Alone(A Fourtris Story)

38: Awkward

Awkward; adjective; causing or feeling embarrassment or inconvenience.

Or, simply, dinner that night. A quiet and tense meal consisting of my parents, who I refuse to talk to, Tobias, who refuses to talk to me, Caleb, who is oblivious as to what's happening but goes with the no talking thing, and some very well-prepared steak. The scraping of metal on plates is the only noise in the dining room as my parents glance between Tobias and I, as if curious as to what's wrong.

" Did something happen between you two?" My dad asks obliviously. I take a deep breath in through my nose before smacking my utensils on the table to glare at my father.

"Really?" I snap

"It was an innocent que-" my defends

"It was a stupid question." I growl

" Knock it off, Tris" Tobias scoffs " if anyone's stupid here it's you"

" excuse me" I sputter

" I'm so lost" Caleb mutters

" Your parents let you stay here and give you everything you want. Don't be so ungrateful." He snarls. I breathe in a few times before replying calmly.

" Ungrateful?" I breathe

" Yes" he snaps " ungrateful. You have no reason to act like a little bi-"

"I'm done" I say abruptly, cutting Tobias off " I'm not having this conversation."

" Would having a rational conversation kill you" Tobias snaps.

" I am trying extremely hard my to get mad at you right now because you have every right to be mad." I say through gritted teeth. I snap my head towards my parents " You two, however, I am perfectly happy to be angry with. Dinner was wonderful" my chair slams into the table as I stalk away.

I slam the door to my room, immediately dashing to throw open my window. I slip one leg over the sill before throwing the other over and bounding to the ground. Long strides take me to the decked out cave in the woods. I push the stone aside angrily and tromp inside, turning to the punching bags. My fist smacks the bag over and over. Better to hit a bag than a parent or a Tobias.

I slip back through my window three hours later, a bit passed midnight, my hands bloody and bruised. Caleb sits on my bed, scrolling through his phone idly. He drops it as I clear my throat, the device smacking him in the face. Had I not been so angry I would have laughed. Caleb obviously sensed my distress because he opened his arms and waved me over. I gladly snuggled into his embrace, enjoying the warmth his body emitted.

" What happened baby sis?" Caleb asks

" Mom and dad threatened to kick him out if I didn't break up with him." I sigh

" So you two..."

"Were done. He hates me." I mutter into Caleb's chest.

" Well I can't say I like the kid" he muses " but I also can't say that I like seeing either of you hurt."

" Yeah" I said weakly, my voice muffled by his shirt

" I talked to him" Cae says suddenly, making my body tense " he says he's disappointed that you didn't fight harder."

"You know how dad is Cae" I sigh "you can't change his mind once it's made up."

"He doesn't know that"

" Did you see the way dad acted at dinner. 'Oh we just forced you to break up, no animosity right?'" I mock " it's not fair."

"You could have kept it secret" Cae suggests

" No. If they found out it'd be bad. They threatened to send him to an orphanage." I mutter.

" They what?" He gasps

" It's not fair" I sigh

" Did you explain this to him?" Caleb wonders.

"You saw how dinner went. I don't think talking is going to help anything." I say with warm tears pricking my eyes

" BEATRICE AND CALEB COME DOWN HERE" A voice shouts from downstairs. Not like we might have been sleeping right?

We stalk down the stairs, skipping every other step. My parents stand at the bottom, their arms crossed. Caleb stops at the bottom step but I hang back, not wanting to be near them least I punch them in the mouth.

" We have a guest comming for dinner at six tonight." My mother explains

"Who?" I snap

" Marcus Eaton, the mayor" my dad says jovially.

" I know who he is. And stop smiling." I snap " don't be so happy"

I turn on my heel before they have a chance to say anything. I swiftly stalk through the long hallway and stop at Tobias's door. I suppose I should warn him about Marcus coming over. A large hand rests on my shoulder before I get the chance to open the door. Caleb stands behind me, looking curiously at me.

"I thought talking wasn't a good idea" he reminds me

"It's not" I sigh " but he needs to know about our guest"

"You don't seem terribly find I the Mayor" Caleb notices.

" You don't say" I say sarcastically before opening the door. Tobias is asleep on his side, his back to the door. His shirt is spotted with dark flecks of blood. The idiot must have ripped his stitches again.

"Hey" I shake him. His eyes quickly shoot open, shooting a harsh glare at me " before you lose your shit at me in here to tell you that we have a guest coming over tomorrow and I fuigered you'd want to make plans not to be here."

"Who's coming?" He asks cautiously.

" Marcus" I say, my lips roiling into my mouth. Colorful curses come cascading from Tobias's mouth, a frown working it's way onto his face. " Also, I'm pretty sure you ripped your stitches again."

" Why do you care?" He snaps suddenly

"What?" I ask, befuddled

" You obviously don't care about me so why the hell are you in here?" He growls, flipping over to face me.

"Tobias I-" I begin

"Stop. Just stop. I don't want to hear your lies again. And don't call me Tobias." He spits. I turn and walk dejectedly from the room, my head hung low and my hands clenched into fists.

---

Late again. Good job, me.
Sorry for the delay. I don't really have an excuse... Okay.
I forgot prom was tonight. There's pretty people everywhere. I feel like a slob. Help

Stag fluffy🐼