Chapter Twelve

Everything feels…funny. I feel like I'm floating on a cloud while simultaneously being hit by a truck. I can hear someone talking – multiple people – but I can't pick out any specific voices.

There's a slight pressure on one of my wrists and then nothing. Somebody's whispering in my ear to open my eyes, to let everyone know I'm okay, begging me to open my eyes. For him.

Tobias.

If I'm hearing his voice this clearly, I'm definitely dead. Oh, God! No, no, no! I can't be dead; I can't leave him and Christina behind! They need me!

The light keeps fading and then appearing again and then disappears. It's actually really, really annoying. I squeeze my eyes shut for a few minutes, until I'm sure the lights have disappeared. Once they're gone, I open my eyes.

Everything above me is blurry and fuzzy looking. It's still bright, but I realize that I'm looking at a light. There's a few people leaning over me and for a moment, I'm disoriented. I can't remember where I am or who the people are, but then everything comes back into place. It's like pieces being put together in a puzzle.

I'm in the infirmary at the agency and Tobias, Christina and a doctor are leaning over me. The doctor waiting for me to open my eyes, as if he could sense that I was coming to. Tobias is to my left and Christina is at the foot of the bed. I look around for a few more seconds until they all realize that I'm really awake.

"Agent Prior, nice to have you back with us." The doctor smiles and writes something on the clipboard he's holding. I try to sit up, but multiple sets of hands push me back down. "It'd be best if you didn't move right now. You might now be in a lot of pain, but your wounds are still healing and we don't want to tear the stitches." He looks at a few of the monitors near my head while I glance between Tobias and Christina.

Tobias has his typical, stoic exterior while Christina is in tears, smiling, and I can tell it's taking a lot of self-control not to hug me as tight as she can.

The doctor questions me about a few things, like what I last remember and what happened after that.

I shrug my shoulders, feeling the stitches tug. "I don't remember a lot. I just remember being on a mission with Tobias and I go to disable the serums, I get shot and then…everything went black." I wasn't going to admit to having a full on out-of-body experience because I had enough testing done on me after I endured the serums Jeanine forced into my body – God only knows what they'd do to me if I told them that.

The doctor leaves after that, ordering me to take it easy for a bit and not to get up and move for a few hours.

Christina moves to the other side of my bed and leans down, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders. "Oh my God, Tris! Don't ever pull that again, you scared me to death. I thought I'd lose you for good." I wince slightly, feeling tugging at my stitches, but muster a small smile.

"I couldn't leave you, Chris." I grab her hand and squeeze it as tightly as I can. "I mean, who would tell you about your stupid decisions?" She laughs; wiping tears from her eyes, and then looks at Tobias.

She pulls her hand away from mine gently and smiles, kissing my forehead. "I'll come back later; I have some things to deal with."

Once she leaves, Tobias moves closer to the bed. I didn't realize it before, but there's a tortured look in his eyes – one that still hasn't gone away. He still needs to be proven that I am alive and that I am awake. Oh, God. What did I put him through?

I stretch out my hand, urging him to come closer. He touches my hand and my entire arm suddenly becomes warm and the look in his eyes disappears slightly.

Without saying anything, he leans down and presses his lips to mine, cupping the side of my face. The kiss sends a ball of flame through my entire body and it's one of the softest, greatest feelings I've felt since being shot. I don't want the kiss to end, but Tobias pulls back anyways.

"Don't ever do that again." He says, just as breathless as I am. "You can't leave me, Tris. Not you."

Sighing, I look at him. And I know he's right. He doesn't want to lose me – not because he's selfish, but because he doesn't have much in his life. He doesn't have either of his parents, no siblings, very little friends. The agency does a good job of teaching you not to get too attached to people in case something happens – say someone you love and care about getting shot in the chest, getting put in a coma and nobody knowing whether they'll make it or not.

"I'm really sorry, Tobias." I reach for his hand and squeeze it tightly.

He squeezes my hand back, placing his free hand on the side of my face. "Sorry doesn't cut it – I would've gone absolutely crazy if you had died."

I nod. "I know and I really am sorry. And honestly, I didn't want to leave you, either. I want to stay here…with you. I don't ever want to leave you or be without you. I love you, Tobias."

He leans forward and kisses me again. This kiss is more powerful and hungrier than the last one – where we were both slightly wary of whether or not what was happening was real – and the burning flares up in me again, more powerful than ever.

I love Tobias so much it consumes me. Every kiss, every touch, every single look gives me a new reason to stay here; to stay here with him.

