Chapter 9

Tris' POV

(Third person- eighth grade)

Tobias stands in front of the mirror dressing himself. He grabs a handful of gel and puts his hair up.

"Hey hot stuff." He winks at himself. "You look real fine today." He strokes his reflection. "Maybe later you and I can-"

He hears loud laughter coming from the hallway.

"Oh my gosh! Stop, stop! That's so funny!" Christina clutches her stomach .

"What? What the hell are you doing upstairs?" Tobias asks wide-eyed.

"We are all waiting for you. Your mom let me up." Chris answers.

"Oh. Don't tell anyone about this, okay? Especially Tris, she'd never let that down." He pleads.

"Fine. Just because I get to blackmail to whenever I want. We'll be downstairs." Tobias can hear the echoes of her laughter as she leaves.

Oh crap.

Back to present...

The cold air sends shivers to my spine as I step out of my dad's mini van. I'm dressed in a warm sweater, a large scarf that is wrapped around my neck, and some comfortable black leggings along with warm boots. I have a velvet colored coat that is wrapped around me as well. My mittened hands adjust my beanie so it won't fall off my head.

Although my family is part Jewish, coming from my dad's side of the family, we are still going Christmas tree hunting. Which I think is stupid, my dad says we should be "festive". I guess I can understand his reasoning because my mother celebrates Christmas and her side of the family will be visiting us over the weekend.

We came along with Tyler's family since they suggested us going together and also since his and my parents decided it was time to catch up with one another.

"Hey Rudolph." Tyler taps my nose.

"Shut up." He's dressed in a long-sleeved wool shirt with a warm vest over. He wears dark blue jeans and brown boots.

"You look absolutely adorable." He compliments with a smile.

"And you look absolutely handsome." I mock his tone.

"I don't understand why your parents dragged me into this. I don't even celebrate Christmas." I groan. Though I love spending time with my boyfriend, I'd rather be snuggled up under a series of blankets drinking hot cocoa near the fireplace while watching Netflix. A girl can dream.

"At least we get to spend time with each other." He comments.

"I do like spending time with you." Then something pops into my head. "I have to tell you something." I really don't want to be talking about this, but we both promised we would be that couple who never, NEVER hides anything from one another.

"Okay, what's up?" He furrows his eyebrows looking concerned.

"Remember the day we met? How I ran into you...crying?" I start.

"Yeah. I was sort of bewildered. I was like, uhm, there's a girl crying in my arms and I don't know what to do." He teases while nudging me slightly.

"Oh shush. I never really told you what happened, so I'm going to make it quick and simple. Tobias Eaton and I used to be like best friends since we were like I don't know, seven? And then in freshman year, he got this super bitchy girlfriend, Lauren-"

"Lauren Reeds?"

"Yes. Anyways, he became a total douchebag, I hated her, she hated me. Blah, blah, blah, got into a fight and now we're not friends anymore." I explain in one breath.

"Oh, wow."

"There's more." I point out. "He left a note on my desk somehow at home saying to meet him in the courtyard after school. I didn't know it was him who left the note, so me being me was curious and went. I saw him and he tried asking for forgiveness. I ended up yelling at him." I sigh.

"Okay-"

"There's still more. You k ow how you were sick last week?" He nods. "So I went to the dance and danced with this random guy, who had asked m. I politely accepted because I didn't want to be rude or anything. After we danced, we ran into each other, literally. Tobias that is. He asked me to dance, we did." I leave out the part where he almost kissed me, because I'm scared of how he'd react especially since they both do a lot of sport together and are in several classes together.

"You done now?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, I honestly don't see anything wrong with that." He sighs, "it was terrible what he had done to you. I'm sorry, you and him must have been really close friends if you were friends with him for so long. It was plain stupid for someone to get rid of you especially since you're really are amazing. For everything else, I guess he just came to his senses and decided that he can't stand the guilt or something. People do stupid things and what happens is that they learn for them. I think he just want to start again, and get rid of the weight on his shoulder that he had left."

I'm silently at first and then I feel incredible guilty. Tyler always sees the best in people even if they do incredible idiotic things. He deserves to know. And I can't hide it from him, it will make me feel terrible and I can't deal with the fact that I will be keeping something away for him.

"He almost kissed me." I blurt.

"What?"

I feel relieved to get something off my shoulder. "After we danced, he pulled back slightly and started to lean in. I pulled away from him said something, I can't remember what anymore, and walked away."

He bits his lip and I can't stand his silence. "Do you like him?" He finally manages to say.

"What? No, no! I don't like him. I love you, just you." I say starting to close the distance between us.

"I love you too." He wraps his arms around me bringing me close. "Is it bad?" His lips are so close to mine. "Is it bad that I'm sort of glad that day happened because if it didn't, we wouldn't have ran into each other. "This-" he gestures to the both of us. "This wouldn't have happened."

Without answering, I bring my lips to his letting the warmth he sends me consume my body. His turquoise eyes stare into my as we pull back.

"I love you, Tris."

"I love you too, Tyler."

"I want this tree." Tyler tells me.

"Does I have to be this specific tree?" The tree is my height. That says a lot considering how incredibly short I am. A whooping 5'5" at most.

"Yes, it has to be this select this tree because we had our first winter kiss next to this one." He explains.

"What? What the hell is a winter kiss?" I'm so confused.

"Winter kiss- since winter is a season, this is our first kiss of the season."

I roll my eyes. "Okay..." I don't understand his logic. "But your like a foot taller than the tree."

"So?"

"Let's go." I drag him to keep looking for another tree.

He makes an adorable pout but agrees.

I hug one of his arms and snuggle to his side. We walk side by side each other telling one another funny stories that happened during class.

"Where have you two been?" My mother asks.

"Walking around." I answer simply.

"We've been waiting for toughies for like half an hour. I called you a bunch of times." I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone.

Five missed calls. "Whoops. Sorry?"

"It's fine. We're going to head back home now, we'll see you soon. It was great seeing you again, Dalton and Cheryl." My parents bid their farewells to Tyler's parents.

"I'll see you, later." My arms wrap around his torso and I burry my head in his chest.

"I'm picking you up at seven-thirty tomorrow." He says against my hair.

I pull away. "Why?"

"You forgot silly, Muse concert."

"Oh right. Tomorrow then." I confirm.

"Okay. Love you."

"You too!" I wave one last goodbye before I make my way to the car.

As wished, I end up spending the rest of the night snuggling under a series of blankets next to the fireplace while drinking hot cocoa and watching Netflix.

When we had arrived home, my dad, Caleb and I spent an hour decorating the tree for my mom. I accidentally broke three ornaments and was scolded by my dad while Caleb sat and laughed.

By eleven, I went back to my room and crashed. It had a lovely day.

A/N: I forgot to mention the song names in like chapter five or something.

Songs:

No More Second Chances- By MKTO

Arms- By Christina Perri