Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 32

Hearing his nickname come out of her mouth jars something in him and he glances up at her. The fact that she used his nickname like that infuriates him. When he looks at her though, his anger quickly melts away."Tobias, you can't blame yourself for this. Those guys didn't do that because of Marcus, they just used him as an excuse. They did it because they have both been stalking me for a long time, especially Eric. He used to come to every game possible from the time that I was a freshman. The only time he wasn't around was when baseball was away and when I saw him at the pickup game last fall, he told me that he loved me and had to be with me. I told him that I wasn't interested. After the game he tried to apologize for the way he acted and he accused me of having feelings for you. He told me that I would regret choosing you over him."She tells him all of this as tears stream down her face. She can't handle what he is trying to do. She has never been so in love with anyone before. She can't imagine her life without him and he is willing to just throw it all away because of two idiots?Four doesn't talk. He just listens to what she is telling him. He thinks back to Eric and remembers him talking about some softball player that he was seeing. He must have deluded himself into believing that she was with him."And as for Al, we were friends. We had a couple of classes together freshman year. We never really hung out beyond walking to classes sometimes but he always tried to sit with me and he stopped by my dorm a couple times when I wasn't there. He always was just kind of around. Then when I moved into the Kappa he came and found me one day and started yelling at me about selling out and how I needed to choose between him and the sorority."Four continues to remain silent through her talking. He is beginning to realize that she is probably right. Both of these guys were infatuated with her and sometimes attractions like that can become violent. Especially with people that are clearly unstable. They mistook their infatuation for true love and couldn't handle it when she did not reciprocate their feelings and she fell for someone else.She walks up to him and places her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "Were you lying when you told me you loved me?" she asks, tears streaming from her face."What? No!" he says quietly but firmly. "I wasn't lying about my feeling for you. But I also don't want to be the reason that you get hurt. Those guys could have raped you or killed you and there was nothing that I could have done about it.""They could have killed me, but that is not your fault. They were the ones that did this, not you. It has nothing to do with you.""But Marcus..." he begins, but she cuts him off."But Marcus nothing. Marcus is in jail for the rest of his life. Marcus had nothing to do with this. He took away your childhood, don't let him take this too," she says through the tears. "Please Tobias."He doesn't respond at first. He just sits there looking down at the plate of food that has gotten cold. He looks over at her and she looks completely vulnerable and beaten down. Tears stream down her face and he realizes that it is his fault that she looks like this, so sad and weak. He is the reason that she is crying, not the Eric or Al, they didn't break her down like this, he did. This realization forces him to see that he cannot hold himself completely accountable for the behavior of others. He looks into her beautiful eyes that are now bloodshot and puffy and he curses himself for being the cause of more pain for the woman that he loves.He reaches out to her and pulls her into his arms. He buries his face in her neck and holds her tightly. He doesn't know what to say or how to make this better, so he just holds on to her like if he lets her go, she will disappear.She wraps her arms around him. She can feel the desperation in his embrace. "Tobias, I love you," she whispers in his ear. "Please don't leave me. I don't want to live my life without you."He looks up into her eyes and they show all of her fear, love, and need for him to stay with her. He gently presses his lips to hers and touches his forehead to hers."I'm not going anywhere," he whispers. "I love you."They stay in each other arms for a little while longer, and then decide that they had better start to get ready. They will need to leave for the airport soon and they know that Tori and Brian will be coming to get them soon.Once they are packed and ready to go, he pulls Tris into his arms. "Are we really okay?" Four asks her."Of course we are," she says. She understands why he felt that he was responsible for what happened to her. But she will not allow him to shoulder the blame for other people's behavior.~oOo~Six hours later they are walking into Kappa house, Four carrying Tris' things for her. They walk up to her room and for the first time he sees where her bedroom is. He makes a mental note for the next time that he wants to surprise her in the middle of the night."So here's my room. Nothing special, Marlene and I share the room.""It's very... girly.""Well believe it or not, Four, I am a girl."He smirks at her and pulls her into his embrace, "Oh believe me I know you are a girl. There is no doubting that." He kisses her firmly on the lips and begins to deepen the kiss as he massages her tongue with his.Behind them someone clears their throat. They pull apart and look at the doorway. Christina and Marlene are standing there smirking at them. "Sorry to interrupt, but Zeke and Uriah have been grilling for the past couple hours down at Phi Delt, we need to get down there to eat before all of the frat boys eat all of the food.""Why do we have to be concerned about the frat boys eating all of the food all of the time? Maybe the girls will eat it all," Four says pretending to be offended."Maybe because at least half of our house is dancers and gymnasts that barely eat and your entire house is football, baseball, and basketball players with bottomless pits for stomachs. Besides that, how many times have we cooked for you guys?" Marlene says."Yeah, so maybe you're right. Let's go before we are forced