"Role of a Lifetime" (RATED M/MA)

Chapter 10 (TOBIAS' POV)

Reminder/Disclaimer:

I do not own the rights to Divergent or its characters. This is just my fanfic.

Tris and I pick up some Chinese take-out on our way to her house. She lets us in through the front door and I follow in behind carrying the two bags of delicious smelling food. But I can't help that my focus is on how well that dress hugs her backside. Fuck...look at her...

I watch as she hangs her purse on the hook by the door, and kicks offer her shoes, before making her way towards the kitchen. I kick off my own shoes and again follow her, setting the bags on the kitchen counter and wasting no time opening them up.

"Hungry?" she asks, amused at my impatience.

You have no idea sweetheart…

"Starving, actually." I smirk, although the double meaning thankfully goes right over her head as she grabs a couple of plates and I grab the chopsticks. She then grabs a couple of chilled beers from her fridge, offering me one of them.

"Thanks," I say, pulling out an egg roll and taking a bite. I momentarily regret it as it begins to burn my mouth and tongue, but I manage to suck in enough air to cool it down and enjoy the bite and get it swallowed down. I follow that up with a swig of my beer to cool down my mouth and throat.

The soft melody of her laugh has me looking to my left, where she's scooping some fried rice onto her plate. "You're welcome."

"Are you laughing at me?" I tease, not realizing I'm reaching in to tickle her side before my hand is already there doing it. The action causes her to spill a little on the counter, but hearing that laugh of hers yet again is worth the mess in my opinion.

"Tobias!" she scolds with a laugh, giving me a playful shove, "You almost made me spill the whole container, and then you wouldn't have been able to have any."

"It's a good thing you have ninja like reflexes." I remind her with a grin, but helping her to clean up the small spill nonetheless. "Why are you laughing at me anyway?" I ask, biting into the steaming hot egg roll again, this time having had dipped it in the sweet chili sauce.

"Because you always burn your mouth on your food. You're an impatient eater." she sits down at one of the bar stools, looking at me with that amused smile again.

"Impatient? Me?" I laugh, sitting down beside her and passing her one of the other containers.

"Whenever your food is in front of you, you just go for it. You never stop to blow on it to cool it off or anything! So I knew you'd burn your mouth, that's why I had handed you the beer right then."

I bark out a laugh then, she's totally right, but I banter back anyway, loving that we can be like this. "Maybe I like my food extra hot."

"Oh shut up, try this." she says, pulling an egg roll out of the white carton. I watch intently as she brings it up closer to her soft pink lips, which she's puckering as she blows softly on the hot fried food that still has steam visibly wafting from it.

I swear I feel my dick begin to harden at the sight, and I wonder if it's inappropriate to try and kiss her again this evening. Fuck, do I love kissing her...that mouth is perfection...

After she determines it is cooled down enough, she holds the egg roll up to my mouth to feed me a bite. "See? Not so difficult, try it. Still hot and delicious, but not scorching your taste buds."

My smile reflects hers and I lean in the rest of the way to take the proffered bite. She holds her other hand underneath to catch any crumbs, watching me as I chew, seemingly entrapped by the moment just as I am.

We hold each other's eye contact until I've swallowed the bite. I nod, making a silly comment even though we both know like she said, it's not that I don't know how to blow on my own food; I'm just an impatient eater. "You've got the technique."

She laughs, "You're ridiculous."

"You love it." I smirk and take a heaping bite of rice. Damn, this is good too.

She seems to blush slightly, but covers it well as she leans in for another bite.

"You're pretty irresistible."

I find myself grinning at that, not caring how sarcastic she tried to make it sound. I see that sweet little teasing smile gracing her face.

We continue to eat, talking and laughing between bites. We end up sitting there on her kitchen bar stools for over an hour, until Tris mentions she can't sit here anymore. "Alright, my butt is starting to get numb." she says, standing and stretching. "Shall we pack?"

"Good idea."

I help her clean up the mess and we put the few dishes we use in the dishwasher. It all feels a bit domestic, but I actually enjoy it.

When we're done, she leads me to the hall closet, and looks up to the top shelf.

