Tobias takes a deep breath as he takes a look in the mirror in his hotel room. He was in Atlanta for a 3 game stint against the Atlanta Hawks. He had been thinking hard the last month or so coming up on the trip. He was going to try and patch up the relationships that he had damaged when he left Dauntless two years ago. He figured if he started with Uriah it might go easier knowing that he had an uphill battle to climb with Zeke and Caleb.

During the pandemic, the Mavericks weren't playoff eligible when the NBA shut down the season due to the pandemic in the spring. It had taken the NBA several months to figure out what to do but they determined the teams with the best records would be eligible to play in a bubble in Orlando. That gave Tobias more time to spend with his mother in Charlotte. He had taken her advice and started spending time with Hector and Fernando. It made him do some reflecting and he realized that he wanted his friends in his life, he needed them. While most people were upset with the world at a standstill during the pandemic, it was good for Tobias.

The other part of this was Tris. He resigned that he owed the biggest apology of all to her. He could admit now that even though he was hurt, he handled everything wrong. Part of him dared to hope that he could get her back but the possibility of getting his heart broken again terrified him. He felt like he did in high school. She was the thing that had been real in his life. He was constantly surrounded by fakeness and women wanting to get next to him just because he had money and played in the NBA. He knew she and Zeke were together but he didn't know if she was happy. He wondered if she felt like something was missing like he did.

It felt strange walking on campus again. He pulled his fitted hat down lower over his eyes just in case someone saw him. His heart was beating wildly as he approached the edge of the parking lot to the dorm where all the basketball players lived. He was carrying a large bouquet of flowers. He had no idea if Tris was at class or practice right now. He still wasn't sure exactly what he was going to say to her.

He starts to panic a bit, maybe he should have just had someone deliver them instead of bringing them himself. Then he stops as he sees there in the grassy area in front of the dorm. Uriah was sitting on the grass with Christina sitting between his legs and leaning back on his chest. There was Tris, laughing and smiling as Zeke bends down and hoists her up into his arms bridal style. She puts her arms around his neck and gives him a lengthy kiss.

They looked happy. Tris looked beautiful, her hair in her braids she loved during the season. Seeing her smile and laugh tugged at Tobias and made his heart constrict. She used to look at him that way and it was his fault that she was looking at Zeke like that now. He stands there with the flowers in his hand feeling like a complete idiot. What made him think this was a good idea?

He shakes his head and turns around heading back to the parking lot to call another Uber to pick him up. The first trash can he passes on the path back to the parking lot he tosses the flowers in.

A few hours later Tobias and Uriah sit at at one of the hole in the wall burger joints near campus.

"Dude of all the places we could have gone, I can't believe you picked Gary's Burgers"

"I can't get it in Dallas or Charlotte" Tobias defends taking a bite of his burger. He chews for a few minutes and takes a sip of his sweet tea.

"I'm glad you agreed to come," Tobias says "I know I can't be on anyone's favorite person list"

"And by anyone you mean Tris?" Uriah prods.

"Yes, but no, Ya'll were my boys and I fucked up with everyone, not just Tris. I'm sorry and I know I owe everyone an apology. I'm sorry it took me this long to get my head out of my ass"

"I appreciated you being man enough to come out and say it," Uriah says leaning back in the booth. "I'm sorry your Dad fucked your head up. I can't even lie and say I blame you for not keeping it together. We all had a lot to say but none of us were in your shoes."

"Yeah it's still doesn't excuse how I acted and I didn't handle it well at all"

"I can say that I sure as hell didn't know how much you were dealing with but after everything went to hell I tried to reach out to you shut me out, you shut all of us out. I wanted to be there for you but you had it in your head that everyone was against you."

Tobias relaxes as he and Uriah fall into a comfortable conversation about Tobias's NBA season and Uriah's thoughts about going into the draft at the end of the season. Tobias is honest with Uriah about how difficult it's been for him in the NBA and how he underestimated the level of play. He was thankful Uriah was so forgiving after how everything went down.

"How is she?" Tobias finally asks.

"Good really focused on the season. You know how she gets"

"Is she happy?"

