"And when it's time to pray,
We'll be dressed up all in grey,
With metal on our tongues,
And silver in our lungs." - Florence and the Machine
Tris
Marcus and Tobias Eaton join us at dinner the following night. My mother and I serve the food while Caleb, father, and our guests sit and talk. It is Caleb's night to serve dinner, but an archaic mark of respect to a high government official is for the women to serve dinner. I have no respect for Marcus Eaton and feel like spitting in his food as an act of defiance, but what good would that do me? I have no concrete reason to hate him, unless I listened to the rumours being spread by Jeanine Matthews, the reason we meet tonight. But I do hate him, and maybe it's because of the dull light that shine's behind his silent son's eyes when Marcus speaks of his return.
"Very clever, what Tobias did," Marcus beams, pouring more wine. "A mock act of traitory to prove that when one is born Abnegation, they yearn for it forever. It's not just their blood - it's their faction. It's their entire being." My father clinks his glass to Marcus's in triumph, but I can tell he doesn't believe him. I discreetly watch Tobias who picks absently at his food, and can almost feel the seething rage coming off him in waves. He did not leave Abnegation to return to highlight his father as a hero. In fact, I don't think he came back by choice at all.
But it's none of my business, and enquiring would be selfish.
More than once Tobias catches my eye but I turn away, letting my blonde hair fall over my face as I duck my head like a pale curtain that seperates us. I can still feel his burning eyes, but it isn't anger he's aiming towads me. It's something else, something like curiosity. But curiosity is selfish, and seemingly, Tobias is flawlessly Abnegation, selfless through and through. But no - I catch his eye again - he wants something from me.
Caleb and I wash the dishes after the meal as our parents and Marcus drink more wine, more than deemed sociable, and laugh merrily about Jeanine Matthews' absurd accusations. The words 'selfless', 'strong' and 'reigning faction' are heard more than once, but Caleb and i remain silent, though I know we are both thinking the same thing. Or are we? Again my thoughts prove destructive, so I quietly continue my job, distracting myself.
"Need any help?" a voice comes from the doorway and we look up to see Tobias, still pale, standing there. "It's happy hour in there now." He smiles weakly, jerking his head towards the living room containing our merry parents.
"Aren't you 18?" I ask, simply to declare that he is an adult and is more than capable of joining in on happy hour, but it sounds all wrong. Too curious and not at all selfish. I bite my lip and turn away, but not before I see that strange look cross Tobias's eyes again.
"I'm finished," Caleb mutters, tossing a washcloth at the sink. "I have too much study to do for this party to get in my way. Goodnight." It's not at all like Caleb to get grumpy over something so trivial like missing out on study time. Nonetheless he stomps up the stairs, leaving Tobias and I alone. Immediately, I wished he hadn't. Tension burns in the air, as evident as a scented candle wafting through the room.
"We need to talk," Tobias says directly, and my heart clenches apprehensively.
Speaking to him alone is the last thing I want to do. But yet, I don't say no.
"Outside," he gestures, and without a word, I follow him into the cold night air.
YOU ARE READING
Divergent: Before We Chose
Fanfiction"I realize that if we had both chosen differently, we might have ended up doing the same thing, in a safer place, in gray clothes instead of black ones." What if Tobias and Tris hadn't met each other in Dauntless? What if fate won over chance, and t...
