After Harold's funeral, Tobias, Evelyn and Anne slowly started to settle into a routine at home. Tobias realized that he was now the man of the house and he was determined to do his best to provide for his mother and grandmother. For the first time in a long time he was hopeful for the future - a future without Marcus, a future without a dark cloud hanging over him and Evelyn. Letting go of the past and living life to the fullest in the present would be Tobias' personal goal for himself.

Tobias' first day on his new job at Dauntless went very well and he was truly satisfied with the choice he made to return to Chicago and not just because of the job but because this was his home. His time in New York made him realize that he truly did miss Chicago. He had thought that if he went away that he'd be able to forget everything that happened with Marcus but he realized now that he could change the way he viewed that period of his life. By leaving, he was letting the memory of Marcus win and he realized that that wasn't fair to him or to Evelyn.

One day at work Zeke had suggested that they go out to a restaurant and bar on the weekend. Tobias reluctantly agreed. He was glad though that Zeke hadn't suggested going to a nightclub. He hadn't really gotten the chance to see and talk to Tris again since the funeral but sometimes they'd wave at each other in passing to and from their houses. Luckily he hadn't seen Peter with her but he knew that it could happen one of these days.

The place was buzzing with people talking, drinking and watching whatever sporting event was playing on the televisions. Tobias certainly felt a little out of place but doing these kinds of things was the price for being friends with Zeke and Uriah. The three of them got a table and of course the cliché thing to do at a bar is order nachos and hot wings along with your beers.

"So, Four, shall we find a lucky lady here for you tonight?" Zeke asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Tobias rolled his eyes. "Zeke, you know I'm not interested in picking up girls, especially not at a bar."

"Oh come on! This could be fun!"

"Has Shauna been making you watch rom coms or something? I'm not Matthew McConaughey looking to make a girl fall in love with me in ten days."

Zeke laughed. "Well at least it's unlikely she'll pretend to be a psycho and try to make you dump her in ten days."

"You're probably right but that still doesn't mean I'm going to pick up a girl whether it's for a one night stand or for a date."

"You need to live a little, man. You claim you didn't have time for a social life in New York but now with us around you're going to have one. Besides, you shouldn't be wasting your time pining for Tris. Sure, you could probably kick Peter's ass but what good would that do?"

"I just got back so I'm not in a rush. And having Tris as a friend is better than nothing at all. I don't care what Peter would think anyway. If I see him, I can easily ignore him."

"Then you should be able to date other people as well. If Tris would be jealous, you'd probably know."

Tobias shrugged. "Whatever, man. I'm going to get some water. Since I'm DD (A/N: just in case, for non English speakers, DD means designated driver) for you boneheads tonight I should stop. I'm going to ask for water and pay the tab so we can go."

Without waiting for a reply, Tobias stood up and walked over to the bar. The female bartender walked up to face him from the other side of the bar.

"Need a refill?" She asked.

"No, just water this time. Thanks."

She nodded and filled an empty glass with ice water.

"I guess I'll go ahead and pick up the tab."

"Alright. Give me a second."

When she went over to the register Tobias finally got a good look at her and sensed some familiarity but couldn't quite place it.

When she returned with the bill, Tobias spoke up.

"I don't mean to sound creepy but do I know you? You seem familiar."

"My name is Lauren Brown. You're Four Eaton, right? The famous track star from Divergent High several years ago. I thought I recognized you as soon as you walked in with the Pedrad brothers."

Things immediately clicked for Tobias. Of course he remembered the brunette girl who on occasion attempted to flirt with him. She was not as aggressive as the other girl, Nita Williams, but at that time Tobias was somewhat annoyed with that kind of attention he received from other girls who weren't Tris. He figured those other girls didn't really want to get to know the real him. They only wanted to be on the arm of a popular athlete.

"Yeah. I remember you now."

"Listen, before anything else is said I want to apologize for the way I came on to you in high school. I now realize that you weren't interested. I know you didn't date anyone but you seemed pretty happy around that girl, Tris Prior."

"Oh well thanks I guess. I had intended to lay low in high school but clearly that didn't work."

"Well when you set a school record in a sport and win championships, you can't exactly lay low."

"Guess not. So what are you doing with your life? Besides bartending obviously."

"Not much, really. I'm taking some online courses for my AAS in Nursing. I had to drop out of college early because my father was diagnosed with cancer and even with my scholarship and my father's health insurance eventually we couldn't afford both. So I'm working part time to pay for the online courses I'm able to take. " (A/N: not sure how factual this could be but I'm still kinda making it up)

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Wishing your dad the best though and good luck with your studies."

"Thanks. What about you?"

"I just moved back to Chicago actually. I moved to New York for a job straight after college and after my parents divorce was finalized but eventually I got a job offer back here in Chicago and I also had to come back for my grandfather's funeral. So my mom was thrilled about the timing."

Lauren chuckled a little. "Sorry for your loss but congratulations on the job."

"Thanks. Listen, I don't normally do this but would you be interested in going out with me sometime?"

"Are you sure? I mean, not that I don't want to but after everything that happened back in high school I figured I was certainly not your type."

"To me high school was so long ago that nobody can be the same person they were when they were 16."

"I guess that's true. I also didn't expect you to still be single."

Four shrugs. "I went on dates, for sure, but nothing really stuck. And besides, despite what you may think I do appreciate your earlier apology. Again, you don't have to justify your behavior in high school when it's not really an uncommon thing. I'd truly like to get to know who you are now."

"As long as you're sure, I'd love to go out with you and see where this goes."

"Great. I'll leave you my number and we can figure out something."

Four took the merchant copy of the bill and wrote his number down then handed the paper back to Lauren.

Just then Zeke and Uriah walked up.

"Ready to go, man." Zeke asked Four.

"Yeah. Guys, you remember Lauren Brown from high school?"

Zeke and Uriah looked over at Lauren, nodded then greeted her. They said their goodbyes and the three of them left the bar.

Tobias waited with bated breath for one of them to speak up. Surely they noticed that he was talking friendly with Lauren before they walked up.

Interrogation in 3, 2…

"So Four you seemed to be in deep conversation with Lauren before we walked up. Anything you wanna tell us?" Zeke asked.

"Well I actually did sort of recognize her so I asked if we knew each other from somewhere. She did recognize me and said who she was. She surprisingly apologized for flirting with me in high school when I wasn't interested."

"Hmm I don't know, man. Are you sure she was sincere about it?"

Four shrugged. "At least I hope so. I asked her a little bit about her life now and then I decided to ask her out."

"Dang, I didn't think you'd take my advice so quickly. But with her? Are you absolutely sure?"

"I don't think I have anything to lose. Right now it'll be just one date."

"And if it ends up being MORE than one date?"

"Then I'll figure things out when I get there. I'm going to do what you said and just live my life. If I keep waiting around, I might be waiting around forever. That's not what I want."

Four did not know if he would be able to stop thinking about Tris, but he sure as hell was going to try.

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. I decided to try something different in this story compared to my previous FourTris full length fanfics. I do have somewhat of an idea so I hope I can pull it off. But don't worry, FourTris will happen soon enough.