REFULGENT

5.

5.

Tobias

We slept through that whole day in the bed together. I'm not surprised. It's been a wild 24 hours, we were both exhausted. Now I look out my unwashed windows to a starry night sky.

I wonder if anyone noticed I was gone, that I missed control room duty. If they did, they probably assumed that I was having another mental breakdown.

I still haven't told anyone that Tris is back. If I did, I wouldn't know how to tell them. They wouldn't believe me. They know about the hallucinations.

The hallucinations. What if this whole thing was one of them? What if Tris isn't really here next to me? This whole thing was too good to be true anyway. And I wouldn't dare ask my friends if she was really here again. They already think I've gone insane since she died.

"Tobias?"

I must've been too deep in thought to realize Tris had woken up. That is, if she is actually the real Tris.

"Are you really even here?" I ask her desperately, but it only comes out a quiet croak. She tilts her head to the side in confusion. I can see the hurt in her eyes and immediately I regret asking such a stupid question.

I look away and can't meet her eyes.

God, why can't you keep your mouth shut?

I hear a sniff and the bed shifts. When I look up she has her back to me, with her hand over her mouth. I hear her say something, too soft for me to hear.

"What?" I ask. Within a second she spins on her heal to face me and her eyes glint with tears.

"Matthew was right." I can't read her eyes like I used to. They scream too many things right now. She looks lost. And I don't blame her, because right now we both are.

She stares into my eyes for another moment, then turns and slips through the door, leaving it swung open. I just sit there looking into a dark, empty hallway, wondering if I just made the second worst mistake of my depressing life.