When I walk back into the living room, I can hear Four's long even breathing. He has definitely fallen back asleep now. I walk lightly, hoping not to wake him. I don't know if I could deal with him anymore. Sleep is sounding so much better the more I think about it, even on the living room couch. I gently step over him before collapsing on my bed for the night. I look down at him once more, just to make sure he is actually asleep. It's pretty evident that he is by the gentle rise and fall of his chest. This makes me relax just a little bit more and before I know it, I'm drifting off to sleep myself.
"Goodnight, Tris" is the last thing I hear before slipping into darkness.
My eyes slowly flutter open to the sun beaming in through the living room window, silently reminding me that I slept on the couch last night instead of in my own bed. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and think back to the events of last night. I make a mental note to send a text to Al, thank him again for dinner, although it does bother me that he refused to help last night.
I hear movement below me and I slowly peek over the side of the couch to see Four, still asleep on the ground, lying flat with one arm behind his head. In this position, I get a perfect look at his injured eye. From here, I can see that the swelling has gone down, but it's definitely going to be various shades of purple and green for a while. It's definitely going to be a conversation piece today at work. Zeke will probably be making fun of him for not being able to take a hit, but most everyone else will be wondering what the other guy looks like.
The thought reminds me that I now know who the other guy is. I wonder if he remembers telling me about Marcus? I don't feel like I should hide the fact that I know from him if he doesn't. This is very sensitive information and a secret that I'm probably not meant to know. I wonder how much of last night he remembers at all?
"I think she's awake." The voice brings me back to reality and I recognize it to be Will's. If Will is here, that means Christina is too. Oh great…
"Well if she wasn't before, she definitely is now. You need to be more quiet!" Christina whisper yells.
I glance over my shoulder and try to glare at them angrily, but can't help but laugh when I see what they're doing. They have pulled two chairs together in front of the hallway and are sitting next to each other, waiting for me to wake up. Each has a bowl of cereal in their laps. It reminds me of eating popcorn at the movies.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" I ask them, although it seems pretty obvious at this point. The smug look on Christina's face doesn't help the situation at all.
"You know, Tris." She starts. "I'm a little concerned that my roommate is leaving to go on a date with one guy and having another guy spend the night all within five hours of each other. But I do wonder what he did to deserve sleeping on the floor?" I know that I'll need to clear the situation up soon or I'll never hear the end of it from Christina.
"I'm just helping out a friend, Christina, nothing more!" I assume from the look she gives Will, she doesn't believe me.
I hear movement from the floor and turn to see that Four is finally awake. He sits up slowly, looking very confused. I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember coming here. Thankfully, Christina doesn't say anything and she and Will silently get up and go into her room.
"Hey, there. How are you feeling?" I ask him.
"What? Oh, yeah. Um, good morning." He says. I can tell he is nervous of how I'm going to react. "I feel fine." He stands up and grabs the bottle that is now filled with water.
"I brought you some aspirin last night, in case you need it now." Every word I say comes out as awkwardly as it feels. Part of me just wants to blurt out everything that happened last night, but I'm not entirely sure how he will take it. Will he be upset with me knowing about Marcus? He looks down at the bottle and apparently decides he doesn't need it. I'm a little surprised. With the amount he drank last night, it's a wonder he can even stand, let alone produce coherent thought. But in reality, why am I surprised? It seems nothing can phase Four.
He looks around the room and thinks for a moment before sitting down next to me on the couch.
"Tris, I'm so sorry about last night. I don't really remember making the decision to come here. I shouldn't have done that." I can tell he really means it.
"I'm not. I'm glad you came here. God knows what kind of trouble you would have gotten yourself into otherwise." I tell him and I do mean it. But the questions I have are still eating away at me.
"Four," I continue. "Do you remember what you told me last night?" He doesn't answer right away, but by his face, I can tell he remembers everything. He sits back into the couch.
