"Blind Date "

Chapter 1 - TRIS POV

Disclaimer/Warning:

I do not own the rights to Divergent, it's characters, etc. This is just my fanfiction.

This story is rated M/MA (language and sexual content). Not so much in these first few chapters, but definitely in the last couple. So please only read if you're of an appropriate age.

I can't believe she talked me into this. Why do best friends have to be so pushy sometimes? I should have known better, Christina has always been good about getting her way.

I sigh to myself as I briefly check my face and hair in my visor mirror. Once I deem myself good enough, I get out of my car and begin walking towards the fancy looking restaurant, where I am to have dinner with a stranger.

All I know about this guy, is that according to my supposed good 'ol match making friend, he's "tall, strong and handsome". And will be meeting me here at 7pm.

Once I pull the door open and step inside, I immediately take in the delicious smell of Italian food and I faintly hear my stomach reply. I skipped lunch knowing I'd want to eat a nice hearty meal for dinner. I may as well take a little advantage of a free meal if I'm being forced to come here in the first place, right? Plus, a part of me wants to make a point to this guy that I'm not one of those wafer thin kale-only girls, and I don't plan to be. Sure, I'm fit, I eat pretty healthy overall and I work-out a couple times a week. But I still like to enjoy good food, especially on the weekends when it's my time to relax and enjoy life. And I'm not going to change that just to uphold a certain image for a man. So yeah, I'm looking forward to a salad, but as a first course to my nice bowl of carb-filled pasta. If he's cool with that, then he's off to a good start.

The restaurant is just as beautiful on the inside, but even more authentic, like I've been transported right into Tuscany.

There are a few couples and families in the waiting area, but no single-looking guys who seem like they might be waiting for their date. I pull my phone out of my purse to see if I have any messages from him, but I don't. But I do notice I'm almost 10 minutes early. So after I let my eyes take another quick glance around the restaurant to make sure I don't see anyone who matches the description, I just assume he's not here yet and decide to sit on the long wooden bench by the door to wait.

I smooth down the long skirt of my simple black dress. I kind of feel over-dressed, since I usually prefer to just wear jeans and a cute top when I go out. But I saw this and I actually really liked it. So I figured, why not? I'm allowed to dress up a little for a date. I'm an adult going to a nice restaurant after all.

Just as my mind starts to wander about what this guy might be like and how this date will go overall, I see an extremely attractive guy make his way through the entrance.

He's tall; probably at least 6'3 or 6'4, and has dark brown hair, and broad shoulders.

He walks straight up to the hostess, but I can see him glancing over her shoulder around at the tables to see if who he's looking for might be there.

"Hello, welcome to Gustavo's. How can I help you this evening?" the girl greets him.

The guy hesitates for a moment before speaking.

"I'm actually meeting someone here... but I don't know what she looks like." he says, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Blind date." he admits. "But she may not even be here yet, I'm a little early."

"Oh! Um, hello. I think that would be me." I blurt out, standing up and taking a few steps towarrds him.

Geez, subtle Tris. He said blind date and I just pounced! Way to be graceful and sexy.

He turns around and I swallow thickly as I take another tentative step towards him.

Calm yourself, Tris. Just breathe...

"I um, I'm here for the blind date?" I clarify, hoping I didn't mis-hear him. I really hope I'm not making an ever bigger fool of myself in front of this totally hot guy.

He steps forward a bit too until we're right in front of each other, just an arm's length away.

An easy smile takes over his face, and he almost seems relieved as I look up into his deep blue eyes. They seem to penetrate me with a hypnotic but friendly gaze and I immediately feel a warmth run through my body.

"It's nice to meet you." he says, reaching his hand out in greeting.

"Likewise." I say, returning his handshake with a small smile.

I feel goosebumps pebble all over my body at the feel of his hand in mine.

He offers me back an even sweeter smile back, and I nervously tuck my hair behind my ear as I notice his hands go to his pockets. He casually rolls back and forth on the soles of his shoes for a moment before we both seem to realize we're acting a bit shy and awkward, and we end up letting out a small laugh.

"Sorry, it's been awhile since I've been on a date." he explains and I nod in agreement, the shy smile still on my face.

"Me too." I say, and then try to quickly think of something to keep the conversation going.

"This place smells amazing, I'm glad you suggested it. It's so quaint and cozy."

"I've always wanted to try it. Whenever I've gone to that pub across the street, I could smell the garlic and herbs even from all the way over there, it's amazing."

"I've been to that pub once too, they have really good fish and chips. But whenever I see it I think of 221B Baker Street. Doesn't it kind of look like it?" I ask, but I then I think of how he may not even know what the heck I'm talking about.

"It totally does! I actually told my friend Zeke that the first time we went there." He says and the way his eyes light up as he smiles makes my heart pound even faster.

Not only am I completely relieved that this is actually not going terribly wrong but I feel a tiny thrill run through me at the fact that he caught my silly Sherlock reference.

"Have you seen the show? On BBC?" he asks.

"Of course! It's amazing. Aren't Cumberbatch and Freeman awesome as Sherlock and Watson?"

"And the guy who plays Moriarty too." he adds.

