AN: Thanks to all the people who have taken interest in this story! It had over 3000 views yesterday, and it has over 200 followers :) I'm so glad so many people are enjoying it! As always, thanks to those who reviewed :)
Chapter 30
Tris sat in front of the TV, watching the media rehash the details of the Vice President's death and then Marcus Eaton's arrest for what felt like the hundredth time.
"It's a holiday, you think they'd focus on the good things, at least for today. It's Thanksgiving," Natalie Prior said sadly. "We've relived those awful stories every day for the last two weeks."
"They're important news, Mom. That's the way the media is, they'll keep rehashing the same story as long as even one person is listening," Tris replied, still feeling a little odd about being at home, and discussing these incidents in such a removed manner.
At Dauntless, Tris had become use to people constantly talking about both events in the same breath as her name. By the time she had left to go home almost a week ago, they'd at least stopped giving her pointed looks, but they were definitely still talking about her.
To the outside world, the FBI were responsible for the good work behind both incidents, Dauntless of course was never mentioned. To America, she was no one. To her parents, she was a teenage girl attending college in sunny California. To Dauntless she was a heroine, a new agent who had stared evil in the eye and taken it on, and won, at least for the most part. To her friends she was somewhat of a celebrity, they were proud of her, as well as a just little jealous. To Tobias, she was everything, the love he had never known and thought he would never have.
"Tris?" Natalie called, breaking her out of her reverie. "Are you listening to me?"
"What was that, Mom?" Tris asked, pulling herself back to her present reality.
"Could you please set the table? Caleb should be home any minute," Natalie instructed. "And are we still expecting your boyfriend?"
Tris smothered a smile, her mother still sounded a little strained every time she said the word. Her parents had been more than a little surprised by her unannounced visit for the Thanksgiving mini-break. Especially as she came with an injured arm from a 'car accident', as well as the news that she had a boyfriend, who lived near by and would be coming for Thanksgiving dinner, if they didn't mind.
"Four is should be here soon," Tris said with a smile.
"What a strange name," Natalie said, and not for the first time.
"Mom, I've told you, it's a nickname from when he was a child," Tris said patiently. "When we met, that's what he introduced himself as."
"And where was that again?" Natalie asked.
"At orientation at college," Tris answered, long-sufferingly.
Before Tris had headed home for her well earned break, they had agreed that he would come to dinner and meet her parents. So they had developed a cover story for their relationship, and they had tried to keep it as close to the truth as possible, for the sake of simplicity.
They had met at 'college orientation', he was a junior, and had been sort of a mentor to Tris in her early days. They had grown close, spending a lot of time together, especially as they lived in the same on campus accommodation. Their bond had been further strengthened by the fact that they came from the same neighbourhood back in Pennsylvania.
Tris smiled at the memory of that particular conversation, it had ended with them both shirtless, and making out with a freedom she had not felt before. They had by no means gone all the way, but she didn't feel as much trepidation as she had many times before. Being shot, almost dying, and taking down Jeanine and Eric had filled her with a new found confidence in herself, and an appreciation for living in the moment.
The fact that Tobias loved her also played a part, but she wasn't sure quite how significant a part. She did feel that as soon as she was able to say the same words to him that he'd said to her, that the final barrier in their physical relationship would be gone.
"Are you able to get that big serving platter out, sweetheart, or is your arm still too sore?" her mother asked.
"She'd be better off avoiding doing anything like that for as long as possible," Andrew Prior said, entering the kitchen. "I'll get it, Natalie."
Tris smiled gratefully at her dad.
"Thank Dad, you all ready for dinner?" Tris asked.
"Yes, I just cleared your brother's parking spot in the garage, and made sure my gun collection was all shiny and ready to be shown to your boyfriend," Andrew said calmly.
"Dad!" Tris exclaimed, aghast. "You don't even an own a gun!"
"I do now, now that you have a boyfriend," her father said succinctly, his face serious.
"Dad, that's not funny!" Tris said, throwing a dishcloth at him. "Please, be nice, Four is really important to me, and I'm sure you'll both like him, if you give him a chance."
"Why would we need to give him a chance?" her father asked shrewdly. "If you love him, there shouldn't be anything for us to dislike about him, should there?"
"Well, in all fairness, you might notice a couple of tattoos peaking out from under his shirt," Tris said as casually as possible.
