A/N: I had to repost this because I had to fix some things. Sorry!
By the time I make it back down to the Pit, the initiates are all circled around the mat and Tobias is demonstrating with Zeke. The sight of him makes my heart hurt as I think about Uriah and losing him. I was the only one who knows about Uriah. He is part of the past that never existed within the walls of this compound. I slow down as I approach them so that I can admire the way the two of them fight together. Zeke is talented, fast, and strong, but Tobias is like a machine. A very strong, very fast machine. He knows when to move, when the pause and when to strike. I might have told him that I could handle myself, but watching him in action makes me rethink my words. Watching them makes me think back to the first time I saw him fight, he went after Peter, Al and Drew the night they tried to throw me into the chasm.
I approach the group and stand next to the transfer from Erudite who is looking at the two men fight in pure awe, and I don't blame her. "He's amazing," she whispers and then she looks up at me, a little bit embarrsased that I had heard her.
I shake my head and smile at her. "No, I totally understand," I say as Tobias flips Zeke over his shoulder and down onto the mat. They're both laughing as Tobias helps Zeke to his feet. "He's pretty amazing."
"Thanks for the demonstration," he says nodding at Zeke
Zeke grins. "I had fun," he answers. "Even though you kicked my ass."
"I always do," he says before turning to the group. Zeke grins at me and I nod at him before he leaves. Maybe our relationship isn't as broken as I think it is. I'll have to get more information from Tobias first. "All right…so that was hand to hand combat. Tris, you want to come up here?"
I look up at him and nod, making my way up slowly to the mat. He steps aside and I turn to look at the group. "When you're fighting someone, you can't let your hands fall. You always have to make sure that you're quick on your feet, but if you're not paying attention, even for just a moment…" I can't continue speaking as Tobias comes behind me and I am flipped onto my back. I groan as I lay there, shaking my head.
"You'll be flipped on your ass," Tobias says. He offers me a hand I take it, standing up. "Pair up and work on the hand movements I showed you earlier. Then we'll start with the fighting."
He turns to look at me as the initiates turn to each other and began practicing. I feel like they're going to be okay. They're going to do better than I did. They were obedient. "You okay?" he asks.
I nod, stretching my arms over my head. "I'm good," I tell him. "It's not the first time I've been thrown on my ass."
He grins and moves to stand next to me. "I went easy on you."
I narrow my eyes and look at him. "Don't ever go easy on me," I say. "I can handle myself."
"I know you—"
"No you don't," I interrupt him. I lift my shoulders in a shrug. "And I'm fine with that because I love you." It comes out in a whisper. "And I know that somewhere deep down you love me."
He stares at me and reaches his hand over, brushing his hand against my own. He pulls his hand away and I bite down on my lower lip to keep myself from smiling. "We'll get there," he says.
"I look forward to it."
When we finished for the day, I left the Pit and headed up to my room to go shower. Even if I was to be leaving this room, this room that I didn't remember, I was a little disappointed to leave it. I hadn't had a room that felt so much like mine since back at Abnegation. And even then, the room didn't really feel like my own. I shut the door behind me and stripped from the clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower. I let the water wash away the dirt from the day, and ran my fingers through my hair and felt a stinging sensation on my side. I look down and run my fingers over the developing scars. How long ago had this happened really? If this was supposed to be nearly a year later, then where had these scars come from it not from being shot at?
I grab the soap and run it over the stiches, making sure that I keep them clean before I get finish up turn the shower off. Once the water stops, I hear the door close. This makes me nervous. I hadn't expected anyone to come in uninvited, and partially think that it's Peter coming to finish what he started back in the Pit. I get out of the shower and wrap my towel around me.
"Hello?" I make my way back into the room and stop when I see Christina. I swallow and force a smile. I was still a little guilty about what was happening with Tobias. Did it mean I could feel any less guilty when I was the one who was with him first? "Oh. Hey. What's up?"
