"You can either, god forbid, pull the trigger. Or," -"you can drop the gun, and come over here."
I look into my old beta leader's eyes, as he held the gun against his own head. I focus hard on the bullet that's in the chamber, preparing to grab it with my mind the moment he adds pressure to the finger he has wrapped around the trigger. A moment passes. And then another, of us just staring. "Please, Eric." I beg, and his bottom lip quivers as he shakes his head.
The gun waivers against his temple, "Just, come here," I say, and I point down at the floor right in front of me. He closes his eyes, and my heart drops. He pulls the trigger, and I panic, under the assumption he was going to give into that. I knock the gun away from his head instead of catching the bullet, like I thought I was going to. And thankfully, I did it just in time, and I also did to where no one else would get caught in the bullets line of fire.
He widens his eyes at me, but only for a second as he looks at the gun in confusion. But then, I think he realizes exactly what he almost just did, and looks at it in disgust. Right before dropping his arm, along with dropping the gun completely and walking over to me. Once he was close enough, I immediately embrace him. I embrace him like I would the man watching us hug, along with the abundance of armored Dauntless members.
The moment I pulled him to me, he tensed up for only a moment, before hugging me back. And I could feel his emotions through the way he held me. Sadness, love, and pain. I felt all three as he buried his face into my neck, and sobbed. I peek as Tobias walks over, and picks up the gun and disarms it. He holds me for a little longer, and releases me, obviously not wanting to let go.
Tobias orders two Dauntless members to walk over with his head hung low, and dismissed the others. And turn to see one of them with handcuffs, getting ready to restrain him, and I stop him from touching Eric. "There's absolutely no need for that, I'll escort Eric here to the infirmary. I got this." I simply say, glancing over at my fiancée before locking my arm around Eric's. "Fine, but both me and the guards will follow behind and they will be staying with Eric in the infirmary after you get him there." Tobias says matter-of-factly, and I can't help but roll my eyes a bit before walking with Eric out of the hall to the chasm. He either thinks I can't handle this, or he's afraid Eric will lash out again. And it damn well better be the latter because, if it's not, I'm not too sure how well we'll be able to manage this whole entire faction, together.
***
I hug Eric goodbye as Tobias waits outside along with the two guards, "I'll come visit you in the morning, to see how you're doing." I tell him, and he gives me a little side smile while sitting in the same infirmary bed I sat in, the night of war games. After I was told I was cut from initiation, by none other then Eric himself. "You're walking on thin ice here Natalie, so I suggest you tread lightly." I remember him saying to me, right after I made sure I was on that train. I've always wondered how he found out my name, so I decide to ask him. "I never really believed your name was Jade so, I asked Tobias for your file, and he gave it to me." He pauses, and I couldn't help but smile when he squinted his eyes and scrunched his nose, obviously trying to remember.
"He asked me why I wanted it and I told him the truth, I wanted to know your real name as a scare tactic, as to which I did. But uh," he pauses, "but now, obviously, it's clear that that wasn't the truth. I wanted to know your name because you were the only initiate that really caught my eye." He simply explains, leading his eyes back up to mine. They were getting brighter, less grey. They must change with his mood. "And uh, now that I think about it," he continues, and yet pauses, "When I asked if he wanted to know your first name, he surprisingly said no. And now I know why," he says, and I look at him, partially confused.
"He said no because he wanted to get it from you personally, like I should have. He wanted you to tell him it. And you did, exactly a year ago today." He tells me, and I catch that last part. "How did you know that?" I immediately ask him. How did he know I told him my real name on our anniversary? There's only two people that know about that on this earth and that would be me, and Tobias. That's it. He hesitates at first but eventually, "your brother, actually." And I burn with rage.
"Older or younger brother?"
"Younger."
***
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" I yell, the moment I lay eyes on my little brother. And of course, he was already waiting for me to come barging in. "Sissy, calm down, I know you're mad but-" - "Mad?!? I'm fucking furious! I just had to watch a man nearly kill himself in front of me, because of me, on my fucking anniversary! A situation in which you fucking caused!" I scream at him, inching closer and closer into his and Lauren's apartment. He starts backing away from me, just as Lauren pops out of her room. "There's a reason why I told him Natalie," - "Well it better be a damn good one." I cut him off, awaiting an answer.
