Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Veronica Roth's "Divergent" or any business, places, etc. that are referenced in this story.

Warning: Please only read if you're of an appropriate age. Story contains content for mature audiences only due to explicit language and sexual content.

Chapter 3-Settling In and A Tour

-Tris POV-

After Four leaves, I close the door and decide to take a shower. Afterwards I dress in comfortable jeans, a t-shirt, and my boots. I walk outside to take in the morning. Sipping my coffee, I look around. I see Four working around the corrals. My eyes seemed drawn to him. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he glances up and looks at me. When he sees me, he gives a quick wave and goes back to work. I know I should look away. It is rude to stare, but I enjoy watching him. Finally I shake it off and go back into the apartment. After a quick breakfast, I wander over to the house. Might as well figure out how I can help my grandparents.

I walk into the house and see my grandma puttering in the kitchen. I go up to her and say, "Good morning," as I give her a hug.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Can I get you something to eat?"

I shake my head no and tell her, "I already ate. You completely stocked that apartment with food. I'll be hard pressed to eat it before it spoils. Anyway, I'm unloaded and settled in. How can I help you? That is the reason that I am here."

My grandma grins and says, "I hope you are also here to spend time with us. We don't see you enough."

"Of course, Grandma. But, really, what should I plan on doing around here to help you out?"

My grandma grabs her coffee mug and indicates that I should get a cup too, then walks to the kitchen table. After we are both sitting down, she begins, "Well, with your grandfather laid up, it just takes more time to do things. I don't want to ignore him all day, so I make a point of chatting with him or just being close as much as possible. This means that I have been neglecting the yard and garden. I'll probably let you take charge of them over the summer. I'll also let you make some of the trips into town. When I leave the house, it would be great if you can plan on being in the house so that if your grandfather needs anything you're here to help."

"I can do all that. Can you show me around the yard and garden so I know what you want me to take care of?"

"Of course. I'll go tell Jack we're heading outside."

"No, Grandma. I'll tell him. That way I can tell him good morning too."

I take a couple of minutes to go tell my grandpa good morning and chat with him for a bit. My grandma and I then head outside. We walk around the yard. She points out different plantings and areas of concern. We then head into the garden. My grandma is usually an avid vegetable gardener. It seems weird to not see her raised beds overflowing with plants. We talk about what is planted and what can yet be planted this summer. Overall we take a couple of hours to just talk and discuss all of the things around the house. By the time we're done it's lunchtime. We both head into the house and decide on grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. After lunch she shows me where all of her seeds are stored and I tell her that I am going to start working in the garden.

I spend the afternoon in the garden. I get old plants pulled out and new seeds put in. As I'm starting to clean up my tools, I hear a noise behind me. I turn around and see Four leaning against the garden fence. "So are you getting everything ship shape again?"

"Yeah. I know it weighs on my grandma not to have her fresh veggies from the garden."

Four looks around as I gather everything up and haul it over to the little shed over to the side of the garden. "If you're done, I can give you a tour of the barns and stuff."

I look at him and say, "Sure. That works. Just let me go in the house and wash up first."

I walk into the house, wash my hands, and grab two bottles of water. I walk back outside. Four is waiting just outside the door and I hand him one of the bottles of water. "Thanks," he says as he opens the bottle, drinking about half of it at one time.

We start to walk toward the barns and Four tells me about the layout of the place. Some of this I already know, but I let him continue. Four explains that there are four pastures that connect up with the pens and barns: northern, western, upper, and lower. There are two more pastures that can only be accessed from other pastures; they are known as the outer pastures. Four continues to explain that the cattle are kept out on these outer pastures for as much of the year as possible. He rides out and checks on them twice a week. The cattle are brought in when the graze is gone and they need to be given hay. Hopefully by then the steers are large enough to sell at market.

As Four goes on, he states that the horses are kept on the four inner pastures or in some of the pens adjacent to the barns. Broodmares are currently kept in the lower pasture. Four tells me that this is the flattest pasture which lowers the chance of foals and mares being injured. The northern and upper pastures both have topographic extremes and have some very rocky areas. Usually only the yearlings and young, agile horses are run in those pastures. Lastly, he tells me that the western pasture is somewhat a mix of the others. It's not extreme, but not flat.

