From Here On Out

fifty three

"And through the good times, And the bad times,"

Three Years Ago

"No matter what we do," Tris says, stepping into Tobias's arms that are opened for her. "what we say,"

"We always come home to each other." Tobias finishes for her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. Feeling her warmth flood into him, and her smiling up at him only warms him further. She had a way of with a single look, a single smile, of making him melt right there.

"No matter what we do, no matter what we say to each other," Tobias repeats the words as he looks down at her, unable to pull his gaze away from her mesmerizing blue-grey eyes.

"We always come home to each other." Tris finishes for him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Smelling the intoxicating scent of his skin, the soap and the wind, the scent of his aftershave and everything that makes him... him.

And slowly, but surely, Tris leans up and presses her lips to his. Sealing that promise they made to one another. Promising that no matter the fights they will get into, no matter the words that will be said, they will always come home to one another. Talk to each other, love each other through it all, and fix it together. No matter what.

| | | |

Present Day

Tobias's phone vibrates loudly in the passenger seat of his truck as he sits in the parking lot of the building where he had another AA meeting. Three days and he hadn't been home. He hadn't seen nor talked to Tris since that night and each day was getting harder.

The sky is dark, as night has fallen over the truck. The sky is almost black with no moon and hardly any stars to light up the darkness. It's just as depressing as the way Tobias feels.

Picking up his phone as it continues to vibrate, he looks at the caller ID to see that it's Tris. The picture of her, he has set for her contact, shows up. Her beautiful face looking back at him as she's adorned in white on one of the happiest days of their lives. Sending a stab to his heart, so he slides to answer, unable to look at her picture much longer.

He's silent as he answers, unsure of what to say or how to greet the woman he hasn't seen in days. He doesn't think anything he could say would be the correct thing to say.

"Tobias?" Tris asks, her voice soft on the other end of the line.

"Tris." Tobias says, in a tone just as soft and his is slightly uneven.

"Where are you?"

Tobias clears his throat, "Sitting in an empty parking lot. My meeting ended an hour ago, I haven't left yet."

He sounds pathetic. He could go home, he should go home. But Tobias feels shame, guilt and he feels like he doesn't deserve to go into a warm loving home right now.

It's quiet on both ends for a few minutes, both unsure of what to say to one another.

"Melody misses you." Tris says after a while of silence. A silence that screams emotions that neither person wants to feel.

Tobias knows he should be there, right now with his daughter. Holding her and loving her like the father she deserves, yet here he sits in his truck afraid to face her and her mother.

"I miss you." Tris's voice is almost a whisper, one that Tobias almost doesn't hear. Her tone is fragile, as if glass that could shatter at any moment. Tobias wonders if she has tears building in her eyes, as he knows sometimes what that sounds like in her voice, and this is it. He questions how she can miss him after what he said to her, how he treated her.

"I miss you too." Tobias speaks the truth. The truth that makes his heart ache with a pulsing pain. He wants nothing more to hold his wife close and tell her how much he loves her. He wants to kiss her, tell her he's sorry that he messed up. He wants her to know just how much she means to him. But he can't find the will to go home.

"No matter what we do," Tris's voice is calm all of a sudden, her tone still soft almost as if she's reciting a lullaby. "what we say,"

Tobias remembers exactly what she's saying, something they promised to each other long ago. And another promise, that he has ultimately broken.

"We always come home to each other." Tobias says, finishing it for her. His voice breaking just enough for Tris to hear, and all he wants is Tris right there beside him. To feel her touch, to hear her voice up close, to see her, to kiss her, to hold her.

"Come home to us Tobias," Tris tells Tobias softly, a small plead. "please."

Tobias swallows down the tears that are lodged in his throat and he can picture Tris's face in his mind. Her honey blonde hair shimmering, her blue grey eyes taking his breath away, her smile making his heart skip a beat.

"Do you think," Tobias pauses to take a breath. "Do you think you could meet me at our spot?"

He needs to see her, and he wants to see her at the place everything good and everything bad in their lives have happened. The spot that will forever be theirs.

"I'll be there," Tris tells him, not even having to think about it. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll see you soon, I love you Tris."

As the call ends, Tobias starts up his truck. For the first time in days, he feels a small ounce of relief. He feels lighter, he feels like when he sees Tris, he could go home with less guilt and heartache for the things he said and did.

Driving the short distance to the bridge, he parks his truck. Taking his phone and stuffing it in his back pocket, he walks that familiar path he was walked so many times before. Thinking of all the times he and his love have stood overlooking the water, all the ups and downs of everything that has happened in their lives. All the things that have pulled them apart and the things that ultimately brought them back together once again.

Standing there in the night that has grown chilly, Tobias looks down at the water that in the dark is as dark as ink. He can hear the water and the sounds of the city, it's calming as he waits for Tris.

With time passing, his phone buzzes in his back pocket. Taking out, expecting it to be Tris, he answers without checking who it is.

"Hello?" He answers, expecting Tris to tell him she's almost there, or that Melody has slowed her down getting there. But what he hears next, was something he never thought he would ever hear.

"Tobias Eaton? I'm afraid to inform you that your wife Beatrice Eaton was in a car accident."

A/N: I'm trying to make my writing for these chapter better than they have been, and I think this chapter is meeting that. I hope you liked it, and stick around for more drama and FourTris moments coming up.