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Chapter 29:

-TRIS POV-

I wake to an empty bed, the sun is just at the verge of rising. I smell something delicious from the kitchen, which causes me to get up easier than I normally would at this hour.

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stretch my arms up. I glance around and remember that I'm still naked and don't have any pajamas out since they're packed and ready for our trip to Washington. So I grab a t-shirt of Tobias' and slip it on and make my way to the kitchen.

Once I get there, I still don't see Tobias. But it appears that he's made breakfast for me. There is a bowl of oatmeal, and a small side of eggs and a piece of toast, along with a glass of orange juice. He jotted a note on the napkin for me.

"Goodmorning beautiful. I'm outside cleaning and loading up the truck."

I sit for a moment an eat the eggs and toast, then I grab the oatmeal bowl and decide to go visit him outside. I go through the garage and see he has the garage door open and his truck is halfway pulled in. He is bending over doing some work under the hood.

"Goodmorning." I greet before taking another bite of oatmeal.

He looks over his shoulder at me and gives me a small smile. I can tell he is happy to see me, but I can also tell he is stressed and worried about this trip. It's not exactly a vacation.

"You always look so sexy in my shirts." He states as I approach a little closer to him.

"I like that they smell like you." I say with a smile. "Thanks for breakfast by the way."

He nods and turns to face me completely, leaning up against the front of his truck as he attempts to wipe his hands clean the dirt with a rag.

I can now see a few dirt smears on his cheek and forehead, in addition to his filthy hands. His shirt is pretty dirty too. And he has a faint layer of sweat along his hairline. He's always so sexy, but I admit, I love seeing him work like this. A part of me wants to just let him have his way with me right up against his truck right now. But I know now isn't the time.

"Is the truck running okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, but figured I'd give it an oil change before we go and I topped off all the fluids. I know it's not too long of a drive, just around 3 hours. But I woke up earlier than expected and couldn't go back to sleep." He says, leaning in to kiss my forehead as his hands settle on my sides.

"You're quite a handy man." I say with a smile.

"I try." he says with a smirk. His hands roam down to my thighs, where the hem of his shirt hangs to.

"Hey now, we're still practically outside." I warn, but I'm still smiling.

"You're the one who can out here in just my shirt Prior."

As I take my last bite of oatmeal, his hands make their way under the shirt. I raise an eyebrow at him and he just has that adorable smirk still.

"No panties either?" He states, probably a bit louder than he meant.

"Shh! You don't have to tell the whole neighborhood." I scold, but I'm not really mad.

"The things you do to me..." He trails off, shaking his head, while adjusting his pants a little to accommodate his situation. Which makes me smile because I love that I can cheer him up despite the circumstances with him being down about this whole thing with his parents.

"Well, I better get inside to shower and get ready. Need me to help to help anything else before we go?"

"Nope, I've already loaded up the truck. So I'll just finish up with this and then I'll come shower as well. Maybe we will leave in a half hour?" He asks.

"Sounds good to me." I lean up and kiss him. He gives my bare ass a squeeze from under the shirt I'm wearing, then I give him a wink and turn to go back inside to get ready.

I rinse my breakfast dishes and place them in the dishwasher, I set it to run so they're clean when we get back from our trip, then I make my way to the shower.

When I'm done, I step out into his bedroom and get dressed. I decide to wear casual comfortable clothing since we'll be driving for a few hours. I just wear leggings and a sweater, and ugg boots.

Instead of blow drying my hair, I just braid it and then I put some light makeup on. But not much. I don't usually like wearing too much, nor does Tobias prefer it.

Once I'm done, Tobias is almost out of the shower and gets out and changes into jeans and a black t-shirt. He zips up a hoodie and ruffles his hand through his wet hair.

"You ready?" He asks.

"Yep!" I reply.

"I love that you're not one of those girls to take hours to get ready."

"Me too. I would hate it. I'm usually showered and ready in a half-hour."

I grab my purse and headphones, while he grabs his laptop bag and we make our way outside. He locks his house up and we get in his truck. He puts in an Arcade Fire CD and we head towards the highway.

