Okay, everyone, this is my favorite scene in the movie set to Fool of Me by Meshell Ndegeocello, I hope I did it justice. I know it's been frustrating for those of you who don't know this story to see where it was going but it was all leading to this moment between Tris and Tobias and no matter how I moved things around this had to stay in the story! Enjoy!
Tris climbs back through her window and grabs a pair of sneakers. She changes into one of her practice tank tops so she can move easier. She could tell Tobias was mad at her from her telling him what to do but this is what they did. They pushed each other, never coddled each other. Tobias had never been afraid to tell her what she needed to hear when they were younger and it drove her absolutely insane. She figured it must be a good sign he didn't tell her no, he still accepted the challenge. She grabs a basketball and hops back out the window taking a few deep breaths to calm herself and her nervous energy. She couldn't tell if the goosebumps running over her skin were from the chill in the air or the from the jitters she felt.
I can do this, I can do this, she repeats over and over to herself like a mantra as she walks to his driveway.
It was dead quiet in the neighborhood, and Tris knew no one would hear them. They had done this so many times as kids, sneaking out of their rooms to play against each other at night. But this wasn't just another pickup game between the two of them, this was going to determine their future.
Tobias feels his mind start to race as he changes into a pair of basketball shorts and a moisture-wicking shirt. Tris had a way of riling him up but all it did was make him want more of it. Before they were a couple in high school, he and Tris would challenge each other to a one-on-one game any time they did something that pissed each other off. He had to admit, he wouldn't have let anyone else challenge him like this but her. He knows he missed their push and pull, he missed so much about her and it was still confusing as hell.
He picks up his knee brace and stares at it. He didn't need it to walk anymore, only if he was going to do any intensive basketball workout which he hadn't started. As he straps on the brace he wonders what made even pack it. He had only thrown things in a bag for a few days when he decided to come to his mother's because Nicole pissed him off. Now he can't understand why he had actually packed his knee brace and his workout clothes. He hadn't played a pick-up game outside of practice since before his injury and before that, in….well he couldn't remember when. Did he pack this because he knew Tris was right next door and he was hoping to shoot around with her?
Fuck was she right? Did he want her to push him? No, she's was just messing with my head….isn't she? No that couldn't be it, she said she still loved me.
A panic sets over Tobias as he puts on his sneakers and laces them up. He starts to realize Tris is right about him denying how he felt about her. He loved her and there was no mistaking that things had been rocky with Nicole. He had let himself believe that it was because of his injury but it was deeper than that. Tris was always at the back of his mind, late a night when he couldn't sleep. He can hear everyone from Uriah, Caleb, his mother, and even Hector and Fernando telling him Nicole wasn't the one for him.
At that moment a feeling washes over him and he finally puts together some of the thoughts that had been fragmented in his mind. He realizes Tris challenging him was never about proving his love for Nicole, he didn't love her not like he should if he even really and truly loved her at all, not like he loved Tris. He could call off the wedding tomorrow and be fine with it, hell he was damn near ready to anyway without Tris telling him she was still in love with him.
This was all about how he felt about Tris. He wanted to win to prove to himself Tris didn't have the power to break him and shatter his heart into a thousand pieces again. He could prove to her she wasn't right, that she didn't hold that type of power over him anymore. All these years that is what he had been terrified of, all she had to do was walk away from him, just like in college and he would feel that hole that was in his chest, the feeling that he would never be complete again. He didn't think he could pull himself out of that type of pain again.
You can do this He tells himself.
He climbs out the window and walks around to the back of the house. He didn't want to go through the back door and chance his mother waking up since it was one in the morning. The driveway had a large floodlight that illuminated the driveway just enough to see and was a motion sensor. It cast an eerie glow against the darkness providing them just enough light to see each other and the portable basketball goal. Tobias had no idea why his mother even still had it.
Tris is already there bending down tightening her laces. He takes a moment to tighten his knee brace as he sneaks a look at her. She looked so full of confidence, it bugged the shit out of him, just like it always did when she knew she was right about something. At the same time, at this moment, she was so beautiful because this was her element. Her curly hair pulled back, wearing a pair of basketball shorts and tank top ready to hoop. This is when she looked most alive. It made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless. They had done this so many times in high school and it always stirred up something inside of him. Tobias shakes his head to rid his mind of that train of thoughts. He needed to clear his head and focus, it was time to stop reflecting on the past.
