I know ya'll hate me! In the movie, there is a five-year time skip where the main characters are apart. It didn't feel right to me to not give any context or layers to their time apart. I really wanted to explore them navigating through the denial of how they felt about each other instead of just fluff. I wanted Tris and Tobias to see what failed relationships would be like before seeing if they could work again. I hope you'll keep reading through the angst but there will be more fluff much later. Ya'll are making it hard for me to not just post everything I've written so far LOL.

Junior year is extra stressful for everyone with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first few months on campus are normal as everyone thinks that the worst is possibly over after the summer. When classes start and students start to test positive, more and more activities on campus get canceled. Andrew and Natalie are worried as they had lengthy conversations with the Pedrads about what to do about all their kids should things get worse. Tris and Zeke are happy even though they aren't able to see each other much once classes start and practice resumes. Tris loves that he doesn't put pressure on her to choose between him and basketball but there were times when she felt he really didn't get her love for the game. The sex is great, he's thoughtful and attentive but sometimes Tris misses the push and pull she had with Tobias, the push back, the challenge. It was weird.

One October morning, Tris comes home from class early. She was thankful she only had one class at 9 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and usually went back to the room to relax until practice on those days. Things were getting stressful as the pandemic was causing increasing concern about campus possibly shutting down for the semester. Everyone was nervous that there would be no basketball season. Tris focused on practice as much as she could, there were still six weeks before the season started. The team had been plagued with injuries last season and they were ready to prove themselves this year.

Tris yawns as she opens the door. She hated getting up early but it was nice she could come back and take a nap after class before practice. She was planning on doing some reading and going over the new plays for the season until dinner. She would text Zeke to see if he would want to grab lunch later. Tris starts to walk into her bedroom when she sees Marlene pacing in front of her bed.

"What's wrong Mar?" Tris furrows her eyebrows now as she walks into Marlene's room seeing now that she was on the verge of tears.

"Tris I'm really freaking out here" Marlene hadn't planned on telling anyone about her dilemma but she was so overwhelmed right now she had to talk to somebody.

"It's okay, sit down and tell me what's going on" Tris urges as she sits on the end of Marlene's bed and Marlene continues to pace.

"What's going on? Are you in trouble with Coach or something?" Tris asks not knowing what could cause her to freak out like this.

"I'm late Tris" Her face is etched in worry as she bites her lip.

"Late as in…." Tris sees the tears finally start to fall and puts it all together. "Oh shit….Mar"

At this Marlene drops onto the bed and full out sobs. Tris grabs her hand and pulls her to sit on the bed and wraps her arms around her.

"Okay, first things first, how many days are you late?"

"Ummm 4 I think" Marlene wipes her face and grabs her phone to check her period tracker app.

"Have you ever been late before?" Tris knew that growing up and playing sports heavily affected her period but she had consistently been on birth control since she and Tobias had started dating so it had been less of an issue now.

"Maybe three days at the most but I started freaking out when I realized today was day four. Oh my God, what am I going to do? I'm so stupid how did I let this happen?"

"Calm down, let's just take this one step at a time, let's go get a pregnancy test at the campus health center"

"What if Coach finds out?"

Tris sighs. She had no idea what Tori would do if she found out but as she had developed a closer relationship with her over the past two years she did know she had her players' best interest at heart.

"Mar you can't freak out about everything until we know for sure if you are pregnant"

Marlene nods trying to calm her nerves. Tris goes into her room to grab her laptop and see when there was an appointment available for the student health center. Thankfully they could fit Marlene at the end of the day and the team didn't have practice until 630 that evening.

So she and Tris curl up on the couch to watch a movie. Tris text Christina and asked her to bring lunch home from the dining hall when she got out of class for her and Marlene.

"Mar, can I ask you, is it Caleb?"

Marlene bites her lip and nods her head. "I should have known he would tell you with how close you two are"

"Why didn't you want to tell me?"

Marlene sighs. "I didn't want there to be friction between us, especially if things didn't work out. We live together and we're teammates, how bad would it be if Caleb and I didn't work out and then you hate me because he's your brother. I had all this anxiety about what if it affected our game."

Tris smiles understanding now. She hadn't pushed Caleb to talk about Marlene but she had come to pay attention now and knew when they were sneaking around.

