How Allegiant Should Have Ended

Chapter 30

Tobias:

My new credit card appears to be burning a hole in my left pocket. A gift from Matthew, for saving the Bureau from its own demise, as he puts it. Later he tells me that I'm going to need some walking around money for my honeymoon.

I sit impatiently in our apartment building's lobby, on one of the couches that is by the entrance. I received a text from Christina a while ago that she was on her way down with Tris.

I shouldn't be nervous. But I can't help it. I wonder if all guys get this feeling, the sweaty palms, labored breaths. Is this normal or am I just being paranoid?

My suitcase sits to the side of me. I don't have any carry-ons. But I do have a new leather wallet in my pocket, if that counts. Matthew gave it to me to hold my credit card. For safe keeping I guess. I put our plane tickets in there as well.

I'll admit it, I was kind of shaky this morning after I bought our tickets. I mean, planes go hundreds, maybe even thousands, of feet in the air, and I'm just not sure if I'm ready to face my number one fear just yet. The only thing that reassures me is knowing that Tris will be there to hold my hand and tell me everything will be okay.

I left the apartment building early this morning, before most people were even awake, to buy our tickets. There's an airport about twenty minutes from here, and a small building three more minutes away where you can buy tickets. I approached the counter and sucked in a breath.

When the woman behind the counter lays her eyes on me, she immediately straightens her posture. A small smile comes creeping onto her face. Oh, no, I think. Well, maybe I can have some fun with this.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" she asks. She looks to be around my age with blonde, curly hair and blue eyes, but she's a couple inches shorter than me.

"I would like to buy two plane tickets," I say.

"Alright," she says. She slides a piece of paper over to me. "Just fill out this form and hand it back to me when you're done."

It's a pretty generic form. You put the names of who's all going and their personal information, then you write in your destination on a line underneath, and lastly you sign at the bottom under a paragraph that is basically just a long winded way of saying "If my stuff gets lost or if I'm injured, it's not your fault."

I slide the document back across the counter to the woman and she types it into the computer. "So you must be Tobias Eaton, then," she says.

"Yes," I reply.

"And this other woman, Beatrice Eaton? Is she like your sister or something?"

"No, she's my wife," I say with a small smirk. "And I love her," I include, just for the pleasure of it.

Her smile disappears just as easily as it showed up. I smile to myself. There's a momentary pause before she asks for my credit card. I give it to her and she swipes it on a machine, then hands it back to me.

"Here you go," she says, a hint of depression in her tone. She hands me two plane tickets.

"Thank you," I say. I turn and head out the door, wondering if she would've made a move on me if I had said Tris was my sister.

My phone rings, snapping me back to reality.

In the elevator now. Prepare yourself.

It's from Christina.

I take a deep breath. I can do this. I have nothing to be afraid of, except the flight. The exceptionally long, dreadful flight. Tris will be there, I tell myself. Tris is always there.

Tris is here.

The elevator doors open, and out steps Christina. She walks out and scans the lobby quickly trying to locate me. I wave a hand in her direction and she waves back once she sees me. She beckons to someone in the elevator to come out. Tris.

With a suitcase in one hand, slightly larger than mine, and a clutch in the other, she slowly emerges from the elevator. She's beautiful. Is it possible that she could have gotten more beautiful than when I last saw her? No, I answer myself. She cannot possibly be anymore breathtaking than she already is.

She smiles when she sees me, a hint of pink showing on her cheeks. The two girls walk over to where I am, and I make myself stand.

"Tobias, you look very handsome," says Christina.

"I appreciate your interest, but I'm taken." I hold up my left hand, with the gold band wrapped around my finger. Tris looks down at the ground and smiles. I smile, too.

"Well, it looks like everything's set," says Christina. "You have the tickets?"

"Yeah," I unfold my wallet and pull out the two tickets. "Two tickets to paradise."

"Where are we going?" asks Tris. Oh that voice, it's been days since I've heard her mesmerizing voice. She could say anything, absolutely anything, and I would be captivated.

"Ah, ah, ah," says Christina. "You'll see when you get there."

"Come on, please," she practically begs.

"Tobias, it's your call," says Christina, defeat clear in her tone.

"We are going to . . ." I pause for a moment.

Tris's eyes widen in suspense, and it suddenly becomes so terribly hard to hold in the surprise I've been keeping in all week. I look right into her those beautifully gorgeous eyes, and I want to tell her everything. I want to tell her where we're going, how much I love her, how beautiful she is, the effect she must know she has on me. I want to lay everything out there for her to see.

"The airport." I say.

She punches me lightly, as if giving up on trying to find out where we're going. I grab my suitcase in one hand and her hand in the other, and blissfully walk out of the apartment building of our past, and open the doors to our future.