Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 55

Chapter 55

Four walk into the tattoo parlor. When Bud and Natalie see him they greet him with hugs and shaking his hand."How is she doing today?" Natalie asks."She told me she loves me," Four tells her. He's so happy to hear those words that he just had to tell someone.Bud smiles, "She always has. Did you think that would change?""I guess there's been a part of me who's been afraid that it would change. Like maybe she'd realize that most of her problems were because she knew me or something.""Four, that isn't true. You shouldn't think like that," Natalie say.Bud notices the sheet of paper in his hand, "What do you have there?""I was wondering if you could make this a tattoo," Four says handing the paper to Bud.When Bud looks at the image, he smiles brightly. "Did she draw this?""Yes, she did. I want it on my chest, over my heart."Bud hands the drawing to Natalie, "She's gotten even better than I ever imagined. We can do this. But are you sure you want this Four? The fact of the matter is, you both are still so young and…" She stops when she sees the look on his face. There is no doubt that he is positive that he wants this on his body forever. She smiles, "Okay, Bud do you want to take care of this? I have a client coming in soon.""Absolutely," and with that Four sits in the tattoo chair and prepares for the sting of the needle."I got some news last month, I just haven't really talked about it with anyone yet.""What's that?" Bud asks while he begins the tattoo."Marcus was killed in a prison riot."Bud stops and looks at Four, "Wow, really?""Yeah, the warden called while I was on the plane home last month. Apparently Marcus had made a lot of people really angry. One man made a shiv and basically gutted him. He had been cheating a lot of prisoners and I guess one of them just got sick of it. I found out that the guy that killed him was already in prison serving a life sentence for murdering three people. They are seeking the death penalty for that man now. But I think he did the world a service.""You seem to be doing okay with that," Bud says, really looking at Four's face as if trying to find some sign of what he's feeling."I'm fine actually. It is kind of good to know that part of my life is done. I don't ever have to fear that man again."Bud nods; he understands what it's like to have a parent like that.Bud continues on the beautiful portrait that Tris created. When he's finished, he can't believe how perfect the tattoo came out.Just as Four is going over to the mirror to look at the tattoo, Zia and Zeke walk into the parlor."Man, I wish you would have told me you were coming in. Where are you staying?" Zeke asks.Four shakes his hand, "I'm not sure yet. I really haven't made any plans, I just wanted to get here to see Tris.""He's staying at the beach house," Natalie says from across the room.Four smiles, "Okay, I guess I'll be at the beach house."Zia and Zeke both turn their attention to his new tattoo. "That is beautiful, who drew that?" Zia asks."Tris drew it. It was inside of her sketch book. When I saw it, I had to have it." He turns his attention to the mirror. The image of the two of them looking at each other and smiling makes his heart warm. Now he will always have her with him no matter where he is.Four looks up at the clock, "I'm going to go back to see her for a while.""Why don't you meet us at the diner for a late dinner, about seven or so? That is the time that visiting hours are over," Natalie says."Okay, I'll be there."Four goes out to his car and drives back to the rehab center so that he can spend the afternoon with her.When he arrives, he finds Tris still in bed, but she's awake. When he enters the room she immediately begins to smile."Hey there beautiful," he says coming to sit on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling.""Okay," she peeps out quietly."I've got something to show you," he says. Close your eyes.She reluctantly complies. He lifts his shirt over his head and removes the bandage that is covering his new tattoo. "Okay, open your eyes."When she looks at him, she immediately sees the reddened, newly inked skin on his chest. She looks into his eyes with shock, then she reaches out her hand and gently glides her fingers across the new tattoo."It's… It's beautiful," she says quietly with tears forming in her eyes.He places his hand over hers right at his heart. He holds her hand there, "Now I'll have you with me everywhere I go. Right over my heart where you will be forever." He says these words quietly as he uses his other hand to gently guide her face up to look at him. "Tris, I love you so much.""I love you too, Tobias."He removes his hand from hers and replaces the bandage and his shirt. He pulls out the portrait of the two of them. He had had stopped to have it framed after Bud was done with the tattoo. He places it on the table next to her bed."How are you feeling?""I have good moments, and not so good moments," she says quietly."I had some news that I thought you may be interested in knowing. But I'm not sure if you're ready for it."She looks at him expectantly, "My doctors believe that knowledge is power. They believe the more I understand about my illness, the better I'll be able to fight it."That was the longest sentence she's said to him in months. It warms his heart to hear her speak."Well, I received a call about a month or so ago. It seems that Marcus was killed in a prison riot. He's gone from our lives for good."She looks at him with shock on her face. Marcus was one of her many fears that she's been dealing with. But now, with him gone that fear is no longer something that she needs to worry about. She wonders if knowing this will help her to move past one of her fears and help her to get her life back.She doesn't say anything about this to Four. This is something for her next conversation with the psychiatrist."Zeke also wanted me to assure you that Sam is still currently locked up in county jail