Epilogue

Saturday, August 27

Tris

"Are you sure you don't have to go home and get ready for your move-in tomorrow? I don't want you to think you have to stay with me, or something. I'm okay," I tell Tobias, who is currently helping me arrange pictures on my wall. The decorations we put up together make my small dorm feel more like home but Tobias himself really lights it up.

He sticks another picture of all us counselors on the wall, leaning back to admire his handiwork. "For the tenth time Tris, I'm sure," Tobias exaggerates. "Are you sure that you want me here? I can go if you want me to."

I vigorously shake my head. I met my roommate earlier-she seemed nice enough, but I still don't know anybody. It's nice having Tobias here since my parents couldn't be.

"Alright, then." Tobias gets off my bed and rummages around in one of the remaining unpacked boxes that litter my floor. "You wanna put the mirror on your door or the wall?"

"The wall, please. Right in the corner," I say, watching Tobias' back muscles move as he lifts my mirror into place. It's going to be weird, living without him, because we haven't spent more than two days apart since we started dating.

Two boxes later there's nothing left for Tobias to unpack. The air is thick with emotion; we both know that it's time for him to leave.

"I'll miss you a lot," I blurt.

Tobias smiles and pulls me into a big hug. His strong arms are warm around me and I feel safe. "You're coming down this weekend, though, right?"

I nod against his chest. We plan to see each other every weekend, when we can-one of us will take the L down to the other's college. When I'm at the University of Chicago, I can also visit with my other friends who go there.

"We'll be fine," murmurs Tobias. I lift my head up and kiss his lips in sweet agreement.

Saturday, February 20 (of the next year)

Tobias

I bounce on my heels anxiously. My watch reads noon but Tris isn't here yet. We've perfected our visiting system to the point where I can open the door precisely when Tris arrives, without her having to knock.

Today, though, she's late. It has happened before-once I had a Programming exam that went overtime and had to take a later train-but I worry.

She knocks on the door to my dorm not ten minutes later. I immediately rush over and open it, admitting her inside. Her hair is covered by a knitted hat, her coat flecked with melting snow. "Hi," she says, breathless, "I'm so sorry my train was late. There was too much snow on the tracks."

"It's fine, I was just worried about you."

She stretches up on her toes to peck my lips. "I know. I'm okay and I'm here now."

From there we settle into our usual routine. Tris tells me about her critical Photo II professor and I describe one of my most recent exams to her. We're stretched out on my bed, kissing lazily, when Zeke barges in.

"Woah, hey Tris. Should have guessed that's what was keeping you here," Zeke says, not hesitating to close the door and start going through clothes in his wardrobe.

"Uh, excuse me, do you need something?" We made a pact freshman year not to come in the room when the other is with a girl. I kept up my side with Zeke and Shauna, but Zeke often forgets to do his part when I have Tris over.

Zeke looks at me as if I've got two heads. "Dude. Christina's party? It starts in ten minutes."

"Shit," Tris says from under me. "She told me about that but I totally forgot."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have remembered if Shauna didn't remind me this morning. Your boy forgot, too."

I reluctantly sit up, letting Tris do the same. "I guess we should go up there then."

Tris agrees, "Yeah. I hope she didn't invite as many people as last time."

Chuckling, we reluctantly get off the bed. Tris fixes her hair and I change into a new shirt before we head out to Christina's dorm with Zeke. Thankfully she lives in the same building as I do, but on the other side, so we arrive just when the party is scheduled to start.

When Zeke knocks, Christina opens the door and smiles broadly. "Hey, you guys made it! Come in, party's just getting started."

I grab a drink from the refreshments table and turn to offer one to Tris, but when I turn around she's gone. Christina probably grabbed her to go gossip about something. That happened enough when the two of them saw each other every day, and it's worse now. A small part of me resents Christina for taking up my time with Tris but I know that they're close friends, so I hang with Zeke and Shauna until they're done chatting.

The party isn't as big as Christina's usually are, but still sizeable-her dorm is a quad, which means it's got a lot of space, but people are spilling out into the hallway like usual.

"You're coming to camp this summer, right Tobias?" Shauna asks.

I nod. "Yup, last time."

Her eyes go big and she blows out a slow breath. "Wow, I didn't even realize that. It's crazy how quickly things change."

I agree, wondering how Tris and I are going to manage me graduating two years before she does. It will be hard, that's for sure, but we successfully took on the college challenge so I'm sure we can figure out our future together.

Friday, August 21 (two years later)

Tris

It's hard to believe that it's my last day at camp. Like the other counselors my age, I continued working here through college, and even though it wasn't the same after Tobias and his friends left we still had fun.

It's over now, though. Next year will be my senior year of college and then . . . I don't know what. Tobias was lucky-he got a job as a programmer in a tech startup company right after he graduated. It's in Chicago, so he visits almost every weekend.

I haven't seen him in a while, though, since I'm working at camp. But I've been distracted and busy with my job. Right now, everyone is gathered around the flag in a big circle for the end-of-camp ceremonies that happen on the last week. I'm holding hands with two of my young campers; Christina is across the way, Will standing next to her. Her eyes glisten with tears and I'm sure mine look the same way.

