357 days before
"Well," he begins, "it's a long story. Zeke was the one who started calling me that…gosh, I don't even remember. It's a nickname I can't explain, but I would rather everyone call me that."
"Why don't you like your real name," I ask him.
"It reminds me of my wonderful childhood," he sighs. He looks uncomfortable.
"I will not question you any further," I say, and I see a smirk creep onto his face. "What are you thinking about, To—Four?"
"Nothing," he mumbles, still smirking.
"I am having trouble believing you."
"I was thinking about you…"
"There you go again, being adorable!"
"Are you flirting with me, Tris?" still smirking.
I am no longer in control of my body. My brain screams what are you doing!? Don't kiss him! But before my brain had a chance to take control, my lips were on his cheek. Idiot idiot idiot. We stare into each others eyes. "Um…you should focus on the road," I say quietly, almost inaudible.
"Yeah," he reluctantly looks away.
…
I don't realize we're holding hands until we run into Caleb at the hospital. "Are you guys a thing now or what?" he asks. Then he turns to Tobias and says, "you better be good to her. You don't deserve her, hear me!?"
"Caleb, shut it up. We are not dating, okay? Calm down, before you have a heart attack," I tell Caleb.
"I'm 21 years old, the chance of me having a heart atta-"
"Shhhhhh, brother. Your mouth must be tired from running it all the time. No one cares." He rolls his eyes at me. Caleb and I have never been that close, considering the fact that we're Irish twins. I guess it's because our personalities are so different but…
The three of us walk to Mom's room together and as soon as we walk in, Caleb says, "This is Bea's boyfriend and he would like you get your blessing, Father."
I punch Caleb in the arm, hard. "For once in your life you have a sense of humor and it still sucks," I growl at him.
"Do I know you?" Mom asks Tobias. She stares at him for a moment and then smiles."You're Evelyn's boy. You grew up to be very handsome." Tobias just looks down at his shoes.
"Yeah," he mumbles.
"Wait, Mom you know him?" I ask. How would she already know him? That's why he's here, to introduce himself, but I guess that's not necessary now. "How?"
"She was friends with my mom, Tris," Tobias says. "I remember seeing her like two or three times growing up."
"You saw me more than that, you just don't remember,"Mom smirks. "Well, nice to meet you again," she extends her hand and he shakes it.
"Do you remember my name?" he asks her.
"Hmmm," Mom thinks for a bit. "Begins with a t…I remember your mother calling you Toby."
"That was just a nickname," he frowns. "I don't really like for anyone to call me that. Not now, anyway."
There is a silence between the two. And then Tobias breaks it by saying, "It was nice to meet you…again I guess. Tris, I'll wait for you outside. Take your time." And then he leaves.
I look at Mom, silently asking her for advice. "Go, Tris. It looks like it's about to storm really bad outside, anyway. You two don't really want to be trapped in a hospital during a storm like your brother, right?"
Caleb frowns and blushes. "I'm just spending time with you!"
"No, your nerd buddies don't want to be around you," I chuckle.
"Tris, leave your brother alone," Dad defends Caleb. I kiss both of my parents goodbye and go outside to the parking lot. I find Tobias, of course, sitting on the hood of my car. He was right, my hood will have our butt prints on it. I sit next to him.
"You alright?" I ask. He shakes his head no. "What's wrong?"
"It's just…I don't wanna talk about it." He looks up at the sky. "We should probably go."
"Good idea."
We get into my car and we hear a roll of thunder, quickly followed by rain. "I don't want you to drive in this all the way to my apartment," I say, extending my arm out of the window to get it soaked. I don't know why, but I love the feeling of cool rain hitting my skin. What I don't like is the feeling of my wet clothes sticking to my body. I'm weird like that.
"My apartment isn't too far from the music store, should we go there?" He suggests. I nod in agreement.
…
"Sorry for the mess." We stand in the doorway of apartment 4-6, his apartment. His jacket is over my head because he didn't want me to get wet. He stands soaked, drenched from head to toe. And by mess, he means sheet music scattered throughout the floor.
"Believe me, my bedroom is much worse. And it doesn't look messy, it just shows your passion."
He smiles at me and walks into the kitchen. I slip my shoes off. "Want anything to drink?" He looks in the fridge. "I've got water and…that's it. I need to go to the store."
"Sure, thanks," He hands me a bottle and I take a sip.
"Um…excuse me while I go change into not rain soaked clothes," he smiles and walks down the hallway. I hear a door close.
I look around the small apartment. I walk into the living room—which is four steps away from the kitchen—and sit on the couch. There are a few pictures on the wall around the TV. One looks like him, Zeke, and Shauna as kids. Another is of him and Amar both holding guitars—this one looks more recent, like maybe a year ago.
One of the pictures is of a very young boy—I'm pretty sure it's Tobias—and a curly haired woman with tan skin. Is that his mother?
"I still miss her," he says. Where'd he come from?! Why didn't I hear him!?
I turn around and face him. He now wears an old gray sweatshirt and holds a blue quilt in his arms. "You have got to stop sneaking up on me." I say, and a smirk creeps onto my face.
He sits next to me on the couch and wraps his arm around me. A bolt of lighting outside lights up the apartment. "Sorry," he pulls the blanket over us. I smile and rest my head on him. "Wanna watch a movie?" he asks, turning the TV on.
"Sure," I say as I pull the covers over my mouth. "What did you have in mind?"
"Have you ever seen 'My Neighbor Totoro'?"
"Yeah! I used to watch it all the time as a kid!"
"I used to too!" He jumps up and inserts the disc into the Blu-Ray player. He grabs another remote and comes back to the couch. He hugs his knees to his chest under the blanket and I rest my head on his shoulder.
We sit, watching the movie, and listening to the booming thunder outside. "Hey, uh, Tris?" He looks at me.
"Hmm?"
"I just wanted to tell you that…I really enjoy spending time with you." He blushes.
I smile. "You're not too bad to be around yourself." I scoot closer to him and look into his eyes. They are a very odd shade of blue. He leans in closer and our faces almost touch. There is way too much space between us.
"Well, as long as you can put up with me…" We stare into each others eyes.
"I think you'll find that I'm the one who needs to be put up with," I lean in a little closer. Still too much space.
He chuckles and moves in closer, placing a hand on my cheek. Too much space. Then, his lips connect with mine, but I don't pull away, I can't pull away.
I wrap my arms around his neck and move as close to him as I can. Why haven't I pulled away yet?
My hands go into his hair as I deepen the kiss, trying to get closer…closer…
We kiss for almost two minutes when I realize that we shouldn't be doing this. I can't be in love with him. I can't.
I pull away and we stare into each others eyes. "I-I'm so sorry, Tris. I shouldn't have-"
I put a finger to his lips as he tries to apologize. "No, it's okay. I just…got a little uncomfortable," I move my finger. He doesn't look at me, and his cheeks are red with blush. "We don't need to tell our friends," I say as we hear a huge roll of thunder. This storm isn't letting up.
"Yeah," he mumbles, without looking my direction.
…
"Tris," Tobias whispers in my ear. I currently lie on his couch with the blanket covering me. I must've fell asleep.
"What time is it?" I croak, and I frown at my own voice.
"Almost two o'clock in the morning," his hair looks tousled, like he just woke up himself. "The storm has calmed down a bit, but it's still raining. It looks like it's flooding outside too."
"Oh."
"If you want, you can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."
"I don't want to make you sleep on the couch, Tobias," I frown. "If there's enough room, we can be together."
"Tris, I've slept on the couch many a nights, I'll be fine."
I frown at him and stare into his eyes, silently disagreeing with him. "I'm not letting you."
He sighs. "If you insist."
"I do insist."
He smirks and lifts me up from the couch, carrying me over his shoulder. I kick and punch at him playfully.
We both lay in his bed, facing each other. "Goodnight," I whisper to him. He just closes his eyes and smiles.
"Night."
