From Here On Out

fifty eight

"Turn the light off, go to bed, Tell me all about the day you had,"

Three Years Ago

Tobias stood standing in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection that looked straight back at him. Head to toe in black, as he fixed the tie he wore around his neck. The day was gloomy and it was just as depressing as he felt inside.

"Do you need any help?" Tris's voice floats into the bedroom, but he doesn't turn to look at her.

She walks in, and he can hear the soft movement of her heels. Soon she's standing beside him. She's dressed in black just like he is, but even in the darkest of colors she is still shining bright.

"I'm here Tobias," She whispers, and his eyes float over to look at her. "If you need anything, if you want to talk about it, if you just need a shoulder. I'm right here, and I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon."

It was the day of his mother's funeral, and that was a day he needed Tris more than anything else. He needed her presence beside him, letting him know he wasn't alone. He needed to hear her voice, even if she didn't expect him to say anything back to her. He needed to feel her arms wrap around him comfortingly, letting him know that she loved him even in his darkest hours. He needed to look in her eyes and let the grey-blue color wash over him and calm him. He needed Tris, that was the bottom line.

Tobias needed Tris like he needed air to breathe.

Tobias needed Tris like he needed water to live.

Tobias needed Tris as though she was the last lifeboat on a sinking ship.

Tobias needed Tris for she was everything in his life and more.

| | | |

Present Day

Night had fallen, and Tris's parents had taken Melody home for the day. Leaving Tobias to be the last one sitting in that same chair by her bedside. He hadn't left, he spent the entire past two days in the hospital. He wouldn't go home, he wouldn't even go home to change clothes. He was not leaving Tris. He wouldn't leave until she could leave with him.

"You have to be bored out of your mind." Tris says, that evening as Tobias holds her hand. She had told him he could leave for the night, but he refused to go home for sleep, a shower or new clothes. Tobias simply shook his head.

"It's not about me Tris, I don't care if I go crazy inside these hospital walls. I'm not leaving you. I'm not walking away, I did that too many times in the past."

As much as they promised to each other and believed that the mistakes of the past were behind them, there were times they would come up here and there. Like old bruises that are still uncomfortable if you pressed hard enough.

"Tobias." Tris shakes her head at her husband.

"You've changed." She tells him, and her words are filled to the brim with sentiment and sureness. What she says right now is the truest of all truths, and what he needs to hear and what he needs to know in that moment.

"Have I?" Tobias asks, pressing his lips softly to Tris's hand. Her skin warm and smooth beneath his touch.

"Yes, in so many ways Tobias that I can't even count them all."

Tris looks at Tobias and she sees a different man than the man she met years ago. The same beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous face, the same voice and same way about him. But he's changed in ways that betters him as a human being, betters him as a partner in life, and betters him as a father.

"You were young, you were naïve. You were carefree in a reckless way. But you've grown. You've grown up Tobias, you're wiser and you're a man who is carefree in living each day to the fullest kind of way."

"You had demons so evil that they destroyed everything about you, but you fought them. Even when I left you, you kept fighting. Because that's what you do Tobias, you fight. You're a fighter. You still have your demons, as we all do. But you have overcome them and you don't let them rule your life any more."

"There were times in the past that your first instinct was to run, and you would. You would run away from your problems or run straight to the bottom of a bottle. But now, you face problems head on. You're right, there were so many times that you left me when the going got rough. But here you are now."

"You're right here next to me."

"You've changed Tobias," Tris tells her husband who looks at her with his eyes filled with love. "you've changed into a better person. A father who loves his child endlessly. A husband who loves me more than life itself. You've changed into the man I always knew you could be Tobias, the man I fall in love with more and more every single day of my life."

Tris's words go straight to Tobias's heart, mending any doubt and any fear left inside of him. Leaving him with love and reassurance.

"I love you Tobias."

Looking into her eyes that couldn't be brighter, and feeling as though he's falling for her all over again, he smiles softly.

"Say it again."

"Tobias," Tris breathes out in a love and tears filled whisper. "I love you."

A/N: This chapter actually made me tear up, I found it so sweet and emotional! One of my favorites that I've written! ❤️FourTris moment and book reference for you all as well! :)