Thanks for the love on the last chapter! I did forget to answer a question. Yes, Tris is still on birth control.

"Ladies, don't forget that the rules are still in effect. No social media, curfew is still in place at 11 PM. No overnight guests before the game, or the night before we leave, no exceptions to any of the rules." Tori calls out at the end of practice.

Tris was dripping with sweat from the brutal practice. She and Nita had fallen into a rhythm. Tris was still the starter. Christina had been bumped up to a starter with the injury of Mikayla Barnes. Tris was shocked that basically they were excused from all their classes and all their work would be able to be turned in at a later date. Even their finals had been pushed back depending on how deep the team went into the tournament. Everyone wanted them to focus on the tournament. The schedule was brutal. The first round was held in Orlando, Fl. The team's first game was on Thursday of that week which meant they would travel on Tuesday. If they won on Thursday they would play again on Saturday and return to Atlanta on Sunday. The second round would be in Louisville, Kentucky, the third round in New Orleans, and Indianapolis, Indiana for the Final Four and Championship. It was a grueling schedule for the next 4 weeks but Tris and the team were up to the challenge. They wanted to go as deep as they could in the tournament.

The men's schedule was just as grueling. Their first round was in Nashville, TN. The only grace was they only had one game the first week as a two-seed and it wasn't until Saturday night. But for Rounds 2, 3, and 4 it would be just as grueling with two games each week and the team traveling to Houston, Chicago, and then Miami for the Final Four and Championship.

Tris was going to miss Tobias for the next four weeks. Even with the road trips they still hadn't been apart for more than a week at most during the season.

The Monday night before they both left for the tournament, everyone was enjoying their last night with most people paired off indulging some fun and pleasure before buckling down for three weeks on the road.

"Tobias I love you" she whispers as puts her hands on his chest and his hands grip her waist. She gasps as she feels the pleasure roll over her as Tobias moves surges inside her.

"Tris I love you too" He coos out as he falls back on the pillows of her bed as he lets go too.

Tobias moves his hand up and down the center of her chest as they both grin and catch their breath.

"Wow" Tris grins as she looks down at him.

"Wow is right" Tobias agrees as he sits up so he can kiss her. "Looks like we aren't the only one getting in before everyone hits the road" Tris giggles as a loud moan comes from the wall her room shared with Marlene.

"I told you we should have gone to your room" She teases.

"Nope, I swear Uriah and Will are going for a record to see who can knock down the walls. This was better" Tobias laughs out. "Who is she in there with? I didn't know she was dating anyone"

"I don't know," Tris whispers excitedly. "She's been so secretive about it the last few weeks"

"Well maybe we should give them some competition," Tobias says suggestively as he flips Tris over and she laughs.

Things go great in the first two rounds of play. Everyone is tired but still energized. No one thought the Women's team would make it to the Sweet 16. If they won the next game it would secure a spot for them in the Elite 8.

Tobias continues to dominate in the Men's tournament but the Sunday after their Elite 8 game things come crashing down.

Tobias wakes up on Monday morning, Tris had left early to go shower for her team meeting. Only seeing her basically one day a week these past weeks had been harder than he anticipated. Last night they had sleepily talked about what they wanted to do for the summer once the semester was over and got back to Charlotte. He still had a few hours before their team meeting to review film on Marquette which is whom they would be facing in the Final Four on Thursday.

He's scrolling on Instagram when he sees a story about his father allegedly fathering a child from a woman who lived in Atlanta. Tobias shakes his head. He was glad his father had prepared him for this hitting the news. He knew it looked bad, and he knew that people could be brutal in their comments about situations that they only speculated on. Part of him understood why Tris's coach banned them from using social media during the season. He shook his head and put the phone down and got up to get dressed for the team meeting. He could get some free throw practice in before the meeting. After he has to see Tris when his mother calls.

"Hey Ma"

"Hi Baby, I just called to check on you" Evelyn sniffles on the other end.

"Ma what's wrong?" He could automatically tell that there was something wrong as soon as he heard her voice.

