**Key Chart:
(E): Edited.
(ADE): Almost Done Editing. **
I left Tris in her room, and promised her I would come every hour. It's been an hour. I hope that peace serum has worn off. She was acting so stupid.
I walk down the hall of the Amity compound to where I left Tris. I slowly open the door. Tris is on her bed, lying on her back, legs lifted up, and her feet holding her ankles so she is really folded in half. She's rocking back and forth, singing quietly to herself. I stifle a laugh. She's going to be so embarrassed when she gets out of this loopyland. I walk over to her and tickle her feet.
She begins to giggle uncontrollably. "Stop Tobias!" she screeches. My hands move to her stomach, and she turns sideways to escape my grasp- but she's just fallen into a trap.
Laughing, I lift her up off the bed, and hold her, tickling her neck- where she's most ticklish. She's hard to hold when she's squirming, so I hold her by her stomach, and she scrunches up around my arms. I spin her around a couple times before plopping on the bed with her on top of me.
I breathe heavily, and her body relaxes on top of mine.
"I'm so tired!" she whispers, sliding off of me.
"I know," I whisper back to her, sighing.
"You have to leave?" she asks, somehow reading mymind.
"Yes," I say back, tracing the curve of her face with my index finger. She gives a little huff.
"Bye, Tris," I say, kissing her forehead. I don't want to, but I have to go help with the dishes.
I come back to her room an hour later. I open the door cautiously, hoping the serum has worn off. She's collapsed on the bed, back facing me, so I guess she's asleep.
I guessed wrong.
She rolls around and a huge smile spreads across her face, making her eyes light up.
"Tobias!" she jumps up and runs across the room, her bare feet slapping the floor. She tilts over to the side, and I catch her. She lets her feet fall out from under her. "I missed you!" she says.
"Missed you too," I say. I mean, yes, she's really sweet and adorable like this, but I'm ready for this serum to wear off. She wraps her arms around me and nuzzles her nose against me. Instead of resisting, I just rest my head on top of hers, taking a deep breath. Her hair smells faintly of leaves and fresh air. I take a step back, and she comes with me.
"Tris," I say carefully. She usually isn't clingy like this. I carefully unwrap myself from her arms. She looks up at me with those big blue eyes, searching my face. She is frowning.
"C'mere," I say, and she rushes back against me. I stroke her hair while she babbles on about something for ten minutes, until I have to leave again.
I walk back to her room, again, reassuring myself that the serum could not have lasted this long... she's got to be back to normal by now.
I push open the door, and she's in the middle of the roomtwirlingin circles. Great. Her short blond locks are in the air around her. She must have seen me because she stops spinning immediately. Obviously, the dizziness from the serum hasn't worn off, because she falls straight to the ground.
I wait for her to pop back up.
She doesn't.
"Tris?"
She still doesn't move.
I begin to replay her fall in my head as I scramble towards her. Did she hit her head? Did she fall on her shot shoulder? Her eyes are closed.
I pull her body into a straight line and set myself on all fours over her. I put one hand on her stomach. There's a slight rise and fall so I know I shouldn't try to help her breathe. Then what's wrong?
"Tris?" I ask again, my voice comes out strangled and rough.
A faint giggle escapes her and her eyes pop open.
"I tricked you," she whispers, grinning. Before I can let out a full sigh of relief, she's grabbed the neckline of my t-shirt and has pulled my lips down to hers. I slide my arms under her body against the cold floor and roll onto my back, pulling her on top of me. She kisses me with more force.
I shouldn't take her kisses while she's in this state, but she couldn't know how much she can tempt me. I curl my hands around her sides and pull her closer.
A faint sigh escapes her. I know her sighs and nervous shaking embarrass her, but I wish I could tell her how cute I think that is. Her hands slip under my t-shirt and smooth up and down mysides and my heart beats faster. I do the same to her, pressing my hands against her bare back, making gentle swirling patterns with my fingers. I pull my lips from hers and move to her collar bone, kissing each of the three birds, remembering being on the train with her before the war had started. She breathes deeply against my neck, and the warm air makes the fine hairs on my neck stand on end. She begins to grab at my sides, and I pull her closer, trapping her in my arms. Slowly, I feel her body begin to relax, and she rests her head on my chest.
"Good trick," I say looking down at her, smiling.
"Thanks," she says, pulling a hand up so she can fiddle with the collar on my t-shirt.
I sit up, and cradle her in my arms.
She looks smaller than usual, curled up like this, and she begins to tug at a strand of her hair, looking at it, twisting it, letting it go, and it unravels.
"Here," I say, and motion for her to sit directly in front of me.
She moves to the spot and I pick up a small strand of hair, separatingit into three sections.
"Watch me," I say. I know she probably won't even remember this, but I still try to explain it my best. "You separate it into three sections and cross over and under, over and over until you get to the end of the lock." I move my fingers slowly so she can watc has her hair weaves into a small braid.
My mother used to braid her own hair and I would watch as the dark pieces overlapped. Of course, she would always take it out because the Abnegation wore their hair in a plainer style. I guess I just remember how she did it, because I don't have many memories of her.
She tries it herself but just gets too frustrated to finish, so I untangle her hair and put lots of little braids all over her head until I have to leave again.
This is the fourth hour. I decided not to put any expectations of her being better... or worse. As I walk down the hall I hear a muffled noise. It's from Tris's room. Here we go.
I open the door and Tris is singing loudly into a comb.
Her eyes are closed and her left hand is extended out, as if reaching out to an invisible audience. She actually has a nice voice, I realize, but she can't hit the really high notes to save her life. She sways her hips and turns in a circle.
I stifle a laugh. She hasn't seen me yet.
I smile a little to myself and close the door quietly.
This isn't really like me, but she isn't really being like her either. I happen to know the song so I wait, because a rap section is coming up. I walk over to her on tiptoe and bring my mouth close to her ear.
The rap begins and I say the rhythmic words next to her ear.
She turns to me with such a surprised look that I bust out laughing. The music plays behind us, but she's stopped singing because she too, is laughing.
Her face turns red from the lack of oxygen and tears spill over her lower eyelids- the kind that only come from laughing so hard.
I realize that all the braids have fallen out of her hair, soI show her once again the finger movements, but I really can't stay long this time.
"Bye, Tris," I say, smiling.
"Bye, bye, bye," she sings to me, complete with dance moves, and I laugh all the way out.
