Tris's POV:
"Baby, did you see my file? I put it right here." I hear Tobias yell from the living room.
I try to control my breathing and stop my hands from shaking. Ugh, how could I mess this up so badly?
"Baby? Where are you? Tris?" He walks into the kitchen, and seeing my worried face, he immediately runs to me. "Hey, what's wrong?" He wraps his arms around me tightly.
"I just, I messed the whole thing up. And now there's no time. I can't start over again. It needs to set in the refrigerator. And then there's the frosting-"
"Hey, hey, slow down. Take a deep breath." Resting his forehead on mine, he helps me breathe evenly. "Now tell me what happened."
"I was supposed to add a little buttermilk into the batter but I accidentally put too much. Now the whole thing's ruined. It was too late before I checked the recipe and realised. And now the cake is already in the oven." I point to it.
"We have to take it tonight, right?"
"Yeah. Dad loves that cake." It's my Dad's birthday today and he really loves my Black Forest cake. I promised I'd make it for him. "Ugh, what do I do? I can't think straight, Tobias."
"It probably isn't even a big deal, Tris. How much extra buttermilk did you add?" He asks.
"I was supposed to add half a cup, but I used the one cup measurement. That's double the amount." I sigh.
"I'm guessing that won't work?" He raises an eyebrow.
"No." I shake my head. "I should just call them and apologise."
"Why don't you check the cake first? There's just 5 minutes left till it's done." He suggests.
"Okay." I nod.
"It'll be okay, baby. If it doesn't turn out right, I'll help you make another one. I'm here for whatever you need." He presses a kiss to my forehead.
"Thanks. But you have no idea what you're doing, baby." I smile at him.
"Oh, I'm absolutely clueless." He laughs. "But that won't stop me from helping my wife."
I smile up at him and pull him into me for a kiss. He is strong against me, his lips claiming mine as he slightly lifts me up. I feel all the stress and tension melt away from me. As long as Tobias is with me, I know everything's going to be okay.
I slowly blink my eyes open, a small smile on my lips at the memory. Looking over to my side, I see Tobias still asleep. His chest slowly rises and falls as he breathes. He looks peaceful, almost soft in a way. His left hand lays flat on his stomach, and I notice the wedding band on his fourth finger, reaching out to lightly trace it with my thumb.
I have been wearing my ring every day, too, ever since I got to know about everything. I can't believe it's been a month already since that crazy day. But I have realised I only feel closer to Tobias. And then it doesn't sound so crazy that I'm married to him. I obviously had very good reasons, as I've also realised lately. Not to mention thinking about being his wife fills my heart up with pure joy. Because Tobias is the perfect husband.
I'm pulled from my thoughts when he starts to wake up, his arm reaching out for me. Turning my head to look at him, I see that he's already smiling sleepily at me. The same smile is present on my lips, too.
"Hey." He whispers.
"Hey." I turn sideways to face him.
"You sleep well?" He asks in a deep voice, brushing my hair away from my face.
"I did. And I woke up to a new memory." I smile.
"Really? What was it?" He asks eagerly.
"Messing up my Dad's birthday cake." I tell him.
"Oh, I remember that. You were so worried, but everything turned out to be more than great. In fact, that extra buttermilk you added ended up making the cake really soft and moist. It was amazing. And everyone loved it." He grins.
"Wow. Then I was panicking for no reason." I shake my head.
"Yeah." He murmurs. "But I think I did a pretty decent job getting you to calm down."
"Yeah, you did." I laugh.
"So, what do you have planned for today?" He asks, playing with my hair.
"Mom wanted to meet up today. She says she wants to go shopping with me. Spend some one-on-one time." I sigh.
"That sounds fun." He grins, knowing I hate to shop.
"Maybe for you." I roll my eyes.
"Oh, you're gonna have a great time, baby." He tickles my side, making me burst out into laughter.
"Stop! Tobias!" I roll away from him and climb out of the bed.
Tobias has a huge smile on his face as he stares up at me, his head relaxed into the pillow. I see his eyes travel appreciatively down my body, checking me out in my thin shorts and an oversized shirt. I lean down to give him a kiss then walk over into the bathroom.
I get ready quickly, wearing a full sleeved black top with a pair of blue jeans. Tobias is right behind me, ready in his office formals. It's weird sometimes to have an extra day off while he goes to work, but I think I'm getting used to it. Although I did go to work on weekends too, but Tori generously let me have the days off.
