A/N: The sorry was for taking 5ever to post a chapter. Please love me.

I wake up to the sound of the shower and I glance over, disappointed to see that Tobias is not in bed with me anymore. Well we were bound to get out of bed eventually. I turn to check the time and panic sets in when I realize that we have to be down in the Pit in ten minutes.

"Shit!"

I climb out of bed and start scrambling for my clothes when the door to the bathroom opens and Tobias appears wearing nothing but a towel. We've been together so long, but the sight of him still gives me butterflies.

"What are you doing?" Tobias asks.

I turn to look at him after tugging on my tank top and glare at him. "You should have woken me. We have to be down there in ten minutes. And I probably look terrible."

"You didn't get your ass kicked, Tris, we had sex," Tobias smirks. "And you look awesome."

I roll my eyes. "You're such a boy."

"Well I should be," he says. "I'm not even twenty yet."

That sparks an interest in me. I seemed to have missed his nineteenth birthday when the Bureau brought me back to life. I mean, I even missed my seventeenth birthday. "Yeah, when is your birthday?"

Tobias shrugs and heads to the closet to get his clothes. "It doesn't matter."

I bound over to him a grin on my face. I tug on his towel. "It matters to me. I want to do something special for you."

"That's not necessary."

His voice is even and I detect a tone that I've only heard when he was talking to me about Marcus. "What's going on?" I say. He hesitates before saying anything so I grab his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "Talk to me, Tobias. Please?"

He sighs and leads me over to the bed. I sit down next to him and bite my lip. I hadn't realized that bringing up his birthday would be such a major conversation. "You know about Marcus and you know how my mother disappeared."

"Yeah?"

"My mom died on my birthday," Tobias says. "At least that's how it seemed to me for most of my life…until she reached out to me that first time. And every year, on my birthday, on the anniversary of her death, the beatings were worse. It was like he was taking it out on me or something. And since then, I don't really like to celebrate."

My blood runs cold at his admission. I had no idea that Marcus could be that cruel. No…that's wrong. I absolutely knew that Marcus could be that cruel. But the timing…for his mother to disappear on his birthday of all days? She left to protect herself from her husband. But to abandon her child? I had no idea that it had been that bad. But then again, Tobias has been very good at keeping the things secret that he didn't want anyone to know. I didn't realize that it was so much more complex than I realized.

I close my eyes and rest my head against his shoulder. "Tobias…" I whisper his name.

"I just…I never wanted you to know. I didn't want you to see me like that," he says, his voice cracking.

"I don't. I have never seen you like that. Not even when I saw the truth in your fear landscape. You have always been this strong beacon of light for me. That's never going to change," I tell him. "I lift my head to look at him and kiss him softly. "That isn't how your life is anymore, Tobias. Marcus is not on in your life anymore. And Evelyn…well I don't have any idea where she is, but she's not here either. I am. I'm here and this is our life together. I want to be a part of every life."

"I want that too," he says, his hand caressing my cheek. "It's just hard."

"I know. It was a huge part of your life. I'm not saying we have to forget it ever happened," I tell him. "We'll work on it. Just like with everything else."

Tobias kisses me again and I can feel that pain releasing from his shoulders. "You are amazing," he tells me.

I smile against his lips. "I know," I say. "But you're still a jerk for not waking me to shower."

"I was actually planning on letting you have the day off," he says. Telling Eric or Max that you were sick."

I raise a brow. "You really think that that would be a good idea?" I ask him. "I was gone for three days when the Bureau took me. And from what I remember, Eric said that people were asking where I was. I couldn't give them an answer because I didn't believe them. So, as far as we can see, I cannot take a day off. Not really until training is over."

Tobias looks sheepish. "My bad," he says. "I totally forgot about that. There's just been so much going on."

I kiss him again. "I forgive you," I grin. "You were being sweet. And I love sweet Tobias."

"What about stupid Tobias?"

I make a face. "Stupid Tobias doesn't exist," I say. "Come on, get dressed. We're going to be late."