"I just…. With everything going on I wanted to see if you are okay" Evelyn slurs.

"I'm fine Ma, are you okay?" Tobias probes as he furrows his eyebrows. His mother wasn't a huge drinker but Tobias swore she sounded drunk and it was the middle of the day.

"Hmmm hmmm, you have a good game in Ummm where are you going again?"

"Miami…Ma are you sure you are okay? Are you going to fly to Miami?" Yeah, this wasn't good, Evelyn always knew when Tobias's next game was. She worried too much when they were traveling. She had bought her plane tickets to Miami as soon as the bracket was announced because she had that much faith that they were going to go all the way to the championship game.

"I'm going to try sweetie, I'll call you later, I just wanted to hear your voice" Evelyn replies solemnly as she ends the call.

Tobias stares at the phone, something was definitely wrong. He looked at the time. It was 4 pm. He could make it to Charlotte and back before the team had to leave at 4 pm the next day. He blew out a breath. He knows he had never seen his mother drunk in his entire life. How had the news of this scandal thrown her for a loop like this, his father told him months ago? He settled in his mind that he needed to see her, to make sure she was okay.

Tobias ran to his room to grab his phone charger and a change of clothes. He called Tris to meet him outside the dorm.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Tris says as she sees him standing outside the building with his travel duffle bag on his shoulder.

Tobias gives her a quick recap of what happened and how his mother sounded so off and that she had been drinking.

"We can leave right now, just go grab your stuff." he presses. He needed her to be with him through this.

"Tobias how? We have to catch a flight to get to the Final Four tomorrow. I have to be on the bus to head to the airport at 12." Tris reasons. Wondering if was thinking of asking for some type of permission to meet the team in Miami but knowing that she and the women's team were going to Indianapolis.

"We can leave now, and head out first thing in the morning, we would be back at 9 if we left at 5 am. I can talk to Mom and make sure she's okay. I just feel like I need to see her. She didn't even remember where we were playing this week. Somethings wrong"

"I can call my Mom and Ms. Hana to see about her, I have to be in my room by 11, there's not enough time. I can't risk that coach might show up. She's done it before"

"Tris my mom is a mess, it sounds like she's been drinking, I need to go, I need to see if she's okay. Can't you get Chris, Lynn, and Marlene to cover for you? This isn't like we're just running off the be alone. Tris, I need you right now" Tobias pleads.

Tris had never been more conflicted in her entire life about anything. Tobias was standing there in front of her, pleading with her that he needed her. But she knew Coach Wu, she would make good on her promise and she would throw away her entire college playing career if she went with him. She was always looking to make an example out of someone, especially her.

"Tobias, I can't, You know I have a curfew," Tris says shakily as she looks at him. She felt like she was on the edge of a knife about to give in to him and go.

Tobias wipes his hands across his face. "Fine then go"

"T. I...I'm sorry" Tris pleads. She couldn't believe he was pushing her to make this choice right now, knowing how serious this was for her as it should be for him but he could get away with it.

"No it's cool" Tris can hear his voice is now cold. She was so torn but she couldn't take the chance. This week was too important not just to her but to her team.

"I'll talk to you the whole way there and as soon as you get in the car on the way home" she promises. Her face falls as soon as she sees the expression on Tobias's face go from pleading to emotionless as soon as the words leave her mouth.

"No, I think I need to be alone after all. I'll catch you next week" Tobias couldn't look at her anymore as he turned to walk down the sidewalk to his truck. All the conversations about all they needed were each other were bullshit. When he really needed her, she left him high and dry to deal with it on his own.

Tris watches him walk to the parking lot and tears threaten to well up in her eyes. She couldn't be in two places at once. She takes a few steps about to run after him and tell him to wait for her but she stops herself. No, she couldn't do it, her gut told her if she went, she would not only jeopardize her starting stop but possibly her spot on the team as a whole.

"Ughhhh" she screams out in frustration as she stomps her foot and looks up at the sky. Why did this have to happen now?

