The Heart's Melody | ✅

Chapter 23: Changes

Saturday morning Tris woke up unusually early. She untangled herself from her fiancé's embrace and quietly left the bedroom. She closed the door carefully, glancing one last time at the naked form sleeping in the king sized bed and smiled to herself.

She picked up Tobias' shirt that landed next to the sofa and put it on. The suite was warm, but she loved how his shirts smelled of him and made her feel like she was home. Because that's what this was: home. Wherever he was she knew she belonged.

The day before, Tris picked up her acoustic guitar because she just wanted to play a little. It often happened that while Tobias would read a book or do some work on his laptop Tris would softly play or compose new music.

Tris leaned into the comfortable chair closest to the window and started playing. She didn't even know why she picked that tune, but it was like someone was humming it in her ear. Marlene often teased her by saying that her muse lived in her right ear. Tris chuckled. It was too early to order breakfast and she wanted Tobias to be up before she ate.

While playing she stared out the window. Her life was perfect or as perfect as it could be. She had great friends, she got along with her folks, she had a promising musical career and most of all she had Tobias. How could she ever hope to be good enough for him? But for some inexplicable reason he picked her. Her. Tris, over all the other women. She was proud but also a little scared. She wanted to be a good wife for him, because he deserved it. She knew his heart and it was the biggest that ever lived. He did so much for others and asked for so little in return. And it wasn't just for her. He would sit with Marlene on the couch after she had a breakup, despite his own date night. Tris never objected, because she loved Marlene just as much. And even if she and the youngest Eaton weren't BFF's she was Tobias' sister and she couldn't deny him to be there for her. He even helped Uriah be more responsible and make him see reason when he was all childish and acted macho. He offered Lynn to help her learn some karate since he was very good at it, all the while Marlene and Tris just worked out and occasionally watched them spar. Tobias helped Natalie and Evelyn to organize fundraiser events and whenever he could he would volunteer at soup kitchens. He actually convinced the quartet to join him and after a few protests they agreed and realized that it wasn't quite that bad. Yeah, Tobias Eaton had this warmth and light surrounding him. A good person with a great heart. Tris vowed to make him as happy as she could and try to be a better person herself, because he made her one, whether he intended to or not. And each time she looked in the mirror she was proud of the woman she had become: strong, confident, loving, caring, each day more selfless and it wasn't even that hard. He made her want it. He never asked for it, but by the way he treated her with devotion and respect she saw a side of the human condition she never explored. He made her widen her own horizon and see beyond her own pain, grief and darkness. Her friends helped her a lot during the time after Drew, but it was after she truly and deeply fell in love with this man that she saw life in a different light.

Life didn't end with marriage, it just began.

Tris picked up her guitar and started playing softly it wasn't a particular song just some notes in her head that sounded good and she tried them out. But soon a melody formed and she could hear lyrics intertwine with the tune. Oh God, the muse had mercy on her and whispered the love song she so desperately wanted to compose; Tobias' song, the song that expressed her love for him and was a musical testimony of her undying love and devotion for him.

She got so excited that she quickly fished out her notepad where she had written down all the things she loved about him. As sudden as the tunes rang in her head, as quickly the words on her notepad rearranged creating lyrics.

Tris wrote and erased and wrote again line after line until she was satisfied. Nothing less than perfect was acceptable.

Unbeknownst to her, Tobias woke up and looked for his future bride, when he heard soft music coming from the living room. He didn't have anything else other than his briefs in the bedroom and quickly put them on. He tip-toed outside making no noise and listening to his fiancée creating music. It wasn't the first time he witnessed it and he was certain it wasn't the last either. Sometimes she would get so lost in creating her music that she wouldn't hear or see anything around her. He just wanted to approach her; she couldn't see him, since she was sitting in the armchair with her back to the bedroom door, when he heard her sing. At first it didn't make sense but as she continued and mumbled to herself "not good enough" or "that's not really him" he had a feeling she was composing something for him. He decided to wait a while longer and see how far she would get before huffing in frustration as she so often did before resuming altogether.