"Yeah, and I'd prefer you not tell anyone else. It's not something I like to broadcast to the world." I can tell this makes him uncomfortable and I find myself wishing he hadn't said anything in the first place.
"Of course, I understand. But Four, what happened?" I ask him, hoping I don't have to explain what I mean.
"What always happens. He said something, I disagreed. He got angry and threw the first punch, so I ended it by throwing the last one. After that I left and…coped. He did manage to get one good one on me this time though. Thanks for the ice by the way." I want to ask him a hundred more questions, but I decide against it. He'll tell me in time if he wants to.
"Anyway, I should probably go. I already feel like I'm overstayed my welcome." He says. He picks up his bottle and notices that the liquid inside is now clear. I can't help but laugh a little to myself as he slowly twists open the cap and sniffs the contents inside. He doesn't remember that it's just water.
"Well, that explains why I didn't get any drunker. I had myself convinced I drank half the bottle." This time, he laughs too. I feel my face get hot at the sound of his laugh.
"It was for your own good. Hey before you go, I have something for you." He looks a little confused when I say this. I quickly run into my room and grab his jacket off the hanger in my closet. I actually feel a little upset that I have to give it back to him, but it's not mine. "I figure I held it captive long enough." I say as I hand him his jacket.
"I didn't mind." He laughs. "But thank you. I'll see you tonight?" I nod my head in response. He walks out the door and I wait a few seconds before shutting it behind him. I press my back up against the door and shut my eyes. The moment of peace is quickly disrupted by the sound of Christina barreling out of her room.
"Okay, spill!" She has me cornered.
"Nothing happened, so don't even bother asking. He just had a rough night and he didn't know where else to go. I found him waiting here when I got back from my date with Al and I invited him up to talk about it. Before I knew it, it was really late and we both just fell asleep." I tell her, hoping she believes me.
"Right, we're not even going to pretend that's what actually happened. I could tell when I came in last night that he was drunk. Did he show up here like that?" I should have known that would happen. Christina has a secret ability of always knowing when people lie. After a long pause, I decide to give in.
"Yes, he showed up here like that. I'm honestly surprised he could find the building." The words come out as more of a sigh of defeat.
"I'm not." She says. I feel my brow furrow in confusion. "Oh my god, you've got to be kidding me. He likes you." She says, and by her tone, I can tell she is getting frustrated with me. "It's not like it's a secret or anything." I look to Will who has been quiet up until this point. He just shrugs his shoulders, but it's evident he agrees with her. Am I the only one who didn't see this? I look back at Christina, waiting for her to continue. "Please, he walks you home every night after work, so you can't even tell me he just drunkenly stumbled upon our building. Second off, he was drunk, so he probably went wherever his mind thought of first. And don't think I didn't see that black eye coming on. He obviously had a rough night and wanted someone to talk to, someone he could trust. That someone is you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out." It takes me a few seconds to process everything she said, but once it's out in the open, it starts to make sense. There really is no other reason he chose to come here. The more I think about it, the more I find myself not wanting to talk about it anymore. I look at the clock and see that it's already 2. We definitely slept in a lot longer than I thought.
"Shit, look I've got to be at work in an hour. Can we not do this right now?" I beg her.
"Sure, but it's just going to come back to you later!" She yells as I walk back towards my room. "Does this mean I'm not going to meet Al?" She asks. I don't even give her the satisfaction of a response. I just shut my door and get ready for work.
I get to work a little early. It feels like ages since I was here last, but it's only been two days. I find Uriah sitting in the employee area, waiting for his shift to start.
"Trisssss!" He yells as I walk in to put my stuff down. When he looks up, he seems surprised. He takes a moment to study my face. "You look happy. What's wrong?"
I'm a little taken back by his question. "Why does something have to be wrong for me to be happy?" I ask him.
