A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm so happy that there are some people who are feeling it!


Tobias slows to a jog as he approaches the corner of the street on his run. He had always been good about staying in shape and working out, that was the one thing that he didn't stop in the year he struggled after Lauren's death. Running had been his solace where he could think and breathe. This Saturday morning he decided to get out and go for a run instead of his normal gym routine. He still hadn't said anything about the woman from Sounds of Candor to Will or his sister. It had been almost a month since his first disaster blind date where he saw her. He wasn't great with social media, but he checked out their IG page and there were two clips of that night. Apparently, she wasn't their normal lead singer. He had watched those two videos over and over and he was still mesmerized by her.

He was still unsure of the feelings that he had but after a few days, he realized something as he stood in the living room and looked around his home. Lynn had done an excellent job with the redesign. It felt warm and inviting yet masculine and totally different from how Lauren had decorated. He had a new bedroom set, new living room furniture, and new kitchen table, new wall colors. What had been the point of redecorating the house? The entire point had been for him to be able to get out of his grief and move on. As he kept running he thought more about this woman, her smile the sound of her voice. He had to move on, Lauren wasn't coming back and he still had a lot of years God willing to live. If this woman could make him feel like this without a conversation, just from him seeing her, he had to try to get to know her and figure out why he was drawn to her. Right now the only plan he had was to wait until they posted the next time they were performing to see her again.

As soon as he makes it back to his place his phone pings with a text.

Will: Yo U up for dinner Friday night at The Pit?

Tobias: And by dinner, U mean another blind date?

Will: You got me, but yes, this chick is fine as hell though, and she got her stuff together she's CPA who runs her own accounting firm.

Tobias rolls his eyes and chuckles. What the hell, why not? At least it would pass the time until he could find out when Sounds of Candor was playing again.

Tobias: I'll be there


"I need a fried chicken and macaroni and cheese!" Tris calls out to Max as she walks through the kitchen doors of the Pit. It was a Friday night and the restaurant was packed as usual even though it was only 6 pm.

"Hey Tris, I got a surprise for you" Max whispers.

"What kind of surprise Uncle Max?" She asks curiously as she wipes her hands on her apron.

"He is here tonight!" Max replies eagerly looking out the window of the kitchen door.

"Who is he, Uncle Max, Seriously you invited him to the restaurant? I look a mess" Tris groans. Between Uriah, Zeke, Uncle Harrison, and now her Uncle Max this was the 4th person they'd tried to set her up with. She appreciated their enthusiasm and concern for her love life but she hadn't felt a connection with any of them.

"You look beautiful as always Bumblebee, He's over there at the bar talking to Edward. You two have a lot in common, he recently had a transplant too. I know you have tables, but just go say Hi on your break"

Tris nods and sighs. At least she wouldn't have to do the whole song and dance about her transplant with this guy. She hated bringing up now just on how people reacted to her. She looked at her watch, she could take a break for about 5 minutes.

"Okay, Uncle Max, can you check on table 5 for me and run that order out to table 3."

"Yeah, Yeah I got it, you just go" Max replies as he pushes her out the kitchen door. She raises her eyes at Edward as she approaches and he makes a face at the gentleman sitting in front of her.

"You must be Tris, I'm Fernando," he says as he smiles at Tris and pushes his glasses up his nose.

Tris smiles awkwardly. She looks at Fernando's head and she immediately vows to kill her Uncle Max.

"Max told me you had a transplant too. I had a hair transplant about three months ago, It's been the best thing that ever happened to me"

Tris squirms in her seat at the bar, wanting to run away as quickly as possible.

"You can touch it if you want," Fernando says excitedly as he pushes up his glasses again and leans forward so Tris could touch his hair. And with that Tris was done. She looks at Edward with her lips pulled in and he is trying not to fall over with laughter and he pulls the lever on the beer tap. Where were all the normal men?


Tobias pulls up to the Pit and hands his keys to the valet. He hopes this night went better than the last time he was here the month before with Will and the disaster of a night with his first blind date. He still wasn't excited about meeting whoever Will was trying to introduce him to this time. A large part of that had been that he couldn't get the woman singing out of his mind, and he finally felt like he just wanted to get out of the house since it was Friday night.

