Chapter 8

So, DoctorFangirlOfIllea asked me on the topic of whether or not I'm planning on writing a new story after this. I definitely am, and I definitely have an idea. But, sadly I cannot reveal my plans. Only three people know as of now.

-Next Friday-

Tobias P.O.V.

"Hm, let's see what we've got here," I mumble to myself as I scroll on my computer.

She always returns your text—quicker than you do hers.

Tris often texts back just as quick as I do.

She often finds excuses to touch you. As if she were telling joke, and touches your arm while laughing.

Is it just me, or does this explain Tris?

Suddenly, you're the funniest one of the group.

She does laugh at my jokes often…

She wants to know what goes on in your life. She wants to be updated.

We certainly talk every day.

If her hand often brushes against yours, she wants you to hold it.

We often hold hands.

"Just getting comfortable," she says when she wants to snuggle.

Been there, done that.

I am pathetic. Zeke told me to look up some dumbass bullshit website for advice on whether or not a girl likes you. Supposedly it helped Zeke ask out Shauna. So I guess it's not dumb or bullshit. Tris and I's situation is different though. We act like a couple, except we don't kiss, when I think about it.

I just need to not think about it.

But, of course, Tris is knocking on my door frame at work. I quickly minimize the screen and look up.

"Hey, what—"

"So, I had this great idea and I don't want to lose it, so sorry for interrupting you. But what if we had a party with all of our friends at your house since my apartment is so small? But there'd be a twist. We have a contest on who makes the best pancakes, then, when we're done, we start a war with it in the kitchen, but only you and I are in on it. I'll totally help you clean up," she says with a bright and excited smile. How can I say no to that face?

"I don't think so, Tris," I saay, rather than no.

"But, Tobias—!"

"We're using waffles." I smirk.

"But pancakes are better," she whines.

"My house, my rules."

She sighs. "Fine. I don't even understand why you like those stupid things anyway," she says quickly and sticks her tongue out. She knows how I feel about waffles. I'll eat pancakes, but I prefer waffles. Immensely. Just after, she runs out of my office.

I spin out of my swivel chair, quickly running after her. She may have more petite legs than I do, but she can run extremely fast since she doesn't weigh much. Unlike her, I have long legs, but a bigger body mass. But we even out to run at the same pace. I see her run into the staff break room and close the door, most likely locking it.

I laugh. She can be so daft sometimes. I get out my keychain of every key and find the one that belongs to the break room. I open the door to see Tris wide-eyed and drinking a water bottle. She sets down the water bottle and puts her hands up in surrender. Since there's nobody else in here, I close the door and walk toward her. She slowly backs away, smiling. She looks past me, evilly grinning. I turn around, seeing what she's evilly grinning at.

Then, I see whipped cream, syrup, and pancakes being thrown into my face by Raekwon.

"Pancakes for life, bitch!" Tris yells.

I slowly wipe the whipped cream off my face, but there's a ton of syrup on my shirt. I walk over Tris and enclose her in whipped-creamiest, syrup-iest, most pancake-iest hug ever.

"Oh my god, To—Four! I can't believe you!" She tries to shove me off by pushing my chest, but ends up getting syrup on her hands.

I lean down and wipe my cheek on hers, getting whipped cream on her whole face. I pull back and wipe a bit of whipped cream off her nose and lick it. "Hm. Revenge sure is sweet, isn't it?"

"Fuck you," she growls.

"Maybe one day," I say, grinning, then I wink and walk out of the office.

I hear a frustrated grunt come from the room, then footsteps coming toward me, but I don't turn. Tris jumps on my back, wrapping her legs around my waist. I grab her thighs to keep her up. I'm giving my best friend a piggyback ride. Dear god, what has the world come to?

She whispers in my ear, "You're right, waffles are pretty amazing. I just wanted a reason to smack you in the face with pancakes."

I carry her into my office, closing the door behind me. She jumps off, and I immediately begin to tickle her sides. She falls to the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Tobias! Tobias!" she giggles. "St-stop." She laughs.

"Beg for—"

There is one knock on the door and the person immediately barges in, walking in on me tickling Tris.

"Hey, Fo—is this a bad time?" Zeke asks with a laugh.

"Oh my god, Zeke," Tris says breathlessly as she gets up. "I'm pretty sure he was about to kill me," she huffs.

"Was not," I say. "What's up, Zeke?"

"Well I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to the bar, but unless you have plans…?" Zeke asks with a look a between me and Tris.

"Actually, we all have plans. Four and I are having a waffle party at his house tonight.

Speaking of which, I should probably text everyone," Tris says.

"And what is all over you guys' shirts?" he asks with a chuckle.

I wave him off. "Long story. Tell you later."

"Okay, four teams. Couple are together then Four and I will be a team," Tris says.