"I think she believes she is," Uriah says carefully. "She would never say it out loud but I know she still misses you"

Uriah didn't see any point in lying. As much as he loved Zeke and the connection they had as twins and he saw how he longed for Tris over the years, Uriah just saw the connection between Tris and Tobias. He didn't want Zeke or Tris alone but it was very clear to him that at some point there were going to fizzle out. Christina thought the same thing. Tobias sitting here in front of him asking about Tris only further proved his point.

Later that evening, Zeke, Caleb, and Uriah sit around the TV in Zeke and Caleb's apartment. The girls had curfew so they felt it was a good time to have a guy's night with just the three of them.

"So I had lunch with Tobias today"

Caleb and Zeke both snap their heads up quickly at Uriah's announcement.

"What was he doing here?"

"The Mavs are playing the Hawks, he reached out to me last week saying he would be in town and wanted to know if we could get together"

"I can't believe you went," Zeke scoffs with an eye roll.

"What did he say?" Caleb prods sitting up on his end of the couch the movie forgotten.

"He apologized for being an asshole, admitted how he took all the shit with his Pops out on us"

Caleb nods thinking. He knew Tobias was acting out. Since everything happened he could imagine what he would have done if he had found out all of the stuff he did about his father the way Tobias did. He really wished Tobias would have leaned on his friends instead of pushing them all way, especially his sister.

"Did he ask about Tris?" Zeke finally speaks up. Tris never wanted to talk about Tobias. Never wanted to even acknowledge him. Zeke was starting to get this feeling that he and Tris were going to have to deal with this and it wasn't going to end well.

"Minimally, said he wanted to apologize to her, he realizes how fucked up it was how he treated her and ended things"

"Is he still in love with her?" Caleb asked as Zeke shoots him a glare. "What I want to know"

Zeke shakes his head. Caleb was always too curious for his own good.

Uriah thinks about it before he responds. He already knew his brother would be on the defensive and he and Tris were still very much together.

"I didn't ask him, he asked if she was happy, which I told him she was and we started talking about something else"

Zeke scoffs.

"He wanted to see the both of you, but I told him I would leave that up to you two"

Caleb could admit he missed Tobias. He wouldn't have cut him out of his life even if he and Tris were still broken up but he could tell Zeke wasn't feeling it.

The next evening, Zeke is laying on Tris's bed. Caleb was having Marlene over that night before the team curfew and wanted to have the apartment to himself. Zeke didn't mind going to Tris's room. He decides not to tell her Uriah talked to Tobias. He wasn't sure how he felt about it just yet. He wanted to push all his insecurities away for the evening. The Lady Warriors were still undefeated after their win that afternoon and Tris was in a great mood. He gets up and gives her a smack on the ass as she bent over to put her sneakers in her closet.

"Hey, watch it now" She giggles standing up.

She bites her lip and looks at Zeke seeing the desire in his eyes. He immediately covers her mouth and places his hand between her legs. Tris was still on a high from the game so she wasn't complaining. Zeke quickly pulls off her shorts and undoes his own pants.

"Hang on tight" He instructs. She squeals when he bends down to pick her up and hoists her in the air.

Tris was amazed. She knew how strong Zeke was but this was new. She reached her arm out to grab the dresser as he moved roughly inside her. Tris grips his shoulders with her free arm and he fucks her standing up. She knew at least one of her roommates was home so she fought to hold in her moans.

"I'm so close" Tris whispers as Zeke grunts.

He maneuvers them to the bed so he can get a different angle for both of them to find a release.

Afterward, they both lay panting but grinning.

"What got into you?" Tris asks playfully She leans over and kisses him before getting up.

Zeke just smirks but inside he knew he was worried now that Tobias was trying to insert himself back in the picture. Would she leave him if Tobias confessed he was still in love with her? Did she love him enough to choose him if Tobias was still an option?

"I'm going to go get some water, you want some?" She asks, grabbing her bathroom robe.

"Yeah, Thanks"

Before she opens the door Zeke calls out to her.

"Hey, Tris, I love you"

She stops and smiles brightly and opens the door.

"Me too"

Zeke flopped back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. There it was again. The very thing he was worried about. What was he going to do?

