"HALLOWEEN IN AN ELEVATOR"

PART 1 of 2 - Tobias' POV

Disclaimer/Warning:

I do not own the rights to Divergent, it's characters, etc. This is just my fanfiction.

This story is rated M/MA (language and sexual content). So please only read if you're of an appropriate age.

I grab the 12-pack of beer off the counter and head for my front door, running through my mental checklist to make sure I have everything; phone, keys, wallet. Then I grab my jacket off the hook by the door, before locking up and heading down the hallway towards the elevators.

As I round the corner, I see my neighbor from across the hall is also standing and waiting for the elevator. The very one that I heard just might be at this party, since it turns out my buddy Will happens to know her.

She hears my footsteps and steps to the side slightly to allow me more room to wait beside her, and offers me a shy smile as she meets my eyes for a moment.

We've been neighbors for about a year now, and I have to say- I've been more neighborly with her than I have with anyone before.

I usually just keep to myself when it comes to strangers, and they seem to do the same with me. I guess I just don't find the need to strike up conversation if it's not necessary. Unless of course I'm with friends or family, that's different. I'm much more laid back and fun. I just don't have a lot of desire to socialize with people I don't know.

With this girl though, she had introduced herself a few days after moving in last October, and we always said our brief hello's whenever we would run into each other in the hallways or elevator. But by her initiation, our conversations gradually grew, and I'd say we've become friends now.

"Hi, Tris." I greet her with a kind smile back. "Got a hot date with a beast tonight?"

This girl, who mind you- is already gorgeous, is wearing fairly tight white button up shirt with a blue dress over it. Especially with the apron, hair style and black heels, I'd say she appears to be the girl from Beauty and the Beast...Belle?

I appreciate that she seems to have made it herself, rather than just purchasing it. But she did a great job with it, and it's very recognizable.

I can't help but notice how it's tight fitting and flattering on her, without showing a ton of skin and being slutty like many of the costumes that the girls our age wear. Not that I don't admire a girl's body, but it more just makes me uncomfortable. And they all just want to hook up, and I'm not interested in that.

I've had a girl in mind for a while now, and although I know she's unattainable, a guy can dream, right? Or at least she's set a good example for me as far as what I want to look for in a girl. But underneath, I know it wouldn't be the same. I want her, I want Tris all to myself. I know it's selfish, but it's like she put a spell on me. I think about her all the time, and I find myself finding reasons to come and go, just in hopes to run into her more often in the hallways. It's ridiculous and I feel like a dumbass, childishly crushing on the neighbor girl and trying to subtly flirt without being inappropriate.

"No," she laughs, "no beast, no date. My friends talked me into being Disney princesses with them. Not my first choice of costume, but it could be worse." she replies, her mouth lifting on one side again to form her adorable smirk as she looks me up and down, "Not a costume guy yourself? Can't say I'm all that surprised."

The elevator opens for us and we step inside. I'm closer to the button panel, so I hit '1' so that it takes us to the main lobby floor.

"Hey, I dressed up! I'm just more of a low-key costume guy," I tell her, unbuttoning the top couple buttons of my shirt to reveal the tight superman shirt I have on underneath, "I'm Clark Kent," then I pull the black framed glasses from my coat pocket and put them on and smile at her. I attempted to comb back my hair like Clark Kent, but besides that, I didn't put in much further effort. So I wouldn't be surprised if she laughs in my face, but I don't care. I love her laugh.

"Very nice, you actually pull that off pretty well," she replies, reaching over to play with the collar of my shirt to get a look at the superman one underneath it. "This would make a good couple's costume- are you meeting a Lois Lane?"

"Nope, it's all about saving the world tonight, it's Halloween after all."

She chuckles at my stupid joke and nods along. "Alright, can't complain about that."

"I'm actually heading to Will Hughes house since he's having a small party. Is that where you're headed too? He mentioned he invited you and your friend Christina, who I think he has a huge crush on," I chuckle.

I see her smile, but before she can answer, the elevator jerks to a halt and the lights go out. Tris almost loses her balance, but she grabs a hold of me at the same time that I reach out to steady her with my free hand.

Within seconds, an emergency light has come on above the button panel. It dimly illuminates the space enough for us to see, but it's not nearly as bright as usual.

I'm feeling slightly claustrophobic, as I don't generally like being in such confined spaces. But I've gotten used to the fairly quick six floor ride to and from my apartment. Being stuck in here though, is another story. But I push that out of my mind the best I can. Now is not the time to deal with that nonsense, not in the presence of her, if I can help it.

My arm still brace hers, holding onto the area of her arms just above her elbows.

