Chapter 20.

A/N I am sorry for how long this took me to update! I hope you like the chapter and bear with me, updates will be coming sooner!

Tori's brother

Tori has always tried to pursue her domestic revenge and I guess now she has finally found the right moment.

I feel a cold breeze pass me. The icy slither rushes down my spine. My vision is blurry but I snap myself out of my daze. Lynn has vanished, just leaving her shocking news imprinted in my mind. Suddenly, I feel like I can't breathe. My hands roam my throat persuading me to do the process that keeps me alive.

Shortly after, I am running again. I quickly make my way up to my apartment, drifting past the harsh sound of the chasm then the Pit. I open the door, not rapidly but not gently either.

The sight that I vision before me makes my heart break into a million pieces. Tobias is slumping on the couch, his face in his rough, callous palms.

'Oh my,' his heads jerks up. He didn't notice my entrance. I quickly rush to his side. 'Tobias, I am so sorry,' I whisper as I crouch down on my knees in front of him. 'Tobias, I didn't mean to snap at you, I was angry at Lynn. She was my friend and she betrayed us.' He stares at me for a while and he opens his mouth to speak but no sound comes out. I take his hand in mine. 'Tobias, when I ran out of the apartment I went to our spot near the chasm and I saw Lynn, she told me something, something dreadful.'

'What did she say?' he asks, finally speaking. I spend the next few minutes explaining that Tori killed Max. Even thinking the words makes me feel sick.

He inhales and exhales deeply for a second. 'I'm sorry too, Tris. I hurt you. I didn't mean to.'

I let out a faint laugh but it sounds strained. 'Don't worry about me Tobias.'

He laughs. 'That's my girl, tough as nails,' he smiles. I smile back while my eyes roam the ground.

'I love you,' I smile, looking up into his eyes.

'I love you too,' he says looking into my eyes, He breaks the gaze, looking to his left. 'I just can't believe that Tori would murder Max, she is just so ... innocent.'

'I know how you feel, I felt like she was one of the only people I could trust,' I respond. 'Where is she anyway?'

'I saw her couple of days ago down at the tattoo parler,' he responds.

'You got a new tattoo?' I ask, knowing he hasn't got a new tattoo in a very long time.

'No, I was just browsing. Zeke was with me, he was looking for a tattoo.' he replies, somewhat nervously.

'Oh ... Okay,' I reply.

He brings my chin up so my eyes look into his. He gazes into my eyes for a while, every so often looking from my eyes to my lips then back to my eyes. Temptation takes over and I reach up for his face and kiss him.

The metal lock of the gate slams shut in front of me. Conveniently, I am on the other side of being encaged. The eerily creaking rattles of the ancient, metal cells shakes nearby, making my senses come back into focus. This is real, I tell myself. Tori and Lynn are behind bars in Dauntless waiting for further commands, my further commands.

Can I really put this behind me?

The light outside is beginning to lift as the sun slides down and the streaks climb over the unstoppable buildings and up, towards the shining glass. The office I am sitting in is brilliant with light.

I feel as if I'm touching the tip of the iceberg. I feel as if my whole world is on the edge of turning into something bucolic and full of love, but I am faced with the fact that I have no evidence beside Lynns word that Tori killed Max. But we need concrete evidence.

'Surely, Lynn's word is enough evidence to support that Tori murdered Max,' I demand gently, my fingertips grazing the round glass desk in front of me.

'That might be so. However her word is not strongly stable information. For all we know, she could be lying.' Louise, my boss and council member and a woman of high natural authority in Dauntless, states from the opposite side of the glass in the conference room. Tobias is to my left and another man, Carson. He is a dark skinned man with piercings all over his ears and tattoos covering his muscular shoulders and arms. He's another council member.

'Why don't we put her through the truth serum? That way we tell instantly whether she is lying or not,' Tobias suggests.

'Could we do that?' I ask, shining at the little glimpse of hope that this may all be over soon.

'It's a good suggestion Four; I'm ashamed I didn't think of that myself! It could be possible,' she paused. 'As long as the Candor are okay with it.' Louise continues sharply, maintaining her powerful nature.

