Chapter 3
Just to clear things up... Tobias and Four are the same people. Cop by day, vigilante by night.
And one more quick thing: (Super nerdy, but one of the best things ever) Today is the one year anniversary of when I posted my first story, "I Try." I don't know why I thought this was so cool, but I'm just glad I've stuck with it for so long. Anyway, hope you like the chapter.
It was hard for Tris to forget about Four when she walked into the restaurant. But she did eventually.
She found herself a table for two in the shape of a circle in the middle of the floor. When the waiter came up, she decided not to order. She just got a draft beer. The game started at 5:30, so she just watched the local news from a different TV.
And headlining it was Four.
At the bottom of the screen, it read, "Four: Hero or Vigilante?" across a banner.
The reporter's words were recorded at the bottom, reading, "Is this 'Four' really a vigilante? Sure, he may not be an actual hero, but he's sure making a difference in civilians' lives. Head Detective Beatrice 'Tris' Prior has been assigned to catch this man, according to Chief Max Blue. 'Tris is one of the best out there,' says her partner, Junior Detective, under Beatrice, Uriah Pedrad. 'Tris will catch this guy easy as pie,' says Sergeant Zeke Pedrad, brother of Junior Detective, Uriah Pedrad. Though these references say how good Beatrice is, why hasn't she caught him yet? Could she be looking out for this 'Four' character? Is she agreeing with his actions, or is she just a bad detective? Belle Armstrong, 19 Action News. Back to you, John."
"Looks like you're famous," said someone next to her.
She jumped a little, but then realized it was Tobias.
"Oh, hey. You scared me," she chuckled.
He sat down across from her. "You look nice," he said with a real smile.
"Haha, sure," she said with a rolling of the eyes.
"I'm serious. You're glasses fit you well and you're messy bun brings out the playful side that most wouldn't realize you have."
"Man," she said, "you should be a detective."
He shrugged. "Maybe one day."
"So, you know what you're getting?" she asked him.
"Same as I always get. Draft beer and a steakhouse burger."
"Really? Me too. The occasional appetizer of mozzarella sticks," she said smiling.
He smiled. "I like that you aren't a girly-girl. You watch football, wear big sweatshirts, and glasses. Not many girls are like that anymore."
She shrugged. "I like being comfortable."
He slightly smirked. "So," he said, "I'd love to hear your opinion and this Four character."
She sighed. "I like that he's trying to help people and all, but if he wanted to do that he should've become a cop or something. I know this sounds kind of cocky, but, in all honesty, we're the real heroes. Cops, detectives, generals, chief, sergeants, soldiers, you name it. Someone serving the country. But vigilantism just isn't the way to go if you want to help out the community. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's putting away more criminals, but… I don't know. I just think that he'd make a great cop." She shrugged.
"If I may express my opinion…"
"Go for it," she told him.
"I think he's just another guy that wants to keep the streets safe. I mean, what's the difference? He's not certified and doesn't have the official title. That's about it."
She pursed her lips. "I know I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I don't want to arrest him. Max basically engraved everything I just said into my brain. If I'm being honest… Four is a really great guy. He's really funny. Charming. Nice, piercing blue eyes. Actually, a lot like yours. You have nice eyes."
"Right back at you. But it sounds like you've got a little crush on this superhero figure," he observed.
She huffed. "As if."
"Did you really just quote Clueless?" he asked, laughing.
"Oh my god. You've seen Clueless?" she asked, surprised.
"Lots of girl cousins. Practically my sisters. Don't judge," he chuckled.
She laughed. "Nah, I love that movie. Classic."
"So," he said, "it seems like we hardly know anything about each other."
"That's true. What's your favorite color?" she asked.
"Blue. Like your eyes."
She smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Good, because it was," he said with a smirk. "What would you do with one million dollars?"
"Give half to charity. You?"
"Probably give 75% of it to charity."
Tris smiled. "You seem like a really down-to-earth kinda guy."
He smiled back. "You seem like a really down-to-earth kinda gal."