"Yeah, he's great." I agree.

We continue to chat about the show and that leads to other tv shows we like. It turns out we have very similar taste.

We're still standing here laughing and talking 5 minutes later, not even making a move to go get our table for dinner yet, that I realize how much fun this is already. I guess I didn't have anything to to worry about after all.

"Gosh, I was so nervous about tonight." I admit with a small laugh. "I even went out and got this new 'date' outfit and everything."

"Me too." he admits, a friendly smirk on his face. "Just as I got here, I realized wearing this white shirt may not have been such a good idea if I plan on trying their famous spaghetti. Splattering sauce all over myself isn't exactly the best first impression." he chuckles.

"Don't worry, I can tuck the napkin in your shirt for you like a bib." I say with a teasing smile. I love how easy it is to talk to him, how much I already enjoy being around him.

"Well, for the record, I like the new date outfit. You look beautiful." he tells me as he gazes over me for a moment. I feel myself blush as he continues to speak.

"I'm glad this is already going so well. I'm terrified of blind dates. I've always been afraid of being set-up with some freak." he says with a soft chuckle.

"I know, right?" I chuckle too. "But I guess Christina and Will knew what they were doing, huh?" I add with a smile. However, it falters when I see the confused look on his face.

"Who?" he asks. But before I have a chance to repeat myself, a tall blonde girl approaches us and seems to recognize him immediately.

"Tobias?" she asks in a shy but sweet manner.

He looks confused and surprised and just looks at her blankly for a moment until she speaks up again. "Hi- you're Tobias, right? Uriah showed me a picture of you. I'm Cassie." she explains and gives him a broad shining smile as she holds her hand out to shake it.

"Oh, hi. You're Cassie." he says to the girl, glancing at me briefly before reluctantly looking back to the girl. "I was just talking to my friend here-" he says and looks at me again, a small smile on his face, but I can tell it's sympathetic. But I could swear I also see disappointment there too. Is he just as crushed as I am over the fact that we just realized we aren't each other's dates?

"Tris." I chime in kindly to his unfinished sentence. She shakes my hand and tells me she loves my dress. I take a deep breath and smile back, trying not to get to get upset over this whole situation. I kindly return the compliment, but decide to comment on her earrings instead since I feel like her dress might be a size or two small. But I try to be as friendly as possible. I am after all, a friendly person. Not a jealous lunatic that feels somewhat like staking claim over this gorgeous guy who I just met. A big part of me just wants to say "Finders, Keepers!" and drag him out of here and escape somewhere that we can truly enjoy a dinner alone without other women interrupting.

But then, I guess really, I'd be the date stealer, and that wouldn't be fair.

Geez, am I actually having this internal conversation with myself? This can't be healthy.

"Tris?" I hear behind me and I turn to find a man approaching me. He's got a broad smile on his face, but I feel like he's trying to go for a bit of the 'bad boy' vibe with a couple of facial piercings and several neck tattoos. (I had noticed some sort of tattoo creeping up the back of Tobias' neck too, but it wasn't as noticeable). His dirty blonde hair is combed back, but looks greasy from all the product that's in it. However, he's wearing a nice crisp suit. Similar to Tobias' actually.

"Did you say your name is Tris? I'm Eric." he explains after I remain speechless for a moment. I guess I was stuck in my head for longer than I thought. Now I kind of know what it was like for Tobias a moment ago with Cassie.

"Oh- um, hi, Eric." I say, trying but probably failing to make my smile seem genuine. I shake my head to try and get a hold of myself. "And yes, I'm Tris, Christina's friend." I acknowledge.

As he leads me to the hostess station, I see Cassie is already leading Tobias off to a table. But he looks back at me, giving me a tight lipped smile. He seems about as excited about his date as I am about mine. Which obviously isn't saying much.

I don't know why he'd feel that way. Cassie is obviously very attractive and as much as I don't want to admit it, she seemed really sweet.

But it doesn't matter. We're not on a date together. We're here with other people. And after tonight, I'll never see him again.

So I can only wish him the best, and try to get myself through my own evening.

Author's Note:

Sorry, this is a pretty short chapter compared to my usual upates. But the fanfiction website is still giving me trouble when I try to save lengthier chapters.

This little short story was intended to be 3 chapters, but now will probably actually be 4-5 chapters in total, and the others will be slightly longer than this first chapter.

I'm hoping to post a new chapter every few days. But please forgive me if it ends up taking longer. I have quite a busy real life (married, full-time job, etc.), so I write when I can. I appreciate your patience.

Picture collages to correlate with these chapters will be posted on my Tumblr whenever I upload a new chapter. My username is: madisonr1129

Last but not least, I was to say a few thanks...

Thank you to those of you have sent me so many wonderful photos of Theo James, Shailene Woodley, etc. to use for my inspiration picture collages. I really appreciate your help! Thank you to my friend and beta Ractre1127 for all your help and encouragement, you're the best! And thank you to all of you readers! Especially to those of you who support me by coming back to read more every time I update and to those who follow, favorite and leave reviews. I love all of your feedback!

:-)

Until next time,

Madison