As we drive, he doesn't say much. He just stares out at the road. I can tell he is deep in thought and the further we drive, the more tense he seems to get. His hands are holding the steering wheel pretty tight and he doesn't seem to notice, or doesn't care, when the cd ends and starts back at the beginning repeating itself. So I take it out and put in a different CD.

A small part of me worries that he is quiet and tense because of me. Did I do something wrong? Does he regret asking me to go? But I don't let myself think like that too long. He thanked me last night for going with him, before having amazing sex with me. Nothing between us to be troubling, we get along great and I'd like to think he has the same strong feelings for me as I do him. I just have to remind myself how uncomfortable he is having to deal with his father in anyway, and I know he isn't exactly looking forward to seeing his mother. He won't even call her by that title, he still refers to her as Evelyn.

After about an hour, we drive through and grab a coffee. But he's still pretty quiet.

I decide to be as cheerful as I can, without over doing it. But I hope I can help him into a somewhat better mood.

I sing along to the song on the radio, which happens to be a song by Outkast, and I know I sound totally off key. But I don't care, I'm trying to cheer him up, and if him laughing at me is what will make him smile, then so be it. As I hit the high note dramatically, I see the sides of his mouth quirk up a little and he mildly shakes his head with the hint of a laugh under his breath.

That just encourages me more. I continue to sing along, now also dancing a little in my seat with it. As we pass into the next city, the radio stations change and suddenly "Baby got back" comes on, by Sir-Mix-A-Lot. I somehow know the words to this too, so I sing to that and continue to dance. I try to be silly, but not annoying.

"I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny.." I rap along.

This causes his smile to grow a bit more and I can tell he's holding in a chuckle.

"Then when a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing in your face, you get sprung." I continue.

This causes him to actually laugh out loud, which causes me to smile and he looks at me returning the smile.

"You're the best." He says as I continue to rap/sing for him, and now I've taken one of his hands and making him sway it with the music with me, which causes him to laugh again. "Gosh Tris, I love you so much." He says with another shake of his head, somewhat quietly, almost to himself. But it was loud enough for me to hear it. But I'm caught off guard by what he just said, I realize that I had immediately stopped singing and my hand stills in his. He seems to realize this too.

"Did I just say that out loud?" He asks, looking at me a bit nervously.

"I think so." I say, even though I know for a fact what I heard him say.

Neither of us speak for a minute. I ponder what he just said. Did he mean it? I hope so. I really really hope so.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable...it just kind of, came out. But it doesn't make it any less true." He says, interlocking his fingers with mine, before continuing, not allowing me chance to speak yet. "Even though we haven't been together all that long, I've known for a while now. I just didn't know if you were ready to hear it. I didn't want to scare you away. And I don't want you to feel obligated to say it back. I would only want you to say it if you truly meant it. But I'm glad to have finally told you. So there you go... Tris Prior, I am in love with you." He says, the he gives my hand a squeeze and the pulls it away to turn up the radio louder, attempting to cut off the conversation. He seems nervous as to how I would respond to that whole declaration.

I don't think he realizes how big I'm smiling since he seems to be staring straight at the road ahead.

I reach up and turn the radio down, even lower than before. I unbuckle and scoot into the middle of the bench seat and re-buckle next to him.

"Tobias." I say, taking his hand back into mine and kissing it. "I'm in love with you too."

That causes him to look at me without hesitation. He continues to look at me, while simultaneously glancing at the road to continue driving safely.

I lean up and kiss his cheek. "I've known I have for a while too, and have been contemplating how and when to tell you."

By now he is grinning and holding my hand to his lips, kissing each of my knuckles.

"I hope I don't make you that nervous to talk to me about anything else though. Please know that I love and you can talk to me about anything."

"I do know that, thank you. I was just nervous since I've never said those words to anyone before. And so I guess for me it's a bigger deal than it would be to most people." He explains, now holding my hand on his leg, rubbing his thumb over the top.

"I know, and it's a big deal to me too. That just adds to why I'm so happy to have you say it to me." I say, leaning up to kiss his cheek again. He is still smiling widely and seems much more content, like he's going to attempt to not let anything bother him or this moment.

