A/N Hey everybody! A HUGE thank you to everybody who didn't un-follow this story while I was on break. It was alot shorter than I intended because I didn't know that I would have access to computers in the process of moving. Now keep in mind, only THIS story is coming off hiatus. None of the others are. That's all!
Fair warning: here's another sad chapter :-P
*Imagine your OTP getting in a fight over the phone and saying mean things to each other.
Person A dies in a car accident on the way home.
Person B has to live the rest of their life regretting the last words they said.*
and
*I'm not going to say what the last one is.
It's a surprise XD*
*Tobias POV*
I rifle through the mail in the kitchen, putting them into separate piles. I've just thrown another bill to the right when I see something I wasn't really expecting. I drop the other envelopes and stare at the letter my mother sent. We haven't been in contact since Faeth (Abnegation Ravenclaw: See what I did there? LOL) was born almost five years ago. After a short mental debate, I tear the letter open and pull the paper out. My eyes skim over the sentences, getting caught on one.
Call me.
I flip the page around and find her number scrawled on the back. The last time we ever talked was when she emailed me a short message congratulating Tris and I on the birth of our daughter. And before that it had been on our wedding day which was three years prior. Before that? Nothing since I was six years old when she left my father and I.
I stare at the number for a little big longer before deciding to call Tris first and ask for her opinion. She's out with Faeth at the mall looking for a present for one of her friends. I go to 'recents' and pick the second number listed. It rings for a little bit before she answers.
"Hey, just so you know, you're on speaker. There's a cop driving next to me." she says. "What's up?"
"My mother sent me a letter." I tell her. Tris pauses for a second.
"She did?"
"Yeah. It said to call her." I say, leaning on the countertop. I hear her draw in a breath and sigh.
"I think you should." she responds.
"Are you serious?" I question.
"Yeah." she states. "I mean, she's your mother. You have to talk to her at some point, right? Why not now?"
"Tris, in case you're forgetting she kind of abandoned me when I was six years old. And last time she even tried to talk to me was when Faeth was born." I say, a little louder than before.
"At least she's trying now." I can tell Tris is trying to keep her voice down for our daughters sake. "Come on, think about it. What's the harm in one phone conversation? You could hang up whenever you wanted. And knowing Evelyn, she wouldn't try and call back."
"How do you know? She's not your mother!" I shout.
"Tobias keep your voice down. Faeth is in the car." she reminds me. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself.
"Sorry. I just don't know why you're telling me to do this when you know good and well what she did."
"Okay, what she did was completely and totally wrong. But that doesn't mean you can ignore her forever." she expresses. "I know that if I were in that situation I would want to talk to my mother again."
"Well you're not in that situation! Not everyone has had a perfect fucking life growing up!" I go right back to shouting.
"Tobias!" Tris exclaims. "Watch your language. Faeth can hear everything that you're saying." I feel instant guilt but my general pride doesn't change at all.
"It's fine, she's heard it before." I remark.
"'Heard it before'?!" Tris repeats. "She's four years old, I don't care if she's 'heard it before' she shouldn't hear it at all!"
"My God, Tris. You're acting like it's the end of the entire Goddamn world!" I emit. "You're a real pain in the ass you know that?" I hear a sound come from the speaker but I can't quite tell what it is. Tris mutters something to Faeth but I can't hear it.
"Great job, Tobias. You just made your four year old daughter cry." Tris sneers. "I don't know what the fuck you were trying to do, but you sure as hell did it." the phone hangs up after that. I stare down at the 'call ended' on the phone for a little bit longer then throw it against the wall. Heat collects behind my eyes but I blink before anything falls.
I've been in the gym for nearly an hour, punching at a bag trying to release my anger and self-loathing. I've knocked the bag off of the chain three times already, but I still don't leave. Once the tape covering my hands is showing blood, I move to a bench to calm down a little. My cell phone rings next to me and I let it ring all the way though three times, but on the fourth I answer.
"What?" I bite.
"Tobias Eaton?" the other man on the line says.
"Yeah, why?" I pick at a loose thread on my shorts.
"According to these records you're the primary emergency contact for Beatrice Eaton and secondary for Faeth Eaton. Is that correct?" the man asks. His tone panics me slightly.
"Yes," I respond a little shakily.
"There was an accident, Mr. Eaton." he says. Before he can finish I cut him off.
