A/N- Happy Friday! This chapter was easy to write so going to upload it today on my old schedule. Next chapter will be the mountain top bar after snowboarding! Thanks for the reviews and follows, it's nice to know you're enjoying the chapters! Also, I've been doing a light edit on the past chapters, just putting in page breaks where this site has taken them out lol; so if it comes up as an updated chapter then just ignore it. See you next week! Bethany x

Chapter 8- Conflicting Interests

"And then Drew threw up all over your mum's bed."

My mouth drops open, "That was Drew?"

Peter smiles guiltily, "We left basically straight after."

I shake my head, unsure if I should laugh or punch him, "Me and Christina spent the rest of the night scrubbing their mattress!"

He leans back in his chair, tapping his pen on the edge of the table, "I was still pretty pissed at you for calling it quits, so didn't think twice not telling you."

"Fair enough," I mumble. I'm going to have to apologise to Uri.

"So," Peter starts, leaning forward again, "What's up with this competition?"

I stretch my legs out, the mention of being on the slopes bringing my attention back to the consistent ache. "What do you mean?"

His pen freezes. "Why are you so interested in snowboarding all of a sudden? You've never mentioned wanting to learn."

My face scrunches together, "We haven't talked on that level in years." He doesn't say anything. Instead, he sits there, pen still frozen in his hand.

I think over what I should say. I can't exactly admit that I'm only doing this because I have a crush on our instructor. "Four's teaching me a new sport for free, the competition is just a factor. Why wouldn't I say yes?"

I take the last swig of my questionable tea, placing the empty mug back on the table.

My eyes scan the small coffee shop. Being midday on a Saturday, it's pretty full. It's mainly residents, as most holiday goers are on the slopes. I was supposed to be practising with Four, but he had unexpected plans pop up. It's odd, having free time. I'm not sure I like it.

I was then invited to go tobogganing with my friends, and was going to accept before Peter showed up at my door. He had overheard Nita and Myra talking about their plan to go to the coffee shop in town for lunch. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to make her jealous, I was forcefully removed from my room.

My roaming eyes pause on Nita. She's sitting by the window before the door. Myra in front of her. They chat comfortably, but every so often she gazes over to our table.

I look down at the papers in front of me. English homework. Bram Stoker's Dracula sits open in front of me.

Peter's hand snatches the book before I can read a word. I look up, hands splayed upright on the table, "What?"

He leans in, lowering his voice, "Is this going to get in the way of our deal? I don't want her thinking you'd rather spend time with our instructor than-"

I lean forward, brows pulled together, "This agreement isn't going to control my life, Peter, so get over-"

"Hey, guys."

Both our heads shoot up to the voice. Nita, standing in a black turtleneck and a plaid skirt stands at the end of our small square table. I move back, but not far enough that my old jumper and joggers are visible.

"Alright?" Peter greets. I just smile and nod my head towards her, seeming as her eyes are nowhere near mine.

"Yeah, um," she smiles towards me, slightly awkwardly, "could I have a moment with Peter, Tris?"

I resist getting up straight away. Instead, I look between the two of them, feigning confusion. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, yes, fine!" She gushes, "I, uh, just needed some help with the English…" She tails off, looking at the mess of papers and our books spread out on the table. "I totally would ask you!" She amends, pointing at my work, "But it'll make me feel stupid."

I can't help but laugh, "Well, I don't think you'll get much out of him," I point at his blank worksheet. She carries on smiling, and I can almost feel the effort she's putting into it. I decide that she's grafted enough, and collect my things.

I get up, moving past Nita. Peter grabs my hand just before I pass him, "I'll meet you back at your room." He grins, squeezing it gently.

I mirror his expression, leaning in, and whisper in his ear, "Insinuate something like that again and our deal won't be the only thing I cut off."

His smile doesn't falter, "See you later."

I walk out the shop, hoping this is the beginning of the end.

...

Not having much else to do for the day, I head to the mountain top bar. I would go and join my friends, but I have no clue where ton the mountain they are. I headed back to my room before jumping on the ski lift to grab my warmer coat and a hat; the wind is a lot more harsh up here.

I sit on the large wooden balcony, staring at my snowboard. I've shoved it in the opposite chair, like it's a companion I'm talking with. I don't know why I picked it up when my skis were right next to it.

I take a sip of my coffee, resting my feet on the snowboard's chair. I stare at it, wondering how many people before me have used it, how much better they were whilst using it. I'm sure if it was a real person it would rather stay in disuse than let me use it.

The hot coffee stings my cold hands as I hold onto it. I remove a hand, grabbing my phone out of my pocket. Clicking on my messages, I see that Shauna has put a few photos into the group chat. I smile, scrolling through them. It's a shame to miss moments with my friends, but I guess it's nice to have some time to myself. It's been just over 2 weeks since we arrived, and I think the only time I've been alone is in the shower.

I get to the top of Shauna's message, and something else catches my eye. Four's been added to the chat. Wonder how he feels about that.

Looking through the wooden slats of the fence, I watch people go down the slopes. My eyes fix on the snowboarders, watching as they shift back and forth, slowing down and speeding up. I try to analyse where I need to improve, by pitting myself against them. Being a confident skier, I've always watched others to see how I can advance. It's one of the best ways to get better. Maybe next lesson I'll go out of my skis and follow Four down the mountain on his snowboard. It would be useless going on my snowboards at the same time, not when all I can think of is not falling over- which, in turn, doesn't actually help with me not falling.

"Tris?"

I look around, knowing that voice anywhere. By the patio doors stands Four.

"Hey," I say, feeling my heart beat that bit faster, "thought you were busy today?"

He moves closer, standing next to my snowboards seat. "Yeah, I, uh, just finished up actually." He looks between me and the board, his lip pulling to the side. "Am I interrupting something?"

I roll my eyes, "I'm sure if you ask nicely, it'll let you have the seat."

He moves the snowboard, letting it rest on the rail. Sitting down, he asks, "You're not taking the day off then?" He motions back to the board.

I shrug, "I was going to spend the day with my friends, but my plans changed. Now I'm here." My head shifts to the side, looking at his back ski coat, "Looks like you're not taking the day off either."

"Gotta get down somehow."

I grin, "Ski lifts not an option for a prestigious instructor?"

He leans back into his chair, "I think it would be the biggest embarrassment of my career."

I smile into my coffee. It's the last sip I'll take, already going lukewarm. I place the mug down, pushing it away from me, "Did you see the pictures Shauna put in the group chat?"

He pulls a face, "Group chat?"

I raise my brows, "You're in for a nice surprise."

He pulls out his phone, then groans. I laugh, "It's not that bad." He messes with his phone for a few more seconds. First I think he's writing something, but nothing comes through. "You're putting it on silent, aren't you?"

He nods, still looking down at his phone.

"You know," I carry on, "my friends aren't terrible." He looks up then, and I almost lose my train of thought. There's a cold breeze moving his hair back and forth, one second putting on a full view of his beauty, the next time hiding it.

His fingers rhythmically taps the wooden table, his gaze over the slopes. "I'm sure there's nothing wrong with your friends," he looks back to me, shrugging, "Zeke and Shauna like them."

A question comes to mind, but I don't know if I should so blatantly ask it. Instead, I smile softly, "There's nothing holding you back from trying something new." I stand, picking the half drunk cup off the table, "We're meeting up here tomorrow night, come." I grab my helmet hanging on the back of my chair.

He stands, too, picking up my board. I expect him to shut me down, not even give the idea the time of day; but instead, he says, "I'll think about it."

The smile that graces my face is uncontainable, I nod, "Good."

I grab my board off of him, heading inside. He follows, waiting by the exit as I drop off the mug. We're hit with a large gust of wind coming from the North as we step outside. The building must have been sheltering us from the brunt of it. I do up my coat the full way, tucking my chin under the zip.

"Storms due," Four says, zipping up his own coat. He goes to the side of the bar, and comes back with his black snowboard. "Should pass through within the next few days."

I look up, watching the fluffy white clouds being pushed south through the sky. Apart from the wind, there's not much indication of a storm.

"So we're going to miss a few lessons?" I ask. Depending on how bad the storm is will depend how many days we won't be able to go out on the slopes. Even though my body aches for a break, I can't help but feel disappointed at the thought.

He nods, looking at me, "Want to do a couple hours now?"

I'm nodding before he's even finished speaking, "Yeah, sure."

"Great." He starts walking to the left, me following next to him. He smirks, "Let's try and keep you in one piece this afternoon."

"No promises," I grin, clicking in my boots.

...

The next day, I'm putting on my coat, getting ready to meet Four outside. "After snowboarding," Chris starts, moving around the bunk bed, "come straight back here, I want to do your hair." Christina, having hair just touching her shoulders, has been obsessed with doing whatever she wants with my hair since she got hers cut off.

"Where else would I go?" I ask flatly.

She rolls her eyes, "Oh, I don't know? Maybe somewhere with Peter? The boy you're supposedly going out with?" She says the last bit a tad aggressively.

Any time Peter gets brought up, even if it's her doing, she gets annoyed. I obviously know why. I guess I'd be annoyed if all of a sudden she got back with an ex that I had no idea she was even interested in. I press my lips together, so tempted to blurt out the truth. When Peter has been erased from her mind, we're great, exactly as we usually are. But we're just ignoring the problem, the problem that I could so easily fix.

I shove feet into an old pair of trainers. Mar lays in her bed, her eyes moving from me to Christina. "I'll see you later." I exit the room, shutting the door behind me firmly so she doesn't follow.

I move fast down the stairs, ignoring the screaming of my hamstrings. I'm in and out of the boot room in no time, awkwardly zipping up my puffy jacket as I move across the snow. In the distance I spot Four, hands in his coat pockets. I try to quicken my pace, being careful where I'm placing me feet-

"Tris!"

Four's head turns to me as my name is called, then I can see his gaze look over my shoulder. His face scrunches together as I turn around. Peter, not in his ski gear, slows down when he notices he has my attention.

When he's close enough that I can keep my voice low, I demand, "What?"

