Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter and the follows! Thank you for being patient with letting me play out the build-up to Tobias and Tris meeting but the set up was really important for me to put out there!


It was Sunday night and Tris has the night off since the restaurant closed early on Sundays. Andrew, Hana, and Max said they could manage without her and Christina since the crowd was lighter on Sundays. Tris was hanging out at Christina and Uriah's house which she usually did helping Christina out with the kids when Uriah was at the fire station. She, Hana, and Shauna had been taking turns helping out with making dinner and cleaning up since the department had been short-staffed and Uriah had been having to work overtime pulling an extra day every week for the past month. Jada, the newest Pedrad was the princess of everyone's eye. Tris really did think she was the cutest baby she had ever seen with her big brown eyes. Her big brothers were already protective of her and Tris, Shauna and Christina already anticipated that Zeke and Uriah were going to be a problem when she started dating. Tonight Uriah had just gotten home and Christina was finishing up dinner with Jada on her hip while Tris was playing with Jalen on his PlayStation.

Justin was putting a puzzle together with Uriah on the dining room table while Uriah was throwing back a beer.

"Okay you two, put up this puzzle so we can set the table" Christina instructs as she sits Jada in her high chair.

"Awe Man" Justin complains.

"Yeah, Awe Man is right" Christina responds.

"Hey Chris, Come here" Uriah whispers as Justin starts to pick up the puzzle pieces

"What? Why are you whispering?" Christina says confused

"I invited Al over for dinner so he could meet Tris"

"Al, the chaplin from the precinct, Father Al?" Christina eeks out in confusion while staring at Uriah.

"He's just a chaplain, he's not a priest anymore" Uriah corrects.

"I don't care, he will always be a priest to me, what is this like a blind date or something," Christina argues. Jada starts whining from her high chair signaling that she needed her diaper changed.

"I'll get her" Tris announces coming in from the living room and picking up the baby. While Chris and Uriah quiet down until she leaves to head upstairs to the nursery.

"I can't believe you did this! She'll meet somebody on her own" Christina shouts throwing the puzzle pieces into the box and hurriedly cleans up the table.

"How, she spends every one of her nights off here or at Zeke and Shauna's"

"What's going on?" Tris asks with her eyebrows raised as she places Jada back in her high chair noticing the looks between Uriah and Christina.

"Uriah went and invited somebody over here for you for dinner, like a blind date"

"What?!" Tris exclaims standing up quickly and looking down at her shirt. She only felt comfortable wearing a shirt that showed the top of her scar around her family. Normally she wore shirts with a high neckline or a collar that buttoned to cover the scar, if she was looking to dress up she wore a scarf or an ascot as camouflage.

"I gotta find a scarf" she squeals and runs into the living room where Jalen was playing his Playstation to look in her bag.

"What's he's a nice guy and it's perfect, he's never dated, she's never dated," Uriahs says with a shrug of his shoulders

"Don't say that! Tris has dated" Christina tries to offer up in defense of her best friend.

"Who, Peter Hayes? That was a date?" Uriah says with honest confusion and Christina tries to hold her laughter in. Peter Hayes had grown up with them in the neighborhood and had always been a bully teasing Tris any chance he got. When they were 15, Peter must have realized his feelings for Tris. He followed her around carrying her books bringing her flowers for an entire month, leaving notes in her locker. If anything Tris had been more annoyed than with him. One afternoon he gathered up all his courage and kissed her after school. Tris hauled off and punched him in the face, breaking his nose. Zeke Uriah and Caleb were so furious when they found out they scared the daylights out of him making him apologize to Tris. He was too scared to be in her path after that. Christina would fall out laughing anytime she saw him coming and how quickly he would get out of her way.

"I never dated Peter Hayes" Tris yells out in contention from the den still digging through her purse. Christina is full out laughing now as Tris is still running around looking for her scarf.

"Don't worry I already told him you had some work done" Uriah says trying to ease his cousin's nerves.

"What!?" Tris screams out from the den. Only Uriah would phrase her having a heart transplant like that.

"Jesus Uriah, she's not a car in a body shop" Christina groans at her husband's choice of words placing the palm of her hand on her forehead.

