A/N: I'm ba-ack! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed or liked these stories. I'm having so much fun writing them and your feedback is really a great incentive! Milner outdid herself on this one as beta and has my everlasting and undying devotion.

Heat: blistering, intoxicating, all-consuming.

Tris gloried in the heat, saturating herself in it, and in the man creating it with her. She clutched at his back, loving the feel of the stretch and flex of his muscles underneath her fingers. Tobias moved over her, inside her, each deep thrust sending Tris closer and closer to the edge. She arched her back, sliding her hands down to his wonderfully firm ass, squeezing and encouraging him to move faster.

Tobias half moaned, half laughed, and trailed his lips up her neck to her mouth. He kissed her deeply, his tongue darting in and out of her mouth in rhythm with each thrust of his hips. He shifted his weight to one side, allowing his lips to trail down her neck again, crossing her collarbone until he could take her nipple in his mouth. Tris's eyes squeezed shut, a sigh escaping as each swirl of his tongue increased the tension between her legs. He shifted to the opposite side, repeating his actions, ensuring equal attention to all her parts. She trailed her hands softly up his back, not noticing the scars that criss-crossed the otherwise smooth skin, and grasped his shoulders.

Tris knew she couldn't hold back much longer. When Tobias shifted his hips slightly to rub against the special spot inside of her, Tris squeezed his shoulders and gasped out his name. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes, her entire body bathed in ecstasy with each pointed movement. She was still coming down from her own high when Tobias groaned, releasing himself inside of her.

They lay together, gasping for breath, their hearts racing. Tobias moved slightly to the side and slid down her body, pillowing his head on her breasts, his arms wrapped around her waist. Smiling slightly, Tris ran her fingers through his wavy brown hair. Her favorite part of making love with Tobias was how he held her so closely afterward, as though he was loathe to let her go. She knew exactly how he felt: God knew how much she hated breaking physical contact with him.

After a several minutes, he raised his head. Tris opened her eyes, expecting to see his ocean blue ones staring back, but she was surprised at how dark the room was around them.

"Didn't we leave the light on?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I was a bit…preoccupied." Tris could hear the amusement in his voice, and she laughed with him.

"Yeah, well, I think you killed off a few of my brain cells, so I'm not exactly as my best either," she teased. She leaned over to the bedside lamp and flipped the switch: nothing happened. Tris frowned. "Hmm. The bulb must've burned out."

Tobias slid out of bed and headed into the bathroom, flipping the switch. Again, nothing happened. "Hey, babe? I think the powers out."

Tris felt along the bedside table and opened the drawer, searching for her flashlight. She flipped it on as Tobias sat down on the bed, reaching for his cell phone; he swiped across it and frowned. He got back up and quickly and walked over to the window, parting the blinds. "Hey, Tris? C'mere for a sec."

Tris slid out of bed and joined him at the window, watching the snow swirling all around. "Oh, wow."

The 'slight chance of flurries' the weather predicted had turned into a full-blown snowstorm, one that had apparently knocked the power out in the neighborhood; the streetlights and all the other buildings they could see were dark. Tris grabbed her phone off the bedside table and pulled up the electric company's app. "Well, the power is definitely out, and there's no estimated time on when it will come back on."

Tobias ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, well, we can't go to my place now, it's too bad out there. We'll just have to tough it out here." He headed to his side of the bed and began to feel around, pulling on his boxer-briefs and t-shirt.

"It's going to get cold without the heat. We should switch to the flannel sheets. Can you get them and the big comforter from the hall closet? "

"Sure." Tobias followed her into the bathroom where she lit the vanilla jar candle she kept there, and took the flashlight into the hall. He clamped the end of it between his teeth, and started to ask her which were the flannel sheets when she called out, "It's the black and white checked ones!"

He shook his head, his lips curving into a smile; it was like she could read his mind. Tobias found the sheets quickly and reached up to pull down the comforter, wondering why she put it up where she couldn't easily reach it. As he pulled it down, he saw something dark behind it. Reaching up, he found a battery operated lantern. He turned the switch and to his delight, it turned on.

"Hey, look what I found," he said as he walked the bedroom, holding up the lantern for her to see.

She had slipped into her robe and already stripped the thin cotton sheets off the bed; she smiled when she saw the lantern in his hand. "Oh, wow, I forgot I had that!" She walked over and took the lantern from him, running her hand across it affectionately.

"I'm guessing there's a story there."

She nodded. "Yeah. When I was fifteen, my dad decided we should begin a new family tradition of camping. He bought this lantern, sleeping bags, tents, the whole shebang for the trip, but we only used it that one time." She chuckled a little. "That trip was a total disaster. First I burned my hand trying to help Dad build the campfire. Then, my mom and Caleb wandered into poison oak when they were gathering more firewood. And then dad ended up burning the baked beans and hot dogs in this kettle thing he bought to go over the campfire. To top it all off, while we were sleeping, a raccoon or something got into the cooler because he forgot to latch it and ate everything! We woke up to trash and wrappers all over the campsite. Dad packed us up immediately and took us to the nearest IHOP on our way home, where we vowed to never go camping again. Dad said it wasn't worth the bills!" Tobias laughed as Tris's smile turned wistful and a little sad. "I miss them," she said softly, running her fingers over the handle of the lantern again.

