Chapter 34:
TRIS POV:
"So, you lied to us about Tobias coming over to watch you," my father sighs, turning to face my mother to say the next thing, "I knew we should have checked with him."
I wince at his statement, because clearly they hadn't trusted me, and I probably just broke all of their trust completely. This shouldn't be happening for a second time, as where this time, unlike last time, I had been planning this, and planning things should work out how you want them to. If it had worked, I wouldn't have to explain...for the second time...why I tried to kill myself.
Though I blamed it on Tobias in the first place, I don't anymore. Tobias is too good to actually want to hurt me, and I was the one to hurt myself anyway. If there is anyone to blame, it should be me, but my parents won't view it that way if I tell them the whole story, so, for right now, I don't plan on telling them.
"Beatrice, honey, please tell us the entire story as to why this is happening again. I need to know to help." Of course, just my luck.
"I don't know if you guys really want to hear the whole story… because you may view certain people differently." I admit, pleading with my eyes for them to drop the subject.
But my mom sighs and pulls me in for a hug while whispering in my ear, "Baby, we need to know, please."
Should I tell them something like this? Something that will change their view on Tobias completely, making him seem like an underage, cheating drunk. I feel as if I have no other options, but I know that no matter what, I'm not letting go of Tobias.
"Oh god," I mumble under my breath, realizing I don't have another choice, "Um, before I start, I-I don't want you guys to view Tobias as a different, or horrible person. It was just a big misunderstanding that I didn't give the option of explanation to."
"Just tell us, Beatrice." My father commands, his voice becoming more stern.
"Okay, well, Tobias and I went to a party where there had been alcohol. Um… though I don't like the taste of beer that much, Tobias was having a rough couple of weeks so I guess he decided to have a few. Tobias told me he had to use the restroom so I let him, and soon after I saw him talking to Zeke. I let them be, allowing them to have their guy time, but after a few hours, I decided I needed to find him again because I wanted to get him home.
"I didn't find Tobias, but instead found Zeke, who had apparently stopped talking to Tobias a long time before I got there. So, I grabbed Zeke, and had him try to help me find Tobias. Eventually we had searched the whole bottom half of the house, and being that nobody is allowed upstairs I hadn't suspected him to be up there, but that was all that was left to check. Zeke and I went up there and uh...ended up finding Tobias um…" I close my eyes, not allowing the tears to slip by. "Tobias had been cheating on me by kissing another girl."
I hear my mother's audible gasp and my father's grunt. I try to prepare myself for a lecture, but instead, as soon as I open my eyes, the door opens with a click, and in walks Caleb and Tobias.
Perfect timing, note the sarcasm.
Almost instantly I notice the swelling of one side of Tobias's jaw, and almost in the same exact moment, I see something I never wished, even in my lowest times. My father gives Tobias a punch right to the exact spot that was swelling.
My father's right hook was so hard that it knocks Tobias to the ground where he tries to break the fall with his arm, though he ends up hitting it against the wall almost as hard as the punch. Immediately I jump out of the bed, ripping the IV out of my arm for the second time. My head is only clouded with a little dizziness, but I ignore it and go straight to Tobias's side.
A/N: explicit language up ahead, I'm so sorry for all the reader's who don't like strong words, but it is only a few words and is very short.
"Andrew!" My mother yells as she pulls my father back by his arms as he tries to advance Tobias again.
"Natalie, that fucking drunken bastard cheated on our daughter! What the hell do you want me to do? He's going to take advantage of her, and then leave her! Do you really want her to be in this hospital for a third time?" He yells at her totally out of character.
A/N: explicit language is over.
The room goes silent and my mother takes my dad by his arm and basically shoves him out the door. Caleb goes outside the door too, saying something about leaving us be while he goes talks to mom and dad.
As soon as the door shuts behind him, I begin to help Tobias off the floor, or in a sitting position against the wall. When he finally is sitting upright, I see the small amount of blood sitting on the floor, and immediately look up at his face. The side that my father hit has split open, blood slowly trickling down his neck from his jaw.
I quickly look around the room, standing up when I as I stare at the cabinets and open them. Inside I find the small tape and cloth I was looking for and quickly sit back down in front of Tobias. I use press the cloth against the cut, careful not the push as I'm sure he has a nasty bruise, and when I feel it has slowed down enough, I place the tape on his cut the way they do in shows, across the gash so that it can heal.
When I finish, I throw away all the blood covered clothes, and then sit in front of Tobias, looking at his face for the first time. I hadn't noticed before, because I was so soaked up in clearing his wound, but Tobias's eyes are shut tightly, fat tears slipping out of his closed eyelashes.
I feel my heart drop into my stomach as I think about the pain he must be in, being punched so hard that it splits open must hurt really badly. Not to mention his arm being smacked against a wall just as hard, just not split open at least.
My hand finds its way to the uninjured side of his jaw, holding his face in my hand while brushing my thumb across his cheek, collecting all the tears coming out of his right eye. Seeing him in pain makes my body hurt as well, my heart hammering in my chest as I try to hold my own tears back.
"Tobias...please don't cry. I can get you some pain pills probably, as we are in a hospital." I suggest.
He just shakes his head, "That's not why I'm upset Tris."
"I don't understand."
Tobias doesn't answer, but I can presume half of that reason is because it hurts to talk with a bruised and cut jaw. So, instead of pushing him, I just wrap my arms around his torso and hold him tightly in my arms.