"He's a nice guy, He's a priest" Uriah explains again trying to calm the two women down.

"A PRIEST" Tris screams back. She feels like her head was going to explode. What was Uriah thinking!

"An ex-priest, he's a chaplain, oh my God will you two stop overreacting please!" Uriah clarifies. Al had left his post with the Catholic church for another denomination. His change to the Episcoplain church had come with many changes including his new ability to date. Uriah and some of the guys at the station had been trying to give him dating advice. He was a bit awkward but he seemed nice.

"Do you hate priests Auntie Tris?" Justin asks from Uriah's lap as he continues to put up the puzzle pieces like his mother requested.

"No, Baby, I don't," she says distracted still looking under the couch cushions for her scarf.

"Good, because if you do you'll go straight to Hell '' Justin states matter of factly. Uriah's eyes go wide as he puts his hand over Justin's mouth.

"You taught him to say, Hell Uriah!" Christina squeaks as she continues to clean up the puzzle pieces. "I have told you and Zeke to watch your mouths around the kids"

The next hour is organized chaos in the Pedrad home. Tris shifts awkwardly as she sits next to Al. He wasn't ugly but he just didn't do it for her. He had a nasal sounding voice, wore glasses, a bow tie, and a cardigan reminding Tris a bit of Steve Urkel. Every time Tris went to move to pick up a bowl from the table or get another Al would step in to help her. She was trying to think he was being chivalrous but it was overkill. He kept saying that he didn't want her to "overexert herself" like she was some porcelain doll who couldn't lift a finger. They said an awkward goodbye when Uriah escorted him out.

"Uriah Pedrad, I will kill you if you ever do that to me again!" She says putting on her jacket to ride her bike the few blocks back home.

"Hey, he wasn't that bad" Uriah defends. "I was just trying to help"

Tris sighs, she knew he was, and now she felt bad for chastising him.

"I know, I appreciate you, but really the dude had on a cardigan and a bow tie!" She laughs out as Uriah pulls her in for a hug.


"He was alright, a little too nerdy for me I think" Tris sighs to Christina over the phone recapping the awkward dinner a few hours earlier. Christina could tell right away that her best friend wasn't into Al.

"You'll meet the right one, he's out there somewhere, probably looking for you too"

"Did you notice how he was afraid to even let me lift the bowl of mashed potatoes? Tris comments, she hated people assuming she was weak just because she had a heart transplant. She didn't want to be seen as weak.

"I thought he was just trying to be polite" Chris offers trying to be encouraging. She didn't know what Uriah was thinking but she knew Al wasn't anywhere near the kind of guy that Tris would go for. Her loveable husband was so clueless sometimes. "But don't worry, I gave Uriah a piece of my mind, I don't think he'll be springing any more blind dates on you anytime soon"

"He had good intentions, don't be too hard on him," Tris says with a smile as she walks out on her balcony that overlooked her courtyard and the outdoor seating patio of the restaurant. She meant what she said, he was a nice guy but there was no spark no pull, nothing that made her think that she would dream about him that night and make her feel like she could hardly wait for the next time she would see him.

"Look I gotta go help Uraih get all my hellions to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you"

"Love you too" Tris replies as she hangs up chuckling. Things were always loud and crazy at Chris and Uriah's but Tris wouldn't trade them for anything. She wished she had her own crazy household.

She sees her father down on the patio cleaning up the last of the tables from earlier.

"Need any help Daddy?" Tris calls down as she leans against the railing.

"No Baby Girl, I'm blessed with work. Sweet Dreams" Andrew calls up.

"Good Night Daddy," Tris says with a sigh before going back into her room and flipping on the TV to find something to watch.


One of Tris's bucket list items had been to sing in a band since she had found her love of singing. Her breathing had always been a problem pre-transplant, but now she loves singing, it made her feel alive. She started singing in the shower and along to her radio anything. It was another one of those things that made her feel alive. One night Andrew came into her room while she was singing along while playing her guitar.

"You sound so much like your mother Baby Girl, you may be even better than she was" he observes leaning against the door jam.

