Chapter 26- In Light and Darkness

It is then when I stopped to think of the realities of life: the beauties and the tragedies. The way the beach tide kisses the shore only to recede back and crash seconds later.

Tris POV

The sun has slowly dipped below the surface, leaving a trace of light that is not yet darkness. Tobias and I are still sitting on the sand on the beach, cuddling, enjoying the sound of the waves. I can't believe we have never seen any of this before. I swing my head left and notice how the beach slowly curves. There are rocks there to support it.

'It's called a spit.' A male voice calls from behind. I sharply turn my head and see the same guy from the leaders' office. I look at him bewildered. 'Where you were looking over there,' he points to the piece of land that sticks out of the sea.

'You see,' he continues walking closer towards Tobias and me but looking towards the piece of land. 'It's remarkable really, a process of longshore drift, which is movement of material along the beach by action of the waves moving up and down: swash and backwash, moves sand,' he crouches down and picks up a handful of sand, 'and other sediments along the coast. A change in direction of the coastline means the material is deposited in the deeper waters. This process repeats and eventually builds up a ridge above the level of the sea which prevents further growth. Which is what you see now,' he points to the spit. 'At the tip, you see that curve?' I nod, 'well the change in dominant wind direction can cause the spit to become curved.'

We sit there in silence. 'That's fascinating.' I eventually speak up.

'I study geography.' He replies casually.

'And yet you work at the Leader's office?' Tobias ask, voice stern.

'Yes.' He simply states, still looking at the piece of land called a spit. He is wearing pink-orange shorts now with a brown belt and light blue shirt that is again rolled up. He turns towards us. He is a good-looking man, not as good-looking as Tobias but still very attractive. His hair is messier now than it was at the office. His clothes still intrigue me.

'I'm Edward Brown.' He stretches his hand and shakes Tobias' hand then mine.

'It's nice to meet you Edward,' I reply. 'I'm Tris Prior. And this is Four.' I eye Tobias who looks like he is about to break something right now.

'Like the number?' Edward smiles, 'Oh and call me Eddie.'

'Yes exactly like the number Edward, have you got a problem?' Tobias speaks sharply.

'Four!' I exclaim.

Eddie continues to smile, Tobias' words not impacting him.

'It's a peculiar name, but then so is Tris.' He looks towards Tobias, 'does it stand for something?' he moves his gaze towards me.

'Beatrice. But I don't like that name.' I say.

He nods. 'Well I came to say that if you would like I could show you around the city. This strip is lovely but there is much more to see.'

'Did your leader put you up to this? To spy on-' I interrupt Tobias.

'That would be lovely, thank you.' I eye Tobias again, he sighs.

'I'd love for you to meet my girlfriend as well.' He says. I can feel Tobias mentally relax.

'I would too,' I reply politely. 'And so would Four.'

'Yeah,' Tobias says.

'There is a camping trip in two days, would you and your friends like to come?'

'That would be nice,' I smile.

'Then I will bring by my car at your hotel.' He rises from his crouch position. 'Have a lovely evening.'

'You too Eddie,' I say. He walks away into the darkness. Once he is completely out of sight I turn towards Tobias.

I punch his side. 'Ow! What was that for?'

'What is up with you? You were being so grumpy! So Four-like.'

'Well guess what princess, I am Four!' he shouts too harshly for my liking and I lean away from him. 'Sorry,' he sighs, 'I didn't mean to shout, I just thought he was flirting with you.'

I sigh. 'Oh Tobias, it takes two to flirt and you know that my eyes are only on you.' He hangs his head low.

'I know. I'm sorry.'

'Don't be, do you want to go back to the hotel now?'

'Yeah. Let's go.' He takes my hand and we walk in silence back up towards the hotel which is now shining with lights.

Tobias and I sit in the living room of our hotel apartment. The TV is on buzzing in the background as I look through the hotel magazine my head in Tobias' lap with only a robe on. He sits upright with sweatpants on but no shirt. The only light on is the floor lampshade that makes the room feel very romantic. I scroll through the glossy magazine.

'What's a WIFI code?' I ask.

'I have no idea.'

'It says unlimited internet access. What does that even mean?'

He laughs. 'I don't know.'

I scroll through the pages more but then a particular one catches my attention, 'Tobias! They have a gym here!' I exclaim, holding out the glossy image of a beautiful large gym. He drags his eyes away from the screen and looks towards where I am pointing.

'Oh that's great.'

'Do you want to go?' I ask.