"Okay, so it's a good thing I had you come help, I don't even remember how I got that up there." she chuckles, looking at the large suitcase shoved up there in the tight space.

I reach up and after some shifting and maneuvering; I manage to get it down.

"Awesome, thank you. I normally don't use this one, but it's much bigger, and we'll be gone for so long, I figure I'll need the space." she explains, "Here, let's bring it into my room."

''Yeah, this is about the size of mine."

I set it on her bed, unzipping it for her so that it's open and ready to start filling up, before taking a seat beside it.

"You don't actually have to do anything...you're welcome to turn on the TV or some music."

"Well, I'll do that too, but I don't mind helping, just tell me what to do."

She tosses me two remotes, which after looking at them I determine one is for her TV and the other for her iHome stereo. Although I couldn't help but notice her huge CD collection in the other room too. I smile to myself, thinking about how much she loves music.

As I turn on the stereo and hit play on whatever was playing last. I don't recognize it, but I like it. Meanwhile, Tris is pulling jeans and pants from dresser drawers and stacking them on the bed.

"Should I bring clothes for all weather types?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, we should expect some pretty good weather this time of year, but bring some cold weather things too just in case. And some bathing suits, we're definitely going swimming."

She gives me an adorable smirk, and turns back to her dresser.

"Who is this playing?" I ask, trying not to ogle as she bends over to her bottom drawer and pulls out a few bathing suits, tossing them on the bed as well.

"Metric."

"I haven't heard of them, I like it."

She continues to pack as we talk, and I watch as she tries on a few hats to see which is worth bringing, and when she adorably scrunches her nose upon having no luck finding sunscreen to bring.

When she begins packing her toiletries in the bathroom, I find myself reclining back against the headboard of her bed. But as she comes back and begins packing shoes and accessories, I move to a laying position on my side, my elbow on the bed with my hand propping up my head.

Not long after, she comes and sits on the other side of the bed, but up towards the pillows since the suitcase is in the way of the lower half. "Done."

"Really? Already?"

She chuckles, "Already? It's almost 11pm."

"Most girls would be up until midnight or later, stressing out over silly stuff," I smile.

"I'm not as picky as a lot of girls. And I try not to keep stuff in my closet I don't like to wear, so it makes it easy to pack." She shrugs.

I notice that she's sitting on what looks like 'her' side of the bed. The nightstand on her side has her phone and her alarm clock, as well as a pair of black-framed reading glasses sitting on top of a book.

I didn't know she wore glasses...fuck, I bet she's sexy wearing them. Of course she would be, she's gorgeous every time I see her. Look at her right now, how she's all curled up at the top of her bed...she's so flexible...

Back on track Tobias! Packing!

"Are you bringing your laptop and stuff? If so, don't forget chargers too."

"Yeah, I've already got those packed in my carry-on bag. I got it started already, but figured I'll finish it tomorrow morning. Shouldn't be too bad. Just adding things to it as I think of them." She continues.

We end up sitting and talking for a while longer, about a variety of things. I don't mean to keep her up so late, or overstay my welcome, but time flies when I'm laughing and having fun with her. And before I know it, her clock shows it's almost 12:30pm.

As she tells me about her biggest family vacation, a week in Montana visiting Yellowstone, I see how her eyes light up and how she looks so reminiscent and happy. Then I notice she's looking at me curiously, but offers me that shy smile anyway.

I've been caught staring at her.

"Sorry, I can't help it." I admit, smiling, but also feeling a slight tint to my cheeks and neck.

She smiles, bites that delectable bottom lip, before looking down at her lap bashfully.

When she looks back up at me, her big beautiful eyes look into my own, before swallowing and getting out what she wants to say.

"It's getting late, you can stay here if you want."

"Yeah?" I ask, and I realize our hands have migrated together, playing with each other's fingers.

She nods and yawns, causing me to as well.

"You um, you could even stay in here if you want...I mean, not like, ya know, to do that..." She gestures between the two of us with her cheeks tinting even redder as she tries to avoid saying the word sex, "but well, just sleeping...or cuddling, or whatever. This bed's just much more comfortable than the guest bedroom... but wherever you're more comfortable is cool." She says. She looks a little nervous though, so I immediately try and soothe her worry.

