Undaunted

22

Tris's POV
Tobias and I walk into the 'living room' to find everyone reuniting. Christina and Will sit on the couch watching River and Everest play. Uriah and Marlene stand in the corner hugging while Shauna lectures Zeke about his ear that almost got blown off. El, Maddie, and Lynn sit at the table. They seem to have become good friends. Once River sees us, she runs up, jumping into Tobias's arms.

"So, I guess we should figure out what to do next," Tobias says. Everyone nods and comes into the living room. I sit on Tobias's lap with River on mine while the rest of the group gets settled.

"So what happened out there?" Will asks. Zeke explains about the bombs and the outsiders' plans. He tells them that Amity has been bombed (Maddie took that the hardest), along with Abnegation and Candor. Luckily, we were able to save most of Abnegation and Candor.

"Now everyone is at Dauntless headquarters," Zeke finishes.

"How long do we have until they hit Erudite?" Tobias asks.

"Tomorrow morning," Uriah sighs.

"They are hitting Dauntless two days after that. If we'd all like to keep our home we should have them either run out or destroyed tomorrow," he finishes.

"We aren't in the best shape," Tobias says, looking around. Between Tobias, Zeke, Maddie, and I being injured, only six of us can fight. We also need someone to watch the kids.

"Max is gathering an army on the inside. Training the Candor and having the Erudite hack the outsider's systems. We just need to get inside," Zeke says.

"What about the kids?" I ask.

"Everyone who is too hurt to fight can stay," Tobias says, eyeing me.

"I'm not sitting around," I shoot back.

"Tris," he warns.

"El and I can watch them," Maddie suggests. "We barely finished initiation so we wouldn't be much help anyway." I look at Tobias, waiting for him to give an answer.

"Fine," he says, not breaking eye contact with me. "We leave in the morning." With that, he stands up and walks into the sleeping area. I sigh.

"Tobias," I call out as I walk into the sleeping area. I find him sitting with his back to me. I rub his chest as I hug him from behind. We sit in silence before Tobias breaks it.

"I don't want you going back there again," he says.

"You could have died last time." I sigh.

"I can't just sit around here, you know that," I whisper. I rest my head in the crook of his neck and feel him nod.

"I know. We have to be careful. We have River now," he says. I nod. I kiss his neck and stand up so that I face him. Tobias pulls me onto his lap, resting his hand on my hips. Butterflies still find their way into my stomach after all this time that I have been with him. I press my lips to Tobias's, kissing him lightly. I pull back when he doesn't move. I find worry in his deep blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask. Tobias rubs his hands on my thighs as he does when he's nervous. I study his face closely, watching his eyes tear up.

"I'm scared, Tris," he says so quietly I almost miss it. "It's not just me anymore. I've got you and River. I don't want anything to happen to you girls. You are my world and I can't lose you," he says, chocking out the last part. I will myself to keep my emotions in check as I take his face in my hand.

"I'm not going anywhere, Tobias," I say. "I'm here and so is River. Nothing is going to happen to us. You can be scared, Tobias. I am too," I whisper. He takes me in his arms, rubbing my back and kissing my neck.

"Can you kiss me now?" I say, laughing a little. Tobias smiles. He pulls my face to his and kisses me.

***

I feel someone shaking my arm as the light that pours into the room distorts my vision. Last night, Tobias, River, and I all fell asleep early, holding onto one another. I know Tobias doesn't want to leave her, but he's like me. He can't sit around and wait. To not be part of the solution is to be part of the problem. I finally roll over and see Tobias nealing next to the bed.

"We are leaving soon," he says. "I packed you a bag." I nod and push myself to sit up. Hugging my knees, I sit in bed for a minute before rubbing the sleep from my eyes and pulling on a clean pair of clothes. I pull on my last pair of black Dauntless pants and a tank top with a jacket over it. I holster my weapons in my waistband and around my legs. I walk into the kitchen to find everyone eating. El and Maddie sit on the couch playing with the babies. I walk over to them and pick up River.

"Hi, baby," I whisper. She lets out a soft cry and hugs me tighter. She buries her face in my neck and I rub her back. "Everything is going to be okay," I whisper.

"Don't go." My heart melts.

"I don't want to. I'll be back soon, Ri Ri," I tell her. I feel her nod and I walk over to Tobias. He takes River and holds her close. I can tell he doesn't want to leave her. I take a piece of toast and eat it quickly while everyone loads up the truck. Christina and Will say their goodbye's to Everest who doesn't fully understand.

"Thank you," I say to El and Maddie as Tobias gives River one last kiss. They smile at me. I kiss River goodbye and follow Tobias out to the truck.

"You ready," he asks before helping me in.

"As ready as I'll ever be."