Another month rolls by and Zeke dances around his issues with Tris. It hurt but deep down, he know it would come to this eventually. Zeke walks Tris back to her dorm after their date since Tris had a game the next day and he wasn't allowed to spend the night. She feels like she should miss being able to spend the night with Zeke but she was really enjoying having her alone time the past month. It was mid-December and things were calming down on campus for the semester even though Tris and the team were just cranking up the season. They were currently 6 -0 and Tris was laser-focused on her game. It was predicted that she was going to become the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Women's basketball program at Dauntless that season. Having made it to the NCAA championship the year before and holding a number 1 ranking so far this season there was high pressure to repeat from last year. Tris is confident right now that they would at least make it to the Final Four again, and have to battle the last four games but she, Lynn, Christina, and Marlene were optimistic. After playing together for 4 years, they were all totally in sync with each other. Tris and Lynn were planning on entering the WNBA draft at the end of the season so this was their time to shine.

In the year that she and Zeke had been dating, things were comfortable between the two of them. He was still her best friend and sweet as ever but things seemed off. Tris blamed it on the pressure she had about the season and wanting to be able to focus. Things were intense but she was starting to think it was more than that.

"See you at the game tomorrow?" Tris asks before she leans in to kiss him goodbye.

"Wouldn't miss it" Zeke adds as he nods before giving her a quick kiss. "I Love you"

"Yeah me too, Facetime me when you get in," Tris says as she pulls away.

Zeke sighs, he had been putting off this conversation for a few weeks but he didn't think he could do it anymore.

"Tris, we need to talk"

Tris furrows her eyebrows as Zeke leads her down a path away from the dorm. They find a bench and sit down.

"Tris, do you still want to be with me?" Zeke asks, deciding to be as straightforward as possible.

"Ummm, Why would you ask that? Did I do something?" Tris could feel her heart beating. She knew she had been a bit distracted with the season, she tried really hard to not make him feel neglected, not waiting to make another mistake like she had with Tobias.

"It's just, I feel like we keep dancing around the fact that we are really good friends, who have amazing sex, I feel like there's something missing and I know you feel it too"

Tris leans back. She knew what he meant. She kept trying to make herself feel that thing that just wasn't there. Sure she was comfortable with Zeke, they clicked in the bedroom but it was something missing. That something she had with Tobias that just wasn't there.

"I care about you so much Zeke," Tris says quietly.

"But you don't love me" He knew that she loved him fiercely as a friend but not like he loved her.

Tris lifts her head up. She knew that there were times when she felt a slight panic when he told her he loved her, that he wanted more from her, to give herself fully to him and something would paralyze her when she would want to say I love you.

"Zeke I do I just…. I…" She felt awful. The last thing that she ever wanted to was hurt Zeke especially after what Tobias did to her.

"Tris, you can't say it out loud, you've never told me you love me, it's always Back at you, Me too,"

Tris feels her face fall. He was right though and she couldn't deny it.

"I know you love me Tris but not the way you are supposed to love me if we are going to be together. You're still in love with Tobias"

It was a statement, not a question because Zeke already knows the answer and Tris doesn't even have the heart to deny it. They never talked about him, Tris tried to avoid it at all costs but clearly, she hadn't dealt with all her feelings about Tobias even after 3 years.

"Zeke, I never ever wanted to hurt you, you mean too much to me," Tris says looking at the ground and a tear falling from her face.

"Hey, no tears, okay. I knew what I was getting into, I thought if you had more time"

"Me too, I don't know why I can't let him go."

Tris lets a moment pass before she speaks again. "So what do we do now? Is this it?"

"I hate when people say can we still be friends, but I really mean it too, I still need you in my life Tris" Zeke says, pulling Tris into a tight hug. She hugs him tightly, feeling the stress of the situation leave her body. If there was anything in the world she was sure of it was that she and Zeke would be okay.

"I love you, Ezekiel, I'm sorry I couldn't say it as more than a friend. You deserve someone who's going to love you with everything in them" Tris says sincerely leaning back and looking at him.

"I love you Tris, no matter what, no regrets" Zeke gives her a kiss on the forehead. They stand up to walk back toward her dorm.

"Have you met someone else, not that I think you would cheat or anything…" Tris laughs out as she nudges his shoulder.

"Well there's this new grad assistant in the athletic department, she seemed really let down when I said I had a girlfriend" Zeke laughs out.

Tris smiles. She and Zeke would be okay. She truly believed that their friendship could survive anything.

During Christmas, Tris gets to go home for a few days. She missed it the year before because of the pandemic. Natalie always got everyone matching pajamas that they had to wear on Christmas Eve. Harrison was even there and Tris and Caleb made sure he knew that the pajamas were a requirement.

