Hey all. I know it's been almost 2 months since I've uploaded an actual chapter of this story, and I apologize, though you probably all know what happened. I hope you all are still engaged and interested in reading more, even though I abandoned this for a bit. Life has been super haywire and I feel like I say this in every author's note but I am just so so so busy. Though, now that it's Thanksgiving break here in the US and I've finished some important deadlines for school work, I have some free time on my hands so you can expect updates for all 3 of my stories this week :) Maybe more! Hope you enjoy this chapter. This is part 1 of my Christmas chapter, after some internal deliberation I decided to split it up into 2 parts because it's pretty eventful.

PSA: streamed Taylor Swift's "Folklore" while writing this. In my eyes it is the best album for fall and winter, next to "Red" of course. She's a lyrical genius. I love her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.

Tris wakes up on Christmas morning with a raging headache. Last night, she and her mother stayed up past midnight, drinking schnapps and watching the HSN infomercials that Natalie claims are "therapeutic" for her. By Tris's fifth drink of the night, Natalie decided it was time to get her into bed, she did feel a little guilty already by letting her teenage daughter drink, but Tris was 18 and at least it was under parental supervision.

Before Tris headed upstairs, Natalie stopped her and pulled out a small box that was buried under several others beneath their large Christmas tree. Tris opened it to find a gorgeous rose gold tennis bracelet from Tiffany & Co that probably costed upwards of 10,000 dollars. In her inebriated state she started crying and hugged her mother tightly. Truthfully, Tris was crying about a lot of things. Herfear of telling her mother the truth about college, her conflicting feelings for Tobias, the uncertainty of the future, missing her father during a holiday like this, and so much more. The expensive gift mixed with the alcohol just happened to set her over the edge. Natalie was confused. My daughter gets expensive gifts like this all the time, she thought. But she took the crying in stride and returned the embrace before escorting her into her room.

Tris had fallen face first onto the bed and was instantly lulled into a deep slumber. Natalie stood in the doorway and observed her sleeping daughter for a few moments before turning away, trying not to get too emotional.

Now, Tris is willing the pure throbbing agony in her head to disappear, and trying to fight the urge to vomit. She hears a gentle knock on the door, so she calls out, "come in" in a croaking voice.

Enter Maria, her guardian angel, with a glass of water and two aspirin. "Miss Natalie says you would want this," she places the items on Tris's bedside table and Tris thanks her before tossing back the pills and gulping the water down. Oh god, her breath smells horrendous.

"Feliz Navidad, Maria!"

"Feliz Navidad, Miss Beatrice."

Maria is not in her usual housekeepers uniform today, but instead in a Christmas sweater and pajama pants. Tris feels a pang in her chest for her on this day. Maria crossed into the US illegally about 20 years ago, and had to leave her two daughters behind. Apparently the trip is dangerous for girls and she didn't want to put them in peril. She left them in the care of her brother, and she and her husband came to America to try and start a better life for themselves, one where they could eventually bring their daughters over.

But now the immigration laws in this country have just gotten stricter, and Tris has watched Maria lose hope at the idea of ever seeing her daughters again. Tris has asked her mother several times if there's anything they can do to help Maria, but each time her mother shakes her head and says, "It's not appropriate to meddle in the lives of the help, Beatrice."

But Maria isn't just "the help", and clearly Natalie feels the same way too as she trusts her with lots of family things and lets her spend holidays with the Prior's. After Maria's husband passed away a few years ago, the Prior's took her into the penthouse permanently as she couldn't afford to pay the bills on her apartment alone. Tris can imagine that holidays must be hard for Maria, missing her daughters and her husband. She hopes that the Prior's do a good job at making her feel welcome during these times, though some holes can just never be filled. Tris would know, she feels another pang when she thinks about her father. She wonders where he is right now, and if one day, eventually, he will come back, or at least call.

She shakes her head to herself. As each day without her father sinks in, she realizes the cold truth, he doesn't care about her. Clearly not enough to make an effort. Well, today is Christmas, and she should focus on the people who do care about her. "How are you doing today?" She asks Maria.

"It is hard, but I get through it, same as you do with your papa."

