Tobias's POV:
"And then you just kinda swirl it around." Tris says to me as she shows me how to paint. It's Halloween today and we decided to hand-paint pumpkins.
She asked me what we usually do, and when I told her that we were going to decorate pumpkins, she was immensely excited about it. And so here we are, in our backyard, painting giant pumpkins. I can tell that mine is already a huge mess, as it always is, yet I cannot help but enjoy doing this with her. I look at her beautiful smile, and my heart flutters when she reaches over to guide my hand around.
"I think I'm getting it." I smile at her, dipping the brush into the paint again before moving it around. I decided to paint a fiery pumpkin surrounded with big red flames. Finally done, I sit up and shift over to her side, wanting to see the finished result from the front. My face drops when I see it, realising how uneven it looks. "Or maybe not. This looks like it was made by a four year old."
"No, you did a great job, Tobias." Tris kisses my cheek. "Mine is even worse than yours."
"Don't lie to me, baby." I narrow my eyes at her, looking at her perfectly painted smiling pumpkin.
"I'm not. I like how it looks. And it was made by you, so it's even more special." She smiles.
"You're too good to me, Tris." I grin as I lean in to peck her lips.
I'm loving these simple moments we get to share where we just want to be near each other. Tris has adjusted well to our life, and our home, and our routine, and she's doing so much better these days. There were a few blocks in the road, but we have always emerged to the other side. I think she likes the idea of us just "dating" right now, and I'm more than happy to be able to spend time with her.
"Okay, now they just need to dry." She says, and I help her place them to a corner.
"You know, we could use these as decor for our house after today." I tease her as I get to my feet.
"That's a great idea!" She laughs.
"Please, no. I was just kidding. I don't think I would survive looking at it everyday." I shudder, thinking how crazy mine looks.
Tris giggles as she stands too, taking the rest of the brushes from me. I follow her inside and help clean everything and pack up the paint set away. As I look at her again, I can't deny how much fun I had doing such a simple activity. Tris makes everything so wonderful.
"So, is this all we do on Halloween?" She asks as we wash our hands off of the colour.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it. Excluding the mandatory horror movie marathon." I grin.
"I don't really wanna watch a horror movie." She shakes her head, and I know the exact reason why.
"Don't worry. You won't be scared when I'll be holding your hand and making you laugh through the entirety of it." I wink at her.
"Really?" She raises an eyebrow.
"Yup." I nod.
"I'm starting to think the only reason we even watch the movie is because you get to hold me." She smirks.
"Damn, you exposed my plans!" I tickle her side, making her run away.
I chase her up the stairs and into our bedroom, finally grabbing her waist and pulling her into me. Tris beams up at me, her eyes sparkling with laughter. I grin and tickle her again, making her fill the room with the contagious sound. I only stop when she begs me to, taking mercy on her. We fall down onto the bed, still giggling.
"Tell you what, how about we skip the usual tonight and just go out for a fun date?" I ask her, an idea popping into my head.
"That sounds good." She nods, looking over at me.
Her stunning eyes hold my attention, and I stare back at her. I'm almost tempted to lean over and press my lips to hers, but Tris beats me to it. She reaches over, lifting her head as she moves towards me. I pull her close so she falls on top of me, and then our lips meet.
Our upper bodies are closer than they've ever been in months as Tris rests fully on me, and I can feel the softness of her breasts pressed against me. Moving my hands into her soft hair, I continue kissing her, tracing her lip with my tongue. But soon she pulls back, a sigh escaping her lips as she breathes heavily.
"Tris," I whisper as she moves away, sitting up.
I grab her arm as I sit up beside her, too, making her turn to face me. Rubbing my thumb over her cheek, I see the nerves behind her eyes.
"What's wrong, baby?" I ask her, making her meet my gaze.
"I'm scared." She whispers.
"Of what?" I ask but she shakes her head. "Please tell me, love. You promised you wouldn't keep things to yourself."
"I'm scared of how much I want this...want you." She finally says. "I've never felt such strong emotions and..."
I take in the meaning of her words, realising what she means, and my heart pounds faster. "Tris, I've never felt this way before, either. And honestly, I never thought I would, not until I met you. But trust me, this isn't a bad thing. It's okay to feel strongly." To love strongly. I almost whisper, but I know she's not there yet.
Tris nods slowly, her eyes studying my face. I lean my forehead on hers, and see her visibly relax a little. Her hand laces with mine, and she finally smiles a little. I immediately grin back, kissing her softly again.