"That sounds wonderful," I say and I immediately see the relief wash over her face, "Another first...just for us. Right?"

"Yeah..." She whispers with a smile, "but we should probably still have a goodnight kiss." She adds before leaning over to give me just that.

Her lips meet mine expertly, and her tongue even comes out to play. But the angle from where she's at has her leaning awkwardly, so she ends up crawling over, causing me to lie onto my back so she can straddle me.

Just like I discovered after kissing her, having her in this position is better than I could have imagined. Feeling her long slender legs straddling my waist, her hands on either side of my head... I have one hand cradling her cheek out of habit, but the other dares to take purchase on her hip. New territory.

She doesn't seat herself fully on my lap, but that's probably a good thing, considering the hard-on I'm starting to sport by the feel of her soft lips against mine. It doesn't help that it's making me wonder what her other pair of soft lips might be like...but I know that's for another day. If I'm lucky.

So as much as I don't want to, I reluctantly pull my mouth from hers before things get out of hand. But I can't help but pepper a few more kisses along her cheek and neck. Fuck...her neck... I didn't think I'd enjoy kissing one so much...and she smells so good...

I end up drawing a little sexy mewl from her as I suck on a particular spot and I smile against her skin, making a mental note of this particular spot. I definitely want to be paying close attention to what she seems to like.

My hand roams from her cheek and into her hair, while the other gives her hip a squeeze, my body instinctively moving up slightly with the rhythm of our kiss, causing our lower halves to press together briefly. I growl in pleasure at the pressure of her against me, and it brings me to my senses.

I reluctantly pull away, and she sits up. We look at each other, both breathing heavily, seemingly hesitant, yet so excited for more of that one day.

"We should probably stop there for now." I suggest, reaching up to tuck a loose piece or hair behind her ear. She looks 'so fucking gorgeous sitting on top of me like this'.

"I do?" She asks as she gets up, a small smirk on her face.

I hadn't realized I said that out loud, but she deserves to hear it. It's the truth.

I grin at her, "Yes."

I get up then, making sure her suitcase is securely zipped before I pull it off the bed for her and set it in the corner out of the way. She pulls down the covers of the bed and offers to let me use the bathroom or anything else I'd like, as she goes to get ready for bed herself.

Having still kept the spare toothbrush she gave me last time in the guest bathroom medicine cabinet, I decide to go in there and get cleaned up, and calmed down, before I head back into her bedroom.

When I do, she's just coming from her bathroom, dressed in a T-shirt and these little striped shorts, and her make-up freshly washed off. She looks perfect.

She smiles shyly at me, and begins apologizing about her state. "Sorry, had to scrub that pound of makeup off. I can't sleep like that." She explains, referring to her 'Harper' makeup she was wearing.

"I don't blame you, I've been there." I say and she lets out a light laugh as she makes her way over to the bed.

"Besides, I like that I have Tris back, instead of this Harper girl." I smile at her, while then realizing how often I tend to smile when I'm around her.

She's now tucked under the covers of her bed, although I remain standing there for a moment still clothed. My adam's apple bobbing as I swallow heavily, looking at her sitting up in bed waiting for me...it's a sight I could look at forever, although a part of me is kind of nervous.

I really don't want to screw this up. Everything with her is so much more significant than it has been with any other girl I've been with. I don't know why exactly, but I may as well acknowledge it.

So rather than just stripping down and hopping in, I decide to be a gentleman and just ask.

"Do you uh, do you mind if I take my pants off?" I ask and her lips part briefly as if surprised, so I try to reassure her, "I'm wearing boxer-briefs."

She shakes her head, as if coming out of her stupor, then smiles and blushes adorably, "Of course not, you shouldn't have to sleep in your jeans."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, sorry," she chuckles softly, "I just never expected Tobias Eaton to ask me that before, I was a little caught off guard hearing you say it."

With that, I unsnap the button of my Levi's and drop them to the floor. I set them aside and climb in bed beside her. "I don't want to say it to anyone else."

