Tobias POV
Tris does end up staying for the rest of the day. I make us pasta for dinner, which is simple enough, though foreign to Bea with its sauce and spices. Bea goes to bed right after and falls asleep minutes after laying down. I stay up, unable to relax. I busy myself with cleaning the apartment, rearranging books and picking up long-forgotten clothes. I'm halfway through reorganizing the kitchen cabinets when the door knocks and breaks the steady silence of the apartment.
Instinctively, I grab a knife from the counter and head towards the door. I'm sure whoever it is is harmless enough, probably just Zeke or Shauna coming to annoy me as always. But it's also Visitors Day, which means anyone could be at Dauntless today, and anyone could be at the door.
I open the door cautiously, only to find one of the initiates standing outside. The one who hangs around Tri, a bunch. Christina, I think. I keep myself from rolling my eyes, but let the coldness of my Four persona take over.
"Yes?" I ask in the most annoyed voice that I can muster. I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe. According to Zeke, it makes me look intimidating. I'm still not sure if he was joking when he said that or not, but I do it out of instinct anyways.
"Um, well, I came to see if you knew where Tris is? I haven't seen her since early this morning, and it's getting late, and I haven't seen her." So the Candor is loyal. Huh.
"And what makes you think that I would know what the Stiff deems worthy to do with her day off?" I hate using the word Stiff, but its what she expects.
"Eric said to come to you because you would know." She looks at me closer. Shit. She's Candor. She knows when I'm lying, or when I'm hiding something. "So where is Tris?"
"She's...safe. And will be at practice tomorrow. That's all I can tell you." She can't know that Bea's sleeping a room away...in my apartment. In my room.
"Where. Is. She." For being Candor, she's quite intimidating. Not enough to scare me, but daunting nevertheless. I'm glad Bea has her as a friend. Not that she can't hold her own, but it'll be good for her to have someone besides me to have her back.
"I can't-"
"Bullshit. I don't care. I need to know where my friend is, and I don't care if you make me do a hundred pushups or throw knives at me at practice, but you will tell me where she is. Now." I don't even open my mouth. I can't tell the Candor of all people about us, especially not without talking to Bea about it first. And certainly not like this. "Honestly, she's your initiate! Eric is a dumbass, but I thought at least you would have a heart. Your initiate has been missing for an entire day with a bunch of new people in the compound, and you don't care? What if she was kidnapped? Or killed? Do you even care?"
My patience snaps. She's Bea's friend. She's willing to fight her intimidating instructor to find her. She seems trustworthy enough. It's only a few weeks until initiation is over anyways.
"Fine." I glance around, checking the cameras. None are angled this way, so I push her inside the door and shut it quickly behind me. "What I'm about to tell you, you don't repeat to anyone, you understand? And if you do, I swear I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life."
She nods. Sweat beads on her forehead and she plays with the hem of her shirt. At least I'm still making her nervous. I sigh and point towards my bedroom. "Tris is in there. Sleeping. So be quiet. She was attacked, not by an initiate, and I won't say who. Uriah and I found her earlier, and she's been in here resting since."
"Why didn't you take her to the infirmary?"
"She didn't want to."
"So you didn't take her because she didn't want to? How bad was it? What if something is seriously wrong with her? Can I see her?"
"I knew what I was doing. And no."
"Why is she in your apartment? Is that even allowed?" Her eyes narrow, and my skin crawls a bit.
"I've known Tris for a long time. We were friends in Abnegation. She followed me here. I know if she tells me no she means it, and I knew how to heal her. She'll be fine." I run my hand through my hair, "And no, I'm pretty sure it's not allowed. She's here because there's no way I was leaving her in the dorms in the condition she was in earlier. I...I don't entirely trust all of the initiates. She didn't want to go to the infirmary, I didn't feel like answering questions, so I just brought her here."
She looks at me intently, deciding whether or not what I said is truthful. She gives me a slight nod, a small sign to tell me I passed.
"So you're telling me you and Tris were friends back in your old faction, and now you've reunited and are in love but have to hide it since you're her instructor." My eyes widen. I know what I said. I said nothing about- "Oh, please. It's obvious you care about her. I mean, gosh, your eyes soften when you look at that bedroom. You're in deep." She softly chuckles. "I guess you have a heart after all."
"Careful, Candor. I'm still your instructor. And we have fights tomorrow."
"Yes, sir" Her voice is serious but holds a tad bit of sarcasm. I'll scare that out of her no problem tomorrow. I hate how mushy this has gotten. I have to reign at least some control over the conversation. "I don't have to ask you whether Tris's place is going to be because of favoritism, do I?"
"Eric is in control of most of the scoring. I simply approve it. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to change his mind." She nods. "Anything else?"
She shakes her head, and we walk back to the door. "Oh, and Four?"
"Yes?"