"So, this date...where are you planning on taking me?" She asks.
"Nope, not telling you that yet." I shake my head.
"Ugh, another surprise?" She whines.
"You don't have to wait long to find out, baby." I stand up.
"We're leaving now?" She raises her eyebrows.
"Yes, come on!" I pull her along with me into the closet.
"But what should I wear?" She looks at me with confusion.
"I'll help you pick something out." I look through her side of the closet, remembering exactly where she wore each outfit. I also remember how I took each one off of her body. Trying to keep my thoughts decent, I eventually pick out a pair of comfortable black jeans and a full sleeved dark maroon top. It's gonna be cold out. "Here."
I grab clothes for myself then walk out of the closet, changing in the bedroom. As I put on the pair of jeans and a thick brown button-up shirt, I think back to how we spent Halloween last year, and how different our lives looked. We carved out some pumpkins, and Tris made delicious pumpkin bread with the leftover pulp. Later, we spent the night snuggled up under the covers, watching a horror movie.
Tris would jump at the sudden loud sounds, always hiding in my arms afterwards. I smile at the memory, but I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the closet door opens and she slowly walks out, looking absolutely beautiful. The top fits snugly around her chest, accentuating her curves, and I have a hard time controlling myself.
"You look gorgeous, Tris." I whisper, looking over the necklace around her neck, the same one I gave her. She almost always wears it around.
"Well, you picked the outfit." She blushes, lifting a shoulder.
"What can I say, I have great taste." I grin and take her hand. "Shall we?"
"Yes, let me just get my bag." She goes to grab her stuff and puts it into a small black shoulder bag. Then we climb down the stairs, putting on our shoes and coats before heading out.
In the car, I keep looking over at Tris, who has a small smile on her face. She takes her coat off after a while and gets comfortable, the heater warming her up. I admire how absolutely flawless she looks. She could be wearing anything and still look stunning, but the maroon top makes her skin glow. Not to mention her beautiful hair that falls over her shoulders like a golden waterfall. She's breathtaking.
She absentmindedly plays with my fingers as she looks out the window, trying to figure out where we're going, I'm sure.
"The suspense is killing you, isn't it?" I ask her.
"But you seem to enjoy it." She states, looking at me.
"It's just a little amusing to see you trying to figure it out." I smile.
"I'm starting to wonder why I even agreed to this date." She shakes her head.
"Oh, baby, I promise you are going to have a lot of fun." I kiss her hand.
"We'll see about that." She says, but I catch a smile on her lips.
We drive for a while, talking about nothing in particular. The sun is starting to set, but there's still plenty of light outside. And soon, I pull over into a parking lot. We climb out of the car, realising it's warmer out here than the rest of the town. We decide to ditch our coats in the car. She doesn't ask me where we are, and I quietly lead her towards the entrance.
"Oh my god!" She gasps when she reads the sign ahead saying 'October Carnival', a huge smile on her face.
"So?" I ask her, grinning.
"Tobias, I can't believe it! It's been ages since I've been to a carnival and I...thank you for bringing me here!" She turns and throws her arms around me, hugging me close.
"Anything for you, Tris." I stare into her eyes, smiling. "Come on now, let's go have some fun!"
We walk around the big open space, stopping at various booths to look at what kind of activities they offer. We stay at one to watch trained dogs perform various tricks, which is highly impressive. Then we move on to a game of soda toss, where I win a big bottle of soda.
Noticing a sign saying 'Self Photography' ahead of us, I smile and drag Tris towards it. We put in a few cents in the machine then enter the booth. It is too small for my liking, but I hold Tris in my arms as we smile goofily for the camera. And I'm sure it captured a couple photos of us kissing too, as we used the private booth to our full advantage.
Tris holds my hand tightly as we walk around more, not wanting to get lost in the crowd. As it's Halloween, most people are dressed up in elaborate costumes and masks. I just hope we don't get separated. The day turns dark soon, and all the booths and rides light up, making the place glow. There are several tall heaters all around to keep everyone warm too.
I lead Tris to a pizza shop after a while, both of us hungry. We get two large slices of cheese pizza and enjoy them thoroughly, chugging on the soda I won and laughing like idiots. Tris looks at me with the biggest smile and leans over to kiss me abruptly, and I kiss her back, smiling against her lips too.