When he walks inside he is surprised the place is packed since it's still early but the smells coming from the kitchen are divine. How had he missed this place all the years he lived in Chicago? Will waves him over to where he sees him sitting with two women. One was snuggled up next to him. In typical Will fashion, he was sure this girl had no idea Will wasn't a long term relationship kind of guy. The other, a woman who gave off the heir of high maintenance tapped on her phone only looking up when Will called for Tobias. Will was right, she was pretty, dark chocolate skin with long hair and he could tell she had lash extensions like Lauren would get but Tobias could already tell he wouldn't be into her. Will gets up and gets close enough to do their fraternity grip discreetly as they greet each other.

"Tobias, this is Nita and Emily," he says motioning to each one.

"Well hello, Toby, It's so nice to meet you," Nita says with a flirty smile, scooting closer to Tobias and placing a hand on his arm.

"It's just Tobias," he remarks. He hated when people called him Toby, especially when it was someone he just met. God this was going to be a long night he thinks to himself.

Suddenly Nita starts to fan herself.

"Oh My isn't it hot in here," she says and goes to remove her cardigan, revealing a low cut top and her push-up bra that you could see the top of had her boobs of full display. Tobias stifled a groan, he wanted to get away from this woman as fast as he could. Sure this woman was beautiful but Tobias couldn't stand women that threw themselves at him. It was a complete turn-off.

"Well, Tobias, what do you do," She remarks.

"Tobias is in construction, you know that new building on Wacker, That's Tobias's," Will says proudly.

"You own it?" Emily asks and Tobias fights the urge to put his head in his hands. He had to find a way to get out of this dinner. There was no way he could make it.

"No I designed it, I'm an architect" Tobias clarifies. "My firm does..."

"What is going on, why is it taking so long for the waitress" Nita interrupts as Tobias starts to talk about his firm.

Tobias shoots Will a look and Will quickly looks away. Tobias was going to kill him after this.

Just then the waitress appears at their table with glasses of water for everyone.

"Sorry about the wait, my name is Tris, I'll be taking care of you this evening. Can I get you something to drink from the bar?"

Tobias feels like everything stops in the restaurant, it was her, the woman he had been obsessing about for the past month, the singer from Sounds of Candor. His mouth goes dry and he shifts in his seat, he felt that same feeling like he did the first time he saw her.

"No, no no, no Honey," Nita snaps with a disgusted look as Tris sets glasses of water down for the table.

"Do you have bottled water?" Nita demands more than asks with a hint of arrogance.

"Yeah sure," Tris replies trying to hide her annoyance. "Anyone else want something?"

"Can I get a Heineken?" Will asks.

"White wine please" Emily responds.

"Do we know each other?" Tris asks looking at Tobias, why did she feel like she had met him before. She felt like he was staring and he wanted to say something. Tobias feels like he had been struck by lightning once again. She was so captivating up close, more than he imagined that she would be. Her warm tawny skin, her bright brown eyes. Her curly hair was pulled back but Tobias had the strangest feeling he wanted to see her with it blowing softly in the wind. He felt like his chair had been pulled from underneath with the sensations running through him as he locked eyes with the woman in front of him.

"Have you been in here before?" Tris asks, biting her bottom lip. There was something familiar about him that she couldn't put her finger on.

"Not for dinner, just for drinks on the patio," he replies almost shyly not recognizing his own voice. Get it together T! He scolds himself.

The man in front of Tris she thinks might be the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. His full bottom lip and strong jawline with his short neatly trimmed beard made her want to lean down and kiss him. His chocolate brown hair was cropped short but the top was long enough you could see his curls forming. He was similar in complexion to her and his chest and arms looked muscular from what she could tell. Why was he looking at her like he was studying her? She feels this unexplainable pull towards him as they locked eyes. She feels like her body was heating up just from his gaze.

Get it together Tris! she tells herself.

Just then the annoying voice of who Tris assumed was the handsome man's girlfriend the way she was sitting so close to him breaks the trance she found herself in.

"Excuse me, my water? I don't want swiss water, I got sick off it once, I want it cold, preferably french, no ice, no bubbles, just a straw, did you get that?" Nita rattles off, not missing the looks passing between the waitress and her date.

