And In The End

11

September 26th
Tobias's POV
As Zeke and I make our way back to Christina's house, I feel a little more like myself. I feel a bit of hope that we can put this behind us and continue on with our lives. I've hardly had spent any time with Ivey since all of this has gone down.

But that hope fades when I see Tris sitting on the couch with Christina, Will, Shauna, and all the kids. Her expression is stone cold when she looks up at me.

"I need to talk to you," she says. I watch Christina take Ivey from her, my heart beginning to race as she walks over to me. We walk into the kitchen, out of earshot from the others. I can't imagine what they are all thinking. They must be so confused, getting woken up early in the morning to take our kids, not getting any answers. How selfish are we?

"He's dead, Tobias," she whispers, looking at me. I don't know what to feel as those words leave her mouth. Relief? Sadness? Regret? Guilt?

"How?"

"He lost too much blood for them to operate and sustained major trauma to the head. He died a few hours ago." She says this without emotion. She looks tired.

"I'm sorry, Tris," I say, pressing my hand to my forehead.

"You are going to have to sort this all out with Max, Tobias. I don't know what's going to happen." I nod. "You also have some explaining to do to everyone here. If you don't want to tell them everything, I get that, but they need an explanation."

"Okay," I whisper, looking around the room. Looking anywhere but at Tris.

"We'll be okay," she says, placing her hand on my arm. Looking into her stormy grey eyes, I feel a moment of relief, calmness. We're going to be okay.

"I'll tell them," I say, walking back into the living room. Everyone looks up at me as I sit on the couch, River climbing into my lap, hugging me.

Tris's POV
"When are you going to tell Max?" Christina asks, bouncing Apollo on her leg. I cradle Ivey in my arms, trying not to think about last night. It brought back too many memories. Memories of the war, of initiation. See the pool of blood only reminded me of Edward, which reminded me of Peter.

"Soon. Today," Tobias says, looking at River, Everest, and the twins playing in the other room.

"Do you want me to come?" Zeke asks, rocking Avri. Tobias shakes his head.

"I think you should go now," Will says. "The sooner you tell Max, the better. I think he'll understand.

"Okay," Tobias agrees, standing up.

"Wait, like now?" I ask, standing up with him.

"I'll be back soon." And with that, he leaves. I sit back down, stunned.

"He just wanted to get out of here," Shauna says. "That was not a very comfortable conversation for him."

"I know." I lean back on the couch, pressing my hand to my forehead. "What do you think Max is going to do?"

"Probably nothing," Zeke shrugs.

"Yeah, I don't see anything happening to Four," Will adds.

"You guys will be okay," Christina assures me. I smile at them. "At least the kids don't know what's going on."

"Actually, River might," I whisper. "She saw the living room, and," I hold up my hand, wrapped in bandages.

"She'll be okay," Christina says.

"I hope so." The room falls silent, all of us thinking. "I think I should take the kids home," I say, standing up.

"No, you guys can stay," Chris is quick to say. Looking over at the kids playing, I nod.

"Thank you."

A while later, Zeke, Shauna, and Avri leave. Christina and I talk, taking care of the babies, while Will makes us lunch. The rest of the day passes, and Tobias still isn't back. A knot has formed in my stomach by the time I'm helping the kids build a fort in the living room after dinner.

I anxiously bounce my foot as Christina and I sit in the kitchen, holding the babies and talking like we have been all night. It's well past midnight and Tobias still hasn't come back. I went to the apartment a while ago to see if he was there, finding the house empty. I left a note, telling him to come back to Christina's. Nerves rise in me as every minute passes. What could be taking so long?

"You are making me nervous, Tris," Christina says.

"Sorry," I laugh a little. "It's been a nerve-racking two days. It seems likes it's been an eternity. I can't believe she was only born four days ago," I say, gesturing to Ivey in my arms.

"I know."

We sit there for about an hour longer, talking about our kids, the city, anything but the events of yesterday, until Tobias comes home. When we hear the front door open, we both burst up, walking into the entryway. Tobias stands there, sweaty, but looking relieved.

"We're going to be okay," he whispers, taking a step toward me. I let him kiss me on the head before looking up at him.

"What happened?"

"Let's go to the kitchen," Christina whispers, gesturing to River, Everest, and the twins sleeping in the living room. We sit at the table again, just as Will walks into the room, sitting with us.

"Max said that I won't be charged, with anything." A wave of relief washes over me. "They are treating it like self-defense," he continues.

"Well, it was," Will says. I smile. We're going to be okay.

"Why are you so sweaty?"

"I went to the training room for a bit," he says, looking down. I nod in understanding.

"Well, now that you are back, Four, can we go to sleep now?" Christing asks. I nod, laughing.

"I set up the guest bedroom for you guys," Will says, standing up with Christina.

"Thanks, guys," I say. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."