"It doesn't. You just look different is all. I like it. It makes you even cuter than before." He teases, nudging his elbow into me at the same time. I pick up my foot and kick him in the backside. I know it doesn't hurt because he was standing right next to me.
"Okay!" He says as I start to walk away. "Something is definitely up!" Just like Christina, I don't give him the satisfaction of a response. As I walk out to the front, I become nervous at the thought that Four will be here any minute. But of course, when he does arrive, he looks as cool and collected as usual. If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have even known he was drunk last night. I silently curse him, knowing that if it had been me, I still would have been in bed or praying to the porcelain gods. The night starts off as usual, with just as many cool and annoying customers as usual. It isn't until Peter almost knocks over a full tray of drinks in my hand before things start to get interesting.
"Watch where you're going Stiff! You already forced one guy to quit. We wouldn't want to cause any more casualties." I can see Four's demeanor change from all the way at the bar. He already didn't like Peter, but now it seems to be even worse. Thankfully, I don't spill anything and I steady myself before walking out to my table. Throughout the night, I can see Peter getting more and more frustrated, although I'm not sure why. After I ring in some drinks, I go to stand by the service bar and wait for Four to make them. I know the bartenders hate it when we watch them, but I just can't seem to stay away. Peter is already standing there waiting for a drink for one of his tables. His facial expression is less than friendly.
"You doing okay there, Peter?" I ask, with a heavy air of sarcasm in my tone. Four has already started making my drinks, a slight smirk on his face.
"Your boyfriend here has been cherry picking drinks all damn night." It takes me a second to realize the boyfriend he is talking about is Four. Peter turns to look and him and extends his torso slightly over the bar so his face is only inches from Fours. "It's not that hard to do your job. You make the drinks in the order they are rang in. I swear to God I'm surrounded by idiots." He says, puffing out his chest a little to make himself seem more intimidating. I look to Four to see how he'll react. He continues to make my drink, but looks over at Zeke who is talking to a bar guest.
"Zeke, I think Peter might be right. It's not that hard, but I just can't seem to get it right!" He says with a smug look on his face. It takes all of my effort to contain my laughter. Zeke walks over and pats him on the back.
"Really, Four?" He turns to look directly at Peter. I don't think I've ever seen Zeke look scary before, but he definitely manages it with the look he gives Peter. "Because I think you're doing a great job."
Four finishes my drinks and gives me a small wink as I pick them up. I start to walk away, but stop and turn to Peter one last time.
"By the way, he's not my boyfriend. You're just an asshole." I can here Zeke burst into laughter from behind the bar as I walk away.
The rest of the night goes pretty smoothly and before I know it, its closing time. Peter still hasn't gotten over what happened earlier, and it gets even worse when he has a table that is deep in conversation, refusing to leave even after he informed them we're closed. If it weren't Peter, I'd actually probably feel bad and offer to hang out with him until they left, but I have no sympathy for him. I'm about to walk out the front door when I hear footsteps behind me.
I turn my head to see Four catching up to me. It shouldn't still surprise me that he wants to walk me home every night, but for some reason, he cares enough to do it. Each night I'm flattered more than the last. This night is just like every other night. We talk about seemingly nothing and in the shortest fifteen minutes of my life, we are at the door to my building. The only difference is tonight, we walk closer together than we ever have before. Our fingers brush a few times, and I'm almost sure we're about to hold hands. But most different about tonight, is as we say goodnight, Four leans forward and kisses the top of my forehead before finishing his walk to his apartment, where ever that is. My heart almost leaps out of my chest.
A.N. I know it seems like everything is moving a little slow, but to me, it feels more genuine that way. It's not like FourTris is going to happen overnight! Still, leave me your comments and tell me how you feel. ALSO, I don't really know the etiquette of responding to reviews. So please, tell me how you feel! Is it something that a lot of authors do? I've responded to a couple, but I don't want anyone to feel left out. Seriously, I have like no idea what the protocol is. Okay, thank you as always!
-dauntlessbybirth