"You okay?" I ask, wanting to make sure even though she appears to be fine. I realize then that I'm rubbing my thumb back and forth soothingly over her arm, even though it's over the sleeve of her dress,

"Yeah, I'm fine, just startled." She looks at me with a look of gratitude, "Thank you for catching me, I'm already terrible on heels, I would've surely fallen on my ass without you."

She picks up the grocery bag she had dropped and then suddenly looks back up at me, as if realizing something.

"Are you alright? I didn't even ask-" she begins, but I cut her off with my words and smile.

"I'm fine," I assure her, "Now, I'm going to see if I can figure out what's going on here."

I then set the box of beer down in the corner and go check out the control panel for the call button. I press it and wait, and thankfully the property manager eventually picks up.

"Hello? This is Johanna," she answers.

"Hi, Johanna, it's Tobias. Tris and I are stuck in the elevator, I think somewhere between the second and third floor."

This isn't the first time I've had to make this call to our landlord. The first time it happened though, was due to a power outage in the storm last year.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry sweetie! I'll try to get a hold of the maintenance company, they have a 24-hour line and they're usually pretty quick to respond. You alright to sit tight for a short while?"

I look to Tris and she shrugs and nods. We obviously don't have much of a choice anyway.

"I mean, the sooner the better, but yeah. We're good."

"Alright, I'll let you know when I hear back from them."

"Thanks, Johanna." I reply and then it goes silent.

I turn to face Tris with an apologetic smile as I slide down to sit on the floor and lean my back against the wall. "Sorry, looks like you're stuck with me for a bit longer. But I can't say I'm surprised, I've been stuck in here once before."

I pull the beer box next to me and pat the top of it, encouraging her to sit on it. It's still full and is a sturdy box, so should easily hold her weight. This way she doesn't have to sit on the dirty floor.

She thanks me and sit down.

"Me too actually," she tells me, straightening out her dress over her tights or stockings or whatever girls call them, "Just not dressed as a Disney character." she adds with a chuckle.

"You did? When? Was anyone else with you?" I ask, my curiosity taking over.

She laughs at my barrage of questions.

"Yeah, it was a couple of months ago. It was really early in the morning, and I was on my way to work, so that sucked. I was 20 minute late. But I was stuck with Mrs. Peterson, so she kept me entertained with her stories of her crazy days in the sixties. And somehow we even found out we have the same birthday."

"Mrs. Peterson is only 24?" I ask with an inquisitive smirk. I don't know what it is with the stupid jokes around her. I guess I just like to see her laugh and smile.

She rolls her eyes, but still laughs. "We each have a birthday on November 6th."

"Ah, I see."

"When's your birthday by the way?"

"December 15th, I'll be 26."

She nods and pulls her grocery bag onto her lap before opening it up and breaking open a bag of assorted Halloween candies.

"Well, never too old for candy, right?" she teases as she snags a Milky Way and then offers me the bag, encouraging me to have some. "Plus, now that I know your birthday, I can make you cupcakes."

At that comment, I think about our past together, and all the amazing things she's baked and cooked for me.

Our first lengthy time hanging out together, was when I knocked on her door to ask her if the dress shirt I bought was good to wear to a friend's wedding, since I hadn't gone to a wedding since I was 12. She had agreed, saying it was perfect. But that it needed to be ironed since it was so wrinkled. When I looked unsure and considered my options- to actually go purchase an iron and ironing board, or take it to a dry cleaner, she had interrupted my thoughts and offered to do it for me.

From then on, every so often, we help each other out. I repaired her dishwasher. She helped me wrap presents at Christmas. I've replaced her out-of-reach light bulbs and air filters, and even did a minor tune-up on her car. And she likes to occasionally surprise me with extra food she's made. I admire that she really is pretty much the sweetest girl I've ever met, but she's still feisty. She's got this fire, this energy that omits from her that inspires and intrigues me. I know it's terrible for me to feel this way about another guy's girl, but it's not like it's something I can control. Plus, she's allowed to have male friends, right? I've never insinuated anything beyond friendship, despite how attracted to her I am. She's taken, and I respect boundaries.

I decide to need to divulge further into this cooking habit of hers since she kind of brought it up. I want her to know how much I appreciate her.

"You really like to cook, huh?" I ask, smiling at her as I reach for a bite-sized Snickers bar.

I swear I think I might see a slight blush on her cheeks, but it's too hard to tell in this lighting.

"Is it too much? Should I stop? You can always turn my stuff down you know, I won't be offended."