"I get that"

"How long have you known?"

"Since May"

"May! Oh my God! why didn't you say anything if you've known all this time?"

"I didn't want you to make you feel like I was making you talk if you weren't ready to showcase your relationship. It's your relationship, not mine, you don't owe me anything but please don't think I would treat you any different if things didn't work out between the two of you"

Tris can see the relief wash over Marlene at Tris's reassurance.

"Thanks for that, I think I've been unfair to him, with all the sneaking around but I just wasn't sure about so many things. Could I handle being in a relationship right now with all the pressure we're under?"

"Trust me I know," Tris says quietly, looking down. Marlene, Lynn, and Christina had been there to listen to Tris after her breakup with Tobias as she went through the motions, doubting herself and her feelings.

"You should tell him, he really likes you Mar, I know he's my brother, but he's a really good guy, he'll be here to support you"

"Do you think he's over Susan? Or are they going to get back together again? That's another reason I've been a little hesitant about really giving it a shot. I don't want to get left out in the cold if he decides he wants her back"

"Susan seems happy with DeShaun, the guy she's been seeing that goes to Morehouse. We hung out for the first time in forever last month. Whenever I talk to Caleb, he seems more concerned about you than her"

"Really?" For the first time in the past few hours Marlene gives Tris a genuine smile.

"Call him, Trust me"

Marlene takes Tris's advice and goes into her room to talk to Caleb.

"Where's Mar?" Christina asks as she hands Tris a bag with a salad from the cafeteria.

"On the phone"

"What's going on?" Chris asks as she opens up her own salad and sits on the floor in front of the coffee table.

"That is for Mar to tell you"

Christina shrugs and she launches into a story about the drama in English Literature class and her group assignment that was due the next week.

Caleb shows up a few hours later, as soon as his afternoon class lets out, and was there for Marlene through the entire appointment. Lynn, Marlene, and Christina all wait anxiously after Marlene fills them in as they all walk together to the gym for practice slowly.

"So are you and Caleb together now?" Lynn asks after Marlene tells everyone everything about her and Caleb all the way up to her negative pregnancy test at the student health center. Tris breathed out a sigh of relief when Caleb sent her a text earlier.

"Yeah, we are," Marlene smiles.

"And are you on birth control now?" Christina asks. She and Tris had made a switch to getting IUDs when the semester first started because they were tired of remembering to take their pills every day.

"Yes the nurse was really great, she called in my prescription and Caleb went to go pick it up for me since we had practice"

Tris, Lynn, and Christina all let a collective "Awwww"

A shocker comes when the university decides that all athletics on campus must be shut down due to the pandemic. Tori has to make a difficult decision to take the team on the road until the University gives the all-clear to come back to campus. Max made the decision to play an abbreviated season since the Men's team wasn't ranked as high but Tori felt all the pressure from the board of trustees, the president of the university, and donors to push the women's team. She was in a tough situation. Max made over a million dollars a season, yet Tori made only $550,000. She got bonuses for winning the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, Making it to the Final Four, or winning a National Title but it still didn't compare to what Max made or the football coaches. The pressure was insurmountable. The women's team had a number 1 ranking and there was no way to keep it if they didn't play.

Uriah, Caleb, and Zeke go back home to Charlotte to finish their semester virtually. Natalie and Andrew debated about making Tris come home but she refused to leave the team. They were going to see the season through, no matter what. On December 2nd, Tori calls a team meeting.

"Alright everyone, the campus has made the decision to shut down and as part of that shutdown there aren't going to allow us to play any games, have any practices or utilize the gym"

"What? What about our season? What are we supposed to do?" the entire team exclaims.

"Calm down everyone, one at a time" Tori instructs.

"So we can't play even with no one in the stands?" Lynn asks

"Even with no one in the stands," Tori repeats. She was furious with the school's decision so that left her with only one choice.

"So our season is tanked?" Tris asks deflated. They were only juniors, it wasn't the end of the world but they had finally figured things out as a unit. They had two powerhouse freshmen that added depth to their bench. They could make it to the Championship this year, everyone knew it.

"There's only one thing we can do, everyone pack your bags" Tori instructs.

"For how long?" Christina asks, leaning forward.

