Chapter 1:
A/N: Hi, everyone! If you didn't know, this is actually a sequel to my story, Fate Happens, and I might make some references to stuff that happened in that story, but you don't necessarily need to have read that, though you do understand this story with a deeper meaning. I love you all, and thank you for giving this story a chance!
TRIS POV:
I still remember the day Tobias decided to change my life forever, and no, this time I'm not talking about when he left me in my backyard, or when he cheated on me, I'm talking about the honorable, yet heart wrenching decision he made that forced me to view him as a different person. One I can happily say I look up to, and not because I'm short, but because as I sit at home alone I think of all the good he's doing for his country.
Flashback:
I'm sat inside our little office area, facing the setting sun outside, watching as the rays disappear behind the skyline of Chicago. The beautiful colors paint the sky a pinkish hue as the dark of night begins to make an appearance. I can't help but show a hint of a smile on my face as I look around at our new home. The whites, grays, and blacks contrasting each other with wood accents, giving our house a feeling of comfort, not that I would need that with Tobias around.
I look at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, the black numbers letting me know that he should be home any minute now. Tobias isn't anything if not punctual, so I suspect him to walk through our front door right...about…now.
I let a chuckle escape me as I watch the knob turn, signaling his arrival, as he comes through the door. I observe him as he slides his jacket off his muscular arms, hanging it on the hook sticking out of the wall, at the same time he glides his shoes off using his other foot. No matter how long we've been together, I never get tired of admiring the man I've fallen in love with.
"How was your day?" I ask, gently, attempting not to frighten him as he has yet to see me.
He turns, making eye contact with me and smiles, though I notice how it fails to reach his eyes, "It was fine. Though Professor Baxter doesn't ever seem to make my day any better."
I grin at him, standing from my spot on the chair and walking over to him, his long arms enveloping me in a hug, then grabbing my hips to pull me into a greeting kiss. Gently he pushes away, leaving one hand on my face, while the other comes to push a strand of hair behind my ear.
"So, what do you want for dinner tonight?" I question, lacing my fingers together behind his neck.
"I was thinking that maybe I could make you dinner tonight, special treat."
"You hate making dinner." I frown, furrowing my eyebrows together in a look of confusion, "You've told me multiple times that you would much rather just clean up, then do the cooking."
I see something flicker across his eyes, though this emotion is gone within a second and I'm unable to clarify what he's feeling. My hands unwrap themselves from behind his neck and instead slide down his front, coming to a stop on his chest. I stare straight at his handsome face, hoping to catch a glimpse of this mysterious gaze he has, but instead he looks down, avoiding eye contact with me.
"Just let me do something nice for my girlfriend, without her questioning me. Plus we are graduating in two days, you deserve a treat." He begs, releasing his hands from my hips, and stepping back.
I sigh knowing that he will eventually have to tell me if it is something important, and nod my head slightly, allowing him to spoil me with dinner. Sitting back where I was previously, I watch as Tobias stalks into the kitchen and begins to slave away. Not much later I am smelling my favorite aroma, other than Tobias's manly scent, which happens to be risotto, the meal I adore the most.
A smile spreads across my face as I watch him put a fair serving of the creamy goodness onto two plates, then sets them down on the table. He makes eye contact with me as he pulls my chair out, signalling that dinner is ready to eat. I try not to rush to the seat, failing as my taste buds begin to water at the sight of the beautiful meal.
"Thank you for dinner, Tobias," I speak, before delving into the risotto as he sits in his own chair.
"It's no bother."
I internally roll my eyes as he says this. Any other day he would be going on and on about how he's so much better at just cleaning up than cooking the meal. However, today he seems off, like something is constantly wearing at him. I watch as he barely takes a bite of the risotto, taking what feels like ten minutes to finally swallow the small amount of food.
Something is wrong…
"Tobias, what is going on with you?" I question, trying not to be nosey, but his actions are starting to weigh on me.
"Nothing…" he pauses for a second, swallowing his second bite before continuing, "you need to worry about right now."
This time I can't hold back the eye roll, and he catches onto it quickly.
"Tris, it's not just something I can blurt out over dinner."
"So there is something going on?" I raise my eyebrows, my anger rising quickly at his vague description.
"Yes, but I don't…." he stops, glaring down at his food, and dropping his fork.
I wait a minute for him to continue, but he never does so I push him a little more, "...You don't….what?"