And when he doesn't immediately start explaining himself, I raise my eyebrows at him. "I-I'm sorry, I can't tell you. Not now, not ever. So hurry up and throw me around, ignore me, treat me like shit for all you want. But I won't tell you." My brother tells me, mighty firmly. And I clench my jaw and ball my hands into fists, to avoid doing something I'll surely regret. Is this what I'm going to have to deal with? A future-foreseeing-god-complex-know-it-all little brother?
His ability is starting to tick me off, and just to think after today, I'm going to have to stay with him, and my other brother for a month. "William, somebody's life better be at risk if you were to tell me. Because now, my first anniversary, is ridden with images of Eric holding a gun against his head! That man better have lost his damn mind in your stupid little visions cuz if not, I'll make sure to return the favor to you when the day comes."
***
~Tobias's POV~
-9:47 p.m.-
I hear my front door open and close, and I stand up from my couch, knowing exactly who it was. I smile as soon as I see her walk in, but frown once I notice the frown on her face. "What happened?" I ask, and she shakes her head. "I don't wanna talk about it, at least not right now. Just know, I'm very upset with my brother, the one brother I really shouldn't be developing these sorta feelings for yet." Is what she tells me, and I know she's talking about William. "But there is something else I wanna talk about," She says, stepping closer to me.
"About how I handled the Eric situation," She starts, scratching her head a bit, "You do know why I couldn't possibly let him do that, right?" She asks me, and I nod. "Of course I do, because of what happened to Al, and your uncle. I completely understand Natalie. I'm not mad, jealous or anything like that. But uh, I am one thing though," I tell her, and she raises an eyebrow at me, "I'm curious. What did you and Eric talk about when I was waiting for you outside the infirmary?" I ask her, since I decided to just wait for her instead of interrupting and getting her to leave. "Oh I just told him I'd check on him in the morning, and I also asked him how he found out about my first name around the time of my years war games. And he told me you gave him my file. How come you never looked at it to find out my name hm?" She explains and asks, and I pull her close to me. "Because, I wanted to hear you tell me it, rather than read it." I answer, making her smile. "Oh and, now that I think about it, you told me it exactly at year ago today. Right before I kissed you." I point out, and she kisses my cheek.
"And it's also the same day I told you you were stuck with me." She responds with, and I take her left hand. "You're not wrong but, don't you think it's now more so that you're actually stuck with me? Mrs. Eaton." I ask her, and she bites her lip at the sound of the title. "I'd say we're stuck with each other, but y'know, there's something missing here." She tells me, as I kiss her knuckles, "And what exactly would that be?"
"Your ring."
***
"Heyyyy, you two look nice. Long time, no see." Tori greets us, and we both hug her. Tori fires up some small talk but, it wasn't long until she noticed the big diamond ring on Natalie's finger. She grabs her wrist, bringing it up, "You proposed?!" She nearly yells at me, and both Natalie and I laugh at her reaction. I nod, "Today's our one year anniversary," I say, and my fiancee clings to my arm. "And you proposed today? Wow, that's unbelievably romantic. You two together make me so happy." She pauses, "But I have to ask, what brings you two down here? Since y'know, you never come in anymore. Why is that huh? And don't tell me you lost interest in tattoos, cuz those back tattoos I did on both of you say different." She tells us, "Oh we're not here for tattoos actually, we're here to get him a ring. And of course see youuu." My love says to her, and Tori rolls her eyes.
"Yeah righttt, but for the price of promising to come see me more often," She gives us both demanding stares, "I'll be glad to help you newly weds."
"We promise Tori."
***
~Jade's POV~
-10:20 p.m.-
"It's perfect babe, I'm kinda glad I let you pick it out now." He tells me on the way back to our apartment. "I know it is. It literally matches mine completely, even though it's just a simple band." I say, stopping in front our door. Tobias unlocks and opens it, and lets me walk in first, as always. I thank him, and I'm immediately greeted by Jasper. I bend over and to show him some love, and apparently, I get shown some love too.
