TOBIAS

It's hard for me to wrap my mind around what is happening. I usually am pretty good at answering even the most absurd questions, but right now I am frozen. I stare at Nita, my eyes squinting a bit. I can feel the mask of Four slowly trying to take over, but something won't let it dominate my face.

"Well, what's your answer?" Evelyn says with a smug grin.

My entire body feels frozen, especially my mouth. I can't even think about opening it and answering her. I don't know everything that happened to her while she was factionless, or what happened to her while we were living in the same house for that matter, but I do know that this is not the woman that gave me life. This can't be the woman that snuck into my room at night to make sure I was okay, or brought me little trinkets that I wasn't supposed to have just to make me feel special. The woman that stand before me now is a monster. And the one that stands beside her is just a younger version.

Their proposal plays through my mind again, and I close my eyes to make the world in front of me stop spinning.

"Come with me, Four. We could go to one of the other cities, one that values even the damaged amongst them. We could gather up people and we could come back and show them, show them all, what we 'gentically damaged' can really do. Make them pay for what they've done. They can't get away with it," she said as she stroked up and down my arm.

I haven't said a word sense. My mother has only been trying to reconcile with me because she wants to use me. She wants to use my influence and my brute force to take over the city like she's been trying to do since before I even knew she wasn't dead. And she's been trying to get Nita to seduce me so I'll go along with their heinous plan.

Nothing has felt right since Nita came back here. Part of me wondered what it would be like to be with someone that was as damaged as I was. But the other part of me realized that I was already with someone who was far more damaged than I am, and that she was fighting for her life in some unknown hospital by herself, and then she came back here and had to fight all over again. Not in a city-wide war against those that were trying to destroy a massive section of our population, and not one against the Bureau for trying to erase everyone's memory. This fight has been more brutal than any other. She's been fighting for who she is, where she belongs, and the one she loves. She's lost everything, in her mind that includes me, and I'm standing here in front of two people that want to take me away from her for good.

"My answer?" I finally say. "I want you both of you to stay away from me, and away from Tris. You both need to get out of this city. If you don't like it here, then leave. But when you do, don't come back."

As I utter the last words, my mind starts to spin. I quickly replay the events that have taken place since I got here, and my mind spins faster as I realize my mistake.

"Welcome, Tobias. You're just in time for dinner. It's being prepared now. Why don't you have a seat and we can talk?"

I sit down, taking in every inch of my enviornment. We make some small talk, each one of us trying to get a feel for the situation. Before we know it, plates of steaming food are being set before us. We begin to eat and Evelyn begins her speech. Nita gets us a couple beers, but it tastes a little bit strange.

And that's how I know that I made a huge mistake. My vision blurs and I feel my body getting weak and then everything goes black.

A loud crash is the next thing that I hear. I sit up and look around through glazed eyes, seeing a lap from my living room in pieces on the floor. I see my bedroom, the doorway to my bathroom and in the doorway to the living room I see Tris with tears streaming down her face. She turns and runs out quickly but I see someone in my peripheral vision. I turn and see Nita sitting in the bed beside me, the blankets tucked around her. My eyes widen as I wrap my mind around what's going on. Fleeting memories from earlier race through my head and I know that I have to go find Tris.

I pull the comforter off the bed and wrap it around me, running to my dresser to get some clean clothes.

"Get out of my house," I say to Nita, Four taking over my mind and body.

"Four," she starts, "can't you see..."

"GET OUT!" I yell, making her jump.

She throws her clothes on and runs out as quickly as she can. I don't know what happened with me and her, but I decide to take a quick shower just in case. Afterwards, I get dressed and run to Christina's hoping that Tris went there when she left. I pound on the door endlessly until Christina opens it.

"Geeze, Four, what the..."

"Is Tris here?" I interrupt her.

"No," she says slowly. "Is everything okay?"

I don't answer her. I run the opposite way down the hallway, racking my brain for where she could have gone. I check all the places that I know she frequents, but I still can't find her. I run to the chasm, knowing how much she loves it there. She's not on the path in front of it, but I decide to check our secret hide away. I go to the hidden steps and make my way back there as quietly as I can. At first, I hear nothing but the waters of the chasm, but as I get closer, I begin to hear sobs.

In case it didn't format correctly, the part where Tobias is eating dinner is like a flashback, so it should be italicized. Also, again, I'm sorry for any errors or typos. My phone isn't the greatest writing tool. Please review everyone!

XoX tris4eaton