The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Hi! I know that it's been almost a month since Christmas, but who doesn't love a Christmas fic? Hope you enjoy!

One Shot, All Human. No war.

Disclaimer: This is a piece of fiction, based on the characters in Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Tris' POV

Christmas. I never knew what that word meant until five years ago when I started at Dauntless Academy. From the astonished looks that early December morning all those years ago when I asked my friends what 'Christmas' was, it was somewhat scandalous that I'd never celebrated before.

Flashback

We were sitting in front of the fireplace in Christina's small apartment that she shared with Will. They wouldn't admit their feelings for each other, but all of us could see that they were meant to be together. I knew how hard it was though. After weeks of stolen glances and inside jokes, Tobias and I had finally given into our feelings and have been dating ever since.

I was whispering sweet nothings into Tobias' ear from his lap, the rest of our friends used to our affectionate nature, when we heard grunting coming from the hallway. I looked at the rest of our friends, each of which had an identical look of confusion plastered on their faces.

"Well, Will is sitting with us, so I don't know what she could be moaning about," Uriah said from his perch on the couch.

Will's face slowly grew as red as the flames in the fireplace, and a sparkly red ball came hurtling out from where Christina's grunts were coming from.

Tobias silently laughed behind me and reached around me and picked up the discarded red ball off the floor.

"Oh no," He whispered.

"What is it?" I asked, turning to examine the object in his hands.

"It's started," Tobias groaned.

Before I could ask more, Christina came into the living room, pulling several stacked cardboard boxes behind her.

"It's the first of December!" Christina exclaimed. "You know what this means, right?" She enquired.

I was confused. "Uhh, no?"

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" she yelled.

The rest of the group groaned in unison, all while I sat there with a confused look on my face. Christina looked at each of our faces, glee written all over hers, before she settled on my face.

"Tris, please tell me you know what Christmas is." Christina looked like someone had betrayed her.

"Uhhh…" I looked at Tobias, only to see a look of astonishment on his face.

"My parents were very conservative, and selfless. I never even knew the day of your birth was, and could be celebrated until I met you guys." I explained.

"But, but… Christmas! Haven't you ever wondered what all the decorations at the mall and on the streets around this time of the year were for?" Zeke questioned from across the room.

I looked down at the floor. The town I came from before moving to Chicago to go to Dauntless Academy had been very strict and old-fashioned. But my friends already knew about this.

Luckily, Tobias came to my rescue. "Give her a break guys. You know how they were before Tris moved."

But, only Tobias really knew how they were. After our first couple of weeks of dating, we learned that not only did we grow up in the same town, but we lived only a few streets away from each other.

Christina dismissed Tobias and I completely, and turned around to the cardboard boxes.

She sighed. "Well, that doesn't matter now does it? All that matters is that we have to teach you what Christmas is about."

I silently groaned.

My best friend opened the biggest box first, pulling out what looked scarily like a tree.

"Now, because we are all College students, and I can't be bothered, this isn't a real tree. It's a plastic one that I bought from the store."

Will decided that he would get up and help her. While both of their backs were turned to us, Uriah pointed at Will, and made the motion of a whip.

I let out an ugly snort, which alerted Will and Christina who turned to look at me questioningly. I shrugged at them and they turned back to the boxes.

After some time, laughing and even yelling, Will and Christina had successfully put together a rather tall plastic tree.

Christina turned to me. "Now Tris, this is a fake Christmas tree, but a Christmas tree no less. We decorate it with colourful items, and put presents under it. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"Good," she said. "Now, all of you get off your butts and help me decorate this thing."

Without wanting to get yelled at, we all followed Christina's instructions.

The thing I immediately noticed was that there were two very distinct colours of the decorations. Without wanting to embarrass myself in front of everyone, I grabbed Tobias' hand and whispered in his ear.

"Why is most of this stuff green and red?"

He smiled lovingly at me. "I don't know, really. Those are just the two main colours associated with Christmas. There is also white, because of the snow, and blue."

I smiled back at him, and we continued decorating.

When we were all finished, it was quite clear which side Zeke and Uriah decorated. The whole left side was covered with various bulbuls and other adornments, so much so that you couldn't even see the green plastic of the tree, while the right side had a distinct feminine touch.

