A/N: Hey ya'll! Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter and for the support on the pace of Tris and Tobias's relationship! There's going to be some big things coming up if you haven't guessed them yet! Happy Reading!


The month of June rolled by with Tobias and Tris spending more and more time together. Their schedules were a bit tricky to work out as Tris worked on the weekends but they had come to having lunch together almost every day since the restaurant didn't open until 4 pm and dinner on Monday and Tuesday when the restaurant was closed. With Jada still so small Christina wasn't able to help out as much with waitressing so Tris picked up most of it while Christina spent more time on the books.

On Monday afternoon they were having lunch at a small cafe, enjoying the warm weather as they sat at a table for two on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant. Tobias had found himself becoming attached to Tris, he couldn't wait to see her as soon as he said goodbye from one of their outings. She was becoming equally attached. After three weeks of her family hounding her about Tobias coming to family brunch, she decides to give in and ask Tobias.

"So, my family has been harassing me to ask you to come to Sunday brunch. They all apparently adore you and wish to further publicly embarrass me in your presence" Tris explains as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Zeke actually asked me about it this week but I told him I need to talk to you first. I would love to come. And you know I like hanging out with your family. My sister has been after me about meeting you too. Maybe if we do brunch with your family on Sunday, next week we could do dinner with Marlene and her girlfriend Lynn. Then we can be even on the public embarrassment."

"That sounds perfect. I hope my family isn't driving you crazy, we are used to spending a lot of time together, if it's too much just let me know" Tris feels her stomach flip flop in nervousness. She knew how close Tobias was with his sister so it meant a lot to her for him to want to introduce them especially since they had only been seeing each other for about six weeks.

"Ha, I like a challenge but you are special Tris, I really do like your family. Zeke and Uriah are cool, and I like being in the unofficial dead spouse club too and I don't mind us spending time with them, just as long as I get you all to myself every now and then."

"Famous last words," she says with a chuckle and an eye roll.

"I know it's only been a little over a month but I don't plan on letting you go anytime soon"

Tris can feel herself start to blush and she smiles from ear to ear. Tobias had been the sweetest and tender man on every date they had been on. When he said things like that, it was making her start to think of what the future could look like for the two of them.

"The band is playing on Friday night too if you want to come. We have some new songs we are adding to the set."

"Of course I want to come, I wish I could hear you sing every day"

"You are just trying to gas me up now," Tris says with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Baby, I'm so serious, it was that beautiful voice of yours that hooked me in the very beginning"

"Really?" Tris asks quietly. It made her heart flutter whenever he called her Baby. She kept telling herself to take things slow and now get too worked up over how she felt when she was with him, but it was hard not to, especially when he was being cute.

"Really" Tobias confirms as he sets down his fork. "That first night I heard you sing, I was on a blind date, that was awful by the way, it was like I had this pull to get to know you. It unnerved me a bit"

"Wow, I didn't know you felt it too" Tris replies as she bites her bottom lip.

"I mean what I said Tris, this past month with you has been incredible. I don't want to rush anything but I do want you to know that I want to experience everything I can with you."

Tobias shocked himself a bit for being so open but it was the honest truth. Tris captivated him and he wanted nothing more than to show her how special she was every day. The thought of them being more had been on his mind the past few days but he thought he could bring it up later.

"You know maybe we could make dinner at my place for Marlene and Lynn and you could stay for a movie?" he asks.

Tris feels herself start to panic. She had been fretting over what to do when this happened. She still hadn't told him about her transplant and she had no idea what to do if things intensified with their physical relationship. It's not that she didn't want it to, but she was so nervous that would embarrass herself due to her lack of experience.

Tobias can literally see the wheels in her head turning and her eyebrows furrow together as she thinks about what he just said. He didn't think it would make her uncomfortable, the thought of being alone with him. But clearly, it did. He places a hand gently over hers. He could tell she was holding something back from him but he didn't want to push her or make her uncomfortable.

"It's okay Tris, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I can ask Lynn to find us a cool spot for dinner, she likes trying out new restaurants and always has the inside track on anywhere that has great food."

"I'm sorry, I'm not... I mean you're not. It's just" Tris puts her head in her hands and she feels tears well up in her eyes. God, why did she have to make this so difficult? Why couldn't she just tell him everything? Tobias had been nothing but wonderful and she didn't want to push him away.

