Tobias is tense. His muscles are flexed underneath the thin cotton shirt he is wearing, and his lips are pressed into a hard line. We now sit in his car, he is in the driver seat, and I am in the passenger.

"Does your house have a guest bedroom?" Tobias asks.
I raise my eyebrows at his question. "No," I cross my arms. "Why?" "I think I'm going to sell the house." He replies.

I nod, slowly. Tobias has been living in he and Marcus's house ever since he was arrested. I'm surprised Tobias has managed as long as he has. The house must have many bad memories for him. I suppose the fact that Marcus is our number one suspect at this point, pushed him over the edge.

"You can sleep in my room." I suggest.

His knuckles start to turn white on the steering wheel, from gripping too hard. "How would your parents feel about that?" He turns the steering wheel, and the car heads down the street of my house.

"I don't care." I say. "I have an extra bed that pulls out from underneath mine. They should be fine."

He nods, slowly. "I suggest we go to the jail house tomorrow, to talk to Marcus." "Yeah," I look out the window.

With one last turn of the steering wheel, Tobias pulls the car into our driveway. I open the door, and hop down. His car is pretty big, it's quite a jump down for me. I walk around the side of the car, and Tobias stands, waiting for me. He offers me his hand, and I gladly take it. Together, we walk toward the front door of my two story house and I ring the doorbell.

My mom answers the door. "Hi Beatrice," She smiles and gives a quick nod toward Tobias. "Tobias."

"We need to have a discussion." I say.

"Alright," She says softly. She steps back from the door, and ushers both of us into the living room.

I sit on the couch and Tobias follows suite. My mother tucks a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear.

"So," I begin. "Tobias is Marcus Eaton's son." I blurt out.

My mother's eyes soften as she folds her hands, and sits down on the edge of a red leather chair that is across from us.

"I know." She says.
Tobias's eyebrows furrow. "How?"

"Andrew used to work with him, quite closely, actually." She pauses for a moment. "I have met you before a few months ago, Tobias. When you were much younger."

Tobias nods slowly. And the room goes silent.

Tobias looks down and starts to trace patterns on the white cushions of the couch, trying to work up the nerve to ask my mom about staying.

"Tobias has been living in Marcus's old house," I break the uncomfortable silence. Tobias stops and looks up at me. "As you can imagine, the house holds many bad memories for him." My mother nods. When Marcus, the mayor of Chicago, was arrested, it made every headline. The whole city talked about it for weeks. People on the street would pass Tobias with looks of pity on their faces, and stare at him to see if they could find any scars peeking out from beneath his clothes. That's what Tobias told me, anyway. "He's thinking about selling the house, and I was thinking, he could move in with us."

My mother is quite for a moment, trying to think of what to make of this. "Where would he sleep?"

"On the pullout mattress." I say, to quickly. "Alright." She says. "If it helps you out, Tobias." He nods. "Thank you, M'am."

I smile softly. "Thank you, Mom."

She returns my smile. "You're welcome, Beatrice. Why don't you get settled Tobias? I want to have a chat with her." She gestures to me.

He nods and takes a small bag of all his possessions, upstairs to my room. I return my gaze to my mom.

"Yes?" I question.

She walks toward me, and takes a seat on the couch. She takes both of my hands in hers, forcing me to look her in the eye.

"I trust you, Beatrice." She says slowly. "Don't do anything you would regret." Heat rises to my cheeks, and I shake my head. "I won't."

She lets go of my hands slowly, and folds her hands in her lap. "I know." She stands up and walks toward the kitchen.

I scurry up the stairs, my face beet red. I rush into my room, and Tobias is sitting on the bed, holding a blue glass sculpture. Tobias takes one look at me and chuckles.

"What was that talk about?" His lips pull into a smirk. My face turns even redder. "What do you think?"

He laughs, and his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. He scratches the back of his neck. "Um," he looks away uncomfortably.

I think I should tell him about my fear of intimacy. I don't want him to be disappointed.
"I don't want you to be disappointed..." I start, and Tobias raises his eyebrows. "but I'm afraid

of...um...that." I squeak.

A gentle smile forms on his face and he stands up and begins to walk toward me. He gently wraps his arms around my waist, and brings me to him. He nuzzles his face into my hair, so his lips are right by my ear.

"I don't expect anything like that from you." He whispers.
"I love you." I say.
He pulls back a little from our embrace, and puts his hands on my arms. "Say it again." His deep voice rumbles.
I look into his deep blue eyes. "I love you, Tobias."

He pulls me back into his embrace. "I love you too, Tris."

And we stay like that, his head nuzzled into my blond hair, and my face pressed up against his toned chest, for a long time. I don't know how much time has passed when I pull away slightly to look up at him. I place my hands on his chest, stand on my tip-toes, and press my lips to his. He moves his hands down to grip my hips tightly.

The kiss starts out slow and passionate. I feel every place we come together and pull away. Every time our lips press together waves of electricity course throughout my body. I feel Tobias's heat radiate off of him, as his soft lips collide against mine. He is trying to show me how much he loves me by the way his tender lips dig into mine. His hands grip my hips tighter, and I run my hands up his back into his hair. I tug on it softly and a small moan escapes Tobias's mouth. The pace of our kiss quickens and Tobias pulls me even closer to him. My fiery love for him burns deep inside of my chest. The flames are licking my insides as my great abundance of love for Tobias grows. This kiss is unlike our first one, when we were nervous and inexperienced. I have now familiarized myself with the way our faces fit together and pull apart. It feels natural now, as natural as breathing, or speaking. We have each other memorized.

