Red

28

VAN'S POV

"I know," I say, tightening my grip around Tris's waist just a little more. "It's a scary thing, but-"

"He's going to do it again, isn't he?" She asks, ignoring what I was saying.

"What makes you say that?" I ask her, looking into her red, teary eyes.

I'm not sure if I regret telling Tris what had happened. If I hadn't, she would have been annoyed with me, and would probably act stubborn, like she does so well. But, I can't stand seeing her look so petrified. She has no reason to be scared because I'm not letting anyone get a hold of her. No one, except for me. The uncertainty pooling in her eyes makes it clear to me that she doesn't know that, though. I have to make her understand.

She shrugs her shoulders and looks away as a few tears roll down her face. "Why wouldn't they? They've done it one already," she mumbles, but I can hear her perfectly.

"Tris, I can't lie to you and say I know they're not going to come back... but I can tell you that they're never going to touch you. If they even step near you... god, I don't know what I'll do to them," I tell her. The thought of letting Mike and his creepy friends near my Tris alone was enough for me to hate Mike even more.

"But, what about the... the other girls," she frowns and looks up at me. She wasn't just scared for herself, she was scared for all the girls, and I admired that, her compassion for others.

"They're going to get hurt again," she sobs, her voice cracking.

"No," I say, shaking my head. "No, they're not. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure everyone is safe."

"You can't do that," she tells me. With the palms of her hands, she rubs her eyes, probably trying to clear her blurry vision from her hair. "You're only one person."

"Tris..." I close my eyes for a brief second before opening them up again. Sometimes, I wish she thought a little less about things. It would save her a whole lot of worrying. "Come here, love," I say softly, patting my lap.

Tris looks down at my lap and then back up at me. She looked unsure. Her teary eyes now held a glimpse of confusion beneath everything else she was feeling.

Once again, I pat my lap. "It's alright. I don't bite. Promise ya that," I try to reassure her with little smile, which I think worked since she ended up crawling onto my lap, her back resting on my chest.

I grab her waist and lift her up, turning her around so she was now facing me. Her legs were on either side of me, and I move my hands down to the top of her thighs.  "That's better," I breathe out as I look over Tris's face.

For as long as we have been around each other, I have never really had the opportunity to just look at her. To admire her soft features, the way her dirty blond hair, similar to the color of my own, fell messily past her shoulders, or her blue-green eyes, which were so beautiful, even when they're red and full of tears, or her soft, pink lips, which would tremble before she spoke and  whenever she felt scared. She was stunning. And, with Mike around, that worried me a lot.

I brush Tris's knotty hair, which she probably hasn't brushed since we got here, out of her face. I'm sure she wanted it to cover her face because I knew how shy she got around me, but I won't let her keep it there. She shouldn't feel like she has to hide around me.

"I know it's scary, darlin," I say, my fingers grazing over her cheek. "Don't you worry about the other girls. It's not just me who's going to be looking after them. There are so many people here who would do anything to protect our girls. Understand?"

She nods her head. "But... what if someone here is... just like Mike?" She asks. She shuffles around on my lap, obviously feeling uncomfortable speaking to me about this topic. She avoids my eyes at all costs.

I let out a sigh. "I don't like 'what if' questions," I tell her. "That's just  your mind thinking irrational thoughts." I tap the top of her head. "And, I have talked to everyone in our group, love. Nobody here would want to do anything like that, trust me."

"But, what if someone-" she starts asking another questions, but I cut her off.

"There's that 'what if' again," I say with a smile. She must not even realize she asks those questions.

She looks up at me, her cheeks starting to turn a soft shade of pink, and she bites her bottom lip. "Sorry," she sheepishly whispers. A slight grin creeps up onto her face and it looks like she's trying to suppress it.

"Is see that smile of yours, ya know?" I tease her, only making her cheeks turn a darker shade of pink. She looks down and tries to squirm away, but I hold her in place. I liked it here. Just me and Tris. And I didn't want it to end just yet. "Where're you trying to go off to, hmm?" I chuckle. I lift her chin up with one hand, the other still on her thigh.

She shrugs her shoulders, the grin that she was desperately trying to hide now clearly visible. I smile back at her. "You got a contagious smile, you know?"

"Nuh uh," she denies it.

"Yeah huh," I smirk back at her before pulling her into a hug, something I've wanted to do for ages now. She responds immediately, bringing her legs in closer to me, wrapping her arm around my lower back, and resting the side of her head on my shoulder.

"Oh, Tris," I sigh. "I know I've told this a thousand times before, and I'm going to tell ya a million more until you finally believe me, but I'm not letting anyone else lay a finger on you," I speak softly into her ear.