"Alright, thank you to the Crafts group for taking down the flag. Now, before we sing our final goodbye, I have a special guest today who would like to say something very important," Max says, stepping out of the circle. Who could this be? In my four years of camp, nothing like this has happened before.

"Come on out!" Max calls.

My heart pounds an erratic rhythm-Tobias, my Tobias, comes out from behind the dining hall with bright flowers in hand. Even in all my confusion and curiosity I can't help but take a moment to admire his tall, lean frame as it makes its way towards me.

Max turns to face me, too, and I feel everyone's eyes on me. "Tris, can you come out here please?"
My face burns, but I smile despite my embarrassment, happy to see my boyfriend. Tears that lingered in my eyes feel closer to falling.

By the time I get to the center of the circle, Tobias is standing there waiting. Up close I can see that he's tapping his foot. His free hand swings up behind his head to scratch at his neck. He's nervous!

"What are you doing here?"

He doesn't answer, instead smiles and pulls me in for a quick kiss. I blush-we're in the middle of the whole camp!-but he keeps it chaste. Christina cheers from her spot next to Will and I somehow redden even further.

When we pull apart, Max is nowhere to be seen. "Tobias, what is going on?"

"These are for you," he says, handing me the flowers.

"They're beautiful, thank you-"

He gets down on one knee.

At that point I lose control of my body. I'm pretty sure some sort of exclamation comes out of my mouth. And it's so vain, but the only thing I can think of is how dirty I look in my green camp shirt and worn shorts. I always imagined this happening when I was in a ball gown.

"Tris, I . . . I know we're young, and if you're not ready I understand, but I know that you're it for me," Tobias says, voice low. I can feel everyone around us straining to hear. "You are the sun that lights up my sky; you bring brightness everywhere you go. You changed me in so many ways and I am so thankful."

Finally, he looks me in the eye and I start crying more at his pure sincerity. "I cannot imagine my life without you in it. So, Tris, will you marry me?"

I take his free hand in mine, pulling him up. "Of course."

"Was that a yes?" asks Christina loudly. I can hear Will's sigh all the way in the middle of the circle.

Smiling, I turn to face her. "Yes!"

Everyone cheers and claps, but I'm only paying attention to Tobias. He slips a simple ring on my finger, hand shaking.

"Do you like it? If you don't like it we can get another one."

I kiss him deeply, my tears rubbing off on his cheeks. "I love it. And I love you."

"I love you, too."

Tuesday, June 1 (eight years later)

Tris

Everything is just in place when I hear the door click, signalling Tobias's return from work. "In the kitchen!" I shout.

He comes through the door quickly, after taking off his shoes and leaving his bag in the living room. As per our routine, Tobias comes up to where I stand by the stove and gives me a nice kiss.

"How was work?" I ask. He still works for the same company, but now he's higher up and they're much more successful than they were when they started. I found my niche running my own photography studio, which I love. Tobias helps me from time to time with the computer stuff and we've considered expanding the photography business to include his photo editing skills, but that's still in the future.

"Fine. Stressful, actually." Tobias rubs his temples before continuing, "But that doesn't matter. I'm home with you now. How was your day?"

"Fine," I say, attempting to sound nonchalant when inside I can feel nerves dancing in my stomach. "Can you check the mail, please? I didn't have time to go through it."

"Sure," Tobias agrees, taking long-legged strides over to the kitchen table where the pile of mail from today waits. I stop tossing the salad to watch him.

"Bills, bills, bills, spam, bills . . . what's this?" He holds up the flyer that I inserted into the middle of the pile. "'Angel's Lake Summer Camp schedule for Summer 2035,'" he reads, frowning. "How is this in here?"
I'm relieved that it looks real enough to fool him. I don't say anything, though, nervously waiting for him to catch on.

"Tris, what-" Tobias's head shoots up, eyes wide. "In ten years . . . are you-"

"Pregnant?" I hold up my one ultrasound picture and can't contain my smile.

"Oh my God," Tobias says, dropping the mail and hurrying over to hug me.

I laugh, ecstatic that he's happy too. "Why did you go to the doctor's without me? How long have you known?"

"You were in New York on business, it was only last week. I thought I'd get this to surprise you. And it took a lot of time to make that flyer, you know. I'm bad with computers."

Tobias laughs, pulling me in for another hug. "I know. Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too."

We spend the rest of the night relaxing, admiring our baby's first picture, and thinking of the future, a time when our kids will grow up and go to summer camp. It really is crazy that this all started that one summer at the lake. But I wouldn't change a thing.

A/N: And exactly two years later, it's finished. I would like to thank everyone for sticking with me and providing so much support throughout this journey-it's really incredible and I'm so grateful. I'll also apologize for my absence; I just lost motivation. Recently I realized that I couldn't leave it unfinished so I wrote this up. It's cliché, I know, but I had these ideas set when I started writing and I wanted to get them down. Unfortunately, with the end of this story comes the end of my career. I'm not going to stop posting stories (I'll continue posting one-shots as inspiration strikes) but I want to shift my larger projects to original work. So, if you'd like to read more from me, I would be so grateful if you'd go check out my Wattpad (username Liviolia) where I just started posting my very own story! If not, that's okay-thank you again for your amazing support!