From Here On Out

fifty five

"I know these storms will pass, And the sun will shine,"

Present Day

The room is familiar, a warmth Tris remembers and a happiness that she feels instantly. It is dressed in a gentle white and in arrays of beautiful flowers. She looks down and she's clothed in the dress of white she's worn only once before. And before her, stands Tobias, smiling at her with that twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes.

In her hands, are his. Rings slid onto their wedding fingers, the silver sparkling in the sunlight streaming in. It's a day she's lived once before she feels like, yet there's something about it that's new and different.

"I didn't mean the words I said to you Tris." Tobias's lips move and she can see him right there speaking to her, dressed up in his suit, looking dashing. But his voice, it feels like it's far away.

"And, I can't help but think that those words and our fight will be the last memory of me you'll have, if you go." His voice is floating far from the body in front of her, and he sounds as though he's crying. Tobias who stands in front of her has no tears of sadness, yet the voice escaping him is filled to the brim with sadness and pain.

"Don't leave me baby," Tobias cries and suddenly he disappears. "Melody needs you. I need you."

She is no longer in that magical place she said I do, she is no longer in her long dress of white, and Tobias no longer stands in front of her. No, now she stands in a place of darkness. Tobias's words boom in her mind, and she wants nothing more than to see him again.

"I need you so badly Beatrice," Tobias says, and she can feel his hand clutching tightly to hers. She wants with all her might to squeeze his hand, but she can't. "I've always needed you."

"I needed you that May day I ran into the bookstore, my clothes drenched in rain and trembling from the cold wind."

"I needed you that summer we fell in love, that summer I knew you were the one for me."

"I needed you that coming September, when I went to rehab for the first time. I needed you then, and every stay at rehab after that."

Drops of wet tears hit Tris's arms and she wonders if she too is crying, for she cries to open her eyes and see her husband. To tell him she needs him too, that she won't leave him.

"I needed you that time apart, when you left me, I needed you then."

"I needed you when you were with someone else. I needed you in my life."

"I needed you when I didn't want to need you, when I was dying of cancer. I needed you when I went through surgery and lost my mother. I needed you then so badly Tris."

"I needed you Tris, even when we hit some rough patches. I needed you through good and bad."

"I needed you that day I got down on one knee, and asked you to spend the rest of your life with me, for real that time. I needed you in my life for the rest of my days."

"I needed you Tris, that day we said I do."

"I needed you when I found out I was going to be a father. That we would have our baby girl. I needed you then."

Tobias chokes out a soft sob, one that breaks Tris's heart. "And Tris, I need you now. I need you more now than ever before, please. Darling, don't leave me."

| | | |

Present Day

She didn't look like herself. That was the first thing Tobias thought when he saw his wife laying in a hospital bed, her face bruised and cut in places. Her body dressed in a gown with an IV in her arm. They told him she would wake up soon, but her in that bed sleeping, it wasn't her.

She had the features he loved and remembered, but she looked weak and she looked in pain. Shauna and Zeke were watching Melody back at the house after Tobias called him in a rush on the way to the hospital. He may have driven faster than the night Tris gave birth, if that's possible.

He heard from her doctors, and they led him to her room. He sat in the chair beside her bed, and held her hand. Her hand that was frail in his, and spoke softly to her.

Apologizing for what he did, what he said. Telling her he needed her in his life, that he had always needed her. He just needed her to wake up.

"I love you Tris." He repeated countless times over, kissing her hand gently and then her cheek and forehead. His tears soaked up on her skin, and trailing down his face.

She couldn't leave him, not now, not everything they had faced and conquered together. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. They were to grow old together, watch Melody grow up, die together when their time came. Her time couldn't be now, could it?

"Life is full of ups and downs," Tobias begins to sing softly, his voice cracking and breaking. "And I can't change the world around,"

It was a song he had written a while back, but hadn't sung it to her yet. And now, he wanted her to know he was sitting there and wasn't going to leave her side.

"The only thing that I can do," He breathes out. "Is always keep on loving you."

Tobias cries harder, his love for Tris has always been great. It has always grown, through every twist and turn thrown their way.

Suddenly, her hand that sits tenderly in his, squeezes his fingers gently. Looking up at her, Tobias watches her eyelids flutter. Opening up, he is met with those orbs of blue and grey, the eyes he could stare into for a lifetime.

"Tobias?"

A/N: Thought this chapter was emotional?? Just wait for the next few! ;)