I hear her intake of breath at that, and settle in, taking in the feeling of this and not wanting to forget it. Between the soft pillow-top mattress, the nice Tris-smelling sheets, and cozy feel of her presence beside me, I feel like I'm already in heaven. This just might be the best night's sleep I'll have had yet.

She leans up and clicks off her bedside light, leaving us in almost complete darkness, save for the nightlight in the bathroom which is emitting the faintest of hues in there. Then I feel her turn towards me and kiss my shoulder through the sleeve of my t-shirt.

"You can take your t-shirt off too if you prefer, if you'll be too hot or whatever."

I can't help but grin at her even though she probably can't see me since our eyes haven't adjusted well to the darkness yet; but nonetheless I sit up and remove my t-shirt, happy she brought it up. I much prefer to sleep without a shirt, but I didn't want to push too much. "You trying to get me undressed?" I tease, tossing the shirt on the floor.

"Oh, shush," she says with a small laugh. "I happened to notice you slept without your shirt last time you stayed over, so I assumed that's what you prefer."

"Good observation." I smirk, also remembering the look on her face when she noticed my shorts on the floor as well.

I felt kind of bad going commando in her guest bed... but it was either that, or wear my wet board shorts.

But I don't mention any of that. Instead, I lie back down and put my arm out, inviting her to lay on my chest if she wants. She immediately takes me up on the offer and snuggles up closer, resting her cheek on my chest and her delicate hand on my sternum.

I hold her close, kissing the top of her head, before whispering something on a more serious note before we fall asleep, "Thank you for inviting me to stay. I'm really glad I'm here."

"Me too." she whispers back, lifting her tired eyes to look at me with a sweet smile.

Then I watch the sleeping beauty's heavy eyelids fall slowly shut and her breathing begins to even out, her soft exhales tickling my chest. I love it, and wouldn't dare move her. Instead, I let her be. I lay in contentment, holding her close to my heart. Right where she belongs.

"Goodnight, baby." I whisper, before closing my own eyes and letting slumber take over.

2 days later...

I've been waiting in the airport lounge for a while now, tucked in the corner at a little table by the window. I decide to check my email on my iPhone, before yet again checking to see if I have any texts from Tris.

They had coordinated for us to each get a car service to pick us up from our houses and take us to the airport. Mine went smoothly and I got here with plenty of time to spare. Even being greeted curbside, and given an escort to go through security with me, before being personally checked in and shown to the lounge where I am to hang out until boarding time. However, what's taking Tris so long? She's usually so punctual, it just seems so unlike her...

We had messaged back and forth briefly earlier, saying good morning and summarizing our plans. But then we both had stuff to do, and she was meeting up with her dad in the morning, and her friend Susan in the afternoon, so I wanted to give them some time alone.

What worries me though, is that it's almost 6pm and I haven't heard back since. I hope she's here soon; I really don't want her to miss the flight. And, well, I really want to make sure she's okay. The thought of her having transportation trouble, or whatever problems might be occurring to cause her to be late, makes me more worried than I'd like to admit. But, I guess that's expected...I care for her a lot.

I sigh and grab the small stack of cardboard drink coasters on the table, stacking a few of them in a small pyramid, trying to distract myself and calm my anxious, jittering feet.

Finally, she responds to my text from about twenty minutes ago, where I had been asking for an update.

Tris: Sorry, it's been a crazy...finally just got here to LAX though!

I reply immediately.

Tobias: Everything okay? They brought me up to the lounge to wait. I saved you a seat.

Tris: Yeah, I'm good now. Just got my bag checked. In security line now.

Tobias: How big is the line? They just announced ten minutes until boarding. But I'll try and get them to delay if needed.

Tris: lol, don't get yourself in trouble.

Tobias: Will try not to. But if I do, you're worth it.

Just as expected, ten minutes later, they make the final announcement and open the door from the first class lounge, allowing us to board the plane. But I hang back; slowly cleaning up the stuff I had pulled out of my backpack, not wanting to board without her. Hopefully I can stretch this out a bit longer.

Tobias: ETA? They're boarding...

