A/N- Would like to say a huge thank you to Ssp2000 for leaving such a lovely review! It's great knowing you find it not like other stories on here! Also thank you to the guest who reviewed the last chapter, love hearing how you're liking the story! I'll wish you all a happy holidays if I don't update before Christmas! I work in retail so am basically at work 24/7 lol. Remember to follow and review, I love to read your thoughts on the story! Bethany x

Chapter 29

Tris POV

Embarrassment radiates off of me as I take in my situation. This is so not happening. My shaking head hangs off of my shoulders, my body beginning to vibrate with a nervous giggle. Could I have gotten myself in a worse situation?

"Tris?"

I lift my head up slowly, his shocked voice bouncing off the hard walls and zapping through my body. Tobias stares back at me, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing, no words coming out.

My eyes stay glued on his as I move to sit back on my ankles, "hey?"

Seeming to break out of his shocked trance, he moves to me quickly, grabbing my arms and lifting me back up. His hands fist into my hair, moving my head back up to his eyes. His deep blue ones burn into mine, then they move to my hair, "what's going on?"

"Do you not like it?" I joke, going to pull back slightly to feign annoyance. But he holds on tight, his right hand slowly lowering to my exposed neck.

My own travel up his body, resting on his moving chest. His gaze burns into mine, this time sticking like glue. He begins shaking his head, his lip twitching upwards, "you can explain in a second."

And then his lips are on mine, the force of him having me take a steadying step backwards. I melt into him without thought, my palms sliding their way up to his neck, holding him close. His lips move with my own, any thought I had that wasn't about him flying from my mind. I smile into the kiss, realising how much I've missed him. My body buzzes with energy with each push and pull, every touch of his a match to my spark. His palms slowly move downwards, leaving a hot trail as he makes it to his destination. Pulling at my waist, he presses my body up against his. Each curve of him presses against my thin clothing, and my legs begin to feel weak as the seconds fly by. I inhale sharply as his hand skims the bare skin my loose top has kept uncovered, and he takes that as an invitation-

"Um, guys?"

I pull back slowly, taking in a deep breath. My eyes stay latched on Tobias even knowing we have an audience, watching him try to catch his own breath. A lazy smile creeps onto his mouth, and I can't help my own mimic his. My hand comes up to his face, my fingertips brushing his soft lips. He watches me as my fingers move, his eyes slowly glazing over-

"Please don't start up again." Blinking out of the haze, I lean around Tobias. Just behind him, I find a displeased looking Lauren. Her arms are crossed around her chest, her black top scrunching with the pressure.

Losing any string of perception, my mind flattens out. What's Lauren doing here? My hands drop from Tobias, and move to rub my head against the building pressure. Eyes moving away from her, I come across an uncomfortable looking bed. Exhaustion overtakes my body finally, all the adrenaline running through my veins disappearing in an instant. I move past Tobias, falling onto the mattress in a heavy heap. I drop my head down, shutting my burning eyes.

I feel him follow me, crouching down just before the bed. I force open my tired eyes, watching as concern fills his own. He reaches out, pushing an out of place brown strand behind my ear, then resting his palm against my cheek. "You're alright?"

I hum, enjoying the feel of his warm skin against my own. I shut my eyes again, feeling his thumb move back and forth over my cheek. "I'm fine."

He lifts his hand from its place on my cheek, and I open my eyes to watch him move his attention to my trousers. My brows pull together in confusion before he pulls up the loose fabric, revealing nothing but healthy skin.

He looks back up, shaking his head, "I think you're going to have to hold off on that nap for a few more minutes ."

...

Those few minutes dragged on, and when I finished up talking, the sun had begun to set. So much has transpired since we parted Sunday afternoon, and the tangents went on and on until we all finally thought there was nothing else to discuss.

I lean against Tobias, having sat up to give him room on the bed just after he questioned my miraculously healed leg. His hand squeezes my side, keeping me close.

"So what's the plan now?" Lauren, sitting on the bed opposite, asks. My eyes shift to her, sitting tightly on the edge of the mattress. I watch as her eyes flick to Tobias for a second, but then come back to mine.

"I'm all out of good ideas." It's a reach calling any of my past ideas good.

