When the sea brings you home

The video

Jake's POV:

I was in the middle of picking out a movie, when the sound of glass shattering startles us.

"Beatrice?", Tina yells.

No answer.

I run immediately to the kitchen, and Tina follows me.

We find Tris on the floor, surrounded by pieces of glass and beer. She had a hand on her mouth, the other was holding her phone.

"Oh my gosh, Tris", I whisper. I grab her arms and get her up. Blood was dripping down her legs, due to a few cuts from the glass.

Her expression was mortified. She was struggling to breathe, sobbing in my arms. Her whole body was shaking.

- Tris, what happened? What's wrong?

Tina noticed she was trying to speak but couldn't, still in shock. So she takes the phone from her hand, and plays the video shown on screen.

I couldn't see what it was, but Tina's eyes budged out of her head.

- That son of a bitch!

"Tina. Take her to her room. I'll clean up and join you after."

She does so almost immediately, still swearing under her breath.

When the kitchen's clean, I fill a cup with cold water and take it upstairs with me.

I knock slowly on the door, then open it when Tina tells me to.

I find Tris laying in her bed, Tina sitting on the mattress next to her.

- Here, drink this.

At the sound of my voice, Tris sits up and takes the glass from my hands and sniffs.

"Thanks." 

The crack of her voice breaks my heart in pieces.

I crouch down next to her, our eyes being at the same level. But she refuses to meet my gaze.

"Hey. What happened? What's wrong?"

She doesn't answer me and decides to drink the whole cup at once to avoid the question.

Tina hands me the phone without a word. I frown, and play the video.

Judging by the colorful flashes of lights, I'd say it was at a bar or a club. There was an indistinct and loud chatter over the booming music, but the video was clearly focused on the visuals, not the sound.

Just at the center of the screen, a couple was making out. The guy was standing against the wall, the girl's body glued to his. When the video zoomed in, you could clearly see the guy's face.
They were both going all out. His hands grabbing up her ass, her leg going up against his hip, the neck kisses...

It was fucking disgusting.

"That's-"

- Tristan, Tina finishes for me. Yeah.

I look at Tris' face. She was as white as a sheet.

Hell no. There's no way someone hurts Prior that way.

I grab her face in my hands, forcing her glossy eyes to meet mine. I understood the situation, since I was in a similar one. But Tris and her boyfriend are far more serious than what I had with Cassie before she cheated. So at a loss of words, I say:

- You don't deserve him, you know that, right?

 Tina hugs her tightly. Seeing Tris cry like that shakes me up. I get up angrily, and my sister notices.

"Where are you going?"

- To New York. I'm gonna beat the hell out of that guy.

At that moment, Tris finally lets out a word out of her mouth.

"No", she sniffs. "Don't do that. Just... give me some time. It's okay, really. Don't do anything to him. Please. It'll make things worse."

She really was honest, I could feel it. I wasn't happy about it  but... "Fine. I'm not going. Not yet."

She simply nods.

Tina gets up and motions for me to step aside. She then starts whispering.

- Jake, I think we should leave soon. She needs some space to digest everything in, even if she doesn't want to.

- She needs to know we're here for her though, Tina.

- She does. She's not a teenager anymore. She knows we're here for her and will ask for our help if she needs it. But now she needs to rest. We can stay here a little more, but then we should leave her alone.

She was right. I knew she was. But leaving Tris sad like that pinched my feelings. I just wanted to see her smile again, and I was so close to kill the bastard that made it disappear.