A/N: Welcome back everyone! R&R, pretty please with Dauntless cake on top? :D
Thanks sooo much to our reviewers and followers and favoriters! Elissa15Elissa, thanks for your reviews! divergentfourtris- Wow crazy psychic dream! Thank you so much for answering our questions, and multiple times! Regarding your review to chapter 12: :( We feel so bad for you. If it's meant to be, though, it'll happen. Maybe you can change him back to the person you loved! (Sorry to sound like a therapist; ironically that's what JerkNone hopes to be after college.) Again, thanks everyone for R&Ring!
****Tris's POV****
I still have a headache from the night before. It's a dull throbbing that sits just behind my eyes in my skull. I can't even think straight because of it, and last nights details are blurry. I remember Peter and Lauren helping me, even though I can't really believe it, and then Tobias dropping Christina off at Will's house. After that everything is set in a milky wash.
When I ask Tobias what happened, he simply shakes his head and pleads with his Prussian blue irises to drop the subject. I huff at him and agree to let it go; for now.
"My dad isn't up yet, so we can leave now," he tells me, leaning on his side and carefully rolling out of bed. I follow his lead and realize I slept in my dress last night.
He glimpses at me before going to his closet door, throwing it open, and grabbing a set of clothes. He hands me a gray t-shirt that's going to look weird under my strapless bra, and black sweatpants with drawstrings. He grabs himself a pair of jeans and black shirt before going to the bathroom to change. I follow his lead and manage to peel the dress from my body and drape the new clothing on.
The pants are too long and the shirt is baggy at my stomach, but it feels much more comfortable to wear this than that dress. I grab my shoes and other belongings just as Tobias ambles his way in. He grabs his Jeep's keys and cell phone, then heads down the stairs taking them two at a time. I stumble after him to keep up with his hurried pace and am barely able to get into the Jeep before he backs out.
"Jeez, Tobias, what's the rush?" I ask him.
He scrunches his lips together and shakes his head, making me realize it must be because of something that happened last night. We kissed, but that's really all I remember.
The rest of the ride is in silence, save the sound my phone makes as I receive a text from Caleb. It reads:
Where r u?
My mouth twists to the side when I try to think of an acceptable answer.
Coming home.
Seconds later his reply is there.
Mom says you and Christina r taking the Bug dress shopping today. You're leaving in an hour.
I exhale with more force than I intended. Dress shopping? What does that mean… Oh. Christina and I must be going wedding dress shopping. I frown as I realize Tobias can't go with us due to my mom's superstitions about the groom not seeing the dress. At least there's the consolation that Will won't be there to heckle me.
"We're here," Tobias informs me. I give him a look and refuse to get out.
"Tris, you don't need to know what happened last night. You were drunk," he says.
"What did I say? What did I do?" I ask quietly.
"You kissed me."
"Tobias, what did I say?" I ask with harshness lacing my tone.
"You said you wanted to break the laws."
I stay silent for a moment, contemplating this. "I do want to break the laws, but I'm not going to. I'm sorry."
He kisses the space between my eyes before I leave. He doesn't walk me up to the door this time, and I feel lonely trudging inside my house. Caleb narrows his eyes at my attire when I pass his room upstairs, but I pretend to not notice him and shut the door to my room. I get myself pulled together to go dress shopping.
When an hour's passed, I'm wearing jeans and a black shirt, just like Tobias. I need to feel connected to him somehow today. Christina's parents drop her off at my house, and the two of us get in the Bug with my mom squished in the backseat. Time to pick out a dress.
****Peter's POV****
The hospital walls are a pale color that seems to suck all the happiness out of the air. The tiles are hard and cold and bland, and the people all seem to match the building. I walk up to the secretaries, cutting in front of others in the line. A blond secretary looks wide-eyed at me.
"Uh, sir, you need to wait-" she begins in an overly nice voice.
"I'm here to see my mom. Last name Hayes," I command.
Suddenly a hand is on my shoulder and I brace to smack the person off. When I turn I see a doctor with the classic white jacket on and a name tag that reads "Cal." He has a chiseled face and tired eyes.
"You're her son, Peter?" I nod. "Come with me."
I follow him to a small office with a desk and loads of paperwork. He rummages through some files, gestures for me to sit, and then slams a stack of papers down in front of me.
"You're mom had a gunshot wound to the head. There was nothing we could do for her besides put her in hospice. She died this morning around five o'clock."
I gulp. I knew she would die, but it still makes my eyes sting to think about it. If my dad wasn't already dead, I would kill him. I swallow the lump forming in my throat and put a hand to my head as if it will fight off an emerging headache.