She chuckled. "Trust me, I'm not."
"Sure," he winked at her. "If you could have any superpower what would it be?"
She thought for a second. "Moving things with my mind so I could lay in bed all day and not move," she said, laughing.
He laughed along. "Me too."
"What's your middle name?" she asked him.
"Daniel. You?"
"Kate."
"You have a pretty name."
"Thank you, sir," she said mock-formally.
"What's your favorite thing in world?"
"Food," said Tris automatically. "All of it."
He laughed. "Okay, since we're playing what seems like 20 questions, I have another thing I'd love to know the answer to."
"What's that?"
"What's your number?"
Tris grinned. "You sly dog. That was pretty smooth."
He smirked at her. "I try."
She grabbed a little napkin and wrote her name along with her number on it.
"I'm serious. They was very smooth. How many times have you done that?" she asked, smirking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he chuckled.
She shrugged. "I guess I kind of just assumed you were a fuckboy in high school."
He playfully scoffed. "Why's that?"
She shrugged. "Cause you aren't exactly unattractive."
"Tris Prior, are you trying to tell me I'm good looking?" He gave her a wild smirk then threw her a wink.
She blushed and looked away. "I don't know."
He just laughed. "Well, being the good detective you are, you're correct. Now I'm kind of just looking to settle down with a special girl."
"Let me ask you this: When was the last time you had a girlfriend and how long did it last?"
"Well, I'm twenty-six, so… six years ago. It lasted about a month or two," he said, shrugging. "That was when I decided I wanted a serious relationship 'cause I was twenty and going into the academy. I knew I had to stop being a fuckboy."
She smiled. "What an inspiring story of an ex-fuckboy."
"But I'm assuming you weren't a whore in high school even though you're really hot—I mean good-looking," he chuckled.
She blushed again. "No, I wasn't. But I did have a kid, in case you didn't hear."
"No, I didn't," he said, frowning.
"My daughter… Her name was Juliet Renee Prior. She was born prematurely. I didn't smoke during the pregnancy—never have smoked—and I didn't drink alcohol so I knew it wasn't Fetal Alcohol Syndrome."
"So why then?" he asked solemnly.
"My boyfriend at the time… He wasn't the greatest. He would hit me sometimes… It was before I decided to become a cop. I was twenty when I became pregnant. I'm twenty-four now, which means I went to the academy of police about two years ago. And here I am now," she said with a sad smile. She laid her hand one the table and tapped it. It's what she did to hold back tears. Ever since she was a kid she did that. It just always helped. Her tapping fingers gave a certain kind of calm. She did it when she was nervous, stressed, and sad, and she couldn't explain it, but it always just came naturally.
Everyone within her circle of friends knew about what Peter did to her, but it wasn't something she exactly shared with strangers, so she couldn't figure out why she told Tobias this.
"Hey," Tobias said, then covered her hand with his. "I'm here if you need to talk," he said sincerely.
She nodded, then sucked the tears back into her ducts. And she grinned.
"Why are you grinning?" he asked, then squeezed it.
"The Bears just scored," she said, laughing.
He laughed, then pulled his hand from hers.
Their waitress walked up to their table and got right to the point. She said, "Hello, My name is Gina and I'll be your waitress tonight. What can I get you two to start off with?"
"I'll have a draft," Tobias said since Tris already had her beer.
"Okay. I'll be right back to take your orders," she said with a nice smile.
"So you've seen that thing from Saturday Night Live right? Like, with Chris Farley and all them? They say it like 'Da Bears.'"
She laughed. "Of course I've seen that. I love those things."
He nodded. "Those guys were awesome. It's a shame Chris Farley's dead. He was so funny, especially in Tommy Boy."
She gasped. "You've seen Tommy Boy?" she asked elatedly.
"Hell yeah. One of my all-time favorites."
"Man," she said, "you really are perfect," she said, laughing. She had no shame in what she just said, though. She had tons of guy friends without being a whore or too suggestive.
"So what else don't I know about you?" he asked.
