Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 42

After Four put the garter on Tris and they danced, they decide to sit and relax for a while. It has been an busy and mentally exhausting day for both of them and the break is welcome. Four leaves her for a moment and goes and gets them drinks at the bar. As Tris sits at a table alone watching her friends dance, she notices Zeke talking someone. Then she sees that it is Zia, her friend from high school who works at her mother's tattoo parlor. Zia is a sweet girl and an amazing artist. Tris smiles when she sees this, Zia is a good match for Zeke.While she is waiting for Four to return, a guy comes up to her and starts talking to her."So, what's your name?" he asks."Tris, and you are?""I'm Miles, I noticed you caught the bouquet. I really wanted to catch the garter."She looks at him confused, "Well, I guess it's good that my boyfriend caught it then, isn't it.""Would you like to dance?" Miles asks her."Didn't you hear me? I said that I have a boyfriend.""You don't have a fiancé, so it's all good."Four turns around from the bar and sees the guy that he wanted to pummel talking to Tris. She looks annoyed, but unharmed. He gets their drinks and makes his way back across the room toward their table."So Tris, how do you know the bride?"Tris snickers, "Are you serious? Or are you just really bad at making conversation? The bride is my mother." She looks at him and doesn't recognize this guy at all. "Who invited you?""Oh, I um... I really wasn't invited. I just kind of...""You crashed my parents' wedding?""Oh no... no, Bud said I could stop by. I live down the street.""I see. I've lived here all summer, why haven't I seen you around?""I just got home from leave. I'm in the army. I was in Germany. I'm home for two weeks then I ship out to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.""Okay, well that makes sense. But really, you need to go find someone else to bother because I won't be dancing with you. Like I said, I have a boyfriend and he will be right back."Four hears her last words and he can't help but feel relief. Since Shauna suddenly left Zeke, there has been a small part of him that feared Tris leaving him."Come on Tris, just a little dance. What if I'm a better guy than this boyfriend of yours? I mean where is he anyway? I've been here for about five minutes and he's not here.""That's because I'm a gentleman and I go and get my lady a drink when she wants one," Four says. He looks down at this guy who is now standing. Four is at least five inches taller than him and outweighs him by fifty pounds."See Miles, I told you that he would be right back." She turns her attention to Four, "Thank you."Four sits down next to Tris. He turns his attention back to Miles, "Why are you still here?""I just... I don't know. I've been trying to work up the courage to talk to her for a week and she has a boyfriend?"Zeke and Zia come over and sit down. "Isn't this the guy that was trying to get his ass beat during the garter toss?"Four snickers, "It was just a misunderstanding, right Miles. No hard feelings?" He extends his hand to shake Miles' hand but Miles just looks at him."How long have you two been together?"Four puts his hand down. He can see that this isn't going to be easily solved."Four and I have been together since last September," Tris answers Miles' question."Why did it never seem like you two were together when you were hanging out on the beach?""I thought you said you just got back for Germany. If you just got back then how could you know what our behavior is when we are out?""I've been back for a couple weeks. I noticed you on the beach and you never seemed like you were with anyone.""Maybe because we don't feel the need to hang on each other all of the time," Four tells him. "I know that she is with me and she knows that I'm with her."Miles scowls and walks away."Okay, that was interesting," Zeke says smirking."Hey Zia, what's up?" Tris says."Not much, just trying to talk Zeke here into another tattoo," she says with a smirk.Marlene and Uriah come over and sit down with everyone else."She won't tell me what she has in mind," Zeke says with a fake pout."What who has in mind?" Uriah asks. He leans over to Four, "Who's the tall girl?"Zia smirks, "I'm Zia, I'm a Libra, and I love long walks on the beach and tattoos."Everyone starts laughing. "Okay you'll fit right in," Uriah says through his laugh."Seriously though, I did Zeke's tattoo at the party you guys had. I just made a design a couple days ago that I thought would go right along with his personality. Funny and sarcastic.""I'll do it, but I get to see the tattoo first, right?" Zeke asks."Absolutely, I work with Bud. You don't put anything in your skin unless you know you want it forever."