Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, Veronica Roth does.
Tris's P.O.V.
"Hey, Aden, can I ask you something?" I said as I washed the dishes.
"Sure, honey, what is it?" He took the plate I was handing to him and dried it with a cloth.
"You know that I haven't to talk to you much about my life back in the States and I am thankful that you haven't pushed me to tell you things, but some of my friends from high school contacted me a couple of days ago, telling me they wanted to see me again. And I thought about inviting them here to meet up," I informed him.
I didn't know how he would react, not that I believed he would be outraged or anything, but the junior and senior years of high school were still a touchy subject for me.
"Yes, of course! Do you want me to go somewhere else while they are here?" He kindly offered.
"Actually, I wanted you to meet them..."
"Sure, I would really be happy! I mean, they certainly contributed to the person you are now, so they must me wonderful people!"
I sighed from relief and felt lucky to have such an understanding and passionate man in my life.
"They are," I confirmed.
"Why don't you go call them and I finish up here?" My fiancé proposed, grabbing the wine glass from my hands.
"Thanks," I kissed him on the cheek and headed to our bedroom for privacy.
There were some things I needed to tell Christina and I didn't want Aden to hear about them just yet.
I dialed my friend's number and she picked up instantly.
"Hi, Tris!"
"Hey, how are you?" I questioned her.
"Good and even better now that you've called me, the other girls are going to be so thrilled to hear from you," She exclaimed her.
"I'm sure they will be," I smiled at her enthusiasm.
Christina always managed to brighten my mood, even in the past, and I surely had missed this ability of hers for the past 5 years.
"So what's up with you?"
"Well, I wanted to know if you were willing to come this Friday for supper," I told her. "Aden would be there too."
"Oh my god, yes! I would never miss out on an opportunity like this, I'm finally going to meet your soon-to-be-husband!" Chris yelled from her side of the phone.
I laughed at her reaction.
"I'm happy to hear you so pumped up for this, Aden is enthusiastic too. But you might want to decrease the intensity of your excitement, it might be overwhelming for some people at first," I teased.
"Ha, ha, ha," Christina chuckled sarcastically. "He'll love me, everyone does!"
"Oh, I know he will!" I stated, rolling my eyes.
"So, you know where I live, I'll be eagerly waiting for you guys at 7 P.M., got it?" I brought back our attention on the main subject.
"Yes, mam!" I heard my friend reply.
I glanced at the closed door of the room.
"Also, can you make sure Tobias knows he is not invited? It would be really uncomfortable for him to be there. After all, he is my fiancé's boss and if he shows up, I would have explain how I know him and I'm still not ready for that," I hesitantly inquired.
From the beginning of the day, the thought of Tobias coming with my friends this Friday had been nagging me. I needed to make sure it would not happen, even though asking Christina was slightly awkward.
"Hum, yeah, I'll tell him as gently as I can, but, to be honest, I don't think he would show up," she mentioned.
"I just needed it to be confirmed, I don't want a bad surprise at the supper..."
"Also, I'm sorry if I have put you in this position, it must be difficult for you to choose between two friends," I apologized.
Tobias might not have been good to me, but my friends sure liked him and I respected that.
"It's okay, Tris, I understand," I knew that was hard for her to say.
No one spoke for a long time, as if we didn't know how to conclude this phone call. Sadly, I realized that not once before had we nothing to say to each other or did we not know how to fill in the blanks. I wished I could have the talks I had with her when I was 16. We had built a wonderful relationship and it has been shredded to pieces the day I left the U.S. From now on, I decided, I would try my hardest to glue back the fragments of our friendship because I truly missed her.
"I gave to get going, I'll let the others know about the dinner, Ok?"
"Yeah. And thanks for your help," I said as the conservation was coming to an end.
"Of course. Well, goodbye then."
"Bye, Chris."
It felt unpleasant to finish our talk like so and it left me filled with anguish and sorrow.
Friday afternoon
I had just completed the arrangement of the plates, the utensils and the glasses of the dining table when the doorbell rang. Expecting to see my American friends behind the door, I put on a radiant smile on my face and opened the door, though I do not find who I was awaiting. When Skylar stepped inside the apartment, my lips dipped down. Before she could notice, I managed to give her a fake grin.
When I had declined her invitation to go shopping today, I explained to her that I had guests tonight and she took it as an invite to come. I couldn't find a way to tell her she misunderstood and I didn't have the heart to deceive her. Plus, she was also looking forward to meeting them. Then, I remembered I hadn't told her I had met with Christina, Marlene and Shauna days before. It was unlike me to hide things from her, our friendship is similar to the one I had with Chris in the past, but right when I was about to open up to her, I changed my mind and kept the girls' presence secret for a while. On top of that, I wanted this supper to be with my friends and Aden, Sky not included. It was not that I did not like her company, but I just thought I might connect more easily with them the less people they didn't know there was. Though now, I didn't have a choice; when I'll meet the boys for the first time after 5 years of separation, it will be in front of an audience.
