Tris's POV:

"Okay, I'm ready." I say, grabbing my stuff.

It's another work day, and I just finished getting dressed in a pair of dark jeans and my sweater. The air is getting colder, so I have to dress accordingly. Tobias also put on a black one over his blue formal shirt. And he looks so effortlessly handsome.

Things have been good between us lately, especially since my little meltdown in the middle of the night a few days ago. I've learned my lesson, and I'm trying to lean on him more. Trying to learn that I don't have to be alone in this. And it really has made me feel lighter, to not carry all of this on my shoulders alone. Tobias is there for me.

"Come on, let's go." He holds my hand as he leads me out.

We begin driving and I turn to look at Tobias. He has gotten a lot better with dropping me off. It still does make him anxious, and sometimes he calls me more than necessary. But I can't be mad at him. One time last week he popped up at the bakery without telling me, saying he couldn't sit still at the office and had to see me.

"Will you be okay waiting a little longer after work? I have to help with a birthday order." I ask him.

"Of course not. I'll wait as long as you need." He smiles.

"Thanks." I squeeze his hand.

Soon we reach the bakery and lock eyes. Tobias comes closer and gives me a deep kiss, making my heart leap out of my chest, before casually driving away. I sigh and walk inside, greeting Tori. The work is hectic, we have a list with ingredients lined up to bake macarons, then a two-tiered mango and pistachio cake, and caramel filled chocolate bites.

The customer specifically asked for honeycomb flavoured buttercream for the macarons, so Claire and I begin working on that. It takes a few tries but we finally get the right balance.

After that's done, we start on the cake. I make the pistachio frosting while the others prepare the two batters. We also need to make white chocolate roses for the final decoration. I don't know who this customer is but they've got quite a taste. It takes three of us to assemble it, using a lot of frosting, but we finally finish it.

Tori comes in after a while, saying that a friend of mine is here. I give her a questioning look before following her back out. Susan stands there, a bright smile on her face. We haven't spoken since her wedding, and I wonder what she wants now.

"Beatrice! How are you?" She asks me when I enter through the door.

"Susan, I'm good. What brings you here?"

"Oh, I was just in the neighbourhood." She shrugs. "I got back from my honeymoon yesterday and decided to come out shopping! Anyway, I heard about everything. How are you holding up?"

"You mean after everything that happened at your wedding?" I furrow my eyebrows in annoyance, why does she care?

"I'm sorry for that. It wasn't a wise choice to make you my bridesmaid, and Natalie warned me several times. But Robert, you know him, he insisted you be there." She fake smiles at me.

"And you listened to him? Do you not know how he is around me? He won't leave me alone. And I told you the same thing all those years ago, too. But you never took any of it seriously." I shake my head.

"Listen, Beatrice. I'm sorry about all that. But he's changed now. And I know that you are married. But you don't even remember your husband. How can you be with someone who you don't even know? And Robert, he really loves you. He would dote on you every day. You would be so happy-"

"Are you asking me to leave my husband?" I'm furious at her.

"You don't know what my brother could give you. He just became CEO of his company, I know that he can make you very happy." She continues talking nonsense.

"You really think you could entice me with some money? Did he put you up to this?" How dare she?

"I just want him to be happy."

"By ruining my happiness?"

"Beatrice-"

"You should leave."

"Please think about it-"

"Don't ever call me, Susan." I say and walk back inside.

Did that conversation really happen? I can't believe her. I understand she wants her brother to be happy, as do all sisters, as do I. But to make me leave Tobias? Even when I repeatedly told her that I wasn't interested in Robert? What kind of a friend does that?

"Tris? You okay?" Tori asks looking at my angry face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nod, getting back to work.

The rest of the day goes by fast, and I lose track of time as I finish with the chocolate bites. Thankfully the birthday order is done, ready to be delivered. I say goodbye to the others as I walk out. And there I see Tobias sitting at a table, waiting for me. He smiles immediately when he sees me, standing up. I go up to him and into his strong arms, breathing in his masculine scent. I really missed him.

