~DIVERGENT~ Paradise

Day 12

After I've finished getting ready, and when I head back to Four's room, I notice there is a box with a red bow on the table.
"What is that?" I say, pointing.
"I don't know. A crew member just delivered it. The card said congratulations on it, so I though that maybe it was our prize from the scavenger hunt."
"Oh! I had completely forgotten about that. Open it!" He motions for me to do it, so I sit down at the table excitedly.
"Any bets on what it is?" I say, shaking the box as he sits down next to me. "I was going to say it's like a robe or something, but it's actually pretty heavy."
"No idea, but hurry up. I'm dying to know what it is."
I take off the red bow quickly, and my mouth falls open when I remove the lid of the box. "Oh, Four."
Inside is a photo album with a picture of the two of us on the front; I take it out and open it. As I flip page after page, I realize it's all the photos we took at the tide pool, and I smile. Me with my little turtle, Four pretending the octopus is killing him, me laughing and pointing at the camera- at Four. I also notice how many pictures there are of me that were taken when I wasn't paying attention. I look up at Four, and he's smiling too.
"You had fun with the camera, I see."
He shrugs. "I had to capture the beautiful scenery."
"This is amazing. But, who's going to keep it?"
"You are," he says.
"But if I keep it, how are you going to see it? It's yours too."
"Well, I guess I'll just have to come and visit you if I want to look at it." I blush a little, and he adds, "Come on. We have a big day ahead of us."
"I still can't believe you won't tell me anything at all," I say as we make our way through the city. We've been driving for well over an hour, and I still have no clue where we could possibly be heading.
"I told you, you'll see when we get there. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Me too. There's a little town up here that one of the crew members told me about. We'll eat there."
Four turns onto a road that looks like it's going to take us up into a low mountain. After the first small hill, a town appears, and we pull up to what looks like a small house.
"Are you sure this is it?" I ask.
"This is where the guy told me to come. Hang on, I'll ask." Four knocks on the door and talks to the lady who answers it while my eyes wander for a moment. I stare at a church across the street, and watch the small children out front who seem to be learning a lesson from an elder. They are reciting something, and they way they hold each other's hands makes me think of the tattoo on Four's back.
"This is it," Four says, breaking my concentration.
"Okay," I say, taking one last look.
The woman who answered the door, Rosa, speaks broken english, but she understands enough to hold a conversation with us while we wait on our food.
"Can you tell me about that church?" I ask her.
"La Iglesia de Abnegación," she says. "They give up everything for others. It is hard, but rewarding life."
"Interesting," Four says. "So they don't do anything for themselves at all?"
"No," Rosa replies. "Always for others. Giving not taking."
"How long has the church been there?" I ask.
"Since before I was a niña." She shrugs and adds, "It make everyone happy." She smiles and holds her finger up before she heads to the kitchen.
"I can't imagine giving up everything just to make others happy," I say. "I guess that makes me pretty selfish, doesn't it?"
"No, Tris. It just makes you human." I reach out and take Four's hand, squeezing it when he gives me a little smile.
Rosa brings us our food, and it is delicious. Homemade tamales, rice and fresh churros for dessert.
"Gracias," I say to Rosa as we get ready to leave.
"De nada," she says with a smile. As I'm heading out the door, I hear her say to Four, "She is muy hermosa."
"Si," Four says.
"What did she say?" I ask as we get back into our jeep.
"She said you were beautiful, and I agreed," and for the millionth time since I met Four, I find myself blushing.
"I have a hard time trusting people," Four says, breaking the silence as we drive.
"Really? I would have never known that. I mean, with your friends and all," I say. "Why?"
"Well, in all fairness, it took me a long time to warm up to most of them," he says with a smile. "It's really because of my father though. After my mom died, things took a turn for the worse. He immersed himself in his work, ignoring me. Day and night it was politics and dinners with constituents and fundraisers, and none of it involved me. When he finally got a position in office, he had this sort of fake persona that he put on for the world to see, and that's when I was finally allowed to exist. He was sugar sweet in public, but behind closed doors...he was convinced that if I fucked up in the slightest, it was going to make him look bad, and that pissed him off. So he would take his anger out on me and try to correct anything he perceived as bad behavior."
"Correct?" I ask, having a feeling I know the answer already.
"Yeah. He uhh," he looks at me, and the sadness in his eyes almost makes me wish he wasn't telling me this. "He would hit me. A lot. As a child, your parent is supposed to be the one you run to when you need them, not run away from. It messed me up for a while, made it hard for me to trust anything; still makes it hard to believe things are genuine and not just an act sometimes."
