Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent or any of its characters
He was eight and she was six when her family moved into the modest house on the corner, across the street from his. He was more interested in playing with her brother than with her, but they became friends anyway.
He watched her play basketball on the driveway. Her brother was inside reading; Caleb never played sports. So Tobias walked across the street to talk to the short blond girl. He showed her how to throw the ball correctly, and she told him she preferred volleyball anyway.
"I'm Beatrice, but you can call me Tris."
He was nine when his mom died, and she did her best to comfort him.
Everyone was wearing black and staying silent, paying their respects. Tris didn't understand why funerals were so big and grand. To her, the only person who truly deserved to mourn Evelyn Eaton was Tobias, and possibly Marcus, but even seven-year old Tris could see they didn't have a great marriage. She found him eventually, hiding in a corner, doing his best to keep a straight face. She snuck out with him, and they sat by the creek in the park, still in black dress clothes.
He was the linebacker on the football team, everyone started calling him by his jersey number; Four. She was fourteen and had just made it on to the volleyball team.
Tobias had to pass through the gym on the way to the football field, and he noticed the group of girls sitting on the bleachers. Tris was among them next to a dark-skinned brunette and a fidgety red-head. As he exited out the back door he overheard the coach call out the last few players to make the cut.
"Tris, Christina, Marlene, Nita." He pretend not to notice how short her spandex shorts were.
He's seventeen and he's just starting to realize she's striking and he likes it. He's not the only one.
She was wearing a skirt to school that day, and Tobias was doing his best not to stare at her legs. The boy sitting next to her at lunch was openly staring at her though, and Tobias was trying to convince himself that the pit in his stomach was because she was like his sister, and he was being protective. After school he overheard Al asking her out, and it was getting harder to convince himself that.
It was at a Christmas party where he realized how much he liked her.
He saw them go upstairs holding hands, and he was doing everything he could not to punch something. It shouldn't bother him that much, but it does. A girl stumbled into his side, spilling beer-how did she get any in the first place?-all over his arm. He sighed and headed to the upstairs bathroom to clean himself up. He opened the door to see Al kissing Tris' neck and running his hands down her shirt, toward her jeans. Tris was desperately trying to push him off, telling him to stop. The rest of a blur and all Tobias could remember was the throbbing in his knuckles and the hollow silence once he pulled Tris against his chest in a tight hug.
It was her sweet sixteen and she was wearing a silver dress that Christina had forced her into. He can't keep his eyes off of her and he's over trying to be discreet.
"Dude, you've been staring at Tris for the last fifteen minutes." Zeke gave Tobias a look before tossing his arm around Shauna's shoulders. "You're off to college in the fall, might as well say something now before you lose the chance." He decided to take his chance. He walked over to Tris and gently tapped her shoulder.
"Hey Tris, can we ta-" his words were cut off by Tris noticing a dark haired boy walk in.
"Oh my god, that's Michael. Do I look ok Tobias?" He gave her a smile and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Yeah, Tris. You look beautiful." She gave him a wide smile before going to talk to Michael. After the party, Tobias pretended not to notice Michael kiss her out of the corner of his eye.
He was twenty-one when they met again. He thought he buried his feelings for her but he was dead wrong.
She was wearing a short, tight, red dress and Michael and her were arguing in a corner. She turned and left the party, eyes glassy with tears. He followed her out of the frat house and found her crying quietly on a bench a block away. He pulled her into his lap and kissed the top of her head.
"I s-saw Mic-Michael kissing Car-ra." It's the only sentence she can get out before curling into his chest and sobbing.
He finally realized she felt the same way.
Peter had been hitting on her for the last twenty minutes and he couldn't stand it. He had spent forever waiting for the perfect moment, but maybe that moment was never meant to come. He left and she followed him.
"What are you so angry about? We were just talking!" Tobias rolled his eyes.
"Sure, then what?" Tris glared at him.
"Why would you care? I ca-" Tobias grabbed her waist and firmly pressed his lips to hers, not letting her finish her sentence.
"That's why I care." He let her go and left unable to face rejection.
"Tobias!" She called after him and ran to catch up. He turned around, and before he could get a word out she grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.
He finally realized she was more than just the girl next door.