Tris, Caleb, and Lauren were sitting in the family room watching This Christmas like they did every year while Natalie cooked Christmas dinner, and Harrison and Andrew were out getting a few items Natalie needed to finish cooking.

"Sooooooo" Caleb starts as his sisters turn to look at him. He figured now was the best time to have this conversation since it was just the three of them. "Were you going to tell us that you and Zeke broke up?"

"Excuse me? When did this happen?" Lauren asks turning the TV down.

"Ummm a few weeks ago" Tris says nonchalantly as she takes sip of her hot chocolate.

"And…." Lauren prods

"And, we realized we are better off as friends"

Lauren tries not to smile. She knew her sister wasn't over Tobias. She was shocked that she and Zeke had lasted as long as they did. She really felt that if they hadn't spent the better part of the year before apart because of the pandemic it would have happened sooner.

"Well I don't want to complicate things but Uriah and I have kind of worked things out with Tobias," Caleb says looking closely at Tris to study her reaction.

"What?" Tris eeks out. Lauren grabs her drink waiting to see how this was going to play out.

"He reached out to Uriah and when he was in Atlanta, he apologized, I called him, we talked, and he apologized to me. That was kind of it. We started texting again, nothing major"

"And when did all this happen?" Tris asks her heart racing as she tried to figure out how she felt. Did he want to talk to her? Did she even want to talk to him? Part of her was still convinced she just needed to figure out how to get over him so she could really move on.

"The end of October…" Caleb says hesitantly. He and Uriah didn't want to jump the gun with telling Tris but Caleb realized he had to tell her.

"October! And you're just now telling me?"

"Well you've been so focused and at first I thought Zeke was going to tell you. Then when he told me you broke up I didn't know if that was part of the reason"

"What reason? That he made up with Tobias?"

"No he didn't they still aren't speaking but Tobias kind of asked about you, said he wanted to apologize"

"Oh my God" Tris groans as she sets her drink on the end table.

"You okay?" Lauren asks seeing that Tris was all over the place with this added news.

"Why after all this time?" Tris puts her head in her hands.

"He was really battling a lot of demons and it took him some time to work through some of them. But to be clear he hasn't said anything about trying to get you back. He just wanted to apologize for how everything went down"

"Do you want him to try and get you back?" Lauren asks Tris who was biting her lip.

"No, I'm good," Tris says and she kicks herself wishing it came out stronger and confident.

Caleb sits back as he and Lauren share a look. Tris could say that but they didn't believe her.

The rest of Christmas was quiet family was happy she was there for Christmas to witness Harrison propose to her sister. It made everything more special after missing the holidays the year before. Now it was time to focus and finish out the season. This was her shot.

"Where is Zeke? Is he coming over tonight? He hasn't spent the night in a while" Marlene asks as she and Tris were getting ready to put on a movie.

They had breezed through the first half of the season and were getting ready to pack for the next road game. They were still undefeated and they didn't have a curfew tonight but everyone was so tired they had agreed to do a movie night. Christina and Lynn went to grab pizza for dinner while Marlene and Tris were pulled out blankets and pillows. They always crammed on the couch for movie night. Tris loved it because it reminded her of being with her siblings.

"Yeah well we kind of broke up..." Tris lets out.

It wasn't that she and Zeke were trying to keep it a secret, things had been insane since they came back from Christmas. Their last three games had been rough, so had practice. Tris had fallen straight into bed every night the last week. She and Zeke still texted every day, it was definitely weird how they rolled so easily back into being just friends.

"What! When did this happen?" Marlene asks as she gives Tris her undivided attention. She couldn't believe Caleb hadn't told her and Uriah hadn't said anything to Christina.

"Umm a few weeks ago"

Marlene falls back dramatically against the couch just as Lynn and Christina come through the door.

"What in the world is happening?" Lynn asks as she sets the pizza box on the coffee table.

"Tris here has been holding out on us" Marlene declares as she takes the drinks that Christina hands her.

"Zeke and I broke up" Tris repeats as she opens the pizza box.

"What !?" Lynn and Christina exclaim at the same time.

"Oh my God ya'll it's not that big of a deal'' Tris says with an eye roll as she grabs a slice of pepperoni pizza.

