The Dauntless Mystery- Divergent High

Chapter seventeen

Tobias POV

Incoming call: Max.

My heart beats increase when I see that Max is calling me. I don't want to talk to him. 
I glance around, before quickly escaping outside so that no one can hear the conversation. My hands shake as I answer the call. I swallow, as my throat is rather dry, and place the phone closer to my ear.
"H-hello?" I say.
"Four. Why haven't you made any progress? You said you'd update me, and you haven't! What's going on?!"
"I-I'm trying. It's um...it's hard because I need to be subtle so she doesn't suspect anything and-"
"Shut. Up," he says, slowly. And I obey, flinching. "I'm beginning to think that you're not going to complete this mission, Four."
"I-I-"
"For goodness sake! We take you in when you have no where else to go. We provide you with a bed, food and water. Education and training. The least you can do is actually try harder to complete the ONE mission we assign to you."
"I-I am trying. I swear-"
"I don't want to hear your snivelling apologies, little boy. It's so easy for me to just contact your dad. So, if you don't want to ever see him again, DO AS YOU'RE TOLD AND COMPLETE THE FUCKING MISSION! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
I flinch again when he raises his voice. I can't stand people shouting at me. It reminds me of the trauma of childhood. Dad yelling when I did something wrong, or me in the cupboard hearing him shout at mum.  "Y-yes," I whisper. 
"Good," he says, curtly, before hanging up. 

Tears start in my eyes and fall down my face. I can't do this. I can't. But I'm so afraid. I don't know what to do. 
My shoulders shake with sobs, and I know I need to get away from school for a bit. What if someone catches me crying? I don't think I could bare the shame. I take a deep breath and start to run towards the lake I found a while back.

Tris POV

I walk down to Reception because I really need to go on a walk to clear my head. The amount of studying we've had to do is giving me a headache, and I just want a tiny bit of alone time for once. I sign out at Reception and leave the school.
And freeze.
Four stands there, about six feet away from me, his back facing me, and I realise, with a jolt, that he's crying. And I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, because I've never seen Four cry. I've never seen him show emotion like this. 

Before I can say something, however, he starts to walk away. I hesitate. I really want to comfort him, but won't it be a little weird if I follow him?
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I wait a moment so that he's a little farther away so he won't hear my footsteps. 

**** 

He goes through a thicket of trees, and I follow him in. I almost gasp when I see where I followed him to. A river trickles down, and there is a bank next to it and some random logs dotted about. The sun is hanging over the trees, casting a lovely, picturesque glow. I glance around and see Four sitting on a log, his head in his hands. I feel my heart break for him, and I walk over, hesitate, and sit down next to him.

Tobias POV

I sit on the log with my head in my hands, the tears starting to slow down. I take a deep breath, and decide to take my head out of my hands to calm down by looking at the river. As I'm about to do this, however, I jump violently, as I feel someone sit next to me. I whip my head around and see Tris. I quickly turn away to wipe my tears. "Hey Tris," I say, trying to keep my voice natural. 
"Sorry," she whispers. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"No no, it's fine." 
We sit in awkward silence for a moment, and then Tris speaks again. "What's wrong?" she asks, gently. 
"Um...nothing," I say, trying to sound nonchalant, and failing horribly. She stares into my eyes, and I quickly look away, uncomfortable. 
"Four...I wasn't born yesterday. Please, just tell me what's wrong."
"There's nothing to tell," I lie.
"Yes there is. Come on. I just wanna help."
"No."
She sighs. "I know you don't particularly like to open up...but it might help to talk about it, you know. I always find that it helps, even if I really don't want to-"
"I JUST CAN'T!" I yell. I immediately feel guilty. I don't know where that anger came from. Perhaps it was just all the stress and pressure getting to me. But I feel terrible that I yelled at Tris.
"There's no need to shout," she says, coldly. 
"Stop prying then!"
"I'm just trying to help because I'm concerned about you!"
"Well you don't need to be because I'm fine!" 
"You're not though! Are you? You keep telling me that, Four, but you're clearly not! Any fool could see that!"
We glare angrily at each other for a moment, and then her face softens. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and opens them again to look into my eyes. Her calming herself down calms me down, and we just keep staring into each others eyes, and I start to lean in closer to her, and her to me. We are so close now, that she can probably see every tear clinging to my lashes, and then something light as a feather touches my lips.
Her lips.
And we are one. Our lips pressed together, arms around each other to hold each other close, as though afraid we will fall apart if we don't hold on.
And I don't know how long we stay like that. Minutes, hours, days, or years. I do not care.
And after what seems like an eternity, we break apart.

And then just stare into each others eyes. 

A/N I had some difficulty writing this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed :)