"Tris" he whispered. And then repeated himself a couple of times gradually getting louder. "Wake up".

They were both lying on his bed, and he had his arms wrapped around her slight frame. She had been screaming so loudly, he was surprised that no other lights in the compound had come on. As she awoke, tears started streaming down her face, so he held her, until the sobs subsided and her breathing normalised.

It was only a couple of hours since he had been walking past the chasm, and seen the shadows and heard her muffled cries. She had been right at the edge, held captive by the three of them, trying to kill her… What if they had succeeded? What would he have done then? He wasn't sure what he was feeling, as he shushed her quietly in the darkness. But he never wanted to lose her.

At this moment she seemed so small and helpless and young. Why would anyone do this to her? Especially Al, he was sure they were friends; he had once thought they were more than friends. And in a way he was glad that they weren't, but that was an incredibly selfish thought so he pushed it away. He could never fully remove himself from Abnegation; a few traits were permanently hardwired into his brain.

He realised he was still holding her, and released her, feeling the skin on his cheeks redden slightly, whilst watching the skin on her cheeks do the same, but far more obviously.

"You were screaming" he explained carefully. He knew that she didn't like to be weak, and if this was said wrong she could quickly take offence.

But she just mumbled "Sorry" in a very quiet voice.

"Not your fault" he replied, "Nightmare?"

She nodded in response. He felt strange. They were the only two awake in the entire compound, possibly the entire city. He knew his feeling for her were growing stronger, and had to fight away the urge to kiss her.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

She shook her head but then started speaking, bowing her head so that her hair formed a curtain around her face.

"I was at the chasm again, but this time I fell, for what seemed like hours" She paused, apparently unsure of how to continue. "And then I hit the water and was in a stimulation, but nothing I did to calm down worked and I was there for an eternity facing all my fears at once" She paused again, for breath as she had blurted the last bit out in a stream of words that flowed consistently with no ebb to the tide. "And then I heard your voice…" Her own voice faded into nothing.

"It's okay, you're okay, and it was a dream" he told her unsure of how much comfort she needed. "Go back to sleep" he commanded, and then added on a more tender note "I won't let anything hurt you".

He moved off the bed and onto the sofa as she settled down again, her breathing slowed and became more rhythmic. There would be no more screaming tonight. He stayed there on the sofa watching her, until the dawn started creeping into his room and then quickly crept to the shower to wake himself up.

When he came out of the bathroom after his shower, she had woken up again. She had also completely forgotten what had happened after the dream, she had even forgotten the dream itself. She was lucky, he remembered every dream he ever had, and most of them were bad.

But though Tris forgot their midnight conversation, Tobias never would, the memory of it would stay with him forever.

Then she left. He was exhausted, as he had spent most of the night awake watching her. She was beautiful. He was now almost sure. Alost sure that he loved her. But did she feel the same way about him? Only time would tell.