"Oh, come on little necromancer," Tobias teases, looking down at me with a smile pulling at his lips, "you're showing me up in front of my friend."

If there was one thing Tobias has locked onto from my whole spill about the past few days, it's my discovery of healing. That, and his obsession with my new looks. Thinning my eyes, I ask, "what have you been saying about me?"

I know he isn't listening, his eyes roaming my brown hair for the hundredth time. "This isn't permanent, is it?"

I roll my eyes, dropping my face back down so he doesn't have to look into my 'creepy' eyes, "no, Four, it's not permanent." I shake my head at Lauren, and she gives me a tight smile back. She seems a lot less chatty than she was when we would hang around at the castle. I pull out of his embrace, watching as his arm falls to the lumpy mattress as I turn around. "Would you not like me if I was a brunette?"

He actually has the audacity to think about it for a few seconds. My mouth drops, whilst his turns into a hurried smile, "of course I would!" He sits up from leaning against the wall, taking another clump of strands into his palm once again, "but seriously, how does this wash out?"

"Guys, come on!" Lauren sighs, sounding exasperated. Our attention goes back to her, and our situation re-enters my mind. "Thinking of a plan? Remember?"

I nod, trying to think. A plan. A plan to get out of here? A plan to figure out what Scarlet wants with the journal? What Erudite want with that stupid book?

Half of the important details from our talk has been long forgotten, too much to take in for one session.

"So," I begin, trying to put the time lines together, "you guys were taken from the lake by Scarlet's guards the same day Arthur shipped Eric and I off. She then brought you back here and you were taken back to her study to chat." Tobias nods, his forearms resting on his knees. "And she's some sort of second cousin to you? From your not so dead grandmother's side?"

"I mean," Tobias cuts in, "she'd be dead now, but yeah she didn't die when her history was written."

"Did Scarlet tell you her grandmother is dead, Four?"

His brows pull together, before he starts nodding, "yeah, I think she said some fever took her, her grandfather, too."

"And you haven't seen anyone that looks like Celia walking around?"

His head twists to me, "you think she could still be alive?"

I shake my head, "I don't know, but I do know we can't trust anything she says. I'm sure a lot of the story she's told you is full of lies."

He nods slowly to himself, "I doubt I'd take a second glance at an older version of Celia walking around, so I can't say I've seen her."

"It's fine," I say, ending the tangent. It's just a theory, one with no weight. I have enough to wonder about anyway, let's not let my mind wander too far. "Let's get back on track," I start, leaning backwards towards the wooden slats, "the journal-"

Not realising I was putting so much weight onto the wall, I feel my shoulders go further than expected. Heart leaping into my throat, my arms jump out, palms steadying myself on the mattress. Looking over my shoulder as I try to control my rapid heart beat, I come across the shoulder width dent in the wood. The material is already splintering, black dents in the dark wood staining the wall. I look back to Tobias, and see Lauren get up from her place on the bed, walking over to get a better view.

"That's more like it, Tris," he says with a grin on his lips, already reaching towards the wood, pushing his fingers through the splinters.

My hand flies to his, making him stop, "what if they see this?"

His gaze meets mine, a spark igniting in his eyes, "it won't matter if we're not here."

I show my agreement by pulling at the rotten wood, and we make the hole big enough for me to slip through. When Tobias goes to make it bigger, I put a hand on his. He looks at me, confused, but I just shake my head. I don't want him to do more damage than necessary.

Sticking my head through the hole with some trepidation, I find a slim space, between what I assume is two rooms. I squint my eyes, trying to see anything. But, with the only light coming from the hole I'm sticking my body through, I can see nothing. Pulling back, I look at Tobias and Lauren. Lauren's now sitting on the edge of our bed, curiosity pulling at her features. "I'll go alone. There's no point making the hole larger if it leads nowhere."

Tobias is already shaking his head, so I cut in quickly. "You're staying here, Four. I doubt you'd even fit through the passage."

"Who knows what's down there, Tris. If you're going, then I'm coming with you." My eyes flick to Lauren, I see her nod.

"Right, whatever." I reply, already shimmying myself into position. I put my legs through first, my knees touching the wall on the other side as I twist my head through. Splintered wood scrapes against my head, but I make it to the other side with little damage.

