Unfading

by awalkerlifeforme

Amarantha Freesia is a typical Amity girl. Only, she isn't quite so typical. Behind her facade of friendly smiles and chipper laughter she is everything that Amity isn't. With a bad attitude and a sharp tongue to match, Amarantha knows she doesn't belong in Amity. The only place she might fit in is Dauntless. But is she brave enough? One thing is for sure, he's positive she isn't.

7. Chapter 7

Like most mornings I woke up earlier than everyone else. But, unfortunately, today it was a little later than it normally was. That was probably a good thing. That meant that I might miss my morning rendezvous with Eric. They had become a strange habit lately. Every morning I woke up and showered before heading out to the dining room where Eric would be the sole inhabitant. No one else in Dauntless wanted to be awake that early.

Some mornings we would sit in silence and eat and then other days we would snap at each other for nearly an hour. There were even the rare days where we would actually be able to talk with each other like we were friends. Of course, that usually only lasted so long before we started to yell at each other. But still, they were the mornings that we both enjoyed. Otherwise one of us would have stopped going.

Yawning deeply, I sighed and shook my head. I wanted to go back to bed today. It had been a long week and I wasn't sure how fond I was to get to work and train today. I wasn't sure what we were doing today. We might be training with the guns some more but I was starting to get tired of that. My arms were always aching and my ears were constantly ringing. I stood weakly and grabbed the first clothes that I found. I grabbed a pair of black leggings and a loose fitting black shirt that fell off of one of my shoulders. With my clothes in hand I turned back and walked into the showers, squinting my eyes at the blinding light.

As I turned the water on and let the cold seep into my bones, I sighed. The cold in here was one of the few things I couldn't stand. It made me curious whether or not Eric had warm water in his showers. He had snapped at me the other night for all of my complaining about the cold water. If he had hot water I was thinking about running into his apartment and using his shower. I was dying to be somewhere without ice cold water. Of course, I would hate to see what would happen if he caught me in there.

What would happen? I actually really wasn't sure what would happen if he ever caught me in the shower. Would he scream and run away? Probably not. Would he yell at me? That was almost a certainty. Was there a chance that he might do something else? Like join me? That was actually a high possibility. I liked looking at Eric and I liked flirting with him, but I would never lose that bet. There was no way that I would ever admit that I wanted him. Because I didn't. Physically maybe, but never as a significant other. He didn't know how to be one.

I was pretty sure that Four felt the exact same way that most people did about Eric. He hated him. At first I had thought that it might just be a friendly rivalry but now that we had been here in training for six weeks I saw that it was really a true hatred. Six weeks had shown me that Four wasn't the big baddie that everyone thought that he was either. He could be a real jerk and sometimes he made me angrier than Eric, but I knew that he was really a good guy. He wasn't just a plain dick like Eric was, Four was just a jerk because that was the way that Dauntless had made him.

The only thing about Four was that I just hoped that he didn't fire off a blank round at me again. He had done it yesterday to scare the hell out of me after I had kept missing the target. My arms had been exhausted so I had just stopped paying attention to my shots. I had seen the punishment coming, I had just thought that it would be from Eric. He had seemed shocked that it was coming from Four, too.

In six weeks I had also met some of the best people that now knew the most about me. For those of my friends back in Amity, I had hidden a lot about myself from them. Even though we all snapped at each other whenever we were tired and ate our meals together, usually not without a fight, they were still the best people that I had met. Heather was now the one that I considered my best friend. I told her everything about me and she was the one that listened to me endlessly complain about Eric.

Buck and Dante were both good for joking around and I had quickly found that they were good help in my continuing campaign against Eric. Jax and Jet were quiet but they were good to be with on days that I didn't want to be around my other, louder, friends. Pretty much everyone was fun to be around except for Hunter, Colt, and Jade. I was just waiting for the day that I could blame a faulty gun on a bullet between their eyes. I hated them. But that didn't mean that they made me like Dauntless any less. It was my home.

Six weeks later, though, I also missed the people that had meant the most to me for almost all of my life. As much as I loved not being around the nauseating peace of Amity every day, there were times that I missed my two best friends. Florian and Iris were both in Candor right now, probably loving their lives. I missed them so much but I knew that they were better off wherever they were. Iris had wanted to be in Candor practically since the day that she was born. Florian had always seemed like he would be good for Amity but I was glad that he had left. I was glad that he had gone at least with Iris. He needed a friend.

