Chapter 25

THANK YOU FOR 300 REVIEWS!

To Fourtris Lover (AKA Guest, since I know every single person here is a Fourtris lover, including myself), who asked about my opinion on I Am Machine by Three Days Grace, since I am a die-hard fan of them.

My answer: I love I Am Machine. I also love Painkiller. I don't really think they sound the same, though. Yes, Matt could improve, but I'm seriously holding my "Expectations" (If you don't get that, I'm ashamed) as high as Adam Gontier right now, and he is like… Godly. I like Matt, but no one can replace Adam. Simple as that.

If I had to pick between Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin though, it'd be the old Three Days Grace with Adam. Some of you may know that Breaking Benjamin hasn't been mentioned in my other stories, but it's because I just started listening them. They are almost tied with 3DG. But if I had to pick, it'd be 3DG (with Adam), even though I love Benjamin Burnley (The lead singer of Breaking Benjamin). But if you like 3DG, you'd definitely like BB because they're just as evocative as 3DG.

Tris P.O.V.

Holy dear mother of god is Tobias melodramatic. But holy hell, in this situation he has a right to be. It didn't take me long to see the resemblance, but once I did, my jaw dropped and my eyes were wider than the sky.

"What… What are you doing here?" Tobias swallows.

"I live here. In San Francisco. Twin Peaks district, almost by Sunset. Maybe you'd, uh, like to join me? We could talk for a little while. Maybe have some dinner? Alone?" She glances at me.

"I… Tris, could we maybe talk outside for a second?" he asks, looking at neither of us women.

"Of course." I get up and follow him.

We lean against the wall where there's no window so she can't see us.

"You know who that was, right?"

I nod. "Your mom, right?"

"She's not my mother. Biologically, yes. In my view, no. Her name's Evelyn, by the way. Can we ditch?" he asks, looking out towards the water.

"Tobias… As much as you'll hate me for saying this, I think you should do it. Even if it's just a half hour, I think you should. Twenty seconds of insane courage can change your life, and I promise you something good will come out of it." I grab his hand, and he squeezes it, but let's go so he can cross his arms. He stands in an akimbo-like position, legs spread at shoulder width apart and arms crossed.

"Are you insane? She left me!" he says soft, but firm. "She left me with that monster and she expects immediate forgiveness? That's not going to happen. Not now, not ever, Tris. So why don't we just leave?"

"Tobias… I think you'll regret not doing this one day. I mean, your kids wouldn't have a grandmother or grandfather in their lives. What if your wife doesn't have her parents around? Then what?" I ask. I can't help but put myself in that situation of his wife.

He sighs. "Yeah, I know. But my wife probably would have… Whatever. Who says I even want kids, anyway?" he points out.

"You," I simply say. "We talked about it once in high school. Said you wanted two kids. Older girl and a younger boy. The girl's name would be Erin and the boy's name would be Cooper. Also said your dream city to live in was the outskirts of San Fran, which you already seemed to accomplish. So, get your ass in there and at least act like you want to give her a chance. If you won't go in there and talk to her, I will."

"My mom is psychotic. I just don't get why you want me to do it so much."

"Because!" I say resolutely. "You got the chance to actually have the rest of your life with your mom! Do you know what I would give for that again?" I say with tears in my eyes.

He pulls me into his arms and rests his head on my mine.

"I'm so sorry. I'm an inconsiderate asshole. I didn't even bother to think about the situation you're in. Let's… Let's go back in. I don't know how long I'll be able to handle it—." He smirks. "But I'll try.

I look up at him, tears no longer contemporary, so my face is completely dry. "Really?"

He nods. "Yeah."

"But she said she wanted to be alone with you," I remind him.

"Like I give two shits about what she wants." He smirks and grabs my hand, pulling me into the restaurant.

Evelyn looks up.

Tobias nods. "Tris gets to sit with us, or else it's off."

"Okay." She smiles. "I'm just glad you said yes."

"Tris talked me into it," he says while looking over at me as we take our seat. Tobias sits on the inside while I'm on the left. He grabs my right hand under the table with his left.

