The Way I Loved You | Tobias Eaton

twelve

I adjusted the collar of my new Dauntless-issued jacket as I entered the dining hall. The place is already packed to the brim with people, leaving little space for us to fit into.

Joey and I hover between the fully occupied rows of tables, trying to find an empty seat when another Erudite transfer- Will, I think- nudges Joey in the arm.

"We found some seats," He says, "There's still space, you can sit with us if you guys don't mind."

Joey raises a questioning brow at me and I shrug, "That would be nice, thank you."

"No problem," He smiles, "The more the merrier, right?"

The Prior girl falls into step next to me as Will leads the way and she turns to me with a friendly smile.

"You're Fallon Hastings, right?" She asks and I nod.

"That's me," I return a smile, still feeling a little bad that I have no recollection of her name.

I guess back in Abnegation, I didn't really pay much attention to anything other than my parents and well...Tobias...because those were the only things that were ever really important to me.

"You don't know my name, do you?" She asks and I cringe, offering her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," She replies, "Tris."

"Well, it's nice to meet you-" My words come to an abrupt halt when my eyes land on our unlikely dinner companion.

Tobias's eyes lift to meet mine and he holds mine. For a minute there, it feels like the world falls away and it was just us. Just like it always does when we're together. Tobias always had the ability to make it feel like I'm the only person he ever sees.

"This is our table?" I ask Will and he nods a little awkwardly. "Okay," I breathe, turning back to see Tobias raising a brow at me, looking slightly amused and I narrow my eyes at him.

As fate would have it, everyone takes their seats and Joey saves me a seat beside him...right across from my boyfriend. No, my ex-boyfriend. Ex.

A fact that I make sure to remind myself of when I slide into the seat next to Joey, not missing the way Tobias glares at him.

I kick Tobias in the shin under the table and his eyes dart back to meet mine, a small smile playing at his lips that he hides by taking a bite of his food.

I'm vaguely aware of the others chattering away beside us, but like I said, being around Tobias had an effect on me. Especially when he's looking at me the way he is now as if I'm the most important in the world to him. And right now, I'm not sure how I felt about that.

"Erudite can tell the truth because we have the facts-" I manage to catch the end of their conversation before Tobias interjects.

"I don't want to hear about your old factions," He snaps, "You're Dauntless now."

I shoot him a look and he sips at his drink, his gaze holding mine once again.

"Were you a transfer, too?" Tris asks, "Or Dauntless-born?"

Tobias scowls at her, "Are you kidding?"

Tris looks a little taken aback by his question, and an awkward silence falls upon our table.

"No."