Allegiant alternate ending

Chapter 59

I got back from a long day of shopping with Christina and dropped my bags as soon as I stepped inside and kicked the door behind me. Tobias was lounging on the couch with a paperback. He glanced up and swiftly stood, then was at my side in a second, taking my bags upstairs. Before I could say anything, he was at the top of the staircase.
"Thank you!" I called, smiling to myself. I plopped down on the couch, letting out a sigh. Tobias descended the stairs and sat down beside me, turning my head and giving me a kiss.
"Did you miss me or something?" I laughed.
"I did," he smiled.
"Well I missed you, too," I kissed him. "What'd you do while I was gone?"
"Well, after breakfast I went for a walk. The rest of the time I mostly just watched some old TV shows and read."
"Oh. Nice."
He chuckled. "And on my walk, I went looking for new places to stay. I figured you might not want to live in this house anymore," he glanced in my eyes, saying what he wasn't.
"Because they're dead. And miles and miles away." I looked at him as I spoke, but then stared down at the floor instead.
"Uh...yeah," I could feel his worried gaze on me. I willed myself not to look up, but I did anyways. There, his beautiful blue eyes looked into mine. He kissed my forehead gently.
I stood up and walked towards the kitchen, trying to shake it off and resume the conversation. I started talking over my shoulder. "So, did you find anything?"
He stood up and followed me. "Yeah, loads actually. I also heard that the people who are forming our new sort of government is paying people for their acts and roles in this past..disagreement. I-"
"You can call it a war, Tobias. It doesn't bother me. We won, didn't we?"
"I don't know, did we?" He sounded a little cross, and hurt. "We lost so many people. So many people we cared about a lot."
"But we didn't lose them all. I have you," I walked towards him and wrapped him in a hug.
"But I almost didn't have you. That was hell for me, do you realize that?"
I stepped back from him, my hand resting on the counter. I squinted at him. "Four, of course I realize that, are you kidding me right now? Do you realize that I was the one that almost died? Me, not you. Because that was pretty freaking scary, going into that damn room thinking I probably wasn't gonna come out. And when he shot me.." I trailed off. "I'm just God damned lucky he was a scientist shooting with one hand and not a trained gunman using two. I get it, I'm your other half and whatever, and while I wasn't all there for that week, you were sitting there not knowing if I was going to wake up. But it was my life. I was literally in the dark. I thought I died. You at least had hope to hang on to that I wasn't dead yet. But I'm not dead or dying. I'm right here. And I hate how you always treat me like a wounded bird. Yeah, my mom and dad died, right in front of me, sacrificing themselves for me. And Tori didn't get to see her brother. And Caleb betrayed me." My voice quieted. I was trying not to cry. "I killed Will. But to get over that, we need to put it behind us. It freaking happened, I get it, but please, let's get the hell over it soon. Because if we don't, I think I'll lose my mind. I'm sorry, but you needed to hear that."
He stood in silence, just looking at me. Then, I blinked, and he was holding me close. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You're not a wounded bird, you're a strong bird." I laughed a little, despite everything. "I need to shut my mouth more often, really." He stepped back a little bit, still clasping my hands. "Ever since you were in the hospital I've been treating you differently and being way more protective. And I know you don't appreciate it. We just need to go back to the way things were, if that's possible. But, I didn't tell you the good news."
"What news?"
"Okay, so this new council, if you will, has offered us as a huge reward for everything we've done. We get to pick where we want to live in the whole city, even if it's run-down, and we can have it. If it needs upgrades or whatever fixing up, they'll do it. And we each get 200 points to spend on whatever we want. Isn't that great?"
"Wow. Yeah, that's really great. When do we get to pick?"
"Tomorrow. They want it done A.S.A.P. so they can settle in other people. But the catch is we have to make a decision tomorrow as well, we can't wait forever to do it."
"That makes sense."
"Okay. So tomorrow," He smiled.
"Tomorrow," I grinned back at him.