The Heart's Melody | ✅

Chapter 19: Testament of love

After the incident with Lauren Hamilton Tris felt ashamed and tried to avoid speaking to their families and since Natalie had everyone invited to have lunch at the Prior residence the next day Tris did everything humanly possible to avoid going there. She tried everything with Tobias, from offering mind-blowing sex to withholding it altogether (despite not being able to go through with her threat, which Tobias knew), nothing worked. He was even amused by all the excuses she came up with: indigestion, headache, PMS, she even said she thought aliens abducted her during the night and they should go to the hospital for a thorough check-up before Scully and Mulder would knock on their door. At that Tobias actually laughed out loud and barely managed to stop to catch his breath.

He told her that he would be by her side the whole time, but it wouldn't even matter because everyone was aware of what Lauren tried to do and Tris was right to defend her love and her man. Sure she could have done it more gracefully, but for once she was grateful that they dismissed her crazy behavior due to her youth. She reluctantly agreed to go and was somewhat glad because all the women congratulated her, even Natalie and Evelyn. She even heard Marcus and Andrew talk in the kitchen when she went to deposit the dessert plates. Andrew told his friend that he would never doubt his daughter again when she said she loved Tobias at which Marcus responded that with a fierce daughter-in-law like her he was sure that Tobias would have a lifelong marriage and he was looking forward to many grandchildren. At the mention of marriage and children Tris almost dropped the plates, but thankfully the wall behind her offered enough stability to not collapse because of her weakened knees.

Tris wasn't ready for the big commitment and even though she knew she and Tobias were going to be together forever she just couldn't see herself as a wife and mother. At least not so soon. But it happened often that she would sit in class and zone out her teachers, while scribbling her and Tobias' name next to each other in a heart.

Tobias was lying on the lounge chair on the backyard porch of the small house they rented near the ocean. They could have gone to a five star hotel but opted for privacy and solitude. Besides, they had everything they needed right there. Tris was just coming out to join him when she heard her phone ring. She picked it up of the end table in the living room and held her breath when she saw the caller ID. Eric. She debated for a moment if she should pick up or not. On one hand she missed her friend and wanted to know that he was okay, on the other however she was pissed that he had been gone for so long without even a note. And then there was Tobias. Things went great between them. She didn't want to jeopardize them by bringing up the other man. She was certain that she didn't have romantic feelings for Eric; she had time to process everything and both the talks with her therapist and her boyfriend helped her understand why she was jealous in the first place. She was selfish and she admitted it. She wanted Eric to remain her friend and focused on her. She knew it was wrong and she vowed that she would change her attitude and thinking. It was wrong not just toward Eric but also toward herself. She couldn't always rely on the man to rescue her. She had Tobias for that. And even so, she needed to learn to rescue herself and not have to rely on anybody to do that for her. She decided to answer the phone but remained inside the house. The door was open so Tobias would definitely hear her side of the conversation.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi, Tris," Eric said and his voice was foreign to her. He sounded weak, exhausted. She wondered what happened. "How have you been?" he asked her. She thought for a moment of what to say. She didn't want to just yell at him for leaving her. In the end, he didn't really leave her; he just left everything and everyone.

"I'm good, thanks for asking," she said politely, her answer automatic. "How have you been?" she asked in a casual tone but she was anxious to know where he was and why he never called.