All for You.

Chapter 25 - Mine

Chapter 25 - Mine

— Tobias

I'm scared this all was too much for her today.

I mean, she woke up this morning not even expecting to be told she could come home, and now here I am, on one knee, in front of her.

I didn't really plan to propose, but I knew I wanted to soon.

I love her.
I can't live without her.

She nods before speaking, her hands covering her mouth still in shock.

"Yes," she finally croaks out.

I rise, pressing my lips to hers.

I hear her single crutch fall, both her hands on my shoulders.

Everyone is cheering.
I never planned to do this in front of a crowd.

"I remember you saying you didn't like rings, so I didn't get you one, but I mean if you want one—"

"Definitely not," she smiles, pressing her lips to mine.

The time between her pressing her lips to mine that second time and us arriving at our apartment is basically a blur.

So many congratulations, so many comments, so much attention.

I could tell Tris was getting anxious. I know she loves her friends, especially everyone who was there to welcome her home, but she doesn't do well in open spaces with people.

It breaks my heart to see the look she gives me when she starts to panic.

At the same time I love that I'm able to make that look disappear.

Indy is beyond excited to see Tris again. She sits down on the couch and gushes over him while I put her bags in the bedroom.

"Hey, do you want dinner or something? Are you warm enough? Do you—"

"Can we talk?"

I sit down next to her on the couch and she puts her legs on top of my crossed ones.

For her to make this gesture and even have her injured leg this close to me shows how much she has changed the past few months.
She's comfortable.
Well, at least more comfortable with her leg around people.

"I don't want to get married right away."

I'm not shocked at all. "I wasn't thinking soon at all either. Whenever you'd like is fine with me."

"I really don't want something big. Quite honestly, I don't even want anything."

"Do you want to just elope?"

"Absolutely nothing until my leg is healed and I'm not on crutches."

She wants to settle.
Makes sense.

"Whatever you want, I want. All I want is to someday in the future have you be mine."

"Sounds like a plan," she smiles.

We sit together on the couch for a while, just taking in each other's company.

When she was in Erudite, I kept saying to myself  'Oh, I can't wait to tell Tris about this!' and 'Oh, Tris is gonna love hearing this one.' But now that she is here, I cannot remember all those things I couldn't wait to tell her.

I look over at Tris and see that she is staring directly at a blank spot on the wall.

"Hey," I touch her thigh. Her head shakes as she snaps from her thought. "You alright?"

"My mind is in so many places right now. Quite honestly, my mind is always in so many places I can't keep track of it, but now it's in even more places."

"What kind of places?"

"I don't even know, Tobias."

"Where is your mind right now."

"I'm always still there."

"At the building?"

"Yeah. Like, everywhere I look has something to freak me out. This past week I've been staring at the stairs in Caleb's apartment as if they were an enemy."

"Why the stairs?"

"I was thrown down them a lot, Tobias. He'd shoot me in the leg, then tell me to go up the stairs, so I'd crawl up them, and they were tall and hard cement, and then he'd push me down them."

"David?"

She nods silently, looking as if she has said too much.

I want to wake that bastard from the dead and watch him die again.

"I'm never going to let anyone ever do that to you again."

"I know." She smiles.

"I have to stretch," she comments, removing her legs from my lap and pushing off the couch to stand.

I stand with her.
I worry that she will fall and get hurt again and that all of this was for nothing.
I worry that someone will have a reason to take her from me again.

Her eyes meet mine as I move closer to her. I close the space between us, pressing my lips to hers.

I've missed her so much.

Her hands find my cheeks as mine hold her hips. Hers find their way to my shoulders and I notice how strong her grip is.

She's still fragile, Four. She doesn't have very good balance still.

She's aggressive. This isn't one of the soft kisses that we only have shared since she has returned.

A small moan escapes her and I feel myself smile. She slowly lowers herself back into the couch, probably unable to balance any longer, even with the support of holding onto me.

She lays back and I find myself hovering over her. Her hands run through my hair as my hands glorify her torso.

I've missed this side of her.

Our kisses become more aggressive, hungrier, more passionate.

My hand makes it's way under her shirt to hold her bare waist with my right hand.

Her skin is so soft. I feel myself leave goosebumps on her bare skin wherever I touch.

I kiss down her face to her neck, suddenly worrying if I'm talking things too far for her. Her hands find my bare back as my lips find hers again, our tongues colliding.

Her trembling hand eventually finds its way between our lips only to leave us both panting for air.

"Tobias, I— I want you in that way. I really do. I just can't right now."

"I know. I don't expect anything, Tris. You and I, we wing it. Don't ever feel pressured by me, please. And if you ever are, please slap me as hard as you can." I say with total honesty.

She smiles at me, her blue-grey eyes loosing themselves in mine.

I don't feel as if I'm going to loose control until she bites her bottom lip slightly.

I press my lips to her forehead, then free her from the cage of my arms and legs I created to not squish her in the process of our make out session.

Helping her stand, she wraps her arms around my torso. Her head comes just to my chest, barely below my shoulder.

Not only is it special that she is here, in our apartment, sharing the same air as me.

But she also stands, her arms wrapped around me, with two legs that she is able to walk on.

This girl is a fighter.
And I'm proud to call her mine.