Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.


May 29th: Tobias

"Pssst! Tobias!" I crane my head down the row to look over to Uriah, who is holding his hands out. "Pass the popcorn please!"

I jerk my popcorn away from his direction, "Hell, no! You didn't get your own?"

"Mom got some, but she doesn't get any butter. Pleeease?" He whines.

"Uriah, I got layered butter. Layered. I'm not giving that up. The ceremony hasn't started yet, just get up and get some more!"

Uriah casts me a withering glance, and I shrug, tossing another handful into my mouth. A firm palm smacks the back of my head. "Ow! Trissss!"

"Tobias stop being so greedy! Share with Uriah!"

I sigh, and roll my eyes, but still, hand the popcorn bin over to Tris, who hands it to Christina, who hands it to Will, who hands it to Marlene, who hands it to Uriah. He casts Tris a thumbs up and she gives him a sweet smile in return, and I have the pleasure of watching him get his sticky hands all over my popcorn.

"God, it's so hot out here," Tris groans, fanning herself with her program, "When is it starting?"

I glance down at my watch, "5 minutes or so."

"How many kids are graduating this year?"

"A lot."

"Well, fuck. We're gonna be out here for a while… but I guess it's worth it for Zeke," Tris states, pushing her hair off to one side to fan the other side of her neck. Her cheeks are bright pink, and sweat dribbles down her temples. It's the first hot weekend in Chicago this year, and it's proving excruciating. Still, I'm excited for this summer. School officially got out last week, and I ended the school year with all A's for the very first time. It's thanks to Tris and Caleb that I scored an A in chemistry, honestly, otherwise I would have been helpless with Mrs. Matthews' hard grading. Now I get to spend lots of time with my girlfriend, relaxing before our senior year.

The Prior's are going on a huge road trip, renting an RV and everything next week, and I'm coming along with them. We'll be headed down to St. Louis, and then up to Minneapolis, so we'll be gone for a couple of weeks, but it should prove a fun way to spend the first week off from school.

After we get back, however, I will be joining my dad, Tiffany, some other Eaton cousins, and Tiffany's family in Europe. That'll be in July, though they are leaving next week. We'll be spending most of the time in Prague, but we'll leave to tour other destinations in Europe as well. It should prove fun, I'm excited to get to know my new family and see my cousins again as well, but it would mean being without Tris for a few weeks.

I've debated asking her to come with me, my dad and Tiffany are all for it, and they even talked to Andrew and Natalie who gave their permission as well. Still, it's a big step to ask her to leave her entire family for a few weeks to visit a foreign country with me. It could derail any previous summer plans she had made, and I don't want to intimidate her. After all, we haven't even been together for a year yet. I'm scared to ask her… but I will pluck up the courage soon. It would be a dream come true to be in Europe with Tris after all.

"Yeah, any idea when Shauna's getting here?" I ask, eyeing the vacant seats in the row ahead of us. Shauna is very pregnant. She's due any week now, but that won't deter her from coming to see Zeke graduate. As far as I know, no rumors about why Shauna has dropped out of school have circulated around. Our friend group has kept it pretty hush hush, but today when she shows up, the rest of the school will be in for a wild shock. I really, really hope that the baby is born before I go abroad. I would hate to be the last one to meet Zeke's kid, and I want to be there for them while I can.

"No, no idea. She'll be here soon, though," Tris states confidently.

All of a sudden, I hear several whispers begin to collect behind us, and when I turn my head I see why. Shauna has now arrived, and it is plainly obvious how pregnant she is. When she came to my lacrosse games, she would wear oversized sweatshirts to conceal her bump, but those would be useless for her now anyway with how big she is. Her bright red maternity shirt says it loud and clear; she's pregnant.

Girls point and snicker, gossiping amongst themselves as she walks down center aisle. Her head is held up high, but there is still a redness settled into her cheeks that I don't think is from the summer heat. Her parents, Lynn, Hector, and Sofia walk behind her, though all of them look unsure of what to do. I shake my head to myself, craning my neck down the row again and making eye contact with Uriah, who is already looking at me. He gives me a firm nod, and we both know what we have to do.

I shoot to my feet, "Come on," I tell Tris, "We've gotta help Shauna."

She nods, and immediately our entire friend group is out of our seats, making our way over to her. Shauna gives us all a grateful look as Tris takes one of her hands, and the rest of us sort of form a barricade around her while we walk her up to her row.

"We're really glad you're here, Shauna. And I know Zeke will be, too," I tell her earnestly.

"Thank you, Tobias," she murmurs softly, squeezing my shoulder.

"And you look good, momma!" Christina declares.

"You do, you have this sunshiney glow," Tris reaffirms.

"Yeah, well in reality my ankles are swollen, I have to pee all the time, and I just want this damned baby out," Shauna states, shaking her head. "But not right now," she adds on, glancing down at her stomach worriedly.

We all chuckle, and by the time we've gotten her and her family into their seats, the principal has walked up on stage and announced that the ceremony is beginning. I lace my fingers through Tris's and walk her back to our chairs, pressing a kiss to her forehead once we've sat.

The ceremony goes rather slowly, or so it feels. First, the principal says some words and introduces the valedictorian and salutatorian to give their speeches, then the principal says some more words, followed by the vice principal. Finally, the graduates begin walking out, though there are so many in our grade that it takes ages. Our school's band must have played Pomp and Circumstance over 50 times by the time they're all lined up.

"Can you see him?" Tris whispers to me, "I can't."

"That's because you're so short. I can see him perfectly."