And as much as I loved him, I was glad that he hadn't come with me. I didn't want to be the one to tell him that I'd never had the feelings for him that he had had for me. I loved him so much, but he wasn't the type of guy that I wanted to be in a relationship with. We had always been better off as friends. I wasn't sure who was the kind of person that I wanted to be with. All I knew was that I was trying to push down the little voice in my head that was whispering Eric.

The only other thing that I missed from Amity was my parents. I wished that I could come back to Amity for a day just to tell them that it wasn't anything that they had done. I loved them so much and they were the people that had made me the way that I was. That was something that I would always be grateful for. They were the people that I had to thank for everything that they had done for me. I just hated that they thought that I had left without having a care in the world over what they would think.

But that wasn't the truth. It had killed me for weeks before the Choosing Ceremony having to pretend that I was going to be Amity for the rest of my life. I just wanted them to know that I was sorry. I wanted them to visit just for a day so that I could tell them that I was sorry. I was hoping that they would come to Visiting Day, but I knew better. There was no way that they were going to set anywhere near the place that their daughter had betrayed them for. The thought broke my heart.

But they weren't the things that I could be focusing on. Right now I had to focus on my training. It was going well and I couldn't do anything to lose the traction that I had gained. In the past week since we had started gun training my rank hadn't moved but I would rather it remain where it is rather than watch it fall. I was actually rather impressed with myself. And I could tell that all of my friends were just about as impressed with me as I was.

An Amity member had never made it into Dauntless before and I was on track to be the first. But I knew that it could change easily. Especially if Eric continued on his threats to kick me out of Dauntless for anything he could. I wouldn't be surprised if he kept little notes about me to eventually bring to Max to get me kicked out.

That didn't matter though. Right now I was doing damn well. For four days we had been practicing with the pistols and I knew that I was at least halfway decent with them. I wasn't nearly the best but I wasn't the worst by any means either. I normally hit around the second and third ring out from the center. But I also had plenty of hits in the first and second rings too. I was really actually very good with the pistols. I normally was able to blow out the entire center of the target. Of course, that would normally take me at least an hour. But still, I was pretty good for someone who had never picked up a gun before a week ago. Plus the compliments that I had gotten from Four and scowls I had gotten from Eric had made my hard work with it.

Just three days ago we had started with the rifles. They were probably my favorite things to shoot with. My only problem was that they were extremely heavy and hurt my shoulders from the kickback. I was really good with them though. Nearly every shot was a bulls-eye or in the ring directly outside of the center. But it was pretty hard to not be accurate with a rifle. The sights made it extremely easy to find where you wanted to shoot and the long barrel made the bullet more accurate. There was no denying that we were all better with the rifles. But I liked to think that I was the best. Probably because I didn't rush my shots and I actually took the time to think about where I was firing. It was why I almost always ended up with the most leftover bullets. It was also why Eric always yelled at me that I was too slow for a real defensive situation.

But that didn't matter, because for the most part I was actually better than most of my friends with gun training. Heather was pretty miserable with a pistol. She always hit the rings but she rarely had center shots. I was pretty sure that it was because she always stood so rigid. She hated leaning forward a little bit but that was the way that you needed to stand. She was much better with a rifle though. She was pretty good with it. Most of my friends were actually extremely good with the rifles.

They were all over the place when it came to the pistols though. Raven and Skylar weren't good with them at all. I could tell that the weapons were too heavy for them. I felt terrible but I knew that neither one was likely to make it into Dauntless. Colt was incredibly good with a gun but he wasn't the best. It was actually Hunter. He didn't even seem to have to try to aim or anything. All he did was raise the gun and pull the trigger and it went through the center hole. It always did. I tried to keep up with him but I knew that I couldn't. Until the mental portion of training I knew that it would be almost impossible for me to take over his spot at the top of the transfer initiates. But I was determined to be number one.

Yawning again, I washed out the grease in my hair and made sure that I was actually going to look appropriate for my date, or whatever it was called, tonight. I had found myself actually reasonably excited for what was to come. We were going out to some fancy restaurant tonight - Defying, if I remembered correctly - during normal dinner hours where we were going to be able to try and talk with each other like friends.