"Hmm, you smell like chocolate, baby." He whispers, pulling away to look into my eyes.

"Well, spending a day working with it tends to do that." I smile, leaning up on my toes to kiss him. He holds me tightly as he kisses me back.

"Ready to go home?" He murmurs against my lips.

"Yes." I nod.

We reach home in no time, soon parking the car in the driveway. Tobias unlocks the door and smiles at me. Then he gently leads me inside, his eyes on me, watching me closely. Why is he acting so strange? When I walk further in towards the kitchen, I realise why. The room is all set up for a special dinner. The dining table is laid down with a white lace tablecloth. A vase of my favourite flowers sits in the middle. And a bunch of small candles glow all around in the dark, creating a romantic mood.

"I came here from the office to set up everything before picking you up. And yes, I got takeout food, you know I can't cook." He scratches the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. "I know that you're trying your best, and I appreciate it so much that you're willing to do it for me. For us. And I don't know how long it's gonna take for you to remember everything, but I thought we could still have these small moments. To get to know each other."

"I'd like that. Getting to know each other." I whisper. "But did you leave the candles burning all this while?" I ask, turning to him.

"Yeah, they're in a jar, baby, it's fine." He chuckles.

"Thank you, Tobias. I love it." I lean up on my toes to kiss him. "I'll go change quickly, then I'll be right down."

"Okay, hurry." He lets me go, and I quickly freshen up. Looking through my closet, I pick a light pink dress, it has short sleeves and is cinched at the waist. Then brushing out my hair, I'm back downstairs within a few minutes. "Wow."

"What?" I ask.

"You look so beautiful." He smiles, beckoning me to come closer. I walk into his arms and accept his sweet kiss, letting him thread his fingers through my hair. "You wore this dress for one of our dates, back when we had just started dating."

"Yeah? What did we do on the date?"

"I took you to the movies. Thought I'd change it up a little. But it was terrible, and we both couldn't stand watching it. So we left and spent the rest of the night at a nearby diner. We got sandwiches." He grins.

"Wait, the same diner...?" I ask, my eyes wide.

"Yes, the same one." He smiles.

"Oh, the iced tea! That's how you knew! Another thing I didn't pick up on." I shake my head.

"Yeah, that was a slip up on my part. Fortunately everything worked out well." He kisses my cheek.

"Yeah, it did."

"Come on, let's eat before the food gets cold." He pulls me with him towards the table. Helping me sit, he serves the delicious food onto our plates. Then he brings his chair right next to mine, settling down beside me.

We enjoy the delicious food, letting it warm our bodies. The fresh pasta is absolutely fantastic, the herbs and spices and veggies and the creamy sauce all coming together to form a perfect dinner. Not to mention my favourite breadsticks. Tobias feeds me little bites, knowing how much I love it. I just smile at him, kissing him softly.

"So, how was your day? Did everything go well with the big order?" He asks as he pours sparkling cider into our glasses.

"Yeah, it went well." I say distractedly, remembering my earlier interaction with Susan.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tobias asks, picking up my hand.

"Susan came to the bakery today." I sigh.

"What did she want?" He asks.

"Well, she wanted a lot. For starters, she wanted me to leave my husband. She thinks it's ridiculous for me to be with someone I don't remember. And she wants me to get with her brother. Who, by the way, is super rich now! Because apparently she knows what makes me happy!" I say sarcastically.

"What?" He is annoyed. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her to never talk to me again." I look up into his eyes.

"I'm sorry that happened." He whispers, squeezing my hand.

"I just can't believe she had the nerve to say all that to me." I shake my head.

"Robert must be behind this, too. If I catch him..."

"It's okay, Tobias. I don't want to give him any more attention." I try to calm us both down.

"You're right." We finish with our food, cleaning everything up together afterwards.

