The Trials of a Misunderstood Teenager | ✅

Chapter 21 - My bleeding heart

A/N: Hi everyone, I've decided to give you a chapter in Tobias's POV. I hope you guys like it. I would also like to thank everyone who is reading, liking, reviewing and sharing this story. It means a lot to me.

Bonus chapter – Tobias's POV

I am very excited to go home, even if it is just for a few days. But I couldn't have missed my baby sister's eighteenth birthday. This is a big day for Marlene and I want to celebrate it with her.

I invited Myra along, wanting my sister and my girlfriend to get to know each other better. I've been with Myra for two years now, and lately I kept wondering if this relationship shouldn't be made more official. I know she would like that. Zeke told me that Shauna and Myra often talk about their futures, and while Shauna and Zeke broached the topic of marriage some day, Myra and I didn't. It's not that I don't love her, but for the fact I don't feel ready. It's not like with Zeke and Shauna. They've known each other for a long time, and had many ups and downs that only brought them closer together.

They even go to therapy together, mainly because Shauna asked him to join. The therapy was more for her than for them as a couple. After we all started college, far away from our families, Shauna came to realize what an awful person she was towards her sister. She confessed to me, about a year ago, that she was extremely jealous of her sister. She knew deep down that it wasn't Tris's fault, but it was easier to blame the youngest Prior for everything than taking responsibility for her own actions. The fact that at the time of high school Shauna allowed Nita to influence her a lot didn't help matters. Shauna was now actively working to become a better person, a better girlfriend and friend, daughter and sister. It was obvious her parents would forgive her soon enough, and even Caleb seemed to believe Shauna's change of heart. Tris, however, remained cold as ice towards her older sister.

When we came back to California after the Christmas holidays, Shauna told us that she had hoped she could get closer to her sister again, but Tris made sure to not be around when Shauna was home. She had a long, emotional talk with both her parents and brother, and they assured her that Tris was still deeply hurt. At first, Zeke and I thought that Tris was just being unnecessarily bitchy, and even Myra voiced her opinion on the matter, which she never did. It was an eye opener when Shauna confessed all the things she did to her baby sister, and we were none the wiser. I knew of some of the rumors she had started, but it seems the most vile ones came from Shauna herself. Not to mention all the things she orchestrated to get Tris in trouble.

"It wasn't Tris's fault that my dress got ruined. I bumped into her on purpose, to get dad to punish her and not let her go to NASA," she had told us in tears. It seems, Shauna was so jealous of Tris's success that she sabotaged her sister whenever she could. It didn't help that Andrew seemed to have turned a blind eye on Shauna, believing everything she told him. I could now understand why Tris was so angry and furious all the time. Only, it wasn't just that, it was hurt and pain, that she so perfectly masked.

For a while, I couldn't talk to Shauna, I couldn't even look at her. I avoided her for some time, mainly to get my own thoughts in order. I had to revise all the conversations I had with Tris, especially when it came to her feud with her sister, and I noticed that while my intention was to calm her down, to make her be above those puny fights, Tris might have perceived my efforts as a betrayal. I still remember how she had called me a traitor the night of my prom, when she simply decided that we were done. Back then, I was furious, but three years later, when I have a clearer view over what happened in those months, I can see that I asked too much of Tris.

I often spoke to dad about my ex and how things ended. In the beginning, I was still very hurt and when dad would defend her, I would flip out. But during the last visit in December, dad and I talked again. He just briefly mentioned how much Tris matured, but I understood the hidden meaning. Back when I was still a senior in high school, dad often told me that both Andrew and I saw Tris as more than just a fourteen-year-old, and that while she was mature when it came to many things, interpersonal relationships, especially romantic ones, are a delicate topic for someone who is still trying to find themselves. I had dismissed him then, but now I understood what he meant.