After eating, we go to try a game of balloon pop. There are around thirty balloons stuck on a board that rotates wildly on the wall, and using a dart we have to pop a single red balloon that's in the middle. I try my luck first, but only manage to pop the yellow balloons on the outside.
Tris goes next, taking her time to lock the target and then throwing the dart straight ahead. I watch in awe as she hits dead centre, immediately popping the red balloon. Everyone around us cheers loudly for her, and the booth owner rewards us with a small stuffed teddy bear.
"Damn, that was really impressive." I say, kissing her cheek.
"Thanks! I had no idea I could do that!" She laughs.
We sit at a bench for a few minutes then, tired of walking around so much. I have not seen her this happy in months, and I feel glad that I brought her here today. I notice that she's looking at the giant Ferris wheel further ahead, its rim lit up with bright lights as it rotates. She would never say it herself, because she knows I hate heights, but I have made my decision already. I'm going to go on it with Tris, for Tris.
"Hey, you wanna ride the carousel?" She asks me instead, and I nod, leading her to it.
The carousel has all kinds of animals hanging from the metal rods on top, and we decide to sit together on the elephant as it's bigger and can hold two people. Tris sits in front of me, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her close and smiling into her neck. Soon the other spots are taken up and the ride starts moving.
We both laugh, feeling the cold air hit our faces as we ride around in circles. The parents of some of the children on the ride look at us like we're crazy, but I don't give a damn. I never thought I'd be able to feel like a kid again, or ever enjoy the cheap thrills in life, but this moment of pure joy has only been possible because of Tris. And I'm forever grateful for her.
When we get off the big elephant, we both stumble a little on our legs because of all the spinning, and burst out laughing again. I hear a little boy clapping and laughing with us, still sitting on the wooden zebra on the ride. We look around for his parents, but don't see anyone. Tris walks over to him, helping him down gently. They talk about something, I can't really hear it from here, and Tris gives him the little stuffed teddy she won, watching him run away to his mother.
Something about the whole interaction makes me feel warm, and I open my arms for my wife when she walks over. Hugging her close, I press my face into her hair, breathing her in. She slides her arms around me to return my embrace.
"Tris." I whisper.
"Yeah?" She hums.
"Let's go on the Ferris wheel." I say into her ear.
She pulls away from me to look at my face. "You don't have to, Tobias."
"But I want to." I nod. "Trust me, I'll be fine."
"Tobias..." She hesitates, but I drag her along.
"I want to do this for you, Tris." I say. "And if I remember correctly, I owe you a ride."
"You're incredible." She whispers, smiling a little.
We quickly get in line to go on the Ferris wheel, sitting on the small bench inside the hanging car together. Tris takes my hand in hers, squeezing it gently. And then, the wheel starts rotating slowly, carrying us up. I try to keep my breathing even, avoiding looking anywhere except Tris.
I watch as she looks down at the city, her eyes sparkling. "This is so surreal." She whispers.
When she turns her head, she sees that I'm already gazing at her. My breathing shallows as I feel a weird pull in my stomach, feeling us go even higher up. But Tris distracts me efficiently, turning to fully face me and taking my other hand into hers.
We sit facing each other, and for a long moment, I forget that we are high up in the air. There's nothing else except us, like we are in our own little bubble. There's nobody but Tris as I stare into her blue-grey eyes. For a split second, I think I see something flash behind them, but then she moves closer to me, bringing our lips together for an intense kiss.
My heart races as I kiss her harder, moving my hands around her body. I pull her even closer, till she's almost on my lap, her legs resting on mine. Twisting my short hair between her fingers, she matches my enthusiasm and kisses me back passionately.
And then before we know it, it's time to get off, I can't believe I did it. Our smiles match as I intertwine our fingers and lead us out of the car, pulling Tris along and running to a relatively private spot in the dark. We breathe hard as we stop and I turn to her, grabbing her face into my hands and leaning down to taste her lips again.
I never thought I'd feel so young and free and happy, but Tris makes me. She's the light of my life, and I was in such a dark pit after her accident. But now I know that I will do anything to hold onto her light. When we pull back, our eyes lock for only a second before we start laughing, the adrenaline coursing through our veins.
"I don't think I'm afraid of heights anymore." I murmur.
"Really?" She grins up at me.
"Mm-hm. And even if I ever feel scared, I'll just think of you, and us, up in the Ferris wheel." Tris blushes at that, biting her lip. When she shivers a little, I rub my hands along her arms and pull her into my body. "You cold?" I ask her.
