Hey readers! Here is the next chapter in this story. I would like to thank everyone who continues to support this story through your various ways. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't own Divergent. I only own the plot, any military-related mistakes are mine. Just a reminder I have taken some liberties in regards to the military. Happy Reading!

Chapter 25:Ghosts

I spend the three and a half-hour drive from Maryland to Virginia trying to dodge the news on the radio stations at all costs while I flip from channel to channel, attempting to find another song I like. Tobias's voice ruminates through my mind: Don't listen to the news while I'm gone. It will only drive you crazy, not knowing the truth. If anything happens to me, the Air Force will contact you like the last time. Exhaling a deep breath as the local and world news begins, I know Tobias is right. I have been avoiding the news reports for weeks since he left. Hearing news from anything overseas military-related will only cause me stress, which is extra stress I don't need. My fingertips fall subconsciously to my stomach with the false hope that I could be pregnant, despite being told multiple times when I was younger it could never happen without medical intervention due to my endometriosis and low iron.

I angrily push the knob of the radio, shutting it off, and take a turn off the highway to get gas before attempting to find the new base. The sun blinds my eyes while I exit the off-ramp with the truck. I flip the visor down, and a cd case falls onto my lap. At the light, I flip the blank case back and forth and open it. In Tobias's handwriting, the CD has written on it: For Your Road Trip.

A smile tugs at my lips while I push the CD into the player. A catchy song fills the cab of the truck. Soon, I'm singing along with the music at the top of my lungs, recalling our cross country road trip listening to these same songs with him. The passersby on the Virginian streets stare while I dance in my seat at the stoplights and stop signs, singing the lyrics to each song and grinning like a lunatic. Each person stares at me like I have gone crazy. Glancing at the empty passenger seat, my heartbeat quickens wishing Tobias was here to sing with me. I snap a photo of myself smiling, and, before I can think about it, I send it. He would laugh if he could see me now. Signs for Langley Air Force Base and Fort Eustis catch my eye, sending me toward a freeway. My mind drifts to the last time I was new on a military base. Tobias and I had falsely gotten married in Vegas by Elvis only a few days prior, and we explored our new home together.

My phone vibrates and lights up, signaling a new text message, revealing my changed background: an old picture of Tobias and me. I found this photo when I was going through them one lonely night. It was a selfie from the night Tobias and I had our fake wedding. We were outside the chapel, happily smiling. I'm drawn out of the hazy memory when, suddenly, the truck begins to do a death wobble, and the GPS loses signal. "Shit!" I mutter, pulling over to the side of the road. I check all the tires to find the front passenger's side completely flat. Tobias, where the hell are you when I need you? Now, I have to figure out how to change a flat on your big ass truck in the freezing cold!

Ten minutes later, I have searched everywhere inside the truck, and I can't find where the spare is hiding. The wind bites through my clothing onto my skin. I never thought to ask where the spare tire was? I never asked him to teach me how to change a flat tire! We had some of the hard conversations should he not come home, but I never thought to ask about this beast. Frustrated tears flood my eyes. Suddenly, my cell vibrates in my pocket. It's an unknown number. I answer it hoping it might be Tobias calling. Before I can get a word out, I hear, "Tris?" echoing through the speaker.

I feel utterly defeated. My eyes scan the massive black truck. Freezing, I chatter with tears rolling down my cheeks, "Tobias, I need your help. I can't do this." His voice picks up an octave, going into high alert, asking, "What happened? You aren't hurt, are you? So help me, if anyone hurt you, I will kill them!" I sniffle, "I'm not hurt, but I was driving, and I lost the GPS signal. Now, I have a flat, and it's freezing here. Where is the spare? How do you change a spare? I don't know these things." Tobias erupts into laughter, "You're crying over my stupid truck getting a flat. Oh, Princess, I should have thought to have shown you where the spare was before and how to change it before I left." Frustratedly, I chastise, "It's not funny!" He replies, "The spare is hiding. You will have to pull up the floor, and you should find a jack with a tire wrench there. The tire is under the bed. I have faith in you to change the tire. I know you can do anything you put your mind to."