"So, where is Natalie meeting you?" He asks, finishing the last of his toast.
"Directly at the mall. She said we should go early to avoid the crowds." I tell him, taking a sip of the hot coffee. We take our time with breakfast, then clean up the kitchen together.
"Okay, let's go." He gathers his stuff, turning to me.
"Oh, I can go by myself. It's not a-" The words abandon my lips when I see the look on his face. "Fine, I'll go with you. Even though the mall is on the other side of town."
"I don't care. I'm driving you there." He says and grabs my hand, pulling me to him. "Promise to stay safe?"
"I'll be with Mom, nothing will happen to me, Tobias. And I will call you if I need anything, okay?"
"Fine." He tilts my chin up and brings my lips to his, kissing me softly. I hold onto his shoulders as I return his kiss, my whole body buzzing with electricity. God, the effect he has on me.
The long drive feels short when I'm with him, and he kisses me passionately before we part ways. I grab my jacket and my small bag, getting out of the car and waving to him as he drives away. I see Mom a few feet away, sat on a bench as she looks at a bird chirping on a tree branch. It's the middle of October, so the trees are barren, but I still find them beautiful.
"Hi, Mom." I say as I walk over to her. She smiles when she hears my voice, getting up and taking me into a hug.
"Hi, sweetheart. How have you been?" She brushes her hand over my hair.
"I've been good. Just adjusting to the new life." I say, and we walk inside. "How are you? How's Dad?"
"Oh, we are both doing good. We miss you at the house though." She says. "But I'm glad that you're trying to get used to everything. I know it's a difficult situation."
"Yeah. But I have Tobias. He's been amazing through all of this." I smile, thinking of him.
"He adores you more than anything, Beatrice. I couldn't have asked for a better son-in-law. He was so broken after your accident. But now I see the light back in his eyes. They light up whenever he's around you." Mom says.
"I've seen that." I whisper, thinking back to everything he told me that night, when I finally realised the depth of his feelings. And thinking about what I've been feeling towards him lately, too.
We continue talking about other casual things, about her work, my work, what Dad and her have been up to, and the weather getting colder by the day. I have missed our mother-daughter time. We used to spend hours together just chatting and window shopping when I was younger.
I notice the difference in her demeanour, too. She's more carefree than she's been in the past few months. I think the thought of my possible relapse was really getting to her. On top of everything, she also had to pretend every day around me.
In the shoe store, Mom finds a nice pair of comfortable shoes for work, and I pick a pair of brown sandals for myself. Then we head to the clothing store, where she insists I try on a dark purple dress. It fits surprisingly well, and I decide to take it.
We look around in a few other store, picking small accessories. And soon we grow tired from all the walking, so we agree to head out for some lunch. We did find a few good things for ourselves, so I guess the day turned out to be not so terrible. I smile at that, thinking back to Tobias and his teasing this morning.
Mom tells me about a great restaurant nearby, and we walk towards it. It has a wide variety of options, so we get something to satisfy our different tastes. I finish my rice bowl quickly, hungry and exhausted. Mom takes her time enjoying her chicken salad. When we're both done, I feel her tense up beside me on her chair.
"Mom? What is it?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowed.
"I don't want to be alarming, dear. But there's a man who's been following us for the past hour, I think. He was at the shoe store and then at the dress store right after us. I thought it was a coincidence. But now he's here in the restaurant, too." Mom stammers out.
I don't have to think too much about who the man could possibly be. I follow my mother's gaze and see the person who I suspected to be following us. Marcus.
"Just ignore him, Mom. He's...uh, he's Tobias's father." I tell her quietly.
"What?!" She whisper-shouts, shocked.
"You don't know about him?" I ask her.
"I just know that he wasn't exactly a good father. Tobias rarely speaks of him." She says.
"Yeah. And he somehow found out where Tobias lives now and he's been following us." I shake my head.
"We should go back, sweetie. I don't have a good feeling about him." Mom starts to get up.
"Okay, let's go." I grab the bags.
"Oh, you're leaving already?" Someone asks from beside us, startling me. I look up to see who it is.
"Tobias? What are you doing here?" I ask, surprised to see him.
"I came to pick you up. I know how tired you get after shopping." He smiles. "Hey, Natalie. How have you been?"
Mom greets him with a hug and tells him everything's going fine. But she has a worried look on her face, and Tobias picks up on it. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Uh, the reason we were leaving is because we saw...uh, we saw your father." Mom says nervously.