"Mmm, that's a little bit different," Tris tells her.

"Is it so? We both cannot see people we want, people we love. And today, the day that is supposed to be happiest, it can hurt more."

"When's the last time you spoke to Carmen and Isabel?"

"Hablé con Isabel about 3 months ago. Their tio cannot pay phone bills so es dificil for us to talk sometimes. Mi Carmencita trabaja mucha ahora, so whenever I call she is never there."

"I'm so sorry."

Maria waves a hand, "It's okay, niña. I hope for you to meet them one day. They would like you."

"I hope for that too."

Maria takes in a deep breath, pain present in her eyes, but when she releases it, the look is gone, and she is back to having her usual air of cheer. "Well, come. Miss Natalie ask me to call you and Caleb for gifts."

Tris hops out of bed, sliding her feet into her slippers and grabbing her fluffy robe, tossing it over her silk pajamas. After they get Caleb out of bed the three of them head downstairs for a Prior Christmas. Totalling up everything under the tree would probably result in over 100k dollars, and Tris's stomach clenches as she thinks about the homeless people with empty bellies whom she just handed out food to a few days ago. The things they could do with this money.

They present their gifts to Maria, a brand new electric mixer, an iPad, and an expensive scented candle. Though Tris firmly believes Maria deserves far more than these material items, she's not sure what she can do to help her besides to continue and plead with her mother. She wishes she wasn't so useless.

Finally, they've reached the last two gifts under the tree. In a proper "Prior Christmas", Tris and Caleb get their one "big present", as if the other forty aren't enough for them.

"You go first," Tris nods to Caleb who picks up the tiny box wrapped in deep blue wrapping paper. He gives Natalie a skeptical look, but her face doesn't reveal anything about what the gift may be.

He shakes it a few times, furrowing his eyebrows as he can't guess what it is and then pulls the lid off of the gift box. A massive grin breaks out across his face as he pulls out a set of keys from the box and dangles them in the air. A closer look at the keys reveal that they're car keys, and not just any car keys, Lamborghini keys.

"Mom," Caleb shakes his head, astounded. Tris feels rather astounded as well. Yes, they've gotten expensive gifts before, but a 500 grand car?

"You children deserve something special for your 18th Christmas. Your father actually helped me pick this out, Caleb."

"He did?" Tris and Caleb say in unison.

"Yes… he helped me pick out yours as well, Beatrice."

Tris swallows now. Whatever her gift is, then, it's linked to her father. But for some reason he can't actually show up here for the holiday. She knows her gift isn't a car, she doesn't have a driver's license yet and her box is considerably larger than Caleb's.

She pulls apart the white wrapping paper on her gift box to see a Patek Phillippe box. She gives her mother a wide eyed look. She knows how expensive their watches are.

"Your father had this watch custom made for you," her mother tells her gently, "Just open it."

Tris opens the lid and lets out a faint gasp. The timepiece is stunning, a white gold case, adorned with diamonds on the wristband and on the dial. She turns it over gently to see the finely crafted mechanics. This is easily the most gorgeous piece of jewelry she owns.

"The Stern family used a contemporary influence of the art deco style to design this watch for you. The dial has about 250 diamonds with an 18k gold dial plate. The casing is white gold with a sapphire crystal back, and the strap is set with 78 Akoya pearls and 48 princess cut diamonds," Natalie explains.

"Holy shit," Tris exhales.

"Language," Natalie reminds her.

"You… really went all out this Christmas mom."

"Well, you two are Natalie Prior's children."

The guilt has begun settling into Tris now. She's beyond grateful for this gift, and she couldn't give it away, especially knowing that her father played an instrumental part in having it made for her, but she clearly doesn't need half of the other things she's received today.

So after giving her mother a long hug, she realizes there's something she needs to do today. But first, she'll have to call Tobias.

"Are you going somewhere?" Maria asks Tris as she steps into the kitchen, dressed up now in her coat and boots and scarf.

"Yes, I'm seeing Tobias."

"Oh, I miss him. Very handsome boy."

"Mmm," Tris responds, "Are those cookies you're making?" She asks, trying to change the subject.

"You don't talk about Tobias," Maria observes.

