Convergent: a Divergent Fanfiction

Chapter 3: The Picnic

“What?” I demand, not believing the words coming out of my boyfriend’s mouth. His birth mother, dead?  He nods. “I just heard from Zeke.” He sighs, takes his hand off of mine, and buries his head in his hands. I know Tobias wasn’t very close with his Mother, but it’s still his mother. “How would Zeke know?” I ask, putting my hand on his shoulder. “He works at the Bureau…must’ve heard it there.” He shrugs. “What happened?” I exclaim. “Some sort of accident…I guess. She worked on automobiles.” I am shocked. Tobias hasn’t spoken to either of his parents for two years, but this comes as a surprise to him, I’m sure. “What about Marcus?” I ask. “What about him?” He answers, shrugging. “Does he know?” Marcus is Tobias’s father, who he lived with until he was 16. “I doubt it. Don’t think he’d care, anyway.” I nod. “They’ve asked me to identify h-her remains.” I gasp. “Today?” He nods. “Do you want me to come along?” I ask, hopping out of bed and opening up the closet to find a pair of pants. “Actually, Tris, I think I would rather just go alone.” I stop rummaging through my pants and poke my head out to look at him from behind the door. “Sure…okay.” I smile and nod. I understand where he is coming from, but at the same time, when my parents died, Tobias was by my side for everything. He claps his hands together and bites his bottom lip. I stand up, grab his coat hanging on the opposite side of the closet, and pass it to him. He puts it on, gives me a long hug, rubbing my hair with the palm of his hand, and leaves without another word.

After I’ve showered and gotten myself dresses, I spend the remainder of that day cleaning up the house, taking extra time to organize every room. I do all of Tobias and I’s laundry and put it away neatly, hanging in the closet or folded in the dresser. The only room I don’t touch is Tobias’s office. He would want to do that himself. Around 5, I heat up pasta leftovers from last night, assuming Tobias will be home soon. Thirty minutes pass by. An hour. Two. I begin to grow worried. The pan of now cold pasta sits on the table next to two set placemats, untouched. Worst case scenarios begin to run through my mind, and I am biting my nails as I sit curled up on the couch. At 8pm, after I’ve fallen asleep on the couch, the phone rings. I race to pick it up where it sits on the marble countertop next to the stove. I don’t recognize the number. “Hello?” I say into the receiver. “Tris! Hey, sorry. I-“ Tobias stops mid-sentence. I hear him chatting with someone for a few moments. “Sorry, I just called to tell you that I don’t think I’ll make it home anytime soon. Don’t wait up.” He says in a dull monotone. “Okay. Love you.” I am reaching to hit the end call button with my thumb when he says “Hey, I mean it this time. Don’t wait up. It’ll be late before I get back.” I can almost see his smile. “Okay! How’d it go?” I ask. “Um, we’ll talk about it later. Love you.” And with that, he hangs up. I stand there with the phone to my ear, no one on the other end, for several minutes. Then I put it back down on the answering machine, serve myself a plate of food, stick it in the microwave for a few minutes, cover the pan with tin foil and stick it back in the fridge, and put Tobias’s untouched silverware and dishes back where they belong. When I’m finished eating, I put my plate and drinking glass in the sink, along with the dessert plates from yesterday. I release a sigh. It is very seldom I ever spend a night without Tobias.

I pick the phone up again and dial Christina’s number. When her mom answers, I ask her to put Christina on the line. “Tris?” Christina asks. She sounds worried. I never call her this late. “Yeah, hey. Can you possibly come over tonight?” I ask. “Oh, I’m actually going to the park with Uri in a bit. Sorry! Is it important? I can cancel.” She asks. Christina is very loud and boy-obsessed, but she’s a good friend when it counts. I know she would be giving up a lot to cancel with Uriah. “No, no! I just,uh, wanted to give your wedding dress book back!” At least it’s not a lie. “I thought we agreed to meet on Monday for that.” She replies. “Oh right! I forgot.” She giggles at that. “Oh, Tris. You would lose your head if it wasn’t attached!” I laugh back. She talks for a while longer about Uriah, and then stops mid-sentence with a shrill squeal. “He’s here! Bye.” She hangs up. Everyone is hanging up on me tonight. I set the phone down and slid the curtains above the sink closed. We live up on the fifth floor of our apartment building, but I always feel more comfortable with a locked door and the curtains shut tight. I check the time. 9:51pm. I might as well head off to bed. Tobias said not to wait up on him, and I’ve been feeling abnormally drowsy these past few days. I don’t even bother to clean up the dishes or pick up my shirt and jeans when I change into my night clothes. As soon as I am settled in the bed and wrapped up in the down comforter on our bed, I fall asleep. I don’t even hear Tobias when he comes home that night.