For now, at least. I had decided to give him a try. And for more than just to make Eric mad. I really wanted a chance to be friends with Damien. Maybe a little something more. But I knew that I had to be careful until the end of training. Eric was on me all the time, watching my every move. He was much worse now that he knew that I was speaking to Damien again. I had to make my relationship with Damien look like we were just friends for right now. I knew that it was probably more though, considering that the date was still hours away and my stomach was already fluttering with nerves.

I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, putting a towel around myself. They were bright white and I groaned. Just for once I actually wanted everything to be black. I was exhausted. As I walked out into the living room, clothes in hand, I saw through the darkness that Eric was standing at the front of the room, his hands just hovering above the light switch. He stared at me and I was grateful that he hadn't switched the light on yet. I noticed that his eyes were trailing down my body. His eyes were dark and I blushed deeply. Why the hell didn't I put my clothes on in there?

His eyes were locked onto me and I coughed, hoping to get his eyes away from me. They were making something uncomfortable stir in my stomach. Even with my cough he only let his eyes trail slowly back up my body as he turned away from me. He was clearly looking as my grip faltered slightly at my chest. His eyes flashed in amusement before he turned away. He flipped the switch on blindingly and I rolled my eyes. He couldn't have even given a tiny bit of a warning. He was still looking at me and I realized now that his eyes were on my legs. The towel sat almost a little too high on them and I blushed once more.

I was like a damn school girl. "Get up. You're going on a trip today," Eric said, without bothering to look away from me.

No one else moved at first. They all merely laid there, slowly rolling in their beds. "Can you look away?" I asked Eric softly, as chatter arose around us.

It was so that no one could hear the two of us. "Don't like me looking at you?" he asked.

"Privacy, Eric."

"You're an initiate. I'm a leader. I'm free to do what I want. Go on, Stiff," he said.

It was the term that we used for Abnegation kids. Asshole. I knew that there was nothing that I could do. He wasn't going to look away from me. So instead of blushing and walking away from him, I walked closer to where he was standing. Right by my bed. I didn't drop the towel but I did drop my clothes onto my bed, taking out my underwear. I pulled it on underneath the towel and coughed stupidly when I realized that I had probably just flashed him something. He was watching me closely as I pulled the bra on as well. I turned away from him and dropped the towel, knowing that he could see almost all of me. I placed my bra on before turning back to him.

He watched every line of my body as I pulled on my clothes. I was so glad that no one had bothered to wake up quickly or else I would have some serious explaining to do. It was nice that no one was watching the two of us. And, on some level, it was also nice that I knew that he was physically attracted to me.

As everyone continued to wake up, I walked over to Eric and stood in front of him, crossing my arms over his chest. "Where are we going today? I thought that we were still training?" I asked.

Grabbing a brush off of the table and pulling it through my hair, I waited for Eric to answer my question. His eyes were still dark when he finally began to answer my question. "You are still in training but we're giving you the day off," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. That was the kind of answer that I liked to hear. I loved the idea of getting the day off, even if it meant that we were waking up nearly an hour earlier than we normally would. My arms were going to fall off after one more day with rifles. But suddenly I realized that they weren't that nice. They weren't going to give us the day off. They were going to make us do something even worse.

"To do?" I asked.

"Feed the Factionless," he snapped.

I merely stared at him. "Now who's the Stiff?" I shot back.

Eric stepped up to me, practically standing right up against me. "Today you get to come and see where most of you will be working once initiation is over. If you make it through initiation, that is," Eric said, looking me in the eyes.

I wanted to ask where that was, but I knew that I was already pushing him too much. "Okay," I said.

He stared at me for a few moments before glancing off towards everyone else. "Two minutes. Get to the trains," Eric snapped, before walking out of the room.

With nothing left to do, I headed out of the dorm and followed Eric to the train. Cole, who had been the fastest to get ready, was right behind me. We made it to the train station quickly and I waited, sitting on the ground. The schedule said that it would still be a few minutes before the train passed through. Eric was standing next to me and I had half a mind to punch out his knee. I wanted to watch him fall, but I also didn't want to watch him hit me in the face. Which was what I was sure was going to happen to me if I did anything to him.

