A.N. Sorry for the slow update! I hope everyone had a great holiday (if you celebrate) and thank you again for your continued support!
This is the moment that will change everything. My heart is about to leap out of my chest and my face feel hot enough to explode. He tilts his head slightly to the side and I close my eyes, ready to let it happen.
Suddenly, the silence is broken as the front door of my apartment swings open. My back is to the door, so I have no idea who is standing behind me.
"Tris! I heard you fumbling with your keys and—wait a minute. Who the hell is this?" I turn around and stare right into the eyes of my very protective older brother.
I don't need to see a mirror to know that my face is red with embarrassment. My eyes shift quickly back and forth between a surprised Four and my even more surprised and slightly mortified brother.
"Caleb!" I yell, while pushing him back through the door. "Go back inside. We'll talk in a minute."
"You know, this really wasn't the welcome I expected!" He retorts, but I don't let him finish. Instead, I slam the door and my gaze returns to Four. The moment we had is obviously ruined. It feels like waking up from a really good dream. No matter how hard you try to fall asleep and go back in, deep down you know that it is over, and you'll just have to wait until next time.
"I take it that's your brother?" Four asks slowly, a smile playing at his mouth. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to upset.
"Yes, yes he is." I respond. I can feel the heat draining from my face. "I know I invited you up and all…" My words trail off. More than anything, I want him to be able to come inside and be alone with him. Especially because I know he'll remember it this time.
"Don't worry, I understand." He decides. We stand in awkward silence for a few moments. Neither one of us knows what to do, so I reach my arms around his neck and give him a quick hug goodbye. His entire body tenses when I do and it occurs to me that it might not have been the best gesture. If I'm not used to physical contact, he has to be even worse, considering his past.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess? For dinner?" My face must give away more of my confusion than I think. "You know tomorrow is Thanksgiving right?" He asks again, a slight laugh in his tone.
"WHAT? OHHHHH." It all clicks together when he says this. I now understand why my brother is standing in my apartment right now wondering what the hell I'm doing with the mysterious guy outside the door. I had been so involved with Dauntless and Four that I had totally forgotten that tomorrow is Thanksgiving.
"Alright, well I'm going to go so you can explain…whatever you need to to your brother. Goodnight Tris." He says softly before turning to walk down the stairs to the front door.
"Goodnight Four." I reply. I'm about to go back inside, but I see him stop before heading down the stairs.
"You know," he starts. "You don't have to call me that. There's no point in pretending you don't know my real name. Besides, it's nice to hear it again and from you."
I'm not really sure how to respond. "Goodnight." I pause for a second. "Tobias." It sounds foreign coming out of my mouth, while still sounding better than 'Four'. It will take some time getting used to. He smiles at me again before continuing down the stairs.
I take a deep breath in before opening the door. Caleb is standing in the kitchen, with his eyes wide and his arms held open. I know he wants an explanation. In the real world, most older brothers would accept that their younger sister actually just likes someone and they would let it go. But this isn't the real world in Caleb's head. This is the world that his sister exiled herself too. I know he feels a sense of responsibility for me.
"Well?" He finally asks.
"Well what?" I can hear the frustration in my tone. "I work with him." I know that isn't the explanation he wants. Instead of letting the conversation go any farther, I close the gap between us and give my older brother the biggest hug I can muster. We never used to be this close, but it's amazing what a tragedy and separation can do to a family. When Caleb is around, it almost feels like nothing changed. Like Mom and Dad could walk into the room at any moment and my life could be normal.
It takes a few seconds for him to figure out what's going on before he relaxes and wraps his arms around me too, returning the hug.
"I missed you Bea." He says softly.
"I missed you too." After a few moments, I pull away and a yawn surprises me.
"I agree." He says very matter of factly. "Christina set me up in the guest room. We'll talk tomorrow?" He asks with a smile.
"Of course." I tell him. Before I get the chance to turn and walk away, Caleb speaks up one more time.