His explanation of the different pastures gets me thinking about the horses and their possibility of injury. I ask him, "Why do you run horses in pastures where you know they might get hurt?"

He stops walking and looks out over the horses and one of the pastures in question. "If a kid is never given the chance to run and play, they won't skin their knee but they won't know what they are capable of either. Putting the young horses out on these pastures teaches them what they can do. We are raising working horses. They need to be able to work cattle over rough terrain. Therefore, you want them to have seen this terrain before you are in middle of nowhere trying to herd cattle. You want your horse to already have an idea of how to get through the terrain so that their head can stay on their job."

I nod as I think about this. I can see the rationale behind it.

Four glances at me to see if I understand his explanation. He must see that I do because he starts walking again. As we get closer to the pens, some of the horses come up to the fence rails. He stops and scratches them or gives them a pat on the neck. I let some sniff my hand and rub some noses. Four then explains that horses in training or that need special attention are kept in the pens. He says these horses often are rotated back out to pasture after a few weeks of training and others are brought in. That way they don't get burned out. Plus, Four goes on, some need more training than others, so this fits well. The three year olds are getting the full training which takes the longest. The yearlings just need lead line and basics. The two year olds only need basic under saddle. So while he gives the three year olds a rest, he brings in the yearlings or the two year olds to work on.

As we walk, Four has been pointing out different horses, telling me their age, and where they are in training. When we get to the main barn, or 'the barn' as everyone calls it, he points out the stalls and the tack room. I look at all of these items, noting how neat and clean everything is. This makes me feel better about my grandparents. I was really wondering about their hired hand, especially since my grandpa wasn't able to keep tabs on him right now. It's gratifying to see the ranch in shipshape. In fact, Four seems to take pride in keeping everything up.

I've also been watching him interact with the horses. Well, he's gorgeous. I have been watching him period, but I'm learning to like his personality too. I've grown to respect horses. When they don't like someone, it is worth taking note. All of the horses here really respond to him. They come right up to him and they never shy away when he reaches for him. This tells me a lot about his character.

I'm kind of caught up in my own thoughts as we walk through the barn, so Four surprises me when he asks, "So you just graduated. Your grandparents live here. Where did you grow up?'

"Denver."

"Ah, a city girl, huh?" Four says with a smirk.

"I guess you could say that. I only got down here to see my grandparents once or twice a year. It was nice being at NMSU. Whenever they came to Las Cruces, I would meet up with them. I would help them with their shopping or just have lunch with them. I miss my parents, but I have always gotten along with my grandparents better." I stop walking and turn to Four. "What about you? You grew up here, right?"

"Yep." With that short answer, Four turns and starts walking again, heading over to the secondary barns. I'm a little taken aback by his short answer, but I gather that he doesn't want to talk about himself. As the tour continues, Four explains what each barn area is used for. When we finish with the barns, we are over near the far pens. I see my grandparent's stallion in one of these pens. I walk up to the fence and climb up the rails. The horse sees me and starts to trot over. Four and I just spend a couple of minutes relaxing, petting and talking to the stallion.

Finally we both feel that it's time to head in for dinner so we start heading back toward the house. When we are about halfway to the house, Four mentions, "Sally told me that I should give you a riding lesson. Is that something that you would be interested in?"

I stop myself from laughing and think about it. "Yeah," I say. "That could be fun."

"I have some time tomorrow afternoon, if you want," Four tells me.

"I can't then. I need to get into town and check out the library. Part of the reason I'm here is to study for my NCLEX exam. I have to pass it to be registered as an RN. I have some of the books that I need, but I need to see if the library has the others. I plan on spending most of tomorrow studying."

Four doesn't seem upset by my answer. "Well, I only stop by to feed on the weekend. We can do it Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday would be better for me."

"Okay," I tell him grinning. "Tuesday you can give me a riding lesson."

\~\~\~\~\

As I walk into the bar, I can see everyone checking me out. Men and women combined. It doesn't surprise me. This is the only bar in town and it's a small community. Everyone in this bar probably knows everyone else. I'm the odd duck out.

I glance around and see a small DJ area, an open area for dancing, tables off to the left, pool tables in the back toward the right, and a large semi circle bar between the two. My eyes scan over the bar and I am surprised to see Four sitting at the bar as far away from the door as possible, off to himself. I see the bartender talking to Four and then walking over to serve others. The bartender is wearing a crisp white shirt and a black vest. He's a friendly looking guy, with dark skin and eyes that are filled with laughter. I walk over toward where Four is sitting and plop down on the barstool next to him. Four kind of glares at me and I just ignore him.

As I had approached the bar, the bartender had begun to drift toward me. As I sat down next to Four, the bartender looks surprised. "Hey lady, do you have a death wish?" he asks.

I'm now confused so I glance around before answering, "No. … Why?"

"Well, no one willingly sits next to Four." At that Four picks up his coaster and throws it at the bartender. The bartender sees it coming and ducks with a very unmanly, "Eeeek!" He then says, "I'm not coming back up until you promise not to throw anything else."

Four completely deadpans when he replies, "That's fine by me. I come here for the beer not for you."

At that the bartender jumps up and whines, "Hey, not cool, man. I'm much better than the beer here. Anyway, you love me!" At that Four looks around for something else to throw, but the only thing he finds is his beer mug which is still half full.

Realizing that he can't throw a half full beer mug, Four growls, "You're lucky I'm not up for wasting beer tonight."

The bartender must assume that Four isn't a threat anymore because he turns back to me extending his hand. "I'm Zeke."

"Tris," I say as I shake his hand.

"Oh, Sally and Jack's granddaughter. Right?"

Before I get a chance to answer, Four pipes up, "How in the hell do you know that she is their granddaughter?"

Zeke just laughs and says, "I ran into Sally at the market the other day. All she could talk about was her granddaughter coming to visit. I just assumed that since she isn't scared of you and I've never seen her before, that she is probably said granddaughter."

Four just looks at Zeke then takes a big drink of his beer all the while shaking his head. I think I hear him mumble, "Tell the whole damn town, but not me."

I smirk a little as I turn back to Zeke. "Yep, that's me. Can I get a beer?"

Zeke nods and goes to fill a mug for me. As he comes back he asks, "So how did you stumble across this bar?"

"What, in this one horse town? I drove down the street and it was the only place with cars parked around it at 8:00 pm on a Friday night."

"Hey," Zeke scolds. "It isn't a one horse town. Your grandparents have at least 30 or 40 head."

I shake my head and tell him, "Yeah, but they aren't in town."

Zeke laughs at that. "So, what were you doing in this one horse town at 8:00 pm on a Friday?"

"Oh, I was at the library studying. I didn't mean to stay so late, but before I knew it, they kicked me out and closed. I was heading home and saw this place. I thought that a beer sounded good. I was also curious as to what the thumping night life was like here."

"Just wait and see," Zeke replies waggling his eyebrows. "Once everyone has a good buzz going, the dancing will start. When people really start getting drunk, the karaoke starts. The true benefit of this job is staying sober and watching people all night."

The visual of that makes me laugh. "Gee, and to think that I didn't believe that there was going to be any excitement here."

Zeke goes to help someone on the other side of the bar. Four still hasn't said anything to me although he was actively listening to Zeke and myself talk. This makes me ask Zeke when he comes back, "So how long have you known Four?"

Zeke looks at Four and then back at me. "Since elementary school. Third grade."

I nod at this. Looking at Four I then ask Zeke, "So has he always been anti-social, brooding, mono-syllabic?"

"Hey," Four responds.

"Kind of reinforces my point," I mutter. "You know, one syllable."

At this Zeke snorts trying to hold in his laughter. Four turns and glares at him. "What man? She's right. You tend to answer with the shortest word possible." Zeke then turns toward me and answers my question. "Yes, he has always been like this. He was such a bummer at recess."

This causes me to picture a very young Four moping around the schoolyard, glaring at anyone who tried to come near him. As the picture solidifies in my mind, I can't help but laugh. "Yeah. I can imagine some fun times with him at recess. Did he glare people down if they looked at him during dodge ball?"

"Wow, it's like you were there!"

Four looks at Zeke and me and then says, "What is this, pick on Four day?"

I chuckle and nod yes. "Actually, I am going to head home. I really had just planned on stepping in to check the place out. Zeke, it was very nice to meet you. Four, I'll see you." With that I leave the bar and head home.