I hear him let out a harsh sigh before finally continuing, "I don't want to upset you, Tris."
My mind goes wild at his words.
Upset me? Why would anything he say upset me? What can he say to upset me? He's not breaking up with me...there's no way. We just bought a house together. He wouldn't do that….would he?
My heart races even faster than my mind does, and I can feel the wave of emotion hit me like a tsunami.
"Then don't." I reply, attempting with all my might to have a strong voice.
I can see the emotion from earlier stuck to his eyes, guilt. He was feeling guilty. Guilty of what though?
Without another thought I get up and walk over to the kitchen, trying my hardest to calm down as I reach for a glass and slowly fill it with water from the fridge. I close my eyes while listening to the quiet gushing of water, barely able to hear the inaudible scratch of his chair as he backs away from the table. I remove the glass from the button that was allowing water to fill my cup, and step back, opening my eyes to find Tobias watching my movements from the entrance of the kitchen.
Placing my water cup down on the granite countertop next to my hip, I slowly walk over to Tobias so I'm standing in front of him. I gaze up into his ocean blue orbs, pleading with my eyes for him to just tell me what he's been so hesitant about. He, however, puts his hands in his pockets and looks away.
"Please just tell me." I beg, grabbing for one of his hands, forcing it out of his pocket.
"I'm so sorry."
My eyebrows furrow at his statement, "What? What are you sorry about?"
He places his other hand on my cheek, caressing under my eye with his thumb as if I were crying.
"Tobias, please stop making me wait. I'm your girlfriend and we just bought this house together. I deserve to know, I need to kn-"
"I joined the army, Tris."
And with that, my heart stops, and his unnecessary caressing now needed as the first few tears slip free.
"What the fuck do you mean, Tobias. What do you mean you joined the army?" My voice is stern but hesitant at the same time, shaking at the possibility of what he just said being the honest truth.
He takes in a deep breath, his eyes searching the room for something before they land back on me, "I just, I have been feeling a little off lately, and-and, you remember Eric from work, he decided to enlist. The more I thought about it the more I've realized that this is a great opportunity to feel like I'm a part of something important and I just couldn't pass it up. So after our graduation on Wednesday, I'm going straight home and packing my things for training camp."
No words escape me as I stare into his eyes, wondering how his heart is so big, yet how he manages to scare the living piss out of everyone who gets on his bad side. I just gaze into his blue irises and convince myself that now is not a time that I can be selfish and ask him to stay. Now is not the time to scream at him for leaving me yet again. Now is not the time to cry until I stop feeling.
Now is the time to embrace his decision, and support him with my whole being.
"I love you so much, Tobias." I whisper, the tears stinging my eyes, but I refuse to let one more fall.
His eyebrows scrunch up as his eyes bore into mine, "So, you're okay with me leaving?"
"Yes, I support you, Tobias. I believe that the army just gained the best soldier they could have ever asked for."
Flashback over
He was so overjoyed that we didn't have to fight, and instead we were able to spend the rest of that night how I wish I could spend the rest of my life. Tobias has always been able to see everything from my point of view and understood where I came from, allowing his to be very supporting. He deserves nothing but the same from me.
Even though I didn't cry any more the night he told me, nor did I shed a tear the hours after college graduation as he said his goodbye to me, in more ways than one, but I do cry at times like these. Currently I'm sitting at the dinner table alone, my plate full of food, but my stomach turning at the thought of Tobias not safely here, but instead suffering the brutal training camps soldiers have to endure even before the real thing.
It has been two months since he left, and I've only received four phone calls from him. I guess there is something about how they have to earn phone calls and Tobias's group members tend to struggle a bit, or at least that's what he told me in the letters he sends me. In the first phone call he made sure to give me an address so I could send him letters, and slowly and gradually we have been conversing through letters.
Tobias is stuck there for another two weeks then I will be able to see him again before he's most likely sent off somewhere overseas. I'm so proud of him, but at the same time I worry that something will happen to him. But as of right now, I'm trying not to think too much of it as I finish my food, or at least try to.
A/N: hey guys. Yes I know it has been a year, and I do feel bad about it, but as I started writing it last year, and it just didn't feel right. So I guess you can say I took some time off, and I'm proud to say that as a person I've changed a lot. I'm hoping this will help aid my writing! I hope you have a wonderful day, or night, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
~divergent24-7