"How old is that guy anyway?" He asks, laughing through his words. I quickly grab a pillow from the couch and throw it at him as hard as I can. The laughter comes out of myself without effort. Family does wonders for the soul, even if they are the most annoying people on the planet.
The slamming of pots and pans jeers me awake the next morning. It doesn't surprise me that Christina wanted to get a head start on cooking. She doesn't do anything half way. I throw my legs over the side of my bed and let out a small groan. The only thing that will get me through today is gratuitous amounts of coffee. I slowly make my way out into the kitchen and see Christina giving my brother a list of instructions. When he sees me standing in the doorway, he gives me an automatic look of panic.
"I see you wasted no time in putting him to work." Christina glances over at me for a fraction of a second before handing me a stack of four plates.
"And I'm wasting no time with you either!" She explains. "You can start setting the table." It isn't until I look at the plates that I realized I never told Christina about my extended invitations.
"Actually, Christina. I invited Four over as well." I tell her and wait for the wrath. She doesn't even look at me before handing me another plate.
"Perfect! You finally have some sense with that boy." I look over to Caleb who seems even more uncomfortable than before. In reality, he's the only person that doesn't know what's going on between Tobias and I. "Besides," Christina continues "We'll have more than enough food as is."
She looks up at me and starts to frown. "It is just Four right?" She asks warily.
"Well, Uriah and Zeke might have picked up on the invitation too." I inform her. She makes a big sigh.
"Do you know how much those boys eat?" She asks. Caleb has started laughing behind her. They haven't even known each other a full twenty-four hours and he already knows I've sunk into dark territory.
I give her a big smile and an unnecessary hug. "You're so lucky I love you! I'll have to call Will and tell him to stop at the grocery store." She says, sounding slightly strained by my tight hug.
"Something tells me he won't mind!" And I don't think he will. I remember what Will told me the first time I met him at lunch, about letting myself be happy. This is the first step right? Having my friends, family, and the guy I like hanging out together?
Caleb and I follow Christina's preparations as strictly as possible. We take small breaks when something is still cooking or not quite ready to start yet. Caleb and I use the time to catch up on things we don't normally talk about on the phone.
He tells me about school and the new projects he's working on. From the sound of things, he might be graduating early. I tell him about Dauntless and all my ridiculous customers and about Zeke, Uriah, and Tobias. Although, I'm very careful to leave certain details out about the last of the boys.
I find myself laughing quite often throughout the day. Will arrives a few hours later, with grocery bags in tow. After a few introductions, he and Caleb start talking about a new piece of technology Caleb is working on at school. Just as I predicted, the two become fast friends. I head over to Christina and help her chop vegetables. She is starting to slow down from the whirlwind she became earlier.
"So I heard Four and your brother have already met?" She asks quietly, never changing her tone.
The knife almost slips out of my hands when I hear her say it.
"How did you find that out?" I ask her, a little louder than I originally planned. Her response doesn't need words. She just turns her eyes towards me. I'm assuming this means Caleb told her. Her powers even work on him
"It was no big deal." I start to explain. "He was going to come up to continue talking after he walked me home and I simply forgot that Caleb was arriving last night. That's all that happened, I swear." I tell her, trying to sound as sure of myself as possible.
"That's not what I heard…" She says, her voice trailing off. She smiles and nudges me in the side. "Don't worry, you know how I feel about the situation."
"Apparently, everyone has opinions on my love life!" I respond.
Dinner preparations come to an end and I hear my phone buzz from the kitchen counter.
Four: Can you let me in? It will take longer to respond than is necessary, so I slip on my shoes and head down the stairs. I wonder if I should change his name in my phone? No one else uses it, but I don't have a lock on it and I don't really want anyone asking who Tobias is.
I open the door to find a neatly dressed Tobias.
"Nice shirt." I say with a small laugh. He's wearing a black button down shirt. If I didn't know any better, I would say it's his work shirt, but it looks a lot nicer and way more expensive.
"Thanks. Only my best." He responds. We quickly find ourselves in a familiar situation, where we have no idea how to greet each other. I decide that today I might as well be bold. I grab his hand and wrap his fingers in mine. He doesn't automatically shrug away from the gesture, so I assume it's appropriate.
