Chapter 7
*KEEP IN MIND TOBIAS KNOWS NOTHING OF TRIS'S PAST WITH ALCOHOL.*
Also I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter :) We got 30 got of em! I'm hoping we can reach 100 this chapter? If you love me?
Tobias P.O.V.
-Friday night-
"Hey, Zeke, can you come over? I have the strange urge to get drunk."
"Yeah, of course man, let me tell Shauna. Shauna!" he yells. "I'm going over to Four's!"
I hear a muffled, "Okay!" come from the other line.
"Alright. Should be over soon."
I wait on my couch with a beer in my hand over the next ten minutes, waiting for him to arrive.
I hear a knock on the door and yell for him come in. Weird. Typically Zeke just barges in.
"Um, hi," I hear a feminine voice say. "Zeke said you needed someone to talk to, so he told me to come over because we needed 'bonding time,'" Tris says using finger quotes with that cute smile of hers.
"Oh. Okay."
"Don't get too excited, geez, Tobias," Tris mumbles as she takes off her shoes. She mumbles something else, but I'm not quite sure what it was.
"No, I kind of just wanted to talk to Zeke." I shrug. "But I guess you're okay." I smirk. "Would you like a drink?"
Her eyes go wide and she takes a deep breath. "I, uh. Sure."
I get up and motion for her to follow me into the kitchen. I open the fridge and motion to the broad selection. "What would you like?"
She comes up to the open fridge and takes a beer, surprisingly, because women typically tend to drink wine or margaritas.
"What? Never seen a girl drink a beer?" she asks with a scoff.
"I have, it's just rare." I shrug.
"I'll give you that," she says. "So, Eaton, what did you want to talk to Zeke about?"
"Oh, nothing. Just kind of guys night, y'know? Laid back."
She nods. "But I'm better than Zeke," she says, winking, then makes her way back to the living room.
I shake my head and follow her. That girl. She has no idea what something like that could make my mind conjure up. It makes my head twist and turn… Go around in circles, making me contemplate everything I've ever said to her.
"So, how about we do a little old fashioned one on one truth or dare?" she asks.
"Are you serious?" I laugh.
"Why not?" she asks with a goofy smile.
"Truth or dare, Tris?" I ask, wearing the same expression.
"Let's go with dare."
"I dare you to… chug two beers in a row," I challenge.
"That's nothin', Eaton," she says, but her eyes tell a different story. One completely opposite of her words. She finishes the beer in her hand and the full one in mine.
I get up and get two fresh ones from the kitchen.
"Truth or dare, Eaton," she asks, twisting the cap off.
I shrug. "Truth."
"Tell me why you are in love with me. Tell me why it has to be me of all people. There are prettier women, Tobias, and much smarter, funnier girls, who'd be extremely glad to take you in their arms. So tell me why it has to be me."
"Well, for one, you're absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, independent, strong, kind, a total genius, and you are my best friend, so I know exactly who you are, even when you don't. That's why I'm in love with you." I beam.
She rolls her eyes. "Well, that was very heart-warming to my frozen soul." She chuckles.
"Well, once we're both in hell we'll be burning up," I say with a laugh ingrained in my voice.
"Aw, you're coming to hell with me? How thoughtful," she says as she pretends to wipe a tear from her eye.
"Anyway, truth or dare?" I ask.
"Truth."
"What do you look for in a guy?"
"Well he has to be kind, athletic, smart, trustworthy, honest, loyal, caring, somewhat selfless, and funny."
"Don't I have all of those things?" I ask quietly while looking toward the black TV.
"Tobias… you're my best friend. And you were gone for five years! The only reason I even knew you were alive was the fact that you were on the cover of Time Magazine. Do you know how proud I was to say that you were my best friend? That my best friend was one of the youngest, most successful businessmen in the world? Tobias, how do you expect us to pick up exactly where we left off? How can you expect that from me, let alone fall in love with you within a week?" she asks exasperatedly.
Then, quietly as can be, I say, "I know. I know that, Tris, but it doesn't change the fact that it still hurts. It hurts that I have all of those qualities and you still won't give me a chance because of our past."
"Tobias, I'm not giving you a chance because I don't like who you've become. I'm not dwelling on the past, I'm dwelling on the fact that you've become… Eaton. I just want the old you back. And, I don't know, maybe a part of wants to wait for a while and then actually give you a chance someday, but for now, I seriously just need you to wait awhile. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but… just wait a short period of time. For me, okay? I'm still trying to figure everything out." She sighs.
I nod and stay silent for a few minutes. Then, "So. This short period of time. Could you possibly estimate how long this short period of time is?" I ask with a silly grin.
"Nah… I think I'm going to put you through the torture of wondering when it could possibly be. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe a week, maybe two weeks, maybe a month. You'll never know." She grins wickedly.
"Tris. Are you serious?" I ask with a laugh present in my voice.
She nods. "I'm a bitch like that."
"You're not a bitch. I don't fall in love with bitches. How about we make a deal?"
"Depends. What kind of deal?" She raises an eyebrow.