"So all couples will be together?" Uriah clarifies.

"No, all couples, then Four and me."

"So, all couples?"

"No, the rest of you are in a relationship, while Four and I are not, so the couples, then Four and I are a team," Tris says, frustrated.

"You guys are practically a couple, you just don't kiss." Uri smirks.

Tris not-so-subtly rolls her eyes. "Okay, so since everybody has contributed and has brought their waffle makers—"

"Woah, woah, there, Tris. Why aren't we using pancakes?" Zeke questions.

"Well, Four's house, Four's rules," Tris points at me with her thumb. "I suggested pancakes, but no, Four Eaton is just too good for those."

I throw my hands in the air, as if I'm being arrested. "Waffles are better. Always have been, always will be."

"Don't lie to yourself, Eaton." Tris glares.

"Anyway," I continue, ignoring Tris for probably the first time in my life, "the judge will be Raekwon, a guy Tris and I work with. We have bought several boxes of mix, and whoever makes the best waffles will win."

"What do you get if we win?" Will asks.

"Well," I say, "you get to win of course."

Everyone chuckles.

"Let's get this show on the road. You have fifteen minutes. Everything in the pantry and fridge is available to you. And… begin!" I yell as I start the timer and set it on top of the fridge.

Everybody scurries to their station, starting the batter and trying to get to the sink to water the powdery mix, while Tris and I head to the fridge to get strawberries and whipped cream, on her part. She knew they'd be the first pick out of our friends, and we know Rae—or RaeRae, as Tris likes to call him—is fond of them. We get out my classiest plate because she knew it'd also be the first pick. I start the batter, which is fairly simple, while Tris adds her magic touch to the strawberries. I don't know what on Earth she did to them, but she did something amazing. I pour the batter in the machine and set some of Tris's magical strawberries on top of it, letting them sink into the batter. After three minutes, I flip it over and wait.

I step over to where Tris is doing her strawberry thing and whisper, "It's time."

She subtly nods, not glancing at me. She takes our extra bowl of batter, and swiftly walks over to Zeke and Shauna, who are next to us, and dumps a third of it onto their heads, then does the same to Uri, Mar, Chris, and Will.

"We never said anything about sabotage!" Tris shouts over all of their protests. "Tobias," she says to me quietly, "guard me while I finish everything." I nod, quickly taking the first waffle off of its maker and placing it in the center of the plate. I stand guard, blocking off anyone who tries to come near our plate or Tris.

Over the next ten minutes, we have our three waffles neatly stacked on top of each other with strawberries lying on the top waffle, along with the whipped cream. Along the circumference of the plate, she places her delectable strawberries, adding a touch of classiness.

"Tris, this looks great," I say, just as the timer goes off. "Time's up! Hands off everything!"

Everybody backs away from their plates, hands raised, giving me a better view of their dishes. it looks like Shauna and Zeke—or Team Amazingness, as Zeke likes to call them—made chocolate chip, Mar and Uri—or Team Wafflio, as Uri likes the call them—made blueberry, and Chris and Will—or Team Cinnalicious, as Chris likes to call them—made cinnamon waffles. I think our only real competitor is Team Cinnalicious because they actually look pretty appetizing. Well, that, and Raekwon doesn't like chocolate or blueberries. I remember Tris distinctly telling me he told her he hated those two things, which sucks for Teams Wafflio and Amazingness.

I throw Tris a smug smirk, and I know she's thinking the same thing.

"We're Team… Friendzone," I say with a chuckle.

She scoffs with a smile. "No, we're Team… Sexual Demon. Team Sexual Demon." She laughs hysterically, and I copy.

"No way. How about Team… Dauntless," I say with a shrug.

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Brave. Courageous. Valiant. Etc."

"I see. I like it. Where'd you find that fancy word?"

"The dictionary," I snicker. "But I actually heard it from a smart friend of mine from NY."

"Oh. Okay." Then, "Alright, let's get to RaeRae's!" she shouts. "It's one street down, so we can walk. I trust you all not to drop your plates."

We all walk out outside and onto the sidewalk.

"So," Tris says, "why did you name your company 'RedBulb'? I've been meaning to ask."

"Well, funny story actually," I say with a chuckle. "I could only afford red lightbulbs for the first one I opened in NY, so I kind of came up with the name RedBulb. Kind of thought it was catchy, but it still stands out, you know?"

She nods and smiles. "We should go sometime. To New York. You know, introduce me to Donald Trump," she teases.

I roll my eyes. "One time. That was one time."

"Or maybe we can be on the cover of Time Magazine for making the best waffles in the world." She chuckles.

"We could easily accomplish that."

"I was joking, but okay," she says, smile present on her face.

We approach Raekwon's house.

Tris knocks on his door, and a woman who looks about 26 or 27—presumably his wife—answers. Her eyebrows crease and she smiles. "Um, how can I help you?"

