Chapter 14

"Come inside, Tris," Tobias told her. "Let me make you some tea or hot chocolate or something."

Tris stepped inside and hid her face behind the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "I'm horrible. I'm a horrible human being," she said with a sniffle.

"No, you aren't, Tris," he said. "Whatever happened can't be so bad as to go that far."

"It's my fault a girl is dead. It's all my fault."

He didn't say anything. "What happened?"

"I got called in today. You know that red killer guy?" Tris asked.

He nodded.

She jumped up on the counter and swung her legs. "He played mind games with me. He sent me all around town with these clues and these riddles and— and… I figured out that it was at the beach. The next clue. And a girl and guy were lying next to each other. Dead. And there laid the timer. Beeping with the number zero. The girl… she was innocent. Then the guy. It was him. The red killer. Left a note saying he had to end it some time. Couldn't do it forever," she said solemnly. "It's my fault I didn't get there in time to save that innocent girl," she whispered.

"It is not your fault, Tris. None of this is. That guy was a psychopath. He killed for pleasure and he was insane. You are the best detective in the Chicago PD. Hell, in the state. You figured it out, but you were too late. And that's okay. We're human. We make mistakes. Everyone. Makes. Mistakes. That's something you have to understand, Prior. Okay?"

She nodded and said nothing else. There was nothing else to say, so she stayed silent.

"You want something to drink? Hot chocolate, tea, anything."

She simply shrugged.

"Tris, don't be like that. It's in the past. You can either run from the past, or learn from it. I'd recommend learning from it. You can't run."

"Don't you think I know that, Tobias?" she said, annoyed.

"Tris, I'm just trying to help. You know I'm not trying to throw anything in your face."

She sighed, vexed. "Tobias, I don't think you understand what this is like. To have the weight on your shoulders of having to tell this poor girl's family that she's… gone," she croaked. Tris grew tears in her eyes, and then felt one roll down her cheek.

"Tris—"

"No," she cut him off. "Please, just…I'm gonna go." She hopped down from the counter and started toward the door.

"Prior, please just listen to me. Please. I didn't mean—"

"Tobias, I came here looking for comfort, and you obviously can't provide that. So I'll just be on my way." Her hand was on the door handle, about to open it.

"Beatrice Prior," he said as he put a hand on her shoulder. He turned her around and hugged her.

"Tobias, get the hell off of me," Tris said, trying to shove him off.

He didn't move a single muscle in his body.

"Eaton, I swear to god—"

"I'm not letting you go. You said you want comfort, I'm giving it."

"Tobias," she groaned. "Get off right now."

"Nah."

Tris finally grew the strength to push him back, but he just crossed his arms as he towered above her.

She could escape, but she didn't want to. She was confused and frustrated with herself.

He stepped closer. "You could've been gone by now."

She shrugged. "I guess so. Can't leave without a goodbye kiss, even when I'm annoyed with you."

"It's cause you love me," he teased, smirking. Another step closer.

She shrugged again, indifferent. She never straight-up told him she loved him. She said she thought she might love him.

One step closer. They were pressed against each other.

Tris laid her hands on his jawline and neck and pulled him down to her lips. He pressed her against the wall like he so often does. She never complained though. It made her feel safe and loved. His hands remained on her waist until she pushed him back.

"I really do have to go though. My mom is at the station. Red killer sent her into the station with the timer. I'll let you know what's going on later," she said with a smile.

He kissed her a quick goodbye and she left through the door.

She didn't know if she was ready to head to the police station and face everyone, but she went. She didn't think about it. If she did, it'd practically ruin her.

Natalie Prior sat in the chair of Tris's desk with her feet propped up on the desk.

"Mom," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner." She hugged her mother. "I just… I needed to clear my head a little. Had to get away. You understand, right?"

She nodded. "Uriah told me what happened when he got back from the beach. Did you go to his house?"

Tris's head snapped to her mother's direction. "What?"

"Were you at his house? That Tobias guy's?"

She blushed. "Maybe. I needed to clear my head."

Natalie smiled. "I found those notes in your desk drawer. He's really quite sweet, like you said."

Tris laughed. "You went through my desk?"

She shrugged. "I was bored."

"Mom," Tris said, chuckling, and rolling her eyes. "Let me give you a ride home."

"All right, all right," her mother told her.

As they walked out, Tris asked, "Mom?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Did he… did he hurt you? Like, at all?" she asked quietly.

"Honey, no. All he did was hold a gun to my head and put me in the car. It's okay. Really."

Tris plopped down in the driver's seat of the cop car. She had tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mom. It's my fault," she croaked in a whisper.

"Hey, you listen here, Tris," he mother said to her adamantly. "This was not your fault. This guy was an insane psychopath. I'm okay now, aren't I?"

Tris nodded and started the car. She drove to her mother's house, speedy style with the flashing lights, and opened the door to get out when they arrived.

"Go back to his house, Tris," her mother told her before either of them got out. "You need him more than you need me."

"Mom—," Tris began.

"No, Tris. You're a mess without him. I can tell. Now go."

She smiled. "I love you, Ma."