We drive the rest of the way chatting, listening to music and stealing kisses every so often.

Once we arrive into town, it's almost 11am. We use the map on his phone to direct us to the hotel and we head inside. He checks us in and we head up to our room. It's pretty nice, nothing extremely fancy, but it's comfortable and will be home for the next week or so. There is a desk and a desk chair, along with a couch and chair in the living space. Off that is a single bedroom with a king size bed. There is no kitchen, but there is a mini fridge and microwave. There is also a nice big shower and big soaker bathtub in the bathroom. I'm looking forward to making good use of that!

"Is this place okay?" Tobias asks me.

"Yeah, it's perfect. And we can see the space needle." I say as I open the curtains that cover the sliding door that leads to the patio, which runs along the bedroom and living room. I open the door and step out and lean against the railing. I take in the fresh air and enjoy the view of Seattle.

"I forgot, you've never been to Washington before, right?" He asks me, stepping out onto the patio, leaning against the railing next to me.

"Nope, this my first time."

"Well, we will be sure to make the best of this trip. We will definitely do some site seeing, eat good food and have some fun. I can't imagine this stuff with my parents will take all day every day for the next week." He says.

I smile and lean against him, resting my head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.

I look up at him and into his deep blue eyes, the ones that soften so gently when he smiles at me. He's such a quiet and tough masculine man, but around me, he's also such a sweetheart.

"I love you Tobias." I say softly. I love being able to express my love to him.

He kept that intense loving gaze into my eyes and his smile only grew as I spoke. He presses his lips firmly to mine and pulls me flat against him. He kisses me fiercely. His mouth fits perfectly against mine, and he's driving me insane by using his tongue the way he does, and the way he uses his teeth to lightly tug on lips, nibbling and sucking while his hands cup my face.

Then he pulls away to catch his breath and takes my hands in his and holds them against his chest, above his heart. "I love with you too Tris." he firmly states with a big smile.

He starts to pull me back into the bedroom and lays me on the bed. He hovers over me and I can feel his hardness against my leg. He begins to kiss me again. I start to remove his shirt, but before long, we are interrupted by his phone ringing. But it's not someone calling, it's his calendar alarm reminding him of the meeting he has with his lawyer in 15 minutes.

"Shit, I guess time flies when you're having fun." He says with a wink.

I shove him playfully and he gets up and extends a hand to help me up as well. After a minute of letting himself settle back down, we head down to the lobby. Instead of taking the car, we walk down the sidewalk to the attorneys office since it's within walking distance. But we still have to walk quickly to arrive there on time. The closer we get, the more tense Tobias seems to get. We're holding hands, but I can tell he's not looking forward to this meeting, or anything dealing with his father for that matter.

Once we get there, we are greeted by an older lady, presumably the secretary. She sends us into the waiting area. Shortly after we sit, Mr. Jackson steps out of his office.

"Mr. Tobias Eaton I presume?" he asks, extended his arm to shake hands.

"Yes, hello Mr. Jackson." Tobias replies, shaking his hand in return. "And this is my girlfriend, Tris." he gestures to me. I shake Mr. Jackson's hand and give him a friendly smile.

"Well, you two can follow me to my office." Mr. Jackson says, leading the way.

Tobias and I take the seats opposite his desk and he begins the formal legal mumbo jumbo of how to proceed with everything since his father passed.

I had to deal with similar stuff when my parents passed away, so I'd be lying if this didn't bring me down a bit too at the memory of it all. It's not stuff I care to really remember, having to deal with paperwork and all that after you loose family members is no fun task. Although Tobias' situation is a bit different since his relationship with his dad was far from good and they hadn't spoken in years, I know it still can't be easy for him. And it pains me to think of him hurting in anyway. So I sit patiently and just listen and try to be a supportive girlfriend.

"Tobias, as we discussed on the phone, as Marcus Eaton's personal lawyer, he had listed me as the executor of his estate for when he were to pass. However, he must not have assumed it would be so soon, as we are not aware of any will. Thus, his estate and property, including vehicles, has been granted to his next of kin, being you since you were an only child." Mr. Jackson explains.