It was 9 pm by the time Tobias pulled into his driveway in Charlotte. He tried to push his feelings about Tris aside now that he was there.

"Ma" Tobias calls as he enters the back door. He looks around and sees a mess in the kitchen. There were liquor bottles on the kitchen counter. His mother wasn't a big drinker so the image was disturbing. He could hear the sounds of music coming from outside by the pool.

"Ma" he called again as he opened the sliding door that led to the pool.

"Tobias, what are you doing here?" Evelyn replies shocked as she wipes the tears from her eyes finally registering that her soon who should be in Atlanta was standing in front of her. She quickly musses up her hair to cover her face.

"I was worried about you, I needed to see you," Tobias says softly. "The last time I saw you drink Luther Vandross died"

Evelyn gives him a weak smile as he sits down on the pool lounger at her feet. Evelyn keeps her hair over her face as she swallows.

"I know those reports are messing with you, but we gotta stick together. We can't let this break up our family. Where's Pop?"

"I threw him out," Evelyn says as she takes a sip of the brown liquid in the tumbler she was holding.

"Really Ma, you going let these gossip columns some hoe tell you what you think about Dad?

"How many times have you told me to watch these hoes out there?"

"I should have been telling your father that" Evelyn sighs as she shakes her head.

"He told me the truth already, He told me this woman was making these accusations about him" Tobias insists.

"Whose truth are you talking about Tobias?" Evelyn says, cocking her head to the side. She figured Marcus would sell their son a bunch of lies but it was time that Tobias stopped looking at his father as the stand-up family man everyone thought he was. When she does her hair moves and Tobias finally sees the bruise on the side of her face. He stands up quickly.

"Tobias, calm down please" Evelyn urges, she hadn't wanted Tobias to see her like this and fly off the handle at his father.

"He fucking hit you" Tobias balls his fists up at his sides.

"I hit him first, I was throwing things and he threw a book and it hit me in the face. Please sit down"

Tobias blows out a breath, this was a mess and his emotions were all over the place. He didn't want to make things worse for his mother right now.

"Why did you throw something at him?" Tobias furrows his eyebrows as his mother pulls out an envelope from the table next to her and throws it to him.

"What's this?" Tobias says, looking at the contents as he opens the envelope.

"This isn't the first time your father has stepped out, and this isn't the first child either. I had a meeting with this young lady that approached me a few months ago. The results came back yesterday."

Tobias looks at pictures of a young boy that looks to be around 5 years old. There is another young man that looks to be closer to Tobias's age but the resemblance between him and Tobias was unmistakable. The papers are DNA results that show that Marcus Eaton is a 99.9% match for Hector and Fernando Vasquez.

Tobias looks up at his mother who had tears in her eyes again.

"I used to think I was lucky being married to Marcus Eaton...and now I'm just tired. I am too tired" Evelyn says as the tears start again and the exhaustion evident in her voice.

Tobias feels a lump in his throat. He couldn't fall apart right now, he had to be strong for his mother.

"It's going to be okay Ma. Don't cry, please. I got you" Tobias whispers as he pulls her mother into a tight hug.

He cleaned up the kitchen while he told Evelyn to take a shower and relax. He sees his phone buzz on the counter. His father had called twice and he ignored it both times. Tris was calling now for the second time and he quickly hit the ignore button. As he laid in his bed that night he looked at her contact. He hovers over and is about to press call and then decides against it.

The entire ride back to Atlanta the next morning Tobias is overwhelmed with the past 24 hours. His head was swimming. He couldn't sort out all the emotions about his father, the fact that he lied to him. Everything about what he taught him seemed like a lie, hell it was a lie. Tobias had spent his entire life following the rules Marcus laid out for him, what did he do now? And the one person he would talk to about all of this left him high and dry.

Tris felt sick the entire plane ride to Indiana. She tossed and turned all night. She had called Tobias, sent him text messages and he hadn't respond. She even calls again at 6 am when she knew he would be driving back and still nothing.

"You good Tris? You look like hell" Lynn asks as they got ready to get off the plane.