'Tomorrow, I'm too tired tonight.'

'Okay,' I reply.

Tobias gently strokes my hair as he continues to watch TV. I am finished with my magazine so I throw it on the ground and instead I draw gentle patterns on Tobias' jaw. He looks down at me, pure admiration in his eyes.

'I love you,' he smiles.

'I love you more,' I reply.

He leans down and places a long soothing kiss on my lips, his hand moves to my side where my robe had fallen a little showing the left side of my bra, but I don't cover it. Suddenly, with a grin on his handsome face, he begins to tickle me and I screech in laughter.

'Stop!' I scream, playfully battling his hands away from me. He doesn't stop. I wiggle underneath him laughing but he doesn't let me go. I am trapped. He grabs my hands and pulls them above my head. In an abrupt movement, he flips us over so that my back is pressed against the sofa with my hands above my head and he leans over me. I stop laughing. My robe has fallen completely and is showing my complete body, I wear a black lace bra and black boy shorts. His eyes glaze over with wanting and lust and he himself has stopped laughing. He lovingly gazes at me then down my body. Once he lets go of my hands, I slide them down his chiseled abs and around his back. His skin is warm.

I press my hand into his back so that he comes closer. He lowers his stomach on mine, careful not to hurt me and kisses me slowly. My chest aches for him to become even closer. Deciding to be brave, I arch my back from the sofa slightly as Tobias watches me, not saying a word. I reach for my bra and unclip the clasp and slowly, teasingly pull it away from me, my eyes keep to his. His eyes dilate and fill with lust as he observes down my body. I feel so electrified under his gaze. I gasp when his mouth finds my breast and his tongue laps over it while he works his way down to my belly button.

'Touch me,' I whisper in his ear, my breath hitching. His eyes roam mine to make sure I am certain. His look brings me over the edge.

And obediently, he does exactly what I ask for.

The next morning I wake up with a grin plastered on my face. Last night, we cuddled for a while afterwards but then I felt my eyes dropping and I sensed Tobias wrap an arm around me and the swaying motion I felt must have meant he was carrying me towards the bedroom. I gladly fell asleep in his strong secure arms just before my head touched the pillow.

Today however, I am refreshed- an abnormal these days. I turn to the side and decide to wake up Tobias in a different way than I usual do. I press my lips to his head; but his sleeping form does not stir. I shake my head and continue to kiss him. He doesn't wake up. I laugh and pull away the duvet and notice he is only wearing his boxers. Feeling braver by the minute, I straddle his lap and that's when I realize I am only wearing my boy shorts with no other top covering my chest. I lay myself down on top of him so that my face is close to his and my body is firmly pressed to his and kiss down his chest.

'Good morning,' I say when I see one of his eyes open.

'It is a good morning,' he says, grinning from what I am wearing, or not wearing to be exact.

I blush and jump off him when I feel a bulge in his pants.

'Come on, let's go to the gym.' I laugh.

He groans when I roll off him and slide off the bed which makes me chuckle. I turn around to face him and pull the duvet off the bed, that he was clutching to cover his area.

I wrap the duvet around my mostly naked body and it trails alongside me on the floor. He watches me, his hand holding up his head, annoyed that I took away the warm duvet but smiling as well. I twirl around in front of the bed and the duvet whips around me. I turn my back to him when I reach the bathroom door and let the duvet fall, it forms a pool around me. I slip off my boy shorts and let them land at my feet. I gather the duvet and my underwear up again, smirking, and chuck it at Tobias. He laughs and quickly grabs my black boy shorts and wraps the duvet around him while I walk naked inside the bathroom.

'The things you do to me,' he groans, falling back on to the bed, shaking his head while smiling.

When I walk back into the bedroom from having showered, I notice Tobias isn't in there and I hear movement from the kitchen so I quickly get dressed. I pull on black gym shorts and a dark red sports bra and walk towards the kitchen.

'Hey,' I smile when Tobias hands me a cup of hot coffee. His hand grazes my hand when he gives me the cup. He wears sweatpants and no shirt.

'Hey,' he says. I lean in to kiss his cheek but he steps back. I frown at him.

'I'm not going to let you tease me,' he grins, folding his arms in front of his chest. His muscles are bulging and when he folds his arms he emphasizes all his abs and biceps. It makes my mouth dry.

'So punish me,' I smirk, trying to sound as if my mouth isn't dry because of his muscles. He steps toward me and bends down toward my ear.