Within his two minute limit, everyone else appeared. But to my shock we also got Four, Lauren, and all of the Dauntless born initiates. Four came to stand on my other side and I grinned when Heather gently prodded him to get to sit next to me. Although I was sure that it wasn't because she wanted to see me. She just wanted a place to sleep.

Just as I had expected, she laid on my shoulder and closed her eyes. It was only about two more minutes before a loud whistle came off from the other side of the Dauntless compound and I sighed. That was our way out of here. And I knew that I still wasn't that great with getting onto the train. I'd only done it once before. We all stood and as the train approached and let the Dauntless born and Lauren get onto the train first. We were all jumping into one of the larger connector cars.

Four went next, and then Hunter. After him went Colt, Jade, and Heather. I ran after her and grabbed the railing on the outside of the car. I was pulling myself inside when Eric evidently decided that I wasn't moving fast enough. He shoved me and I fell into the car, nearly face-planting into the wall on the far side of the car. I hit the wall before turning back and glaring at Eric. I went to yell at him but he glared at me in return. I sighed and let my mouth close. I couldn't say anything to him.

So instead I sat down and sighed and pretended like he hadn't hurt me in the slightest. The shove had actually been a little painful. I sat down on the ground in between Heather and Four and risked letting my head fall on his shoulders. I half expected him to hit me but he didn't. He merely let me lay on him. His head fell on top of my own and after a minute I could tell that he was back asleep. Eric was sitting on the other side of the cart and was snarling at me. I smirked in response. He knew that there was nothing in between Four and me. That was probably what made him the angriest.

I was about half asleep when the train began to slow a little and Four shot up, nearly hitting my head. "Sorry about that," Four told me, gently pushing back my head.

"You're fine," I said softly.

Without saying anything more, he stood and walked to the edge of the train. He yelled for the Dauntless born to get off first, followed by Eric with the transfers. He would be last. I followed Heather and Buck to the edge of the train before jumping off after them, Four landing just behind me at my feet. He grabbed my arm as I started to wobble and I thanked him. As he released me I glanced up and saw that we were at the Fence. My heart began to pound as I realized how close we were to my home. My old home. Amity was less than a mile from the Fence. But it had always looked smaller from Amity. Less ominous too. It made my skin crawl looking at the Fence from only a few feet away from the base.

Four motioned for us to follow him over to the stairs and I rolled my eyes. I guess this was our way of just a little bit of physical exercise. The Fence was well over fifty stories high. It seemed even higher now that we were standing right at the base of it. We climbed the stairs and I began to pant as Four began to speak like nothing was wrong. All of the transfers, and even the Dauntless born were staring at him like he was insane.

"As Dauntless, we fight to protect every life inside the fence, without fail. That's why we train you the way we do. To teach you not to give up. And to find out who has what it takes," he said. We were already over halfway up the Fence and nearly everyone was panting. Everyone except Four and Eric. Even Lauren looked a little frazzled. "Even though it's been quiet out there for years that could change at any moment. So we have to be ready for everything."

Our large ground finally hit the landing and I leaned over slightly. Footsteps pounded as we all walked over to the railings of the Fence. I noticed a few people hanging back. Obviously they were the ones that weren't overly fond of heights. I could see the Amity farms out in the distance and something uncomfortable began to twist in my stomach. I sighed and dropped onto the Fence weakly as Cole took a spot next to me.

"Whoo!" he yelled as he leaned over the edge.

Four glared at Cole, who stepped back and gave a bashful grin. "Zip it, initiate. If we throw you over the edge of the fence I promise you that you will not live to see the end of training," Four warned and I watched as the color drained from Cole's already pale face. "Now keep your mouth shut and listen." All chatter stopped. Not that many people were talking. Everyone was already exhausted from the climb. "Alright, we're going to divide you into teams. You'll take a look around each section of the fence with your leader. Your ranking depends who you will go with." Please let me go with Four. "If you're in ranking between one and ten, go with Eric." I groaned. That was so typical. "If you're between rankings eleven and twenty you'll be with me. If you're twenty one or lower you'll be going with Lauren. Go!"

