Chapter 38

Tobias POV

I feel the blankets fling off the bed and a tug on my arm. "Tobias," she whispers. I raise my eyebrows but I can't open my eyes. I was up all night thinking over what to say to Tris' parents if they show.

"Tobias," she says again. She moves so she is straddling me and leans her head so her lips brush against my ear. "Wake up."

I smile a little and she must notice because she kisses me softly. I am quick to respond as I kiss her back. I go to deepen the kiss, but she leans back. I give her a confused look and she smiles. "Visiting Day," she says. "Max wants us out of here."

I forgot that we are moving today. "I'm going to miss this place," I say pulling Tris closer to my chest. I lay back down and Tris stays laying on my chest.

"What about it?" She asks, although I know she will miss it too.

"Like… the counter," I say. "The first time we slept in the same bed I woke up you you eating cereal I didn't even know I had." I hear Tris laugh. "Which brings me to the bed. Sooo many good memories on this bed." Tris slaps my chest and laughs even more. I love that I can put a smile on her face.

"Lots of memories," she laughs in agreement.

I turn my voice to full seriousness when I say, "Hey, I lost my virginity on this bed." This just causes another laugh out of Tris, and I join along too.

"If you help me pack the rest of this stuff, maybe we can make some more memories at the new house." This gets my attention. I sit up and lift Tris up with me. I give her a quick kiss on the lips and start dumping our dresser drawers in a cardboard box. "I'm going to go get the initiates. I'll meet you in the pit in an hour."

Realm POV

The lights slam on and Six start yelling at us to get up. We all get changed fast and I make sure to fix my hair in the washroom mirror. My dad would hate it if I didn't look presentable. A part of me hopes he comes, but the other part is begging for him to be out of my life.

"If by some miracle your families do show, I suggest you try not to make yourself look so attached." Six shouts when we are all up. "Eat breakfast, Visiting Day starts in an hour."

When Six leaves I feel shivers go down my spin. She must know that families don't show often if she calls it a miracle.

"How do I look?" I ask Dean as we watch people enter the pit. Dean takes in my appearance and I start to get more nervous by the second.

"Very…" He starts.

"Very what?" I ask. I feel like my collar is strangling me.

"Nervous," Dean says, helping me loosen my black button up. We sit down at the table for breakfast and I peer my head around for Sloane, but she's nowhere to be seen.

"Wait, are you two…?" Marlon says as he sits down across from us. A leader I recognize as Peter sits next to him.

"Gay?" I say. I stare Marlon straight in the eyes.

He puts his hands up in surrender. "Hey, man, I'm down with the rainbow—well, I mean I'm not gay, but I don't think—I do think it's okay—good, yeah…" Marlon mumbles.

Dean gives me a quick peck on the lips to calm my nerves.

"That's disgusting." Peter says under his breath.

"What'd you say?" I say.

"I said 'that's disgusting,'" Peter says again, this time getting the attention of other tables. I stand up and Dean stands up after, but facing me. I know that he is from Amity so he doesn't like conflict, but I can't handle myself. Not right now.

"I came here to get away from people like you, so why don't you keep your opinions to yourself?" I said harshly.

"I'm a leader, it's my job to give my opinion." Peter says standing up.

"Pete—" Marlon says.

"Shut it," Peter says to Marlon. He turns his attention back to me now, "if you've got a problem with how I run things here, the we don't want you."

"Yeah, I DO have a problem with that!" I shout. I don't even have to take my eyes away from Peter to know that the whole pit is staring at us.

"Get out," Peter says. "You're done."

"You can't kick him out for being gay!" Dean protests. The pit gasps at his statement.

"I just did," Peter says. He turns and walks away and what happens next shocks me.

Marlon grabs Peter's arm and Peter turns to face him, but before he can—Marlon's fist connects with his face. Peter clutches his jaw and jumps at Marlon like a cougar.

"Peter!" Someone shouts angrily. I turn my attention to to the voice, while Marlon and Peter still punch each other. The voice belongs to the leader Max. "Get off him," Max says pulling Peter back by his shirt.

