( All rights go to the lady of post-apocalyptic Chicago Veronica Roth)
As I slowly open my eyes the next morning Tris' are already on me. "Good morning handsome." she say and kisses me lightly. "Same to you beautiful." I say as I rise and make my way to the bathroom. After I have finished I walk out and take a deep breath. "What is that smell?" I ask looking at her.
"Is it bad?" she asks frowning slightly. "No, it smells fucking delicious, what did you do.?" She beams up at me. "I made coffee and muffins!" she says and jumps up at me. "Are you trying to seduce me through my stomach?" I ask kissing her softly. She shakes her head no at the same time that I get a message on my comm.
"Four says that your Fear Landscape is scheduled for 1 o'clock, so, what would you like to do while we wait?" I ask. "If it isn't any trouble I would like to continue the routine of working out, yesterday doing that first thing in the morning cleared my mind of all my worries and I kind of liked it." I smile at her and nod in agreeance, "but, we shower seperately if tonight is going to happen, I want things to be special so I am not going to touch you the rest of the day."
At the prospect she kind of grows pale. "I don't know if I can do that." she says. "I like being cuddled up next to you and feeling your lips on mine makes me feel a happiness that I have been devoid of for so long. But, if you think that this is best for us then I just ask for one kiss and we can begin this torturous day." I pull her to me instantly and crush my lips to hers swiping my tongue along her bottom lip. She grants me access and we kiss until we are both panting with need.
I drop her on her feet on the floor. "That should hold you for the day." I say and turn to change into my workout gear, she follows me into the room and does the same her eyes still wide from the kiss. I smirk to myself proud that I can make this woman react this way. I turn around and ask her if she is ready to go.
In the training room I am just finishing my weight lifting and decide to spar with the bag for a little bit. Everything is calm and serene and I look up and see Tris running. She really is a marvel to behold. How I got so lucky I will never fucking know because God knows I don't deserve her. Coming out of my thoughts I start punching the bag again. At 8:45 we decide to go back home.
I let it her shower first and I look around and my usually immaculate apartment and feel nauseated at the sight of it. I also resolve that I can make some room for Tris' stuff since it is pretty evident that she is going to live here permanently. I make the bed and sweep the floor cleaning up the last Four days of dust and grime. When everything looks sufficient I remember that she has been in the bathroom for a long time.
I go in there and disrobe because she is taking sooo long and I would like to use the hot water too. Upon opening the shower door my heart drops in to the pit of my stomach. Tris is crouched in the corner sobbing. I get in as fast as I can without slipping and and wrap my arms around her. "What's wrong baby?" I hear myself saying.
At this she scoff and glares up at me. I am racking my brain and trying to figure out what I did when she says, "You don't want me, I know that as soon as my fear landscape is over you are going to drop me like a ton of bricks. The real reason why I am here is because you felt sorry for the poor little girl from Abnegation who couldn't even protect herself. That is the real reason why you don't want to touch me."
In this moment tears a flowing down her cheeks mingling with the water from the shower. I stick my hand under her chin and pull her face up so that we are eye to eye. "I want you to listen to me. " I say. "You began changing me from the minute you jumped first. I just made space in the room for all of your stuff and cleared out drawers in my dresser for your clothes and put them in it for you. If I didn't want you I would tell you."
She sniffles and then says, "really?" "Yes, you silly girl, now stand up so I can kiss you and then you need to get out of this shower and go get dressed. The top two drawers are yours and some of your things are hanging in the closet. I'll be out in a few minutes and then we need to go get some food in us." She stands up and kisses my cheek and playfully slaps my ass on the way out.
I shower quickly as the water is almost frigid and when I step out of the bathroom she is on the bed lacing up her combat boots. I go to the closet and select my clothes and then throw on my leather jacket. I join her in tying up my boots and after we both get up I straighten out the bed cover. I hear a laugh next to me. "What?" I ask. "A little OCD huh Mr. Coulter?" she says still laughing.
"Nah, it's just my Erudite showing." I say. Her eyes get huge. "Hold on, you weren't raised Dauntless?" she asks. "Nope, do you lo- like me less now?" I say praising whoever is in charge that I caught my slip before it was noticed. She looks at me for a second analyzing the situation. "Nope, let's go to lunch..." and she skips (yes skips) out the door. Maybe she heard me after all.
We leave and get out food and sit down to eat with Shauna who immediately attacks Tris. "Have you done your fear landscape yet?" she asks. Tris takes a bite and shakes her head and then as if the thought has stolen her appetite she pushes the tray away. I reach onto it and grab the banana, "At least eat this," I say peeling it open and handing it to her. She takes it reluctantly and takes a bite. I smile as I dig into my food.
By this time it is already 12:45 I absentmindedly grab both our trays and deposit them in the appropriate area. "Let's go." I tell her. "You don't want to be late." When we get up there we split ways and she goes down to the waiting area and I move to the leaders section. Max pulls me aside and asks me how she is doing. "She's trying to be strong, but I see that she is hurting, I'm working on it sir." Max sees the smile in my eyes even though I am trying really hard to hide it. "Congratulation buddy." He says and claps me on the shoulder.
We both turn towards the screen. "Let's watch the show." he says. Inwardly I am nervous with her outburst in the shower today I am just praying that I am not one of her fears. The screen lights up and in an instant we are transported to the field she described after her first simulation. It is filled with fire and there are birds literally everywhere, swooping down and attacking her in any way they can.
She crouches down for a minute shaking like a leaf blowing in the wind, in an instant she looks up as a branch falls from the tree. She stands up and runs to the branch trying desperately to steer clear of the birds and lights the branch on fire and swings it so there birds can no longer attack her.
The landscape changes and she is no longer in a field but she is in my apartment and I am standing in front of her yelling that I don't want her and that she needs to get her stuff and leave. I say that I was just helping Max while she was still in training. At this point everyone who can see the screen (the other leaders) are gaping at me. She is still on the screen crying and pulling at her hair.
She gives a calculating look and takes a deep breath and rises from her position on the floor, comes to stand in front of me and pulls back her hand and slaps me across the face. Everyone in the booth erupts with laughter when I hear from behind me. "How many times have I wanted to do that?" Max says and everyone laughs louder. I turn around and mouth him a thank you and turn on my heel and walk out of the booth.
I wait outside of the fear landscape room hoping she will come out soon. Her time is approaching 11 minutes and she was the last one for the day. The clock stops at 10 minutes 55 seconds. Almost 4 minutes faster that the person, Uriah, who is currently in first place. She opens the door and looks at me with a look that tells me she could vomit at any second. "Please tell me you didn't see that." she says. Inwardly clapping for the payback opportunity I have been given. I affix my scowl and without one word point her toward the door to exit. This is gonna be fun.