"Wait!" Christina exclaimed. "How could I forget?"

She took off running back towards the hallway, while the rest of us took up our previous positions around the living room.

Just as I had sat back down, cuddled up to my boyfriend, Christina came and pulled me back up, which in turn pulled Tobias with me.

"You have to put the star on top of the tree since it's your first Christmas!" She told me.

I eyed the tree. "You expect my short legs to reach the top of that monstrosity?"

I was answered with an encouraging nod from Christina.

I took the star from her hands and headed across the small space to the Christmas tree. I looked up at the tree with daunt. Suddenly a pair of familiar arms encircled my waist from behind, and I could feel a warm breath on my ear.

"Let me help you."

Tobias picked me up and I stretched my arms out and placed the star on top of the tree. As he slowly lowered me, I twisted so that I could encircle my arms around his neck. I was still above the ground when I leaned in and placed a loving kiss full of passion on his lips.

The flash of a camera brought us out of our embrace, and I turned my face to see Christina holding a camera up with tears in her eyes.

Present time

I smiled fondly and placed the photo frame back down on the dresser as I recalled my first Christmas.

After that, each year my friends were determined to make Christmas bigger and better than the last. Sometimes it was hard, considering we were all in College, but after we graduated and all got great jobs, it was easier.

I looked around mine and Tobias' house. Everywhere you turned, you could see Christmas. From the mistletoe under every doorway, to the giant (real) tree in the living room, the Christmas spirit was all around us.

I went up to our bedroom and found the small wrapped package that I had hidden from my husband, and took it out of its hiding spot. I smiled at the delicately wrapped box, and the perfect bow and tiptoed downstairs as to not wake Tobias. I placed it under the tree, next to another small box. Those were the only two presents under the tree. After we had our annual Christmas Eve lunch with all of our friends today, the space under the tree reduced significantly. Unlike all our friends, we didn't get each other many presents, preferring to go back to our old ways of being conservative, just to know where we always came from.

I silently went back upstairs and crawled under the covers and snuggled up to my perfect husband.

When morning rolled around, neither of us particularly wanted to get out of bed. We decided to stay around and have a private Christmas celebration of our own. When the clock read 12pm, we finally agreed it was time to get out of bed, so we could have breakfast.

After a filling breakfast, we both made our way to the living room to exchange presents.

I sat on the couch as Tobias reached under the tree to grab both of our presents. He sat down next to me and pulled my legs over his lap. After he gave me a peck on the lips, he handed me my present.

"Now, I know we said not to spend too much on each other, but when I saw this I knew it was perfect." He told me.

I ripped into the wrapping paper, which amused Tobias, and opened the box.

I gasped. "Tobias, this is beautiful."

I placed the box on my lap and took the necklace out. It was simple but elegant, with a single diamond, attached to a silver chain. I unclasped it and motioned to Tobias to put it on for me. He pulled all of my golden hair to one side and clasped the chain around my neck, placing delicate kisses all the way along my neck.

I giggled and lightly pushed him back. I looked nervously at the box in his hands.

I looked up into Tobias' eyes. "Okay. The initial gift wasn't expensive at all. But, in the future it will get more expensive, but I love it, and I am sure that you will too."

After a confused look, he took the present from me and put it up to his ear, shaking it slowly. There was no sound.

Tobias brought the present down into his lap and delicately untied the bow, and then the colourful Christmas paper. After folding the wrapping paper back up, he opened the lid of the box, and moved the tissue paper out of the way.

He looked down at the contents of the box and his eyes got bigger. He then looked back up to me, looking for confirmation. I smiled at him with tears in my eyes and gave him a slow nod.

Tobias placed the box carefully on the coffee table, gently pushed my legs off his lap and stood up. Tears were running down my face, thinking the worst, when he reached down and picked me up off the couch, spinning me around and laughing. I automatically wrap my legs around his waist and he stops spinning me, looking up into my wet eyes. He gently rubs his thumb under my eyes, catching the stray tears escaping my eyes, and I do the same for him.

We both turn our heads to the coffee table, and staring back at us is the two pink lines confirming that this will be our last Christmas alone.