"I didn't know if I should bring anything…" he starts.
"It's fine really." I tell him. "We have more than enough food. Christina lives for this kind of stuff." As we reach the door, a thought quickly crosses my mind. "How old are you?" The words come out before I really have time to think.
I can tell by Tobias' expression that he's pretty confused. "Twenty-four." He answers. "Any reason you ask?"
"Nope!" I say quickly. I open the door to the apartment before the conversation can continue. We walk in and once again, make a round of introductions. I'm slightly worried about how my brother will react to officially meeting Tobias, but he plays it off very well and even offers him a beer. When Tobias isn't looking, I flash a twenty four with my fingers to Caleb. He rolls his eyes in response and all I can do is laugh.
Zeke and Uriah arrive a few minutes later, both look as excited as ever. I swear these boys never have a bad day.
As they walk into the apartment, Uriah hands me a pineapple. I've never felt more confused in my life.
"We figured we should bring something, but didn't know what. Wine is boring and Zeke said I couldn't bring tequila, so we settled on a pineapple." He explains.
"Well…that makes sense." I say, obviously lying. I hand the pineapple to Christina, who in turn hands it to Will, who immediately passes it to Caleb. Caleb turns to hand it to Tobias who immediately raises his hands and walks away.
We begin to file into seats at the table and everyone begins filling their plates. It's like a race for Zeke and Uriah, who can get the most the fastest. Christina shakes her head as she watches and Will has struck up another conversation with Caleb. I feel something grab at my hand under the table and I almost jump in surprise. Tobias' hand feels warm on mine and I know the smile on my face is too big to hide. The moment feels perfect. I turn to join the conversation that Will and Caleb have immersed themselves in.
"I was actually recently offered a position with a company that designs medical equipment for EMT's. They want to pay me while I finish my degree." He says, his face booming with pride for himself.
"Caleb, that's incredible!" I tell him, and I really mean it. This is something he should be proud of.
"And I'll be making more than enough money. You won't have to stay here anymore." He says the words so quickly, I almost don't hear them.
"What does that mean?" I ask slowly. The volume has dropped significantly in the room, which gives me the feeling that all the other conversation has stopped and all eyes are on my brother and I. But as far as I'm concerned, there is no one else in the room.
"Mom and Dad didn't want this for you. You don't have to play the martyr anymore, Beatrice." He says in his best big brother voice.
"Mom and Dad aren't here to voice that opinion." I tell him, choosing to ignore the martyr comment. I notice a little bit of my Dauntless attitude slipping into the conversation.
"Oh please." He continues, clearly frustrated. "It's no secret that you aren't happy. You haven't been since the accident Beatrice." My face is filling with heat. I can't believe he chose this moment to talk about this. I almost had a perfect holiday.
Without thinking, I stand up and head to the door, only pausing to momentarily grab my jacket. I can't let the people at that table see me cry. I don't have the protection of the shower walls or the camouflage of falling water. Any moisture falling from my eyes now will be seen by all.
I start running down the stairs of the building, running the heel of my hand across my face to catch any tears betraying me. I have no idea where I'm going, but the sound of my heart in my ears reminds me to keep moving. The pounding is so loud, that I don't hear the footsteps following me.
"Tris, stop." I hear Tobias yelling after me. I stop at the bottom of the stairs, ready to argue with anything he has to say. He doesn't know Caleb like I do, how stubborn he can be.
I start to open my mouth to say something, anything, but I'm immediately cut off when Tobias' arm wraps around my waist and his lips crash into mine. I didn't think it was possible, but my heart starts racing faster than it was before. In the middle of the most imperfect moment, Tobias found a way to make everything perfect. I let my body sink into his and enjoy the closeness and the feeling of his lips against mine. Any angry feeling I had before is replaced with immediate bliss.
A.N. And ladies and gentlemen, there it is! Leave your comments, because you know how they make me feel -dauntlessbybirth