Tris's parents had died in an earthquake while on a missionary trip to Indonesia. Tris had been in her freshman year of college, her brother in his sophomore. She hoped Caleb would come back to Chicago after that, or even Illinois, but he chose to stay in California. They emailed regularly but Tris often felt as though she'd lost her whole family at once. She had her college roommate, Christina, to lean on but otherwise, she had been mostly on her own.

Tobias brushed a soft kiss across her forehead. He knew the loss of her parents would always ache, no matter how much time passed. He could only partially relate: he hated his parents, but he did miss Joe, the patriarch of the Pedrad family who'd taken Tobias in as a teenager. "It's nice you've got good memories," he said, slipping his arms around her to give her a comforting hug.

She nodded against his chest then pulled away. "I'll change the sheets if you find us some warm pajamas."

They turned, each to their assigned chore. Tobias rooted through her drawers, pulling out her flannel ones; they were gray and pink plaid, and he thought they were completely adorable on her. He reached into the drawer designated as his and grabbed a long sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants.

He turned to see her honey blonde hair fall over her shoulders as she bent to tighten the fitted sheet. The words he'd been holding back all night were poised, right there on the edge of his lips, dying to come out. He hesitated in asking her, though; they'd only been together four months. He was worried she would think it was too soon.

"Hey, you okay?"

He blinked and realized she'd nearly finished making the bed while he was staring into space. She held the flat sheet in her hand as she looked at him quizzically. "Oh, yeah. Uh, how much of a charge do you have on your phone?" he asked, handing her the flannel pajamas while taking the sheet from her. She pulled off her thin robe in exchange for the warm pajamas. Tobias was a little sad that she wouldn't be sleeping naked next to him, but it was going to get cold fast without heat. He smoothed the sheet out, then pulled the comforter over the bed.

She picked up her phone off the bedside table. "About sixty-five percent."

He slipped into the sweatpants and swapped the short sleeved t-shirt for the long sleeved one. "Okay, let's turn it off so we save the charge. I have to leave my Bureau phone on, so that should take us through the rest of the night."

"Okay. You know, we can't warm up the pizza."

He grinned at her. "Personally, I love cold pizza."

"College food it is then!" She entwined her fingers with his and led him into the kitchen, setting the lantern on the counter and pulling the box from the fridge. Rather than dirty plates, they just grabbed the cold slices right out of the box.

"See, no need for heat," Tobias mumbled, swallowing a huge bite.

Tris raised an eyebrow. "I'm not so sure about that, but I have to admit, it isn't bad."

He looked at her, his eyes wide. "You never ate cold pizza?"

Tris smirked. "I'm a girl, Tobias."

"That's no excuse for an appalling lack of experience."

She laughed and grabbed a Tupperware container, putting the extra slices into it. He watched her move around the kitchen and again he started to ask her the question that had been on his mind for weeks. He opened and closed his mouth, again and again, finally sighing to himself as he once again lost his confidence.

She put the Tupperware into the refrigerator, glancing at him over his shoulder and thinking he'd been acting slightly funny. All night it looked like he wanted to say something, but then he'd stay quiet. "I guess we don't have to worry about the food spoiling," she said, for a lack of anything better.

Tobias nodded. "True. It's already getting a bit chilly in here."

Tris nodded and yawned. "Let's get to bed." She reached for his hand and they headed for the bedroom after he picked up the lantern. Tris started to climb in, but Tobias put his hand on her arm. "I've got an idea." He grabbed the sheet and comforter and flipped them both over so the comforter was against the mattress. She looked at him, confused, but he just grinned at her. "Lay down on the edge of the bed." He put the lantern on the bedside table and switched it off.

She got in bed and he laid on top of her. Grinning, he grabbed her around her waist with one arm, then took the end of the sheet and comforter in his other. He rolled, pulling the blankets with them so they were wrapped together like a giant burrito. Tris giggled.

"Ta-da!" he said. "Comfy cozy."

"You have completely lost your mind," she said, nuzzling into the curve between his neck and shoulder, "But this is pretty warm."

He ran his hand gently up and down her back. "I'm a genius. Admit it."

"Mmm. I admit it." She snuggled into him. "I do wish we were at your place, though. Your heat is better than mine."

The statement left him with a perfect opening; he couldn't put off the question any longer. "You know, if you moved in with me, you'd be warm all the time."

Tris raised her head, wishing she could see him better in the darkness of the bedroom. "What did you say?"

Tobias took a deep breath. "I think it's obvious, Tris, how much I love you."

She chuckled against him, recalling their first declarations of love. "I may know something about that."

He smirked. "I want to be with you all the time. Move in with me. Please."

She traced her finger along his jawline. "This may be kind of fast…" Tobias drew in a breath to object but she put her finger on his lips. "But I don't care. I've never loved anybody as much as I love you."

A huge grin broke out across his face, and he leaned forward to kiss her deeply. She shifted against him and she could feel him stirring against her. She smiled against his lips, loving the way he always responded to her so quickly. "It's too bad we're wrapped up like a burrito," she murmured.

"We could always correct that," he said, his voice deep with desire.

She laughed and laid on his chest, snuggling into him again. "In the morning. Before we go to your place."

"Our place."

She smiled. "I like the sound of that."

He ran his fingers up and down her spine. "I think we're going to love it."