"Like hell it isn't, when did this happen" Christina pushes as she sits down on the floor next to Tris. She and Uriah had a lot of pillow talk about their friends. Now that Tobias and Uriah had rekindled their relationship Christina wondered if Tris and Zeke were going to make it. Tris and Tobias had a fire about them when they were together that just wasn't there with her and Zeke.

"Right before Christmas actually"

Lynn, Christina, and Marlene look from one to another. Tris had been a mess when she and Tobias broke up. She didn't eat, she withdrew into herself. She had basically imploded. Clearly, this wasn't what they were expecting since everything had been normal around the dorm except that Zeke hadn't spent the night but it was the middle of the season so it wasn't that out of the ordinary.

"And you are okay with this?" Lynn prods.

"Were you the one who dumped him?" Christina asks, narrowing her eyes at Tris. She couldn't wait to call Uriah and get his side of the story since Tris had been holding out.

"Yes, I'm fine, we are both fine, he brought it up and it was kind of a mutual dumping by the end of it" Tris explains. She gets where her friends were going, she really hadn't been upset about the breakup. The only tears she shed were really because she felt bad for hurting Zeke. It was a complete 180 from when she and Tobias broke up.

"Why though, ya'll were so chill with each other, you never fought and I know the sex was bomb," Marlene asks.

Tris giggles and blushes. Living together for so long everyone had heard each other having sex at some point. She knew they wouldn't let up. It wasn't like any of them kept things from each other. They had been there for each other through so much the last four years.

"Well it was like something was missing, We realized we were just really good friends and we were just comfortable with each other more than anything, minus the sex which was amazing"

"And….." Lynn pushes knowing there was something else.

Tris sighs, they knew her too well.

"And he called me out on not being able to tell him that I love him because I'm...well I think I still.." Tris sets her paper plate with her pizza down on the floor and leans back against the armchair to look at the ceiling. Christina scoots closer to her and hugs her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lynn asks knowing that Tobias was still a touchy subject for Tris.

"I feel like crap, why does he still have a hold on me? I hate this. Zeke's too good of a guy for me to screw him over even though I feel like I already did"

"Do you feel like you need closure or do you still want to be with Voldermort?" Marlene asks hesitantly.

Tris laughs, this is why she loved these girls. She hadn't referred to Tobias by name for years and Marlene still used the nickname they had decided to call him.

"I just don't know. I think I kind of want to not think about it and focus on the rest of the season and the tournament. I refuse to let this distract me from our last everything together"

"Awe, don't remind me" Christina sighs out as she lets go of Tris. "I still have to figure out what I'm doing after graduation"

"I thought you were going to apply to grad school?" Lynn asks. Christina had majored in sports medicine but would need a masters degree to work on the college athletics level. She thought about trying for the draft but had decided that she really wanted to get a foot in the door as an assistant coach while getting her master's degree. There was just too much pressure on the season for her to focus on grad school just yet.

"Yeah I haven't had time, I really wanted to focus this season. "

"Well, you can always be Uriah's arm candy and not work" Marlene teases.

"Shut up" Christina laughs and throws a twizzler at Marlene. She and Uriah had talked about what it would be to solidify their relationship but nothing firm. Things were still so up in the air with Uriah entering the draft and not knowing where he was going to end up.

"Mar, have you decided what you are going to do yet?" Tris asks. Marlene was an education major. She loved kids and was really looking forward to taking her teacher certification. She and Caleb were still going strong but she still hadn't decided if she was going back to Houston or staying in Atlanta.

"I know there are plenty of openings back home in Houston but I'm kind of sad I won't be near anyone, we're going to all end up in different places" Marlene pouts.

"And by not being near anyone you mean Caleb?" Lynn teases as everyone falls out laughing.

"Yeah, will have to plan a reunion every year or something" Tris reasons.

This being their last year playing college basketball together was starting to finally sink in. Four years of basketball, friendship, classes, relationships and so much more were coming to an end. There was no way the four friends could go back to life before they met. Christina and Marlene were talking about getting an apartment together since Tris and Lynn already knew they were going to enter the WNBA draft.

"We are going to give this everything we've got," Lynn says, holding up her cup for a toast.

The other roommates put up their cups too.

"This is the end of an era ladies" Tris announces. "But definitely not the end of our story"