Reawakening

Chapter Twenty-Five

A/N: This chapter also has an M-rated version; you can find a separate story through my page that has all the M-rated scenes if you're interested.

Chapter Disclaimer: This chapter contains implied adult-intimate situations and references to sex. If you are uncomfortable with this, please do not continue to read.

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Uriah

"Uri?"  Mar snaps her fingers in front of my face, and Tris stares at me from across the table with her lips pressed together in a straight line and a wrinkle between her eyebrows.  

"Huh?" I say, like an idiot.

Tris frowns.  "Marlene's been trying to get your attention and you were totally zoned out."  She leans toward me and lowers her voice.  "Just relax.  Or, try, anyway."

I swallow hard and nod.  All day, my mind keeps flashing to that day in Abnegation when Four and Peter barely saved Tris from Erudite.  Tris always has just like... this fire in her eyes, it's like she has so much spirit and determination that you can actually see it.  It's what draws people to her.  But that day, I worried that Jeanine Matthews had done the impossible and really extinguished it for good.  Tris was gaunt and weak, her usually shining golden hair dull and limp, and she hunched in this defeated sort of way... she didn't look like our Tris at all.

Oops... I zoned out again.  Marlene's voice snaps me back out of it.  "What the hell is going on with him?!"

Tris's eyes dart as she looks around the dining hall quickly, as though Marlene even asking made her nervous.  "I can't tell you here," she hisses.  Then she raises her voice to a normal volume.  "He's nervous about something... you know..."  She just sighs.  "Uriah, why don't you do something fun?  Get your mind off everything?  Just keep a low profile."

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I decided that I didn't want to be out in the open anywhere I could come across Eric, and that I needed to chill the hell out, so we stopped off at the control room for Zeke's key and went to his place to hang out.  When we walked in I went straight to the fridge and got out one beer for Marlene and two for me.

"What is going on with you, Uriah?" Marlene says, concerned.

I sigh.  I don't want to drag her into this any more than I already have.  Jeanine... and Eric... are manipulative and conniving.  Knowing what kind of danger I may be in and why might put Marlene in danger as well, and I don't want to take that chance.  "I don't want to talk about it right now.  I just need a distraction."

Marlene smirks.  "A distraction, huh?"  She sets her open beer on the coffee table and goes to the kitchen.  I lay back on the couch, sipping my beer with one hand behind my head.  I raise my eyebrows when she returns with a bottle of tequila, shot glass, bowl of limes and a salt shaker.  You can always count on Zeke to have all the party supplies.

Three shots later, Marlene hops up and turns on the stereo to some upbeat dance music.  She sways her hips seductively and beckons me curling one finger.  I'm beginning to feel a bit of a buzz from the tequila and beer and damn she's sexy.  I grin as I approach her, and once I'm close, she turns so her back is facing me, still dancing-- and she's a damn good dancer, too.  

Marlene's back presses against my chest and I run my hands down her sides, past her waist and along her hips.  We continue dancing for three or four songs, I don't even know, all I can think about is the way her body feels under my fingertips and the way her ass grinds against me.

Suddenly she stops and turns to me.  I crash my lips to hers, but she pulls away much sooner than I'd like.  I open my mouth to speak and she presses a finger against my lips.  "I have an idea," she says in a low voice.