wait

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"Wait for me, Tobias."

She held onto his jacket, not allowing him to move further than three inches from her face. Tobias laughed at her, putting his hands on her waist instead of pulling away. She was scared he would pull away, scared his fear of public affection would get the best of him.

They were at the Chicago O'Hare Airport. Tobias had to get on a plane that left in four hours. The plane would take him to his first boot-camp for the Army.

Tris was scared out of her mind. They had only been dating for a year, but had been friends for longer. Not only was Tobias her boyfriend, but he had been her best friend for as long as she remembered. They were neighbors and their parents were co-workers, just as it had been when they were children.

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" He pulled her closer, their lips now an inch apart. "You're the one who is staying behind."

"Not what I meant." Right as Tobias leaned in, trying to get the kiss he wanted, Tris pulled away and laughed at the expression on his face. "I will be eighteen when you get back--"

"Which means you can finally have an overnight?"

"No." Tobias grinned at how annoyed Tris became, but held tighter when she went to pull away. "I mean, yes, but not what I meant either."

Tris laid her hands flat against his chest, the promise ring on the third finger of her left hand shining in the bright, fluorescent lights above them. Tobias glanced down to it before bending his neck to kiss her forehead. It was nearing the time when he would need to pass security and get his bags checked. But neither of them acknowledged that fact.

Not until an alarm went off on Tobias's phone, and he pulled back. "I should go," he said.

Quickly, Tris jumped up and circled her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. He kissed her back, with the same passion and feeling, standing and kissing where strangers could see. When he pulled back, Tris still had yet to open her eyes because she didn't want him to see the tears that would fall if she opened them. Her heart ached and her cheeks hurt from holding in the sobs that she would only let free when she was alone in her car.

"Tris," he murmured. He was still holding her, his arms around her waist. "Look at me."

When she did open her eyes, moving her head away from where she hid it in his neck, Tris blinked away the tears that gathered in her eyes. Tobias set her down just so he could wipe them away. With his hands grasping her face softly, Tobias said, "I love you. I'll be back before you know it."

Leaning into his touch, Tris took his hands away from her face after a second. She kissed the palm of his left hand, folding it into a fist and saying, "I love you too."

She watched him as he walked away, watching as Tobias kept his hand in a fist until she couldn't see him anymore.

+++

The laptop ringed loudly, sitting open on her bed. Tris froze, the toothbrush hanging out of her mouth with suds all over her bottom lip as she leaned out to look at the contact of who was calling. Her eyes went wide and she ran out of the bathroom, sitting on her bed and clicking accept fast.

Her boyfriend's face popped up, smiling. He laughed after a minute, recognizing how she looked. Tris directed her eyes to the bottom right of the screen, getting up from the bed and moving back into the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth. She set the computer on the back of the toilet, directed towards her.

She hadn't seen Tobias's face ever since he left. It had been letters for weeks, back and forth, and only when he was able to. Every moment she got with him needed to be used wisely.

"Hey," he said, the small smile back.

Tris wiped her face, holding her toothbrush in her hand as she said, "How are you able to do this? I thought the requirements were no chat with anyone outside camp."

"Since we only have a few weeks left, we're allowed an hour of video chat with whoever." He directed his camera to the left, where Zeke was sitting on his bunk, talking excitedly to someone on his own laptop. Shauna, probably. Or Uriah. Maybe they were together, but Tris didn't care as she saw her boyfriend's face again. She finished brushing her teeth, fixed her messy hair from the night before, and moved back to sit on the bed.

For moments, she just stared, marveling at how she was able to see him so early. Tobias glanced away from the camera, said something about her to whoever was off camera, before looking back. At the same time, they said, "I miss you so much."

"Four weeks," Tobias said, "And then I'm home for ten days--"

"I don't want to talk about that just yet."

God, she wanted to marry him. He would not get leave after that ten day period, but Tris couldn't even wait that long.

"Listen--I need to talk to you about something."

Tris went pale. She could see her face lose the color, the blush in her cheeks seeing Tobias again. It was easy to see that she was panicking and Tobias widened his eyes, leaning closer to the camera. "It's not bad, Tris. It's not." He closed his eyes, cursed quietly, and then looked up. His eyes were brighter when he opened them. "I need you to go into the second drawer of your nightstand." He waited until she leaned back, doing what he said.

It was also easy to tell when she saw what he had asked her to get.

"I know it's early," he said as she picked up the case and sat back in front of the camera. The diamond gleamed up at her, as big as the nail on her first finger. The band was gold, and Tris swore it looked familiar. "But I sent a letter to your father a few weeks ago, asking his permission." The conversation in the background where Tobias was seemed to quiet down. "To marry you. He said that ring was your mother's engagement ring, and you used to stare at it all the time as a child, saying it was the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen, next to--"

"The color of your eyes." She remembered now. Tris blinked, causing tears to fall down her cheeks as she looked back to Tobias.

He smiled as soon as he had her gaze again. "Right. So he got it resized to fit your finger, so I could do this today. And I hate to be doing this over video, but I couldn't wait. Do you think you can plan a wedding in a month?"

Letting out a laugh, Tris wiped her cheeks and said, "I can try."

At that moment, her mother, already crying, walked into the room, holding her phone up as if she was videoing what was happening. Her father stood next to her mother, offering another hand to the phone so it wouldn't shake or drop.

"Okay, are your parents there? Because I promised I wouldn't do this without them." When Tris nodded, Tobias looked at her only and said, "Will you marry me, Tris?"

Then, she was nodding , over and over again, finally saying the one word, "Yes. "

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