'Oh, I plan to,' he whispers. He walks past me without seeing my reaction and my eyes stay glue to his retreating figure. He looks over his shoulder at last minute, before he reaches the bedroom door, 'Oh and Tris?' he smirks, 'Your boy shorts are mine now.' The look he gives me tightens my stomach.

We take a lengthy time in the gym. Unfortunately they don't have knife or gun practices but that was expected. Tobias has been teasing me all day, kissing my cheek when I want him to kiss my aching lips or my aching body or leaving me alone to work out when I want him to train me.

We return back to our hotel apartment around midday. Thoroughly sweating, I enter the bedroom and strip off my whole attire. I make sure Tobias is paying full attention. He goes to the other the side of the bed.

We both remain silent as I undress, staring at each other. A smirk appears on his easing face and I wonder what he is up too when he walks toward the bathroom and switches on the main light. I am confused at first but then he holds the door open for me and I walk past him. His eyes trained on my eyes. Why switch on the light when there is natural light coming from the bathroom?

While Tobias is just finishing up in the shower, the phone rings loudly and I jump up from the bed to answer it. The receptionist informs me that Eddie is downstairs to pick us up. We are meeting the Mayor of Security today. At the same time, Tobias comes out of the shower with a white towel wrapped around his waist, his abs shimmering with water; I have to force my eyes away from him.

'Yes,' I reply on the phone to the receptionist after I listen to what she says. 'We will be right down.'

I end the call and turn back around to Tobias who now has jeans on. 'Eddie is downstairs, we need to go down.'

He nods and quickly dries his hair with a towel and chucks a navy shirt on. Even when he gets ready in less than 5 minutes he looks so handsome. Before we exit the bedroom, Tobias pulls me to the safe in the desk in the bedroom.

'We are visiting the Mayor of Security today.' He says. 'I want you to be armed, they will be. It's just a precaution.'

I nod and he proceeds to unlock the safe and pull out two guns. He gives me one, it feels cold in my palm and just the feel of it relaxes me. I place it in my boot while he does up the safe and he conceals his gun in his belt. Tobias closes the desk and I step closer toward him and move so I am in front of him. I lean against the desk.

'Enough teasing.' I state, leaning my lips up to his mouth.

'I was rather enjoying it,' he chuckles. While he speaks his mouth touches mine. I inch my lips closer. 'Really?' I reply, 'okay then I won't kiss you right now,' my lips continue to touch his as I speak, 'and I'll never have sex with you.' I blush at my boldness, 'because that's okay you were enjoying the teasing.' I laugh and pull away from him. Just as I am about to walk away, he grabs my hands and aggressively, passionately kisses my lips and lifts my up on the desk. My legs wrap around his waist. I smile as his hands move down my sides while mine wrap into his hair. I knew he wouldn't turn down making love. This past week has shown that I can't seem to get rid of the deep spark just below my naval I get every time I am in close proximity with him like this. He drives me crazy, and the teasing he did today has proved that. He has always made me have butterflies, but this is something incredible different. And I like the feeling. Am I really ready for the next step? Is my fear of intimacy truly forgotten?

I pull away from him breathless.

'We should get going.'

He groans but nods and places one smaller chase kiss on my lips. I extend my hand and he follows me from behind, out of the bedroom then hotel apartment then elevator and down toward the reception.

The elevator dings once we arrive at the correct floor and Tobias and I walk out. Our eyes search the brightly lit reception first, and then land on Eddie. He is talking to a young woman, sitting down on one of the comfortable red sofas. He spots us quickly and beckons for us to join him. We do so.

Eddie's hair is neatly groomed and he wears a tight polo black t-shirt and beige trousers. The beautiful blonde young women standing next to him wears an orange and red floral skirt and a white blouse that is tucked in at the waist and that doesn't covers her arms. Her blonde hair is in a high ponytail and she wears nude high heels. She looks breathtaking. I am nothing compared to her.

I shamefully flick my eyes to Tobias and notice his eyes quickly go from the women to Eddie. He doesn't look extremely interested which makes me let out a relieved breath.

'It's nice to see you again, Tris and Four.' He extends his arm to shake our hands.

'You too Eddie,' I reply.

Eddie's arm is wrapped around the woman's waist as we talk. 'This is Serena, my girlfriend.'

We exchange pleasantries and get to know each other for a few minutes in the grand hotel's lobby. We are going out alone today so none of the rest of the squad is coming with us.

'Should we get going?' Eddie asks.