"Hey, Hey, What's going on Tris? I didn't mean to upset you." Tobias replies going to kneel by her chair.

"You didn't I promise, I just felt overwhelmed for a minute" She turned to face him as he looked up at her, she placed a hand on his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her palm.

"I can't have my girlfriend crying now, can I? Tell me what I can do to make you feel better," Tobias asks with a look of concern still on his face.

"Did you just call me your girlfriend?" Tris asks with her eyebrows raised realizing what he just said.

Tobias goes back to sit in his chair and mentally kicking himself. She was already upset and then he lets this slip out. He had been hoping they could have a quiet evening at home where he talked about their relationship status but that wasn't working out in his favor. He didn't mean for it to slip out.

"Well I that is if you think that we, I mean us...assuming you want there to be an us" he replies awkwardly as he clears his throat. When he looks up he sees her smiling shyly at him relief washes over him.

"Yes, I want there to be an us, Tobias"

She leans over and he meets her halfway for a kiss. They were officially a couple. Now she really had to figure out a way to tell him everything she had been holding back.


"So you gonna tell me about your new lady?" Will prods as he takes a sip of his whisky causing Tobias to laugh. He and will were handing out at the fraternity house with their chapter brothers for their monthly social. There were some folks playing cards, others playing pool. Will and Tobias were waiting on Kevin and Brian to come back to start up a game of spades.

"Tobias has a new girl?" Kevin asks as he sits down and starts to shuffle the cards.

"See this is why I haven't said anything yet" Tobias chuckles as he cuts the deck of cards Kevin sets in front of him.

Tobias hadn't realized just how much he missed this while he was going through the motions after Lauren's death. The chapter brothers had reached out to him over the past year and a half just letting him know that they were there if they needed anything. In the past few months, he had gone to dinner with two of the older brothers in the chapter who were also widowers. It had helped him understand that the journey he had been on was okay and he had to make an effort to keep on living. Kevin, Brian, and Will were the three that he socialized with the most though, they had helped with moving furniture during the remodel of the house. Kevin and Brian didn"t seem to have as vested an interest in Tobias starting to date again as Will was on a mission.

When Brian joins them, Kevin deals out the cards and the four of them chat lightly. Brian had started a new job and the four of them talked about a few ideas for the fundraising committee they were all apart of.

"Will, who's your woman of the week?" Kevin asks with a chuckle as Will rolled his eyes.

"Ah, no one really."

"No one, come on bro, it's not like you to sit idle for too long" Brian scoffs in jest.

"I know, it's just when you find a good one that gets away it's hard to keep playing around" Will explains. He'd been feeling this way for a while but the more he and Marlene had been in communication with their plan to get Tobias out of his depression the more he realized how much he still loved her and how screwed he was because she was in a relationship and he had no idea what to do.

Tobias focuses on his cards but he doesn't miss the tone in Will's voice. He knows his best friend and he is beginning to wonder if his sister is the one he's talking about. He could tell Marlene had been holding something back too, he knew her too well but he hadn't pushed her to tell him what it was.

"Enough about me, T. when do I get to meet this mystery girl that has taken up all of your time, I'm shocked you are hanging out tonight," Will says changing the subject, not wanting to give Tobias the opportunity to start asking questions. He would tell him eventually but he still needed to make some sense of things.

"Well, her band is playing next weekend, you all should come out and have a drink. I'll buy the first round" Tobias offers. He figured inviting them to the Pit was the least intimidating way for them to meet Tris and get them off his back about hanging out.

"She's in a band? Where did you meet her?" Brian asks curiously as he throws out his next card.

"Well I actually have William to thank for that, I met her by pure chance when Will invited me on one of the awful blind dates he set me up with"

"Wait a minute, you mean the chick from Sounds of Candor? You sly dog, why didn't you tell me?" Will perks up with mock outrage.

"Because I wanted to see if it was going to go anywhere. By the way, you are horrible at picking women out for me too" Tobias adds as he picks up the cards from the table of the book that he and Will just won.

"Ha, please tell us this story," Kevin asks with amusement in his voice. Tobias launches into describing the two dates Will set up for him with Kevin and Brian laughing along as they continue their game.


Tris was at the hospital for her monthly check-up and she texted Tori to see if she wanted to have lunch. It's warm enough to sit outside and Tori suggests they grab something from one of the food trucks that line up for the hospital staff and grab a bench to eat.

