Chapter 11
Tobias' POV
I've been sneaking in her room a lot lately. Too much. One for the note and the other for the necklace.
It broke my heart when she threw her necklace at me. She just ripped it off her neck and flung it at me- wait no. It wasn't that necklace, it was a charm bracelet. I remember that night clearly now, how I clutched and gripped tightly around the small metal object while balling my eyes out in bed.
Yes-- the big, bad Tobias Eaton has cried over a girl- twice. It was over the same girl as well.
I rock myself back and forth while sitting on one of the swings in the park across the street from my house.
I hear a quiet rustling noise behind me. "You took a lot longer than I anticipated you would." I tell Zeke.
"Sorry, I got caught up on family stuff. They're cooking for a party."
"Merry Christmas by the way." I kick a pebble.
"Merry Christmas, Tobias. So what's up?" He sits on the other swing besides me.
"I've been finding myself doing stupider and stupider things lately." I confess.
"Like what?"
"Well if I tell you, you're just going to yell at me." I say quietly.
"What did you do?" Zeke says more sternly.
"I left a necklace on her bed." I play with my fingers.
"Is that it?"
Not really.
"I told her I love her." I mentally prepare myself for a punch to the face.
"Oh. You need to stop what ever the hell you are doing. For the hundredth time, she's in a relationship, don't mess it up for her." He tells me sternly.
"You don't know how I feel." I say. "What if Shauna had a boyfriend and you were off to the side watching them everyday of the school year. What if you thought maybe, maybe she returned some of the same feeling. Would you just stand there and watch them all the time or would you try to get her?" That shuts him up.
"I'll help you." He says simply.
"Come again?" I ask totally shocked.
"Well if you put it that way, then I see your point. If Shauna were dating some dumbass jock or whatever, and I knew she had the tiniest of feelings for me, I'd do anything to get her. So I'll help you."
"Thanks man." I nudge him on the shoulder.
"Want to come over to my place? My mom made a huge dinner and I'm assuming your mom is out of town. Some boring Christmas you got there." He teases.
"Sure, I'll come over." We walk a few blocks to Zeke's house while I listen to him talk about his recent fight with Shauna.
When he opens the front door to his house, I am immediately greeted with warmth and the sweet aroma of chocolate chip cookies.
"Ezekiel is that you?" I hear Hannah call from the kitchen.
"Yes. Tobias is here also." He calls back.
"Okay!"
"Ma, we'll be in the living room." We walk towards the living room while Zeke tosses his jacket on the dining room table before entering.
I'm assuming Uriah is here with his girlfriend as well because I hear soft giggling along with his laughter. But I'm wrong, so very wrong- well sort of.
When the both of us walk into the living room, we one, do see Uriah with his girlfriend Mar and two, I see Tris cuddled up with Tyler.
Damn.
All conversations seems to die as four pairs of eyes land on the two of us. My heart is practically ripped out of my chest when I notice Tris cuddled up under Tyler's arm and her snuggled against his chest. They seemed to have been laughing at something on his phone.
She should be the one snuggled against me. Me.
"Oh uhm, Tobias and I will be upstairs then." Zeke says awkwardly and slowly retreats out of the room. I soon follow him with me trailing not so far behind.
Right before I fully leave the room, and when the four of them are not looking our way anymore, I take a few steps back. A silver chain sits around her neck and I see the pendant resting over her scarf.
I smirk.
"What are you smiling about? You just saw the girl you liked with her boyfriend." Zeke eyes me.
"Tris was wearing the necklace." I swear my smile becomes even wider.
"Oh. For a second, I actually thought that you were happy to see her with him." He remarks. "But now that I think about it, she totally has the hots for you."
+++
Zeke has to make sure that they are gone before we went downstairs. We spent the night playing video games and making prank calls (his idea, not mine).
While we are eating dinner, we hear some shuffling behind us.
"What are you two doing?" Uriah.
"Dinner, want to join?" Zeke asks his little brother.
"Sure." I watch as he grabs an empty plate and fills it with food.
"So," Zeke starts. "What have you guys been doing the past few hours?"
"Watching old movies, eating food not much." Uriah answers,
"I thought Tris was supposed to be in Spain." Zeke comments.
"Nah, her parents canceled the trip. Emergency business thing going on for her dad, something like that." He rolls his eyes.
"So how is Tris and Tyler going on?" I almost want to slap myself on the face for asking a question like that.
"I don't know man. They're pretty good, I guess. Why'd you ask?"
I clear my throat. "No reason. How long exactly have been dating?"
"Nine months. Since last April, so yeah, nine months. Pretty good if you ask me." His comment makes my chest turn.
Zeke gives me a weird look as if asking my why I'm asking all of these question.
"Oh cut the crap Tobias, we all know you have the hots for Tris." He takes my by surprise. I give him a look and he just shakes his head. "I've known since fifth grade. Hell, I've known even before you knew your true feelings for her, and I pity you. I pity you for not doing anything about it for the past god knows, like six, seven years? You sometimes disappoint me."
I'm speechless.
"You know what annoys the hell out of me the most? Sure Tyler's a great guy and he and Tris are great for each other, every time I see them, all I can think about is how you should be in place of him."
Still speechless.
"Say something god dammit!"
"Well, I-I-" I'm lost for words.
"Ugh, never mind." He washes his dishes and places them on the dish rack and starts to leave the room. "By the way, I saw the necklace."
"How is your brother so smart?" I finally say after a while.
"I don't know. I really don't know."
+++
I sleep over at Zeke's and leave at around four in the afternoon. Christmas was fun, but all I have to do is prepare for the new year.
Great.
A/N: I am so excited for this story. I have like everything planned out and gahh...I know exactly where this tory is going (unlike my other one). So much drama is going to come up, I'm so excited to write it. I hoped you enjoyed, and I'm not sure if I'm going to update Finding Home yet, you guys, tell me if I should or not, I'll have to think about it. See you soon!