna go make some chocolate-chip pancakes. Marcus is already gone, so we're free until around three-ish," He sees my smile and laughs, "I thought that you weren't hungry."
I blush and shrug.
"I'll make extras," he says before leaving. I smile to myself.
20 minutes later, Four walks back in carrying two plates and two glasses. He kisses my head and hands me a plate with two chocolate-chip pancakes and strawberries covering them and a glass of orange juice. He tucks my hair behind my ear, causing me to smile. I immediately dig in and he smiles.
"How are you?" he asks, before wolfing down four pancakes that were on his plate.
I shrug, "My ribs and head hurt when I breathe."
He smiles a little, "Not much I can do about that."
"Well, I do know a few people that would throw a party if I stopped breathing."
"I can tell you this much. I would only go if there was cake." He pats my knee.
"Like the chocolate cake at the cafeteria?"
Four smiles and takes our plates, "Only if it was that kind."
"You wanna watch another movie?" Four says, a while after he gets back from doing the dishes.
I shrug, "Sure. Which one?"
"You pick."
"Uh, I dunno. The Breakfast Club?"
He nods and puts it on.
"I like this one," Four says, as the credits roll on.
I nod. He walks up to the bed and sits next to me, putting his arm around me. I smile and lay my head on his shoulder, breathing in his masculine scent.
We get to the lunch scene and at this point Four and I are sneaking glances at each other.
John Bender: What're we having?
Brian Johnson: Uh, it's your standard, regular lunch I guess...
[Bender reaches in the bag and pulls out a thermos. He sets it on the table and points at it]
John Bender: Milk?
Brian Johnson: Soup.
[Bender goes in again and pulls out a juice box. Brian reaches toward the bag and Bender slaps his hand]
Brian Johnson: That's apple juice...
John Bender: I can read! PB & J with the crusts cut off... Well Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch, all the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?
By now, Four and I are fully making out. His arm travels up my shirt and I lurch back in shock.
"Oh my God Tris! Did I hurt you?" his eyes go wide.
I shake my head and point to my ribs, teardrops forming in my eyes.
He keeps apologizing for a while and by now, the movie is over.
"I, uh, think that there are some spare crutches in, uh, the garage." With that, he runs down the stairs. I hear him trip down the last step and yell 'I'm okay!' I smirk. Ah, Four...
Four runs back up the steps a few minutes later with crutches. He tries to adjust them to my height but ends up swearing at them.
I laugh, "It's fine. I can walk."
"You sure?" he looks at me like I'm an alien.
I nod and he mutters 'Thank God,' before kissing me, lightly this time.
When we break apart, I hear a car pull into the driveway.
"Uh, Four. You might want to look outside the window."
He looks at it, then looks back to me, "It's Marcus."
"Damn," we say at the same time.
Then we hear the front door creak open and a voice say, "Tobias?"