~oOo~The night comes to an end and Natalie and Bud leave for their honeymoon. The group decides that everyone will be staying at Bud's house until they return."Zia, we're going back to my parents' house, would you like to come with us?" Tris asks. Zeke looks her in shock then remembers that Zia is a friend of Tris'."Yeah, that would be cool."The group goes back and the girls immediately go and get changed into more comfortable clothes. Since Zia is very tall like Christina, she offers her some clothes to put on."Thank you," Zia says. "There's no way I would have fit into Tris' clothes.""Sure you would have," Chris says. "All Tris wears are athletic shorts and T-shirts.""Hey, no I don't," Tris says coming out of the room in a pair of really short running shorts and a very tight top."Okay, unless she is intending on going for a run, then she dresses like that," Marlene amends."You're going for a run?" Zia asks as the girls walk down the steps toward the living room.Four walks up in gym shorts and a very tight black T-shirt. Through the shirt you can see every muscle in his chest and biceps."We'll be back," Tris says and runs off with Four.Zia turns to Chris and Marlene, "Well no wonder she's going running. I'd do pretty much anything that man wanted."The other girls smirk.Zeke walks up dressed in gym shorts and a tight undershirt. You can see every muscle he has through the shirt. Zeke is built very much like Four, tall and muscular. When Zia sees him she wonders if she will be able to keep this just a friendship. This man is hot. Marlene notices Zia's expression when she sees Zeke."You ready to do whatever he wants?" she whispers to Zia.Zia looks at her and feels her face turn red. "Oh I'd love for him to want to get to know me in that way. But I know he also just broke-up with someone. I don't want to be that rebound for him.""You know, Zeke isn't like that. He's not the type to just go after a girl as a rebound. If he likes someone then he likes them," Christina tells her.Zia looks at Zeke and she knows that she is extremely attracted to him, both because of his personality and because he is extremely good looking.Zia and the other girls are all dressed in tank tops and shorts, ready for bed. Zeke realizes that for the first time in weeks, he isn't thinking about Shauna, and it's because of Zia. She is beautiful and funny and a little crazy. There is a part of her that he can tell is a daredevil, just because of the way she basically dared him to get another tattoo.Uriah and Will come out of the kitchen with bowls of popcorn and some drinks."We thought we'd watch a movie," Will says."What movie?" Christina asks."It's a surprise," Uriah says."No shoot-em-up movies," Marlene complains."I promise it won't be a shoot-em-up movie," Uriah tells her.Four and Tris come back from their run. They are both covered with sweat and sand."Did you two actually run or did you just roll around in the sand for a while?" Marlene asks."We ran," Tris says blushing. "Then Four tackled me."Will snickers, "We're going to watch a movie, do you want us to wait?""Yeah, we'll go get showers and be right back," Four tells him.Four goes down to the man cave and Tris goes upstairs so they can both get showers.When they return, Four isn't wearing a shirt he just has on some gym shorts. Tris is wearing one of his shirts and a pair of shorts that are unseen under his enormous shirt.Four sits on the floor in front of the couch and pulls Tris into his lap. Zeke, Zia, Uriah, and Marlene are on the couch, and Will and Christina are on the recliner, Chris sitting on his lap."Who did your tattoos Four?" Zia asks. "They are amazing.""Bud did all of them except the skull on my bicep, that is a Tris original," he says kissing her head."Nice job Tris. You have really gotten good.""Thanks Zia."As soon as the music starts, Marlene is in Uriah's lap complaining. "Damn it Uri, you know this music freaks me out.""Yeah, that was the point," he says winking at her.They all sit together watching the movie. Zia starts off not really touching Zeke at all, but by the middle of the movie, she has inched closer to him and when something scary happens, she has hidden her face in his arm.Zeke looks at the beautiful girl next to him and he wishes he had the nerve to make a move on her. She's sitting there covering her eyes with her hands and she's curled herself into a ball by bringing her knees up into her chest. When something happens on the movie prompting her to hide her face in his arm, he takes the opportunity to put his arm around her.Zia gets really happy when Zeke puts his arm around her. He feels warm and safe, like she's always belonged here but never knew it. She leans her body into his and he pulls her tighter next to him.By the end of the movie, Chris and Will have gone up to bed, Tris and Four leave immediately after the movie is over, and Marlene has fallen asleep on Uriah's lap and he's preparing to carry her down to the man cave with him.Zeke and Zia sit for a few minutes as the credits scroll across the screen. He still has his arm around her and the feel of her body pressed against his side makes him feel happy.She sits up and moves herself away from him a little. She doesn't say anything for a few moments then she says, "I guess I should get