Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 33

Tris looks around at all of the lights and people bustling around.She leans in so she can whisper into his ear, "I didn't know there was a fair going on.""This is the first fair of the spring and summer season. It's still a little chilly out, but it is still a lot of fun. I found this place a couple years ago when Zeke and I were trying to find a place for him to take Shauna on a date.""This is so neat, I've never been to a fair before," Tris tells him."Really? Well, I guess I've done a good job then," Four says smiling. He takes her hand and they walk together onto the fairgrounds. Once inside Tris' eyes get wider as she looks around at all of the rides, games, and food stands."So, what do you want to do first?" Four asks her.She looks around and her eyes lock on the carousel."The carousel? I've never ridden on one before.""Really?" Four asks looking confused."My father thinks that fairs and things like that are a waste of time. When we were young, he always said that there are better things that we could do with our time. So most of our time was spent at food banks and homeless shelters," Tris explains."Did he volunteer too?" Four asks as the walk toward the carrousel."That's the thing, Caleb, my mother, and I were expected to go, but he always had a reason that he didn't go. It turns out that he expected all of us to be selfless, but he didn't practice what he preached. He turned out to be quite selfish, especially when it came to my mother."They stand in line and wait for the carousel to stop. "I guess that is the reason that she left him?""It seems to be at least part of the reason. When I think back I really don't remember a time that he did anything special for her, he wasn't affectionate with her, or especially kind to her. I guess there is only so much someone can take of that before they get sick of it."They follow the line of people and board the carousel. Tris chooses a white horse and Four climbs on a black horse right next to hers. He watches as her eyes sparkle from her excitement. The carousel starts to move, as it spins, the horses move up and down in a galloping motion. The excitement in her eyes and the smile on her face are enough to send a warm feeling through Four's heart.He thinks about what happened this morning. He almost let this girl go. He tried to convince her that he was no good for her; he tried to chase her away. This tiny girl full of life and love forced him to believe in their love. It has been eight months since he met her, he thinks about the past eight months, they have been the most stressful of his life, but they have also been the best of his life and that is because of her. How could he have even considered letting that go?The ride comes to a stop. They climb down from the horses and walk slowly off of the platform."So what would you like to ride next?" Four asks her.She looks around and again, her eyes light up. She points toward the Ferris wheel. Four's heart sinks a little when he realizes what she wants to go on next. But this night is about her and him giving her the best night he can.They walk toward the Ferris wheel and his heart starts to pound when he looks up at the top of the wheel from below. He tries desperately to calm his breathing as and not let her know that he is actually terrified right now.She looks up at him when she realizes that he got quiet all of the sudden. He looks normal, but the look in his eyes shows fear."Four, are you okay?" she asks. He doesn't respond so she squeezes his hand, "Four?""Huh? What?""Are you okay?""Y... Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?""No you aren't fine. What's wrong?""Tris, I'm fine. I promise," he looks forward. "Come on, it's our turn."They climb into the car and slide close to one another. Four wraps one of his arms around Tris' shoulders and he pulls her closer to him, more for support for himself than her. She shows no fear here at all.Tris can feel a slight tremble in Four's hand that is holding her shoulder. She looks over at him and he gives her a forced smile."You are afraid of heights, aren't you?""What? No, Tris I told you I'm fine.""Tobias please don't lie to me. I know there is something wrong.""Okay, yes I'm afraid of heights. I've never told anyone this before.""Why didn't you tell me, we didn't have to ride this.""It isn't about me and my fear, it's about you having fun. I'll be fine, I just need to ignore the fear."She pulls his arm tighter around her. "Just breathe slowly." She moves her body as close to his as she can get. She pulls his arm around her and places his hand on her chest, just over her heart. "Breathe with me and try to calm down.""Just having my arm around you and having you here with me helps calm me. It is amazing that just your presence helps me this much." He plants a kiss on the top of her head. "Thank you.""What happened that made you afraid of heights?"He looks down, "You really don't want to know this."She reaches across him and puts her hand on his cheek and turning his head so that he is looking at her. "Yes I do. I want to know everything there is to know about you. Every fear, everything you love, your dreams, desires, everything."He looks