JAX [1]

•Chapter 13: Albert/Al•

Jax's POV

(Time Skip)

I was sitting on Four's bed, staring down at my bruised hands. My shirt was ripped in several places, I had a few bruises and a cut on my forehead, but other than that...I was alive...for now.

"Here, put this on." I heard Four say, knocking me out of my thoughts. I looked over at him and he passed me a long-sleeved shirt.

"Thanks." I said, wiping away small tears that escaped my eyes.

"You'll be safe here." He said and walked away. I put the shirt on over my ripped one as he walked over with a stool and bucket full of water. He put them down in front of me and sat down on the stool. He soaked the washcloth in the water and gently grabbed my hand. He put the washcloth on my cut knuckles, causing me to wince and grab his hand in pain. He looked up at me.

"Sorry." I said, taking my hand off his. My hand went up to grab the necklace around my neck. "I can't believe...Al...he um..." I couldn't even finish my sentence. 

"You're moving up through the ranks, and he's failing." Four said. "It makes him hate himself and it makes him hate you. He's just...He's just afraid."

"Everyone's afraid of failing." I said.

"I know, but fear does something strange to people like Al." He said. "But not you." He looked up at me. "Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up. I've seen it."

"More like keeps me up at night." I said, sighing. He stood up and looked down at me.

"You should lie down." He said. "Get some sleep." I nodded.

"Okay." I said, wiping my tired eyes.

"I'll take the floor." He said and walked away before I could protest. I sighed. I reached up and pulled my hair tie out of my hair. I ruffled my hair and laid down.

(Time Skip)

"Come on, do it!" I heard in the darkness. "Do it!" Suddenly, I saw myself falling down the chasm.

I woke up, gasping for air. I looked around and sighed when I remembered where I was. I sat up and ran my hand through my messy hair.

"How you feeling?" I heard Four ask. I looked back to see him walking over to me.

"Better than I was." I said.

"Good." He said walking over to the table, putting his stuff down on it. He turned to me. "Where'd you go yesterday?"

"I went to see my brother." I said. He put his cup on the table and grabbed his jacket.

"It's getting a little boring for you here, is it?" He asked.

"No." I said. "My um...my brother said that Erudite might be planning to overthrow Abnegation for control of the government. Can they do that?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I do." He said. "I think it's possible." He sat down on the table. "Depends how far they're willing to go."

"I'm worried about uh...about Tris and her family." I said and ran my hand through my hair again. "I mean, she only has her family now. She has no faction and without her family...she has nothing."

"Yeah." He said. "But I think you got other things you need to worry about. Don't you?" I looked down, nodding.

"Mmhmm." I said. I felt awkward tension. "I should uh...I should head back." I got up. "Thank you...for everything." He nodded. I walked away and out of his room.

(Time Skip)

I walked over and sat down next to Chris.

"Hi." Chris said, rubbing my shoulder.

"Hey." I said.

"Is that your sweater?" She asked. Then I remembered.

"No." I said. "Just borrowing it from a friend." She nodded.

"So, what happened to you last night?" She asked.

"Well—"

"Jax." I heard, causing me to flinch, knocking over my cup as I gasped in surprise. I turned around and saw the last person I'd wanna see after last night. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"A-Al?" I stuttered.

"Listen, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He said, causing me to look down at my lap. "I-I don't know what's wrong with me. Please, can you ever forgive me?"

"Just leave me alone." I said, pulling my arms closer to my body.

"Jax, I—"

"Please, just leave me alone, Al!" I said, looking at him. I stood up, staring him down with tears of hurt in my eyes. "You tried to get rid of me! Permanently! And that is something...that I can never forgive you for. So, please...Just stay away from me." He nodded, with tears in his eyes and walked away. It hurt me to hurt him, but it hurt me more that he tried to kill me.

"Jax, what's going on?" Chris asked, putting her hand on my back.

(Time Skip)

I told Chris and Will everything about what happened between me and Al. Although, I did leave out the fact that I stayed in Four's room.

"I just can't believe he would do that." Chris said. "It's not like him at all." Suddenly, I noticed everyone leaving the room.

"What's that?" Will asked.

(Time Skip)

As we were walking, we noticed they were pulling someone out of the chasm.

"Oh my god." I said as they put the dead person on the ground. I stopped when I saw who it was. Al. I felt myself break in two. I caused this.

"Jax—" I quickly ran off before Chris could finish her sentence. I ran down the hallway and waited until I was alone. I felt all the anger, frustration, and sadness rise up in me until I couldn't hold it in anymore. I let out a scream and started punching the wall. With every punch, I remembered my pain. I hated what happened to Al. He didn't deserve this. Not one bit. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my hand.

"Ahh!" I yelped as I pulled away from the wall. I looked down at my hand and saw it was bruised, really badly. I sighed in frustration, and leaned against the walls.

"Jax." I heard Four say. I looked to my left and saw him walking towards me. I got off the wall and walked away. "Jax!" I looked back to see him following me.

"Leave me alone, Four." I said. Then, I felt him grab my arm, causing me to stop and turn to him.

"I'm sorry about Al." He said.

"It's all my fault." I said with tears in my eyes. "If I just left to be factionless, he would still be here...He's dead...because of me."

"No, it's not because of you." He said. "He made his own choice. He would have been factionless. He was not gonna pass that final test."

"Me either." I said.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"I think you know why." I said. He nodded. "And when everyone else finds out, they will kill me."

"I'm not gonna let that happen." He said, shaking his head.

"Why?" I asked. He didn't answer me. He just grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway.