And In The End

16

March 15th
River's POV
I hug Kayla, thanking her for the clothes she got me for my birthday.

"Here, I hold onto it until you get back," she winks at me, shoving me toward Ash. Butterflies erupt in my stomach as I mouth "thank you" to her.

"Hey, you want to get out of here?" Ashton whispers, holding me up after I stumbled into him. I nod smiling. He grins at me, taking my hand in his.

"Four o'clock, Ri," Everest calls out as Ash and I walk away.

"Okay, mom," I say, looking back, finding him sitting with Kayla, his arm draped around her shoulders. She throws his arm off. Smiling at them, I turn away, leaning into Ashton as we walk deeper into the chasm, the sound of the water soon drowning out the fading voices behind us.
We walk along for a while before the path turns uphill once again. Ashton's hand on mine never falters as we walk up the slope.

"Where are we going?" I ask, tugging his hand.

"You'll see," he grins.

"I hate surprises," I mumble.

"Come on," he laughs.

We walk around the back of the chasm where a natural bridge forms over the water. The river continues to flow under it, sloping down and around corners until it is out of sight. Who knows where it goes. Ash leads me to the middle of the "bridge" and sits down, dangling his feet off the edge. I sit next to him doing the same.

"So you liked your gift?" he asks, looking down at me, his eyes gleaming.

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"The necklace." He points at the chain hanging around my neck. "I told Blakelyn to give it to you first thing when you woke up."

"No way," I laugh, pulling back. "She said it was from her!" Ash laughs.

"What a shit."

"Agreed," I laugh, leaning my head into his shoulder, his arms wrapping around my body.

Tris's POV
Not long after the boys got home, Bellamy runs back downstairs, freshly showered. He and Blakelyn immediately start talking, eventually leaving the living room.

"Can we go out for a bit?" Bellamy asks, smiling with Blakelyn.

"Where are you going?" I ask, skeptical.

"The net," Blakelyn says, pulling on her shoes.

"Okay, be back in an hour," I call after them as they run out the front door. It makes me smile, seeing how much of a bond the two of them have. Turning off the TV, I make my way upstairs into our bedroom, hearing the shower running. Grinning at the thought of our empty house, I take my clothes off and walk into the bathroom. Tobias stands in the shower, facing away from me, the water running over his face. With a grin growing on my face, I grab a shampoo bottle that was sitting on the side of the bathtub and jump into the shower, dumping shampoo onto Tobias's face. I start laughing hysterically.

"Tris!" he shouts, rubbing the soap out of his eyes. I can only laugh, moving closer to the warm water. Before I even have time to process it, Tobias picks me up, rubbing his soapy hair into my face. I shriek, burying my face into his neck, wrapping my arms around his neck. My hands find their way into his hair as I kiss his neck. Tobias's arms tighten around my waist, lifting me up. His lips are immediately on mine, his tongue exploring every part of me. I feel him place kisses on my shoulder, moving to my neck, then my jaw. He sets me back down, moving lower and lower down my body until he finds the place I want him to. My head rolls back, my body surging with euphoria.

"Tobias," I sigh, tugging on his hair. I feel him smile against me. As my climax builds, I become aware of every point of contact. My skin on Tobias, his on mine, the warm water running down me, all become more prominent. My senses overload, pulling strings of expletives and moans from me. Tobias pulls me up, kissing my lips once more. I pull back, smiling at him as I look into his eyes through the water. He grins, too, pulling my face back to his. My hands move over his body, preparing to please him as he did me.

"Mom?" I hear someone shout from downstairs and I immediately pull away. "Dad?" River shouts again. I giggle at the look on Tobias's face.

"One minute!" I shout back and kiss Tobias one more time before stepping out of the shower.

Tobias's POV
Tris giggles as we desperately pull on clothes.

"Coming!" she shouts to River in a sing-song voice. I can't help but laugh, too, pulling on a shirt. Tris grabs some shorts and one of my shirts, quickly trying to dry her hair.

"We'll finish this later," I whisper in her ear, tickling under her arms as we walk out of our room. She yelps, running ahead of me and down the stairs. I run straight into her at the bottom of the stairs, tripping.

"Tris," I mumble, trying not to fall over.

"Oh my God," River laughs. "You guys were busy weren't you?" I look up, finding River with some boy. "Ew, I need to get every image that just popped into my head out."

"Oh my gosh, you must be Ashton!" Tris exclaims, pushing me off her to hug the kid standing in my living room. With my fifteen-year-old daughter. I quickly connect the dots.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Eaton," he-Ashton-says, throwing River a smile over Tris's shoulder. River beams.

"Oh, please, you make me sound old. It's just Tris." Tris lets go of him, beaming at me. River takes a step forward.

"Dad," she says, carefully. "This is Ashton, my boyfriend."

"Boy friend?" I say, already feeling the anger rising. "With a space, right?" River shakes her head, slowly.

"Oh, calm down, Tobias," Tris whispers to me, placing her hand on my arm. River moves next to Ashton, taking his hand.

Be nice, she mouthes to me.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Eaton," he says, extending his hand for me.

"It's Four," I say, my jaw tightening as I shake his hand., quickly releasing it. The four of us stand there awkwardly.

"Well, this is fun," River says. "Can he stay for dinner?"

"Of course!" Tris says.

"Not," I say, finishing her sentence. She glares at me.

"Yes, he can," Tris says. She nudges me. I glare at Ashton. I don't like him.