Tobias decides to smack my ass as he walks passed me. "Do that again and see what happens." I couldn't help but blurt out, and the way he stops in his tracks makes me smile. I stand up straight, and he turns back around, setting his keys on the kitchen island. He gets into my face, and reaches behind me, and instead of just slapping it, he slaps it, grabbing a handful, right before squeezing. I gasp and place my lips onto his, and he has his other hand join the one on my ass.
He brings me in closer, and I pull him in closer, with my arms around his neck. Or, at least, one arm around his neck. The other was busy elsewhere. He groans within our kiss, and the next thing I know he's picking me up. I wrap my legs around his waist, managing not to break lip contact. He carries me up our spiral stairs, and all the way to our bedroom, and I have to admit, I was impressed. He throws me onto the bed, and immediately slithers his hands up my dress. I bite my bottom lip as he glides my panties down my legs, and off around my heeled feet. He kisses at my thighs, and before I knew it, he was pleasing me once again. My toes curl, my eyes roll, and my moans grow uncontrollable overtime until of course, he gets me to my peak. As always. And without even a second to catch my breath, I return the favor. And that night, I fell asleep in his big strong arms.
***
-October 1st, Tuesday-
~Jade's POV~
The next morning though, was dreadful. I woke up to the sound of our doorbell, and awaiting on the other side of the door were my brother's, each loaded with two suitcases. The very commencement of our bet. Tobias fills me in on the new apparent changes to the bet as well. He grabs his suitcase,"I'm gonna let you and your brothers stay here in our new apartment, while I'll bunk with Lauren at hers. It's the most gentlemen-ly thing to do given there are way more rooms over here. " He explains to me, and I ask if he's sure.
"Of course I'm sure my love." He says to me, and I kiss him. "I'm really gonna miss you Tobias." I also tell him, and he smiles at me. "I'm gonna miss you more Natalie." He responds, and I embrace him tightly. I breathe him in as much as possible, never wanting to be apart from his comforting scent. He hugs me back just as tight and does the same exact thing.
And we stay there for minutes, while my brother's head upstairs to go fight over who gets which room. I can't help but tear up a bit, given after being proposed to by him, all I wanna do now is stay with him. I sniffle a bit and he pulls away, "Awe babe, are you crying?" He asks me, and I poke my bottom lip out at him before nodding and wiping my nearly fallen tears. "I mean, what do you expect? You just proposed to me and now I have to say goodbye for a whole month? I'm damn near heartbroken." I explain, and he wipes my next few tears away. "Y'know, we don't have to say goodbye just yet." He tells me, and I sniffle once more before actually catching what he said.
"We don't? What do you mean?" I ask, and he smiles down at me. "There's actually two very important people that don't know I've proposed to you already." He mentions, and it takes me only a second to catch on. "Oh my god! My parents! We can go tell them and spend more time together!" I jump for joy in front of him, and I make him laugh. "No you can't, you're both forgetting something!" Liam yells from upstairs, and I yell, "and what exactly would that be?" Towards the stairwell. He comes running out the hall and shows himself from the upstairs balcony, "you're both leaders, you can't both leave Dauntless unattended." And me and Tobias both face-palm.
"You can leave someone in charge though." He quickly adds, straightening his collar. "I swear to god you leave our little brother in charge I'll be very upset Natalie!" Miles yells from the upstairs hall, and I roll my eyes. "Don't worry, even if it was up to me, I wouldn't leave someone who can't even tell me the truth in charge." I say, making deadly eye contact with Liam. He rolls his eyes, "It's honestly up to Tobias." I add, looking over at him. He ponders for a second, "I know just the person."
***
"Well if it isn't Dauntless's brand new alpha and beta. I'm hoping things are going smooth yes?" Max greets us with, after opening his new apartment door. "Hey Max, and yeah of course, as smooth as can be. We were actually just dropping by to see if you could hold down the fort for a couple hours while me and Natalie head out to Amity." Tobias explains to him, and at first Max seemed iffy. "I know it's something you wouldn't regularly let slide but," my love pauses, "there's something we have to tell her parents." He finishes, grabbing my left hand and holding it up. Max's eyes widen at my ring, and he smiles at Tobias. "My man . . ." He says, and the two bro-hug, "congratulations, to the both of you." He also tells us, and we thank him.
"And consider this my wedding gift to the both of you, now, run along you two." Max says, and we turn to leave but, "Wait! Did you say wedding my dear?" We hear from behind Max and his open door, it was Onika, his wife. She comes into view and Max holds her against him lovingly, "Have you two gotten engaged?" She asks excitedly. We both nod and she clasps her hands together, "Oh my goodness, I'm so happy for the both of you. But you must let me plan this wedding for you. Please please please say you will." She offers, and my eyes brighten at her generosity. "You'd be willing to do that for us?" I ask her, and she nods.
"More than willing. I absolutely love weddings, I planned my own in this very building and I'd be honored to plan the both of yours. All I need is a color scheme, guest list, and about a months worth of time." She tells me, and I look at Tobias to see what he thinks about it. "Oh trust me, we wouldn't want anyone else to plan it for us, I was at their wedding and by god, it was to the T." My love says, and I smile over at Max's beautiful wife. "Okay then, I guess we have our wedding planner. I'll be sure to get all of those things to you by the end of today." I tell Onika, and both her and Max congratulates the both of us once more before heading back inside. She just has to be originally from Abnegation, just like my Tobias. The amount of selflessness former Abnegations still tend to have makes them by far the best people to have in your life. By far, the best.
***
~Tobias's POV~
-10:38 a.m.-
I knock on the door of my fiancée parents, trying my hardest to suppress my smile. Her mother answers and smiles at the sight of me and her daughter, and welcomes us in. Natalie hugs her mother, and once she pulls away, her mother gasps. "Anthony come here!" She yells excitedly, taking Natalie's left hand. Her father comes running, "Look honey, he did it!" Her mother calls attention to, and her fathers jaw drops before he looks up to smile at me.
He pats me on the shoulder, "Bring it in young man," he says, and I bear hug my soon to be father-in-law. "Is this what you two have come for?" Her mother asks, admiring her own ring on her daughter. I nod, "that and to invite you both to the wedding of course, it'll be held in Dauntless." I explain, and her father then moves to hug Natalie. "We damn well better be invited. Who else is gonna walk my beautiful baby-girl down the aisle?" He asks rhetorically, and I watch as Natalie hugs her father back. "Originally Miles was going to take that job, until Tobias here said otherwise." Natalie says to them, and both of her parents look to me.
"The wedding wouldn't feel complete nor right without the both of you." I simply say, and they both thank me. "Oh my goodness, this means you could wear my dress!" Her mother nearly shrieks, and yanks Natalie from beside me. I try to follow them but, Anthony stops me, "Woah woah woah not so fast bud, if she does where that dress, you are not allowed to see it until the day of." He explains to me, and I suck my teeth. "I know, I was bummed when her mother was in that dress too. But here," He starts, "I know what we could do while we let the ladies have their girl time."
***
~Jade's POV~
"There," my mother says, "it fits just right, doesn't it?" She asks me, and I nod, feeling the silk-like fabric snug against my skin. My mother takes a step back and I turn to face her. She clasps her hands together against her cheek, and smiles from ear to ear, "You look absolutely breathtaking," She comments, and I watch as my mother's face gets a little red, and she starts sniffling. "Aww mommy don't cry, you're gonna make me cry." I tell her, swallowing the lump in my throat and laugh it off a bit as I look in the mirror in front of me. The dress was absolutely beautiful.
It was a nude color, strapless. It was a elegant gown, featuring floral lace bodice with a soft sweetheart neckline and voluminous Tulle. It had pretty, light sparkles all over, catching beautifully in the light. It was literally perfect in all areas except for one. Traditionally, the brides avoid pure white dresses only if they did not pursue abstinence before getting in front of an altar, and I could definitely tell my mother started thinking the very same when I looked at her. "If only it were pure white though." She mutters, and I nod.