As if on cue, the bell announced someone else's arrival behind the door. Aden came behind me and gave my hand a little squeeze as if to give me some courage to stand tall and face my friends. He always seemed to understand what I felt and to offer me comfort. And at the moment, I was stressed about seeing the guys from the group. I didn't know how they would react, I didn't know if they would forgive me for what I did, I didn't know if they had changed and most of all, I didn't know if they would accept me as their friend again.
But once I opened the door, all my hesitations and fears vanished as I was engulfed in a group hug. I laughed at the sudden surprise. From all things, I was not expecting that. After a few long and pleasured seconds, I pulled away. Now, I realized that I had been only hugged by Zeke, Will and Uriah. The girls stood in the corridor outside, they obviously let the boys in first.
"Hi!" I said excitedly.
Then, there was a chorus of "hello" and "hi" exploded through the room as Shauna, Marlene and Christina entered the apartment. They joined me in an embrace before we backed away. I walked towards Aden and he slipped his arm around my waist.
"So guys, this is Aden, my fiancé," I announced.
The boys gave him there common guy hug and the girls did the same as them without the 'guy' part, of course, as they named themselves. Then, when I introduced Skylar, the gesture was repeated. Finally, when the presentation were over, I headed everyone into the living room and the conservations started.
I asked them about their lives and they asked about ours, the talk flowing easily. After a while, we moved to the dining table and we all ate the lasagna, listening to others' words. Later on, Will, Uriah and Zeke with Aden and Skylar went back in the living area to watch a game of hockey on TV. Shauna, Mar, Chris and I eventually obtained the privacy we had been seeking from the beginning of supper. With the complete view of the couches from where were seated my friends, there was no chances of being interrupted or listened to secretly.
"So what do you think?" I questioned them.
"About Aden? Are you kidding, it's one hottie you've gotten yourself!" Christina bumped me with her shoulder, sipping her wine.
I shook my head at her, amused. She clearly hadn't changed, always the playful one.
"What Chris meant was, he seems to be a wonderful man and he truly cares about you, it's pretty obvious," Shauna corrected.
"He is," I added, glancing at him from across the room.
"Well, you two are clearly in love with each other! I'm happy for you," Marlene said, giving me a bright smile.
"Thanks," I looked back at my friends. "How about Sky?"
"She appears... nice," Shauna whispered, hesitant.
"Yeah, I know, I didn't know if I'd like her too when I first met her, but she's an incredible, supportive friend!" I felt bad to talk about her, as if behind her back, but I wasn't saying anything poor of her.
"Do you know if Aden and Skylar had a... history, if you know what I mean?" Christina said.
"I know what you mean and no, they're just close friends, why do you ask?" I questioned suspiciously.
"They just seem to have known each other beyond the 'friend' level," Mar completed.
I glared back at the living room where Sky sat near my fiancé, laughing with the other guys.
"Nothing like that would have happened and if it did, they would have told me," I mentioned with as much conviction as I could muster.
"Aden wouldn't hide something like that from me," I murmured, my eyes still lingered on him.
"Look, we didn't mean to upset you, we just wanted to know," Shauna apologized for herself and the others.
"It's fine," I gave them a faint grin.
Then, the subject of discussion changed drastically, not that I minded. We all talked, the others joined us and it continued on for two hours. Around midnight, our guests got up and claimed they were tired and needed to get going. The time of hugs came once again and as Marlene held me tight in her arms, she whispered in my ear, for me alone to hear, "I know you want to move on from Tobias, but for that, you need to hear him out."
The same thing happened with Shauna, "I know it hurts and I understand, but before you make the big decision, you much consider all options..."
And again with Christina, "We want you to be completely happy and there must be no doubt in your engagement."
As they backed into the hallway, they nodded at me as one and my friends left.
What were they insinuating? And why were they so persistent on him talking to me? I thought.
My problems would not be leaving me anytime soon...
Hey guys, I know what you are thinking: I don't update often, but school is still wild and it's hard to manage what I loved with what I need to do in my schedule. I hope you understand and that you forgive me, if only there was more hours in a day... Anyways, hope you liked this chapter, we're getting closer and closer to THE moment. I would to thank Divergentisbae, Castro05, Guest, bahrfamily, Guest, Krazzyjosy, FandomFreak1, Guest and Divergent1315. Your love is always appreciated and it always encourages me into doing better job at writing, so thank you!
OMG, can you believe it?! Insurgent will be coming out really soon! I have 16 days to live through before seeing! Are you guys excited too?
Until next time!
MeTwoCat :)