Tris looks up and sets down her guitar. "Really, I didn't know she could sing, I wish I could remember more of her"

"Yes, she used to sing around the house all the time, you liked to crawl in her lap when she sang. She was too sick by the time you were old enough to remember her sing" Andrew remembers and Tris can see the hint of sadness in his voice.

"You never stop missing her, do you?"

"Not a day goes by that I don't" Andrew replies before turning around and closing the door to Tris's room.


The first night Zeke, Shauna, Christina, and Uriah went to Karaoke with Tris she chose to sing I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. She was nervous but after a shot of tequila, she put her name on the list. She closed her eyes and started to sing. When she opened her eyes all her cousins stood there with their mouths open staring in unbelief as Tris belted out the song along to the music. The entire bar was on its feet cheering and dancing as she sang. The cheers and whistles from the crowd make her feel energized, she definitely wanted to be on stage again.

"Cousin, why the hell didn't we know you could sing like that!" Zeke exclaims pulling her into a hug when she sits walks back to the table. Tris smiles and shrugs her shoulders.

"I just started trying it out, I could never breathe well enough before but I like it"

"Tris, for real that was amazing" Shauna chimes in.

A handsome guy with honey-colored skin and deep brown eyes who appeared to be in his mid-20s comes up to the table.

"Hey that was really great, are singing with anybody locally?" he asks.

"Umm"

"Well my friends and I have been playing for a few years, Sounds of Candor, check us out, you should come do a couple of sets with us. My name is Bobby"

"Nice to meet you Bobby" Tris replies sweetly shaking his hand before the two exchange numbers.

"Tris he was totally flirting with you" Christina teases

"Oh whatever, I really am interested in singing with them" she shrugs off.

Over the winter months, Tris started going to practice with the band learning songs that they performed. The vibe was always mellow but upbeat playing a wide range of R&B popular artists from the 60s, to the present. The guys in the band had been great, teaching Tris many tricks of the trade of performing, practicing When Rita, their regular female singer announced she was pregnant and was taking some time off to take care of her baby, Tris finally gave in and agreed to sing with Sounds of Candor when she had some free time. Tris felt confident when the warmer months rolled around she would be ready.

During the warmer months on select Friday nights, The Pit hosted local jazz and R&B cover bands, Tris convinced her Andrew, Max, and Harrison to let Sounds of Candor entertain the crowd for the season. Many couples in the neighborhood used it as their weekly date night. Tonight was her first night singing with the band and she was nervous but so excited. Christina and Shauna helped her pick out a long Kente print gold, black and white skirt with a white top. The neck cut above where her scar was so she felt comfortable with it. There was a slight breeze on the air as she set up her microphone while the rest of the guys set up their equipment for soundcheck made her skin tingle like something magical would happen tonight. She wasn't sure what it was but she liked the feeling.

"You nervous Tris?" Bobby asked as plugged in wires for the keyboard. Bobby sang lead vocals and played the keyboard. Mike, played guitar and Ravi the drums. The group had started playing together in college and had a small following around Chicago.

"Kind of but I think it's more nervous energy because I'm excited" She laughs as she remembers that first night she and her family went to karaoke and they found out she could sing.

"You are gonna kill it, Tris. Not trying to throw shade at Rita, but your voice is pure and angelic. You don't try to over do it."

"Awwww, Thanks Bobby" Since that night when they had met when Tris was singing karaoke she and Bobby had become friends. Tris loved his voice it had a smoothness to it. He had given her plenty of pointers to get her comfortable for singing on stage and they had spent hours practicing thier duets for their upcoming set together. She had a feeling he was always about to ask her out but he would change the subject or back down. She thought he was nice, handsome but there was something missing. She didn't know what it was but she would know it when she felt it.

The patio was packed tonight since it was one of the first warmer nights of the spring even though it was late April. Zeke and Shauna invited his partner, Robert, and his wife Grace. Tori was also there. Uriah and Christina were on the balcony in Tris's room with the kids, since it was still chilly and Hana fussed about Jada being out in the cold.

Tris closes her eyes and smiles as she starts to sing You Don't Know My Name by Alicia Keys. When she opens her eyes she sees that her father has come out from the kitchen and is smiling the biggest smile he's seen on him since she came home from the hospital. She looks up when she hears Uriah whistling from the balcony. She grips the microphone with one hand and waves up at him.