While Tobias is looking through the menu, Evelyn looks up at me since I'm not reading it. I already know what I want.

Thank you, she mouths.

I curtly nod with a smile.

"So, Tobias, do you know what you're getting?" Evelyn asks.

"I prefer to be called Four now. And yes. Chicken Alfredo." He smirks down at me.

I roll my eyes. "He gets that every time, even when he says, 'Hm, that looks good,' he always gets the Alfredo," I explain to Evelyn.

The waitress comes and takes our orders. We notified our waitress Becca that we were moving over with Evelyn.

Evelyn gives a small smile after Becca leaves. "So, I assume you two are…" She glances down to my left hand. "Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

I nod. "We actually knew each other in high school." I look over at Tobias, but he looks deep in thought. "Right, Tobias?" I playfully nudge him with my shoulder.

"Huh? Yeah. We were…" He raises an eyebrow toward me. "Friends? But then Tris had to move out here to go to a music school. So technically we've known each other for five years. We actually ran into each other here at the wharf. Back in high school, she disappeared, not telling anyone where she went. My friends and I decided to move out here. We were both taken aback. And… yeah. Here we are. Tris is in the San Francisco Symphony. As a matter of fact, she gets to perform with Metallica on Monday," he finishes.

"Are you done bragging about me?" I blush.

He smirks. "Yeah."

I'm glad Tobias is involving himself in the conversation. He actually said more than one sentence. But I think he's only comfortable talking about… well, me. Nothing about his personal life.

"Wow, Tris," Evelyn says, "that's quite impressive."

I shake my head and wave her off. She turns to Tobias.

"So, what do you do Four?"

"I'm a cop." He shrugs.

Her eyebrows rise, but then go back down. "Wow. That's great. What's it like?"

He shrugs. "The people I work with are pretty cool. My boss gave Tris and me football tickets."

Aaaaand there it is. Back to me again.

He continues. "We saw the 49ers win. One of the best things I ever did in my life."

Evelyn nods. "All these good things in your life seem to be happening when Tris is around." She simpers at me, almost smug-looking. Like she knows something I don't.

I shrug. "I guess that's up to him."

"I need to go to the restroom, so if you'll excuse me, Tris," Tobias says to me. I get out of my seat to let him out since I'm on the outside.

I sit back down once he leaves. He's obviously uncomfortable.

"Why did you give that smug look a minute ago?" I ask.

"He's clearly in love with you," she says, as if it's the most blatant thing in the world.

I almost laugh. "What? We've been together for two weeks, Evelyn."

"Yes, but you two knew each other in high school, too, and you were visibly something back then."

"We weren't a thing, but we had feelings for each other," I admit.

"All he's talked about so far is you. I'm just saying." She smirks. "I'm just glad he's actually sure about you. You have my approval, by the way. Not that you care, though. I just want you to know that I like you. Anyway, what did you say to him to convince him to sit and talk for a while with me?"

"Well… Ah, we kind of argued for a short time. But I told him he should do it because he might not ever have the chance to, like me. My mom died last week, and I'm still a bit… in dissent about it. But, uh, yeah. I guess you could say I kind of gave him a guilt trip."

"Whatever works, right?" She smiles.

Tobias soon comes back, so I have to get up.

Once we're settled, Tobias is the first to speak up, but not before grabbing my hand.

"Why did you leave?" he asks without looking her in the eye.

"I had to. It was inevitable. I couldn't take you with me. You needed to be in a stable home wi—"

"Stable?" He laughs dryly. "You think that man is stable?"

"No, but he granted you, food, shelter, and education. I couldn't provide you any of that. I didn't know how long I'd be on the streets. Please, you have to understand."

"You know that he hit me?" he says in a hushed tone. "That lasted for about a year, and then turned verbal. I'd rather be hit physically rather than be whipped with his cruel words. But I actually don't regret you not taking me, because if you did, I wouldn't be here with the most important person in my life right next to me. So, Evelyn, thank you." Once he is finished, he squeezes my hand a little more tautly.