"I'm so happy you called me, it feels like it's been forever since we hung out," Tori says before she takes a bite of her taco.

"Yeah I've been kind of busy," Tris says with a smile and takes a bite of her salad.

"Wait a minute, Tris, I know that look, who is he?"

Tris can feel herself start to blush. Whenever she thought about Tobias she couldn't stop herself from smiling. The past six weeks had been really great and now that they had officially declared their relationship it made her even more excited but still nervous about what that meant for taking things further with their physical relationship.

"Tori this is like so overwhelming. This is my first relationship. I'm trying to figure out if I'm doing too much or too little, am I moving too fast or too slow. Things are starting to get you know..."

"So you two haven't had sex yet?"

Tris shakes her head in response with a sigh. "I usually talk to Chris and Shauna about everything but it just feels weird talking about sex with them"

"Why?"

"They are married to my cousins, Zeke and Uriah are basically my brothers, but I don't want to hear about what is going on in their bedroom"

"I totally get that, I'm always here if you need me though, I'll be your Dr. Ruth any time."

Tris lets out a chuckle, she loved Tori, she was always so easy to talk to about anything.

"So tell me about this guy, where did you meet him"

"At the restaurant of all places and he's totally out of my league I still can't believe he asked me out, he's so Jake Ryan" Tris sighs again and puts her fork down.

"His name is Jake?" Tris asks.

"No his name is Tobias, He's like Jake Ryan, you know from Sixteen Candles, the movie"

"Ohhhhh I'm following now, sorry"

"It's okay, I speak in movie quotes, you know since I didn't do a lot," Tris replies, drawing an imaginary line down her shirt in line with her finger where her transplant scar is. Tori nods understanding.

"So what does he do, how old is he, is he good looking?" Tori asks going back to her taco.

"He's probably the most gorgeous guy I've ever met in my entire life. He's 30 and he's an architect" Tris pulls out her phone and shows her a pic they took that weekend at the zoo.

"Damn, Tris, he is something, I can tell he's got a body under that shirt!" Tori replies as she takes a closer look.

"Stop ogling my man" Tris laughs as she snatches her phone back playfully.

"My bad, please continue"

"Yeah, it's kind of complicated, he's so experienced and lived life and I haven't done anything"

"You mean in the bedroom?" Tori prods trying to see why Tris was intimidated.

"Yeah, There's that and you know in life in general, and on top of that he's a widower"

"Wow, that is a lot, so you are feeling like you have to measure up to his late wife?"

"Not exactly but it's kind of hard not to from what he's told me about her, the woman was this powerhouse lawyer who kicked ass in the courtroom and still found time to do charity work in designer clothes. And here I come a waitress who happens to be a virgin who hasn't even been on an airplane"

Tobias had told Tris that she shouldn't feel insecure about comparing herself to Lauren. He liked her for who she was but that still didn't stop those thoughts from creeping into her mind.

"You haven't told him about your transplant yet have you?" Tori says, squinting her eyes at Tris as she reads more into the situation.

Tris shakes her head in response "I don't need him feeling sorry for me Tori, I hate the pity looks I get from people, I don't want him to treat me any different"

"Well, you are eventually going to have to tell him, especially if you two get naked. Tris you gotta stop feeling so insecure about everything. You wanted this new shot at life, right? Live it." she shrugs and takes a sip of her bottled water.

"I know, I'm just nervous he's going to be disappointed because I'm not experienced in the bedroom, I'm not sexy, I'm the neo-soul artist chick. How did I get here?"

"Tris, there are so many different ways to be sexy and most of it has to do with you being confident in yourself. Clearly, this guy is into you and his actions are matching his words. I'll tell you from experience, some of the best parts about sex is exploring and getting to know what your partner likes and what you two like together. You don't have to rush things but spend some time learning your body. Communication is huge. Find out what he likes, let him lead until you feel comfortable taking some control. The most important thing is for you to be able to talk to him. It might seem embarrassing but it's not the 1800s. Go after what you want and be yourself. I guarantee that he will find it unbelievably sexy."

Tris smiles and nods as she goes back to her salad. This was part of living and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. She and Tobias had an undeniable connection and he made her feel safe and comfortable, who better to explore with? She just had to be brave and tell him everything she had been holding back.


It was a balmy Sunday night and Tris and Tobias had spent the evening at Navy Pier riding the Ferris Wheel and playing mini-golf. Tobias felt so comfortable with Tris, the night had been filled with laughter and kisses. Tris didn't want the night to end but she knew Tobias had to get up for work in the morning.