Sighing as I turned back to Heather, I was a little depressed that I wasn't going to be with her. On the bright side, Dante, Draven, and Jax would be with me. But that meant that I would also have to deal with Colt and Hunter. "That so figures that I'd have to go out there with Eric. I mean, even when we have a day off I still have to deal with his arrogant, stubborn, and narcissistic - What?" I asked.

Heather's face went pale and she looked like she was about to vomit. She wasn't afraid of heights, was she? No, that face was for something much worse. She looked afraid. "Just..." she trailed off.

"He's right behind me isn't he?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Confirming my suspicion, I heard Eric's low rumble that was somewhere in between a laugh and a snarl. "He is," Eric hissed at me and I sighed. That meant that Eric now had one more thing to use against me.

"I was just kidding," I told Eric weakly.

He nodded at me. "Come on initiate. Before I decided that I should take my arrogant, stubborn, narcissistic ass and throw you over the fence," he said, making me scoff. I knew that Eric didn't like me, but for whatever reason I really didn't think that he was going to actually hurt me.

Maybe that was stupid. "You would not really kill me," I said.

Eric seemed to read my thoughts as he shook his head. "It's happened before and it will happen again," he told me with a little grin before he turned and walked away.

The rest of the group that would be going with him was following and I went to walk after him. Heather grabbed me before I could though and I turned to look back at her. "Do me a favor and try to not get yourself killed before the end of the day," she told me.

"I'm not going to get myself killed," I said quickly.

She really did think that I was going to do something dumb. So stupid that I was going to actually get myself killed. "I need you here. And that means alive. Not in a casket!" she called after me as I turned away from her and headed away from her.

We both laughed and flipped her off as I followed Eric up a second flight of stairs. We made it up the new flight and I knew that I was turning a little green as I looked out and saw just how high up we really were. It made me a little sick to know that a fall from this high up would actually kill me. It wasn't that I was afraid of heights, but I wasn't fond of being this high up with someone that wasn't overly fond of me and could easily overpower me.

"Take a look initiates," Eric said. I turned back to look as he looked out over the Fence. He looked completely bored and I figured that he was. He probably thought that this was beneath him. "This Fence has been here for as long as anyone can remember. After the war. Our Dauntless soldiers protect our people from what is beyond the Fence."

As far as I thought, everyone had already known that. We actually learned the same thing in Amity history lessons. Considering that we were so close to it. As we looked out I noticed that the Amity farmers were out there at the moment. I had figured that they would be. It was the right time of day for it. I watched as the farmers moved around and I sighed. That was almost me out there. I was glad that I was up here. It was harder, the people were worse, and the atmosphere was cold. But that didn't matter. Despite the fact that I didn't have my family and old friends here, I was happier than could be.

As I looked out at the fields, I glanced back to Eric. He was standing right behind me. "Wishing that was you?" he asked.

"Of course not," I snapped. "I always hated Amity."

"Looking for your family then?" he asked me.

"No." The two of us glanced over at each other and I knew that a sad look crossed over my face. "Would you blame me if I was?" I asked snappily.

"We're your family. Not them. Faction before blood," Eric snarled.

He was right. I had to get over myself. They would always be my parents, but Dauntless was my family now. But I didn't like the tenseness of the conversation, so I smiled. "Considering you my family? That's comforting," I said.

To my surprise, we both laughed. "And Roberts?" he asked.

I knew that he meant Damien. "Got the green-eyed monster?" I asked. He merely rolled his eyes at me as I leaned against the bar. We were silent for a little while. "What's out there?"

He was still standing behind me from the previous conversation. His heavy footsteps fell behind me and I watched as he walked up to me. His chest was nearly pressed up against my back and I was sure that there was less than an atom of space between us. It felt like we were almost a couple. No. Absolutely not. We had to be friends first, and even that was tough.

"Monsters," he hissed into my ear.

Laughing softly, I shoved him back, grateful that no one was watching us. "Stop," I said.

Quickly I glanced around to see what everyone else was doing. They were all looking over the farms and talking with each other about their rankings. He laughed at me and shook his head and I sighed. I turned around and saw that he was still standing right behind me, watching the farms over my head. He could have placed his chin right on my head.

"Amity farms," he answered me and I scoffed.