"No. I don't."

"We just want to see you be happy, Miss Beatrice. And I know he makes you feel that way."

"It's more complicated than that."

"Feliz no es complicada. If you're happy, you're happy. Simple."

"Mmm."

Maria just shakes her head and pulls out a tin box from a cupboard, filling them with her Christmas cookies, "Give these to my hermoso."

"Will do," Tris answers shortly, taking the box and turning to go.

"Oh, and Beatrice?"

"Yes?"

"Sigue a tu corazón."

"Noted."

Tris tries to ignore the fluttery feeling that Maria's advice gives her. She wasn't expecting Tobias to be free today… but what would he be doing? She's been so self involved that she forgot to ask. He obviously wouldn't be spending today with Marcus, he made that much clear… she knows a little bit about his relationship with his mother, and knows that she left them when Tobias was 6. She guesses she just assumed that he would be with Zeke and Shauna today, but they do have their own family… hmm…

She looks around to make sure no one is in sight before grabbing the bag with many of the Christmas gifts she received today, and then her own present for Tobias, heading into the elevator. As she makes her way outside and sees a silver Bentley Continental GT parked outside, with Tobias in the driver's seat. She guesses that it's Christmas day so Simon is probably spending time with his family today, and obviously Tobias would own an expensive car, it just never occurred to her, because this whole time they've known each other they've mostly walked places together.

She opens the door and slides into the passenger seat, turning to Tobias. She hasn't seen him in a few days, so she takes a moment to soak in his appearance. Reflecting back on their night at Erudite with fondness, she's glad that she could prevent him from drinking his sorrows away. She's been checking on him via text these past few days to make sure he hasn't been engaging in irresponsible behavior, and by the looks of him he seems to be doing alright. She notices now that his dark brown, almost black, hair is growing out, curling around the nape of his neck. His midnight blue eyes stare right into her own, as if reading all her thoughts in that single gaze.

"What do we have here?" He asks, gesturing to the items in her hands.

"Well these are the goods," she holds up the bag of presents she received. "This is from Maria to you," she holds up the tin of cookies and Tobias smiles, taking it from her. "She told me she misses her handsome."

"Aww, I miss her too."

"And this is from me to you," she hands him the box with his present in it and his face falls into a 'you didn't' look.

"Trissss."

"What? And don't give me the 'you shouldn't have spent money on me' shit. I'm Natalie Prior's daughter. I have plenty to spare."

"Well… I mean I did get something for you, and I didn't want to be outshone."

Tris feels something warm and fuzzy spread throughout her chest, "Just open mine first, please."

Tobias cocks an eyebrow at her and lifts the lid off of his box, his mouth twisting up into a smile when he sees what it is. "I've actually always wanted one of these," he tells her genuinely.

Tris beams, "Really?"

"Yep… I mean I'm a huge Dali fan, so…"

What do you get for an art history lover? Tris isn't as well versed in art history as Tobias is, but she knows enough. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali is one of the most famous paintings ever created, with the iconic melting clocks. She did some research and came across this gift, a real life clock that looks as how they are depicted in the painting. She was nervous he wouldn't like it, after all he's probably used to receiving decadent gifts all the time and this gift wasn't very pricey, but it was Tobias.

He holds his arm out for her and embraces her in a side hug, "Thank you. I love it."

"You're welcome… I got a timepiece of my own this morning as well," she holds up her wrist with her new watch on it, the diamonds sparkling in the daylight.

"Holy shit. Is that Philippe?"

"Yep. Natalie went all out this year. Caleb got a lambo."

Tobias raises his eyebrows, "Wow… Can I see it?"

Tris laughs, "Mmm… he took it for a test drive about half an hour ago… not sure where he is. Maybe when we come back."

"Well, speaking of cars, how do you like mine?"

"Honestly I really love this design… and I've always had a soft spot for Bentley's."

"Would you like to drive it?"

Tris feels mildly surprised that he's offering her to drive his 200 grand car without hesitation. "I would like to… unfortunately I have no driving experience whatsoever and probably will not get a license for a very long time. Oh, the many perks of being rich. Why learn how to do something when you can just hire somebody else to do it for you?"

