Broken, But Brave

Chapter 12: Making Choices

It had only been three days since Annabelle last saw Eric, but it was the hardest three days of her life. She hadn't realized just how close the pair of them had become in her four and a half months being at Dauntless, but she had found herself almost knocking on his door more than once just to spend time with him or to tell him about her day. Luckily, she was able to turn to Tobias in Eric's place when she needed someone to talk too, even if he did act like her intrusions were a bother.

"Anna, why don't you talk to Izzy about this stuff? I'm sure she'd be a lot more sympathetic."

"I don't know, T. We aren't as close as we used to be. Every time we hang out, she and Damien just question why I'm with Eric. It's starting to become outright rude at this point." 

"Well, I mean you guys aren't together anymore, right? I mean he ended things with you, didn't he?"    

"I don't know. I mean he was upset and hurt. I don't know that he meant it and I don't want to assume. You don't think it's really over between us, right?" 

"I'm really not the person to ask that question." 

"Tobias, could you at least pretend to feel bad for me?!" 

"What do you want me to say, Anna?! I told you from the beginning, he's not the same Eric you knew back in Abnegation. You're better off without him. Trust me." 

"Trust you? Like I should trust you about mom?" 

"What the hell are you talking about?" 

"Don't play dumb with me Tobias. Mom is alive and you know it. I'm willing to bet you've known for a long while now." 

Tobias's glare was unlike Annabelle had ever seen. In all of their years together, she'd never known Tobias to actually be mad at her. Right now seemed as close a time as any, but as Tobias released a heavy sigh, she knew that this still wasn't the case. Tobias's head hung low as he contemplated how to go forward with this conversation. He had been hoping to spare Annabelle this news for as long as possible, but her privileges as part of leadership had undermined him once again. 

"Alright look. I was going to tell you eventually, but you haven't even been in Dauntless for six months yet. I wanted you to get settled before I threw that kind of news onto you. Besides, it doesn't really change anything." 

"Doesn't change anything? Our mother is alive, meaning she abandoned us all those years ago when we were kids. She left us with Marcus. How does this not change anything for you?" 

"Because it's not like it makes any difference now. We're adults. We survived. We don't need her in our lives anymore regardless."

"Tobias, why aren't you angrier about this?" 

Tobias fell silent at Annabelle's question, instead opting to answer through the guilty expression on his face. 

"So, it's true. She has reached out to you. You've been in contact with her."

"It's not like that, Anna. She has found me a couple of times and yes, we've talked. But then she always disappears again, and I have no way of finding her. As I'm sure you've heard by now, she's very good at staying hidden."   

"Why haven't you told Max about this? You know she's leading the Factionless rebels, right?" 

"Yes, I'm well aware." 

"So what? You don't want to see her get hurt? Don't want to see her rot in prison for the rest of her life?"

"Annabelle, why are you suddenly bringing all of this up? What's your point?"