"No need for the attitude," he chides, coming to a stop. He looks over my shoulder, putting a hand up in greeting to Four. I look over my shoulder, and see him ignore the gesture. But he doesn't stop looking our way.

Peter puts his hands on my shoulders, making me look back at him. I'm about to tell him to get off when he says, "I need you to miss your practice."

"Huh?" I say, confused. "You're telling me this now?" I point behind me, "Four's literally waiting."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he quickly says, smiling, "but I've just found Nita alone in the lounge working! It's the perfect time to shove us in her face."

I take a small step back, making him drop his hands. I shake my head, "I'll have to pass, Peter."

His face drops. His eyes shift from mine to Four behind me. "Pass?"

I nod slowly, "Yes, pass. It's too late to change my plans. We'll just have to catch her another day." No way am I missing probably the last practice I'm going to have with Four before the storm kicks in. "Look, the storm will make her be around the lodge for the next few days, there will be tons of opportunities to catch her."

He shakes his head, I can tell he's getting annoyed. Peter was never one to take 'no' lightly. "She'll be surrounded, everyone's going to be in the lodge. No, Tris, we need to do this now." He goes to grab my arm, but I take another quick step back.

Getting annoyed myself, I say sharply, "I said no, Peter, get over it."

His head shakes, eyes icy, "This isn't what we agreed to."

I look at him in disbelief, "Our agreement was supposed to benefit both of us. Al's not even in the picture anymore, I'm just doing this for your benefit."

"Exactly!" He exclaims, "Al's done with, so my side of the deal is complete! Now it's time to hold up your end of the bargain." I'm shaking my head, which riles him on. "If you don't come with me now, I'll tell Al all about this."

I glare at him. "You wouldn't."

His eyes thin, "Try me."

Anger boils inside of me. I feel the snowboard's hard surface under my arm. My hands itch to whack it across his head. Instead of giving him the pleasure of an argument, I swiftly turn, storming over to Four.

I try to pass him, heading for the lifts, but he moves in front of me, blocking my path. I try to pivot, but he's too quick. "What's going on?"

I sigh heavily, not in the mood for a therapy lesson. "Can't we just head up?"

Furrowing his brows, he shakes his head. I feel my fists close, fed up of men telling me what to do. "Look, Four-"

"You're not going up the mountain pissed off. Now you can either tell me what's going on or you can follow Peter back into the lodge."

My anger doesn't dissipate, if anything it amplifies. Instead of doing his two stupid options, I chuck my board and helmet on the ground, and head towards the town.

Before I can even make a dent in the ground, he's back in front of me, hands out in defence. "Okay, okay. Let me reword that." I stare blankly at him, willing the anger in my chest to disappear. It's not him I should be angry at, not really.

"All you need to know," I cross my hands over my chest, "Is that Peter's a fucking bitch and he can rot in hell."

His brows raise, "Okay…" He leans down, picking up my discarded equipment, "Is something going on between the two of you?"

"What?" Is that what he thinks? Of course it is, this is exactly what we were trying to do. "No, of course not." If there's one person I don't want believing this lie, it's Four. I rack my brain for a new lie. I rub my hand over my forehead, dragging it down my face in exasperation. "We used to go out- he's still pissed about how I ended it." I swear something like a wince passes his face. It's hard to tell, having disappeared so quickly. He waits patiently, like nothing happened. My face contorts, both with confusion and annoyance. "You want more?" He nods. I clench my jaw, "Fine. But keep in mind I was 15." He nods.

I take a deep breath, "Uri was having his traditional end of year house party. It was around 12 when most of the year started to leave, but our group was staying over Zeke and Uriah's so we decided to play truth or dare. Most of us we're pretty drunk by that point. Uri dared Peter and I to do 7 minutes in heaven in the downstairs toilet." Four pulls a face, and I can't help but laugh, "Yeah, I know. Anyway, by then we had been going out for a year or so, and I had gotten bored. He'd become pretty clingy and obsessive- so in my intoxicated mind I thought it was the perfect time to cut it off."

Just thinking about the memory sends a shiver down my spine. It's hard to think about without cringing. "He got up to go in whilst I got up to announce to everyone that it was over. I went into heavy detail about why I was cutting it off." It does haunt me, his face in my memory. Most of the night is blurry, but his complete shock and embarrassment will probably stay with me forever.

"He stopped hanging around with us the next week, completely cut us all off." I look over the empty slopes, a lone skier taking advantage of the darkening skies. "Peter and the boys used to be really close, and I ruined it." I kick my boot into the snow, "I'm surprised they didn't cut me out."

"And he's still pissed at you? Like 3 years later?"

"I thought he had got over it," I sigh. "But I guess not."

I know me and Peter will never be friends like we were before we got together; and even though I don't exactly enjoy how we spend time together, it's still been nice to talk to him, to recall old stories and laugh about the past. I don't know if this argument has ruined what we were building.

Four motions towards the lifts with his head, "Come on, I think you need to let off some steam."

"I could have told you that 10 minutes ago," I mumble under my breath.

"Huh?"

I smile weakly, "Nothing."