As she starts the second verse she grabs the mic and her eyes lock with a man sitting at a table on the back of the patio. It was just like the lyrics in the song, it felt like her soul was on fire. She could tell he was handsome, maybe one of the most handsome men she had ever seen with tawny skin like hers and dark hair and full bottom lip. She can't help but feel she was singing this for him. She tries to break eye contact with him but it's hard. It feels as though her center of gravity has shifted to him. He's watching her intently almost as if he was holding his breath. As she finishes up the song the crowd erupts into applause and she laughs and smiles. They move into the next song of Killing Me Softly by Fugees and Tris is forced to look away from the man as she gets the crowd involved in the song. She had never felt like this looking at anyone before and it was a bit unnerving but she had to keep going.

I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he'd found my letters and read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish, but he just kept right on

Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time)
Singing my life with his words (two times, two times)
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

Yo, L-Boog, take me to the bridge

Woah
Woah-oah-ah-ah-ah uh, uh
La-la-la, la, la, la
Woah, la
Woah, la (ha, ha, ha, ha)
La-ah-ah-ah-ah

When the band takes a break she is about to go to the back of the patio to see if she could get closer to whoever this man was but she's immediately swarmed by Tori, Hana, Harrison, and other patrons telling her how amazing she was.

"Tris, why did we not know you could sing like your mother?" Her Aunt says pulling her into a hug.

"Daddy told me Mommy could sing too. I wish I could remember"

"Yes, she could, like an angel. Our parents only ever let her sing in church but she always wanted to sing in a band. She would be so proud of you" Hana reflects thinking of her sister. Natalie had a quiet life with Andrew but she could tell Tris had a fire in her to be bold and nothing could put it out.

"I kind of remember her singing to be before bed but I always thought I made it up"

"You were so little when she got sick, I'm not surprised"

Tris is disappointed when she gets up to start the second half of their set that she doesn't see the man at the table. She sighs before Bobby starts up their next song. It probably was a crazy idea to try and talk to him and that definitely wasn't her style, but that feeling of being lost in each others eyes was what she had been waiting for.


Tobias looks up at the restaurant sign for the Pit. He was just about to pull out his phone to tell Will that this was a bad idea and turn around and go back to his truck when he hears Will call his name.

"I know you were thinking about leaving" Will jests and pats him on the back.

"I was not" Tobias lies with a smirk.

"Come one let's grab a table, I hear this band is supposed to be pretty good"

"So I think you'll like this girl, She's cute," Will says after they order a beer.

"Will I already told you, I'm not ready for all that. I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I promised you and Lene I would come and hang out," Tobias says wiping his face. The only reason he really came, he promised Marlene that he would get out of the house this week and he knew she would hound him if he didn't do it.

"It's been a year, man, you gotta start living again," Will wasn't trying to be an asshole about the situation. He and Marlene hadn't seen eye to eye on much since they broke up but when she called him crying not knowing what to do to help break Tobias out of his grief he didn't hesitate to help. Tobias was his best friend, he would do anything for him, he didn't want to push him into dating anyone but he did want him to find someone to spend time with other than him and Marlene.

"I know, Will," Tobias replied quietly looking off into the distance. He was tired of people telling him that, they didn't know how he felt. He realized he needed to make a change, he just wanted to let the pain go.

Will had called up Nicole, a girl he had gone out with a few times to hang out for drinks and to listen to the band playing that evening. Nicole was adamant about him bringing a friend for her cousin Maria who was in town visiting. He thought this was a win-win for getting Tobias out of the house tonight. Will looks at his phone and sees that Nicole is just outside.

"Here they come, just relax and try to have a good time. Try not to be all dark and brooding"

Tobias nods and shifts uncomfortably in his chair as he gives a half-hearted smile to Nicole and Maria.

"It's nice to meet you Tobias" Maria greets him and sits down. Will starts laying on the compliments to Nicole and Tobias watches as they flirt back and forth. God, he was so out of practice with all this. He and Lauren had just naturally fit together, he doesn't ever remember having an awkward moment with her. Maria doesn't seem like a talkative person. Every question Tobias asked she responded with short sentences.