He pulls out the first paper and hands it to Tobias, who reviews it, while holding it between the two of us so that I can read along.

"That there is the medical certificate of death for Mr. Marcus Eaton." Mr. Jackson explains, even though we can plainly see that's what it is.

Tobias simply nods and lets Mr. Jackson continue explaining how to handle everything.

He then spends the next hour going over other paperwork for Tobias to fill out and sign. Although Marcus had some credit card debt, he left some money in savings. It turns out he had around $11,000 in fact. So that will cover the debt, and will pay the expenses of the estate sale company, this trip, legal fees, etc. There will likely be a little extra money. I get the feeling this is something Tobias is actually somewhat happy to retrieve, and seems excited to put it to good use. But I'm not sure what he's thinking exactly. If I had to guess, I bet he will put it towards charity as he had mentioned before.

Mr. Jackson then proceeds to explain about things such as contacting Marcus' bank, electric company, telephone company, cable company, etc. to cancel contracts and services due to the account holder now being diseased.

Once all said and done, Tobias was given the keys to Marcus' house.

Mr. Jackson was fairly friendly, but most importantly, he was informative. Thankfully this whole process seems like it might technically be easier than expected. Although Tobias is still quiet and tense, I can tell he is relieved to have that step over with.

Once we leave, Tobias gathers the paperwork he needs and pockets the keys. We leave the office and start aimlessly walking the sidewalks of Seattle.

"You okay?" I ask after about 10 minutes of silence.

"Yeah, I guess so. I just don't feel like dealing with this crap. But whatever, the sooner I do it, the sooner it's over with." he says.

It's true. He doesn't technically have to deal with his fathers estate and all that right away. But I guess in his situation, it's better to get it over and done with.

"I understand. I agree, let's just get it over with. Then we'll get back to our life."

He squeezes my hand a little reassuringly and offers me a small smile.

"It's almost 1:30, want to grab some lunch?" I ask, hoping to lighten the mood. Plus, I'm pretty hungry.

"Sure, I could use a bite to eat. What do you feel like?" he asks.

"Anything really. You know this place better than me, you pick." I reply.

"Hmm...I have a place in mind, it's just a few blocks from here." he suggests.

"Lead the way." I say with a smile.

We continue to walk hand in hand until we arrive to a somewhat upscale cafe. The hostess seats us outside on their patio area, hands us menus and sets a large carafe of ice water on the table. She lets us know our server will be by soon.

"This place okay?" Tobias asks me as he pours us each some of the water and I start to browse the menu. They have quite a variety of things and they all look really good.

"Yeah, of course. I have no idea what to get though, it all looks really good." I say, still considering all the menu options.

"Well, I've actually never been here. It was one of those places that always looked good, but I didn't want to go to by myself. So I'm glad to finally try it. And I'm glad to have you as my date." he says sincerely.

A minute later, a petite blonde girl approaches the table, she's quite pretty and has bright blue eyes. I guess by the small black half-apron she's wearing, she is probably our server.

"Hello, I'm Olivia, I'll be your server this afternoon. Can I start you off with something to drink?" she asks, looking to me first.

"I'd like an iced tea, thank you." I request.

She nods and looks to Tobias.

"Four?" she asks.

He finally looks up at her and gives her a small smile. "Oh, hi Olivia. Long time no see." he says.

"Yeah, it's been ages! I almost didn't recognize you! Didn't you move away?" she asks.

"Yep. Moved to Portland. Just in town for a few days with my girlfriend. This is Tris." he gestures to me, and then looks to me and says "Olivia and I went to the same school and we worked our first job together at a burger joint down the street." he says.

Olivia smiles at me and gives my hand a weak shake to acknowledge the introduction.

"Nice to meet you." I say with a small smile.

"You too. I'm actually kind of surprised he has a girlfriend, all the girls would throw themselves a him and he always turned them down." she says with a giggle. "And I was one of them." She says under her breath with a small sigh.

"Anyway, what would you like to drink Four?"

"I'll have a Stella, thanks."