'Yes,' I smile, 'we don't want to be late.' And with that we trail pass the white marble reception desk that homes a lot of clocks on the wall that confuses me and pass through the front glass doors into outside towards Eddie's sleek black sports car.

I will never get use to the silent buzz and then the sudden roar of acceleration of a motorcar. I will never get use to this completely different world I stand in. What will happen when I go back? My thoughts wonder as I stare out of the window at the passing skyscrapers of Eddies' car as Tobias, Serena and Eddie continue to talk. There is only the four of us in Eddie's black sports car.

'Edward, why do you wear such vast and different colors in your clothes?' I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me. My Abnegation side is cringing right now.

'What do you mean?' he asks as he turns left on the motorway junction. I don't know where we are going, all I know is that we are going to the 'square' and there are a lot of skyscrapers around me with touches of grass here and there.

'Well in Chicago, we have our five factions you see. Four and I are Dauntless so we could only wear black. Our clothes represent our factions and yet you wear all different colors.'

'Ah,' he says. He increases acceleration as the road is fairly empty. I notice Tobias studying the way he drives- a very Erudite thing to do. 'Here we don't have factions,' Eddie says, 'our society is extremely different from yours we have a leader, you know that and then we have a Mayor of Security who we are about to meet. Because we don't have factions we are free and we are allowed to wear whatever clothing is respectable for the occasion.'

Everything is so simple here. Their influence could change the perspective of our factions. Can you imagine that? A world where we lived as one?

It is a pleasant thought.

An hour slips by as I continue to stare out of the window, listening to the roar of the engine when the car accelerates. My eyes become unfocused of my surroundings of skyscrapers out of the window that are being quickly replaced by smaller buildings. Tobias' hand is placed on my knee, slowly tracing patterns down my leg, soothing me. There are more and more trees coming into view now as Eddie takes a final left and we arrive in a beautiful square area full of older looking buildings made of brick and beautiful greenery.

Could this place get any more beautiful?

The square is a façade of fiery red and beautiful greens with rich architecture and big sculptures, a big contrast from the sleek blues and blacks of the skyscrapers. Restaurants and cafes fill the sides of the streets and along the middle of the roads are trees and tables and chairs with customers eating food on them. The street is paved and has streetlights encircling the square that is not yet on. We pull up in front of a grand yet tall building made of partially stone yet mostly glass and other materials that home most skyscrapers here. Unusual columns frame the entrance of the building. A man in a nicely trimmed suit opens my door.

I gracefully slide out of the car and the man offers me his hand and I accept it. I let my eyes wonder and I notice carved so carefully in the stone above: Mayor of Security offices.

It's time to get some answers.

Tobias POV

My strong callous hand is pressed firmly on Tris' back as we walk inside the unusual looking building of security. The inside is as expected, the large area is white and modern with security guards dressed in black uniform dotted aimlessly around the place. Panic thoughts run through my head as I see the metal detector in front of us, knowing full well that both Tris and I have guns. Of course outside I am as cool as ever. I let out a short unnoticeable breath when I see that we don't need to go through the detectors instead Eddie and Serena offer a large smile and shake hands with the guards that let us through a gate. The guards lead us down a hall that looks over the main lobby and we follow, me sticking close to Tris' side.

There is an eerie light trickling out of the small window in the corridor once we take a left so we don't continue to see the lobby, it is a large contrast from the rest of the building. Everyone is silent. The silence is in fact so overwhelming I feel as if my heart is beating out of my chest. I squeeze Tris' numb hand. Even from the slightest of gestures I can always feel calm in her presences. Abruptly, we come to a halt in front of an office door. I sigh and press my palm up towards the wood, this feels all too familiar.

A stern placid expression is plastered on my face as I stand in the Mayor's office, contemplating whether to like this man or not. He is of an unusual character, he seems friendly and obviously has high status being a Mayor but that doesn't mean I need or want to trust him. I feel so uncomfortable in this city I have only spent a couple of days in; I feel so out of control. I remember Tris reminding me when she feels out of control she uses her gun. I wonder what is going through her head right this moment.

'Look,' I sigh, rubbing my forehead in annoyance, 'we aren't here for leisure. We are here to get answers. Do you know who George Wu is?'

'No,' he replies to quickly, my head shoots up to his and I take a step forward.