"I don't know," Tori says honestly. "If you don't want to do this, I'll understand these are unprecedented times and nothing we have ever experienced before but if we want to make a run for the tournament, sitting at home isn't an option for us"

Tris looks at her teammates and nods her head. They could do this, if Tori was willing to believe in them to do this she trusted her.

"We're following you, Coach, we trust you," Lynn says, and a resounding chorus of cheers from the other players.

With that Christina, Lynn, Tris, Marlene, and the rest of the team all pack their bags not sure when they will return. They were prepared for it to be hard, but no one had any idea just how hard it was going to be.

Evelyn was glad Tobias had come to Charlotte when the NBA shuts down all games for the pandemic. Tobias missed his mother, especially since he had cut himself off from his father and his friends. She was the one constant in his life through his ups and downs of playing the past two years. During the holidays Evelyn had tried to fly to where Tobias was playing since he wasn't able to come home. It was nice when he had a home game stretch that she would come to visit. When the season came to a halt, the Mavericks weren't great there were hopes they could still get a low seed to make it to the playoffs even though the NBA was still trying to figure out what a quartine bubble would look like. Even if they did make it Tobias knew they wouldn't make it past the first round. He and Will were making plans to go to the Caribbean for a week as soon as their seasons were over but the way the COVID cases were it didn't look like the trip was going to happen. Tobias just wanted to relax, this season even though short had been tough. He had a small injury that caused him to miss about 5 games. He was still coming off the bench but at least his playing time had been more consistent this season. He was only averaging 15 points a game and that wasn't good enough, he needed to get better.

"Tobias, have you spoken to your father at all?" Evelyn asks as they have dinner together. Tobias had spent most of the day in the driveway shooting baskets lost in thought. She knew that the topic of Marcus was very touchy with her son. She never wanted to push him too hard.

"You already know the answer to that." Tobias shakes his head and while reaching for his beer. His father had taken an assistant coaching job with the Phoenix Suns the year before. Thankfully the Mavericks hadn't played them so Tobias hadn't run into him.

Evelyn sighs, She had nothing to say to her ex-husband either. She hadn't even looked at him during their final divorce proceedings. The judge had been a woman who was disgusted at Marcus's actions with hiding his family. At Evelyn's suggestion, Myra had taken Marcus to family court to receive official child support payments for her sons which as Evelyn had suspected what Marcus had been paying were much lower than what the court ordered him to pay. She was still so worried about Tobias he still seemed withdrawn even though he put on a good front for her. She had hoped he would come to his senses and try to work things out with Tris but he was still pushing everyone away. He was missing the fire that he used to have.

"I was thinking that when you are back in town over your break before next season you would consider getting to know your brothers Hector and Fernando"

Tobias is completely thrown off by the comment and puts his fork down, not able to form the words around what he was feeling at first.

"Did he ask you to talk to me?" He could feel the anger toward his father rising up inside him. Not only had he run around on his mother having multiple kids but now wasn't even bothering to be a father to them. Not only had DNA tests confirmed that Marcus was the father of Myra's two sons and the woman's now two-year-old daughter who started all this drama back when he was in college but there were two other children now.

"No, I've kept in touch with their mother, Myra. Your father hasn't been spending time with them like he should since he took that assisting coaching job with the Suns. I know you are still upset with your father but this might be a good opportunity for you to get to know Hector and Fernando"

Evelyn had formed a friendship with Myra. The younger woman had broken down crying the evening she showed up asking for help. She was all alone in Charlotte, she had immigrated from Honduras after her parents died when she was 17. Marcus had found her working as a cocktail waitress in a bar he frequented when he played for the Hornets. Marcus hadn't been by in months or sent her any money to take care of the boys. She had believed all the lies he had fed her that he couldn't leave his wife because of alimony payments and she was fine with his having a woman on the side and would always support the boys. It had broken Evelyn's heart to see how many lives the lies Marcus told had been affected. Evelyn used her connections around Charlotte to help Myra get on her feet and find a better job that allowed her to be at home in the evenings with her sons. They were both now enrolled in Abnegation Christian Prep and Marcus was footing the bill thanks to the court order.

