Chapter 10

Tobias

I wake up this morning startled and breathing heavy. I had a dream, no, a nightmare, last night that Tris was pregnant. Luckily, she's been using contraceptives for a few months now, so there's nothing to worry about. But it felt so real in my dream that it woke me up in a panic.

I better forget about it fast though, because today is a big day. I've been planning this day out for a few weeks now and I've got to make sure it goes perfectly to that plan.

After I slow my breathing down to normal, I cuddle up behind Tris, spooning my body into hers. She starts to stir a little and I hear her groan. She's never been much of a morning person.

"Tobias, leave me alone, I'm not in the mood," she grunts grumpily.

"I have a nice day planned for us, I don't want you sleeping it away." I gently start stroking her hair, occasionally giving her a peck on the back of her head.

"Just a little longer, then I'm all yours," she bargains.

"Okay, hun. Another hour," I say quietly and with an endearing tone.

We lie there, cuddled together for another hour. I hear her sleeping peacefully, her breaths deep and slow. I doze in and out of consciousness, but never fully fall back asleep.

I start getting out of bed, knowing that my stir will wake her.

"It's been an hour already?" she asks incredulously.

"Yeah, it has. It's almost eleven already. You need to get up anyways," I state bluntly. If she doesn't get going soon, the whole day is going to be ruined.

"Go shower and get ready. I'm faster, so I'll go after you," I tell her.

"Someone is a little demanding this morning," she states with a hint of frustration in her voice.

While Tris is in the shower, I go out into the living room and start getting things ready for her. After about twenty minutes, she finally comes out in her robe to find coffee, I'm sure. Her bare legs peek out underneath her robe and I can't help but lust a little at the fact that she has nothing on underneath there. But instead of spending all morning lusting, I've got some presents waiting for her that I want her to see.

"Happy Birthday, muffin!" I shout at her. Her face sinks a little; she almost looks pissed off.

"I was hoping you didn't know. I don't want you to make a big fuss over me," she says nonchalantly. I can tell she does like it a little bit though.

"It's a big day. You're seventeen now. I wanted to make sure it was special for you." I hold out her first present, waiting for her to come grab it.

She finally rolls her eyes and puts a smile on her face and comes to take it from me. As she unwraps it, I see the perplexity in her face.

She ends up unwrapping a small white box, which she then opens. Inside, I know what she will find, but as she lifts the top, her eyes widen in surprise and amazement.

"It's gorgeous," she says incredulously. "Can you help me put it on?" It is a dainty necklace with a pendant that is a circle of diamonds.

I give her a hug and quick kiss before I help her fasten it around her neck.

"Do you know why I chose this specific one?" I ask, to which she replies by shaking her head. "I picked one that's a circle because I wanted it to remind you that our relationship has no end. It is eternal like a circle's line. And I chose diamonds because they are hard and last a lifetime. I picked this necklace because it represents our love for each other and our relationship. Happy Birthday," I state as I watch tears well up in her eyes.

"I love it and I love you," she manages to whisper.

"I love you, too. I need to go finish getting ready. If you want, you can cook some breakfast, otherwise we can head down to the cafeteria after I finish," I tell her as I walk back to the bathroom.

By the time I get out of the shower, Tris has made bacon and eggs. A wonderful combination if you're asking me.

"So, what do you have planned for me today?" she asks, clearly curiosity is getting the better of her today.

"Well, most of it is going to be a surprise. But the first thing you're doing is going shopping with Christina. She begged me to let her take you today."

"That actually sounds like fun. When will she be here?"

"Very soon. I told her to come sometime after noon because I knew you would try to sleep in today. And I knew I would let you get away with it," I tell her with a loving smile.

"You know me too well." The corners of her mouth turn up in a smirk as she speaks.

A few minutes after we finish cleaning up breakfast, there's a knock on the door and we both know it's Christina. I let Tris go answer it.

"Happy Birthday!" Christina yells before squeezing Tris into a hug so tight that it might be able to break the bones of an elderly person. "Are you ready to go shopping?" There is a little too much enthusiasm in Christina's voice for me, but Tris is in too good of a mood today and nods eagerly.

They shop for most of the afternoon. By the time Tris comes home, she has more bags than she can comfortably carry and it's almost five o'clock.

"Did you have fun, muffin?" I ask as I wrap her in my arms and pull her close to my body.

"Yeah, actually. I did," she says giving me quick kisses in rapid succession.

"Are you ready for one of your presents?"

"You actually got me something else?" she asks incredulously.

I pull off my shirt and lift my left arm to show her a tattoo of two T's layered together, puffed with red, still fresh and raw. She lets out a little gasp before bringing her hand to it.

"For us. Tris and Tobias," I state quietly.