A small hand stops me. Her eyes lock to mine, forcing me to let her do this. I let her. Tris walks painstakingly slow around the desk and as I watch her, I can't stop but notice how sexy she is when she walks so gracefully like that. She stops less than a metre away from the cold looking man and bends down so their faces are leveled as he is sitting. I can't seem to get rid of the stab to my heart of jealously when I look at their proximity but I know Tris is doing what she has to do.

'How do you know Chicago?' she asks, a simple question, too simple in fact- where is she going with this? My feet remain glued to the ground.

'I know,' he gulps, but then I notice his eyes sickly slide down her chest and he smirks. My knuckles turn white from the pressure of my hands being in a fist, ready to attack. 'Chicago,' his eyes return to her face, 'because it is the test city, of course most people regard it as non-existent. This is,' he pauses, his eyes traveling to her lips and chest making me want to scream at him, 'however the first time we have ever experienced a large group of people from the area.'

His eyes lazily flip over to mine and I know mine show a look of pure hatred. A smirk takes over his unattractive face, 'and as for George,' he slowly breathes out, 'I know we did him a favour.' He laughs a deeply unattractive completely mad laugh. 'And maybe,' he continues, returning his attention to Tris and bringing his hand up to hover over her tattoos on her collarbone, 'we can do you a favour Tris.' He smirks and places a thick hand along her raven tattoos. Her face lights up in disgust and hatred.

That's what breaks her over the edge.

A quick movement is followed by a sudden flash of reflected light as I see the object that makes her feel in control.

(Flash-forward continuation from chapter 18)

Her hands roam the cold, metal gun. Her silky fingertips wrap tightly around the deathly structure. Her arm, stretched in front of her to the maximum length, is aiming at his heart. One small, abrupt movement and the man in white smart trousers, dark purple shirt and grey blazer before us will be dead. Tris has always had a good aim. Outside, through the small window beside Tris and me, I vaguely notice the skyline: bright blue with not a cloud in sight. The unfamiliar metal and glass skyscraper I am standing in tower the other buildings surrounding it. This is definitely nothing like Dauntless at all.

'Tell me where he is!' Tris roars out. She stomps her foot on the ground, while she shakily holds out her gun. 'Tell me!' She screams once again her voice stable, her shrieks echo around the room, bouncing off the white painted concrete walls.

'I do not know!' The man replies, 'please put down the gun, I will find him for you! I promise!'

The Mayor's smirk has disappeared completely now, instead replaced by a look of complete terror. They must not be used to threats here then. I smirk when I see a line of sweet building on the edge of his hairline as Tris presses the gun deeper into his chest, her fingers wrap around the trigger, but I know she won't pull it-not yet anyway.

In a swift movement, I stride towards him. Tris is still pointing her gun to the man's heart as I tower over his entire body easily. Intimidatingly, I place my face extremely close to his, as an instructor I have always thought that instead of shouting, leaning over someone, face to face and speaking in a soft voice always makes that person a lot more uncomfortable, it's the best tactic. My voice is calm, smooth but intimidating. It gets the job done.

'You better find him Mayor, or the smooth bullet, placed in Tris' gun will be going through right here,' I poke his heart with extreme force, 'if you don't'.

He nods sheepishly, once again far too quickly than a reasonable person. 'I will,' he stutters, but there is something fake to his façade, 'make sure my best men find him. I promise.'

The gun is still pressed closely to his heart but I gradually notice Tris loosen her pressure on it. I slowly pull my gun out of my belt from behind just to be sure, keeping my eyes strictly on the mayor. His eyes seem worried yet his mouth has turned into a smirk. His hands slowly move along the side of his desk that I can't see.

Everything slows as bright white light flashes into the room and burns my eyes. Gunshots cackle along the walls of the room as powerful as a hurricane. My eyes search for Tris but it is too late, blood trickles down my leg and I hear Tris scream, I fire into nothingness and soon nothingness becomes of me.

The Mayor's deep voice rings through my ears as I feel multiple hands on my back and a pounding explosive feeling everywhere across my body. 'I am Mayor of Security for a reason,' he laughs, a menacing laugh. His retreating feet are the last blurred vision I see.

Everything goes black.

A/N Thank you for reading and following/reviewing! I love hearing from you guys. I will try and update as soon as I can. Who is excited for Insurgent next week?!

Also, thank you to the guest who told me of the geographical aspects around Chicago. I am aware there is no ocean as I have been there before but for my story I purposefully do want a beach there, especially in this chapter. I should have mentioned this before but the city they have entered does not exist in real life, I have made it up. However, thank you for taking time out of your day to tell me, it really means a lot to me.

Please review!