Dauntless Sweethearts

Chapter 17 (Tris)

The next morning, I had to shake Tobias awake. It was strange being up before him, but with how intoxicated he seemed before bed, I assumed that waking would be difficult.

The pain was evident in his face once he was finally awake, and his shower takes way longer than it should.

"We're going to be late," I tell him. "You don't want Elsa to give Eric the win by default."

I hear grumbling from within the shower area, but he gets out and once we're both ready, we rush to the training room.

Everyone is already there, and Elsa is tapping her watch as if to remind us of our tardiness. Once the fight gets started, though, everything else seems forgotten as I hope for Tobias to emerge victorious. What worries me the most during the fight isn't what Eric does, though, it's what Tobias does once he seems to get the upper hand.

Eric says something to him, and suddenly Tobias is beating every inch of Eric that he can reach. I'm starting to see less skin than I do bruise, and I'm pretty sure that I hear the sound of a tooth hitting the floor.

He eventually stops as he realizes that Eric can't continue, and walks out of the room without being dismissed. I look to Elsa, and she nods at me circling the name Four on the chalkboard. Good, he managed to avoid breaking the rule. My own fight is fairly easy as Ally isn't very strong, and once that is over, Elsa allows me to leave in search of Tobias.

When I don't find him in the dormitory, I automatically assume that he's in the Fear Landscape. As I open the door, it seems that he is just coming out of the simulation. I know that it doesn't take him hours to finish his fear landscape, though.

"How many times did you run through it?" I ask standing in the doorway.

He laughs lightly. "Four. I walked around for a while first, but eventually found myself here. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. I know he'll never disappear from it."

I walk over to where he's standing. "Tobias." I stop unsure what to actually say.

"Let's go get lunch," he suggests. "I'm starving."

"Lunch can wait," I tell him. "I want to make sure that you're okay after what happened today. It's not like you."

"He's taunting me with my name. I know he remembers it, but it seems like he wants to use it as a weapon."

"Then don't let him. Don't let him know that it bothers you so much. I call you by your real name, and it doesn't bother you."

He smiles at me. "You're different, Tris. I love you. I definitely don't love anyone else here except my sister."

I smile back, but the worry still doesn't entirely go away.

"I have some new friends I want to introduce you to," he tells me. "They're Dauntless-Born. I met them last night during the game."