"It's just my stupid brother!" Peter says. Brother?! Marlon stands up and wipes his nose, which is bleeding profusely. He goes to attack Peter but Four grabs his shoulder.

"What the hell, Peter?" Six asks beside him. Peter looks accusingly at me. "Realm?"

When neither of us don't answer Four speaks. "Go to the pit," he says. "Visiting Day is starting soon."

Tobias POV

I check the number on the key and stand in front of the door. Tris swipes it out of my hand before I have a chance to reach for the knob. When Tris unlocks the door to our new apartment bits of dust linger in the light.

It's not much different from our old apartment. It's floors are a dusty birch, and the walls are white and peeling. The door opens and the kitchen is to the right. The cabinets—which I'm sure we won't use—are a dark stained brown. The living room is straight ahead and is simply a blackish blue three person couch with plastic wrap over it.

The apartment has full length windows that peer out onto the terrace. Between the kitchen and livingroom there is two doors. Two on the right and two on the left. Three of which are bedrooms, though they don't contain any more than a lamp. The bathroom is on the right and as far as I can see, it's the same as our old one.

I turn back to face Tris who has wondered into the kitchen. She runs her hand along the wooden countertops and I see the trail of dust being brought off to show it's splintering finnish.

"Do you wanna head down to the pit?" I ask Tris. I head over to the window and pry it open to get some air in here. It takes some effort to open it, aas if it hasn't been touched in years—Which may be the case.

"Sure," Tris says. I make sure to lock the door and walk towards the pit. The distance to the pit is only about a five minute walk. When we get there I see multiple colours. I instantly feel panicked when I see a gray figure walking towards us.

Tris notices and runs towards her mother. I notice a hunch in her back and a limp in her step. Tris asked her how she is again and again making sure she's telling the truth. Tris holds her in an embrace before turning back to me. "Mom, this is… Four." She extends her hand to me and I shake it with uncertainty. "He's my fiance."

Natalie shows no sense of shock on her face. Instead she gives me an Abnegation nod and says, "It's nice to meet you."

"Where's dad?" Tris asks looking around. "He didn't go to see Caleb did he?"

"No, Beatrice." Natalie says calmly. "I'd like to talk to you about Caleb… somewhere, sometime."

"You know," Tris says. "You know what he's doing?"

Natalie gives a small nod and looks around. "We've got it handled. Just don't talk to him for the time being, and avoid going to Erudite headquarters."

"Why, what's happening?" Tris asks again. Natalie places a hand on her cheek and gives me another nod before turning and leaving.

"This is my instructor, Four." Someone says beside me. I turn my gaze to rather Mad or Mel. They both have their hair down so I can't tell who is who. They stand next to a scrawny, tall man, and a tall blond woman.

Tris POV

Tobias goes to talk to Mad and Mel's parents and I head above the pit so I can see better. I look around for my initiates. The first I see is Chloee standing with a tall man a few shades darker than her and a short woman with reddish blonde hair. They both wear standard Candor uniforms along with a boy who looks like her brother. Chloee shoves him and he runs into Marlon who pats him on the head before walking away from Peter and their parents. I still can't believe they're related.

I see Dean and Realm talking to Johanna Reyes who I assume—if the rumors are true—was Dean's legal guardian while he was in Amity. In the far corner I see J.J holding a little girl on his hip and smiling broadly at her.

I scan the crowd again, but I see no sign of Sloane. I walk to the dorms and see Sloane on her bunk staring at the ceiling. She turns her face to see me, but looks disinterested and looks back at the roof.

"You're not going to check for your family?" I ask as I sit up on the bed beside hers.

"Realm's my family," she says. "I don't want to see my mother."

"Why don't you head to the pit with Realm?" I suggest. "He and Dean—"

"Why did you make them fight?" She asks. "Realm and Dean, they're friends, or more than friends, but you paired them together… Why?"

I wasn't expecting that. "It is what it is."

"I don't make friends as easily as Realm does, so when you pair my friends against each other, I don't like it. Are you a sadistic? Seeing Realm and Dean torture each other tortures me. Was that the point?" Sloane says it with no emotion, as if stating the obvious.