Sometimes Eric was one of the most brainless people that I had ever met. He had called me Amity enough times to know that my home Faction was Amity. I knew that there were Amity farms out there. I had been to them enough. I wanted to know what was out beyond the farms. When we were in Amity they never told us. They just pretended that the world ended after the farms.

"Are there really? I know that Amity farms are out there. I happen to be from Amity if you recall. I've been out there plenty of times," I snapped at him. Eric shrugged his shoulders, like I was nothing more than a little fly. "But beyond that?"

I wasn't even sure if Eric actually knew what was out there but I was dying to know. I wasn't even sure what I was expecting but I was hoping for something fun. It might be kind of fun to know what we were really defending the world from. The world was too boring right now. Sometimes we need a little spice in our lives.

"Places that never recovered from the war. Do you know?" he asked.

I figured that he was asking if I knew about the war so I nodded. "Yeah. We learned in school," I said. I had paid at least a little bit of attention in history class.

"Let's just say they built their fence for a reason," he said and I nodded.

It wasn't long after that that he turned away from me. I could tell that our conversation was over. "Now as I said this morning. The majority of you will end up here at the Fence. As watchers. That means that you'll spend most of your day at the Fence and come back to the Dauntless compound at the end of your shift to sleep." That didn't exactly sound like a very fun life. Not the life that I wanted when I had transferred Factions. "It's a very tiring life," Eric said, driving the point home.

I glanced around the Fence and saw that people were standing everywhere on the Fence. There must have been at least one hundred guards lined all over the Fence. It shocked me just how many people were really up here. It always seemed like there were so many people still in the Dauntless compound. But maybe there were a lot more people in Dauntless than I had originally anticipated.

"What ranking do you have to be in to be on fence duty?" I asked Eric, curious.

I wanted to make sure that I wasn't in the range to end up here on the Fence. I thought that the Control Room actually sounded like fun. Eric looked a little thrown by my question and I wondered if anyone had ever had the gall to ask that question. Maybe everyone had always just wanted to stay in Dauntless. Maybe they hadn't cared what they would be doing, just as long as it was in Dauntless. Well, I cared.

"Well at the end of your initiation there will be about twenty of you left. Maybe not even that many. Probably anywhere between the tenth and twentieth ranked spots will be out here," he said and I nodded.

That meant that right now I was safe. It meant that I wasn't going to be on the Fence. But that was as long as I stayed in my high spot. I nodded at Eric and went to go look out at the Amity farms. Some tiny part of me wondered if I looked hard enough if I would be able to see my parents. Maybe I could wave to them. Just let them know that I didn't hate them and that I wanted them to know that I was sorry. But just before I went to search for them, I thought of something else.

"What ranking would you have to be in to be a leader?" I asked.

That time I knew that my question had thrown Eric. "Excuse me?" Eric asked.

A small blush fell over my face. "I figured that you would be a good person to ask about that," I said bashfully, knowing that all eyes were on me.

It took him a moment but Eric finally seemed to get his thoughts together. He shook his head and snorted at me, like I had told him the funniest joke he had heard all year. That was probably what he actually thought that I was doing. Joking. But I wasn't. I wanted to know. I wanted to know if I had what it took to be a leader. If nothing else, to see the look on Eric's marched up to me, looking irritated at the question.

"Mostly either the first or second spot," he said. I nodded at him. I was getting close. Maybe I could move up there after the mental part of training. "None of you will be leaders though. All of the spots are filled and none of you have the potential." Well that was nice. "Not now."

It was times like that that I couldn't help but to wonder whether or not Eric actually had a heart. He walked away from us, leading us back down to the main floor on the Fence where we would wait for the others. I knew that it was pretty late. We had been here for a long time. We were getting close to my date.

"Well damn," I heard Dante say. I turned back to him with a little grin. "It seems like he doesn't even have the tiniest bit of faith in us. Can you believe that?" he asked me.

I shook my head. I could completely believe that. Eric wasn't exactly the type to have faith in others. "Honestly Dante, I can. He's right," I said and Dante scoffed at me.

Shaking my head at him as we walked down the stairs I sighed. I couldn't believe that people climbed this all day every day. And it was so damn hot out here. This was insane. I just wanted to be back and getting ready for tonight. The only thing that I wanted was too be in the ice cold showers of Dauntless. Maybe that was why the water was so cold.