going.""Where are you going?" Zeke asks her."Home.""Just stay here tonight. It's late and I wouldn't feel right about you driving home so late by yourself.""It seems like all of the rooms are taken.""We can sleep here on the couch," Zeke explains."We?" she looks at him curiously."Well, one of us on the couch and the other on the chair."She leans back into him and lays her head on his chest, "Or we could just stay like this."Zeke puts his arm back around her. He changes the channel on the television and finds another movie."Is this okay?" he asks.She nods, "Its fine."They sit quietly watching the movie for a while then Zeke looks down and sees that she is still awake."Tell me about yourself.""Well, I'm a tattoo artist. I went to the Art Institute in Chicago after high school and majored in computer design, but I also love to draw and paint. After I graduated I was having a hard time finding a job, there isn't much out there for artist unless you want to move. Then last summer I ran into Tris, she had just gotten an amazing tattoo. Have you ever seen the one on her ribcage?""Yeah, that was the first of her tattoos that I saw actually.""Well when I saw that I knew that I could do something like that. So I talked to her about tattooing. She is a really awesome artist also. But she had me come to her mom's parlor the next day. I had my sketch book with me to show her. Natalie was so impressed that she hired me on the spot and I've been there ever since.""How about family or friends," Zeke asks."Well, my dad passed away about two years ago from a sudden heart attack and I don't have much of a relationship with my mother. She took off when I was really young so it was just me and my dad. I don't have many friends. I have Tris and now Four since he started working in the parlor. I have a friend Cori, we spend a lot of time together when we aren't both busy. What about you?""Well you have met most of my friends. Uriah is my brother, both of our parents passed several years ago in a car accident.""Oh my, I'm sorry.""It was a while ago, Uriah had to live with an aunt for his senior year because it was just after I graduated. Anyway, I graduate with a criminal justice degree and I'm going into the police academy in a couple weeks. I played college football and baseball. I actually got drafted by the Florida Marlins, but I decided that I don't want to play professional baseball. I'd rather be a cop.""Seriously? That is like every little boy's dream.""I don't want to be at the mercy of some baseball team until they decide that I'm no longer useful and they force me to retire.""Will you stay here in Chicago?""Yes, once I'm done at the academy I will be a member of the Chicago PD." He's dying to know if Cori is a boy or a girl. It is an ambiguous name. "So, what do you like to do with your friends?""Well, Tris and I mostly talk about art and softball. I used to play too until we graduated. I was never as good as Tris, but I wasn't bad. Cori and I mostly shop and go to art openings and movies. She's a nurse so we don't really get to hang out much. She works some crazy hours."He's happy to know that Cori is a girl. Then he suddenly wonders silently why he got so jealous over someone he doesn't know.They are silent for a period of time then Zeke realizes that her breathing has become rhythmic, she's fallen asleep in his arms. This is something that he hasn't had in a long time. Shauna stopped cuddling up with him a long time ago. Another thing that happened that should have been a clue that she no longer loved him. There were so many things now that he thinks about it. He just didn't realize it at the time. He wishes he would have so he could have called it off a long time ago.After a little while Zeke is lulled to sleep by Zia's rhythmic breathing.

~oOo~

Four and Tris go up to her room and out onto the balcony that is attached to her room. They brought up one of the air mattresses from the man cave and laid it out on the balcony so they could sleep out there. The sound of the lake and animals always lulls Tris to sleep."What do you think is up with Zia and Zeke?" Tris asks as she lies down next to Four."I don't know, but I hope it works out. She's a good person and Zeke deserves that."Four pulls Tris close to him. He runs his hand across her bare thigh and caresses her bottom. It has been a month and a half since Detroit and nothing has happened between them. Not that he cares about that, but seeing her in his shirt and nothing more makes him want to feel her close to him.He rolls over and pulls her on top of him. His hands find the hem of the shirt and slide underneath to her bare back. She presses her lips to his hungrily. She has wanted to be close to him again, but wasn't sure how to initiate the contact. She knew he was being patient, but she doesn't want him to be patient anymore.He slowly slides his hands up her sides, grazing his fingers along where he knows her tattoo to be. "It's been a long time since you got a new tattoo.""Nothing specific has inspired me lately."