After an awkward family dinner, Tobias and I head upstairs again. My mother did a pretty good job of convincing my father to be okay with Tobias's stay, but Caleb was furious. No matter how many things Tobias told him about his past, Caleb still refused to accept it. This resulted in an angry lecture from my father, where he tried to explain that even though Tobias is eighteen, he still needs to be in a family environment, unlike his housing situation before. I assume my dad is so passionate about letting him stay here because he knew Marcus first hand, and he thinks Tobias is a great young man.

I throw open the door to my room and walk in. Tobias is right behind me, and he shuts the door softly. I head over to my twin day bed, and pull out the mattress from underneath it.

"This might not be very comfortable." I say apologetically.
"My old bed felt like sleeping on rocks," He looks down. "I'm sure it will be fine, thank you." I offer him a small smile. "You're welcome. I'm going to go get a shower."
He nods. "Can I take one after you?"
"Of course."

I head towards my small bathroom. As soon as I'm in, I quickly shut the door. I love Tobias, but I'm still not ready for him to see even a glimpse of me, uh, undressed. Sharing a bedroom and a bathroom with a boy will be harder than I thought. I take off my clothes, that now smell of hospital exam rooms, and step into the shower. I turn the knob to the right, towards the red, and

hot water splashes down on me. I grab some shampoo, and rub it into my now wet hair. I begin to mindlessly sing a song that I heard on YouTube. I really like it.

Cause with a sweep of your touch You send sparks to my core Never wanted so much
How could I ask for more? With one glance I blush
But I can't break the gaze Dauntless passion and fire And your blue eyes a blaze When you look at me

I finish washing the suds from my hair, and turn off the water. I step out and wrap myself in a fluffy grey towel. I look on the counter and realize that in my rush to take a shower, I forgot my pajamas. I sigh, and grab a dark grey bathrobe that is hanging on the back of the bathroom door. I wrap myself in it, and open the door slowly. Tobias sits on the pull out mattress, turning the blue sculpture back and forth in his hands.

"Would you like to put that on my bookshelf?" I ask.

Tobias turns his gaze towards me and his eyes widen in lust. "I don't want to..." He pauses. "clutter your room with my stuff."

I laugh a little and shake my head. "This is your room now, too. And besides," I look at his bag of small possessions and clothes. "You don't have enough stuff to clutter my room."

He chuckles softly. "I can't thank you enough, Tris."

I smile. "I'm actually really glad you're here. That way I don't have to miss you when I'm at home."

He grins.
"You can put your clothes in the dresser." I say, heading towards it to find some pajamas. I find a pair of green and grey shorts, and a grey shirt. "And the bathroom's all yours."

He nods and heads toward the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I take off the robe, and slip into my pajamas. I hear the water turn on. I blush slightly at the thought of Tobias in my shower.

I head toward my bed, and pull back the black duvet with grey-blue birds. The sheets underneath are grey-blue also. I grab the book on my grey bedside table, which happens to be The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, and start to read. The white lights that line the top frame of my bed provide great reading light. The frame was meant to hold a canopy, but it didn't exactly, suit me. On the wall behind my bed are giant posters of the El train, and the ferris wheel at Navy Pier. The posters all have a rusty color to them, which brings out the yellowy white lights around my bed, and the marquee letters that spell out, TRIS. My room has an industrial feel to it.

The bathroom door opens, and Tobias steps out, clad in a pair of black, blue, and grey pajamas. His hair is still damp, and his expression looks calmer, more relaxed. An easy smile is playing on his lips. I think he's just glad to finally wash away the remains of Marcus's house off his skin, and begin a new chapter, with me.

I get out from underneath the covers and sit on the edge of the bed and look at Tobias. His smile grows as he walks towards me and sits down in the pullout mattress.

"Are you tired?" He asks.
I nod as a yawn escapes my mouth.

He smiles and stands up, and places a firm hand on my cheek. He then pulls my face toward him, and his soft lips press against my forehead. When he pulls away he runs his thumb along my jawline and says, "Goodnight, Tris."

"Goodnight, Tobias." I reply, smiling sleepily.

He smiles and resumes his place on the mattress below mine. I unplug the lights framing my bed, and the room goes black. I snuggle up under the covers, as the thread of sleep pulls me in.

I awake several hours later with a yell. "TOBIAS!" I scream, breathlessly. My eyes fly open and realize it was only a dream. I look around my room, as my eyes adjust to the pitch black. Marcus was killing him. I shake my head vigorously. It was just a dream. Marcus is in jail.

Tobias stirs on the mattress below me with a groan. His eyes flutter open sleepily. "Tris? Are you alright?" He asks, sleep still apparent in his voice.

I blink away the tears that have formed in my eyes, and shake my head. "Nightmare." I simply state.

Tobias nods and crawls up onto my bed. I get out from underneath the covers, and Tobias pulls me onto his lap.

"Want to talk about it?" He asks.

I shake my head, that is now buried in his chest. If we talked about it, he would begin to hate Marcus more than he already does, because he is starting to effect me. That is the last thing he would want.

"Alright," he murmurs, softly. He hugs me tighter. "I meant to tell you, you have an amazing voice."

Heat rises to my cheeks, and I have never been more thankful for the darkness. He heard me in the shower.

"Was that song about me?" He asks.

I nod, my face becoming even redder. Every time I sing it, I think of him. He kisses the top of my head.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asks, his voice taking on a gentler tone. "Yes," I say. "Please."

I get off of his lap, and back under the covers, clearing a space for him. He gets underneath the covers with me and wraps me up in his arms. I wrap my arms around him too, and lay my face against his chest. I let the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat lull me to sleep. I have never felt safer. When I am in his arms, it feels as if nothing could ever get to me. And I know the nightmares will not come again.