AN1: HAPPY ALL OF THOSE HOLIDAYS I MISSED I'LL EXPLAIN AT THE END

Chapter 11

Stretching my arms above my head, I let out a stifled yawn and immediately know from the lack of warmth radiating next to me that Tobias has already left for work.

I look at the clock and realize I should probably head to work now. Since I took a shower last night, I wash my face off, brush my teeth, and run a comb through my hair. I pull it up in a ponytail and dress in black skinny jeans and a black V-neck, followed by sliding on my combat boots. I throw on some mascara and head out the door on my way to the tattoo parlor.

*TIME LAPSE B/C I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE GIVING TATTOOS*

"Bye, Tori," I call, as I push open the door and exit the parlor. On the walk back to the apartment to get ready for Chris' party, which I completely forgot about, I can't get one of the couples that came into the tattoo parlor out of my head.

*Flashback*

"Welcome to Dauntless Ink, what can I help you with?" I ask at the jingle of the bells attached to the handle of the door. I look up to greet the customers that entered and find myself taken suP-[00DErprise by their appearance.

The man, tall and skinny, has an orangey tint to his skin. The woman, short and curvy, has ghostly pale skin. If it weren't for the smile on her face I would think she was very sick.

"Yes, I'm Grace and this is-"

"hmmmrick," the orangey man replies. I have no idea what he just said, but it sounded like Rick. Let's go with Rick.

"Yes, we'd like to get tattoos. I'd like a very small pumpkin, just the outline, on my wrist," Grace tells me.

"And I'd like a small snowflake on my wrist," Rick adds.

"I think we can make that happen before closing. Here, have a seat and I'll start a sketch," I say.

*End of flashback*

Realizing that without even thinking about it, I have arrived at the apartment, I unlock the door and walk in, heading towards the bathroom to take a quick shower before the party. After my shower, I wrap a towel around myself and head to the closet in search of the outfit Chris made me get for the party.

I find myself clad in a skater dress style frock that's black with a bodice that has filigree designs and is cinched at the waist with a black belt. I grab glittery, silver high heels to match and start on my makeup.

After a few minutes of working, I have a simple makeup look. I'm wearing very little foundation, with my cheeks contoured a bit with some bronzer, and have a light dusting of shimmery, nude eye shadow across my lids. I did a little bit of a wing for my eyeliner and a few swipes of mascara to complete the eyes. On my lips I'm wearing a sheer, red lip gloss to be festive.

I curl my hair and let it fall across my shoulders in soft waves. Just as I'm finishing up I hear Tobias walk through the front door.

"Tris, are you ready to go to the party?" he calls as he walks towards the bedroom.

"Yeah, I'll be there in just a second," I return, popping on some silver earrings and pushing my hair behind my ears.

I walk out of the bedroom door and Tobias starts to ask if I'm ready again before seeing my appearance. "Tris, you look… wow," he says, smiling at me. I feel a blush creeping onto my cheeks and take his hand, walking out the door as Tobias carries a bag full of our gifts.

*THERE WILL BE A LOT OF THESE SO I CAN HAVE A LOT HAPPEN*

A few hours of giving gifts, dancing, drinking, and laughing later, Tobias and I head home. Still laughing, we walk hand in hand down the hallway back to our room. When we're almost there, a wave of exhaustion hits me and I lean into Tobias a bit more than I already was. Apparently I'm a little bit of a lightweight.

We walk through the door and I immediately ditch my high heels, surprised I lasted this long with them on. I walk to the dresser and pull out a large tee shirt and some pajama pants, getting comfortable for bed.

I lay on the bed and begin to drift off, managing to mumble a brief, "I love you," before crashing, visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. I slept soundly through the night, only stirring a bit when I heard the sound of jingling, as if from sleigh bells, that quickly lulled me back to sleep.

*WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT ANOTHER TIME LAPSE CERTAINLY NOT ME*

I wake in the morning to an extremely excited Tobias nudging my shoulder gently, saying to me, "Tris! It's Christmas! Get up, get up, get up!"

I turn towards Tobias and smile at him, slowly rising out of the bed. We walk, well, I walk, Tobias practically runs, towards the tree and I tell Tobias he can open his gifts first.

I sit under the tree and grab Tobias' gift, passing it to him, both excited and nervous about his reaction.

He slowly takes off the paper, being careful not to tear any of the paper. He opens it up to find a cardboard box, opening that up to reveal his gift. I rip my eyes away from his hands to watch his face as he discovers his new gift, reveling in the excitement etched into his every feature.

"Tris… you shouldn't have… It's wonderful, thank you," he says softly, sincerity dripping from every syllable.

"I definitely should have. I'm glad you like it," I smile back at him, pleased that he likes his new set of knives.

"It's your turn now," he says, beaming at me as he hands me a gift in a large box.

I rip off the wrapping paper and open the box, only to find another box, and another box, and another box, and another box. Eventually I get down to one small box and see Tobias staring anxiously at me, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

I lift open this smallest box, to find a container for some sort of jewelry. Since I recently got my ears pierced, I expect a set of new earrings, probably something Dauntless. However, when I lift the lid, I'm taken aback by what I discover on the inside.

In the small, black box stands a ring that shines of white gold, with one small diamond standing in the center of the ring. Around the diamond are tiny, black gems with swirls of red, making the gems resemble hot coals.

"Tobias," I whisper, to stunned to say anything else. An 'o' shape has formed on my mouth as I glance between Tobias and the ring.

"Tris, I love every moment I spend with you. Without you, I would've joined the Factionless a long time ago. You anchored me down, you gave me something to hope for. You are the epitome of everything good. You make me a better man every second I spend with you. Will you do help me be a better man for the rest of our lives by doing me the honor of marrying me?" Tobias asks, a hopeful look mixed in with his anxious features.

I smile a little bit as I nod before whispering, "yes," and throwing my arms around his neck. He pushes the ring onto the appropriate finger and I look at the ring curiously. "Tobias, what are these black stones? They're beautiful," I question, curious as to what the beautiful gems could be.

"When I had the ring designed I asked the jeweler for a gem that's Dauntless, something black but special, just like you. He showed me those and told me that they're called sphalerite and at first sight I knew that they were perfect.

"You had this ring designed? You didn't just buy it in a store? Oh, Tobias, you shouldn't have," I tell him, astonished that he put so much time into this event.

"I definitely should have," he responds, smirking, as he leans in for a kiss.

I tell you, the Abnegation don't know what they're missing with this Christmas thing.

FIN

AN2: Sorry it took so long! I got distracted by Skyrim, then my computer decided to erase EVERYTHING when I restarted it, including Microsoft Word, so even though I still had the file (always back up things) I couldn't do anything with it because I didn't have anything to write with. I eventually figured out how to use Google Drive enough to write this chapter. Anyways, hope you guys had a great holiday season! I'm going back to school today, but we're on a delay because of the weather. Be safe, everyone, especially those dealing with the severe temperatures! Do you guys want an epilogue? Tell me in the reviews! As for Hammrick and Grace from the beginning of the story, those go out to two very special people, if I write an epilogue it will definitely have more of those characters. Anyways, I'll shut up now. Let me know about the epilogue or a sequel or anything! I promise it won't take me as long as it did for this chapter to post either of those. I love you guys! It's been fun! Thanks for all of the reviews and follows and favorites! It means a lot to me! xx, chrissym453