Tris: Done wit secrity- runing to the gate niw!'

By her seemingly rushed text, I assume she's probably physically running, so I try to remain calm and patient.

I'm the last one left in the lounge, so I throw my backpack over my shoulder, and walk slowly towards the trashcan to throw away my empty cup, still trying to buy some time for Tris to get here.

It's not until I'm done tying my shoelaces, and then 'looking' for something in my bag, does the airline escort finally approach me. "Are you ready to board sir? Final call."

"I'm actually waiting for someone, she's already past security, so should be here any second."

"I apologize Sir, but we must insist you yourself board the plane if you wish to make the flight yourself."

Just as I'm about to reply to the girl with what I'm sure would have been a snarky remark, my phone buzzes in my hand, so I read the text immediately.

Tris: Just made it! They let me in. I'm officially on the plane. :)

"Oh, I guess she just boarded the plane. So yeah, I'm ready now." I tell the escort, who smiles kindly at me and begins to lead the way down the long corridor and through the metal doorway onto the plane.

"Would you like me to place your bag in the overhead compartment for you?" she asks.

"No thanks, I'll put it under my seat if needed." I tell her, sitting down in the cushiony first-class seat. But the seat beside mine is empty, although the rest of the seats appear to be full. Where's Tris? Is she in the bathroom?

After waiting a few minutes, I decide to just send her another quick text; hopefully she didn't turn her phone off yet or anything.

Tobias: Where are you? I'm on board now too.

Tris: Seat G17

Tobias: Wait, you're in coach? But they paid for us to take first class!

Tris: Yeah, for the actors... I was just a stunt double back then though, remember? :)

Tris: It's really not bad though, don't stress, lol.

Tobias: That's stupid. You replaced Nita, you should get her seat! It's probably this empty seat right next to me!

Tris: They said they couldn't reassign it to me, and the rest of the flight is sold out.

Tris: At least I made it on the flight with my original ticket! Otherwise I would have had to fly out tomorrow.

Tobias: I'm glad you did too. But that's a bunch of BS about switching, you should be able to take this seat. I'm going to ask, just in case.

The flight attendant handing out bottled water comes over and extends one out to me. I try asking her about Tris, but she just turns me down, saying nobody's allowed in first class that didn't purchase a ticket under their name. Then she offers me a flirty smile and reminds me to call for her if I need anything else. I ignore her and decide to try the other lady who is up grabbing something from one of the closets not far from my seat, as she seems a little more mature and appears as though she may have slightly more authority.

"Excuse me, I had quick question."

"Of course, how can I help you?" she replies kindly.

"I have a friend that's in coach, but my other friend here in first-class," I say pointing to the empty seat next to mine, "...couldn't make it. So I was wondering..."

"I'm sorry Mr. Eaton, everyone must stay in their assigned seats."

Mr. Eaton? Okay, so she knows who I am then...maybe I'll just be a bit more honest of the situation, if she knows Tris is an actress in my film, maybe she'll be more understanding...

"Well, you see, Kathy," I say, glancing at her nametag, before offering her a sad smile, "Tris is my co-star. We're on this long flight to go shoot this movie together, and this is her first big role... this is all so new to her. I know she'd be so much more comfortable up here with me, especially considering her fear of flying. And this seats not even being used. So I don't see why it's a big deal, especially considering both seats are paid for. Is there anything you can do?"

She sighs, but offers me a motherly looking smile, and I find myself feeling even more hopeful. "Please?" I add, hoping that'll help.

"Unfortunately no exceptions can be made...at least not during takeoff or landing." she says, whispering the last bit to me. "But I'll tell you what, once we're up in the air and the seatbelt sign goes off, she can come up here to visit with you for a while."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." I say, truly grateful for having someone kind hearted working on this flight.

She pats my shoulder and gives me a nod. "What seat is she in?"

"G17. Her name is Tris."

"Alright, I'll send her up in a bit."

I smile and give her a friendly smile, but another idea occurs to me.

