I don't know what time is it when I wake up, but Tobias' arm is wrapped fully around me and I couldn't move even if I wanted to. And I don't. Because right now, in this moment, it doesn't feel any different than it was before. I don't have to worry about Tobias not knowing who I am or what we have together. But then reality sets in and I know where I am, and I know he doesn't remember. I pick his arm up so that I can climb out of the bed. I grab my clothes from the bag near the door and take them into the bathroom so that I can change. When I am done, I take some of the toothpaste that is on the sink and put it on my finger, using it to brush my teeth. I make a mental note to grab my toothbrush when I come back later. If I come back. I probably shouldn't, given the circumstances. Sure, Peter probably wants to kill me, and he definitely can if he puts enough effort into the act, but does that give me the right to sleep with someone else's boyfriend? Granted, we had only been sleeping, and their entire relationship was a sham, but to Christina, who doesn't know any better, it's real. All of it is real. She doesn't know. She has no idea. And that makes me a bad friend.
I rinse my mouth out and dry my hands on the towel by door before leaving. Tobias is still sleeping. That's a good sign. I stop and watch him for a moment and comtemplate not leaving, but my better judgment wins out. I pack my night shirt in the bag before picking it up along with my shoes before leaving the room. I drop the bag off in my own room, which surprisingly looks untouched, as I had expected Peter to come looking. I shut the door before heading down to the Pit. I catch the clock as I leave, noting that I have about an hour before the group will start to show up. Which means I have about an hour to just deal with myself. And I have a lot of shit that I have to deal with.
When I get back to the pit, I set up the speakers to that the music is blasting, but not loud enough to send it up to the rooms. I stretch before I take off and run the entire length of the Pit two and a half times before I have to stop, my side starts to hurt and I walk over to the water station to fill a cup. I down it before refilling it and i move to go sit down next against the wall so that I can relax for a few moments at least before people start filing in. I close my eyes and take the time to try to catch my breath when I hear footsteps come . My eyes shoot open, ever since yesterday, I'm now terrified of Peter more than ever. If I am alone and I can't handle myself, then I'll most likely die. But instead I see…no…that's not even possible. This has to be a dream.
"Uriah?" I ask. I can't keep the shock out of my voice. Because coming toward me is real life, healthy, Uriah, with a grin on his face and I feel my chest begin to tighten. This can't be real. I look around to see if anyone else sees him, but I am by myself down here.
"Hey," he says with a grin. "Sorry I missed you at dinner last night, I woke up in the infirmary with a killer headache." He chuckles as he moves to sit next to me. "And on my way down I heard about Peter." He gives me a look like I should have known better. And he'd be right. I should have known better. I would have known better…but given the circumstances, I didn't really have much of a choice.
I don't even know what to say at this point. I'm not even sure if I'm going crazy and this is a hallucination or if I'm dreaming. Because it cannot be real. David can't bring people back to life, right? Right? I swallow past the lump in my throat and I force a smile onto my lips. "Hey," I say. My voice comes out a bit shaky and I try to keep it even, I will not be able to give an explanation for my behavior. "Yeah…he's crazy."
"Didn't we figure that out last year?"
I nod. "Yeah," I say.
"I don't know what you see in him," Uriah tells me.
I shake my head and lift my shoulders. "Neither do I," I answer with a laugh.
He grins at me. "Though you and Tobias…"
"What?" I ask, maybe a little too quickly.
"You guys had a chemistry last year…I don't know what happened."
I look at him, shaking my head slowly because as far as I'm concerened, last year didn't go the way I remember. Everyone remembers different things. I wasn't the same person I was last year, and the fact that Uriah is here…it makes sense that he remembers. Because he can't really be here. This conversation isn't real. Maybe I'm in pain or something. I don't know. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on," he says. "You know you kind of blew everyone's mind when you kissed him after initiation. But I don't know how things fell apart so quickly for you."
Uriah's reality…is my reality. I take a breath and turn toward him. "Uriah, what's the last thing that you remember…before waking up, I mean."
He narrows his eyes in concentration, in thought and then he makes a face. "An explosion of some sort…at the…where were we? We weren't here, were we?" He looks around the Pit and sighs. "Nah, we weren't here."
I stare at him, my mouth slightly open as I try to process what's going on. I thought I was alone. I thought I was…wait. No. Like I said. This could still all be a dream. This could be all pretend. This could be…
"Uriah!" Tobias' voice calls from the other side of the room. I feel dizzy now. It's a good thing I'm sitting. "Hey man," he says when he gets close enough to us. He looks down at me curiously, probably upset that I left without him or something, I don't know what goes on inside of his head. Not anymore. "Looks like you finally made it out of the infirmary," he says, looking back at Uriah. "How do you feel?"
"I've got a headache, but that's what the pills are for, right?" he grins at me before getting up.
Tobias can see Uriah. Tobias can see Uriah. I'm not crazy. I'm not dreaming. But if it's neither of those things, then what the hell could it be? As far as I knew, there was no bringing people back to life. If there had been, David probably would have used the technology to bring my mother back to life. Not that she would have stayed with him. That, I'm sure of. I swallow and get to my feet and stretch out. I finish off the water and I toss the cup in the trash.
"I'm gonna let you guys get to training," Uriah says, nodding his head as the group of initiates file in. I look up at the clock. Two minutes before they're supposed to be here. To a Dauntless, that's just not good enough."See you later?" he asks, looking at me and I nod. Because he and I need to talk. I wonder if it's him. I wonder if there's anyone else that's coming back. I don't know why they're here, but I'm going to try to figure it out. Because if they're back and they remember…then does that mean that there's a chance of getting Tobias to remember?
After Uriah leaves, Tobias turns to me and we start walking toward the group. "Why'd you leave so early?" He asks me, his voice low.
"It was only an hour," I say, dodging the question.
"Okay then let me rephrase. "Why didn't you wake me and why is your bag gone?"
I swallow, taking my time before answering. I knew he wouldn't' have missed that. "Because it's better this way."
"What way? You keeping secrets from me?"
"Everything about me is a secret to you," I hiss back at him.
He lets out a breath and I know he's mad. "You really gotta stop doing that, "he says. "You gotta trust me, Tris. I'm not going anywhere, no matter how hard you push me away."
"And why is that?"
"I told you. There's something here. And you…you've infected me and I can't get rid of you even If I wanted do, which I don't. I can't not be involved with you."
I clench my jaw. He's right. I try to run and he'll find me. I try to keep my distance and I keep getting pulled back in. There's no escaping the way that he makes me feel. As much as I try to do the right thing here, I can't not be with him. "Okay."
"Okay?" he asks. "Okay, you're going to stop trying to push me away?"
I nod. "Okay," I tell him. "But you're going to have to tell Christina. I can't do this to her."
Tobias nods. "it'll be done today," he tells me. "And your bag better be back in our room."
Our room. I can't stop the smile and I nod before turning to ace the group. "You guys are late."
"Late?" an Candor boy asks. "We're right on time."
"Sure," Tobias says, following my lead. "But on time is late. You need to be here five minutes early. Because if something goes now and you were taking your time, because you thought you had a few extra minutes, that's on you. You lose half your team in those few minutes."
They stare at us. I don't have a doubt that they'll be early tomorrow. Which means I'll have to show up earlier if I want to get some training of my own done. "Laps," I yell out. "Go!"