I see her look down to her lap and she fiddles with the hem of her apron. I could sense her reticence and it almost makes me want to chuckle. But I feel too guilty for not letting her know how thankful I am.

"No way, Tris, are you kidding? Everything you make is the best. And you're very sweet to share with me so often...I'm just not very good at showing my gratitude."

"Yes you are, you're always helping me out and randomly picking me up food too." she says, and I'm relieved when I see that small smile dawn her face again.

I guess she's referring to when I snagged her some chicken soup and crackers when she was sick, or when I've said I ordered too much pizza. But still, that's practically no effort at all in comparison to the stuff she makes and shares with me.

"Well, I want you to know I've always appreciated it." I explain and she smiles at me again with that hint of shyness.

"Did you think otherwise?" I ask, hoping I've never come off as a jerk or something.

"No, I hadn't actually really thought much of it until Christina started teasing me about it. Then I worried I was being weird and started analyzing everything.

"You're a really good cook, why would Christina tease you about that? Has she actually tasted your food before?"

I pat the side of her leg to encourage her to stand up for a moment. She does, and I break open the beer box to grab a bottle for each of us. I hand her one once she sits back down.

"That's not really the part she teases me about." Tris replies with a chuckle and a shake of her head, but doesn't divulge further. "But enough about that, how's work?"

We catch up for the next 15 minutes or so, and I find it interesting how I actually just like sitting and talking with her like this. I always have. Most people would be irritated being stuck in an elevator like this, especially people that hate small spaces. But I am more than happy to spend my whole night right here beside this girl.

"Hey, how's your sister doing? How's your new niece?" Tris asks.

"They're both really good, Ellie just turned a month old. Want to see?"

I pull my cell phone from my pocket as Tris leans in to get a good look at the screen, excited to see the adorable baby. I pull up my recent texts with my sister, and immediately regret it as I see the messages I forgot we had exchanged earlier.

Julia- 4:08pm: Don't just stay home tonight- go out and have fun!

Julia- 4:08pm: Maybe you should finally ask out your cute neighbor! ;)

My meddling sister couldn't just forward me the photo of Elouise in her ducky costume onesie. Nope, she had to follow it up with that text that Tris probably just saw.

Plus, she never replied to say how she knows I like Tris! They've only met once that I'm aware of, which was when Tris came knocking, asking to borrow a cube of butter. My sister had been 9 months pregnancy and over at my place complaining about being cooped up at her house all week.

She had seemingly been curious when Tris had followed me so casually into my kitchen, so she immediately beckoned Tris over from where she was sprawled out on my couch. From there, she introduced herself and listened as Tris explained how we know each other. But the whole interaction couldn't have taken more than 5 or 10 minutes. How did she get that vibe from me that quick?

Tobias- 4:13pm: Mind your own business! And how do you even know I like Tris? Besides, she has a boyfriend!

Tobias- 4:14pm: You have an adorable little duckling there by the way. I want to see her again soon. Give her kisses from Uncle Toby.

But if Tris noticed these messages, she doesn't mention it. She just coos at the screen that now shows the little bundle that is my niece, mid-yawn.

I swipe the screen and show her a couple more pictures, forgetting that there's one of me in there from a couple weeks ago as well. It's of me sitting in my sister's big recliner, holding the pink beanie covered baby in my arms smiling down at her.

I had never really held a baby before, well besides when I held her the day she came home from the hospital. But it's actually kind of incredible.

I continue on, but Tris swipes back to that particular picture and looks at it for another second before looking up at me. "She's adorable. And this is a great picture of her and Uncle Toby, you should frame it and put it up somewhere. You don't have any pictures up in your place!"

Her 'Uncle Toby' comment might seem like a clue to the fact that she must have seen those texts just now, but that may not be the case since she's actually referred to me as that several times since my niece was born. In fact, I think she's the reason I refer to myself as that once in a while, like in that message.

"I'll consider it." I tell her and click my phone off. "How have you been by the way? Are you excited about going to New York City? That's coming up, right?" I ask, knowing she's been planning a trip there with her boyfriend for a while now, and if I remember correctly, it's in a few weeks.

"I'm actually not going to New York now." she replies softly.

My eyes dart to hers with concern. I know she was really excited about this trip, and I know she had already been approved for the time off at work. So I'm curious as to why she's not going. "What? How come?"

"Peter and I broke up."

Author's Note:

Yes, it's currently November 6th and I'm posting a Halloween themed little one-shot. But better late than never, right?

I had to split this one-shot into two parts, so if youre interested, go check out part 2! It's already posted! It includes some smut, so consider yourself warned.

Let me know what you think!

:-)

-Madison