down and takes a deep breath, "When whipping me got too boring for Marcus, he would try to find new and exciting ways to torture and torment me. Before I was too big for him to lift and hold up, he thought it was lots of fun to hold me by the throat off of our second story balcony at our house. Then when I got older he would hold a gun to me and force me to climb over the railing and hang from the railing until I could barely hold on any longer. One time he forced me to hang over the railing while it was raining. I slipped and fell two stories to the ground and broke my ankle. Ever since I've been terrified of heights.""So is that why you are so good at wrapping ankles and are so knowledgeable about those kinds of injuries?""Yes, I've had to wrap my ankle like that since I was thirteen years old.""So, Marcus whipped you, he hung you from second story buildings, and he locked you in a tiny closet and starved you. Is there anything else that bastard did to you?"Four snickers a little, "Not physically, but trust me that was enough. Considering at least one of those things happened to me daily. I used to have to wear two or three shirts to soak up the blood on my back from being whipped because he would force me to go to school after a whipping but he told me that it would be worse if anyone ever found out. He pretty much had me brainwashed since I was about five years old that no one would ever love me because I was damaged.""Is that the reason that you never really let any of those girls into your life?""Not really. Ever since high school most girls only wanted to be with me because I was the star athlete. Someone was always making a big deal about something that I did. What they didn't understand was that I only did those things because I was trying to get away from Marcus. Being a good athlete and getting scholarships to college was a way for me to get away from him to a place that he couldn't follow.""What made you want to pay attention to me?""It was the party last August. The one you wore the black skirt and shirt that showed your tattoo on your ribs.""I didn't meet you at that party, I just bumped into you.""Yeah I know, but you didn't even try to initiate a conversation with me let alone hit on me. You just said excuse me and went about your business.""You noticed me because I didn't talk to you? That doesn't make any sense."Four snickers, "No, I noticed you because you are beautiful. I became interested in finding out about you because you didn't throw yourself at me. It wasn't until the next day when I saw you play ball that I knew I had to get to know you.""I'm not beautiful Tobias, there are so many other girls out there that are prettier, have better bodies, and would be able to focus more time on you than me. Why would you want to compete with softball for me?""First of all, you are the most beautiful girl that I have ever known. Second, there has never been another girl that I have ever met that I thought was prettier than you. Third, I know how important softball is to you because that is how important football and baseball are to me. I don't feel like I'm competing because I understand. Finally, if I ever hear you say you aren't pretty again, I'm going to have to tickle you until you can't breathe. I think you are beautiful and you aren't allowed to argue with me. Got it?"She smiles a little, "Yeah, I got it."The Ferris wheel comes to the ground and they get off. Four realized quickly that the entire time they were on the ride that he didn't notice the height at all. She made him forget one of his biggest fears."So what's next?" Four asks."Actually, I'm getting tired. Maybe we should head home."Four looks down at his watch and sees that it is almost eleven-thirty. "You're probably right. We should get home. Maybe we could come back before I leave for Omaha.""I would like that," Tris says.They walk out to the parking lot to Four's motorcycle. They climb on and Tris wraps her arms around his waist and holds on tight. Four loves going places on the motorcycle because she has no choice but be this close to him. He loves feeling her wrapped around him, holding on.~oOo~They get back to Phi Delta some time later. They climb off of the bike and Four takes her hand. He is ready to walk her home when she stops him. He looks down at her expectantly waiting for her to talk."I'm tired, but I'm not quite ready to leave yet. Can we go inside and talk for a while?" she asks."Sure, let's go," he says taking her hand.They go into the house and he pulls her up the steps to his room and closes the door."Do you want something to drink?" he asks kicking his shoes off."No, I'm good."He walks up to her and pulls her into him. He leans in and kisses her, first on the forehead, then the nose, then her mouth."You know, you constantly surprise me," he tells her."Why is that?""I guess I just never expected you would want to hang out in my room is all.""I guess I'm just full of surprises. Can I ask you something?""I guess," he says reluctantly. He sits on the bed and he pulls her to sit with him. She turns her body so she is facing him."You've told me about Marcus, but never anything about your mother.""So you want to know where she has been through all of this?"Tris