"Do you want to write it down?" she adds in a condescending tone pointing to Tris's order pad in her hand. God, how could this guy be with her, she seemed so awful Tris thinks to herself.

"No, I'm pretty sure I got it," Tris says with fake enthusiasm and plastering on a fake smile trying not to roll her eyes as she turns to head towards the bar.

"Can I get a Coke?" Tobias asks lightly, grabbing her arm softly and shooting her a smile that made her knees go weak.

"Sure" she replied sweetly, flashing him a grin and biting her lip before she walked away.

Will is telling some joke that has the two women at the table laughing hysterically but Tobias can't take his eyes off of the waitress as he watches her lean across the bar on her tiptoes as she calls out her drink order to the bartender.

This girl is amazing, Tobias thinks as he watches her move. He feels like he is in a daze like he had just had a veil lifted off him from being near her. Suddenly he hears Nina or whatever her name is and her annoying voice breaking him out of his thoughts about Tris. He knew her name now, it fit her perfectly.

"Umm, I think your phone is ringing," Nita's annoying voice points out.

"Oh sorry", he looks at his work phone and sees it's Gabe, his project manager calling. "I need to take this," he says as he gets up and heads closer to the bar.

He talks to Gabe discussing the plans for adjusting the workers for the site they were heading to in the morning when he catches the object of his thoughts for the past few weeks behind the bar. He lets out a laugh when he sees what she's doing. Her eyes go wide and she looks like a kid who's been caught with their hand in the cookie jar when she realizes she's been found out but she doesn't stop. She emptying a new bottle of Aquafina out into the sink and then fills the empty bottle up with tap water and places a straw in it. He grins at her and shakes his head as continues to go over the logistics information that Gabe needed for the crew in the morning. He had to admit he liked her style.

"Hey, Gabe, do me a favor and call me back in like 10 or 15 minutes, and don't pay attention to anything I say," Tobias instructs before he ends his phone call and heads back to the table.

When Tobias sits back down at the table, he tries to hold his smile in as Tris gives them menus and the rest of the drinks.

"Oh, I bet that's refreshing" Tobias quips as Nita sips her water through the straw.

"Such a big difference," She sighs dramatically and Tris bites her lip as she looks at Tobias who is visibly trying to hold in his laugh.

"We have some specials this evening, "Oxtails with pigeon peas and rice, fried chicken with mac and cheese, and shellfish over grits which is my favorite" she adds as she looks at her order pad.

"I'll have that," Tobias says quickly and Tris flashes him a smile as she writes down his order.

"Ugh, That sounds so fattening" Nita complains scrunching up her nose.

"Well just order something else," Tobias says, his annoyance level high and he tries not to roll his eyes.

"Well is everything here cooked in butter and oil with pork, don't you have anything gluten-free or Vegan?"

"Yeah, some we boil in Swiss water," Tris says in a low voice. This woman was working her last nerve.

Will and Tobias immediately start to laugh and then pull it back when they see the look on Nita and Emily's faces.

"We're going to need another minute," Tobias says trying to keep his face straight and Tris nods and heads to check on another table. She was funny too, she just kept getting better and better.

"We should talk to the manager and get that smartass fired" Nita scoffs.

"Can't you just let it go?" Tobias says now, completely annoyed with Nita.

"That was completely uncalled for" Nita complains looking at Tobias as if he really had the audacity to not agree with her.

"Yes, did you hear her?" Emily cosigns. Tobias fidgets and wishes Gabe would hurry up and call him back, he didn't know if he could take much longer of the woman. Her voice was literally working his nerves. How on earth could Will think that this woman would be a good match for him.

Thankfully his phone rings again with Gabe calling back as promised. Tobias quickly answers and responds that he can be back at the office in 15 minutes to go over the plans for tomorrow.

"So sorry about that, I have to leave to handle something at the firm. It was nice to meet you Nina" he says trying to sound as apologetic as possible even though he couldn't wait to get away from her.

"It's Nita.." she snaps and Tobias gives a fake smile as he gets up from the table.

As he grabs his coat and walks to the door, he puts his work phone down on the bar to put on his coat. Tris sees him leaving and her heart falls, she doesn't know why she didn't even know this man.