"So Maria, What do you do?"

"I am a nurse"

"Oh, Are you from Chicago?"

"No, Philadephia"

Tobias sighs and takes a deep breath and sits back as he sips his beer. She seemed nice enough but really boring to put it nicely. He was done trying to talk to her. He hoped Will would not give him shit about this disaster of a double date. He didn't have the energy for this anyway. He looked over and Will was telling a joke and Nicole was laughing hysterically while Maria looked at her phone. Maria looks up and Tobias doesn't miss the look that Nicole gives Maria motioning her head toward him.

"So what do you do?" Maria asks.

Suddenly the music starts from the band and she sits back in her chair realizing that the conversation was over before it started and Tobias breathes a sigh of relief. He just wanted to finish his drink and vibe out to the music. He did have to admit that minus the awkward girl sitting next to him he liked this place. The food being delivered to the neighboring tables looked delicious and the smells coming from the kitchen had him feeling it tasted as good as it looked. His ears perk up when he hears the most angelic voice coming from the stage as the band starts to play. He takes in the woman singing and if wasn't sitting down he thinks he would have to. Her curly hair flowed around her shoulders, she gave off a bohemian vibe that matched her voice. God she was singing You Don't Know My Name by Alicia Keys. He was becoming unnerved by the feeling like he wanted to know her, what the hell was happening.

Baby, baby, baby, from the day I saw you
I really really wanted to catch your eye
There's something special 'bout you, I must really like you
'Cause not a lotta guys are worth my time
Ooh baby, baby, baby, it's gettin' kind of crazy
'Cause you are takin' over my mind

And it feels like ooh
But you don't know my name
And I swear
It feels like ooh
You don't know my name
(Round and round and round we go, will you ever know?)

Oh baby baby baby, I see us on our first date
You're doin' everything that makes me smile
And when we had our first kiss, it happened on a Thursday
Ooh it set my soul on fire
Ooh baby baby baby, I can't wait for the first time
My imagination's runnin' wild

It feels like ooh
You don't know my name
And I swear it baby
It feels like ooh
You don't know my name

She locks eyes with him and Tobias feels like his whole world is focused on her.

"God, she's beautiful", he murmurs just above a whisper. Wait what?

He can't be sure but it seems like she forces herself to pull her gaze away as she starts the next song. She was amazing, the ways she interacted with the crowd, the range of her vocals. And it wasn't just her singing it was how she moved, how she tossed her hair, how she smiled. He wasn't sure he had ever been immediately drawn to a woman like this with just a look before, not even Lauren, and a feeling of anxiety sets in.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to go," Tobias says as he gets up from the table as soon as the band announces they are going on a break.

He bids a quick goodbye to Will who shoots him a look and Nicole who gives a sympathetic wave. Maria couldn't care less and he was grateful for that. He had to get out of here, this feeling was driving him crazy. He wanted to talk to her, get to know her. Was it wrong, was he ready for this? This was all too much, he just needs to getaway.

As soon as he gets home and Pharaoh greets him at the door, he leans back against the closed door closing his eyes. He puts Pharoh's leash on and takes him for a quick walk before bed and decides to talk out his feelings to his dog.

"It freaked me out boy, It was like she was the first woman I've noticed as a man since Lauren died. And it literally damn near knocked me off my feet, it was like some shit out of a fucking movie. Am I supposed to feel that way? How did never feel drawn to Lauren like that? She was my best friend for so long before we started dating. I don't know what to make of this."

Pharoh cocks his head to the side as he listens to Tobias talk. When he lets out a bark as if responding to his questions causing Tobias to chuckle.

"Come on boy, Let's head inside and get some sleep"

He sees a text from Will asking if he was cool and a text from Marlene asking how things went. He quickly responds not wanting to give anything away about the singer just yet. He still needed to sort out his feelings but that night when he lays down in bed all he can hear is that beautiful voice in his head as he drifts off to sleep. He had to see her again to know if this feeling was real.


A/N: Let me know what you think of this chapter! Finally what you all have been waiting for will go down in the next chapter! I might get around to posting it this weekend, let me know if you want me to.