"Oh Four. Why..." I trail off. I bite my lip for a moment before quietly asking, "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I like you Tris, but more importantly, I trust you, so I don't want to keep any secrets. Which brings me to another thing," he says, "Well, you know my name isn't Four."
"Yeah," I say. "I know it's a nickname that you prefer. I always figured you'd tell us when you were ready." He smiles. "What is it, then?" I ask.
"Tobias. Tobias Eaton."
"You know," I say, squinting at him, "You don't really look like a Tobias."
"I don't? What do I look like, then?" He asks, but I only smile. "Only Zeke and Uriah know about my dad," he says after a minute.
"Don't worry," I say as I reach out and take his hand. I squeeze it tight, and he does the same.
"Speaking of names, mine isn't actually Tris. It's Beatrice. Prior."
"Beatrice? Yeah. You don't look like a Beatrice," he says with a laugh. I watch him for just a moment, and that sadness that was there is gone, like it never existed in the first place. He is stronger than I think even he knows. He is brave.
"Now I get what you mean. So, tell me some more about yourself, Beatrice." I purse my lips and try to yank my hand away, but he holds on tight, grinning.
"Well, Tobias, I was 17 when my parents died, and my brother was 19 and in college, so I stayed with a friend, Christina. After high school, she got accepted out here, and I chose to stay in Chicago to be close to my brother, and close to my parents."
"And then I met Eric," I say with a sigh. "And it was okay at first. But I found out he was a dick, real quick, and I broke it off with him. He didn't take the break up too well; he shoved me on the ground and yelled all sorts of things that made me feel about two inches tall, and I believed him. Christina eventually convinced me to transfer out here and start over."
"I'm sorry," he says. I look over at him, and see his jaw clench and unclench a few times.
"Don't be. It's okay. I transferred, and things were fine. And then I found out he followed me out here. I'm honestly not even sure how he knew, but he gave me all sorts of apologies and excuses, and I believed those too, so I gave him a second chance. Which, as I'm sure you already know, was a huge mistake. It took no time for those old patterns to re-appear, and before I knew it, I was right back where I left off. So I broke it off, again, with Christina's help. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but every now and then, he or his friends will find their way into wherever I am and say horrific things, and it sucks. But I'm stronger now, and I'm not letting it get to me like it did before. Or at least, I'm trying," I say, taking a cue from earlier. If he can talk about being abused by his father and be okay, so can I.
"So you had planned the cruise when you were together then?"
"Yeah. Christina and I were so looking forward to this though, and I didn't want to lose the money. The cruise line wouldn't give me a refund and then they refused to do anything to accommodate the situation, so she and I are crammed together in her room," I say with a chuckle.
"Well, you already know I don't mind, but my bed is yours for the rest of the trip, if you want it."
"Thank you," I say, and I squeeze his hand.
"So where does Four come from?"
"Oh. My mom would always say that four was her lucky number. I never got a chance to ask her why, but when things started to get heated between my dad and I, I wanted to distance myself from him as much as possible. We had moved right before I started ninth grade, so new school, new identity. Four let's me be, well, me I guess, and it erases my dad from the picture completely."
"Okay," I say.
"Okay what?"
"You prefer Four, and now I know why."
"Tris, you don't have to call me that. When you're around it's...nice. It kinda makes me forget it all." I look over at him, and he shrugs, smiles, and turns his attention back to the road.
We're silent for the remainder of the drive, and when we reach our destination, I am completely shocked.
"Tobias," I say, "How did you do this?"
"You know, I think I like that," he says with a smile, "You calling me Tobias. And I have my ways."
I hop out of the jeep and run up the steps of the observatory.
"Erudite," I say as I read the plaque next to the door. "What does it mean?"
"It means knowledge through studying," a man says as he opens the door. "Hello, you must be Tris, and you must be Tobias. Please, come in." I look back at Tobias, but he just smiles.
"My name is Pedro, and I will be you astronomy guide for the evening."
"Hello," I say anxiously as I reach out and shake his hand. "Tobias, how..."
"I told you, I have my ways."
Pedro takes us on a small tour of the observatory, starting with the large telescope. "This is our primary telescope. Her name is Discovery, in English," he says with a smile. "With this telescope, we can change the lenses to get a close up view of each planet in the night sky, up to Neptune. Unfortunately, this old lady cannot see Uranus or Pluto with the lower lens, but she can go out further and see galaxies with the larger one."
"You still consider Pluto a planet?" I say, grinning.
"I sure do," he says with a smile. "Now follow me, and I will show you some photographs we have taken over the years.
He takes us into what looks like a conference room, and we sit at a table. A projection screen comes down, and a slide show starts. He tells us a little about each picture; binary stars, Jupiter, Mars, a supernova remnant.
