Devil takes the Hindmost, chapter 18

A/N: Sorry, Sorry, SORRY! I am way too tired. I'm also trying to scrounge something up, so sorry if this chapter is crap, but I'm very less inspirational today. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry

The coldness of the bars didn't seem to sting his hands as much as the other prisoners, as he grasped them tightly in his palms. He felt hope and sadness and every other emotion under the sun take seige of his body, as he felt the need to cry grasp him at the sight of her. Tris. His Beatrice.

"Hey, Tobias." she whispers hoarsely, her forehead pressed against the metal cylinders. He wanted to break at the sight of her. She looked so tired, so exhausted, so troubled. Her previously bright eyes lacked their usual shine, black shadows lying underneath her lash lines. Her posture was unstraight, and her hair was a complete tangled ball. A messy, blonde ponytail, with tons of stray hairs and frizzed up everywhere. Her clothes were also wrinkled, stained and dirtied. He knew that for sure, she was losing sleep over him. She never looked this fallen apart, but he knew she would be okay as soon as he got out. If he got out. A broken smile was on her face, her eyes stained red.

"Hey, Tris," he replies, his rough hand reaching in between the bars and placing it upon her pale cheek. His calloused thumb rubbed itself against her soft skin, and he chuckles, trying to build up her spirits, "It's not so bad you know. They still have some variation of chocolate cake. Though, I think it's dark chocolate."

His half-hearted attempts to make her laugh lit her smile up, causing it to light up the hallway. His fellow cellmates, Gale and Leo, both widened their eyes at the sight of the poor girl. They weren't such bad fellows themselves, but they did deserve what they got. Gale was charged for arson and murder; Leo for purpose faulty repair on a car, causing it to release carbon monoxide and killing the victim. Tobias didn't deserve what he did, as he never did want to kill Al. He didn't have anything against the poor boy.

"They said you had a trial on the fifteenth of February," she whispers, looking down. She unconciously nuzzles into his hand, her bright blue eyes becoming a more cerulean color then a crystal blue, "And that they've tested your clothing, and everything. I talked to your lawyer."

"That windbag?" His tone is more playful, becoming lighter and a bit brighter then before. This was the Tobias she loved, not the broken prisoner who was a false murderer. "Max Robertson? He used to be a convict himself, you know."

"The gigantic tattoo on his neck gave it away." she replies, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You know we're all going to be there? Uriah, Marlene, Shauna, Lynn, Christina...everybody..."

"I didn't realize I was so popular."

"They began a protest at school, and the basketball team began a fund raiser to raise money for your bail."

"How much?"

"So far, two thousand."

His eyes widened, those sapphire eyes she loved filling with tears. He let out a broken sob, and his hand fell away from her cheek. She watches, as his posture slumps, and soon, tears fall from his eyes. Her heart shattered even more, as he began to cry. She reaches through the bars, and slowly, yet awkwardly, wraps her arms around him. "Tobias..."

"I...I didn't know they needed me that much, Tris." he whispers, his throat closed up with such power. He didn't know that he was such a member of the community, that he was actually needed. "I-I, god...I didn't know...I just thought I was just someone famous."

"Did you really think," she whispers, pulling back, and staring into his eyes, "that I'm the only one that needed you? Tobias...do you realize how much the school needs you? How much your parents need you? God...I saw your dad the other day...he was crying."

"You're lying."

"I swear to God. He was a mess."

"Tris..."

"Tobias, you can't pretend you don't know who you are. You're famous. The school loves you...God, even Uriah might love you, who knows? But honestly...none of them will ever need you or love...as much as I do."

She pulls back, her arms retreating from his body and hanging at her side. Pulling his head down, she presses a soft kiss to his forehead, and he chuckles softly.

"You sure about that, Tris?"

"Positive."