"First to 10," she instructs as she stands and holds the ball under her arm.
"Five" he counters.
"You scared?" Tris asks with an eyebrow raised and her tone full of arrogance.
Tobias narrows his eyes at her. There she went again, challenging him, pushing him. It made his blood boil when she did that.
"No, I just got better things to do" He replies defensively. He was not going to let her get to him and control the situation.
Five baskets that all she needed. This had to work because she didn't know what she was going to do if it didn't.
"Check" She calls as she bounces the ball hard in a pass to him to start the game trying to keep calm.
When he passes it back Tris dribbles and she sees Tobias holding back, just like she knew he would. He hesitates and barely reacts when she moves. She breezes past him and makes an easy lay-up.
"1-zip, what's the matter? You still sleepy?" She taunts as she moves back to get in front of him. The air was a bit cool, she could see her breath but her heart was pounding so she didn't feel the cold.
She makes a bounce pass again for another check and sets up again to dribble around him for another easy lay-up.
"2-zip, where's the D? What's the matter your knee hurt?" she taunts again. Her taunting him was probably not great psychology but she couldn't help it. She always pushed him when they played. There was no way he was going to give up on basketball, she wanted to see that fire in his eyes again.
Tobias feels stiff. Other than some drills for rehabbing after his knee surgery he hadn't played a full game or even dribbled a ball since the night he injured his knee. He had to loosen up and get in the game or this was going to be over. She was loose, confident, he had to get her out of his head.
It was just like her to taunt him, push him. This time, Tris goes to move in but she pulls back and pulls up in a smooth jump shot that goes in easily.
"3- zip, you making this too easy T. Money"
With that, Tobias is done letting her walk over him. He takes off his knee brace. Part of him isn't sure that he should but the doctors had said he could go at his own pace with starting to work out. He had been the hold up with actually pushing himself physically. The brace was just for support, he could make this work, prove her wrong. He was tired of just letting things happen and everyone telling him what he should be doing, he needed to take control.
"You think that's going to make you play better" Tris taunts him again as she checks the ball. She could tell he was frustrated, she could read it on his face.
Tris goes to dribble to the basket and this time Tobias is ready for her. He anticipates her move and steals the ball and makes a lay-up.
"1" he calls out more focused now as he passes the ball to Tris for the check. Again, he slides right past her for another lay-up.
"2" he announces as he moves to get in position again.
One thing about Tris was she was scrappy and would play that way, he watches her as she narrows his eyes at her, focused on where the ball was. He was stronger than her, he knew it, she knew it but she could definitely hold her own against him if he was playing at his full potential.
Tobias steps back and pulls up into a jump shot easily making it. He wasn't going to let her walk over him.
"3 up. I don't hear all that talking now" Tobias taunts back seeing she was getting angry now. He wasn't going to let her win. He had to prove she couldn't break him.
Tris moves in to try and steal the ball as Tobias dribbles, moving toward the basket. He throws an elbow and Tris backs up in shock not thinking he would make a move like that. But it gives him some space from how closely she was guarding him and it allows him to make a quick lay-up.
"4-3," Tobias says with a cocky tone. Tris kicks herself for letting him fake her out with that elbow. She needed to get back in control of things.
When he takes the ball out this time, Tris shakes off her nerves, watching his hands closely as he dribbles. One thing she learned from Tori was how to play defense. She gets low, widening her arms. Tobias has to back up and redirect with nowhere to go.
Create an opportunity Tris reminds herself.
Tobias goes to drive to the left and this time Tris sneaks her hand in and she takes the ball away to quickly make another lay-up.
"4 up"
Come on Tris, focus, You're almost there, she tells herself.
She just needs one more basket, she could do this. She had to do this. She couldn't lose him forever. She blows out a breath. She bounces the ball for Tobias to check and he just lets it bounce off his chest, his face not flinching.
