Learning to Let Them In | Fourtris

Chapter 33

Tris' POV

I climb into the running truck a moment later. Tobias immediately hands me my ice cream with a questioning look.

"What did you and Sadie talk about? It sure took a while," Justin says.

"Oh, not a lot. Just gave me something of Mom's and talked to me about how life has been," I half-lie. He raises an eyebrow at me through the rearview mirror but doesn't say anything else. I start to eat my chocolate peanut butter ice cream, still thinking about what Sadie said. I eventually turn to look at Tobias. He raises an eyebrow at me too.

"Later," I mouth. He nods and turns back to his ice cream.

We get to the White's home in a matter of a couple minutes, as Haviland is a small town. Justin parks in the driveway and unlocks everyone's doors. We climb out and Justin comes over and puts an arm around my shoulder. I wince at the shot of pain it causes, but otherwise stay quiet.

"Here's the deal: Makayla doesn't know you're coming...so try to be quiet when you walk through the door. I'll go up there and tell her that there is a strawberry ice cream with sprinkles waiting for her downstairs. When she comes down, she'll probably try to tackle you, so beware," he recites.

I laugh quietly and nod. He takes his arm off me as we walk through the front door. I look over to Taylor; I've only now realized how quiet she's been. She's looking at the ground as we walk. I stare at her for a moment and see a glimpse of me. I forget that she's going through something like I did. I can't not expect to see her a bit gloomy and quiet.

"Taylor?" I hear Justin ask worriedly.

Her head snaps up and she gives a small, tired smile. "I think I'm going to actually head up to bed. It's been a long day."

I go over and hug her. I don't know if anyone else saw the pain in her eyes or the smile she just faked, but I did.

"Do you want to know what the last words my mother said to me were?" I whisper in her ear. She very slightly nods. "Be brave." I pause for a moment. "Those were the last words she ever said to me, and I used to wonder why she didn't say something like 'I love you' or 'I'll miss you', but now I understand. She knew I would have a hard time getting through it, and she also knew that whatever she said to me last would replay in my head over and over again. It did, and now that I understand why she said what she did, I've tried to be brave. Ever since I have, I've been able to start moving on. I'm not saying you should move on yet, Lord knows I took years to, but I just think you should try to, when you feel like you can." She nods against my shoulder and I feel something wet hit my neck. She subtly wipes another tear off on my shirt when she pulls back from me.

"You sure you're okay, Taylor?" Justin asks again, looking between her and I.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Goodnight everybody." She quietly heads upstairs.

Justin flicks his eyes to me, then to Tobias, who was standing closest to Taylor and I when I was whispering to her. He shrugs as if to say, 'I don't know what they were talking about'. His eyes go back over to me and I sweetly smile at him, not saying anything. He eventually sighs, and after he knows he's not getting anything out of me, starts heading towards the stairs.

"I'll go get Makayla," he mumbles.

Once he disappears, Tobias asks, "So what were you talking about?"

"Nothing of your concern," I say back in the same tone as my smile gives off. A sweet, 'I'm not telling you', smile. He sighs.

I go into the living room and sit down on the couch. Tobias follows behind me.

"What about Sadie, can you tell me what she said?"

"Do you not understand the whole concept of 'later'?" I ask him teasingly.