Tris whacks me with her program, and I chortle, my smile softening once I glance back to Zeke again. Well, this is a sight I never thought I'd see. Zeke, all dressed up in his black cap and gown. He's pretty far down the line, since his last name is closer to the end of the alphabet, but I notice him jumping up and down and giving Shauna an excited wave. Not only is this fool graduating, but he's also about to become a father soon. It's insane.

I guess the future has different plans for us all, and there's no doubt that he and Shauna will be phenomenal parents, especially with the support of their families. I'm excited to be in their child's life, especially after meeting Tris's kid siblings, I find that I actually like kids and I can be good with them. It gets me thinking about my own future with Tris. While I know that it's much too early to think about children for us… we have our senior year, college, and careers ahead… I do know that I want her in my future. We have one more year left together before we have to figure it all out so I'm not going to dwell on it, but I guess it's just something to think about. I can't imagine my life without Tris and I don't know if that makes me a romantic or just plain naive.

As the principal begins calling out names, we clap politely for each person, waiting and waiting for Zeke. Finally, the girl in front of Zeke is called, and we are all on the edge of our seats in anticipation.

"Ezekiel Keith Pedrad," the principal says.

Our entire friend group and Zeke and Shauna's families go wild, jumping up from our seats and waving our hands loudly in the air. I don't care if Zeke's embarrassed, he deserves it for all the times he's embarrassed me at my lacrosse games. Glancing over to Shauna, she looks immensely proud in this moment, and I look down our row to Mr. And Mrs. Pedrad, the latter is wiping happy tears from her eyes.

"Wow, you have quite the fanclub," the principal muses as he hands Zeke his diploma.

We all laugh as we sit back down, and Zeke grabs the mic, "I just wanna say, I did this all for Shauna Larson! I love you so much baby, and I can't wait-"

"That's enough Ezekiel," the principal chastises, grabbing the microphone back and shaking his head at him.

Zeke just shrugs, "Class of 2020 baby!" He shouts, skipping off stage. This earns several whoops for him, not just from us, but from a lot of the audience as well. In the grand scheme of things with Shauna, I know that Zeke's high school popularity has never mattered much to him, but it's interesting to see that it still follows him to his graduation as kids slap him on the back and congratulate him once he exits the stage.

The rest of the ceremony goes by slowly again, and once it's finished the principal announces the class of 2020, and they all stand up to toss their caps in the air with everyone cheering.

It feels like we're running through a zoo as we all hurry to find Zeke afterwards, and when we do, Shauna instantly tackles him. Or tries to, her large bump gets in the way. "I'm so proud of you!" She cries, kissing his face several times.

He laughs, and they murmur words of love to one another. I feel as if I'm intruding on a moment that I shouldn't be, but then I look over to Tris who is watching them with fondness in her eyes, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders.

Zeke's parents congratulate him, and we spend the next few minutes taking photos and chatting excitedly. Coach Qureshi comes up to Zeke to shake his hand and personally congratulate him on everything, and then he approaches me and says he's excited that I'm back on my feet again for next year's season. I promise him to stay in good shape over the summer, and he tells me to not get too distracted this summer, his eyes flitting to Tris when he says so.

I can feel my cheeks redden, but I nod, even though I know I'm basically lying to him. I will not be keeping it in my pants this summer, that's for sure. It's my free time with Tris, and I plan to make the most of it, especially if she comes to Europe with me. And God, I hope she will.


Zeke's graduation after party is small, not the kind of party I'm used to seeing in the Pedrad mansion, but I know his parents wanted to do something for him and bring him back home. They definitely miss him ever since he's moved into the apartment.

We all sit gathered on the couch, eating cake and discussing memories. There's a huge banner that says 'Congratulations Grad!' and other decorations in the giant room. It's fun to talk with everyone about our high school experiences because we didn't all become friends until this past year. Hearing about what everyone was up to before I knew them is interesting.

Christina finishes listing funny things that have happened during her earlier high school years- from her time in theatre, to goofing off with Tris, to various bad dates she's been on. When she finishes, her attention falls on me. "You haven't said much, Tobias. What were your earlier high school days like? You know, being the mysterious bad boy and all."

Tris laughs, leaning into me, and I feel my face heat up a little. I usually don't like thinking about who I was back then. I had little to no social skills, I was hot headed, abrasive, and flighty. I spent a lot of my energy focusing on my relationship with Nita, instead of on myself. I thought that by being with someone else who had cancer in their family that it would help me, to be with a girl who understood me, but no one understands me and cares for me like Tris does.

At least now I can freely admit that I've grown up since then. I've become a better man, and learnt what love truly is. I've settled my demons from the loss I've experienced and learnt that it's okay to be vulnerable. I've come so far from the empty boy I used to be, and know now to appreciate every moment as it comes, especially when surrounded by the people I care about.

This past school year has been wonderful, and I wouldn't trade anything that happened for the world. So I give into Christina, relenting some stories about my time at the 'popular table', talking about some crazy parties I've been to, and how I never really asked for any of the attention I got.

"Hot privilege," Tris coughed into her hand.

"Mmm, maybe, but none of it mattered. Not until I met Tris," I state, kissing her forehead gently.

Everyone in our group gives an "awww" and Tris rolls her eyes, smiling as she snuggles deeper into me. It's true, now I know what real living is, and I know that everything that's happened to me are things that my mother would have wanted me to experience.

Thank God for this past school year, but now I'm ready for summer. Hopefully Tris wants to come to Europe with me.


Thanks for all the support! Especially with slower updates now. There's 3 chapters left of this story, and then an epilogue before the sequel. I hope your 2021's have been pleasant so far, though if you live in the USA like I do, I know that can be hard with all the craziness going on :/ hopefully things turn around soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter!