“Please be safe. I love you.”
“Take care of yourself,” she whispers as he presses his lips to her forehead.
There's a flash of pain in his eyes before he turns away. “You too, Tris.”
~~~
Being back in her studio, she doesn't want to draw or paint her usual things. She feels a bit lost here. It is strange, because this has been her second home since she finished college and Caleb went to prison.
She looks around, her eyes finding the two oil pastel drawings she did of him when she found out that he was Dauntless. She smiles as she picks up the first one, but then she moves it toward the closet. She carefully covers it and places it on the shelf with all of the other things she's drawn that she'll never show or sell. That is actually a short list, but most of those art pieces are cathartic releases, drawn or painted during Caleb's trial or after break ups, or things of that nature. They are like her diary.
She repeats the process with the other piece, and then she turns to her purse. She finds her iPod, searching aimlessly for something, anything that could be inspiring.
The title jumps out to her so much she actually startles a little bit. Not With Haste. She listens to the song, feeling her self get lost in the peaceful, hymn-like quality of the music. The words are poetic and hopeful, and they form images in her mind that she knows she'll be painting later.
She freezes.
And I will love with urgency, but not with haste.
The man's voice is low, rough but sultry, like Four's voice, when he sings the final lines of the song. The words are rubber balls in her mind, bouncing around until they shatter her conscious thoughts and break through her chest, ruining the rhythm of her heart.
And I will love with urgency, but not with haste.
She takes her pens out of their drawer and begins to draw.
~~~
“Hi.”
“Uh... you lost?” The guy behind the counter is pierced everywhere and has tattoos over the majority of his body. He is pale, but it is clear that he is of Asian descent. His pierced eyebrow arches as he studies her.
She snorts. “No. I meant to come here. I want a tattoo.”
“You?” The guy is staring at her dubiously. “Okay. What do you want?”
She pulls the folded drawing out of her pocket and hands it to him. He raises an eyebrow as he looks at it. “You drew this?”
She nods.
“You want a job?” he asks, only half joking.
She laughs. “I want it on my back.” She points over her left shoulder with her right hand.
He nods. “Gimme a bit to make up a stencil for you, okay?”
“Sure...”
“Uh, Wu,” he fills in. “George Wu. But most people call me Wu.”
“Nice to meet you,” she says kindly. “I'm Tris.”
“Well, Tris, this is sort of badass, and more complicated than you make it look. Give me a while, okay?”
YOU ARE READING
With Dauntless Abandon
Fanfiction"Who is that?" "They call him Four--that's like his gang name or something. He's in for some pretty serious charges, but nobody messes with him. He practically runs this place--even the guards stay out of his way." "Well, he is sort of scary." "And...