I find the wrench, jack, and tire. Tobias begins to walk me through the process of jacking the truck up off the ground. Positioning the jack under it, I mutter, "I hate this truck!" Tobias laughs, "You sound like me when I have had to change flat tires on it without power tools." Attempting to get the truck from the ground feels like it takes a million years while other cars race past me. I ask, "What happens if I get run over?"

Tobias snaps, "Then I guess I will have to murder someone when I get home for killing the love of my life." I giggle, "Okay, the beast is off the ground, and the tire is inflated again." He replies, "Good, but you thought trying to get the truck off the ground was hard, wait until you attempt to get the lug nuts off. You can always call AAA. I added it before our cross-country trip, in case we needed it. The card should be in the glove box." Wiping the sweat from my brow, I laugh stubbornly, "You didn't think to tell me this before I started this process! No, I got this! I will change this stupid tire. This stupid truck won't win." I bounce up and down, jumping on the tire wrench, trying to break the seal on the nuts to get them off. Tobias asks, "What are you doing to my poor truck?"

"Murdering it!" I smirk, the idea appealing to me in the moment. Wiping my hands onto my pants, I hold the wrench between my fingertips, wishing I could indeed kill the truck as I had told Tobias I was doing. I grunt while twisting, tugging on a lug, and I yell when a nut pops off, flying through the air, "Yes, finally, you bitch!" Throwing my hands into the air in victory. "Are you okay?" Tobias asks uncertainty lacing his voice. I reply, working on another nut, "Yup, but your truck isn't. I might have dented your rim a bit. Who changed these tires last?"

"I did with some of the guys in the shop at Travis." My mind shifts quickly to Tobias, using a power tool. A laugh bubbles out of my mouth. He asks, "What's so funny, Mrs. Eaton?" I giggle, "I'm having a hard time imagining you using a power tool." He laughs, "Well, start imagining it, baby. Everything that has been done to that truck has been done by me, except for major work. Then, I find someone on the base that I can work with to accomplish it." Quipping an eyebrow, I ask, "Is there anything you can't do? Are you sure you are even a real human male?"

"Ouch," He mutters jokingly, "Yup, I'm real. I was checking for you. I pinched myself." I laugh, "I'm glad I'm not imagining you," as the wrench falls from my fingers, dinging the rim once again. He sighs, "It is fine that you are denting the rims. Please don't hurt yourself. I don't think I could live with knowing the stupid truck hurt you." Taking the flat tire off, I roll the spare over to the area. An overwhelming feeling of dread takes over when he says, "You need to jack the truck higher now."

"Are you joking?" I ask, hoping he is being sarcastic for once. When he doesn't answer, I continue, "You do realize the spare is larger than the tires that are on the truck! Tobias, now I have to jack this beast up even higher!" He doesn't reply while I begin to jack the truck. I grumble, "Screw this!" He mumbles, "Sorry." I grunt, "No, you aren't," crawling under the truck to jack it more. I continue, "What did you call for?" A smile can be heard in his voice when he replies, "It's our anniversary, Tris. It's the day we met in O'Hare, exactly one year ago today."

I whisper, "Have I only known you for a year?" Did we get married that quickly? It feels like I have known Tobias for a much longer time than only a year. My mind drifts to a year ago, walking in the airport in Chicago when I was worried about going home to Peter. Sitting next to the mysterious, kind, soldier man, whose name I learned was Four, who had bumped into me earlier that day, who I played war with and fell asleep on. I developed a crush on this handsome guy who I believed I would never see again. Little did I know, he would move in next to me, save my life months later, and I would fall harder for him than I have ever fallen for any man in my life. His voice breaks through my memory, whispering, "I can't believe it has only been a year either. It feels like I have known you my whole life. Stacy feels like another lifetime ago." Wishing he was here, I blow out a breath, mumbling, "I feel like I have known you forever too." Tobias replies, "Anyways, I knew you would be driving today. I wanted to make sure you got onto base safely." I sigh, "I should have been on the base already and would have if it wasn't for this blasted tire and the GPS malfunctioning!"

