Dauntless Brothers

[Chapter 23] Lunch Break.

I wake up to a headache and sore back. I can still feel the belt every time it made contact with my skin. I wince as I swing my legs off the bed and go take a shower. The water hurts and soothes my back at the same time.

I change into my usual attire and walk out of my room. No one is in the living room except Evelyn.

"Good morning." She says. But I ignore her and head for the door.

She closes the door so that I can't go out. I stare at the wall behind her and simply refuse to look at her. After a few fruitless tries to get my attention she says.

"I'm really sorry about what happened last night." Did I hear that right? Did she apologise? This can't be good.

"Why? Why're you sorry? You didn't even stop him." I say.

"I know. But it would've only gotten me..." She starts to say but I cut in. "Into trouble. Of course. You can't even do this much for your son."

With this I leave her standing there too shocked to speak. I make my way down to the dining hall and find Zeke already there.

"Ready?" I ask walking up to him.

"Don't you want breakfast?" He asks. I shake my head and sit down to wait for him to finish eating.

Soon he's done and we both catch the train to school. We both have home room together. When we walk into the class the first things that my eyes land on is Tris.

She's sitting on a table surrounded by her friends. When she sees me, she smiles and waves. I wave back but before I can reach her the teacher comes in so I have to take my seat.

Half way through the class Zeke nudges me with his hand and hands me a folded paper. I unfold it to find a short letter.

Four,

Meet me near the tracks during lunch break?

Six.

I look over at her to find her looking at me. She raises her eyebrows in question. I nod in reply and mouth 'yes'. She smiles to herself and looks away.

God that smile!

The rest of the day seems to drag past. Every minute feels like a thousand years. Finally, the the bell for lunch break rings. I hurriedly shove my things into my locker but find my way blocked by Eric.

"What do you want?" I ask him.

"Nothing. Where are you going?" He asks me.

"That's none of your concern." I reply.

"Awww. You're going to see Tris. Say hi from me." He tells me.

"Sure. What do you really want?" I ask.

"She's mine." He says pointing a finger at me.

"I don't think she's a thing that whoever wants can own her. It's her decision to make not ours." I say.

"But you forced her into picking you over me." He says.

Does he really think I forced her? "I would never force her into doing something that she does not want to."

"Yeah sure." With this he walks away.

I cannot make any head or tail of what just happened. I stow my bag into the locker and then make my way to the tracks.

Tris is already there.

"You took your time." She says as I walk up to her.

I wrap my arms around her waist and draw her to me. I forget about my parents and Eric and all the pain. It's just me and her.

But she accidentally runs a hand over my back which makes me wince.

She at once asks. "Are you alright?"

I nod and say. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Your parents did this didn't they?" She asks.

"Marcus and Eric. Evelyn just stood aside and glared at me." I tell her the truth.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

I kiss her slowly. When we pull away I say. "Don't be. None of this is your fault. It's my problem."

"All you problems are now my problems too." She tells me.

I touch my forehead to hers and tell her. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."