"Now, after the police investigation at your apartment, her will was recovered. As was your fathers, but he left everything to her. And she," he moves the documents closer to me, "left everything to you. Everything is yours."
I gape at him. Everything? But why?
"This note is written at the end of her will."
My mouth goes dry as I read it and the grief from before duplicates and builds inside of me. It feels like a disease that's quickly taking over my body and all rational control I may have once had over myself.
Peter,
I'm sorry for what your father's done to you. I'm sorry that I couldn't stop him. I really did try to make him let up; I would talk to him about it every night when you were in bed. Please forgive me, my son.
I take a deep breath and tell myself that I refuse to cry in front of a stranger. The rest of my time with Cal is a blur. I must respond at the appropriate times with the correct answers, because before I know it I'm out of the hospital and already at the apartment collecting my things. The police have left, and whenever I see something of my father's I throw it into the fireplace.
His shoes? Burned. His photos? Burned. His wedding ring? Sure as hell burned. The only thing of his that I keep is his cash. Lauren must be wondering where I'm at by now; I left her early this morning to visit my mom. I didn't want her to know, especially after being woken up by her screams. She really does have nightmares. About what, I can't say for sure.
Once I've collected almost everything that's mine and/or of value, I start out of my room. Something catches my eye, though, and makes me turn around. The whole in the wall is still there and still reminds me of my father. Now it also makes me think of how my mom is missing from my life. I'm all alone, except for Lauren.
A sound makes me jump and set the items in my hands down. I reach for the nearest heavy object, sure that someone is here to try and rob the place before it's cleaned out. The nearest heavy object turns out to be an unplugged lamp. I hold it perpendicular to myself with the top pointing out like a spear.
"Peter?" a petite voice calls out. It's lined with anger and something close to fear.
"Lauren?" I call back.
She flings open the door, wearing sweats and with her hair a mess. She looks at the lamp first, then flits her eyes up to mine. I blush and drop the lamp on the ground beside me, embarrassed that I was so unreasonably frightened. She puts a hand on my upper arm.
"Why did you leave? I was worried when I woke up and you weren't there!" she admits.
"Aww, do you like me Lauren?" I tease her to cover my lamp incident.
She smacks my arm and lets her hand drop back down to her side. "Was the backseat of your Porsche not obvious enough?"
I smile and go back to grab my things once more. She helps me without asking any questions, and we make our way to the Porsche in silence. Finally in the car, she speaks.
"Your parents left you that stuff?"
"My mom did. I have everything now, Lauren. We can buy a house with the money."
Her mouth drops a little. "A house? You would spend your money on a house?"
I rub the back of my neck as I drive in the direction of Factionless Drive. "Well, I mean, yeah. I don't exactly like being homeless."
She bites her lip. "Take a right up here. I know a house that's for sale."
****Tris's POV****
"I love that one, Tris!" Christina squeals.
My mom nods in agreement, for once. "That one really does look nice on you, hon. And with heels, you'll be absolutely stunning."
I sigh and look in the mirror. This is the fifth dress I've tried on today. Christina already found hers, and it is gorgeous. It's strapless and lacy and very Christina-like. Mine, on the other hand, is simple and modest. It exposes my collar bone and therefore my tattoo of three birds, but has lace sleeves that reach just above my elbows. The train of it isn't too long, and the entire bottom is made of a satin-like material.
One of the workers, a young, flamboyant man, rushes over to me with a veil.
"Here sweetheart, let's put this on you! Now you'll probably have your hair in a bun, right? So this will go on like this and- oh my goodness you look perfect!" he exclaims.
I really do look nice. I look like a bride. Christina gets up and stands beside me while the man gives me a hug. I try not to flinch away because he's been really helpful and nice. Once he leaves to ring us up, my mom stands and gives me a hug as well. Unlike with the man, I hug her back. She wipes away a few stray tears pooling and slipping out of her eyes.
"You two are going to have beautiful weddings! I just can't wait much longer!"
I laugh at her. "We only have two weeks left, mom, and we're already registered with the CDP. We'll be given our aptitude test within a month."
She puts a hand over her mouth. "Oh, you and Caleb are growing up so fast! And to think, Tobias only has about two months left before he turns eighteen! It's a wonder nobody snatched him up before you; he's such a dear boy."
Chris butts into our conversation at this point. "Believe me, I don't think he let anyone near him before Tris."
The man comes back with our dresses in bags and a large smile plastered onto his face.
"Here you are, ladies! Good luck!" he calls out to us as we leave the store.
I look at the time on my phone: 1:30. I ask them if they want to go get lunch, and Christina immediately says she wants to go to the place where Will works part-time.