"Well… I played volleyball throughout my high school years. I was also into gymnastics and tumbling and stuff."
"Nice. I played—"
"Football, basketball, and baseball."
"How'd you know that?"
She shrugged and took a sip of her beer. "Typical fuckboy sports."
Tobias chuckled. "I think you're just stalking me."
She playfully glared at him. "Sure. But I bet that if you gave me something to figure about yourself I could do it. And easily, at that."
"Okay. What was my childhood like?" he asked seriously.
She tapped her fingers, thinking and trying not to mess anything up, which made her slightly nervous. "You were around your mother most of your life. You treat women with respect now as an adult because your father didn't and you didn't want to turn out like him. You weren't close with your father. I'm guessing he was a little rough with you before you and your mom finally left him? He was the reason you wanted to be a cop. To do what was right, even when you were surrounded by wrongs your entire life," she finished.
Tobias stared at his beer, swishing it in a circle off the table, round and round. Then he set the beer on the table, not so gently. "How'd you know that?" He finally looked up her with an unhappy expression on his face.
She sighed. "I'm sorry if I struck some bad memories there." She looked away, at the ground.
"You didn't. But how the hell would you know any of that without reading my file? Only the chief has those."
"I'm just good at what I do, Tobias. I figured out you were with your mom mostly because you respect me and other women. I can tell because you're very polite to me most of the time. I could tell your dad was a dick because you had the personality of a fuckboy, but secretly cared for your mom. I saw the picture of you two on your desk. I noticed a little scar on the bottom of your chin and deducted it down to that," she said. "Simple."
"Sorry if I came of as a dick right there. That's just… That was amazing," he chuckled. "Spot on."
"Thanks. But it's just the way I operate. Trained to process everything in a certain way."
He blew out a breath. "Sounds like a rough life."
She laughed. "One would typically think that, but some things are just better left unsaid, Tobias."
They stood outside Buffalo Wild Wings, about to leave.
"Well," Tris said. "That was fun. Maybe you could come hang out with my little group of friends sometime. I think they'd like you."
He smiled. "Sounds fun. I had a nice time tonight."
She opened her arms and hugged him. She knew he wasn't expecting it, but she didn't care.
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "Did you walk here?" he asked, mid-hug.
"Yeah."
"I could give you a ride home. It's probably not very safe walking home at this time of night, especially since it's Friday. People are probably drunk and not thinking right."
"Tobias"—she pulled back—"I'm a member of law enforcement and I can kick some serious ass."
"It may've seemed like I was offering, but I wasn't. I'm giving you a ride home. Now, c'mon."
She laughed. "Okay then."
They walked out to his… motorcycle?
Tris grinned. "Nice. Bike."
He grinned back. "Hop on, Sunshine."
She took her hair out of its messy bun and shook it back and forth. She always wanted to feel her hair whip in the wind on a motorcycle.
"My address is 32 Pinbroke Avenue."
"Oh, I know where that is. I pass it everyday since I live about five minutes away."
"I trust that you won't stalk me."
Smiling, she hopped on.
He started the bike and revved the engine.
She wrapped her arms around his waist. Then she mumbled in his ear, "You sure you aren't a fuckboy? Most of them rev their engine."
"I have the occasional tendencies," he said, then moved forward.
He pulled onto the main road toward her house. They flew through the air, and Tris was grinning like an idiot. She felt totally and utterly free. Like nothing could stop her. Like nothing could touch her. Absolutely nothing.
She laughed in Tobias's ear, and she could see the smile on his face.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins, but they arrived soon.
For a few seconds while Tobias was parked, Tris kept her arms wrapped around his waist.
"That was terrifying and amazing at the same time," she said as she got off the bike. "We should do that again sometime."
"I definitely agree," he said with a smile. "I'll see you Monday," he said. "Oh, and keep in mind that I have your number." He winked at her, and then he drove away.
Her heart fluttered for a split second, then she went inside her apartment building, never quite losing that fluttering feeling.