"So Caleb learnt how to drive but you didn't?"

"Yeah, well it was something he expressed interest in I guess. One of his main aspirations for his future is to own a lot of nice cars, and to do that you sort of need to know how to drive."

"That would be important, wouldn't it?" Tobias asks with a teasing smile. Tris likes seeing him smile.

"Mmm… you'd think it would… Anyways, I've seen your room. It does need some decoration. So you're welcome."

"I'm offended. But thank you for this present. Really… you probably made mine look bad."

"Oh, don't say that. What is it?" Tris asks with some eagerness now.

Tobias smiles a little at her before reaching to his backseat and bringing out a medium sized box that is wrapped in snowflake patterned paper. Tris pulls apart at the paper gently, not wanting to rip anything, and Tobias scoffs at how careful she's being.

She smiles when she sees the present. Out of everything she's been gifted today, this present is something that she can actually use and enjoy. It shows that Tobias knows her well.

As Tris turns the box over in her hands to admire the gift, not saying anything, Tobias pipes up nervously, "It's uh… cruelty free. I know how much you care about that stuff so…"

"Thank you so much, Tobias. I love the colors too."

Tobias, knowing Tris well, knows how much she loves having her nails painted. She usually doesn't go all out with the length with acrylic nails or anything. She keeps her nails short and groomed, but she likes bright colors with vivid patterns. Tobias got her a nice nail set with lots of pretty colors and different brushes to do specific patterns on her nails. Tris has been wanting to get better at doing her own nails as well, so that's a bonus.

"Well I figured you would already get enough jewelry today, so I wanted to do something different."

"Yeah… speaking of," Tris holds up her bag of presents again. "I figure you know the best way to get cash back for all of this?"

"Well, the quickest and most anonymous way to do that would be to sell it at a pawn shop… and lucky for you I do have some experience with that. Unfortunately you may not get enough cash back for value… but I also am pretty persuasive."

"Wow, who knew," Tris deadpans. "I do want as much cash as possible to donate, though." Tris called Tobias up this morning and told him about how she feels like she should be giving back this year, because the amount of money spent on her gifts was kind of ridiculous. She asked if he could help her sell some of the jewelry she got and if he knew what charities would be best for her to donate the cash to. They decided to give back the money to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, The Hunger Project, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Now the question is; how will they get the most cash back?

"In that case I could help you resell it to some actual shops. They're definitely more ethical and less sketchy and would give you more money. We'll have to do it another time, though, because everything is closed for Christmas."

"Great. Thanks. I'll just leave these with you, then."

Tris sets the bag of presents on the floor in front of the center console and Tobias opens the bag to take a look. He sifts through some of the jewelry boxes, his eyes widening. "Holy shit, this is some expensive stuff Tris."

"Yep. That's Natalie. What's the most expensive gift you've ever gotten, though?"

"Probably this car," he gestures around them, "After I moved out I pretty much gave away everything my father got for me, or resold it and donated the money like you're doing. I feel kind of guilty keeping this car… but it does come in handy sometimes. I'm hoping to be successful enough in my gallery job to where I can buy a new car for myself."

"So… that's still happening then?"

"It is. I'm sorry again about how I behaved on the day of the event. But… I'm ready to stand up to my dad. I've been meeting with some people, and it's gonna take a while but we're trying to turn my space into a gallery."

"Tobias! That's amazing. I'm so proud of you… you're really doing it."

"It's honestly thanks to you."

"What do you mean?"

"You… you've helped me see what's important."

Tris laughs modestly, "I really can't take all of that credit. It's you."

"You really don't get it, do you?" Tobias asks, shaking his head in wonder at her.

"Get what?" Tris asks, feeling a bit perplexed now.