Evelyn doesn't say anything. If I were her, I wouldn't know what to say either.

"Tobias… I had no idea. It didn't even occur to me that he might take it out on you. Please, you have to believe me," she says with a beseeching look in her eyes. "Please."

He doesn't say anything, just looks outside the window from across the restaurant.

Just then, our waitress Becca drops off our food.

We eat in silence for a few minutes while we eat.

"So," I try to minimize the discomfort, "how's your Alfredo, Tobias?"

Before he can respond, Evelyn asks sincerely, "Why do you let her call you Tobias?"

He immediately responds with, "Because I'm—" he stops himself. "Because I trust her."

Evelyn takes a glance at me and smirks. It was similar to the one she wore earlier.

"You must really love her," she insinuates.

I almost choke on my salad but Tobias doesn't seem to hardly react. He just glances at me and smirks. "Yeah," he says.

He's got to mean it like the other kind of love. We told each other we already loved each other, but we weren't in love with each other. Yet, that is. One day, sometime soon, I plan on it. I think I'm even almost there, too.

So I just smile back at him, not giving any of my thoughts away.

Once we finish our food in silence, Becca comes by with our two separate checks.

Tobias pays, of course. I've learned not to argue with him over the check anymore; it's pointless. He insists on being "suave," as he calls it.

"Well," Tobias says once Becca hands us our cards back, "I think Tris and I better get going."

Evelyn smiles. "Okay. Do you mind if I give you my phone number?" she asks timidly.

He looks down and thinks. He gets out his phone and gives it to Evelyn, letting her type in her number as she grins.

I look at him in admiration with a smile. I honestly didn't think he'd do it. Thought he'd say no. Thought he'd get up and walk out, leaving the two of us. But no, he's actually giving her a second chance. Who'da thunk.

He looks back down at me with the smallest of smiles. "Later," he whispers ever so slightly in my ear.

I nod.

Evelyn hands him his phone back with a big smile. She begins to get up, as do we. We walk to the exit and stand outside.

"Well, Four, I'm glad you let me talk to you again. I really hope you don't regret it." She gives a small smile.

Tobias shakes his head then gives her a rudimentary side hug.

"I'll…," Tobias says, "I'll see you soon."

"Okay, goodnight, Four," Evelyn says with the same smile on her face for the past five minutes. "And you too, Tris."

"G'night, Ms. Eaton."

"Actually, I went back to my maiden name, Johnson."

"Oh. Well, g'night, Ms. Johnson." I smile.

"Alright, I'll see you two soon." She gives another small smile and heads off.

As Tobias and I head back towards the main road in the direction of his house, and along the way he grabs my hand. We walk for awhile in silence until we get there and I speak up.

As we walk into his complex I ask, "Why?"

"Why what?" he asks. It's a fair question.

"Why did you give her your phone number? I thought you'd say no."

"You. I didn't want to disappoint you, Tris," he sighs.

"Tobias, you shouldn't let my opinions cloud your judgment."

He shakes his head. "Your opinion didn't cloud my judgment. You just made me realize what the right decision was."

"How did I persuade you that much? How do I have such affect on you so much as to make a life-changing decision?" I ask as he unlocks his door.

We walk in, and he presses me against the door lightheartedly, then he presses his forehead against mine. "Your opinions matter because I'm in love with you."

My eyes go wide. "What?" I whisper, but it comes out hoarsely.

He doesn't say anything, just kisses me without a care in the world. His hands travel down to my hips and rest there. Mine run through his hair and press him closer to me along the way.

He pulls back, hair tousled from obvious reasons. "I don't want you to feel complied when you say it though. I said it pretty quickly, despite the fact that we've only been together two weeks. But then high school happened too, so… Anyway, whenever you want to. Preferably soon rather than later." He smirks.

I wear the same expression. "I'm certainly on my way there."

I kiss him once more. His hands lie on my hips and slip underneath my shirt, and mine travel up and down his spine, tracing the values of his persona. He pulls back and smiles that outstanding smile.

Yes, without doubt, I'm almost there.