"So he's the reason you got a tattoo!" her mother exclaimed accusingly, abnormally worked up, compared to her usually calm demeanour.
"You got a tattoo?" Caleb said, walking into the house, looking truly surprised.
Tris pulled aside her shirt collar and pointed at her ravens.
"Hi to you too, Caleb. Long time no see," Tris said pointedly.
"Birds?" Caleb asked. "Oh, and hi everyone. What exactly am I missing here? What's the tense conversation about? Besides Tris's new ink."
"Her boyfriend is coming for Thanksgiving dinner, he'll be here soon," Natalie said tiredly.
"And we're fighting about that?" Caleb asked. "I don't know what I've missed, but how about we all just chill, and if her boyfriend is a jerk we'll deal with it, otherwise, we should just try to have a nice meal together."
"My son, always the voice of reason," Natalie said fondly, walking over and hugging her son.
"How was your drive, son?" Andrew asked, giving him a clap on the shoulder. "We wish you'd been able to get away earlier, so we could've had more time as a family, all together."
"Well, I'm here now, so let's make the most of it," Caleb said sensibly. "I want to hear everything, especially all Tris's news. Tris, your emails weren't nearly frequent enough, and apparently you weren't as detailed as you could've been."
Tris grinned sheepishly, then, hearing a car come to a stop out the front she exclaimed, "Four's here! Everyone, be nice, okay?"
Tris rushed out the front, leaving her family waiting curiously in her wake.
She ran towards Four, getting to him just as he stepped out of the car. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him eagerly.
He kissed her back, holding her close to him for a moment, before releasing her.
"You'd think you hadn't seen me for months, not less than a week," Four said chuckling. "As much as I've missed you, and would like to continue in this vein, I don't know if your parents would like me very much if I stayed out here, making out with you."
"How did you know they weren't thrilled about the idea of you? Did you have someone put together a profile on them?" Tris asked teasingly. "Or maybe you've bugged the house and you've been listening in on the conversations we've been having all week."
"Even though I haven't been anyone's boyfriend before, I am familiar with the stereotypical parental reactions to daughters bringing home a new boyfriend, particularly an older one, who she met at college," Four said dryly, taking her hand and walking up the drive with her.
"Ah, well I see you're all ready for the big meeting," Tris said quietly.
"Are you?" Four asked her, as they approached the front door.
"Nothing could truly prepare me for this moment," Tris mattered. "Anyway, here we go."
They walked inside, Tris keeping her hand firmly in Four's.
Natalie Prior rose to the occasion, displaying her steadfast composure and general warmth and politeness.
"It's nice you could join us today, Four," she said warmly.
"Thank you for having me, I know today is normally a family occasion," Four said politely, shaking her hand.
"Well, it was important to Tris that you come," Andrew Prior said, albeit a little stiffly. "Natalie, is the meal ready?"
"Yes, let's all head into the dining room," Natalie suggested.
They headed in, and finished the initial meeting on their way, Four and Caleb exchanging a firm handshake.
They sat down to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and managed to keep up a fairly unstrained, constant conversation, without too many awkward moments. Caleb did ask a number of detailed questions about their schooling and life in California, and it took a great deal of effort from Tris and Four to answer in enough detail to satisfy his curiosity.
After the meal finished, when Tris's family where satisfied that Four wasn't a murder or rapist or psychopathic jackass, they started to help tidy up in the kitchen.
"No, you don't need to help me," Natalie protested.
"Are you sure, Mom?" Tris asked.
"No, go take a walk or something, I'm sure it will be good for you to walk off your food," Natalie said with a smile.
Tris and Four agreed easily enough, and headed out, both dressed warmly for the late November cold.
"I think we're going to get snow, it's that cold, and the clouds look like snow clouds," Tris said, shivering a little.
"It's certainly been a cold autumn so far, they think we're in for a harsh winter," Four agreed.
After a pause Tris said, "So, I wonder, did my mother want to give us time to talk alone, or did she want to give the three of them time to talk about you, and us?"
"Probably b, with a little bit of a," Four answered, smiling at her. "I don't really mind, because whatever way you look at it, I'm alone with you."
"I think they liked you," Tris mused. "I mean, Caleb wasn't openly rude, my dad seemed happy at your choice of sport teams, and my mom liked that you're an enthusiast for self defense."
