Tris Conquers Her Fear

The Moment

Tobias POV

My sweet, perfect Tris. God, I know I missed her, but I didn't realize how much until I had her back.

As I listen to her tell me stories about her week, my mind wanders a little. One second I'm focused on this new idea of a Factionless Choosing Ceremony and the next I'm reminding myself to watch my hands.

I'm so glad that I wasn't the only one struggling with sexual needs this week. Tris was just as all over me as I was her. I fucking love that.

I give my input when she wants it. She comments that they talked about a lot of the things I mention. I smile as she continues on and on. She's obviously passionate about what she does.

Tris looks up at me mid-tangent and frowns. "What?"

"What do you mean, what?" I ask.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

I shrug a little. "I love listening to you talk about stuff you care about. It reminds me of what a good person you are."

"Tobias," she says sweetly. I get a small kiss before she begins to blush. "I don't mean to ramble, but I like to fill you in with everything."

"I'm not complaining one bit, Tris. I could listen to you all day." I kiss her forehead and trail my hand up her waist.

A few minutes later, she wraps up everything she wanted to tell me.

"Another Initiation. How do you feel about that?" I ask, wanting to hear her thoughts.

"I think it's smart. The Factionless are becoming like their own Faction because they are so big. And to think of how many failed their Initiations because they weren't so-called good enough. I'd like to see them get a second chance." She pauses. "There was definitely a point in time when I didn't think I'd make it. It scared me to think that I could be Factionless."

Tris runs her index finger over my chest, and I know that she is thinking about the first few weeks of her Initiation. "People like Edward and Myra. They deserved better. Peter is the one who should be Factionless."

I nod. They left because of that coward. The one who attacked Edward. And Tris. The thought makes me bitter. I take a deep breath to push the anger aside. "You're right, baby. Those two were more Dauntless than Peter will ever be."

I stroke her back in a way that I hope is comforting. I didn't really want this to turn into an upsetting conversation.

Tris presses a soft kiss to my chest. "Anyway, everyone else seemed to agree. It's just down to the communication aspect. Whether the Factionless leaders decide to accept the Erudite proposal."

I think of my mother and the way she has grown the Factionless into her own family. I don't know if she will be happy to see it broken up.

"Evelyn is stubborn, and she cares a lot about that group. She wanted me to leave Dauntless for them. I don't know if she will be too fond of the idea of people leaving. But then again, I barely know her anymore."

"It's just hard to tell. I'm glad that Erudite is taking care of the correspondence." A beat later, she groans. "Shit."

"What?" I'm automatically expecting bad news from her tone.

She looks up at me. "Jeanine said that depending on how it goes, we all might have to meet the following weekend. It seems like they want to get things moving quickly."

I can't help but smile at her annoyance. "And you don't want to leave me again, right?"

"It's the worst part of my job." She seems genuinely upset.