"I don't suppose I could switch her seats until then? So she at least got to sit up here? We haven't even moved yet-"

"I apologize Sir, during takeoff and landing, you must be securely buckled in your assigned seats. But I'm sure she would have appreciated the thoughtful gesture."

"Okay, well thank you again." I agree, not wanting to become a further nuisance. I'm not usually one to ask for special treatment or use my celebrity status to get my way, but I really don't want Tris to be cramped back there with a ton of other people for almost 12 hours, when she could be tucked up here with me.

"Of course Sir, let me know if you need anything else at all." she says before moving on to check on the person behind me.

I quickly text Tris back.

Tobias: Well, they won't let you come up here yet. But when the seatbelt light goes off, Kathy will be escorting you up here for a while.

Tobias: I'm sorry. I'd switch you until then, but they won't let me.

Even though I know it's not my fault she didn't get Nita's seat, I still feel bad. And I know she can take care of herself just fine, but I'm finding myself feeling very protective of her, and I don't want her to be uncomfortable if there are any weirdo's back there. What if someone recognizes her and starts berating her with questions? Just this morning, according to my publicist, word had gotten out about who she is and her accepting the role to replace Nita.

So my mind is unfortunately conjuring up some ridiculous scenarios. But I know I shouldn't be thinking like that. So I grab out my ear buds to try and distract myself, but I don't hit play on my phone until I read her incoming text.

Tris: Don't be silly! I'm totally fine back here. Thank you for talking them into letting me come up there in a bit. I'll see you soon. :)

Tobias: Looking forward to it. :)

The safety video begins to play on the screens in front of us, also informing us that we need to put our electronic devices on airplane mode. So I reluctantly do as I'm told and pop in my ear buds, but I keep the volume low for now, so that I can hear any important announcements. I've listened to several songs on my playlist, when the captain finally comes on the overhead speaker and makes his next announcement.

"Flight attendants, prepare for take-off please."

"Cabin crew, please take your seats for take-off. Passengers, please confirm that your safety belts are secure."

I feel the unease in my belly as we begin to throttle forward, hurtling forward in this giant metal contraption at a speed fast enough to somehow safely take flight. I've been able to overcome my fear of flying, having had to do it so much for work, but taking-off and landing still makes me a little uneasy...not to mention my slight claustrophobia. So I do what I always do, distract myself with happy thoughts. Which means this time, I immediately think of Tris.

I picture her smile, and the way she looks at me...the way her eyes light up when she laughs, and how she sometimes does that cute little snort that she always blushes about after.

I wonder if she's afraid of flying...I doubt it, considering her endorphin filled lifestyle. But maybe I'm wrong. Everyone has fears. So I say a silent little prayer that she isn't uncomfortable or afraid right now, for any reason.

I sigh as I think about even just being able to hold her hand, to be in her presence...geez, am I that enamored with her?

Once we're off the ground and ascending upward into the sky, I chance a look out the window and admire the view. It's something I've been teaching myself to do over the years, despite the frightening height, and how small and cramped I often end up feeling up here. Again, I just focus on the positive... the beauty of the landscape and the city below.

Eventually, we make it to proper altitude and the seatbelt light goes off, much to my appreciation. I look over my shoulder to see Kathy walking by. When she catches my eye, and probably the hopeful expression on my face, she gives me a playful eye roll and smile.

"Right this second?" She sighs, her teasing demeanor evident in her tone.

I just grin and nod.

"Are we allowed to tip? I totally will."

She chuckles, "No, don't be silly young man. That's against company policy, but thank you for the gesture." She smiles, leans down to whisper conspiratorially, "Maybe later I can just bother you for a selfie and an autograph for my niece?"

"Absolutely, of course." I whisper back in agreement.

"Sit tight, I'll go get your girl." Is all she says, giving me a wink and a pat on the shoulder before standing and walking away. I look over my shoulder and watch as she heads through the privacy curtain. I have a warm tingly feeling at the mention of Kathy referring to Tris as 'my girl'.

I feel anxious as I wait, looking forward to finally feeling like I can relax a bit once she's finally seated beside me.

"Something to drink, Sir?" I'm asked from my right.