to eat ramen noodles for dinner tonight."He takes Tris' hand and together they walk out of the room, following Marlene and Christina.When they arrive at Phi Delta, they see a huge buffet of food sitting before them. All of the guys are outside eating, as is all of Kappa Delta. When the girls see Tris they rush her with questions, hugs, and concerned looks. Everyone was concerned about her and now they want to hear the story about her kidnapping and the rescue.Four lets the girls drag Tris away, but he doesn't let her stray far. No matter what, he is still afraid of retaliation from Marcus. He made a threat and Marcus was never the kind of man to make idle threats. He will find a way to cause Four pain.Tris is dragged over to a table by the girls and is forced to relive her experience from when they kidnapped her to when she was reunited with Four after she was found. Being forced to relive the experience makes her sick to her stomach. The fear and uncertainty building back up in her chest. She looks around the yard and sees that Four is close by. The sight of him calms her. She knows that as long as he's around, no one is going to hurt her again."I can't believe Four didn't go into that building to find you himself," one of the girls says."He couldn't it was an FBI operation, they couldn't allow Four into that building. Besides one of the agents put him into a police car and locked him into the back of the car so Four couldn't get out or I'm sure he would have gone in too.""I can't believe that Eric and Al were that obsessed with you that they did that," Lynn says."I know, I mean it's not like they aren't both pretty good looking guys that they couldn't have gotten some other girl easily. Why they were obsessed with me I'll never understand.""You were what they couldn't have. They have both been after you since freshman year and you never once paid any attention to either of them. You never paid attention to any guy until Four came along. They were jealous," Christina explains."Well it's over with now and I just want to try to forget about the experience. Although I'm having nightmares, I woke Four up like three or four times last night having nightmares.""You stayed in the same hotel room with your very hot boyfriend?" Shauna asks smirking."Nothing happened except for sleep.""What is wrong with you girl?" Marlene asks. "You have this extremely hot man that wants to be with you and you aren't doing anything with him?""I am not talking about this right now," Tris snickers. "I think I'm going to go find my 'extremely hot man'."She walk away to find Four. She walks through the yard and he's not out there. She walks into the house thinking that maybe he might be in the kitchen getting something to drink. She smiles to herself a little thinking of the day that she bumped into him. When he isn't in the kitchen she starts to panic a little. He is the only person that makes her feel safe right now. She looks back out the door to see if she just missed him in the yard and when she still doesn't see him, her hands start to shake and her heart starts to hammer in her chest. Then she hears voices in another room in the house. She follows the voices into the dining room to find him looking angrily at a girl who is trying to talk to him."Come on Four. I know that little girl isn't giving you what you need. I'll do whatever you want to make you happy."A couple different emotions flood Tris' mind, relief that she has found him, jealousy, rage, and sorrow. Hearing what this girl is saying forces the fear that she was just feeling out of her. Now she feels doubt. This girl is right, there are some things that she just isn't ready for and although Four seems to be understanding, he is a twenty-two year old man."Gabby, get away from me. I am a one woman man and that woman is Tris," Four says.Hearing him say that floods Tris with even more emotions. Her emotions have been on such a rollercoaster in the past few minutes, she doesn't know what she is feeling anymore. Right now she feels nothing but a tremendous amount of love. He hasn't seen her yet, so she knows it isn't a performance, he is faithful no matter what."She doesn't have to know, come on Four, you know you want me," Gabby says."Um yeah, I don't think so. Even if I weren't with Tris, I still wouldn't give you the time of day; you have slept your way through almost this entire fraternity."Gabby approaches him and he backs up, "Gabby get away from me, now."At that point, Tris thinks she's heard enough. She isn't going to let this girl go after her man without a fight. She walks into the room and Gabby hasn't seen or heard her yet, but Four does."Um Gabby, you may want to turn around," Four tells her.Gabby turns and is confronted with Tris' fist in her face."Stay away from my boyfriend you little whore," Tris commands. Four takes her into his arms and hugs her tight."Thanks for the save," he says smiling."When are we going to get a drama free day?" Tris asks."Probably after we both graduate and get married," Four says. He wants to marry her someday, but this is the first that he's even said something like that out loud.Tris looks at him like he's insane. Her heart flutters and she thinks for a moment that maybe he wants forever with her like she wants with him. She doesn't say anything though; she just smiles at the thought and takes his hand."Do you want to get out of here for a while? I think we've spent enough time socializing today, don't you?" Four asks."Sounds good, what did you have in mind?" Tris asks."A motorcycle ride, come on."He pulls her out the door and down the steps to where his motorcycle is parked in the driveway.They climb on and they drive away. Four has plans to take her on a real date. They have never really gone anywhere on a real date alone.Tris has no idea where he is taking her, but she doesn't care. Any chance she gets to be alone with him she will take. They have not spent much time together over the past few months because of baseball and softball and in a week and a half they will be separated again because both teams have made it to the College World Series.They ride for what seems like a long time before Four pulls into the parking lot of a fairground.