nods slightly. She's almost afraid that she just asked him this but her curiosity got the best of her.There isn't much she doesn't know about him at this point so he might as well just let her in completely Four thinks."She took off when I was about eight years old. I woke up one morning and she was gone. Marcus told me I was bad and she didn't love me anymore, which was the reason she left. As I got older he would tell me that she left because I was such a screw up. After a while I started to believe him. Then he would tell me that if my mother couldn't love me then no one would ever love me. The sad thing is, I started to believe him.""That's horrible, did you ever see her again?""She showed up once when I was about eighteen trying to make amends but at that point it was too late. She left me with that monster. There was nothing that she could say that would make me forgive her for leaving me there. She could have taken me. She could have found a way to save me. But she was just worried about saving herself.""I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."Four cuts her off, "Don't apologize. It is a natural question. Now it's my turn for a question.""Okay," Tris says."What is up with your father?""I don't know really. I mean I love my dad but he's never really been very active in my life, not like he was with Caleb. He was a doting father when Caleb and I were young. But he changed as we got older. He focused more on Caleb and less on me. Which I don't even know if I noticed back then, but over time it became unbearable. He would make me work constantly. I would spend ten to twelve hours at a time on the weekends working in homeless shelters and soup kitchens. And even when I did what he wanted he would still criticize what I did. He would bring up things I did when I was little and get on me about stuff like that. The horrible thing was, he didn't treat Caleb like that.""Did he ever see you play ball or do anything that you really loved to do?""No, he thought that playing ball was a waste of time. He didn't even care when I received my scholarship to college because it was an athletic scholarship, unlike Caleb who received an academic scholarship.""Tell me about your brother.""He's pre-med or pre-law, something like that. I can't keep up with what he's doing. He's actually pretty great though. He was my best friend growing up. He defended me against the guys that thought I wasn't good enough to play with them. He even beat up Peter once because Peter stole my glove and hid it from me. He is kind of a nerd for lack of a better word. He's all about his studies and my father believes that he will make some huge difference in the world because of his intelligence. He thinks I'm wasting my time playing ball and he doesn't like my choice of degrees. Basically Caleb is the golden child and I'm the screw-up.""You are not a screw-up. You are brilliant. Parents just suck sometimes, don't they?""Sometimes, but I got lucky. My mother is pretty great! There is nothing that she wouldn't do for me."Four nods. He leans back on the headboard of his bed and closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them again he sees her looking at him."What?" he asks. She doesn't answer. She just lowers her eyes shyly. He smiles to himself. "So are you ready to head home?""Yes," she says and starts to put on her shoes.While she is putting her shoes back on, Four he has another question. "Now it's my turn for a question.""Okay, go ahead," she says."I've explained what attracted you to me, but you still haven't told me what attracted me to you.""It was your eyes," she says shyly. "You have the most beautiful and unique eyes. When I looked up and said excuse me at the party, I couldn't help but notice your eyes.""So it was my eyes?""That and you are pretty handsome, Tobias. I must admit I did go back into the house to see if I could bump into you again, but you had disappeared.""That was probably after the girl dumped the beer on my head and I had to go change. Because I came back down after I changed and tried to find you."Tris snickers, "After I didn't see you in the house, I decided to leave. All of my friends were starting to make out on the dance floor and I was kind of left alone so I went home.""That's funny. We tried to meet each other that night and it just didn't work out. I guess it was just meant to be, because here we are," Four pauses. "I'll be right back and then I'll walk you home." He stands and moves into the bathroom.When Four leaves the room Tris turns her body and leans against the head board. Before she realizes what happened, she's asleep.When Four walks out of the bathroom, he sees that she has fallen asleep. He removes her shoes and slides her gently down so that she is lying on the bed. He covers her with the blankets and kisses her head.He then calls down to Marlene."Hello?""Hey Mar, it's Four. Tris fell asleep so she's just going to stay here tonight.""Thanks for letting me know. After everything that's happened I would have worried if she never came home.""No problem. Goodnight."Four gets a pair of sweatpants and goes into the bathroom to change.He climbs into bed with her and soon falls asleep to the sound of her rhythmic breathing.