'We could convince them. I have sources in Candor who will be able to help,' Carson mentions, taking a sip of water from his cup.

'Then it's a plan,' I suggest hopefully but professionally with a straight face.

'Indeed,' Louise says her hands outstretched together on the table, 'I will contact Candor. I'll arrange a session. One can hope that they will agree quickly so we will be able to put this mess behind us.'

'Thank you for your help, Louise,' I say, pleasantly.

'Well,' Louise starts. 'If it wasn't for you, then we wouldn't be finding a solution, so thank you, Tris.'

I smile and nod my head as all four of us start to get out of our comfortable, black, leather chairs and move towards the door. We shake hands, first Louise and I, then Carson and I.

'I will call Candor headquarters immediately,' Louise sighs, almost repeating to make sure she remembers as we exit her conference room. She vaguely sees us nod as we walk out becoming a spectrum dot of light.

The cafeteria is buzzing with life. Sound from numerous conversations from Dauntless men and women simultaneously bounce of the walls and rattle gently in my ears. The noise seemingly almost feels comfortable. I slip onto the bench filled with our friends and Tobias files down next to me with a small thump. Stomachs beginning to growl from hungry, we dig into our hot roast dinner enjoying the light humming of chatter flowing on our vanished wooden cafeteria tables surrounded by our closest friends. My mind flows back to the conference room meeting and it's not until a faint tap on my shoulder brings me back to reality.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you Tris,' a unfamiliar young boy says to me, sounding slightly nervous. 'This is a note from Louise. For you,' he hands me a folded, piece of white paper and retreating back to wherever he came from. He left too quickly for me to thank him. I unravel the paper, Tobias looking over my shoulder.

Dear Tris,

I have spoken to Jack Kang, representative of Candor, and we have arranged a formal, all-factions council meeting along with Tori and Lynn being tested under the truth serum. He recognized this as an important matter to take into consideration since the leader was the victim. The meeting will take place in Candor headquarters at 12 pm tomorrow. Yours and Four's presence is requested.

Best regards,

Louise.

I read through the note a couple of times thoroughly, before settling that I am done reading and pass the note to Tobias.

'That was organized quickly,' I say seemingly, stating the obvious.

'Indeed,' Tobias responds, solemnly not moving a muscle.

'I don't see the point of having all the factions representatives there,' my thoughts wondering.

'Yes,' Tobias croaks, 'neither do I.'

Then I realize that there might be an opportunity that he might see his father. His face washes a little whiter. I wrap one arm around his shoulders, draping them along his back. I look at him and he faintly looks back, but I see something I have never seen in his eyes before: murder. His severe hatred must be building up in him so much right now. Especially after what happened when he last saw Marcus: their inconsiderable fight.

The day is going fast now. In the distance, the sun sets behind me, making Tobias sit in a wash of orange light. We walk, my legs stretching further than when I usually walk. Tobias and his height! We are walking towards the entrance of Dauntless, returning back to reality and enjoying the last few minutes of fresh air. By now, Tobias has directed us out of the labyrinth called Dauntless and towards Zeke's apartment.

'What are we doing here?' I ask before we knock on Zeke's door.

'We need a little fun time with just our friends, Tris,' he responds. Zeke swings open the door and invites us in. I scan the room and immediately spot Christina.

'Hey Chris!' I say as I pull my best friend into a massive hug. 'Feels like ages since we last saw each other.'

'I agree,' Christina says. 'So all of us are here, what do you want to do?' And she is right, Zeke, Shauna, Uriah, Marlene, Christina, Will, Tobias and I are here.

'How about just enjoying our time together?' I suggest. And so we do.

The hours slip by, of gossiping, drinking, talking and playing dirty games. It's in this moment when I know I am safe, surrounded by Tobias, surrounded by my closest friends. Who knows what our future will bring.

Tobias and I lay in bed. I pull the warm blanket, that protects us swiftly from the dangers, momentarily anyway, around us more and cuddle into his side. The silence absent-mindedly evaporating from us is tranquil and reassuring. While I turn to Tobias, my silky robe touching his bare skin, I notice something different about him, he looks stronger, not in a physically aspect but mentally. His eyebrows are creased in a line as he stares in front of us as if he is hypnotised by dancing flames in a non-existent fire.