"This was the last thing I expected. It's so perfect. It's hidden in a spot that, hopefully, only you and I will be able to see," she states, her eyes deep with emotions.

"And, it's close to my heart."

"These little things are the reasons why I love you."

"They're the reasons I love you too, muffin."

I gently give her a kiss before getting her shopping bags and putting them in our closet.

"We need to head down to dinner. I'm sure everyone is waiting to wish you a Happy Birthday," I explain to her.

To that, she rolls her eyes a little and chuckles, "Okay, fine. Let's go."

"Why are you rolling your eyes? You don't want to go spend time with everyone?"

"Not when you're running around her without a shirt on. I'd choose that over dinner with our friends any day," she says coyly.

I laugh, "Come on."

We head down to the cafeteria, and just as I expected, all of our friends are already waiting at a table for us. Usually, Uriah sits next to Zeke and Tris and I sit on his other side. But today, in Uriah's normal seat is someone I've never seen before.

"Who are you?" I say bluntly.

"Well aren't you just a cup of tea. I'm Brody. I work in the control room with Zeke," he explains. He stands up to shake my hand. He must be about six feet tall. He has rather short brown hair and what looks like a perpetual 5 o'clock shadow.

"Oh, so you were my replacement. Hopefully you can fill my shoes to Zeke's standards. But nice to meet you; I'm Four."

After we shake hands, the three of us take our seats. Everyone's faces look a little tense, but as usual, Zeke breaks the awkward silence.

"Happy Birthday, Trissy! You're growing up so fast. Just yesterday you were only sixteen," he says, wiping a fake tear off his face.

A round of "Happy Birthday"s go around the table. By now, Tris is grinning from ear to ear. I know I've done just enough to make her day special without overwhelming her.

"I hope there aren't any more surprises. I don't think I can handle much more today, babe," Tris says, trying to whisper so that only I can hear.

"Tris, you really think we would let your birthday go by without throwing you a party? We're in Dauntless for goodness sake" Zeke teases.

"Uhh, yes?" she says as though it's a question.

"Well, that's too bad. At seven o'clock, I expect you guys at my apartment. Everyone will be there, so you'd better be too," he says firmly. When exactly Zeke got the balls to stand up to Tris is beyond me, but I don't mind it at a time like this.

As seven rolls around, I start banging on the bathroom door.

"Tris, you've been in there for an hour. Are you almost done or what?" I shout, getting a little agitated.

When she finally comes out, she has on a little black top, a crop top is what I think they're calling them, and a little sequin mini skirt. Her hair, which has grown out pretty significantly since she cut it, falls in front of her face in flowing waves.

"It is too much?" she asks me hesitantly as she flips her hair back.

"Well, I'd rather no one sees you showing that much skin, but it's your birthday and you look amazing."

A smile seeps across her face.

"C'mon, let's go," I say as I open the front door for her.

It only takes us a few minutes to get down to Zeke's apartment. Once we get there, everyone we could possibly want there is already there with a few extras and unknowns as well.

"Happy Birthday, Tris," Uriah says, clearly sloshed already.

We make the rounds and try to meet some of the new people.

"Four, are you excited about training the new initiates at the end of next month?" Zeke inquires.

"Actually, I kind of am. I'm so sick of all this leadership crap. It'll be a nice change. And I'm excited about the new training set up. It'll be way better."

"I wanted to introduce you to someone, by the way." Zeke turns around and grabs another guy. "This is Mitch. He was an initiate in Minneapolis last year. Lauren and I recruited him to help us train the newbies. He's pretty awesome," he explains. Mitch stands about the same height as me with straight, brown hair. He has a cowlick right in the middle of his hairline that causes a wave. "You and Mitch are going to be responsible for the transfers and Lauren and I will do the Dauntless born, even though we're training them all together this year."

"That sounds great. It's nice to meet you, Mitch. I'm glad you and Lauren worked all of this out. I've been so stressed out at work that there's no way I could have gotten this together the way you guys have. Every time I take a few hours in my office to work out the details, I get distracted by something else."

"We also thought it would be good if Tris oversees the training from afar and helps us rank. That way she can be a little bit of a tiebreaker opinion," Zeke states, unsure of what my reaction will be.

"I think that's a great idea." I scan the room looking for her. She disappeared from my side a good ten or fifteen minutes ago. I finally find her with my eyes, hanging out with Christina. She looks so happy.

Both of us enjoy the rest of the night, spending time with our friends, new and old.

After spending hours mingling, drinking, and laughing, we head up to our apartment and sleep soundly for the rest of the night.

Author's Note: Hey guys. This chapter is not one of my favorites, but the next one is :)

Please help me out and leave some reviews or PMs with your thoughts and comments. Let me know what you like and what you hate. I write this story because I enjoy it, but I post it so that you can enjoy it.

Thanks for everything! You guys are the best.

-Kate