"How… fucking incredible you are. You're this inferno who's like, got so much potential ahead of her. You're intelligent, generous, eccentric, stubborn, and strong… you just have no idea that you have all that in you. And trust me, I know, in the world we live in it can be easy to let things erode and break us down. But you, you're not just settling for the life that other people expect you to have. You're desperate to pave the way for yourself. So… of course being around you, Tris Prior, would help me see what's important. If not, I'd still just be putting one foot in front of the other and wondering when it could get any better. And now I know I'm rambling but… I just really needed to tell you all this because I feel like you don't see any of it for yourself, and you don't see the impact you've had on me. You were the first person to get to know me. Not Tobias, my father's son… not Tobias, Zeke and Shauna's mysterious roommate. Just Tobias. And you've helped me bring that person back to life… something that I didn't think I could do after… everything that happened throughout childhood. My mom leaving, and Marcus, I always just thought that if I got close to anyone they would end up being disappointed. So… shit. Please don't deflect when I try to tell you how much you've helped me, because I'm nothing if not honest and it's just really painful thinking that you don't know how much of an impact you've had on me."

Tris's heart is beating a thousand miles per minute after Tobias's heartfelt speech. Well, fuck. She was not expecting that. Is that really how he sees her? Say something Tris, say something. "You… did the exact same for me, though… without you giving me the push to make some decisions of my own, showing how it worked out for you… I would still be distant as ever, you know. I've never had a friend who cares about me like you do. Who knows exactly what I need to hear and when I need to hear it… who wants to see me genuinely happy. So… thank you. I know I'm not the easiest when it comes to opening up… but you saw a really vulnerable side of me at the tattoo parlor and you've made me feel safe and understood in a way that no one else has before. You're a really good friend," Tris finishes, exhaling. She's never been the sort of person who could be honest and open like that… but Tobias Eaton has done things to her. When she first came across him, she was intrigued and daunted, but she never expected to care for this man in the way she does now. She couldn't imagine the bleak mess her life would be currently if he had never stepped into it.

"It's funny… I met you when I was trying to convince myself that my life was going okay, despite the fact that I was dependent on smoking and drinking and was working a job that I hated. Sure, I had escaped my dad, but not really. And now, meeting someone who knows what it's like has helped me garner the courage to be completely independent. I'm going to be free," he states it as if he can't believe it. "And I don't even care if it all gets fucked up. I mean nothing is going to go according to plan, I know… and everything is probably going to become an awry clusterfuck… but what matters now is that I just try. And I'm doing what I've been so afraid to do all this time."

"Is it selfish if I say that I'm just so glad I got to meet you before we both get out of this world?" Tris whispers, gently placing her palm on the place he told her his tattoo was. A bird, flying out of its cage, right on his lower chest.

"I thought we both just established that meeting each other the only reason we're getting out of here in the first place," Tobias jokes lightly, taking her hand off of his body and squeezing it gently.

"Well then… I'm just really glad I met you."

Tobias has leaned in closer to her face, and Tris can feel her cheeks enflame. God, oh God… what do I do… what do I do…

"I'm glad I met you too," he whispers. He's so close now that Tris can feel his breath on her face. "Hey Tris?" He asks.

"Hmm?"

"Look up."

Tris tilts her head back to look at the interior ceiling of Tobias's car, only to see mistletoe taped to it.

"Hmm… how did that get there?" Tris jokes, trying to calm her nerves because holy shit this is really happening. And everything she was feeling a few days ago, her fears, her doubts, her insecurities… they're not at the forefront of her mind anymore. She wonders if this is the wise decision… Tobias put it there, Tobias drove over here with the intention of kissing her. Screw wise.

"Well, you know the rules," he states, and seems to be trying to calm his own nerves as well.

Tobias made the first bold move, so now it's Tris's turn. She leans in and gently captures his lips with her own, putting both of her hands on his shoulders. His lips are somehow even more inviting than they look and they move against her own slowly and gently. Tobias's hands have moved up to cup Tris's face and when she pulls away from him after a few seconds his face has broken out into a wide grin.

"I knew that today would be the day that I had to try. I've been wanting to do it for a while now, so I plucked up the courage to put some mistletoe in the car," he explains. Tris is all at once trying to comprehend how a first kiss was that amazing and what this means for them and not even believing that just happened!

"Thank God you did," she tries to say as nonchalantly as possible.

"Merry Christmas, Tris."

"Merry Christmas, Tobias."

Hopefully part 2 of the Christmas chapter is up soon. Thanks for reading! LMK what you think and leave a review! So happy to be back and to be on break .

-Kiki