As the hot humid summer nights drift to cool September I have always wondered what it would be like to have a fire in my room. A pointless possibility I suppose but everyone can dream.

Tobias hands move to my hair and once again, absent-mindedly he glides his hands over every strand. I dislike breaking his train of thought but I feel that I must.

'Tobias,' I whisper my voice a little muffled from speaking into his side.

'Tris,' he speaks his voice louder than a whisper but quieter than normal conversation. ' I need you to know that us being together, happy, is the most important thing I could want.' He pauses, kisses the top of my forehead before continuing. 'Please don't ever scare me again; I hated it when you walked out after our fight.'

On spur of the moment, I have a sudden desire to start kissing him everywhere. My arms wrap around his neck and I slowly lift my lips up to his. I rise up on my knees so I have easier access to him. My mouth drapes down across his cheek, occasionally a tickling feeling from his stubble occurs but the feeling makes me feel warm and safe. 'I promise you.' I whisper into his ear, knowing now I can't make any more mistakes. There is a slight sting to my stomach but it goes away in an instant, everyone is prone to make a few mistakes in their lifetime right?

Caught up in all the worry I realise now that Tobias is kissing me. His hands move swiftly towards my left shoulder and slip off part of my silk dressing gown, making space for his hot mouth to explore my shoulder. My breaths become rapidly quicker as his hands move down to my waist, tugging softly on the bow that ties my dressing gown together. A quick shiver escapes my body as the dressing gown is completely pulled off me leaving me in my petite lingerie. My hands graze along his tattooed shirtless back, and down along the hem of his boxers and then up his muscular strong chest, rubbing his nipples, electing a moan from him. He smiles once again as our open-mouthed lips crash into each other, our tongues fighting for dominance. A tingling bundle of nerves strikes my stomach, as he untangles my bra, throws it on the floor and starts to slowly make his way down my chest, but the nerves are enjoyable and full of desire. He works his way down, slowly, sweetly torturing me, until he reaches my navel. Every time he touches I feel like he is setting me on fire. He gazes up at me, pleading but not saying a statement, waiting for my word.

In this moment, we have no interruptions, no friends knocking on our door; we are in our own bubble of joy. My heart is throbbing in my chest. My body is on fire. I want this.

But then my fear kicks in.

'Tobias wait,' I pant. 'I can't….' I drift off. Tobias leans his face near mine once again, embracing my cheek with his hand.

'It's okay Tris,' he whispers, kissing the side of my hair.

'It's my fear Tobias! I just can't get over it, I want too, I need too, and just, I feel you're going to be disappointed. Look at me! I'm built like a 12 year old not a nearly 17 year old. I feel so stupid.' I rant, covering my face with my hands, shielding away from him in embarrassment.

'Tris, don't you ever say that! You are beautiful, exactly the way you are. You are the most stunning, sexy, smart, kind, selfless, brave woman I have ever met. We can take our time Tris, I don't want to rush you at all. And I'm sorry if I did.'

'I'm sorry.' I reply. 'Tobias, can I ask you something?'

'Yes,' he answers.

'Do you have protection?'

He looks to the side for a moment, but then responds with a small and almost shy yes. After his answer I lay quite for a while, deciphering what to say.

'Maybe I should go on the pill,' I whisper unexpectedly, surprising myself, he must think I am a complete lunatic now. He cocks his head to me, questioning if he heard me correctly.

'Is that want you want?' He asks

'Is that what you want?' I say.

'I want to make you happy.'

'You make me happy Tobias, as much as it scares me, I want to be with you… all of you,' I shyly look down.

'We will wait, at least until you go on the pill.'

We don't say nothing more, we don't need to. For the words that matter have been spoken. I lay down on my side, my chest still naked and I cuddle up into Tobias, his chest pressed against my back, his large muscular hand wrapped protectively around my waist.

'Tobias?' I whisper, my eyes drifting close.

'Mmm?'

'Take me somewhere safe.'

I may be delusional, but I swear he whispers:

'Is there such a thing?'

A/N Please review! Thank you fantastya8 for being my editor!