"I brought you some clothes," I say, placing them on the bed. Tris timidly emerges from the bathroom, touching her wet hair.

"All your curls are gone," I say.

"Did you like them?" she asks. I don't know what answer she wants to hear, but I tell her the truth.

"I like your hair the way it is," I say, closing the distance between us. We stand inches apart, not touching, and then I tuck a wet strand of hair behind her ear. I let my fingers drift from her hair down the nape of her neck and over her tattoos, barely touching her skin.

We look at each other shyly. Something has shifted between us, grown deeper. We were both exposed and vulnerable last night, only I didn't have the courage to do it while Tris was awake.

Tris had made plans to meet up with Christina and Will so I decide to get the training room in order before I head back to my regular job in the control room. I would love to train the initiates every year if Eric wasn't involved. He manages to taint everything he touches.

I meet Zeke and Lauren for lunch at our usual time. I catch up with them outside the dining hall. Uriah's with them, bouncing around like a five year old.

"You dirty dog!" Uriah says as he fake punches me in the gut. "You are smooth, man. I had no idea you and Tris were together." As irritating as I find Uriah at this moment, his reaction confirms that Zeke did in fact keep my secret. I had confessed to him a week ago that I liked Tris and that we had been seeing each other. I asked him not to tell anyone and he was true to his word.

"Man, I really had no idea," Uriah says and then punches me in the gut - no fake about it. I grab his wrist and hold it steady, inches away from my stomach. One twist and I could snap his wrist in half.

"Okay, let's go into lunch, Uriah," Zeke says, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him away from me. He knows I will only tolerate so much from his younger brother, and he's definitely pushing it. I will put up with taunting from Tris' friends because I have to, but I will not put up with it from mine.

"We'll meet up with you guys in a minute," Lauren says and she waits till they go through the doors before she turns to me. "I talked to my friend who's in charge of the new member's apartments and she worked it so that Tris and her friends are in our building and Peter is in the building by the rail yards."

"Thanks. The further he is from her the better," I say. Simply hearing Peter's name makes my hands clench into fists.

"It's actually perfect because a few of the higher ups are in Peter's building so he'll think he was put there because he's special."

"Oh, he's special all right," I say and turn to go into the dining hall. Lauren puts her hand on my arm.

"I want to tell you how happy I am about you and Tris. You deserve some happiness," she says, giving my arm a squeeze.

"Oh and also," she says facing me head on, "You totally rocked that dance move I showed you," she says shoving me in the shoulders. We both laugh as we enter the dining hall.

I scan the room for Eric as I do every time I walk in here. If he's in here, I either make sure I sit so I'm not facing him or I turn around and leave. Luckily, today, I will eat in peace. Actually, now that I think of it, I haven't seen Eric since the announcements. I don't remember even seeing him at the Celebration. I was pretty distracted by Tris but I can usually feel him watching me. I definitely would have noticed if he had been watching Tris.

After lunch I head up to the control room. I'm not scheduled to start back there until tomorrow but I decide to check in with my replacement. When I reach the door, it's locked. I knock, and after an unusually long wait, the door opens a crack and Eric stares back at me through the slit.

"You're not slated back until tomorrow," Eric says coldly. "I'm taking care of things today." I try and look behind Eric and when he moves to close the door I see her; Jeanine, the Erudite leader. Eric slams the door and I can't move, every muscle in my body tenses up. This is not good. They're planning something and I have to find out what it is.

On my way back to my apartment I see Tris standing by the railing of the chasm.

"Hey," I say when I'm about three feet away so I don't startle her. She turns and her eyes are a little sad. "Are you all right?" I ask.

"I don't know," she shrugs. "I was thinking about Al, and Peter, and Drew. I guess I just wanted to stand here until I didn't feel sad, or hurt, or angry, or scared."

"Yeah? How's that going?"

"Not very well," she lets out a little laugh, and turns back to face the chasm, her hands gripping the railing. I stand behind her, and place my hands beside hers so I'm surrounding her, but not touching her. Her back is rigid and her knuckles are turning white from gripping the railing so tight. I lean down slightly so my mouth is beside her ear.

"Those feelings aren't going to go away. They're part of you now. You just have to decide where you're going to put them." She sighs and her shoulders deflate a little. "You don't have to be so strong all the time you know," I say, in a low voice. I lean forward but keep my arms rigid. She exhales and leans back into my chest and we stand listening to the roar of the chasm while she lets me be strong for both of us.