"If you tell me how long I hypothetically have to wait, I'll tell you what I was going to tell Zeke." I put one hand behind my back and cross my fingers. I'd have done that back in high school, too.
"Deal. You first."
"Ah, ah, ah, Trissy, I don't think so."
She rolls her eyes. "Fine. Maybe a month or so?"
"I'll be countin' down the days," I say with a wink.
"Your turn," she says with a tip of her beer.
"No, it isn't." I pull out my hand from behind my back to reveal my crossed fingers.
"Oh my god!" She gets up from the floor and punches my shoulder since I'm lying down on the couch. "You asshole! I can't believe I didn't catch that! You'd always do that in high school."
Since my legs are taking up the whole couch, she sits on the opposite end and entangles our legs.
"I'm actually surprised you didn't remember how often I cross my fingers." I shrug with a smirk planted on my face.
A few hours later and a few beers later, Tris and I are both tipsy, but not drunk, so we still have control over what we say and do.
She is currently eating ice cream straight from the carton on the floor at the foot of my bed while I lie on my stomach, face next to hers.
"Want some more?" she asks.
"No, a pint is my limit." I wave her off.
"Well, excuse me if I'm not one of your stick models," she scoffs. "I'm Tobias Eaton, I hang out with Donald Trump and other big Wall Street New York people," she says as a mock impression of me using a low voice.
"Hey, hey, that was one time!" I laugh.
"So, is your life as amazing as you thought it'd be?"
"I always thought my life would be amazing if I had a great career, money… The truth is… I love it. Especially the money." I smirk jokingly. "What about you? Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
"Well, I see myself getting married, raising a family, and training others."
I stare at her for a second with a small smile.
"What?"
"It's getting pretty late. Let me take you home."
"Or…" She takes another spoon of Vanilla ice cream. "I could sleep over like the good old times."
My eyebrows rise, but I still lift a shoulder. "Okay."
"Can I borrow one of your shirts?"
"Of course."
Minutes later, she comes out of the bathroom in my shirt. Just my shirt. And underwear, I'm assuming.
As I sit on my bed, I say, "Wow. Okay, um, I'll take the couch."
"No, silly, we'll just share a bed." She hops on and gets under the covers.
I follow, doing the same, her laughing, and I turn off the lamp.
She turns toward me on her side and lays a hand on my chest.
I cover her hand and smile at her for a few minutes.
She finally flips around, her back facing mine, us a foot apart.
After awhile, she says, "Tobias, can you put your feet on mine? They're freezing."
I smile. "Of course." I do as instructed, but I wrap my arms around her waist, too, which she doesn't seem to mind.
What's going to happen tomorrow?
Then I realize something. Her feet aren't cold.
Tris P.O.V.
"We had an amazing time last night, and we were laughing, and telling jokes…"
"Did he try anything?" Marlene is the first to speak out Shauna, Christina, and her.
"No," I sigh.
"Did you try anything?" Shauna asks.
"No," I sigh again. "But I put myself out there! I wore one his old, big shirts, and we slept in the same bed, and I even tried the whole cold feet thing!"
Tobias P.O.V.
(I'm totally doing the character switch thing they do in movies)
"What's wrong with you, why didn't you sleep with her?" Uriah asks, out of him, Zeke and Will.
I pace, back and forth across my living room.
"I don't know. I don't know! She didn't make a move, so she's not into me yet, I guess."
"Dude, she practically threw herself at you," Zeke says.
"But she says she doesn't like me," I point out.
"Maybe she's in denial?" Will suggests.
"Will, you're a genius," says Uriah. "That has to be it."
Tris P.O.V.
"Tris. You're acting like you like him," Chris says with a smile.
"Oh my god. You like him!" Shauna squeals.
"What? No, I don't. He's my best friend. I don't like Eaton. I can't like him. I don't like him." I laugh.
"Yes, you totally do." Marlene.
"Do you even hear yourself?" Shauna.
"You're definitely in that stage of denial." Chris.
Tobias P.O.V.
"She has to be in denial, Four," Zeke says.
"Or maybe she just doesn't like me." I sigh.
"Were you even present at last night's events?" Will asks with a small chuckle.
"Seriously, man," Uriah says.
"Maybe I can ask Christina what all Tris is saying? We all know how much Chris loves to gossip. Mar and Shauna probably won't confide in us because they actually keep secrets."
Tris P.O.V.
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Maybe I just don't compare to all these other pretty girls that want him and maybe he just doesn't like me anymore. Maybe he was in love with the idea of me."
"What? That's crazy, Tris!" Chris exclaims.
"He's still falling for you, not the idea of you," Shauna says, "and that's the way it's always been."
Tobias P.O.V.
"I was about to make a move, and then it just hits me: What's going to happen tomorrow? If we slept together, what would happen today? Would we go back to being just friends? Would we be friends with benefits? Would we be a couple?"
"Dude, you're overthinking this," Uriah says.
"I can't just sleep with her, Uriah. We have a history…" I kick on of the empty beer cans on the floor. I grunt out, "We—we're friends." And then I scream.