"What the hell happened?" I jump up from the bench and book it to my car.
"We're not quite sure yet, but we think Beatrice somehow swerved into the lane next to her and hydroplaned into the guard rail." he tells me.
"Where is she now?"
"Her and Faeth are both in Sacred Heart Community hospital." he says.
"I'll be there soon." I shut off my phone and drive as fast as I can to the hospital.
I run in through the automatic doors of the emergency unit and go up to the front desk.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asks.
"I-I'm hear for Tris and Faeth Eaton." I stutter, drumming my fingers on the wood. She types in something and her eyes grow somber.
"Follow me." the look in her eyes as she leads me through the hall worries me so much I feel as if I'm going to explode. "They're both in here." she gestures to the door that I push open. The instant I do, I hear Faeth.
"Daddy!" she yells, but it doesn't sound like it usually does when I come home from work. It sounds as if she's been crying. She hops out of the nurses lap she was sitting in and launches herself into my arms. After I pull away, I see she has a bandage on the side of her face, fully covering her right eye.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" I ask, eyeing the bandage. She nods first, then shakes her head.
"Mr. Doctor said that Mommy hurt her head and she's sleeping but she might not wake up." Faeth whimpers. "I want her to wake up." tears spike in her blue eyes, and when they start to fall she drops her head to hide her face in my shoulder. The nurse that was holding her comes up to Faeth and I and pats her back gently.
"How long did it take?" I ask him.
"She was conscious when we got there but unfortunately passed away in the ambulance." he tells me. "After a quick scan we found she had serious head trauma and brain damage. Probably hit her head on the window when she hit the rail. Even if she had lived, she wouldn't have been the same." I feel the beginning of tears but none come.
"What about Faeth?"
"The car window broke open and piece of the glass got into her eye." he says. I'm silent for a minute not quite understanding how so much went wrong in a mere two hours.
"Can I see Tris?" I finally ask. The nurse doesn't reply but nods. He leads me through another door and shuts it quietly once Faeth and I have entered. If it weren't for the cut stretching down from Tris' cheekbone to the base of her throat, I would say she looks unharmed. Her blonde hair is pushed to one side where avoiding where I assume she hit her head. Carefully I make my way to the chair next to the bed and sit, adjusting Faeth comfortably on my legs. My shaking hand reaches out to touch hers, but pulls away quickly at how cold it's already become.
The last words I ever said to her still ring fresh in my mind, on a never-ending loop. 'You're a real pain in the ass you know that?'
How I wish I could take back my final words and have said anything else.
I love you.
I jolt awake to the sound of my usual alarm. Someone groans and gently kicks me in the leg.
"Tobias turn off the alarm. It's Saturday." I turn sharply and gasp a little, seeing Tris in bed next to me. She gives me a weird look and props herself up on her elbow. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I thought you were dead." I stammer dumbly.
"Dead?" she chuckles. "Why would I be dead?" Tris stands up from the bed and pulls on a sweatshirt. I follow suit in getting up and follow her to the kitchen. The dent that was in the wall due to my thrown phone, is no longer there. "Okay...Now you're staring at the wall like it's your long-lost brother."
"I just um-thought that the wall was dented. That's all." I sit down on one of the barstools while Tris gets her coffee.
"My God what did you drink last night?" she jokes. "Oh and good morning." Tris leans over the counter and gives me a quick kiss. "By the way, Faeth and I are gonna go to the mall later today just-"
"No!" I shout, interrupting her. She furrows her eyebrows and blinks quizzically at me. "I mean, I'll go with you and Faeth. To the mall."
"You hate the mall." Tris reminds me.
"But I want to go." I emit.
"Okay then." Tris grabs her mug and starts to the hallway. "You can wake Faeth up. Love you," she smiles and blows me a kiss and goes to shower.
A/N So obviously the last prompt (the surprise one) was just a dream! I saw it on Tumblr earlier and I was like "Why not have a happy ending?" Amirite? Anywazy I didn't know that I was going to have access to computers while I was in the process of moving, so this story might come off hiatus for a little while.
But be warned, I'm leaving for dance camp today and won't be back until Tuesday or Wednesday so it'll still be awhile before another chapter is up.
Hope you liked it and thank you soooo much for reading!
Btw, the name 'Faeth' is kind of an inside joke so that's why I had the whole LOL thing XD
Ily and DFTBA!
I love you all!
That's the truth!