When I first started out working at the agency I never even thought about relationships – being I was too young to even find boys attractive – but even as I grew up I just found that relationships were distracting and unreasonable in my field of work. I supported Christina's relationship with Will because she's my best friend and he had made her happy and they both were professional when it came to working together and didn't let their feelings cloud their judgment or work.

And there was a small part of me that didn't completely understand why people cared so much about relationships. I didn't understand why so many people got worked up over them.

I couldn't understand any of that – not until Tobias. Not until he showed me how much he cared for me in that hotel room after seeing my brother again. Not until he spilled his life's story to me and told me his darkest secret. And then when he kissed me – I completely understood everything.

Each time he kisses me or touches me, I want more. It's scary and confusing – but I have never felt more sure of anything in my life.

Days pass before my doctor gives me the all-clear to leave the hospital and head back to my room, but I'm still ordered to take it easy and both him and Lauren tell me I'm off of running missions for the next four to five months.

After that, I happily left the hospital and moved back to the room I shared with Christina. Christina caters to anything and everything I need and, as annoying as it is, I think she was only doing it because she was happy that I was alive. I told her over and over again that I didn't need her help or assistance, but she ignored me and continued to help me out.

Tobias, on the other hand, was very careful around me. Whenever I went to his room, he would be fine with me curling up next to him, but his hold was never tight on me.

I don't know if it was because he was worried about my stitches or whatever, but it was annoying.

One night I had decided to go to his room and found him lounging on his bed, reading from a book. I walk over to him and remove the book from his hands, straddling his lap. He quirks an eyebrow, placing his hands gently on my hips. "What's going on?"

"This…" I lean in and press my lips against his. I sit back on his legs and move my hands down towards the hem of his t-shirt.

He pulls back, his breathing heavy. "Tris, stop." I shake my head, running my hands through his hair, and try to kiss him again, but he turns his head away.

I pull my hands away from him and look at him sadly. "Why? Why are you being so careful around me all of a sudden?"

He gives me a look and reaches out towards my chest, touching the bandage that's covering the healing stitches, very gently. "You're still healing and I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not going to! I can't even feel the stitches anymore." I wrap my arms around the back of his neck. "You don't have to be careful." I lean in closer to him, pressing my lips to the side of his mouth. "I don't want you to be careful."

He leans forward like he wants to kiss me again, but then he turns his head, taking a deep breath. "No, Tris, you need to listen to me."

I groan, frustrated. "No, Tobias. You listen to me." He stares at me in shock. "You need to stop looking at me and – and touching me like I'm a ghost and I'm going to disappear or fall apart with the slightest touch or glance! It's frustrating and to be honest, it really fucking sucks!" He opens his mouth to argue, but I keep talking. "I love you, Tobias. And I wish that you would actually kiss me like you loved me, too."

Tobias presses his forehead to mine, cupping the right side of my face. "I do love you, Tris. And yeah, I am worried that you are going to disappear. Tris, you were in a coma, you should've died. You were shot in the chest – most people don't survive that." A small smile creeps onto his face. "You survived and…I'm worried that that'll be taken away from me."

I place my hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at me. "Look at me, Tobias." His gaze sweeps over me quickly and then looks back towards the floor. "Tobias…" He looks up finally, and I brush the tips of my thumbs lightly across his cheeks. "I am not going to leave you. Ever. I will always be right here next to you. I will always be here to tell you when you are being an idiot," I smile and he laughs softly. "So there's nothing to worry about."

He's silent for a few moments, just staring at me, and I'm worried that he won't listen to what I said. But then he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me towards him. "I love you, Tris." His lips press to mine momentarily before I pull back, smiling.

I say, "I love you, too."

Tobias is mine and I am his and there's nothing I would do to change that. It is how it was meant to be.

"This doesn't mean I still can't kick your ass." I mumble. He starts to shake with laughter, still trying to kiss me, but he can't stop laughing so it's basically impossible. "I may be injured and out of work for five months – but I'll still beat you, Eaton."

His laughter starts to die down and he shakes his head at me. "I'm serious. Two weeks – me and you." I smile at him and he leans in, pressing his lips to mine and I feel myself melt into his embrace.

So that's the end of this story and I kind of left it here because I wanted to be opened to maybe writing a sequel? I don't know, it all depends on a few things. But i'm currently in the beginning process of writing another story that may or may not be up within the next week.

But you guys, I want to thank you all so much for following the story and for leaving comments and reviews and just making writing this so much easier for me. Because truthfully, if I didn't have the support of most of you guys and having comments telling me you guys really like the story, I probably would've stopped writing the story a long time ago.

I love you guys and your amazing patience when it comes to me getting the next chapter up. It's amazing and I'm really, truly touched.

Anyways, stick around and maybe I will continue this story.