Learning to Let Them In | Fourtris

Chapter 44

Tris's POV

When Uriah and I travel back downstairs, the gang can immediately tell something personal just happened between us. They know not romantically, of course, but they can see that whatever occurred upstairs brought us closer. Marlene smiles at me and abandons the couch in an instant, leaving me and Uriah alone on it. Nobody asks questions or even comments on this, instead just rolling with it and playing it off as normal. Even ex-Erudite Will doesn't say anything when he comes.

For the rest of the day, Uriah is my lap dog. He gets me more ice cream as soon as I run out, keeps me supplied with an unhealthy amount of chocolate, and makes sure I drink a healthy amount of water. He can tell when negative things start to run through my mind and will throw his arm around me, saying something to make me laugh and forget all about my previous thoughts.

When the self-wallowing pity party is officially over, everyone leaves but him. He tells Zeke to inform their mother of where he's at. I told Uriah earlier that he didn't have to stay, but he refused to leave. Tori is delighted that I found someone else to confide in, but Caleb is a bit skeptical of the friendship. I make a mental note to tell him what happened later, and that the relationship Uriah and I have is purely brother and sister like, not what I'm sure he's thinking it might be.

Uriah stays all the way up until one o'clock the next morning, only moving from my side after I fall asleep on him in the middle of a movie. I wouldn't have known how late he actually has stayed if he hadn't carried me all the way upstairs; I woke up on the way.

When he dumps me onto my bed, I immediately crawl under the covers. He sits on the edge of the mattress.

"You're a good guy, Uri. Marlene's lucky to have you," I whisper.

He smiles and squeezes my arm from the top of the blankets. I wiggle my arm out and take his hand in mine, squeezing back.

"If you ever need me, just let me know."

I nod. "Who knew you could be anything but a comedic dipshit?" I jokingly ask.

He laughs. "How do you think I got Mar? Did you think that instead of flirting I used jokes?"

I giggle. "That was a question I never had the answer to until now."

He rolls his eyes. His smile falls flat a minute later. "If you don't mind me asking...why did you and Four take a break?"

I sigh and flick my eyes to the window where it all took place. I find myself looking through it in a subconscious attempt to see Tobias in his room, but I'm met with his black curtains. Apparently he was already thinking one step ahead of me.

"I told him that I needed some time to myself to heal. Said that I can't heal if I know he'll be affected by it. You should've seen him, Uri...he was so worried...so tired…"

I sigh again and turn back to Uriah. His eyes are sad but understanding. "He helped me as much as he could, but I wasn't helping myself. I was getting worse, going backwards on whatever progress he'd helped me make. I have to take the initiative here. I have to heal. But I also have to know that no one, especially him, will be caught in the crossfire."

He's silent for a long time, eventually closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Tris, you're an idiot."

"Excuse me?" I ask slightly offended.

"Tris, he wants to be caught in the crossfire. You do realize that, right?"

I roll my eyes and tear away from his gaze. "Nobody wants that, Uri."

"Yes huh," he argues.

Sighing, I look at him again and slowly say, "I'm tempted to reply with 'Nuh uh', but I have a feeling that you'd say the exact same thing again which would then lead to a long chain of unprogressive conversation that would be difficult to get out of without damaging someone's pride and/or ego. So explain."