"I don't care if your one of the strongest men in Dauntless. If you hurt her or take advantage of her in any way, I'll find ways to make sure you regret it for the rest of your life." Protective too….I guess she isn't as bad as I thought she was. She doesn't wait for a response, before slipping out the door and heading down the hallway. I head back to the kitchen, and haphazardly put away the rest of the utensils. I need to lay down. Lay down with Bea and comprehend everything that just happened.
Knock Knock Knock
Fuck.
I head back to the door, knife still in hand. I open it.
Eric.
Great.
"Yes?" This time I don't have to fake the annoyed voice. All I want to do is lay down with Bea and sleep. I think I'm forming a migraine too.
"Aren't you going to invite me in? Whats with the knife?"
"No." I don't even answer the second question. I'd stab him with it right now if I could get away with it. It would be too messy and complicated. I finger the knife anyways, satisfied that it puts him on edge.
"Fine. I came to ask if you knew anything about the Stiff. Apparently, the other initiates have noticed she's been missing for most of the day. "
"I don't babysit the initiates. How am I supposed to know where the stupid Stiff is?"
"Do you think she jumped?" I shake my head nonchalantly, even though my heart drops at the thought of that happening.
"No. Someone would have noticed by now." He nods in agreement. We settle into a tense silence. He knows his presence annoys me. He's doing this on purpose.
"I saw Daddy dearest today in the pit." He says, picking his fingernails. My shoulders tense up. "Did he come pay you a visit?"
"Fuck off, Eric." He knows just what to say to get under my skin. And I hate it.
"Ooo, Tobias is scared of Daddy dearest coming to tell him off for being naughty. Tell me, did Daddy come teach you a lesson? Did you get to relive the good ol' days?"
"Leave." My voice is cold. Sharp. Eric laughs, knowing he's won this conversation. I could care less. I just want it to end.
"Fine. I wanted to discuss the fights for tomorrow, but I'll go do it alone now. See you tomorrow."
I close the door, too relieved the conversation is over to comprehend Eric is in control of fights tomorrow. I put the knife away in the kitchen, and grab two cups of water for Bea and I. I head to the bedroom, and take a sip of my water before placing both cups on the table.
I get into the bed, wincing as the springs creak underneath my weight. Bea shifts, but I don't think she's woken up yet. I hope not. She needs sleep. Especially with fights tomorrow.
I need to change her bandages.
Shit. That means I have to wake her up. Again. And she just fell asleep. I stand up and shake her shoulder gently.
"Bea," I whisper. "Wake up."
She jumps out of my grasp and pushes herself across the bed. Guilt heats my chest. I shouldn't have touched her. That was a bad idea.
"I'm sorry," I say softly. She scoots back over, red tinting her cheeks.
"No, no, I'm sorry." She says, her voice quiet and dry. I hand her a cup of water, and she takes a sip. "Is it morning?"
"No. But I need to change your bandages, and I didn't want to wake you up in the middle of the night to do it." She nods slightly and places the cup of water back on the table. Her hand shakes, but I don't say anything. "Do you want to take your shirt off, or are you alright with me doing it?"
Her cheeks grow an even darker shade of pink "Can you?" I nod and try to do it as gently as possible. I go through the familiar routine and talk to keep my mind off of the familiar scars and lashes that I'm treating.
"So, are you and the Candor girl close?" From how protective she was, I wouldn't be surprised. But I need to be sure.
"Um, yeah. And her name is Christina." So I was right. "Why?"
"She came here asking about you."
"What?"
"Yeah. She was worried and asked me if I knew where you were since I was your instructor and everything. She was very persistent."
"She gets that way."
"I had to tell her about us."
"What?!" I chuckle.
"I didn't tell her everything, but she figured most of it out. You're going to need to talk to her tomorrow. She's going to want answers." I pause for a moment, "You don't think she will tell anyone, do you?"
"No. She may have been Candor, but she knows how to keep a secret." I nod.
"Good."
"She really came asking about me?"
"Yeah. Why is that so surprising?"
"Well, it's just, you terrify her. I mean you terrify everyone, that's practically your job, but she's been scared of you since you got all in her face that first day. For her to even come to you...wow. I guess I didn't realize she cared about me that much."
My mind drifts to her threatening me before leaving...if she's as scared of me as Bea says she is… "She's a good friend."
"Yeah," Bea says softly. I finish with her back and help her put her shirt back on. She gives me a small smile before a yawn takes over her mouth.
"You should sleep. More fights are tomorrow, and Eric is completely in charge of organizing them. I won't be able to get you out of any."
She sighs, and her eyes flutter close before opening again. "That's fine. As long as I've got that numbing cream, I'll be fine." I grimace and get in bed next to her again.
"I wish this could be the norm for us," I whisper. "Spending the day together...waking up next to you…normal couple things."
"Me too." She whispers back and turns around, so she faces me. "A few weeks left. And then we have the rest of our lives together. Just like this."
"Just like this," I repeat and smile. "I like the sound of that."