"But I'll still love to wear it," I make sure to mention, and she shakes her head. "Nonsense. You're still committing to abstinence even though you've been left home and I couldn't possibly be more proud so, I wouldn't dare let you wear this on your big day. In fact," she pauses, "while I get ready to put the dress away, I want you to go show it to Tobias and your father. Who knows? Maybe one of my granddaughters might just where it." She nudges me, "mom, no grand-babies, at least not yet." I tell her heading towards the door. "Well, as long it stays as not yet, I'm not getting any younger." She tells me, making me laugh as I head out my parents bedroom door. I walk into the hallway, and I can't help but enhance my hearing to see what my father and fiancée were doing and or talking about. "That's Good that's good. Keep going, what exactly do you want to say to my daughter in those very moments. Those few moments in which she'll absolutely never forget?" I hear my father ask, and I furrow my eyebrows with a curious smile.
"...I promise to be your navigator, sympathizer, sidekick, best friend, and your husband. I promise you myself. Because, for one, without you I am nothingâwith you I am more than myself. In your eyes, I have found my home. In your heart, I have found my love. In your soul, I have found my mate. With you, I am whole, full, alive. You make me laugh. You let me cry. You are my breath, and my every heartbeat." I hear my love say, as if he had the words at ready in his mind. And as my heart proceeds to melt, I realize exactly what they were doing. My dad was helping Tobias with his vows. I walk into the living room, and both my father and fiance do double takes.
Tobias's eyes widen, and my father clasps a hand over his mouth. Tobias stands, and takes my hand once he approaches me, and kisses my knuckles like I'm some sort of royalty. I look over to my father, and I see that he's gazing at me, with his face growing red. I peck Tobias on the lips before heading to sit next to my father, "Aww dad don't cry," I whine, now holding back my own emotions. I lock my arm under and through my father's as he sniffles, and drags his hands down his face.
"I'm sorry dear, it's just," He pauses, wiping a tear, "you look so much like your mother in that dress." He tells me, and I lean my head onto his shoulder. He then retracts his arm, only to put it all the way around me, letting me embrace him. "Just promise me one thing," He says, and I, "Hm," him to go on, "Just promise me you won't grow up too fast." He says, and I smile a bit. "I promise daddy." I tell him, and Tobias sits back down on the love seat adjacent from us. "Speaking of promises and such, how much of that did you hear before you came out here?" He asks me, and even though I heard way more, I say, "I only heard that last part, don't worry." Pausing, "You don't have to change any of it." I make sure to add, yearning to hear those same words at our wedding.
Tobias squints his eyes at me, obviously suspicious of if I was actually telling the truth. "Nah," He simply starts with, "I'm still changing all of what I said. You heard more than just the end, don't try and lie to me." He adds, and I pout. "I'm not lyingg, please don't change it my love." I beg, and he side smiles at me. "If you're not lying, and you didn't hear, how come you don't want me to change it so bad, hm?" He questions me, and I attempt to answer his question but, I realize I can't without snitching on myself. I slouch in defeat, "Ah ha, so you did hear more than you told me?" He asks me, shaking his head.
"Okay okay fine, you caught me. It was so beautiful, I nearly cried in the hallway. Please please please don't change them." I beg, and he shakes his head even more so. "Nope, you already heard it. I'm not going to say the same thing up at the altar. I want it to be words you've never heard from me. I want it to be special, that's the whole point of vows my love." He explains to me, and I smile at him. He offers his hand to me, to help me up and off the couch. "Now go get changed my queen, we can't be long, given our kingdom awaits us." He says, as I take his hand and stand up. I laugh, and peck him on the lips once more before heading back to my parents bedroom. My mother helps me out the dress, and got right to putting it away as I change back into the clothes I came over in. Both my mother and I come out of their bedroom, and me and Tobias both give them hugs goodbye before leaving their house, and Amity all together.