Tris grabs the ball and takes two dribbles toward the basket before she pulls up for a jump shot. It's a little too forceful and the ball spins around before it rolls out of the rim. Her heart beats wildly as she hurries over to try and grab the ball Tobias gets the rebound before she can.
She reaches in, trying to steal the ball again, her heart beating wildly as she does. A panic sets over her as she feels everything start to slip away. Tobias was trying to get a shot off but she was playing him so close he couldn't get maneuver around her to pick up his dribble and shoot. He could feel the heat radiating off her with how close she was on him. Then Tobias does the one thing he knows he would never do to her and the one thing she would never expect him to do. He drops his shoulder and knocks her back causing her to grunt and stumble back. He jumps up propelling himself up for a short dunk to end the game.
Tris stands there for a second in shock. There had been only a few times in life where she felt this defeated, the championship game her senior year of high school when she missed that shot, the second time had been when Tobias told her he was breaking up with her. Everything feels drab and lifeless. Her heart was still beating hard and her eyes were burning. He had proved her wrong. She had shown her hand, gambled and put everything out there, and lost.
He didn't want her anymore. She was so confused. How could she have misread all the things she was seeing and feeling when she spoke to him the past week. The only people she knew better than Tobias were Lauren and Caleb. She knows he felt something. But a bet was a bet.
She can feel the tears coming forth and tightness in her chest at the realization that they would never be together again but she refused to let Tobias see her cry right now. It wasn't about her losing it was about this piece of her that he held since they were 11, the piece that she had fully given him and could never get back.
"Alls fair in Love and Basketball right," Tobias says with a shrug as he squeezes the ball in his hands.
He couldn't shake the feeling running through him. He won, he'd taken control and proved her wrong. Why did it not feel like a victory? Why did he still feel like something was off?
Tris turns to walk back to her house completely defeated in every sense of the word. She feels the weight of the world on her shoulders and at the same time, She feels numb like she was never going to feel whole again. She'd tried to move on but she couldn't. Tobias was a part of her that could never be replaced. The thought of not having that connection, that fire with him was overwhelming just like it had been when they broke up five years ago.
Tobias feels the adrenaline from the game start to die down and he sees the tears about to fall from Tris's eyes as she turns away and his heart constricts and he feels a knot in his throat.
He'd spent the last five years trying to run from the fact that he still loved her. He'd never said it out loud to anyone but he was terrified to know that she was the one who had the power to break his heart. And it was the truth, she did, she'd had that power since the first day they met in this very spot when she walked up on him, Zeke and Uriah playing ball that afternoon. Him winning against her in this game wasn't going to change that.
What he suddenly realizes is that even though she had that power over him, she never wanted to break him, all she wanted to do was to love him. And she loved him so deeply, not like any of the other superficial women had met that were after his money or status. She never wanted anything from him, she never wanted to hurt him because she loved him that much. Everything that bugged him about Nicole he also realizes had nothing to do with her pushing him to be better; it was all about him doing what she wanted. Tris wanted him to succeed, wanted him to be a better man, even when he broke her heart and had pushed her away.
Was it as simple as them choosing each other to make things work between them? Was it worth the chance of getting his heart broken again? No one but Tris could bring out this level of passion in him. No one could push him like she did. At that moment it feels like destiny for them to be at the same place that brought them together. He realizes he can't let Tris walk away, She was right, he loved her, he needed her. And he was tired of running from how he felt. It was time for time to take control of his life in the ways that mattered.
His heart was beating like crazy and his palms started to get sweaty but it was his move. Tris risked everything and been brave enough to challenge him and put her feelings out there, now it was his turn.
"Hey, Tris, wait" Tobias calls out softly.
Tris stops dead in her tracks, her heart pounding like a sledgehammer in her chest. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she turns around to look at Tobias. She couldn't take him taunting her or rubbing her loss in her face right now. She already feels like she has a hole in her chest that was growing by the minute that could never be filled without Tobias. She has a look of surprise when she opens her eyes and she sees the hopeful look on his face and feels her knees go weak.
Tobias takes another deep breath before he speaks and gathers himself as he sees the surprised look on Tris's face.
"How about Double or Nothing?"