"What?! Where is he?" Tobias looks around wildly, but it seems like Marcus escaped. "Are you both okay? Did he talk to you?"
"We're fine. And no, he just stared at us from a distance." I say.
"Yes, he must have left when he saw you come in." Mom tells him, who is still looking around. "We are both fine, Tobias. Don't worry. But I sure am tired, so I should head home now. Beatrice, I had a lovely time with you, sweetheart." Mom hugs me close.
"You sure you'll be okay driving back home alone?" I ask her.
"Yes, I'll be fine, don't worry about me. I love you both. Stay safe." She says before hugging us again and walking out.
"Are you sure you're okay, Tris?" Tobias turns to me.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Tobias. I just wanna go home." I nod.
"Here, let me take your bags." He takes the shopping bags out of my grasp, then holds my hand with his free one as he leads us out of the restaurant.
"Hey, how'd you know we were in this restaurant?" I ask, curious as to how he popped up here out of all the places.
"You've been here before, and almost always after shopping. So I didn't have to think hard." He smiles.
"Wow, you know me better than I know myself." I squeeze his hand, smiling.
"Of course I do. I'm obsessed with you. And I also remember telling you that you'd have a great time today." He nudges my side, grinning.
"Yeah, okay, you were right." I giggle and lean against him, returning his smile. "Did you eat?"
"Yup, in the office with old Henry." He makes a face, making me laugh out again.
On the way home, his hold on my hand is strong. I relax into my seat and look out the window as we pass through the city, the lights bright. Then I feel like I'm being watched, so I turn my head to realise that Tobias's eyes are on me. They flicker over to the road and then to me, again and again. I don't know what's on his mind, but it's like he's making sure I don't vanish into thin air.
"Tobias, is something wrong?"
"You tell me. I feel like you're holding something back. Did Marcus do anything? Tell me the truth please." He asks.
"No, he just followed us from the mall and into the restaurant." I whisper, hesitating a little before deciding to tell him about the other day. "But...something did happen a while ago."
Tobias abruptly stops the car, slamming the brakes and turning to me with an angry look in his eyes. "What did he do? Did he hurt you? I swear I'm gonna end his life-"
"Tobias, breathe! He didn't hurt me. He only talked." I place my hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him.
"When was this?" He questions further.
"About a month ago, in the alley behind the bakery."
"And you're telling me this now?" He raises his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry, but this is the exact type of reaction I wanted to avoid." I shake my head. "You've got enough problems in your life already, with everything going on with me, I didn't want to cause-"
"Tris, you are not a problem. You hear that? Get that thought out of your head right now. And I told you, you can share anything with me." He takes both of my hands into his. "But I understand, I know I get a little too worked up when it comes to Marcus. I'll try my best to think and react calmly."
"I know, and I promise to not keep stuff from you, either." I look into his eyes, meaning my words.
"So why did you go out into the alley alone? You know it's not safe." He whispers.
"I was getting some stuff from the shipment trolley. He just happened to be there lurking in the shadows." I shrug.
"What did he say to you?" He leans in closer to me.
"He told me to stay away from you. That you were not what you make yourself seem to be. He said that you had the potential to hurt me...that you enjoy manipulating others." I roll my eyes.
"I knew it. That asshole won't ever let me live my life in peace." He shakes his head. "Tris, whatever he said is-"
"You don't have to defend yourself, Tobias. I don't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth." I say, interrupting him.
He stares at me for a moment, his breath shaky. "You don't?"
"No. I've heard enough about him from you to know what kind of a person he is. The things he said were outright ridiculous. And I'd rather trust my husband over a complete stranger." I state.
Another pause follows, and he stares at me unblinking. "You trust me?"
"Of course, I do. I don't need to have my memories to know that you're a good man, Tobias." He looks at me for another moment before taking my face in his hands and crashing his lips over mine, kissing me with a deep longing. I cling to him just as tightly.
"You don't know what that means to me, Tris. Having you trust me." Tobias breathes against my lips, not letting me go too far away. "I promise to never break your trust, baby. Never." And he kisses me again, his words making me smile. Because whatever may happen, I know I can always count on him.
A/N: So...I'm finally back! I'm sorry for not posting in a long while, it's just been a hard few months. And thank you to everyone who waited around patiently for this story. Let me know how you liked this chapter!