"I heard something earlier," she said not smiling at me and turning away. She goes over to the bookshelf and begins going through my things. I don't stop her.
"What is it?"
Her hand pauses before she turns to look at me. "You're kidding, right?"
I run my fingers through my wet hair and out of my face. I pull the towel closer to me. "I don't know what you're talking about, Chris."
She shakes her head at me. "What's going on with you, Tris?" she asked. "Why are you keeping secrets from me?"
I let out a sigh. So she must have found out about Tobias. I don't know what Tobias had said to her. He told me that he was going to take care of it. And he had and now she was pissed. I couldn't blame her, really. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out like this…I wanted to tell you but…"
"Why didn't you tell me that Peter attacked you today?"
Oh. So she didn't know about Tobias. That was good. I sigh. "Because it wasn't a big deal," I lie before turning from her and heading to the closet to grab my clothes. I stepped into the closet and let the door cover be before pulling my clothes on.
"Not a big deal?" she asks me, surprise hinted in her voice. "Are you kidding? He almost killed you! If Four hadn't…"
I peek out from behind the door. "I could have taken care of it," I say. "I'm strong enough not to let some guy push me around."
"I know," Christina says. "But if Four hadn't come around you could have been seriously injured."
I sigh and go back out into the room and sit down on the bed. "Chris, I promise, I'm okay," I tell her. "I'm just a little tired."
"Tired?" she asks." But we were going to go get tattoos!"
I make a face. "I don't know what I want yet," I say. "I'll go another day."
"I'll go next time," I say. "I promise."
She smiles at me and heads for the door. "Okay, but make sure you keep a look out because I hear that Peter's pissed about what went down." I scoff. "Yeah I know, he doesn't have a right to be pissed. He's a dick, always has been."
I nod and she turns to open the door and Tobias is standing behind it, about to knock. My eyes widen as his do too, I am worried about her reaction, but she doesn't say anything about him being there. "Hey," she says. "Are you going to come with us to get tattoos?" she asks.
He smiles and shakes his head. "No I think I'm just going to get some rest tonight. First day training kind of wipes me out."
She groans. "You two are perfect together," she says. "Staying in all night when there's fun to be had."
I try not to react as she talks about us, so I just smile. She's right though. We are perfect together.
"Next time," Tobias tells Christina.
She smiles at him and stands on her toes pressing her lips to his. I turn my head from them with a pang of jealousy in my gut. I sigh as I hear her say, "I'll see you later."
I take a breath and can't help but feel angry. Even though I know there's nothing I can do about it. Tobias doesn't know what I know…and he doesn't feel what I feel. The door closes and I sigh, closing my eyes.
"Tris." His voice is soft and full of apology and I turn back to look at him.
"Hey."
He comes toward me and sits next to me on the bed. "I obviously haven't spoken to her yet."
I laugh and shake my head. "Obviously."
"But that doesn't mean I don't care about you."
"You don't even know me."
"Stop saying that," he says.
"What?" I ask. "It's true."
"It doesn't matter if I know you or not," Tobias says. "I may not really know you, this person that you are, but I do care about you. I told you. There's something here and I'm not fighting it, so neither should you."
I sigh, but nod. "Fine," I say. "I'll try to stop being such a pessimist."
He grins at me. "Good." He pulls me in and presses a kiss to my cheek and I can't help but smile. "Now pack a bag so that we can get going."
I nod and I get up heading back to the closet and packing up some of my clothes. "What do you think will happen if Christina shows up randomly to your room and catches me?"
I hear him chuckle and I turn around in time to see him shake his head. "She won't."
"How can you be sure?" I ask as I turn back around to pack more clothes into the bag.
"Because I never showed Christina my room."
I finish and close the bag before turning to look at him. "Seriously?" I ask.
"Seriously."
I smile. "Can I ask why?"
"Because I didn't think we were serious enough for her to know where I sleep."
I pull the bag over my shoulder. "Then let's go."