"Is everything okay?" she asks him, trying not to show the disappointment on her face.

"Yeah I just got called into work"

"Your girlfriend and your friends are they going to be staying?"

"Oh no, that's not my girlfriend, I don't have one," Tobias says hurriedly. He definitely wanted her to know that she wasn't his girlfriend. But what was he going to do with that? Did he ask her out? Was he ready for that? God this was so confusing. The one thing he knew for sure was this woman standing in front of him had stirred up something inside of him that he thought died with his wife. He was going to find a way back here but he had to get away from Nita.

"Hang on a second" Tris says as she leans over to the bar. Why was she so excited that the rude woman wasn't his girlfriend? Well, this was her opportunity to shoot her shot. What did she have to lose? "Auntie Hana, what's this?"

"Shellfish over grits with an order of beignets for pick up" Hana replies before running back into the kitchen. Tris grabs the bag and walks closer to the handsome man, her heart fluttering at how bold he was making her feel.

"Here you go, on the house," she says as she gives him a wink and a smile. "I hope we'll see you again around here"

"Oh, you can count on it, My name's Tobias, by the way," He says giving her his best smile but so caught up in her that he forgets that his work phone is still on the bar.

He waits for the valet to bring his truck around when he hears Will come up behind him.

"Bro, come one, why are you leaving?"

"I told you I gotta go check on this job"

"You're already out, can't you just handle it tomorrow?"

"No, it will be easier if I handle it now"

"I know you are going home"

Tobias laughs and shakes his head. "I'm not going home, and I'll hit you up later" He yells over his shoulder as gives the valet a tip for bringing his truck around.

Will shakes his head and pulls out his phone to send Marlene a text. Their little plan to help get Tobias back in the living and dating wasn't going so great, maybe she could talk some sense into him. He prepared himself for a smartass comment about the girls he had picked out for Tobias to meet. She probably had a point, but he would never let her know that. He could see a difference in his best friend and he knew it would take some time. He wasn't a complete jackass to think that he could get over losing his wife so easily but he hated seeing Tobias give up the way he had. He sighs and he opens the door to head back in the restaurant and guesses he would be picking up the tab for both ladies tonight.


Tobias keeps his word and heads to the now-empty construction site that his crew would be working in the morning. All the workers had gone home hours earlier so he knew it would be a quiet place to think. He didn't feel like going home just yet. He lets down the tailgate and sits down on the back of his work truck with the takeout from the Pit and fishes out from his jacket pocket the letter from the Donor Liaison group that had been delivered several months before. He hadn't been ready to open it yet but now that he knew that the woman who had invaded his thoughts was, he felt like he was finally in the space to read it. The transplant family had no idea who he was but they had sent an anonymous letter which was then sent to him by the group. He takes a bite of the take-out that Tris had given him and it closes his eyes at the flavors of the food. It was divine. He smiles at the thought of her, he had to find a way to see her again. He opens the envelope and pulls out a wrinkled pink envelope that looks like it has been placed in someone's pocket and carried around for a long time. Inside on a piece of pink paper is a handwritten note.

Dear Donor Family,

I hope this letter may be of some comfort, though words cannot express the depth of my gratitude. I am eternally grateful for the thoughtfulness you and your loved ones have given me in your moment of deepest sorrow.

I awake each day feeling the gentle rhythm of the heart that beats inside me. It is because of you I am alive today You will always be in my thoughts and prayers. I thank you and God Bless.

Tobias sighs as he holds the paper in his hand. This was a reminder that Lauren's death had not been in vain. Someone else had a second chance at life because of her. She was probably smiling down at him right now. He had to get on with living his life. There was no way she would ever be okay with how he had let things become. He could accept now that Lauren wasn't coming back and that he would always love her but he had to get to know this woman named Tris.


Tris and Shauna slow their run to stop at the school track on Saturday morning. Tris had spent the night thinking about Tobias and she wondered if she would ever see him again. She had sat up straight in her bed right before she was about to fall asleep when she realized why he looked familiar, he was her mystery man from the first night she had performed with the band. It made her feel like butterflies were in her stomach when she thought of the way he smiled at her. At least she knew his name now.