"Sounds good, I'll have your tea and beer out in a few." she says with another smile and retreats back into the restaurant.

"She's nice." I say simply.

"Yeah, she was always pretty nice."

"She had, and possibly still has, a crush on you." I say teasingly.

He chuckles as well. "Well, I doubt that's true. But if it is, I was kind of a jerk back then. And now that I'm somewhat nicer than I used to be, I'm taken. So she will have to get over it." He says with a smile and grabs my hand across the table.

"Damn straight." I add with a smile and a wink.

She returns back fairly quickly with our beverages and takes our orders.

"I'll have the full-size chinese chicken salad please." I request.

"And I'll have the chicken and pesto panini and a bowl of potato soup." Tobias requests.

She nods and leaves to submit our order.

"So, that meeting wasn't to bad, huh?" I ask, taking Tobias' hand in mine across the table.

"Yeah. I guess it went better than I expected. But I guess we'll have to go over to the house and check things out. I doubt there will be, but I'll make sure there isn't anything I want before I hire and company to take over and put together an estate sale."

"That's probably a good idea. When do you want to go over there?"

"Probably better to get it out of the way soon. Maybe today, after this lunch? The sooner I get that over with, the sooner I can get the rest of all this done."

"Very true. And yes, of course we can go after lunch. Whatever you'd like to do is fine with me." I say with a re-assuring smile.

He pulls my hand up to his mouth and kisses it before taking a pull off his beer.

As we sit and chat and wait for our food, a lady walks up on the other side of the fence from our outdoor seating on the patio. She starts to tie the leash to the fence next to us.

"Do you mind if I leave him here while I grab an order to go? He's friendly and he won't bother you." she says kindly.

"Of course not, go right ahead." I say with a friendly smile.

She nods a with a thank you and steps inside the restaurant.

I seem to get a bit distracted by the cute dog and find myself inching closer to pet it. He seems to possibly be a mixture of a lab and a husky. He lays next to me, still on the opposite side of the little black iron fence, so I lean down to pet him.

"Aw, he's so cute. Aren't you?" I ask him in the silly voice that many people seem to get when they talk to cute animals.

Four chuckles and leans over to pet him too. "You like dogs, don't you?" he asks me.

"I do. I've had a few growing up. In fact, I can't remember a time I didn't have at least one dog living in the house. Well, up until now of course. But I'd love to get another one some day." I say, pondering that idea and the possibility of how soon that might be able to happen.

"Did you ever have a dog? Or any pets?" I ask him.

"No. I always wanted a dog. Or even a cat. But Marcus wouldn't allow it. Said they smelled and were a waste of time, space and money. 'Just like me.' He would say." he says with a sigh. "But I enjoyed playing with Zeke and Uriah's dog, at least during the short while they had it for the last couple years before we moved to Portland."

I feel my eyes furrow and attempt to hold back the look of disgust at what he just quoted his father would say. It makes me so angry to think anyone could be like that to him, let alone his own father.

"Well, maybe one day we can get a dog. He can take turns at your house and my house." I suggest with a small smile, taking a sip of my iced tea.

"I'd like that." he replies. "And who knows, maybe one day he won't have to take turns at two houses." he adds with an adorable smirk.

I smile, but before I can respond, Olivia comes back with our order and stands to chat for another minute. After she walks away, the dog owner returns with her to-go bags and retrieves her dog. We chat for a minute or so about his breed and how cute and friendly he is. Once we're left alone again, we share a smile, but begin eating our food. We don't mention the last thing he just spoke about. That we may have one house for our hypothetical shared dog. Insinuating we would have our shared dog in our hypothetical shared home. I feel strongly that's what he was implying. Although I am not sure what he meant by 'one day'. He could be thinking in a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. I have no clue. But I guess the more I think about it, I think I would be happy with that arrangement no matter the time frame. So I guess we'll just wait and see.

We eat in and chat, but we don't bring anything up of too much importance. I suppose we're both trying to make this lunch enjoyable and light hearted. After all, we'll be heading to his dreadful child hood home after this and I'm sure he's not particularly looking forward to it.