A/N- Veronica Roth owns the Divergent characters, not me.
Here's another update for you guys, :)
August 20th
Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. The incessant beat of the clock drums through the otherwise silent bakery. It's the afternoon on a wednesday, our least busiest time. I lean on the counter with my elbows, resting my head in my hands. Both Kyle and Becky are in the back of the bakery, discussing improvements to the paintwork around the shop front. Obviously, DIY is one of my lesser expertise's, so I am counted out of this particular conversation. I stare at the front door, willing for someone to walk in, just so that I have something to do. Since the whole front of the bakery is glass, we're not allowed on our phones because it looks unprofessional to people who are walking by. However, that doesn't stop me from sneaking a peak at my news feed while my phone hides in my large apron pocket. The back door swings open abruptly, and I nearly jump out of my skin. If Becky sees me on my phone, she will most definitely reprimand me. "Relax, it's just me," two hands clasp my shoulders, and I smell the cheap cologne that signifies Kyle.
"Do you think it's fun to sneak up on people?" I laugh, a little relieved.
"Sorry, I didn't realise that you wanted me to nock," he nudges me out of the way playfully with his hip, while sorting out the cash register.
"Well, it is the polite thing to do," I enjoy our sarcastic conversations, thankfully like myself, Kyle doesn't seem to take life too seriously.
"Well Ms. Prior, you should not be using your mobile phone while in the bakery! How unprofessional of you," he scolds me, slapping my wrist slightly. I gasp mockingly, then take his baseball cap off and turn it the wrong way around. He adjusts it so that it fits properly on his head.
"That's a cool look, you know, really down with the kids," I stifle a snigger.
"Well, at sixteen years old, I am one of the kids," he raises an eyebrow at me. "So I guess you could say it just comes naturally to me."
"Ha! Yeah, it comes naturally to you alright," I smirk while obviously gazing my attention over his body. He's dressed lazily, in a black t-shirt, ill-fitting pants, and vans.
"Shut up! You love the look that I've got going on," he proudly presents himself, and I can't help but laugh at his childish grin.
"What? The sloppy skateboarder look? Yeah, I must admit, it turns me on."
"I knew it. I'll dress for you like this everyday, you won't be able to keep your hands off me!"
"No, but I'll try," I roll my eyes, shoving him away so that I can hang my cap and apron up. It's 3pm and I can finish my shift now that Kyle has started his.
"Off so soon?"
"Well, I'm not going to hang around when I don't need to, that's for sure."
"Aw, but I need someone to keep me company," he fake pouts, so I throw the newspaper at his face. "Ow!" he exclaims.
"That should keep you company. '50 ways to scrimp your shopping bill' sounds like an interesting article."
"Yeah, real interesting," he mutters.
"On a serious note, I really have got to go, I'm seeing Lynn tonight. I've been neglecting her for the bakery lately so she's not too happy with me."
"I think I'd rather stay here, she scares me." At this I laugh, I can see how Lynn can be scary to other people who don't know her as well as I do. She is quite fierce looking, holding a strong stance and furrowed brow. Similar to someone else I know, Four.
"Hey, she's not that bad! Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow," I wave as I walk out the door, whilst Kyle shouts out his goodbye in reply. I step out of the bakery, breathing in the fresh air. You'd think it would be nice to work in a bakery, with the smell of cakes and cookies. However, the strong smell of coffee overpowers it, so it's nice to catch a break. I don't like coffee, never have. I suppose maybe I will when I'm older, but for know, I'll stick to tea and hot chocolate. Even though it's nearing late August, the weather is still warm, and wearing all black under the sun is torturous. I hope the weather is this nice on my birthday, but somehow it always seems to manage to rain. Soon enough, I find myself walking past Four's house, and I'm surprised to see his new white car sat in the driveway. Surely, he'd be at work on a wednesday afternoon? I don't know what in heaven's name wills me to do it, but I decide to walk up the driveway. Before I get to the door, I start to walk around in small circles. Should I stay and nock on the door? Or should I just leave? Butterflies grow in my stomach, why the hell do I have to be so goddamn awkward?! But, he probably won't even want to see me anyway. I mean, we've known each other, what, a couple of weeks? Sure, we had a great night on Sunday, but that doesn't mean that he wants me constantly bugging him. I stop in my tracks and take a deep breath, running my tongue along my teeth. In the end, I decide to grow some balls and walk up to his front door. I'm just stopping in, that's what friends do, right? The only knowledge and experience I have of friends is Lynn, and she seems to think it's okay to crawl up the trellis on my house and fall through my window. So, I conclude that nocking on his door will be socially acceptable. I nock once, but as soon as my fist hits the wood, the door creaks open. It's not locked. I push it open slightly with my finger tips, listening to it creak even more. The lights are off but I can hear quiet music playing in the background. Soft, sad music, not hard rock or manly rap music. What if they've been broken in? Maybe Four didn't take his car to work today... but I'm sure a burglar wouldn't be listening to music and jamming it out while shoving the families prized possessions into a knapsack. I take a step backwards and look up at the house, there are lights on upstairs. I decide to walk in the house, presuming (and I'll admit, hoping) that Four is upstairs. If I run in with a burglar, I can always scream at the top of my lungs and run back out of the house again. Perfect plan. The house has an eery feel to it, as per usual. Although it is wonderfully decorated and homely, it just doesn't feel lived in, or enjoyed. I move over to the staircase, grasping onto the bannister with my quivering hand.
