How Allegiant Should Have Ended

Chapter 33

Tris:

Tobias leads me to the elevators, which will take us to our room on the eighth floor. He rolls his suitcase is one hand, and has his fingers intertwined with mine with the other. I push the open button on the elevator, and the metal doors slowly slide open, revealing a carpeted chamber, lined with gold and silver decals.

Tobias's grip tightens on my hand, and I realize that he is facing yet another one of his fears, claustrophobia.

I push the button for the eighth floor, and begin to ascend, with my soulmate at my side.

Tobias's breath quickens, and his palms start sweating. I dare myself to look over at him, and find him locked in a trance, intently staring at the elevator doors in front of us. I can only imagine what he is thinking. I picture a young Tobias, huddled in his closet, hearing the whipping sound of his father's belt just outside. He slowly retreats further into the darkness, and drops of water glide down his cheeks. "Stop!" I hear him scream, but it has no effect. He chokes back his sobs and scurries to his feet when Marcus throws open the closet doors. "Please, dad!" he says, his voice cracking. Without a word, Marcus drags Tobias out of the closet, and throws him onto the bed. Tobias gives in, and clutches the pillow until his arms hurt. Marcus pulls his arm back, belt in hand, and snaps it on his only son's back.

Without thinking, I turn and throw my arms around my husband's waist, and sob into his t-shirt.

"Are you okay, babe?" he asks. His voice cracks slightly, making me cry even more. He strokes my hair lightly, and pulls me closer. "Shhhh, it's okay, Tris. I've got you. You're okay. No one's going to hurt you."

I crane my head to look into his eyes. "But someone might hurt you."

"What are you talking about?"

I sigh. "I just thought about you... and Marcus," I sniffle, "and all the terrible things he's done to you. And he should have never have done those things to you. And, ugh, I just wish I could go back and change the past."

He kisses the top of my head. "I don't."

I stare at him in disbelief. "You don't?"

"Yeah I don't." He says it with such confidence, and I don't even understand. How could he possibly want to keep all the memories and nightmares? I just don't get it.

The elevator doors open in front of us. For a minute I forgot we were even on an elevator. He intertwined his hand with mine and we roll our suitcases behind us. Our conversation is on hold, for now, but I don't intend on dropping the subject. I'm curious as to why he wants to remember how he suffered.

***

Our suite is the second on the left. It has a gold door so fluorescent that you can see your reflection. Tobias props up his suitcase and reaches into his pocket to pull out our keycard. "Would you like to do the honors?" he says, handing it to me.

"I thought you'd never ask." I take the card and slide it into the little machine by the handle. The light at the top turns from red to green, and I turn open the knob, and push open the door.

My jaw drops at the sight of the room, or should I say apartment. The door leads right into the kitchen, with granite countertops, and sleek, silver cupboards. The kitchen also comes with a refrigerator, oven, and microwave. To the left is the family room, with a flat screen television, and black leather couches. A long hallway to the right branches off into a bathroom, and a bedroom. I leave my suitcase by the door, next to a smug-looking Tobias, and follow down the hallway to explore the rest of the house.

The bathroom has the same granite countertops as the kitchen, and a jacuzzi bathtub in the shape of a heart. Obviously, it also includes a toilet, sink, and shower with clear doors.

I exit the bathroom and follow the hallway into the bedroom. Tobias had wheeled our suitcase into here while I was admiring the bathroom, and casually perches himself on the edge of the bed. It's almost not fair how he could look so perfect without even trying.

"What do you think?" he asks.

My mouth curls up into a smile. "I love it." I walk forward to join him on the bed, resting my head on his shoulder. "But it could never compare to you."

He chuckles lightly. "That's what I was going for." I punch him lightly in the arm. He laughs again. "Well, I'm going to go take a shower to freshen up," he says, sliding off the bed. He stands in the doorway, and turns to face me. "Feel free to join me if you want," he says with a wink.

I catch myself blushing, and laugh to cover it up. He walks into the bathroom, and I hear the overhead faucet turn on. I throw my head back onto the bed, and think back to a year ago. I can't even remember if I was in Dauntless yet. It all happened so fast. I think back to the day of the choosing ceremony, when I let my blood sizzle on the coals. If I had knew what I would get myself into, would I have still joined. I immediately regret asking myself the question.

Of course I would still go. I wouldn't have met Christina or Uriah, and all my amazing friends. I would have never been on a zip line. I would have never picked up a weapon, and felt it's power in my hand. I would have never been outside the fence. I would have never saved the world. And... I would have never have met Tobias. I know I knew him before in Abnegation, but I would have never known him the way I know him now.

None of the negatives come to mind, although I'm sure there are quite a few. But I'm happy with my choice, and that's all that matters.

Relentlessly, I pry myself off the bed.

Author's Note:
Hey everyone! So I'm just going to start off by saying how incredibly sorry I am for not updating. It's been at least five months and I know it's completely unfair for me to do that to do, since you've all been so amazing to me. I've been really busy with school all of a sudden, and I know that's know excuse for taking an hour or two of my day to update for you guys. I guess I just forgot how much I love writing. I've also been going through a phase in my life, which everyone goes through and one moment or another, where I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. I've wanted to be an author since I was eight years old, and I still keep pursuing that dream. I know I'm nowhere close to becoming an author, but that is my goal one day. And I know that finishing this book is the first step.

So back to this book. There is only one more chapter after this one, and an epilogue of course, so this book is slowly winding down. I'm going to have a big author's note at the end, but I just wanted to have a little something in here just telling you how thankful I am for all of you. You've supported me since I've started writing this book, and it's honestly been a dream come true for me. So thank you so much for all of your support!

One last thing (sorry!) I changed my username to @rachelmarie08 because, well, I don't know I just like it better haha. But anyway, I used to be @rachelwritesbooks08 so I'm just clarifying that it's the same person, just a new username.

Okay that's it! Please leave comments about how you like this chapter and vote if you like it!

Xoxo,
Rachel