and Eric is also still locked up in the psychiatric ward in county jail. He was moved from the hospital because he tried to escape."She starts to shake a little, "He… he… he… tried to escape?""Tris, listen to me," he says taking her hands and trying to help her calm down. "Look at me," he moves her face so that she is looking at him. "Tris, he's locked up in county jail now. He can't get out of there. They deemed him unfit to reenter society at this moment. He will be there for a long time."She calms slightly, but her hands are still trembling and she looks like she's going to cry. "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have told you.""No," she says through a trembling voice. "I'm glad you told me."They spend the rest of the visit holding hands and talking about baseball, art, and tattoos. They don't talk about softball or school or any of the things that she is missing this spring. Her whole life is up in the air now. With the spring semester coming to a close soon, her shot at professional softball is in question because of missing almost an entire year of playing ball.When it is time for Four to leave for the night, he promises her that he will be back tomorrow to spend the day with her.He kisses her goodnight. When he leans in, she places her hand on his chest where the tattoo is. She smiles and for the first time in months, kisses him gently on the lips.~oOo~When Four arrives at the diner, he is greeted by all of their friends. He's so happy to see everyone, he misses home desperately. He's made a few friends on his team, but not like his friends that he has here.He walks into the diner and is overwhelmed with hugs from the girls and pats on the back by all of the guys. They begin by asking him a hundred questions about what it's like to play professional baseball and everything that goes along with playing professional sports. He tells them about baseball and his pathetic apartment. Beyond that, he really doesn't have anything to report about because he doesn't do anything else. If he's not playing ball, he's sitting alone in his apartment."Tell me what is going on with you guys. I've talked to Zeke, but no one else.""Well, the softball team is struggling," Marlene begins. "Classes are almost done, and life on campus is pretty much exactly the same as it has always been.""What about the Akron Racers, Mar. When do you report to them?" Four asks her."I don't know if I'm going to. I mean, I only got looked at because of Tris. She always made me look better…""You have to go Marlene. You can't, not go. Tris would blame herself and that could be bad. You have to take your shot," Four tells her."I… I just don't know. It's been so hard without her the past two semesters. She's the glue that held that team together, as soon as she was taken away we fell apart. I tried to hold it together, but I couldn't. What if I have the same problem there," Marlene says with tears in her eyes.Uriah puts his arm around her and hugs her to his side. "You won't have to hold anything together there. You will be the newbie, you will just have to keep yourself together. And me of course," he smirks.She smiles and nods. She knows that if Tris found out that she didn't at least try, Tris would blame herself. "Well then, I'm to report in three weeks, just after graduation.""What about everyone else?"Zienna and Lynn hold hands and smile. Lynn speaks up, "We have some news. Zienna and I are moving in together. We are also going to start to perform together at the theatre that Zie performs at all of the time."Everyone erupts in congratulations. Zienna and Lynn have been together since meeting at Tris' parents' house last fall. They almost instantly fell in love and have been together since. Lynn has never felt like this for anyone that she has ever been with, not even Kenzie. With Kenzie, nothing was ever easy. They were complete opposites about just about everything. That is the reason that things fell apart so quickly in New York. Kenzie couldn't understand why Lynn was so busy or why she spent so much time performing. She would always ask why Lynn felt the need to practice so much or she would complain about moving all the way to New York just for Lynn to ignore her. She just didn't understand that Lynn's passion was dancing.These are things that Zienna understands, because these are things that she and Lynn have in common. It is also something that they can share and do together."Well, I guess it is our time for some news too," Will says. He looks over at Christina and she smiles encouragingly. "Well we actually have two things, the first is we're getting married."They congratulations begin again. But Will quickly cuts them off, "The second is, we're having a baby.""Oh my goodness," Marlene shouts and jumps up to hug Christina. "When?""The baby's due in October.""You're already four months along?" Lynn asks shocked. "Why didn't you tell us?""I don't know. I guess I was just waiting for the right time.""Are you showing at all?" Zienna asks.Christina stands and pulls her shirt tight to her body, showing her tiny baby bump.The girls all erupt in oohs and awws when they see her tiny belly.Four looks around and sees how everyone's lives are moving on quickly. Soon they will all be graduated and moving on with their lives. He thinks about Tris sadly. What will it do to her when she realizes that she's lost all this time and all of her friends are moving forward? He vows from this moment that he is going to do everything he can to help her heal. Starting with finding a job in Chicago. Playing professional baseball is suddenly not as important as being there for the woman that he loves.Now he just has to see about getting out of his baseball contract.In response to a comment from a guest, apparently you have never seen a very good portrait tattoo. I have seen outstanding portrait tattoos on people, and many were smiling. I really think you should check out what a good tattoo artist can do before you make a blanket statement like that.