Turning around, I crouch back down. "Stay with Lauren. How'd you like it if something happened to her?"

Lauren's mouth opens, her cheeks reddening from the attention.

Tobias, voice like steel, says, "don't do that, Tris, because you know-"

Hoping she's able to hold him back, I move from the light, letting my hands run up and down the walls in hopes of finding another hole or a door or something that can help us get out. I hear him call out for me, then Lauren says something but it's too muffled to make out as I move further away from them.

My hands hit stone the further down I get, and my hopes for any holes in the wall flat-line. My fingers skim past a few cobwebs, but I carry on, hoping no spiders fall from my disturbance. The smell of damp becomes more prominent the further I walk, and I begin to wonder if they have any sort of plumbing in this small town.

I walk for a few more metres, realising all the houses on this street and the one behind must be connected. There were a good few houses that I passed on the way here, but I can remember exactly how many, not after I heard the guards talking about waiting on me.

My shoes kick at fallen stones as I walk on, my arms bending at an awkward angle due to the size of the walkway.

Squeaking appears out of nowhere, making me stop in my boots, listening to the sound get closer and closer. Trying to pinpoint where the noise is coming from, I hold my breath. It almost sounds like… I jump suddenly, feeling something scamper over my shoes, almost tripping on my own feet as I try to move away from what I'm sure was a rat.

Picking up my pace, I move past the animal, wanting to find a way out of here as soon as possible.

But then I'm hitting into a wall, my head smacking into it with enough force to have me taking a few steps backwards.

My hands come out before me, and my heart sinks. Rubbing my palms around the skinny wall, I find nothing. No door, no loose bricks, no way out.

Feeling defeated, I turn around. Maybe I've missed something? Maybe-

My hands stop, my right fingertips just skimming something that doesn't feel like brick. I crouch down, both hands moving from the middle outwards and down. Rough wood rubs against my skin, a sort of frame encasing something. My hands move inwards, and what feels like wooden planks sit there. Excitement overtakes the disappointment, and I look for a way to push it open. Not finding anything, I lean my shoulder against it, pushing with all my weight. I hear a creak, and it spurs me on to keep pushing. Maybe Tobias should have come with me after all.

Leaning back, I put all my weight into one final hit, my shoulder slamming into the wood hard enough that it feels like I've bruised the bone.

But it's worth it, as I fall through the open wood without any warning.

Dust smothers my hair as I fall onto the uneasy floor, my hands steadying myself before my face kisses the ground. I look up suddenly, and realise I'm in another room.

Okay, no worries. This doesn't mean we've hit a wall. Maybe this room is unlocked-

A noise, some sort of gasp or surprised inhale comes from my right. I turn my head slowly, expecting to see some factionless villager or a guard or-

"Tori?"

Tobias POV

"Just move out of my way, Lauren." I exclaim, trying to push down my creeping anger. She's been sitting in front of that hole for what feels like half an hour. If she doesn't move from her position soon, she's going to leave me no choice but to move her myself.

Her dark hair shakes as she says no, sticking to her ground. "She's got this, Four. If Tris is saying she's the only one who can fit then there's no point-"

"Of course she's going to say that! She's always hellbent on taking unnecessary risks-"

"It makes more sense to lose one of us than two."

Stepping off of the mattress, I look at her in shock. Sighing, she, too, moves away from the broken wood. I take a step backwards, watching hurt pinch at her features, "I didn't mean it like that-"

"So you'd be fine leaving Tris to fend for herself? Even after she selflessly told me to stay here with you." I shake my head, the accusation hanging in the air between us. "What is wrong with you, Lauren?"

She opens her mouth to say something back, but I beat her to it. "And I'm not just talking about your poor taste in words, but the past few days. You're not acting like yourself, and I don't like it."

Her face falls, a hand coming up to her forehead, rubbing restlessly, "I've been trying to tell you for a while now but every time I get close to I get interrupted-"

"Four!"

My head whips around, coming face to face with the only girl I want to see right now.

She's grinning, her sunny smile flooding my veins and relaxing my tense muscles.

"You're okay?" I still ask, wondering why she's not coming back into the room.

"Yeah, of course," she replies as I move closer, "but I think we should make this hole bigger. You're going to want to see this."