Now or Never

Chapter Fifteen

We walk the familiar streets of the Abnegation sector; it's passed dark but according to Tobias, Marcus should still be up after a day of work.

I don't know what's taken this long for him to finally decide on informing the Abnegation about the attack, that his mother's words actually got to him, but I'm not stopping him now. It's the right thing to do.

"You look nervous," I look at him with the only light being the moon and a few lamp posts that flicker.

"Do I? I haven't noticed," he huffs, pulling his hood down to cover his face then stuffing his hands back into the pockets of his jacket. "Sorry," he adds, mumbling.

"I'm not looking forward to going back again either," I sigh, crossing the street to the grey housing.

It's interesting to see how muscle memory works when we both walk down the sidewalks like we were here the other day. No need to rethink a turn or make sure we're on the right street.

"Do you want me to do the talking?" I know how hard this is for him. He sees his father in different forms every night before bed, but now it's a form that can physically belittle him when confronted face-to-face.

Tobias glances at me, shaking his head. "I chose Dauntless for a reason. I'm not afraid of him anymore, he can't hurt me."

I nod, just half convinced. My hand finds his in his pocket while offering a grin. "I'll be there the whole time."

"This isn't a bad idea, is it?" We turn onto our street, I try to ignore the broken house my aunt occupies.

"They need to know what's coming, Tobias. It shouldn't have been a question in the first place. We may be betraying Dauntless, but they're also betraying their members by allying with Erudite."

"And planning on attacking full force on another faction," he mumbles.

"Yeah, there's that too."

Together we become our small selves again. Two kids afraid to enter their houses, but now they don't seem so big. We could easily defeat Marcus, Tobias could easily demolish him with all the muscle he's built over the years.

We shouldn't be afraid to do this.

But Tobias looks like he's going to vomit.

"You need to breathe," I whisper; walking in front of him and forcing his face lightly to face me. "You can do this, okay? I know you can."

For encouragement, I place a few kisses against his lips. One was a peck, the other he goes a bit deeper than I expected.

"Okay," he nods, shaking his hands then pulling me along up his walk and to the front door.

There's a light on in the house that we can see through the curtain, Tobias takes a key under the mat to open the door to hopefully not wake anyone else.

"Here, let me." I take the key from his shaking hands and jam it into the keyhole, turning the knob to push the door open.

Tobias walks in first, I'm standing directly behind him with my hand still in his. When we both find Marcus standing in front of the walkway blocking his kitchen, Tobias's hand grips mine tighter.

"What are you doing here?" Marcus looks Tobias up and down, stunned and confused to see his Dauntless son standing in an Abnegation house he clearly outgrown.

"You're no longer welcome in this house," he adds, looking at me for a moment then back to Tobias. It's clear this conversation should be between them; I'm just here for moral support.

Tobias opens his mouth but chokes on his words, I notice a few beads of sweat running down his forehead. My hand tightens around his to just remind him I'm still here. That I'm not going anywhere.

"I," he takes a breath before standing up straighter. The look of a boy has aged into a man. He knows what he could do to his father now, he knows the damage he can cause with a single punch. "I don't care."

Marcus looks taken back by his son finally standing up for himself. A sense of pride rushes over me, I let a small smirk cross my face.

"I came to warn you," Tobias continues. "We found out something. Attack plans. Max and Jeanine are going to attack Abnegation. Our only guess is after initiation is over, less than a week away."

Marcus studies him for a long moment, he having the same furrow that I choose to ignore. From what starts as confusion shifts into a sneer.

"Max and Jeanine are going to attack," Marcus repeats, "just the two of them, armed with some simulation syringes?" He shakes his head with eyes narrowing, "did Max send you here? Have you become his Dauntless lackey? What, does he want to scare me?"

I knew it wouldn't sound right the first time, that he wouldn't believe what Tobias was saying.

Tobias waits a few beats. "Don't be stupid," a word that he would never have spoken in his house, or any Abnegation house, for that matter. "If you're suspicious of Max, it's for a reason, and I'm telling you it's a good one. You're right to be suspicious. You're in danger—you all are."

"You dare to come to my house after you betrayed your faction," his voice low but chilling, "after you betrayed your family... and insult me?" He shakes his head. "I refuse to be intimidated into doing what Max and Jeanine want, and certainty not by my son."

"You know what?" Tobias takes a half a step towards the door. "Forget it. We should've gone to someone else."

Just as Tobias turns for the door, Marcus tries to lunge forward to grab him. "Don't walk away from me."

But I don't let him; without a second thought I put myself between the two of them. I may be shorter than Marcus by a good half foot, but I narrow my eyes on him with my hand still locked with Tobias's.

"Don't you ever try to touch him again," I mumble with our faces only a few inches apart.

At first he's again taken back to see the girl he lived next to for years—one considered to be the most promising out of the rest of the Abnegation children, one he spoke of being his future daughter in law once or twice as conversation—stand in front of him. Defending his son.

But he laughs right in my face. "A little girl threatening me? In my own house?"

Little girl? Rage builds up in my stomach, I feel my free hand forming into a fist to throw at him, but Tobias is faster than me. He picks me up by the waist and pushes the door back open, taking the both of us straight off the walk and back towards the train tracks without looking back.

I'm slumped over his shoulder, he holding my legs while the rest of my body dangles behind him.

"Aren't I too heavy for you to carry?" I ask while watching our street disappear into the sea of grey blocks.

Once we're out of view of his house, standing in front of the street that divides the housing and the rest of the Sector, Tobias sets me down gently.

I fix my shirt then pat down my hair, sighing. "What an ass," I mumble, "Little girl." It's not the best imitation but I'm too annoyed to try.

Tobias looks at me with his eyes wide, just how he did when he let me see his fear landscape for the first time. I soften my stiff body when his warm arms wrap around me into a tight hug.

I'll always appreciate how our bodies fit into one another, like we were made for each other.

"Thank you," his voice is muffled by my shoulder, my forehead against his neck.

"I'll always have your back. Always." I grip him closer, afraid to let go.