"We're here to see Raekwon," Tris says. "I'm a friend from work, and this is his boss Four," she says, glancing at me. "I'm Tris." She puts our her hand, holding the waffles in one and the other shaking the woman's hand.

"I'm Melanie, Rae's wife. May I ask why you all have waffles?" she asks while she opens the door more so we can step in.

"Well, I guess you will see," says Tris.

"Honey," Melanie shouts, "there are people here that come with waffles!"

Raekwon comes down the stairs carrying his daughter, Melody, if I recall correctly, who looks about three or four.

"Oh my gosh, Rae! You never told me you had a daughter! And a cute one at that!" Tris exclaims, admiring Melody. "What's your name? I'm Tris," she asks the toddler.

"I Melody." She smiles.

"Hi, Melody." Tris grins, totally beaming. "You're a very cute little girl."

"Thank you." Melody shyly smiles.

"So," Raekwon says, "you've come bearing my waffles?" He gives a small smile.

Tris nods.

"Come to the kitchen." Raekwon sets Melody down and leads us.

Melody is walking next to me, so I say, "Hi, Melody, I'm Four."

She scrunches her nose. "You don't look four."

I shake my head, smiling. "No, my name is Four."

"But four is a number, right?" She cocks her head to the side.

I nod. "It is. But I have weird name. I like yours though."

"Thanks!" She skips over to her dad, lifting her arms.

He lifts her up onto the counter and she swings her legs.

"Melanie, my dear friends from work named Tris and Four asked me if I could be the judge for their waffle-making contest, I of course said yes, which is why they are here. I forgot to tell you. I'm sorry. But now we get free waffles." He smiles. "Who are your friends?" Raekwon asks Tris.

"Well, this is Uriah and Marlene, who are Team Wafflio, then Zeke and Shauna, who are Team Amazingness, then Will and Christinia, who are Team Cinnalicious. Then Four and I who are Team Dauntless."

"You and Four already win because you have the best team name," he jokes. "Alrighty, let's test these babies."

We wall set down our plates on the counter and stand in front of them. First is Chris and Will.

His eyes light up in surprise once he tastes it. "Not bad," he mumbles.

He then moves on to Mar and Uri, scrunching his nose as he chews. "Well, for one, they're burnt, and two I hate blueberries."

Then Zeke and Shauna. Again , he scrunches his nose and shakes his head. "I hate hate hate chocolate. I don't even know why I tried it."

Then us. He takes a bite, eyes lighting up. "This extremely good. Who did the strawberries? They taste different, but a good different." He takes another bite.

Tris raises her hand.

"Four, did you even do anything?"

"Um… I made the batch of batter. And hosted the party." I chuckle.

Raekwon looks at Tris, then me, than back to Tris again. "Nice job, Tris."

He steps back and smiles. "The winner is…" he pauses dramatically long time, as if he were on TV. "Tris."

I hear multiple, "What?!"s and "Favoritism!"s come from our friends.

He shrugs. "Four, my man, you may be my boss, but did you honestly do anything to those waffles?"

I shake my head and laugh. "No, she did all the magic."

"Then, I officially declare Tris Prior the queen of waffles."

Melody jumps off of the counter and comes over with one of her toy plastic tiaras with pink feathers and reaches her arms up, saying she wants to put it on Tris.

Tris crouches down, squatting, and ducks her head, letting Melody put it on.

"Thank you so much, Melody!" Tris claps her hands together once.

Melody lifts her arms up again, motioning for Tris to pick her up.

Tris grabs her waist and pulls her up, resting her on her hip. Tris is so damn cute.

We leave soon after, letting Raekwon eat the rest of the waffles.

Tris takes off the tiara as soon as we walk out the door. "That thing was squeezing my brain into mush, I swear." She rubs her head wear the tiara pressed the most.

"You seem really good with kids. I remember you saying you wanted a family. How many kids?"

"Three. Two girls and a boy." She smiles.

"Really? Me too."

"Hm," Tris says with something in her voice that I just can't place.

"So, everybody has their dream names for their kids. What are yours?" I ask.

"Brooklyn, Rain, and Mitchell. I know, I know, Rain is a weird name, but I like it. I'd probably make it her middle name. What about you?"

I nod. "Mine would probably be Jo for the girl, BelleAnne, and Nathan."

She nods. "Maybe one day you can make a compromise with your wife." She smiles.

I smile, copying her. "You know, I think I want my kids' names to be Brooklyn Rain, Jo Belle, and Nathan Mitchell."

"Tobias." She laughs and shakes her head. "How do you know you're in love with me? What if you're in love with the old me?"

"Because I'm still getting to know the new you, and I fall in love with you even more each and every time I see you."

"But how do you know?" she presses.

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."