"To put it mildly," Four said dryly. "But yes, I don't think any parent is going to dislike the fact that their only daughter's boyfriend has the skills to protect her. If only knew you were more than capable of taking care of yourself."
Tris gave a small smile, and said, "It's so strange that I will never be able to tell them about that side of my life. Even when I retire, and eventually have a normal life, they'll never be able to know anything about Dauntless, or my life as an agent."
"I'll never have that problem," Four said wryly.
"You'll never have that with your own family, but I hope you will with mine," Tris said, not quite making grammatical sense in her nervousness.
"I will," Four agreed tenderly.
"How have things been, since I've been away?" Tris asked curiously. "Are people still looking at you like you've grown a second head?"
"Oh, some of them are, but a lot of people have moved on, mostly," Four replied. "It's always fun when your father is arrested on mass criminal charges, thanks to the organisation you work for, and everyone learns that you're the son of a felon."
"I'm looking forward to going home," Tris said, unconsciously referring to Dauntless as 'home'. "It's been nice to see my family, but I really don't feel like I fit in in this world anymore."
"That's normal," Four told her. "I'll definitely be glad to have you back."
Tris leaned up and kissed him tenderly.
In return, Four cupped her face in his hands, recapturing her lips fiercely with his own, before she could pull back too far.
They stood there, kissing in the late afternoon light, surrounded by autumn leaves, the cold air making no impact on them. All they noticed was one another, they were completely consumed in each other, until a buzzing cell phone interrupted them.
They reluctantly pulled back and Four said, "Is that mine, or yours?"
"It's mine," Tris said, fumbling for the still ringing phone in her coat pocket. "It's Harrison."
Tris answered the phone and said, "Hi Harrison."
"Are you somewhere private enough for us to talk?" Harrison asked.
"I'm out taking a walk with Four, I can be discreet," Tris said seriously. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm sorry to do this to do, but I'm going to need both of you to come back tonight," Harrison said, somewhat urgently. "Tell your parents that that airline called at had to change your flight time. You're sorry you didn't have longer with them, but it will be good for you to get back to college, because you have a lot of work to do."
"Sure, sure," Tris agreed quickly. "What's going Harrison?"
"I can't explain now, I'll be briefing you, just you, tomorrow morning," Harrison said. "Tell Four I need you both back, but don't tell him anything else. Your briefing tomorrow will be something you can't share with him. Just tell him that I'll speak with him when he's back."
"Alright, we'll see you later tonight then," Tris said, more than a little confused.
She hung up and put her cell back in her coat.
"We're needed back," she said quietly, taking Four's hand in hers.
"Is everything okay? That was quite a confounding call to hear one side of," Four said.
"Harrison couldn't say much, he just said he needed us back tonight, and that he'd explain everything to us as soon as he could," Tris replied. "Now I just have to sell my cover story to my parents, which I'm sure will be a walk in the park."
The walked back to Tris's house, where Tris explained that the airline had called and changed her flight time, and she couldn't do anything about it, because it was a condition of the ticket she'd bought.
"I'm sorry to be leaving you all, but at least we got to have dinner all together, and I've got heaps of work to do back at college anyway," Tris said, hugging her mother.
"We haven't had dessert yet," Natalie said sadly.
"Well, how about I go an pack, then we have dessert before Four drives me to the airport?" Tris suggested.
"We'd be happy to take you," Natalie said earnestly.
"Four's got time tonight, you guys should stay here and spend time with Caleb, he's only just arrived," Tris reasoned.
"Alright," Natalie agreed reluctantly. "I'll start heating the pie."
Tris headed upstairs to pack, leaving Four to watch the football with her brother and father.
An hour later the two of them were on the road back to the Dauntless Faction compound, both fairly silent, their thoughts full of what would cause Harrison to call her back from her holiday early. Tris had the further question of why she wasn't allowed to share all of what Harrison had said with Four.
"It wouldn't be Dauntless if they weren't continually surprising us," Four said matter-of-factly, expressing both their thoughts.
"True," Tris said with a smile, as they pulled into the underground car park. "It's good to be back."
AN: I had been going to end things here, but I got my second wind, and a great idea from a reviewer :) You all motivate me to write, so thank you! I hope the continuing story is as enjoyable as the existing chapters have been.
Also, the next chapters will come a little more slowly, hopefully a couple a week. I had a lot written in advance before, but now I'm pretty much writing as I go, with the new plot ideas.
Please review!