"Wow," I say. "I can't believe you took all these here. They're amazing." Tobias reaches over and places a hand on my back, and lean into him.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," he says, and kisses me on top of my head.
"The sun should be setting in about twenty minutes. If you want, we have a room that monitors the sun, and you can watch it set from there."
"Okay," I say.
Pedro leads us to a room with a special monitor that has a large black circle in the middle of it and excuses himself. Tobias stands behind me and I reach back to find his hands, pulling his arms around me. He nestles into my neck and gives me a small kiss, and my heart skips a beat.
"Tobias," I whisper, "I don't know how I can ever repay you for this."
"You don't need to. Just seeing you like this is payment enough."
We watch the sun set on the monitor, and when we're left alone with nothing to do, I turn and kiss him. His lips are soft and warm, and they feel like the best place on Earth right now.
"Ahem," I hear, and I pull away, blushing instantly.
"Sorry," I say.
"No need to apologize to me," Pedro says with a smile. "Now, what would you like to see first?"
"Surprise me," I say.
We follow Pedro back to Discovery, and watch as he inputs coordinates into the computer and the telescope begins to move.
"Okay, feast your eyeballs on my favorite, the Helix Nebula, also know as the Eye of God." I smile as Tobias gestures for me to go ahead.
"Wow. It's so beautiful," I say as I look in the eyepiece.
"Press this button here, and you can take a picture," Pedro says. I jump up at the opportunity, and push the red button.
"Congratulations! You are now officially a space photographer," Pedro says, and I smile.
I spend some time looking at each thing Pedro shows me, and before I know it, Pedro is switching to the lower lens, and I'm looking at Venus. I notice Tobias whisper something in Pedro's ear and he nods.
"Our time is almost up, Tris. Come enter these coordinates for me." I follow Pedro, and do exactly as I'm told. The telescope moves, and I wait patiently to see what's next.
"Go ahead," he says when the telescope is ready. I look in the eyepiece, and my eyes are instantly filled with tears.
"Want to take a picture?" Tobias asks, and I nod. Pedro holds out the button for me, and I smile bigger than I think I ever have in my life as I press it.
"Can I still look?" I ask.
"Take as long as you like," Pedro says with a smile.
I wipe my eyes to clear the tears away before I look into the eyepiece again, and feel Tobias' hand on my back, right over my tattoo.
"I cannot believe I took like, an actual, real, genuine picture of Saturn," I say as I stare at the photograph. Pedro made me a folder of the things I photographed, and I can't stop looking at them on the way back down the mountain. "And I can't believe I didn't think to ask for this first! Thank you, for remembering. I think I was too in shock or something to think properly."
"You're welcome," Tobias says.
When we return to the ship, I'm so full of energy, I can't sit still. "This trip has been amazing. I have so many pictures, and so many memories. I'm not sure how anything is ever going to top this," I say as we walk into Tobias' room.
"All good, I hope," he says with a smile.
"All of them," I say.
I walk over to Tobias, and wrap my arms around him. "Actually," I whisper in his ear, "There's one more memory I would like to make."
He gives me a puzzled look, and when I start lifting the hem of his shirt, he smiles. "Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," I say.
I pull his shirt off and follow with mine, before kissing him deeply and walking him back to his bed. Every insecurity I ever had, I toss to the side; it was never me that was the problem and I know that now. There is zero doubt that this is not just what I want, but that it's worth going after. I've opened up to him in ways I never have before, and I imagine it's the same for him too. It's not very often in life you find someone who seems to know you without even having asked, and for me, that's Tobias. He can read me in ways that I'm not sure Christina even could, and sharing his deepest secrets with me today just solidified what I already knew; I have fallen for this boy.
My body tingles at every touch, responding the exact way it should when things are right. Tobias trails open mouthed kissed down my neck, between my breasts, over my stomach, and when I moan out his name, I feel him smile against me. He has brought out a part of me that I had kept hidden away for so long, and with each taste and thrust and kiss, I don't think it will be possible for me to ever hide it away again.
We stay up late, whispering words and phrases to each other the way that two people who are comfortable with each other do. I fall asleep in his arms, and he in mine, with the greatest feeling in the world coursing through my veins; love.

Sorry if I️t took longer than usual to update this. It was even harder to write this chapter considering they did the "deed" at the end. Dear lord. New topic....Just a heads up, we're coming up on the end here. So I'm most likely going to finish publishing the rest of the story today.The good news is I've already decided to continue this story. I'll give you all more details at the end. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
Thanks for reading!
Be brave,

Christina Eaton 🔥