Tobias nods. In all the years since the fiasco of his father cheating hit the news, he hadn't thought about the fact that he now had five siblings. Apparently, this woman in Charlotte wasn't trying to get the fame and attention of the woman in Atlanta. Tobias had almost forgotten about the DNA results his mother showed him that night he came to see her.

"It's not their fault, Tobias," Evelyn says softly. "They are your family, you should get to know them"

She hoped this would give him something to put his energy into and fill the void he had in his life from cutting off his friends and Tris.

"I know, I'll think about it," Tobias promises. Evelyn smiles. It was a step forward for him and she thinks that is enough for now.

Even though Tris wasn't allowed to post on Social media, she took pictures and videos documenting their days on the road for her journalism class. It helped her focus not only on the game but on something other than how much she missed the normalcy of everyday life and playing ball. There were a lot of hotel rooms. Schools were gracious about sharing their gyms as practice space. They went to six different states, took 12 different flights, had countless takeout meals over the three months.

When things are worked out and the team is allowed back on campus there are rigorous testing protocols that the team must agree to and the guidelines are still intense. By the time the all-clear is given for Dauntless to resume hosting games for the team has been on the road for 92 days. Tori was very impressed with their team that they were still 22-4. Thankfully the Peach Belt Conference tournament is scheduled to be held in Atlanta and Tris had never been so excited to see her dorm room bed.

Realizing the stress of being on the road for so long, Tori grants the team a few days to get on social media and have overnight guests as long as their guest presented a negative COVID test and stayed on campus to limit exposure.

Tris takes the opportunity to post her video presentation before she and Zeke hole up in her dorm room. Caleb had opted to do the spring semester virtually but he and Uriah, Zeke rode together so Caleb could spend time with Marlene and Uriah with Christina. Tris was glad because after three months on the road she was beyond needy. The girls had to room together so there hadn't been much privacy for video chats on the road.

"I love you Tris," Zeke pants as he gives her another soft kiss before he rolls over and flops onto his pillow.

"I missed you, '' she says quietly, snuggling into his side. "I really needed that. Everything has been so stressful"

Zeke furrows his eyes for a minute. He was starting to notice she never said I love you but he pushed aside his thoughts for the time being. She had literally jumped into his arms and pulled him into a kiss when she saw him.

"I bet, I missed you too," Zeke says. He kissed her shoulder realizing he was just being silly and gets up to get a warm washcloth for both of them. After all the months apart he didn't want to waste the few nights they had before they would be separated again making things awkward because of his insecurities.

After cleaning up Zeke pulls Tris to cuddle with him and flips on the tv in her room and turns on a movie he thinks she might like.

"Can we turn on the Suns vs Bucks game?" Tris asks, thumbing through her phone to look at her fantasy league. She and Tobias always played together and she had kept it up after they broke up. Since she couldn't be on social media during the season it had become her hobby when she was tempted.

"You just spent all day watching film and you still want to watch basketball?"

"Did you seriously just ask me that?" Tris turns to look at him like he had two heads. There were times like this where she would feel like he didn't get her at all.

"Sorry, my bad" Zeke shakes his head and turns the channel to the game.

Tris is quiet while they watch the game. She didn't want to argue, she just wanted to relax before her next game but she was frustrated and she really didn't know why.

The Lady Warriors battle through the Peach Belt tournament, winning again with Tris hitting a buzzer-beater in the final seconds. When selection for the NCAA tournament rolls around the men's team is doing well enough for another bid with Uriah and the men's team squeezes out another selection. Uriah was becoming one of the most talked-about players in college basketball, having played exceptionally well the past season and in the limited amount of games this season. Tris was really proud of how much work he put in at home even, with the two of them face timing and talking about at-home workouts while she was on the road.

The womens' team is highly favored for another shot to go to the finals as a number 1 seed for the tournament. A big surprise comes when all the major media outlets pick up Tris's video she created documenting their 90-day journey.

The team is forced to quarantine in their rooms with no visitors for 10 days prior to leaving for the tournament. All of the women's games would be held in San Antonio Texas with no fans for the first two rounds. The men's tournament was being held in Indianapolis.

"What are you laughing at?" Tris asks as she walks out of the bathroom of her and Christina's room.

"This silly video Uriah sent me"

"What's up with you two?" Tris knew Christina and Uriah weren't officially together but had been friends with benefits since before she and Zeke started dating.

