Starting Over

Chapter 40

I wake up the next day in Tobias' arms. I can't believe I have to fight him today. I don't enjoy fighting Tobias, but I couldn't turn down the dare. I know that I had originally wanted to demonstrate a fight with him but I think it's pretty obvious that he'll win. I may be stronger than I look but Tobias is stronger than I am. He knows what I'll do before I do so I have no element of surprise.

"Tris, are you up?"

"Unfortunately."

He laughs at me and presses a soft kiss against my forehead. I wrap my arms around him and bury my head in his chest. He laughs at me again and wraps his arms around me.

"Tris, we have to get ready to train initiates."

"But I don't want to."

"How about I go get breakfast while you take a shower so we don't have to worry about eating in the cafeteria?"

"That sounds wonderful." I quickly press a kiss to his lips. He briefly kisses me back before I pull away and go to take a shower.

I quickly shower and get dressed because I'm starving. I end up wearing tight black pants and a black athletic tank top with a leather jacket and combat boots. It's similar to what I wear every other day but that's because that's most of what I have in my closet. Everything else is stuff like dresses and skirts that Christina made me buy.

When I walk into the kitchen I see a muffin and an apple on the counter. Tobias must have eaten his already. He's in the shower now so I should have time to eat now before we leave.

I've just finished my breakfast when Tobias is ready to leave. We walk to the training room together. We decided to fight at the end so if anything goes wrong we can just dismiss the initiates. At least we don't have to do it now.

The rest of the day crawls by. Madison beats Lila, Audrey beats Vince, and Kaden beats Ty. We dismiss them for lunch and head into the cafeteria. Zeke and Uriah tease us about the fight but Christina is surprisingly quiet.

"Christina, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I'm just tired."

I can tell that there's more to it but if Christina, the former Candor, doesn't want to talk about it then I'm not going to push it. If she keeps it up then I'll push it but for now I'll let her handle it.

Soon lunch is over and we head back to the training room. Once all of the initiates finally shuffle in Tobias and I get in the circle to fight.

"Remember," Tobias tells them. "This is an exercise in demonstrating fighting techniques. This is not a fight for entertainment. If you don't take it seriously then next time it will be you fight one of us, understand?" They all nod yes and some of them look terrified. I don't blame them.

I turn to face Tobias. Before I can think he throws a punch at my head. I duck and it flies over my head. Instead of trying to kick his legs out from under him like I normally would I punch him in the gut on my way up. He doesn't react at all. It's like I didn't touch him. He kicks me in the ribs and I stumble but I'm able to stay on my feet.

Tobias comes at me again and tries to punch me. I block his punch and am able to hit him in the jaw while he's off guard. As soon as my fist hits his jaw I try to kick him in the ribs. He couldn't block my punch but he does grab my foot and pulls me to the ground. I hit my head on the concrete but get back up quickly. I don't want to be on the ground.

The next few minutes go by in a sort of intricate, violent dance. He punches, I dodge, block, or get hit. I punch, he blocks or dodges. I end up getting two or three solid hits in. Eventually he gets a solid punch on my jaw and I fall down. I try to get back up but he kicks me in the ribs. It doesn't hurt but it's enough to flip me onto my stomach.

I'm able to get back up again before he can end the fight. I try to punch him again but he easily dodges it and tries to punch my jaw. I go to dodge it but I'm getting slower and it hits me above my right eyebrow. I stumble and fall. Tobias quickly pins me to the ground to end the fight. He helps me to my feet but I'm exhausted and out of breath. I don't know how long I can stay on my feet.

"You're dismissed," Tobias tells the initiates and they quickly leave. I guess they're scared of having to fight him. Once they're all gone I collapse on a bench against the wall.

"Tris, you're bleeding," I hear Tobias say.

"I'm fine."

"Then humor me and come back to the apartment with me."

"Alright," I groan as I stand up.

I follow him to the apartment and into the bathroom. I sit down on the lid to the toilet while he goes to get a washcloth and a bandage. I think about fighting the bandage but when I look in the mirror I see that there's a lot of blood.

"This might sting," Tobias says as he puts the washcloth up to my face. He starts wiping the blood away, turning the white washcloth a reddish pink. He's right, it does sting, but it's bearable. It's over before I know it.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yes, just tired."

We go to the cafeteria to eat. When we get there there's very few people there and we realize that it's 9 o'clock. We quickly eat and go back to the apartment.

"Tobias, I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep."

I walk into the bedroom and put on pajamas. When I'm done I walk back into the living room and find Tobias setting up sheets on the couch.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"After what happened today-"

I cut him off. "I told you I'm fine. You didn't want to fight me and I didn't give you a choice. You are not sleeping out here."

"But Tris-"

"No buts!"

"Tris I could have seriously hurt you and that makes me angry at myself. I'm supposed to protect you and here I am fighting you."

"I can protect myself."

"I know."

"Come to bed, Tobias."

"Tris, I could have accidentally hurt you. You have a bandage on your head from where I did hurt you! I can't do it."

"That didn't hurt," I whisper as I lightly touch the bandage.

"But I could have accidentally hurt you. Tris I never want to hurt you."

"I know, and that's why I'm telling you that you're not sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Tris-" he starts to argue but I quickly cut him off by pressing my lips to his. At first he doesn't react but when I go to pull away he pulls me closer to him and kisses me back.

"Come on," I tell him as I take his hand and lead him to our room. "I love you."

"I love you too, Tris."