Waiting

Chapter 7: Planning

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to the wonderful BarbaraK2U, who has been beta-reading this story for me! There was apparently a lot of confusion about the "Yes" parachute in the last chapter. Tris didn't know that Tobias was going to ask her - that response chute was part of the proposal package that Tobias arranged. Basically, the instructor who was with Tris (Megan) could either deploy the "Yes" chute or not, based on what Tris wanted. She deployed it when she heard Tris shouting, "Yes! Absolutely! God, yes!" :-)

Chapter 7: Planning

"You know, I have nothing against Vegas," Tobias comments as Christina drags out the third book of the day. It's not like he didn't know that a wedding involves a lot of planning – he just never realized there was this much.

"I mean, seriously, do we really need to decide what color napkins to use and what color ink to use for our initials on them? People are going to wipe their mouths with them, not frame them on a wall."

Beside him, Tris gives a snort of laughter. "Sorry, Chris," she mutters, "but we have to draw the line somewhere." She nudges him with her knee before adding, "No monogrammed lip wipes."

Christina's mouth flattens briefly before she huffs, "Fine. Let's just pick the flowers."

But flowers extend to invitations and then to music and finally to Christina's ever-present concern about The Dress. By the time she leaves, Tris and Tobias are both thoroughly exhausted and more than a little aggravated with the entire planning effort.

"I have to admit that Vegas is sounding better by the minute," Tris grumbles as she snuggles into Tobias' side on the couch. "At this rate, we're going to have to make five decisions for every guest we invite. And spend some two-hundred dollars for each of them."

She certainly has a point. He has no family that he wants to have anywhere near the ceremony, and Tris' parents died a decade ago. So, she'll have her brother Caleb and his wife Susan there, and they'll invite their friends and a few close coworkers, but that still only brings the total guest list to twenty.

"Eloping works for me," Tobias murmurs as he strokes Tris' hair gently. It's soft and smells good and is always utterly irresistible. "I just want to marry you – I can't say I care much about the rest of it."

Tris smiles against his chest. "That's really all I care about, too." But then she sighs. "Except it feels kind of selfish to just go and get married without our friends. And without Caleb." Tobias can kind of understand that – Tris attended her brother's wedding, after all, and he's sure that Caleb would be hurt if he can't attend theirs.

"We don't have to elope," he says after a moment, "in order to scale back. We can do something simple, with a justice of the peace or something. It doesn't have to be Vegas or Christina's way – there are other options."

They both consider that for a while, before Tris asks, "So, we'd just hold the ceremony at City Hall?"

Tobias shrugs. "Or somewhere else. Justices of the peace will travel to other locations."

Tris nods a little, clearly still thinking. She sits up abruptly at the same time an idea occurs to Tobias. "The DMV," she exclaims. Her eyes meet her fiancé's as they both grin.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," he states.

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It proves to be difficult to schedule an event at the DMV. The space is only open limited hours, and there is no way to reserve it for special activities. On the other hand, no one there seems to be able to find a rule stating that weddings are not allowed on the premises.

So, they finally end up picking the day of the week – and the month – that they hear is usually the quietest, and they plan the ceremony for that time. Their friends think they're a bit nuts for the decision, but that doesn't really bother them. Everything about their relationship has been unconventional, so they might as well continue the trend. It certainly works for them.

They minimize the planning to go with their new venue, selecting simpler clothing and choosing to bring only a single bouquet of flowers. They'll go out to dinner afterwards, they decide, and they reserve a private room in a restaurant without consulting anyone. Christina whines at first, but once she realizes that this is truly what Tris wants, she gives in with more grace than Tobias would have expected.

There's still work involved, though, and Tobias finds himself sorting through the pile of photos and brochures and mail at the end of the week, wondering how even this simple option turned into twenty items on the kitchen counter.

He pauses when he opens an envelope that he initially thought contained more photos, instead finding a short, handwritten letter. His eyes skim the beginning before shock runs through him, and he stumbles onto one of the stools at their eating bar.

It's from his mother.

He struggles to process what it says, having to read it five times before the meaning can sink in at all. He's still staring at it when Tris gets home.

She joins him uncertainly, giving him a light kiss on the cheek and rubbing soft circles on his back.

"What's wrong?"

"It's...." He looks up at her, unable to form a response. Laying the letter down on the counter, he lets a small shudder pass through his body. "It's from my mom."

Tris' mouth hangs open for a moment before her gaze flies to the paper. "What?" The word is strangled, and somehow that fact comforts Tobias. As if it validates his shock and inability to process this.

"She...she says I don't know the full story, and she wants to explain." He shakes his head in confusion. "She wants to have lunch." The words sound utterly inadequate, even laughable. Like a lunch together could erase her absence from most of his life, or change the fact that she left him to be raised by a monster.

"I have no idea what to make of that," Tris whispers. She sits down carefully on the stool next to him, both of them staring at the sheet of paper as if it's a dangerous animal.

"You can read it if you want," Tobias murmurs after a long moment of silence. It's not like it says much beyond what he already told her.

She does, setting it down afterwards only to pick it up again and try a second time. "How did she even find you?" Tris asks abruptly. It's a good question. They don't have a landline that would be listed in the phone book, and they regularly make sure that their address doesn't appear anywhere online, in order to keep their abusers from locating them. Particularly Peter. Marcus isn't likely to come after Tobias now that he's firmly an adult, one with multiple black belts.

For a few seconds, they sit quietly, brows furrowed while they think. Tobias swears when he figures out what must have happened, but he doesn't state his realization aloud in case he's wrong. Instead, he rushes to his laptop, Tris following him nervously and watching as he does a quick search. And there it is, clearly displayed on the newspaper's website.

They had gone back and forth on whether or not to print a public wedding announcement. But Christina insisted that it was a standard part of the wedding process and might even be legally required, and eventually they gave in under the condition that their address wouldn't be included. Either Christina screwed up the instructions, or the newspaper made a mistake when printing it.

Their eyes meet, and there's no mistaking the fear in Tris'. She faced Peter remarkably well at the reunion, but that doesn't mean she wants him knowing where she lives. Who knows when he might show up, and with what type of weapon?

"I'll call the paper," Tobias says firmly, "and get it removed immediately." His expression turns fierce. "You can be the one to kill Christina."

A/N: Sorry that this was another short chapter, but hopefully it was interesting anyway. Please let me know what you thought.

By the way, the next two chapters will be up fairly soon. In the meantime, I'll also be updating my "Becoming Determinant" story  tonight.