"I love you too, honey."

Tris pulled out of the driveway of her mother's house and towards the department. She pulled out her phone and quickly called Tobias.

"Hello, beautiful," he answered.

That always made her smile every time. "Hey, hon, can you pick me up from the station? I just dropped my mom off at her house."

"Of course. Feeling in the motorcycle mood?" he asked. She could tell he was smiling on the other side of the phone call.

"I'm always in the motorcycle mood. And besides, I get to keep my arms wrapped around yo,u, so that's a bonus." She smiled.

He chuckled at her. "Well there'll be plenty of time for that tonight. I'll see you in a few."

"All right. I love you."

Silence. And then she realized that was the first time she'd said it. She'd said before she thought she might love him, but that was different.

"I love you too, Tris," he said back quietly.

She hung up the phone with a smile plastered on her face. She really did love him. Fighting or not fighting, it didn't matter. She loved him. Maybe in the future they would have fights and one would get upset with the other, but she knew—she knew—they'd always run back to each other. No matter what. As much as she might deny it at times, she loved him. Nothing would keep her from doing so, either.

She parked the car in the row of department transportation vehicles and got out.

And there awaited her knight in shining armor. Well, in a leather jacket and jeans. And he wasn't really her knight. More so a savior. He saved her legs from walking two miles to his house.

He smiled at her as she approached. "Hop on."

She did. Tris wrapped her arms around his waist as he revved his engine.

Tris whispered in his ear, "Fuckboy tendencies, you do have."

She felt his laugh against her, and then they drove off. It may've only been five o'clock, but she was exhausted. She could've slept for days on end. On Tobias's motorcycle, though, she always felt awake and alive. The way it made her feel inside was indescribable. There was always a certain way about it.

They arrived in a short amount of time, luckily and unfortunately, according to Tris.

"Thank you for picking me up. I'm completely dead," she said.

He chuckled. "You look pretty alive to me."

She smirked. "You know what I meant."

They arrived inside his house and she collapsed on his couch. She laid on her back with her legs stretched out and arms behind her head.

"Are you hungry?" Tobias asked. He lifted her legs and sat under them.

She nodded. "I don't want to go anywhere, though."

"That, my dear Tris, is what Pizza Hut is for," he said, grabbing his phone.

She laughed at him. "You just want to split a cheese pizza?"

He nodded. "You can pick a movie while I call, if you want."

Without a word, she rolled off the couch and crawled over to his movie shelf.

In the midst of her decision making, she heard Tobias ordering their simple cheese pizza.

She eventually decided on a movie she was surprised he had, Monsters, Inc. She always had been a sucker for Disney movies, and so had Tobias, apparently. She figured out where the DVD player was and put it in. Then she laid back down on the couch while Tobias stood.

Tobias finished making the call when he said, "Should be here in twenty."

"All right. Thank you."

"Monsters, Inc.?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I love Disney," she told him. "Always have, always will."

"This was one of my favorites throughout my teenage years. Don't know why, but for some reason it was. My friends always gave me shit for it," he laughed.

"Aw, that's cute," she snickered.

"Shut up," he said, smile on his face.

"Come snuggle with me?" she asked, lying on the couch as he stood.

He rolled his eyes. "You make me do the most ridiculous things, I swear." He laid down behind her, though, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She faced him so they were pressed torso-to-torso on the couch. "You like cuddling. I can tell. All big and tough, but you secretly like having someone to hold on to."

He shrugged. "Maybe."

Tris smiled and kissed him softly. Her hands rested on his jawline as she pulled back.

"God, I love your glasses," she told him. "And the fact that you wear them every day, too. Honestly, damn. Damn."

"Same goes to you," he chuckled. "Other than the fact you don't wear them every day. I don't get why you're embarrassed by them. You look adorable."

She shrugged. "I've never really been told I look good in them before you."

"Well you do indeed look amazing."

Tris smiled. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry about earlier, by the way. I know I was being a little harsh, and you didn't need that. You just needed me there to hug and console."

"No, no, it's okay. Really. I do need to suck it up. I've accepted that."

"You know it's not your fault, right?" he asked.

"Do you know what it's like to have an internal voice that tells you what the right thing to do is all the time and you do it and it works and you're good at what you do and then one day it just shuts off and in that moment there is no voice and then you just have to listen to yourself and in an instant, and in a millisecond, you make a tiny, but crucial mistake and screw up so badly it affects your whole life?" she breathed all at once.

He sighed. "Tris, this is not your fault."

She closed her eyes. "I know. I know. But… hasn't that ever happened to you?"

He nodded. "Of course. It happens to everybody."

"Okay."

Minutes into the movie, the pizza arrived. They munched on it until their bellies were stuffed.

The cuddled on the couch as they watched the movie, and, Tris fell asleep at about a half hour left in the movie, even though it was only six o'clock. Tobias wasn't surprised though.

Tris felt someone carry her into his bedroom, and she figured it was Tobias. She felt him take off her glasses so they wouldn't get crushed when she slept. She was half awake, but she still pulled Tobias's lips down to hers and kissed him goodnight.