"Yeah." She answers, and I wrap my arm around her. Making our way through the crowd, we decide to head home. It was a perfect day, but we're both exhausted.
As I'm leading her to our car in the large parking lot, something unexpected happens. It all goes by in a flash. A man wearing a black mask dashes from beside us, snatching the purse from around Tris's shoulder and running away. We stand frozen in place, before all my tiredness disappears and I get into action.
"Tris, get into the car." I give her the keys and run after the man.
"Tobias!" I hear her yell after me, but I don't stop.
I sprint at full speed and see the asshole trying to run away clumsily. Did he really think that he could get away with it? There's panic in his eyes as he turns his mask clad face to see me right behind him. He tries to pick up his speed, but I'm faster than him and I chase him down, catching him by the collar of his shirt.
"Stop!" I yell and yank the mask off of his face.
"Stay back!" He says weakly, the panic rendering him speechless. "I have a gun."
But I just laugh, not believing him for a second. He tries to hit me in the face, his fist going towards my jaw. I dodge it and push him back, making him fall to the ground. He scoots further back, trying to get away from me helplessly.
"I suggest you hand me the purse back before I cause some serious damage to you." I threaten him, and he shakily gets up, hands me the bag and runs away.
I turn around to go back to the parking lot, but I see Tris standing there at the end of the street. Did she follow us all the way down? She should've waited in the car. When I get closer to her, I see her face. Although I can't read her expression properly, she doesn't look pleased.
"Tris, why didn't you wait in the car?" I ask as I walk up to her, rubbing her shoulders to create heat. But she pushes me away.
"What the hell was that, Tobias?" She asks.
"I was getting your purse back from that fucking thief. What do you think?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"How can you be so nonchalant? What if he really had a gun? What would you do then?" So she heard the whole thing.
"I couldn't not do anything, Tris. I couldn't let him get away with your stuff!" I tell her.
"Do you even listen to yourself? That could have turned really dangerous really fast! You should have just let him go." She is really mad now.
"No! I had to go after him! But it doesn't matter anymore, I got your purse back." I hand it to her, but she drops it to the ground.
"Who cares about the purse, Tobias? What if something had happened to you? Don't you see how dangerous that was? What if he really had a gun? What if he had shot you? I can't have the man I'm in love with go about being so irresponsible! And you can't just leave me alone in the car and expect me to wait-"
"What did you say?" My breathing stops and my whole body goes numb.
"I can't have you acting so careless, Tobias-"
"No, before that." I whisper, my heart picking up its pace. "You said- you said you're in love with me?" I breathe out, my hands shaking a little.
"Oh." She pauses, realising what she just said. "I, uh, I've been thinking about it for a while now." She whispers slowly before looking into my eyes. "I knew I was falling in love with you. I just wasn't sure, or maybe I was...I didn't fully know what I was feeling but I do now...Tobias, I love you."
As soon as the words leave her lips, my heart swells so big that I feel it will explode out of my chest. I stare at her face as I take her in my arms, not being able to have any distance between us. This is the best moment of my life.
"Tris, are you sure?" I ask, wanting her to mean what she said.
"Yes. Tobias, I don't need to have my memories to know that you are the best person I've ever met. I knew it from the moment I met you. You are everything I've ever wanted, Tobias. And even though the universe played a cruel joke on us by snatching away my memories of you, it can't keep us apart." She says, her voice firm and clear as she speaks.
"Tris." Is all I can get out as I look at her through the tears welling up in my eyes. She loves me. My wife who lost her memories, who forgot ever meeting me, has fallen back in love with me. Somehow this is even more special than the first time she confessed her feelings for me. And all I can do is pull her closer till our lips meet.
We stand there under the streetlight in the cold night air, our arms clinging onto each other, our breaths mixing and our lips moving together desperately, trying to get past everything that happened, everything that kept us apart all these months, and trying to erase the lost time. It almost works.
My tears wet her cheeks when we pull away, and I can't hide the huge smile that spreads on my face from the joy I feel in this moment. As I hold her close, and she wipes my cheeks, I speak the words that I mean from the bottom of my entire being: "I love you, Tris. More than you will ever know. And I'm gonna keep loving you. Today, tomorrow, forever."
A/N: Hey guys! How's everyone doing? I had so much fun writing this chapter! Did you like it?