I look up to see the other blonde flight attendant, with the bright red lipstick. She smiles widely, holding up a can of Coca-Cola and shaking a small bottle of Jack Daniels as a suggestion, although she's got a whole assortment of things to pick from on her tray.

"Sure, make it two Jack and Coke's." I decide. It's dinnertime after all, and we have a very long flight ahead of us. We may as well share a few complimentary drinks.

She grins and pours me two. "Let me know when you need a refill." she says softly.

"Thank you."

Still, she lingers there, and I notice her index finger start to rub the top of the JD bottle. Whether she's doing it consciously or not, it feels like a flirty gesture, especially since she goes on to ask me a personal question, even though she's done pouring my drinks, "Have any exciting plans once you land in Zurich?"

"Work, maybe a little sight-seeing." I offer as a simple response, glancing back over my shoulder to watch for Tris, just in time too...as she's being ushered up here by Kathy and over to the seat beside me. Our eyes meet and I smile happily, excited to see her.

"There you are, finally." I say, itching to hug or kiss her hello, but withholding temptation in front of everyone.

"Hi." she says with a timid smile before taking a seat. She sets her overnight bag at her feet, shoving her phone into it, before she looks up again. But I notice she's looking past my shoulder, and I look up to see the blonde flight attendant is still standing there. I don't say anything to her, and instead, I hand Tris one of the drinks, "Here, I got one for you too." I tell her.

"Nice, thanks."

"Excuse me ma'am, but you can't be up here." The blonde girl informs Tris from behind me, but in her condescending 'professional' tone of voice.

"Actually Taylor, I double checked, their party paid for both seats, so she's been cleared to stay," Kathy chimes in from behind Tris.

"But-" the girl begins, only to be interrupted by Kathy again.

"I believe Doctor Lee would like a beverage now too?" Kathy adds, gesturing to the man in the seat by the window.

Taylor gives a bit of a forced smile, "Yes, ma'am."

Once she turns away, Kathy asks if we need anything else. When we tell her we're good. She offers us a wink and turns to tend to the next passenger.

Tris and I share an amused smile. "Having fun up here?" she asks.

"Now I am."

"You alright? You've been running your hand through your hair." she comments, reaching up to run her fingers through it slightly to try and fix it with a teasing smile.

She knows I do that when I'm stressed or impatient, but she often seems to get that same teasing smile, so I wonder if she thinks it's cute. Truth is, I don't even realize I'm doing it. But whatever makes her smile is fine with me.

"Yeah, well..." I chuckle. "I was pretty anxious to make sure you got here okay, and then with you being back there by yourself..."

"You're silly."

"So are you."

"Touché," she chuckles, inspecting her seated area and all the little outlets and compartments surrounding it. "I've actually never been up here before," she says then, looking around to fully take in her surroundings. "Fancy."

"The extra privacy is especially nice. But the space and definitely free booze are nice too."

"I'm liking these reclining seats," she says, referring to the seats that practically lay back into beds, which is extra appealing considering this is an overnight flight. We won't be arriving to Zurich for another 11 hours or so, and then we still have to fly to Prague from there.

"I know, I've definitely slept on worse." I agree, but then I see that nobody is around, so I take a brief opportunity to show a little affection, "I've missed you," I admit, reaching over discreetly to make contact with her hand. She smiles, playing with my fingers back.

"Me too. I'm glad I made it on the same flight."

"Yeah, is everything okay? What happened? Last I heard, you were all ready to go and just killing time with Susan until you had to leave."

"We were, but then my driver never showed up. So we figured it was quicker to just have Susan take me. But then she got a flat tire on the freeway." She explains, my eyes widening in concern as she continues, "Thankfully we were in traffic, so we were only going about 30 miles per hour, but still, what a headache getting over three lanes like that in rush hour traffic, especially in LA."

"What did you do? How'd you get to the airport?"

"She called AAA, while I hailed a cab from the side of the 405." She chuckles.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah," she laughs, making me smile too. I love hearing her laugh. "Like I said, traffic was moving slowly and our friend Monica happened to drive by, so she stopped to help. As we waited, I saw a cab coming by slowly in the closest lane, so with Susan safely waiting for the tow truck with Monica, I took my chance."