"Hello? Four?" I timidly shout, projecting my voice up to the second floor. As I unfortunately expected, there's no reply. I silently creep up the stairs, feeling the bottomless pit in my stomach grow. The stairs creak slightly, and I grit my teeth, trying to be as soundless as I possibly can. God knows what I'm walking in on. When I finally reach the landing, the music becomes louder. There's only one light on, and it's coming from the crack in Four's bedroom door. As I slowly walk up to it, I mentally chastise myself. I don't even know what I'm doing, creeping around his house like this. If he opened that door now, he'd probably think I was a weirdo. Anyway, can't this be classed as breaking and entering? I suppose the door was open…no! Stop it! This is wrong on so many levels. But when I reach his bedroom door, that's open slightly ajar, I lean my head in to listen to what's going on inside. All I hear is the music, and a grumbling, moaning noise. I take a deep gulp, and move my head to get a peak into his bedroom, and my heart leaps out of my chest at the sight. All I made out was the sight of Four's back, he was lying face down on the bed wearing only his boxers. I clasp my hands over my mouth to contain my gasp. Oh shit.
"Huh? Who's that?" Four's deep voice rumbles. Did I just say that out loud?! I panic and immediately but quietly start to creep my way back down the stairs, I can't believe that I just nearly walked in on Four having sex. Crap! What the hell was I thinking? Didn't I have any common sense? I can't believe the shit that I manage to get myself in to. I wish I was normal. When I'm about halfway down the stairs, I feel the light from Four's room getting brighter, and realise he must have opened his door. The heat rises on my face and my eyes go wide. This whole situation just got ten times worse, if that was even possible. I freeze on the stairs, gripping onto the bannister. I scrunch my face up and wish for death to take me right here, right now. I want to curl up into a ball and roll out of his house like an armadillo. Is that even possible? Maybe if I try and bend my legs…
"Tris?" His gruff voice barely mumbles. I heave a deep breath and hold the back of my hand to my forehead; I cannot believe me of all people, has been placed in this awful scenario. But, I wasn't placed in it. I, yet again, managed to do this to myself. What was I thinking? Breaking and entering! I don't even know Four that well, why would he even want me here? My further reasoning goes out of the window, and I now understand that this is all very, very wrong.
"Tris? That you?" Four repeats, his voice sounds kind of…off. I gulp and slowly turn around, only to be met with the image of Four leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs, standing in white boxer briefs. My face heats up even more as I skim my eyes over his body. Oh my. I know I'm supposed to be mortified right now, but my inner teenage girl takes a leap for joy when I see his tanned, defined muscles. How the hell did he get so..buff? He looks like a poster model right now for the brand of boxers that he's wearing. My eyes follow the line of dark hair above his boxers before I snap myself out of it and try to screw my head back on. He shifts his gaze and looks directly at me, frowning slightly. He pulls away from the wall and almost stumbles, what the hell is going on.
"I'm sorry, I-I should go," I stammer, turning around to head back down the stairs. Then I hear a loud thud. I turn around to see Four lazily sat on the floor, his head swaying to the side. He's drunk. "Four? You okay?" I cautiously walk back up the stairs, his eyes are trained on the floor. I nudge his hard bicep slightly, but he doesn't really respond to me. Then I look into his bedroom, and see that there is no one on the bed. Although I heave a slight sigh of relief at the fact that I did not walk in on a steamy love session between Four and an unknown female, I don't know which is worse. That, or walking in on him practically naked and drunk at three-thirty in the afternoon. As I continue to stare into his bedroom, trying to gather my thoughts, I feel a strong warm hand wrap around my ankle. Initially, I flinch at the contact, but then see that Four is looking up at me with clouded eyes.
"Tris, what are you doing here," he says, sounding breathless, while running his hand up and down my calf.
"I was on my way back from work. How much have you had to drink?" I ask, while crouching down so that I'm eye level with him.
"I feel too, too wasted," he starts to groan and close his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall.
"Have you taken anything else? Have you just drank alcohol?"
"Yes. I'm not a druggy like you," he slurs. He smiles lazily, but then opens his eyes slightly to look at me, "I'm sorry, I didn't…I didn- didn't mean that," he hiccups.
"I'll forgive you in the morning," I say sarcastically, while rolling my eyes. "Come on, you need to get in bed," I pull on his arm to try and lift him off the floor, but he's about twice the size of me so it isn't proving to be very successful. He grabs both of my hands and pulls me towards him, I let out a surprised shriek and fall on top of his bare chest. I almost laugh, finding the situation funny, until I smell his breath which is thick with the smell of alcohol. It brings back bad memories, and I remember what I'm here to do. I need to get him into bed and walk out of here, back home. I'm not here to mess around with a drunk Four, who must obviously be depressed about something to be drowning his sorrows at this hour. "Four, get up," I command, "now." I tug on his arms harshly and he heaves himself off the ground, stumbling towards the stairs. I wrap my arm around his waist to stop him from falling, I succeed, but then notice how I'm nearly touching his ass. Ugh, calling this awkward would be an understatement. I pull him in towards his bedroom, ripping the covers back on his bed and pushing him onto it. When I do this, he grabs my hips with his hands and smiles up at me. His drunken state is clearly misinterpreting the situation. I bite the inside of my cheek, and pull his hands away from me. "I'm here to put you to bed, that's it." He laughs a little bit at my remark, before leaning his body back on the bed, sideways, with his legs still hanging over the edge.
