Fourtris Now and Forever: Divergent No War

| c h a p t e r 44 |

Zeke exits the room and Tobias looks at me funnily. I can tell that something is on his mind, but I can't place what. All I know is that it must be out of the ordinary.

"What are you thinking?" I ask him, laughing.

He almost debates saying it, but he actually does. "Get on my back," he tells me.

"What?" I ask with a small laugh.

"Get on my back," he repeats with a boyish smile.

He submerges underwater and I get on his back; almost like a piggy-back ride underwater. When he comes up, I am hoisted higher in the air.

"Hold your breath," he tells me.

I take a large gulp of air and soon I'm underwater. I open my eyes. He kicks off against the wall and glides swiftly to the other end. The water runs over my skin and through my hair. It feels refreshing. When we almost reach the ledge, I swim away from him, emerging from the water first. I come up for air just a split second before he does. I take heavy breaths and feel the warm water sliding off my face. I chuckle, looking at Tobias shaking his head shortly to let the water trickle down his face quicker.

He grins and presses his lips to mine. I smile against his lips. Here's how you play dirty... I wrap my leg around his and push him off balance. He falls into the water and I start to swim away.

"Beatrice," he says with mock anger. "You can swim as fast as you can but you know you can't escape."

I immediately pick up the pace, my legs thrashing at the water purposefully. I reach the ledge of the pool and hoist myself upward. The water runs down my body as I get on my feet. I run around the pool as he picks himself up out of the pool. He runs after me and I shriek when he wraps his arms around my waist. He plants a kiss on my cheek before his strong arms sweep me off my feet.

"Tobias," I warn. "No."

"Sorry, Tris," he says.

"No, Tobias!"

He throws me in the pool and I meet the surface of the water with a splash. He hops in after me.

I start to laugh and smile, treading water to meet up with him. When I do, I softly place my lips on his. So much of our bare skin comes in contact with the other. My exposed stomach is pressed flush up against his abdomen. I can feel the bumps of his muscles against me.

His lips slowly move against mine, almost tentative. It's silly to be hesitant about something you do all the time. But sometimes it really makes the most common things special when you stop to think about it.

My arms slowly ravel around his neck and his rest just above the line of my swimsuit on my back.

I break the long kiss and plant three more on his lips, deciding not to let this fragile moment end. I've found that the things that are most fragile are what we love the most. Things like love, and beautiful moments don't come often in our lives. So when they do, we need to embrace them.

My eyes remain shut as his lips plant a kiss on my forehead. He holds me against him. No words. The best things in life aren't heard or said; they're felt.

I kiss his collar bone and he lowers his head, placing a kiss to my lips once again.

I smile against his lips. I feel like my feelings for him have been said over and over, but not once have I told him. I want to. Lord, do I want to. But words like these three that are about to escape my mouth need to be spared. It needs to be the right time. Then I'll be able to open up.

I wonder if his feels the same way, and as his lips move across mine, I can tell he does. They aren't just words that are muttered to me when he thinks I'm asleep. He says it at night because he's afraid of me being afraid. He doesn't want me to think that he's pushing me beyond what I want. He doesn't want me to feel pressure to say it back just because he did. He wants me to say it because I mean it. And the only reason he says it at all is because he wants to say it out loud, just like I do; only in a different way.