He puts his hand on my shoulder. I bite my lip and shrug away. His touch is like fire, painful, but enjoyable. He shies back, obviously hurt. "When were you planning on telling me?" I get out, trying to keep my voice strong. He looks at me, but I can see his eyes flit around nervously. "What?" He knows what I'm talking about, I can see it. I've known him for too long. "You and Tori. Last night." I say, my voice shaky. His eyes widen "That was not what it probably looked like." Ok then, I see we've moved to cliché's. "It really was all her." He pleads, voice concerned. I look down, tears smarting in my eyes again. He's scrambling. He doesn't even seem sorry. "I saw it Zeke. You let it happen. You may have ended it, but you certainly didn't prevent it." I say, a tear escaping my eyes. His face falls. "You let her." I say, my heart aching. "I love you Cal. I would never try to hurt you." He says, his own voice getting shaky. "I know." I say, almost becoming desperate, tears rolling down my cheeks silently. "But you didn't tell me." I finish, my heart wrenching. His eyes are desperate, and pained. "Please." He says quietly, on the verge of breaking "I am so sorry." He continues, and I see tears glinting in his eyes as well. I take a deep breath, and he starts to speak again "I love you more than anything. Seeing you like this is hurting me. And knowing I did this? It's killing me. I made a horrible, awful mistake. I can never apologize enough for something like that. I'm not going to make any more excuses, even if they're there to be made. And I understand if you hate me. Or want to leave me. I can't stop you, as much as I want to. So I can only stand here and beg for you to forgive me." He says, pouring out his heart. His voice becomes increasingly pained toward the end, and something changes. I'm really crying now, but it doesn't matter. He loves me, he still loves me. He's so perfect. Everything I want and more. I touch his cut on his cheek from that glass bottle. "We're even." I say, smiling slightly through my tears. He shakes his head, wiping a tear off of his cheek "Not even close." Then I kiss him, unable to stand it anymore. My heart is sailing. He's mine. I never thought I'd be so happy to feel him again. But you don't realize how much you love something until you let it go. I'm laughing and crying at the same time, and so is he. We're both just happy to be here, to have each other. Especially when we came so close to losing it all. He presses his forehead to mine, and one thing is absolutely certain. I'm never letting go.
"I don't want to leave you." He says, drying off his face. I nod, in complete agreement. "Not today." I say, smiling slightly. He suddenly wraps me in a hug "Don't you ever scare me like that ever again." He whispers. I bury my face in his chest, savoring his touch. Things seem so much sweeter after a break. "Don't you ever go kissing crazy tattoo artists again." I say, chuckling slightly, but I'm serious. He sighs "Never again." I grin into his shirt. "I love you." I say, closing my eyes. He pulls back, looking me in the eyes "You have no idea how much more I love you. How scared I was to lose you." I roll my eyes. "Don't get all sappy on me." He grins "Not a chance. But I'm serious. Losing you is in my fear landscape." He says. My eyes widen slightly. He's never told me this before. "You've been in mine since the day I meet you." I say softly. He brushes a piece of hair behind my ear. "Let's go back to my place." He says, smiling slightly. I grin, loving the feeling as he pulls me into him, putting an arm around my waist. I missed him.
Shauna can't stop herself from smiling as we walk into breakfast the next morning, hand in hand. We spent the rest of the day together, and night. I really couldn't leave him, not after I almost lost him. She doesn't ask about anything, and Zeke doesn't mention how she treated him. The both seem content this way, so I know better than to push it.
"How should I confront the Tori portion of this?" I ask Shauna after Zeke has gone to talk to Four. She pauses, considering for a moment "Kick her ass?" she replies. I laugh "Believe me, I want to. But she might not have even known about us." I say. "She kissed your man!" Shauna says, motioning widely with her hands. "I can't just go punch her in the face!" I say, laughing "I should just talk to her." I continue. Shauna rolls her eyes "Ok, good luck with that." she says sarcastically.
I walk to the tattoo parlor later in the afternoon. Tori smiles at me, but something seems off. "How can I help you?" she says in a sarcastic monotone. Well then. That changes my perspective on things. "Um... I'd like a tattoo on my shoulder." I say, making something up on the fly. "And?" she says, looking at me blankly. I go a bit red. "A water fall. Cascading, sort of." I glance briefly at the flames on my wrist. Water is Erudite in nature. She nods "Fine, come with me." I bite my lip. Maybe I won't mention anything until after the tattoo. Don't want any horrible art on my skin forever. "Why the water?" she asks. "It's a fear of mine." I lie easily. I could never be Candor. She doesn't pry anymore, to my relief. I grit my teeth as the needle starts to draw patterns on my skin. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow. I tough it out. This is Dauntless, and I refuse to admit pain over a stupid tattoo. But it hurts.
A/N: Yay:) I can't keep them apart for very long. But Tori gets to come into play a bit more now. Anyways, slap dat vote button, and stay Dauntless:)