Alexander Eaton || A Uriah Pedrad Love Story

Chapter 23

Lunch was quiet. Uriah and I sat together off by ourselves since all our friends were gone.

That afternoon, we wandered around the compound just talking about anything and everything.

We made it back to the cafeteria about six for dinner.

"Hey Zeke," Uriah called as his brother walked into the cafeteria.

"Yo my brother. Seven o'clock tonight. You two coming?" Zeke asked, sitting down at the table with us. Shauna was with him laughing to herself about his behavior.

"We plan on being there," Uriah said.

"Okay, so I was thinking we can start truth or dare about eight since we can't be bothered to be on time. That will probably last all night," Zeke said.

"Sounds good to me," Uriah said looking at me.

"Um, can I just observe tonight?" I asked. "I've never even heard of the game before."

"Um I don't know yet," Zeke said.

"Don't worry babe. I'll make sure you're prepared," Uriah said, grabbing my hand reassuringly.

After we finished eating, Uriah and I headed back to our apartment.

"Here, babe. Wear these," Uriah said handing me a tank top, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a hoodie.

"Why do I have to wear so many layers?" I asked while stripping off the shirt I was wearing.

"Because, whenever you don't want to answer a question or complete a dare, you can take off one article of clothing excluding socks and shoes," he said.

"Okay," I said, pulling on the layers of clothes he'd given me. "So why aren't you wearing more than a shirt and a hoodie?"

"Because I've played before and I'm not going to pansycake out of anything," he said.

"You and that word," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"What about it?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Nothing," I said, smiling at him.

"Oh really," he said with a smirk.

"As long as you aren't using it against me, then I don't care," I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him.

"I would never call you a pansycake babe," he said. "Oh, um, how're you feeling?"

I rolled my eyes at him changing the subject, but answered anyways. "Good. Better than this morning."

"If you start to feel uncomfortable, let me know. We don't have to stay," he said.

"You're really sweet, babe," I said. "But, I know how much you want to be there."

"And, I know how sensitive you are about people seeing your back," he said, staring down at me with those intense brown eyes I'd grown to love.

"I won't take off my tank top," I said. "Trust me, I know my own limits."

"I just want to protect you Alex," he said.

"I love you, Uriah," I said.

"I love you too, Alex," he said, leaning down and kissing the top of my head.

About quarter to 7:00, Uriah and I headed to Zeke and Shauna's apartment. When we got to the door, Uriah didn't even bother knocking. He just walked right in like he owned the place.

"The party has arrived," Uriah yelled walking into the living room.

"On time and everything," Zeke said jokingly.

"Blame it on Alex," Uriah said kissing my temple lightly.

"Well, we're still waiting on Four. He had to go pick up Tris from her apartment," Shauna said. Uriah led me over to the couch and we sat down side by side.

"Who wants a beer?" Zeke yelled from the kitchen.

"Hit me up," Uriah yelled back.

"Please don't get drunk," I whispered to him as I cuddled into his side.

"Scratch that Zeke," Uriah said as Zeke walked in carrying four beers.

"You two aren't gonna drink?" Zeke asked.

"Um, no thanks," I said.

"Not tonight," Uriah replied, wrapping his arms around my shoulder securely.

"Whatever, more for us," Shauna said, grabbing one and chugging a good portion of it.

"You can drink if you want, but please don't get drunk," I said, closing my eyes as phantom pain creeped into my back.

It happened a lot. My back would start searing with pain that couldn't possibly be there. I knew it was from the abuse I'd endured, but there was no one in Abnegation who would've believed me.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Uriah asked.

"Hmm, oh, um," I stuttered. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Wanna go to the kitchen or something so we're away from everybody?" He asked I nodded, knowing I needed to get this off my chest.

Uriah stood up and grabbed my hand before leading me to the kitchen. "What's wrong babe?"

"I'm just scared that if I drink I'll turn into my father and be really mean. I'm sure you've been drunk before, and I'm sure you're not a mean drunk. I'm just scared you'll hurt me if you get drunk. I don't know. I probably sound stupid or something," I mumbled. I didn't want Zeke or Shauna to hear.

"Babe, you don't sound stupid at all. Being scared is okay. And, if you don't want me to drink, then I won't. Plain and simple. I don't want you to be afraid of me because I'd never hurt you," he said, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"Let's take this one step at a time. Even being here is a lot to take right now. Maybe after a while we can drink together, but for now can we just stay sober and appreciate the fact that I've never done anything like this before," I said.

"Just remember if you get overwhelmed we can leave," he said.

"I know babe. Can we have like a code word or something so like I can just whisper it to you and you can make up some BS about why we gotta leave?" I asked.

"As long as the codeword can be unicorns," he said. I rolled my eyes but agreed with him anyways. He's just so adorable when he does things like that that I just can't help it.

The front door opened and it sounded like Four and Tris had finally arrived.

"If you could stop making out in my kitchen and join us that would be nice," Zeke yelled for Uriah and I.