"Tris, would it be too forward if I asked you why you never want to spend the night or come over after our dates when I ask? I'm not putting any kind of pressure on you, I'm really just curious." Tobias asks as he laces his fingers through hers as he walks her to the gate of the courtyard behind the restaurant as he did after every one of their dates.

It had been a few weeks since that day at the cafe. He'd asked another time about a week ago if she wanted to come over for dinner and to watch a movie. He offered for her to spend the night ensuring she could sleep in the guest room with no pressure to do anything but she had declined making an excuse about having to get up early. He didn't push it, He wasn't trying to be that guy but he wondered why she was so apprehensive about them being alone together. He knew they didn't have any privacy at her place since she lived with her father.

It had been refreshing at first to not have the pressure of having sex over the months he and Tris had been dating. He had been no angel before he and Lauren started dating but it had been so long since he had been with anyone but Lauren. He hadn't thought much about intimacy or sex after she died until he met Tris. He was insanely attracted to her but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable by pushing her too hard. The make-out sessions in his car were getting more hot and heavy, but nothing too crazy. He was starting to crave her touch, how she timidly placed her hands on his chest or in his hair. He found himself thinking about the feel of her lips on his, and how she tasted when he was alone. He wanted more, but only when and if she was ready.

Tris sighs and bites her bottom lip. She knew that she wasn't going to avoid this conversation forever. She adored Tobias, but she was still nervous about taking their relationship to the next level. Shauna and Christina had both told her to go at her own pace but she was still nervous about how he was going to react. She still didn't even have the courage to tell him that she had a heart transplant yet. Maybe now was the right time. The way he caressed her through her clothes felt so good, she wanted more, it wasn't that she was opposed to it. How in the world could she be more nervous about the fact that he would change how he treated her because of her heart transplant than the fact that she was a virgin. Her mind feels like it's spinning trying to figure out how to handle this, frustrated at the same time that she just couldn't come out and say it.

Tobias can sense her nervousness so he decides to put her out of her misery.

"You really don't have to answer Tris, I really am just curious. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable" he says toying with one of her curls as she plays with the collar of his shirt not looking him in the eye.

"It's not that I don't want to...I really do… It's just… I'm not very experienced, as in no experience really, as in I've never umm, well this is embarrassing... ".

Tris feels her face flush and she wishes a hole would open up so the earth could swallow her whole at this very moment. She places her face in her hands and sighs again.

Tobias feels his chest tighten, this adorable creature in front of him had taken his breath away and he was pretty sure she was stealing his heart. He gently lifts her chin with his finger. Tris is surprised when she looks into his eyes and sees what looks like desire. She really thought he would be laughing at her right now.

"You are so adorable, This is nothing to be embarrassed about. Why would you be nervous to tell me that?" he murmurs.

"I don't know, It's kind of pathetic, I'm 25, I was starting to think I was going to end up like the 40-year-old virgin minus the working at an electronic store and collecting action figures" she shrugs.

He leans down and kisses her with a kiss that leaves her knees weak. He pulls her close as he places her arms around his neck. She moans against his mouth and she can feel her core tightening as their lips move together. When they finally break apart Tobias looks into her eyes.

"Tris that is not pathetic, it's unbelievably sexy to me. Thank you for sharing that with me. And I mean it that you are in total control, slow and steady is fine with me"

"Well if you keep kissing me like you did just now, I'm not sure I can keep my hands to myself much longer" she teases. She shocks herself, where did this boldness come from? She realized he made her want to be bold. With him being understanding, it made her more comfortable to push past her fears.

Tobias groans and leans down to kiss her again.

"Tris you have no idea what you do to me" he chuckles as he pulls back running his hands down her arms.

"Thank you for making me feel so comfortable," she says quietly as she gives him another chaste kiss. He picks up her hand and places a kiss there hanging as they whisper goodnight. Tris giggles as she hangs on to her hand until their arms are outstretched until only their fingertips are the last thing touching as she walks toward the door. He doesn't want to let her go, he wishes he could hang on and hold her all night.

He sighs as she waves as she closes the door. He shakes his head and places his hands in his pockets as he walks back to his truck. He was head over heels for Tris. He never thought he would feel this way again but for the first time since Lauren died, there wasn't a gaping hole in his chest, there was only warmth and light.