"Yeah, I just didn't sleep well last night" Tris muses. She didn't want to share what was going on yet. She needed to get her head in the game as best she could.

After a hard-fought game, Tris and the Lady Warriors fall in a defeat losing by 8 points. Tris is down about losing but they were outmatched by South Carolina. She had played a good game, scoring 24 points. She was going to work hard over the summer and she knew they would be back next year. She does however feel for the seniors, they were so close and they wouldn't have another opportunity at an NCAA championship.

She sits in the locker room with a towel around her neck. It was quiet, not the excitement and celebration she was sure that was going on in the other locker room.

"I don't want any of you ladies to hang your head. You just played a hell of a game and I am proud of each and every one of you" Tori calls out.

Losing was hard, especially at this level and when they were so close to making it to the finals. Tori had a good group of starters that would be returning in the fall and she knew they would do great things in the years to come. She was hard on them, she knew it, but she knew that hard work and discipline would serve them well.

As the team finished packing up, Tris found herself walking alone to the bus to head to the hotel with Nita.

"I hope you do well in the draft Nita, you still had a great season even after your ankle injury" Tris offers. She didn't want to be enemies with Nita. She could actually be fun when she wasn't putting pressure on herself about the game Tris had come to realize.

"Just piece of advice for next season, Never let a freshman take your spot," Nita says softly still feeling the sting that her college playing career was over.

Tris doesn't think it is malicious. Nita was stating a fact and how she felt. She stands there for a moment after Nita walks to put her bags under the charter bus and for the first time, she gets her. She would have fought tooth and nail too if someone came in gunning for her spot. Playing time was valuable especially when you were being scouted. She wished things could have been different and maybe if they played different positions they could have ended up friends. She wished nothing but the best for Nita.

Tris followed along with the men's game all the way to the airport. Tobias seemed to be off his game but they were making it work with Uriah having a stand-out game. When it became clear that they were going to win. She made up her mind about what she was going to do.

She looked at her account. She had her money that her father put in her account every month and her athletic stipend money she had been saving. The championship was Monday night. She could get to Miami before then.

She asked Tori to put in a call to the athletic director for her to get put on the list for entrance into the game now that her season was over she was free to go and come as she pleased. She had to show Tobias that she could show up for him.

18 hours later, Tris felt her heart pounding as she walked into the area. She sees Evelyn sitting alone in the stands.

"Hi, Ms. Evelyn," she said quietly as she sat in the seat next to her.

She had fallen into the bed in her hotel room she found as soon as she got it. Her body finally succumbing to exhaustion from the game and her lack of sleep since Tuesday. She threw on a Dauntless t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Thankfully her hair was still braided in two long braids so she didn't look a complete mess.

"Hi Tris, I'm so glad you could make it, I heard you had a tough loss the other night"

Evelyn gives her a hug. She could tell Evelyn had dark circles under her eyes just like she did. She normally had a bright smile that seemed fake tonight. Tris isn't sure if she should ask if she was okay or if she knew that she and Tobias weren't really speaking so she keeps quiet and focuses on the game.

"Yeah, it happens, we played hard so I'm okay with it" Tris nods.

She looked around and she knew things were probably worse than she anticipated because Marcus Eaton was nowhere near his wife, sitting several rows away.

Tris bounces her knee the entire first half. Tobias was off. He only had four points for the entire half. He wasn't playing the defenders well. He looked frustrated and he couldn't get a shot to land right. The defender assigned to Tobias was cocky. He could tell he had Tobias's every move down. Evelyn and Tris were both frustrated at how he wasn't being called for taunting.

At halftime as soon as the team comes back onto the floor Tris get to the edge of the seats and calls for Dante, one of the athletic trainers who sometimes worked for the women's team too.

"Dante, Please I just need one minute with him….I know how to get him to focus" Tris pleads.

Dante runs over to Max and starts talking. Max looks up at the stands and sees Tris and nods his head. He would try anything right now to get Tobias to focus so they could win this game. Max talks to the security guard and he nods letting Tris pass by and walk to the edge of the court.

