Prior Rings

Chapter 38: Tris - Wedding

A/N: I ended up with more time to write this week than I thought, so you're in luck. This chapter is almost a week earlier than I expected!

Anyway, thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews of the last chapter. Thank you also to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie!

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Chapter 38: Tris – Wedding

I have never been more excited. It sends a sort of wild energy through me that makes it virtually impossible to stay still as Christina applies my make-up in her currently-very-messy room.

"Stop squirming," she gripes as she swats my arm. She's currently trying to use a brush of some type on my eyelashes. "If this smears, I'm going to have to redo everything from the last ten minutes."

"Sorry," I mutter, deciding not to aggravate someone who's holding a pointy object near my eyeball. But I can't keep the grin from returning to my face. It's impossible not to be in a good mood right now.

Christina smiles a little, too, despite the stern façade she's attempting to portray. "Just hang on for a few more minutes," she implores me. "I'm almost done."

True to her word, she sets the make-up aside a few minutes later and removes the cloth that was protecting my dress. She helps me to my feet next, walking around me and pulling at the fabric in a few places to make sure everything is right.

Finally, with a last tweak, she stands back to admire her handiwork. She's silent for so long that I start to worry.

"You look beautiful, Tris," she finally murmurs, her eyes starting to water. "Absolutely beautiful." Managing to smile despite her teariness, she gestures to the full-length mirror hanging on her bedroom wall and adds, "Take a look."

And I do, hesitantly at first, since the Abnegation instincts that are still deep inside me will never be comfortable with mirrors. But once I look, I can't stop staring. Despite how long it seemed to take, Christina kept my make-up light enough to appear natural. And somehow, she made me look flawless and radiant.

My hair is pulled back in a loose bun – a reminder of the first faction I shared with Tobias – and my short white veil flows from the back of it behind my head and shoulders, framing me and making me shine even more. It also accentuates the white pearl earrings that dangle from where they're clipped in place on my ears, since I never did get them pierced.

My shoulders are bare, leaving my face and dress to capture all the attention. And the dress is perfect. It probably started life in Candor, since when we selected it, it was white with an overlay of fine beads that turned gradually black as they descended down the skirt. But as her wedding gift to me, Susan spent countless hours replacing alternating lines of black beads with blue ones, causing the dress to reflect differently with every movement so that it now looks like a bit of every faction except perhaps Amity.

It's not a problem to leave that faction out. There's so much happiness radiating through me as it is that I don't need anything external to indicate it.

Slowly, I turn in place, watching the dress shimmer lightly, reflecting gray and blue and white and black as I gaze at my reflection.

"So," Christina asks, her voice a bit anxious, "what do you think?"

"It's incredible, Christina," I whisper, stopping to look at her. "Just…incredible." Her face lights up with a grin, and she reaches to hug me before apparently deciding not to risk messing with the beauty she just spent so long creating.