Reawakening

Chapter Twenty-Four

Uriah

Today we went through Lauren's fears, and we were done before lunch, so we have the rest of the day off.  This was the last day of actual training-- we get the next two days off to think about strategies for our fears or whatever, then three days from now, we will go through our fear landscapes.  And then, of course, it will be time to stop a war.

Even as distracted as I am with Marlene, now that we are finally together, it did not escape me that Tris looked exhausted.  I can't read her mood-- she's this weird mix of anxious and happy.

I sit down with my lunch-- including Dauntless cake, of course-- and begin to eat my hamburger left-handed, as Marlene has become a permanent extension of my opposite arm.  We're practically like conjoined twins these days-- joined at the hand.

Tris drops into the seat next to me, dropping her tray on the table.  Her water threatens to fall over, and I drop my hamburger and grab it, setting it gently and securely on the table.  Tris shoots me an apologetic smile that makes me chuckle as I reassemble my burger, which had come apart when I dropped it so suddenly.

Tris leans toward me.  "I need to talk to you after lunch," she says in a low voice that only I am near enough to hear.  "It's really important.  Okay?"

I nod.  "That alcove by the chasm?"  Tris nods back in confirmation.

Half an hour later, I have somehow managed to separate my hand from Marlene's.  I slip into the alcove; Tris is already there waiting, and does not waste any time getting to the point, today.

"I need you to watch out, Uriah."  Her face is deadly serious, and even in the dark I can see the fear in her eyes.  "Four deleted my second sim-- it... it was uh... personal."  My eyes are adjusting to the dark and I can see the deep red blush spreading across her cheeks.  I can guess what that  sim might have been about... "God, it's so humiliating, ugh.  It-- it didn't reveal anything that put me in danger, really-- I mean, Eric has no reason to suspect that I'm divergent-- but given that Four and I shouldn't be together, it was something that Eric really should not have seen."

I haven't heard anything that has to do with me, and I'm confused.  "I'm sorry he saw... whatever he saw."  I hold back a smirk.  In some ways, she's still a Stiff at heart.  She probably always will be.  "Why am I watching out, though?"

"Because how did he see it, Uri?" Tris whisper-yells, annoyed, apparently, at having to spell it out.  "Four deleted it right after I left the room.  He checked, multiple times.  But somehow Eric still saw it.  What if he saw yours, too?"

Oh.  Oh... shit.  She must see the panic in eyes, because she rushes to calm me down.  "It's only three days, Uri.  You just have to avoid him for three days  and then we can stop... all this.  We can make sure we're all safe.  Right?"  I nod slowly.  If Eric does have it in for me, three days is a long time to stay out of his way.  I mean, all he has to do is show up to the dormitory when I'm sleeping and it's all over.  I'm dead at the bottom of the chasm, or worse.  "Just be careful," she whispers, then hugs me before slipping out of the alcove.

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Tobias

The wind is cold on my face and presses my t-shirt tight against my chest as I lean out of the train car, feet together, hands gripping the handles on either side.  Tris wanted to come with me to see my mother, Evelyn, tonight, but I talked her into staying back with her friends-- both to keep them from realizing she's sneaking around with me, and because I don't want Evelyn to know about Tris.

At first Tris was upset, thinking that I was hiding things from her or embarrassed of her.  That-- especially the latter-- could not be further from the truth.  I honestly can hardly wait for the world to know that Tris is mine.  However, given what Tris and Uriah have told me about her relationship with my mother the last time, I don't even want Evelyn to know she exists.  There are enough threats to Tris's safety already without her being on Evelyn's radar, too.