"No," I say baffled. "... We paired them together to show them strength. Not just physically, but mentally. You never know who you might have to fight, that's why we train."

"I don't compute."

"I had a friend—Al…" I take a second to breathe. "I thought we were friends, but I a couple people got in his head and he tried something."

"What did he try?" Sloane asks.

"It's not important," I say. "But it hurt me, when I had to fight him… I wasn't ready. I'm not saying this will happen, but it's always good to be prepared."

"Is someone here for Ream?" Sloane asks. I shrug and Sloane darts up. "I should be there for Realm in case… I should be there for Realm."

I follow her to the pit when all of a sudden it goes quiet. I look around and follow the stares of everyone as a man in a blue suit walks out of the pit. As the man leaves everyone starts whispering and I see Realm on the ground.

Realm POV

Dean and I share a couple of laughs with Johanna Reyes. I didn't think I'd like Amity, but after talking to Johanna I would have considered it a choice. I'd be happy not having a care in the world.

I head into the center of the room to look for Chloee or Marlon. Sloane said she didn't want to come which upset me. I know I should be glad she's getting more independant, but I feel sad not having her by my side all the time.

I stop looking when a blue suit lands in front of me. I follow it up to my father's face. He wears the same unemotional face—totally detached.

"Dad," I say. I offer him a small smile to be nice but it comes out more strained. "It's nice of you to come, if you want I can introduce you to my friends—or my boyfriend, his name's Dean he's really nice. Sloane isn't here, but I can get her if you want." I stop rambling to wait for a response, but when he doesn't answer I continue. "I'm sorry for leaving, I didn't want to, but faction before blood, ya know—?"

I'm cut off when his hand connects to my cheek. The impact sends echos through the pit and all conversations stop. I fall to the ground from the momentum and place a hand on my cheek to where I know there'll be a bruise.

I don't dare look up as I hear the footsteps of my father leave. I stay on the ground like a scolded dog. I hear the whispers around me and Dean rushes to my side. "Are you okay?" He says.

"That's not how I planned that going," I laugh. Dean looks at me still concerned.

"I think you're in shock or…" Dean starts.

"I'm fine," I shrug. Dean touches my lip with his fingers and when he pull it back his fingertips are red. "I'm fine."

Four walks through the crowd which divides voluntarily and towards me. He looks angry for some reason. "Visiting Day is over!" He shouts. "Head back to your dorms!"

I start to walk back but he grabs my arm. "Who was that?" he asks.

"I don't know, probably just some crazed man…" I say.

"Then why didn't you fight back?" He asks.

I shrug, "Wasn't worth it."

Four looks like he's about to punch me, but Six grabs his arm and he relaxes a bit. I start to feel the pain on my face and wince a little. Someone hooks their arm around mine and I look down to see Sloane. "Let's head back."

"We aren't going to talk about this?" Dean says as he walks after us.

"Leave it alone," I say.

"He just hit you in front of everyone don't you—"

"Leave it alone," I say again. I see Sloane give him a warning look, but Dean brushes it off.

"No."

"Fine," I say turning away from him. "Then leave me alone, we're done."

Tobias POV

Tris and I head back to the apartment. I feel the tension in the air, but neither of us says anything. I walk into the apartment after Tris and stubble a bit on a box. I curse and kick the box, angry at everything.

Watching Realm made me think back to when I was in Abnegation. I know that if that had been Marcus I would have done nothing to stop it. I keep kicking the box until I see Tris. She looks almost afraid of me.

Is she afraid of me?

I turn away, like the coward I am and slide down the wall to put my head in my hands. I feel the tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Tris doesn't touch me or tell me it's okay, but instead she slides down the wall across from me and waits.

I feel… I don't know what I feel. Is there even an emotion to describe this?

All of a sudden there is a knock at the door. I assume it must be Zeke or Max so I answer the door, careful not to hit Tris with it.

The door squeaks on its hinges. When I look up I stare into deep blue eye's identical to mine. "Tobias."

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