"Tris, can you hand me a lid?" Tobias asks me as he's putting away the leftover food.

"Sure." I reach inside a cabinet to get the lid for the box. Turning around to give it to him, I notice the big goofy smile on his face. "What?"

"Did you know the lid was in there?" He asks, and I think about it.

"No." I smile a little. "I just reached for it in this cabinet without thinking. Like my body knew."

We both smile like idiots and Tobias comes to me, wrapping me up into a hug. I hold him close, and he picks me up, making me giggle.

"You're still you." He whispers into my hair, and I feel his lips curve into a smile.

"I am." I breathe him in. "I wish I could remember everything else, too."

"You will. I know you will, Tris." He pulls back and looks into my eyes, his dark blue ones shining in the dim light.

"I hope so." I whisper, the air around us suddenly getting thicker.

"How about some dessert?" He asks, clearing his throat.

"What did you get?"

"Just this amazing little pudding cake my wife made. It's to die for." He grins, leading me to the refrigerator. I try to act nonchalant but a certain word he used makes my heart sing.

"You picked up more? You're obsessed, Tobias." I laugh. He absolutely loved the chocolatey goodness the other day, praising me endlessly as he licked his spoon off.

"It's honestly the best thing I've ever tasted, Tris. You can't blame me." He brings two bowls and hands one to me along with a spoon.

We lean against the counter and I begin to take a bite, but Tobias beats me to it, bringing his spoonful of pudding to my mouth. I look at him with surprise on my face, but he just smiles.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I'm feeding it to you. I want you to have the first bite." He just keeps on surprising me.

"Okay." I lean forward to take the bite, licking the spoon off, letting the chocolate melt in my mouth.

I bring mine to his lips, and he takes a bite, too, his eyes on mine the entire time. I feel the energy in the room change again, causing me to feel hot, with my breaths coming in short. We keep feeding the sweet dessert to each other, our eyes locked the entire time. The electricity buzzing around us makes me feel dizzy.

Tobias keeps staring at me with his intense gaze, and I bite my lip. How can he make me feel so much with just one look? I notice a little bit of chocolate on the corner of his mouth, reaching out to rub it off, never daring to look away. He grabs my wrist and finally puts our bowls away, his breathing hard. Taking me into his arms, he closes the distance between us.

Tilting my head up, I watch his lips as he bends down to kiss me. His hands hold me firmly, making sure I don't move away. But I only want to be closer, so I let him caress his tongue against mine, tasting the chocolate. He doesn't hold back, kissing me like he'll never let go.

Everything else is forgotten as our lips move together deeply. My heart races when he lifts me up and sets me down onto the counter. His arms go around me, and I wrap my legs around his waist, my dress moving up my thighs a little. A small moan escapes my lips as he kisses down my neck, his warm breath setting my skin on fire.

"Now that was the best thing I've ever tasted." He grins, slowly moving back.

"Even better than chocolate?" I ask, realising what he meant.

"Infinitely better." He whispers, his hands on my thighs. I bite my lip, the blush returning to my face. Will I ever stop blushing around him?

My heart beats loudly, feeling like I'm flying as his dark eyes look into mine. Their intensity again making me feel everything at once. And I'm struck by how strong a certain specific emotion is. Stronger than anything else I've felt before. It leaves me completely breathless. Its magnitude dawning upon me like a sudden pouring of rain, making me want to shout it out to the whole world. But am I ready to admit it quite yet? Maybe I am, because the words are just on the tip of my tongue.

"Tobias..." I begin, my fingers rubbing against the light stubble on his face.

"Yeah?" He whispers, his hands playing with the hem of my dress, caressing my legs.

But I can't bring myself to say them. I don't know why. So I just pull him closer and press my lips to his again, kissing him with all my heart. I try to convey everything I'm feeling through the kiss, hoping it is enough for now. But I'm afraid that it is only just beginning to grow.


A/N: How's everyone's day going? Hope you liked this chapter!