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Chapter 34

No more secrets

Tris' POV

I wait as patiently as I can, but the heart monitor is quick to betray my true feelings. The beat to my heart speeds up slightly as I watch the detectives leave the room. Tobias shakes their hand one more time before closing the door firmly behind them.

"I don't understand. If you knew who was behind all of this, why not tell them? Maybe they can help." I point out the minute the door closes.

"Yeah Four… Siding with me on this one." Christina says, settling deeper into her chair. I keep my eyes on Tobias, his body is stiff with tension and worry.

"I'm sure that involving the police wouldn't be the smartest idea." He says, scratching the back of his head. He falls into the uncomfortable chair next to me. He cupped his head in his hands, leaning forward with his elbows pressed into his knees.

"Tobias," I say, wanting to comfort him. Whatever he knows, it's weighing him down.

"Tris, I'm so sorry. I'm the reason why you're in here, why you almost died." He says with pain laced in every ounce of his voice.

"Tobias." I begin,

"No. Just… Listen…" He stutters. He glances at Christina who sits on my other side across from him.

"I don't know exactly how much you know about me and my family." He begins.

"Not much." Christina says, confused.

"But I would imagine that Tris explained to you why I left in the first place." He asked. He's obviously not sure exactly where to start. What does all of this have to do with his past?

"Just that you felt you had to leave to protect Tris…" She says, "I don't know exactly from what though." Tobias presses his lips together into a straight line. Taking a deep breath. I can see his reluctance about wanting to talk about his family. Why is he bringing this up… I have no idea.

"My father was an evil son of a bitch… He abused my mother and when she was no longer around to be his personal punching bag… I took her place." He begins, ignoring the shock from Christina's face. "For years that man would take great pleasure in tormenting me both mentally and physically." He takes a breath, as what I could imagine to be the worst flashback of them all crashing down on him. "I learned to keep people at an arm's length. Especially when it came to Marcus, my father. He always thought he was invisible. Using people's secrets and what they hold most important against them. I never intended for him to find out about my relationship with Tris. I feared for the control that he would have over me. I was right. Because the moment he found out about Tris, he used her safety over me. It was enough to get me to leave and be his puppet. The worst part was he kept tabs on Tris and Emily all of these years. He knew… He knew Tris was pregnant, he knew everything that she and our daughter did. He made sure to remind me that her life was in my hands." I watch as the stress ages his face, the years of regret. "So I stayed away. I didn't care what I had to go through, as long as he left Tris alone. When the son of a bitch died, I thought…" His words trail off, unable to continue.

"You thought what Four?" Christina asks. "What does this have to do with what happened to Tris and the bakery?"

"I thought it was safe to come back. But apparently that's not the case. It turns out Marcus made good on his threats."

"Made good on his threats? You mean.." She asks, confused to what Four is trying to say. But I have been in this long enough to already know the answer. Whoever is doing this, it's because Tobias and I are back together. All Marcus wanted was to keep us apart, to keep us away from each other. Of course with his death, he wouldn't be able to insure that would continue…. So what did he do?

"From what I figured out, he paid someone off to make sure Tris and I stayed apart upon his death, his threat would continue." He explains.

"What?" Christina blurts out. She stands up from her chair, beginning to pace back and forth.

"Chris," I begin.

"No. Don't Chris me." She snaps back at me. "We have kids, Tris. Emily and Junior." She points out. "What if it was any other night? What if the kids were in the bakery when it happened? I can't lose my son, not after losing Will." Chris says, her voice full of fear and worry.

"Chris. Please," I try to say.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Tobias says, quickly taking all the blame. But he couldn't have known.

"Your damn right you didn't." Chris says, angry at Tobias. If anything… and I mean anything happens to my son." Chris says through her gritted teeth.

"That's not going to happen." Tobias interrupts her. He walks around the bed towards Chris, cautiously as he lays one hand on her shoulder to sooth her. "Listen to me, I'm sorry. I know this was all my fault. And I will make this right. No one and I mean no one will touch those kids." I can see in his face that Tobias means every word.

"So what do we do?" I ask, hating that I am stuck in this bed.

"Where are the kids now?" He asks Chris.

"With Zeke." Chris answers.

"Good." He says.


I was so thankful when the doctors told me I could go home this morning. Although Tobias has assured me time and time again that the kids are safe with Zeke and everything that can be taken care of is… I just felt so trapped in that bed, away from what matters the most. My family.

I kept quiet last night as Tobias filled us in and on who he thought was responsible for all this. Letting Christina have her moment as she rightfully exploded at Tobias. But I never blamed him, I know what his father is capable of. And so does Zeke. Christina, on the other hand, like so many of our other friends, never suspected a thing back in high school. I guess he hid it pretty well.

Christina was rightfully upset, she wasn't thinking about what this cost us as much as who could be hurt in the process. Which is our kids. It's not just Tobias and my child at risk, but hers as well. We don't know how far this person will take their task and who will get hurt in the process. That alone will be blood on our hands, both mine and Tobias'.

I didn't express my thoughts and how I felt. Not until Christina left for the night. She had made arrangements to stay with Zeke and Shauna and the kids. Of course, Tobias took a few minutes to catch Zeke up. Again, he wasn't surprised. Instead he vowed to keep the kids safe, no matter what. He took all the measures to ensure their safety. From securing the doors, security, cameras and alarms and preparing a large pot of coffee, saying that it was going to be a late night for him. I imagine he didn't plan on getting any sleep.

"Tris, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Maybe I should have stayed away." Tobias said once Christina closed the door behind her.

"Tobias, listen to me… If there is one thing, we should learn from all of this is that we shouldn't keep secrets between us and that we are stronger together." I took a deep breath as I continued, my lungs stinging along with my throat. " You belong here with us, your family. What Marcus has done is pure evil, which is what he was. We will deal with this and we will move on when it's done." I say, no longer having the strength to talk. I lean my head back down with tears running down my cheeks, as Tobias climbs into bed and wipes them for me.

"I love you."

"Me too." I mouth to him, unable to get any sound out. The last thing I remembered was leaning back, closing my eyes and feeling his arms wrapped around me. Keeping me safe from the unknown.

It wasn't until this morning when the doctor said I was well enough to go home, that we all agreed the best thing we could do was to stick together. Although Christina was not pleased with it, she knew in her heart that it was the right thing to do. As I was waiting for my discharge paperwork. Tobias made arrangements to check out of his hotel room and pick up his bags. It was settled, from now on we will stay together as a family. The way we should have all along.


A/N

Thoughts, concerns? Will we ever find out who the jerk is…

Comment below.

Revised by: FDFobsessed

Like always, happy reading everyone, be safe and stay healthy,

Trini