"I'm so sorry Tobias. I'm so so so sorry that my father pun-"
Tobias cuts me off, causing me to pull back and see that his eyes are open focused on mine. His voice soft but stern at the same time while he speaks, "Stop it. I deserve no apology, Tris. I deserved this, and hopefully your father and brother got all their anger out. I should be apologizing to you. Your family has a right to hit me as many times as they want, I hurt their little girl and little sister. I'm not upset because of my physical pain, I'm upset because of your emotional pain. I caused it….I caused it, Tris."
Every second that passes by, the swelling in his jaw gets bigger and the skin gets darker. When he finishes talking, I open my mouth to speak up when I hear someone clear their throat. Both Tobias and I's heads turn towards the door to see my mother standing there with my father behind her and my brother behind him. They all just shuffle back into the room, staying quiet as I face back towards Tobias. This time he's got both his hands covering his face, covering the tears that are probably still there. His right hand is shaking tremendously, and as I look down at his arm, I see the visible bumps of the popped blood vessels in his arm going in a line from where he impacted it along the wall.
I'm sure he hates this feeling, and I'm sure he hates it even more that my family is witnessing him break down like this. Though they stand silently, I can almost feel the tension in the air, but right now, I don't really care, all I care about is Tobias.
"Tobias," I whisper, changing positions so that I'm basically straddling him, not caring about my parents, I just don't want them listening, "We have talked about this and I have forgiven you. We will talk to my family, and what they did is not okay. I love you so much, no matter what, so lets take your hands off you face, and wrap them around me."
He does as he's told, and I wrap my arms around him too, putting my head on his right shoulder, my lips right next to his ear, "I love you so much, Tobias."
"I love you, too, Tris." He whispers as he kisses my cheek, trying not to be too intimate with my family right behind us.
I gently take both sides of his face, wiping the few tears still running down his cheek away. His jaw is swollen so much that it looks like someone put a golf ball under his skin. The bruising isn't any better, painting his skin blue and black.
I give his cheek a kiss, as I slide off of him, holding both his hands in mine so that he doesn't try to hide his face again.
"Tobias," my mother starts, stepping slightly towards us and away from my father and brother, "How much of that night do you remember?"
Tobias takes a deep breath, then answers, "Up until I was talking to Zeke, then it's nothing."
"How much did you drink?"
"I-I don't know….I lost track after eight bottles…." I can tell that is something he did not want to say.
My father then steps in, "And why did you feel the need to get totally drunk that night? Beatrice said you had a rough couple of weeks, what the hell made you so upset you had to get that drunk?"
Tobias looks over at me, complete panic in his eyes because we both know why that week had been so rough on him. My father won't understand, or won't want to anyway, because Marcus was his friend. I open my mouth, still looking at Tobias, and start to say that it was a private matter, when Tobias interrupts me.
"Tris," He says gently, "I think I need to tell them."
"No you don't," but Tobias just nods his head, telling me that he really does, so I turn back to my parents, giving my father a hard look, "Mom, Dad, Caleb, I swear to god if you either don't believe him, yell at him, or pity him, I will walk out of this hospital."
Then I look back over at Tobias and nod my head once, giving him his time to speak now, "Um….I was uh, having a rough week. That night that I spent at your house after Tris ran away, I was there because I had been hurt. Someone had been hurting me, and Tris found out, and didn't want me to go back and get more hurt."
"Well, who is hurting you?" My mother asks, looking deep in thought.
Tobias turns to me, slowly shaking his head, telling me that he can't say it, and that he wants me to, so I say, "Marcus does. Marcus is abusive."
My father is the first to speak, "What? That's ridiculous, I have been friends with him for-"
"Andrew….I don't think they are lying." My mother cuts in, staring solemnly at Tobias. "Last time we were at the hospital, after Caleb beat you up, your back was bleeding a lot and when I saw the skin, it had scars all over, some had been cut open by Caleb. Those are from him aren't they. That's why you didn't want to answer when I asked."
Tobias nods his head, probably unable to speak.
"Oh my god. How long has this been going on?"
"For years now, mom." I tell her, answering for Tobias.
My father takes a breath, the look of complete awe covering his face, "Will you allow me to see your back so I can better understand?"
Tobias turns to me, his eyes wide, and I nod my head, telling him he should show them. So, I get up on my feet, as does Tobias, and turns around so that his back is facing my family.
Finally he speaks up and says, "Um, some are new and may bleed when the wrap is off. Tris, could you take the wrap off?"
"Of course."
Slowly, and gently, Tobias pulls his shirt over his head, revealing the white wrap that is covering almost his entire torso. Carefully I reach across him and find the end of the wrap, slowly unraveling it from his body. Every time it circles, his breathing becomes more rapid, my own nerves building. During the last few circles around, blood starts to take over the cloth I'm holding. I take a deep breath along with Tobias as I reveal his scarred back to my family.
The room is silent at first as I go to Tobias's front side to calm him down by holding his cheek in my hand. But after a long few minutes of complete silence, I begin to worry. The worry only blossoming into fear as soon as I hear a choked sob come from my mother.
Hey guys, let me just say that literally all of your guy's jokes made me laugh, and every time I read them I was in a car with my brother and I laughed and he looked at me like I was crazy. Sadly enough, my week only got worse, so thank god it's the weekend. I want to read a divergent fan fiction, because I just finished one of the best ones I've ever read, so please review and tell me the best fan fictions you've ever read so I can get another one to read. Thank you all for your awesome reviews for last chapter, and remember, if we get up to 1000 reviews by the end of this story, I will make a sequel to this story. I love you all, and tell me what you liked and disliked in this chapter. Please review!
~divergent24-7