Inside, the hostess sits us down at a table and grabs us our drinks. The place is almost completely dead, with only a few other customers in here. Soon a handsome dark-skinned man comes over to take our order. I notice he has a snake tattoo right behind his ear.
"Can I get you lovely ladies anything to eat?" he asks while giving us a suggestive look.
Christina rolls her eyes. "I'll have the chicken penne and breadsticks."
"Fine choice," he says under his breath, making her roll her eyes again.
My mom and I order, and just before he leaves, the waiter says, "I'm Uriah, by the way. Feel free to call for me whenever you need something." He winks at Christina.
When he strides off she shudders. I smile at her.
"He was adorable, flirting with you and all," I say.
"I have a fiance for Pete's sake! I'll have to ask Will about him when we get back."
My mom smiles. "Could you imagine if Susan was here with us? That boy would have a field day with three girls here."
I laugh at her comment and quiet down when I see Uriah already returning with our food.
"That was fast!" my mom congratulates.
He smirks at Christina while placing her food in front of her. "Need anything else?"
Good old Chris decides to take the blunt and direct approach to end his flirting. "You know that guy Will who works here? He's my fiance."
Uriah's smirk only grows larger. "Well, that's great for him! If things don't work out, call me."
"Call you a jerk? No problem," she says coolly. My mom and I move our heads between the two as we watch their conversation play out. I have to admit, it's pretty entertaining.
Uriah laughs and raises his hands in defense. "Alright, alright, I see how it is. But I better be getting an invite to the wedding, babe!"
He walks off before she can respond. She huffs furiously and stabs her pasta with way too much force. Her fork actually slips out of her hand and she stares at it for a second. Then she laughs.
"I'll admit that last one was good," she says.
My mom and I exchange glances before the bell on the door rings to alarm a new customer as come in. I don't turn to see who it is, but Christina's eyes bug out when she looks. She mouths something to me while my mom is distracted eating, and I can't tell what she said.
Someone brushes against me and mutters an apology. I'm sitting on the outside edge of the booth and figure it's Uriah trying to be a flirt or someone with bad coordination. Both of my guesses are wrong.
I look up to see shiny coal-black locks and green spheres on a face. Peter. And next to him in Lauren. I avert my eyes quickly and stare at my food. The last time Peter and I were in this restaurant, he had kidnapped me again. Lauren and him hold hands and are given the table right next to ours.
Christina brings up some random topic for us to discuss, but I don't take part in it. Instead I listen to the hushed conversation Peter and Lauren are currently having.
"Do you like the house?" Lauren asks him.
"Yes, a lot. I think even if we bought two houses we still wouldn't be using all of my dad's money, though. Are you sure you don't want a different one?" he asks her.
"That's the one."
His dad's money? How did he get money from his dad? Did he rob him, or did he… die?
"Hello, I'm Uriah and I will be your server this afternoon. What can I get you to eat?" Uriah asks them, back towards me. After they order he spins around to me.
"Like the view?" he asks, obviously referring to his backside.
Peter and Lauren are looking at me now, and I feel like if I could dig up a hole and jump to China, I would. Or I would throw Uriah down it.
As if reading my thoughts, he bends over and pecks my cheek. He laughs at my bewildered stare and goes to get Peter and Lauren's order. Could this not get any worse? I go back to my food and ignore everyone around me for the rest of the meal.
When we've paid I rush to get out the door and away from Uriah and Peter and Lauren. I can see Peter's Porsche out in the parking lot, a good distance away from my Bug. I hear an extra pair of footsteps behind me and cringe, expecting the worst: Peter.
Instead, I turn to see Uriah with a large grin on his face. "Hey, my shifts over, lucky for you. I never did catch your name…"
"Tris, and my friend's is Christina," I reply.
He snaps his finger. "Hey! I remember you! You're Caleb's sister, right? I was at that cornfield party."
Realization hits me. "Oh, right!"
He smiles, and this time it's not a smirk. "There's another cornfield party tonight, and I think Archer's Arrows are going to be playing again. You wanna come?"
I rub my arm. "Uh, sure. I'll ask my fiance, Four, if he wants to come too."
This doesn't seem to faze Uriah at all, making me suspect that he just flirts with everyone. I'm sure Tobias won't like him, and Will might just knock him out.
"Great! See you there at nine, Tris!"
Chris and my mom call for me to get in the car, and I can feel Peter's stare on me through the glass of the door. I hop in the car and inform Christina of our plans for the night. I'll have to text Caleb to see if Susan and him want to come as well.
I can only hope that Eric won't be there tonight.
A/N: Question time!
Have you ever been in that awkward situation when your with your boyfriend (or crush) and another gy is talking to you, making your boyfriend (or crush) jealous? Any other comments? Thanks for all the reviews!