"I know, I know," he slurs. I walk over to his sound system and turn off the CD. I also shut his curtains, and see the two liquor bottles that he's had a good go at on his bedside table. I pick them up and walk into his bathroom, pouring the corrosive liquid down the drain. I hate what it does to people. When I walk back in, Four's eyes are closed. I grab his waste bin, and place it next to the bed incase he needs to throw up. After drinking all that, he most likely will. There's a glass in his bathroom, so I fill it up with tap water and set it down next to his bed. Then I grab his legs, and shift them so that he's lying on the bed properly. When I look back up at him, his eyes are slightly open, and he's watching everything that I do. I cover him up with the sheet, trying to avoid eye contact, but he holds onto my hand. I sit down on the edge of the bed next to him, while he messily plays with my fingers. I take the time to examine his facial features, I've never had a chance to stare at him before.
"Why did you do this to yourself," I whisper under my breath, and he continues to stare at me through hooded eyes. I can still see the deep blue colour, although it's now slightly clouded. "You have beautiful eyes," I barely make out, "don't ruin them with alcohol." He furrows his brows slightly, before taking his hand away and turning around on the bed, so that his back faces me. I take this as my cue to leave, and get up off the bed. When I reach the doorway, I hear him whisper "you have beautiful everything." My heart skips a beat, but then I remind myself that it's the alcohol talking. When I leave the house, and walk back to my own, the sensible part of me begs that he won't remember a single thing of this in the morning. But another, less discovered part of me holds onto the hope that he will remember. Remember the fact that I helped him, and remember the words that he left me with.
…
"I just don't get why he would be drunk at three in the afternoon," Lynn says, while munching on a fresh apple. The sound of the juicy flesh snapping is enough to break me out of my daydream.
"Wha-?" I say, sounding heavily dazed. My apple still sits on the counter of my kitchen, untouched.
"Four, drunk, in the afternoon," Lynn widens her eyes and shakes her head in a frustrated manner.
"Oh, yeah," I sigh deeply, "Just promise you won't tell anyone? I should have kept it a secret."
"No, you should tell me because I'm your best friend!"
"I suppose," I pick up my apple and start to eat it, although I've lost my appetite.
"So, what do you think was up with him?"
"I have no idea. I doubt he has a drinking problem, it was probably just a one time thing."
"Yeah," Lynn scoffs, "that's what they all say."
"I mean it, I've never seen him like that before. And if he was like that, then I'm sure Marcus would know, and Marcus would tell my mom."
"If Marcus knew, I'm pretty sure it would be his most shameful secret. And people keep their most shameful secrets hidden," Lynn smirks but I don't find it funny. There's obviously something up with Four, and he doesn't need to be gossiped about.
"Lynn, just quit it. There's nothing wrong with him. Even if there was, it's not that big of a deal."
"Okay, okay," she holds her hands up defensively, getting up off the barstool and throwing her apple core in the bin. "But, there's one thing that I don't understand about this story. Why were you in his house in the first place?" I twiddle my thumbs, hoping to avoid the question. However, Lynn is persistent, so there's no avoiding this one.
"The door was open, so I just…"
"No way! You totally just barged in?" She lets out a deep laugh, clutching her stomach, "this is hilarious! Trust poor little you to get yourself into stupid situations like this!"
"You're never going to let this one go, are you?"
"Nope, never." She picks up her jacket and shrugs it on, while grabbing the keys to her van, "but I'm going to leave you alone for know, you probably need a good nights sleep." She winks at me and pats me on the shoulder, leaving out the front door. When she's gone, I let my head drop into my hands and release the loud groan that I was holding in. Today has been one heck of a day, and my head is banging. I get two painkillers out of the bedroom drawer, and pour myself a glass of water. Once I've swallowed them, I head up to bed, getting myself comfortable under the soft covers. Even though Lynn seemed to find the whole story entertaining, I did not. I keep thinking about the evident pain in Four's eyes. He seemed like such a strong person, almost unbreakable. But, I should have known better. None of us are unbreakable. We each have our downfalls and sorrows. The things that make us tick, and the guilty pleasures that tide us over until we see better days. Four is only human, after all. I don't know how I'm going to move on from this, he probably won't even want to see me again. If that's the case, then I suppose I'm going to have to be okay with it.Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. I fall asleep to the sound of my clock.
Thanks for the favs, follows and the reviews that some of you took the time to write, it means a lot to me and I'm glad people are reading this story, please continue :)
I'm not really happy with the summery for 'Jaded' but I can't think how to describe this story.
Until next time!