Tobias looks annoyed when Max tells him to go over and speak to Tris but he does what he's told. He doesn't say anything when he stops in front of her. Tris takes a deep breath and gets up close to him so she could say what she needed to say.

"Look, I know you pissed at me and at your Dad, at the world but you can do this T. Block it all out " She emphasizes at the end.

Tobias scoffs and Tris reaches up and pulls his chin toward her to force him to look at her.

"Focus, you know the defender is going to shut you down if you go right when you drive to the basket"

"It's my strong side" Tobias replies annoyed at her critique.

"So go left"

"It's my weak…

"Tobias, you can do it, go left, and shut that cocky son of bitch down. You got this" Tris interrupts letting go of his chin. She wants to kiss him but she knows now isn't the time.

"You Got This" she repeats and he finally looks her in the eye and nods still not saying a word. She takes a chance and holds out her hand. He bumps her fist and they do their handshake as Tris gives him a soft smile.

Tobias nods again, feeling his confidence return, and gives her a look in the eye before running back to the middle of the court as Tris runs back to the stands. Evelyn runs her hands over Tris back in appreciation as she sits down. If anyone could get through to Tobias and get him back on his game it was Tris.

When Tobias gets his hands on the ball as soon as the second half starts he looks up and Tris. She was on her feet already, she nodded her head. Tobias went from a horrible first half to dominate in the second half. He did what Tris said and drove to the basket and went left. The defender checks him hard causing him to fall to the ground but the ball rolls into the basket causing the Dauntless bench to erupt in cheers. The referee signals the foul and Tobias had the opportunity for a three-point play. He gets up and bangs his fist to his chest and points to Tris in the stands. From that moment on he closed off all the noise in his head and went to work. Soon he had racked up 25 points and Dauntless was up by 5. All they had to do was hold them off.

When the buzzer sounds Uriah grabs him by the legs and hoists him in the air. Tobias lets out a yell. They did it, never in his life had he worked as hard as he had for this moment. The confetti was reigning in. At some point, someone starts handing out Championship T-Shirts and hats which he slips on. Max motions for him to come to the sideline for an interview with Maria Taylor of ESPN.

"Tobias, you were off in the first half but it looked like you got a pep talk from your girlfriend Tris Prior right before the second half started what did she say? Maria probes.

"She's good at analyzing defenders, she saw how they were shutting me down and anticipating my drive to the basket so she encouraged me to switch it up" Tobias admits. It was true, Tris's pep talk did get him to focus.

"Well that you did and that was an excellent performance in the second half, MVP, and your first NCAA championship as a freshman, how does it feel?"

"It feels great, this team put in a lot of work this season and we did it together"

"Okay, Back to you in the studio, Live here from the NCAA Tournament where the Dauntless University Men's Basketball Team has just won their first Championship since 1980"

Tobias heads back over to the middle of the court where his mother comes down and hugs him.

"I'm proud of you Tobias" She smiles as she pats him on the cheek.

He looks over and sees his father standing on the sideline. He refuses to look at him and turns to put his back toward him. When he turns he looks over and sees Tris standing there looking nervous. He was still confused and upset but he owed her everything tonight. Evelyn says she'll see him soon realized that he needed to talk to Tris.

"Way to Hoop," she says barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Thank you for getting me out of my head," he says a little louder than her. The tension between the two of them was still palpable. He could tell that she looked exhausted, taking in the dark circles under He was feeling so overwhelmed at the moment. He didn't know what to do.

"I'm glad I could help, I'm really proud of you" she replies.

She leans up and gives him a quick kiss. He pulls away quickly only letting it be a quick peck. There was so much going on, people still celebrating. She wanted to ask him if they were okay but she could see it in his eyes that they weren't but now wasn't the time or place.

"Tris, I….I.." he says not wanting to hash things out right then.

"I know, I love you. I'll see you back at campus"

She prayed that they could get back on track because she didn't know if her heart could take it if they didn't.

How are we feeling? I know ya'll have thoughts! Let me know what you think!