"Nothing, we're just friends. It's too much trying to worry about a relationship and playing ball and class"

"So you two are just going to keep fucking and that's the end of it?" Tris asks, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I mean the D is too good to pass up but we do talk too" Christina grins as she passes the phone to Tris to see the video.

Tris frowns as she watches the video restarting it to make sure what she was seeing was correct.

"What's wrong?" Christina asks getting up to come to sit next to Tris. Uriah was in the weight room that had been set up in Indianapolis for all the teams in the men's bubble.

"Look at their weight room"

Christina's face scrunches up as she focuses on the background instead of Uriah and notices what Tris is talking about. The men's weight room had multiple machines, weight benches, it looked like a planet fitness almost.

"This is total bullshit," Christina exclaims. Tris and Christina had spent the afternoon with their team in their weight room for their bubble. There had only been three small towers of dumbbells and a few yoga mats.

Tris goes back to the text thread and asks Uriah to send her pictures of the men's weight room.

"What are you doing?" Christina asks when Tris gives her the phone back and she sends a message to Uriah.

"Probably about to get in trouble but somebody's gotta do it" Tris sighs.

The next day after they win against Missouri, Tori asks Tris to step into an empty office in the arena. Christina looks nervous knowing why Tris was in trouble but she was prepared to stand up for her roommate if she needed to.

"Do you want to tell me why you broke the rules, Tris?" Tori asks, holding up her phone and playing the Instagram video Tris had posted that morning highlighting the inequalities of the men's and women's tournament bubble weight rooms. She ended the video by showing that there was ample space available for a weight room in the practice facility and stating.

If you aren't upset by this then you're a part of the problem.

"I know I broke the rules and I'll take whatever punishment you give me but someone had to speak up," Tris says standing tall. She wasn't going to back down.

Tori places her phone down and looks at her best player standing in front of her. She risked everything to stand up for what was right.

"You took a calculated risk for a cause Tris. That I'm proud of"

"Really?" Tris says shocked. She was prepared to get benched, this she hadn't expected.

"Yes which is why I wrote an open letter about the disparities we've faced on the women's side of the tournament and posted it on my social media"

Tori hands Tris her phone to let her read the letter. Tris grins when she reads how Tori felt inspired by the rebellion of her point guard and knew she could no longer keep quiet. Her comments were filled with other athletes and celebrities in support of her statement.

"You started a movement, Tris" Tori smiles. "But you still owe me 20 suicides at practice tomorrow for disobeying my rules"

Tris grins. "Thanks, Coach. No problem"

National media quickly grabs a hold of the story with Dick's sporting goods offering to fully equip the weight room for the women's tournament. The NCAA apologizes for the oversight and after two days the women's weight room looks just like that of the men's weight room in Indianapolis.

Tori smiles when the entire team runs suicides with Tris in solidarity for her going against the social media rules to break the story.

The Lady Warriors suffered a crushing defeat against Stanford in the NCAA Championship game, losing by one basket in a nail-biter with Stanford scoring the final bucket with 5 seconds left on the clock.

It was an emotional loss, with Christina and Marlene both crying all the way back to the locker room. The room was quiet but Tris stood up before Coach Wu could come in after her media interview. There weren't any seniors on the team, they would all be back next season.

"Next season is ours, This is our last chance. We do this together" Tris vows and the rest of the team agrees.

Tori and the other assistant coaches stand in the doorway smiling. Her team wasn't giving up and Tris was going to lead the way.

The Stanford Women's basketball team really did spend 92 days on the road this past season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Women's tournament also had an insufficient weight room compared to the women's tournament. Check out Dawn Staley, Coach of the UofSC Lady Gamecock's open letter on the situation. Sendoa Prince of the Oregon team posted on tic tock to show about the issue. The pay disparity in coaching is a real example from UofSC and Dawn Staley. I really wanted to highlight how much NCAA college athletes go through. If you have HBO Max, check out Episode 2 of Leveling the Playing Field, it highlights the obligations of Student-Athletes and their struggles with the expectations of their performance. I hope it will shed some light on the pressures Tris and Tobias have been under that have driven some of their decisions for those of you that aren't as into sports and the inner works like I am.