"Sorry again. I did maintenance on the truck before I left for deployment. The GPS should work once you start on the road again. I sometimes have trouble with mine when I'm home, depending on how much cloud coverage there is," Tobias mutters. I push on the tire, uttering, "Not your fault. I got this!" I giggle while I spin on the lug nuts where they belong. A sense of accomplishment explodes into my chest. His voice is full of pride when he says, "I love you, Tris. I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it!"

"I love you! I'm sorry we couldn't talk more today," I answer, shaking and rubbing my hands together, attempting to get feeling back into them from using the tools in the cold. Tobias responds, "I'm glad I was able to be there to help you, even though I'm thousands of miles away. Once you get onto the base, take the truck to a shop, and get the tire fixed." I tease, "Yes, Captain Eaton, you got it." He laughs, "Goodbye, try to stay out of trouble with Christina," hanging up the phone. While I'm ending the call with Tobias, a familiar Audi with red rims pulls up behind me. I know that car. Where do I recognize that car from?

"Tris?" A female voice asks. I blink because I think I'm hallucinating. Walking toward me is a woman with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes. I blink, and she's standing next to me. Suddenly, I feel uncomfortable. Looking around, she asks, "Where's Four?" I mutter, "Not here, obviously," crossing my arms over my chest. My eyes lock onto Stacy, Four's ex-girlfriend, the woman who broke his heart by cheating on him. Her arms wrap around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug like I'm her best friend in the world. She smirks enthusiastically, "Oh my goodness, Tris! It has been too long! How have you been? We need to catch up! Where are you living? Are you visiting, or did you move here?" Stacy asks too many questions for me to answer at one time. I can't believe I'm laying eyes on her in Virginia of all places! I was hopeful this place would be better than Maryland! I mutter, "Yeah, we should catch up sometime," attempting to place fake happiness into my voice at seeing her. My eyes stay glued to my boots, having no intention of spending time with her of all people.

Stacy twirls a piece of hair around her finger, asking, "Tell me, how are you and Peter? How did you end up with Four's truck? I went looking for Four at the house after he broke up with me, but Peter said Four moved out. When I asked Peter where Four moved to, Peter answered with, 'I don't care, good riddance to him. One day he will get what is coming to him for taking what was mine.' When I asked him what he meant, he shrugged his shoulders. I attempted to get onto the base, but no one would let me on. Even if I had convinced someone to let me on, I had no idea where Four lived. I knew he kept his house there. I never saw it. I suppose I should have asked him when we were together, but he was always clingy when I was with him. He liked to spend every waking minute with me in one way or another." She winks at the ending, implying something sexual. She smirks, staring at me while waiting for the answers to her questions about Peter and the truck. Her eyes suddenly shift to my fingers, catching on my engagement and wedding rings. Her smile widens, "Oh my God! Peter and you finally tied the knot! That's so cute! I knew you two could make it work if he gave you some space! I always knew you were both meant to be together! At least, that's what I told him the last time I saw him." Her arms envelop me once again, continuing, "Did Four sell his truck? I never thought I would see the day when he would sell his baby. There were times I believed he loved that damn truck more than me. He was always working on it in his spare time instead of taking me out to nice places."

"Stacy-" I begin to say, but she interrupts me, moving away from me, "I'll catch up with you later, Tris. Do you still have the same phone number as before? I'm going to be late for work if I don't move it. I got a job at the Wawa down the road." She stops midstep, turns, crosses her arms, and declares, "You never did answer. Are you visiting Virginia, or did you and Peter move here?" I answer, "I moved here," a shiver creeps up my back at talking to Stacy, who is assuming I'm married to my abusive ex-boyfriend. How do I tell her I married her ex-boyfriend, my old next door neighbor, the man she cheated on every time he left to go on deployment? She giggles, "That's awesome, Tris! I can't wait to hang out with you and Peter and to hear all about your wedding to Peter. I'm sure it was a magical day." She opens her car door, waving. While I watch her drive away, my eyes catch on a baby on board sign. The sign, and my encounter with Stacy, leaves my head spinning.

Thoughts and opinions on this chapter. I can't wait to hear them. This story is going to go on a short hiatus until after the holidays are over. I hope all my readers who celebrate Christmas have a good one and everyone has a safe and Happy New Year. I will see you all in January of 2021 with another update for this story.