With both of them resting their hands on their hips as they walk and catch their breath, Tris and Shauna catch up on what had happened over the past week since they had seen each other. Shauna and Tris usually ran together on Saturday mornings when the weather was nice. Tris needed regular cardiovascular exercise for her new heart. Once she got the all-clear from Dr. Matthews, Shauna helped her set up a training regimen that had evolved over the past year so Tris could learn how to pace herself since Tris hadn't run or been very active since she was a kid due to her condition.

"So Christina told me about your disastrous blind date"

"Shauna, it was so awkward" Tris complains as they walk slowly around the track. "Between that guy, Eric, Zeke set me up with and this, I'm over the blind dates. I haven't even had a chance to tell you or Chris about the guy Uncle Max tried to set me up with last night. He had a hair transplant, Shauna! " Tris places her fingers on her cheek as she shakes her head thinking about the string of bad dates she had been set up on.

Shauna winces and gives a sympathetic look to Tris. Eric was a guy that Zeke knew on the police force. He seemed like a nice guy and Shauna had thought he might be a good fit for Tris. The guy turned out to be a total asshole after they had only gone out on their first date.

"Sorry about Eric" Shauna apologies. "Zeke totally punched him in the face and broke his nose after you told him how that asshole tried to get you to have sex with him on the first date"

'It's not your fault the guy was a jerk, I shouldn't be glad but I am glad that Zeke punched him"

Normally Tris, fussed at Zeke and Uriah for their overprotectiveness but she understood why Zeke was so upset. He had trusted Eric to do right by her and Eric tried to take advantage of her. He ended up leaving her stranded after putting her out of his car when she turned down his advances after their dinner, which hadn't been that great, to begin with. Zeke and Shauna had shown up to pick her up and he was livid. Tris knew Zeke wasn't going to let it go even though she had tried to get him to forget it.

"What about Bobby, he can't take his eyes off you while you two are performing. I've noticed it the last two times I've seen you perform"

"Ehhhh…." Tris replies. She thought Bobby was cool, he was handsome and they spent plenty of time together rehearsing but she didn't feel a connection to him.

"Bobby is cool, but I just don't feel that thing with him, if that makes any sense. Maybe I have watched too many movies and its not supposed to happen that way"

"Yeah it does make sense, even though it took Zeke and me a while to get together, I knew he was it for me. He didn't feel like the other guys I had dated, it felt special"

Shauna and Zeke had been married for two years. Shauna moved to Chicago for college and met Zeke when the Chicago PD was given a special mentoring program at the school where she was student teaching her senior year. Shauna was still been dating her boyfriend Dre, from D. C. where she was from at that time. Zeke and Shauna would see each other every week, chat, and Zeke would bring her coffee or treats, he was smitten with her even though she was seeing someone. They started hanging out under the guise of being just friends but eventually, Zeke professed his love for her and Shauna made the decision to break things off with Dre for Zeke.

"There is someone out there for you Tris, and you'll probably meet him when you least expect it. Just trust in that. I thought I was going to marry Dre, I wasn't even looking to meet Zeke and he came out of nowhere."

"Welllllll something else happened last night after transplant guy" Tris admits. Tris hadn't said anything to Shauna or Christina but now that she had seen him twice, she couldn't get her mind off of Tobias after he left the restaurant. She had felt so relieved when he told her he didn't have a girlfriend but she didn't have any way to get in touch with him after last night. She was hoping that he would come back to the restaurant, but she did want Shauna's opinion on if she was imagining that he was into her.

"Girl, you holding out on me? What happened?" Shauna says excitedly nudging Tris with her shoulder as they continue to walk slowly around the track.

Tris explains all about the guy named Tobias, how he looked familiar, realizing where she first saw him but she felt something she just didn't know what it was.

"I've been kicking myself since last night, like why didn't I write my number on the take outbox, or would that have been too much. Maybe it doesn't matter because he didn't ask me for my number? I don't know how any of this works" Tris huffs out.

"It does sound like he is interested especially if he made it a point to emphasize that water lady wasn't his girl. Trust me though, if he really is interested he knows where you work and he will seek you out, Just let him come to you."

Tris smiles, as they take off on another sprint around the track. Shauna was right, if this guy was for her, he would find her again.


A/N: Leave me a review and let me know what you think!