"She didn't just try and put on a spare?"

"That's what I suggested, but apparently she didn't have one. Or rather, that was her spare."

"Well, I'm glad that worked out. And that the cab got you here on time."

"Yeah, I made pretty good time after that. But I had to get my bag checked and stuff, which seemed to take forever. I'm still surprised I made it through security and to the gate so quick, it was probably Guinness World Record status." She chuckles.

"And here I was in the lounge making a fool of myself as I attempted to stall and wait for you." I chuckle too, but then I sigh and pull out my phone to send a quick email to Tori and few others, wanting to make sure they do what they can to not let this happen again. "Hopefully they'll get this better straightened out for the future flights and travels. I'll talk to Tori."

"Yeah, well, let's not stress about that right now. Want to watch some Netflix?" She suggests.

"Sure, I got a headphone jack splitter so that we can both watch at the same time."

"Awesome, very thoughtful of you." she says, sipping her jack and coke.

"I love that so many of these planes have Wi-Fi now..." I say, flipping open the MacBook and pressing the power on. "Any shows you've been wanting to watch that we should marathon?"

"Hmm...I've heard Blacklist is good?"

"Yeah, I've heard the same. Good idea."

After about an hour in, Kathy comes by to see if and when we would like our food.

We decide to get it now rather than eating any later, but don't bother stopping our TV show. Instead, we leave the laptop propped up between us on the little half-wall that separates our seats, each with a pair of headphones so as not to disturb the other passengers.

Once we've enjoyed our salads and lasagna, we thank her again and turn off the overhead light so we can settle in more for the night as we continue to watch more James Spader.

By 11pm, most people have their lights off and their partitions closed for the night. Tris yawns once, but seems entranced by the show, seemingly not wanting to stop anytime soon, which is fine by me. I just wish we could be closer... we can't really even comfortably hold hands from here if we wanted, at least not without sitting forward. Not that I should be even considering this anyway considering we're out in public...but most people seem to be asleep by now, or if not, at least have their partitions closed and are minding their own business.

By 11:30, she's kicked off her shoes and is snuggled up under her blanket, but she still seems cold. So while the intro for the next episode plays, I lean forward to get her attention. She pulls out an earbud to hear me. I whisper, "You uh...you can sit with me over here if you want. Might be more cozy…and warm."

She bites her lip, holding back a smile, and looks around as of checking to make sure nobody's paying attention. Once she deems the coast is clear, she gets up and scurries around to my side, where I've got my seat reclined and I pat the space beside me.

She sits at my side on the seat, and I wrap my arms around her as she pulls the blanket over us. She's resting her head on my chest as her arm wraps around my waist under the blanket.

"Is this okay?" I ask, and she nods, snuggling into me a little deeper. I inhale the scent of her hair, before nuzzling my nose in her neck and giving her a quick kiss there.

"It's ballsy, considering the agreement we just made with our contract, but I'm really not caring right now." she replies softly, turning her head to look at me, "I think we might even have enough privacy for a quick one of these..." With that, she leans up and softly presses her lips to mine, in a slow but modest kiss.

When we pull back, we both let out a contented sigh and continue watching the show.

But by midnight, she's fallen asleep in my arms, her head resting on my chest. I don't move her, not wanting to disturb her sleep. Instead, I close the laptop, tuck it in my bag, and adjust my pillow to lay back a little better, happy to be lucky enough to have her fall asleep in my arms at least two times now. I just hope I have as much favor in the future. Now that I've had a taste of what my life would be like with her being a part of it, I don't think I can go back. The truth is, I don't want to.

Author's Note:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm so baffled by the response this story is getting, it's very motivating and exciting! Please understand, even though I don't really have time to reply to my reviews, they are greatly appreciated! So please don't think they go unnoticed. Also, feel free to keep them coming...I'd love to know what you thought of Tobias' POV! I always find it fun, but also difficult to to write his perspective since I'm not a guy! Last but not least, I want to say how thankful I am for my beta's help- you're so sweet and helpful!

:-)

Until next time,

Madison

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