"I hate to say it, but Eric is right. For now, none of us are good enough to be a leader," I said.

"Not for now."

"The only person here that fights like Eric is Hunter, but he would never be a leader. He isn't outspoken enough," I said and Dante nodded at me.

"People could learn," he said.

"That's true. Maybe one of the Dauntless born kids will become a leader," I told him and he nodded at me.

That seemed like the most likely case right about now. Or maybe none of us would ever be a leader. Like Eric had said, there weren't any spots open for a new leader right about now. But a good job would still be nice. And that meant having a ranking deserving of leadership. The Control Room or training sounded like it could be fun.

"That sounds more likely to me. Not that I really care. I just want to make sure that I have a spot here in Dauntless," he said and I glanced over to him.

I hoped that he wasn't worried. He was almost guaranteed a spot here in Dauntless. He was tough as hell. "You've got a perfect shot at being a real member here," I said.

"Thanks, Alex. I don't care if it's at the Fence or not," Dante said. I sighed at him.

That was probably more depressing of a statement than it should have been. I shook my head at him as we stopped on the main level. Eric was just ahead of us and speaking to one of the guards. None of the other groups were back so I leaned against him and dropped back onto the railing of the Fence.

"God I don't think that I'd ever want to be out here. It's so damn hot," I said as I pulled my tank top away from myself. I wished that I had worn my shorts. These stupid leggings were clinging like a second skin to me and it was miserable. "At least the Dauntless compound has some bit of air flowing in and out."

Not that it was real air. It was mostly the humid air from the outside that was only cold because there was hardly ever any sunlight in Dauntless to heat anything up. A boy with brilliant blue hair that had a little bit of black streaked in it walked up to us. He was wearing a pair of black dress pants and a tight black shirt. His muscles were bulging under his shirt and I noticed that he had striking green eyes. He screamed dangerous.

"What are you talking about? I love the breeze up here!" he yelled and laughed loudly.

He had a deep voice. "Do I know you?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

He acted like he hadn't heard me. "Of course, this won't be my job at the end of initiation. I'm in the first spot," he said and I nodded at him, grabbing his outstretched hand and shaking it. This was the boy named Aaron. "Hi, I'm Aaron." It confirmed my thoughts. "This is Jackson and Michael."

He was pointing to the two boys that were flanking his sides. One was tall and had orange tipped hair. The rest of it was blonde. I remembered him as the boy that had helped me scale the sides of the train station supports. He was the one that had caught me. I smiled and pulled Jackson into a hug. The other boy had green streaks and blue through his black hair. He looked mean and tough. But he, too, was smiling.

"Over there is Greg," he said, pointing to a tall boy with a shaved head. "I'm shocked. I don't think that I've ever seen so many transfer initiates round out the top ten before."

He was looking over all of us and I scowled at him. He looked as unimpressed as Eric had the first time that he had seen all of us. And that made me less than happy. I didn't need another Eric anywhere near me. "What?" I hissed, drawing Aaron's attention back to me. "Are you that surprised that someone not from Dauntless can be just as good as the rest of you? You look even more surprised to see a girl up here."

He was grinning madly at me and I couldn't help but to smile back at me. He actually looked impressed that I had even said anything to him. "Honestly I am," Aaron said. I nodded at him.

At least he was honest. "I suppose that honesty is the best policy," I said lowly.

"Not necessarily because you're a girl but because of where you're from," he said and I cocked an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him sharply.

"You're the Amity transfer aren't you?" he asked me.

"That's me."

The Dauntless born boys all smiled at me. "I've heard a ton about you. We all have. You're almost something of a myth over in the Dauntless born section," he told me and I scoffed.

Was he kidding? I was a myth? I didn't think that was quite right. "I think you might all be over-exaggerating me," I said.

They all smiled at me. "So do we get the pleasure of knowing your names?" Aaron asked me sweetly.

Aaron seemed to be waiting for my answer and I knew that the only thing left to do was for me to introduce everyone. "I'm Alex," I said and Aaron nodded, smiling at me. In a way he reminded me of Colt. But Aaron's smile seemed genuinely curious, not cold and calculating like Colt's was. "This is Draven, Jax, and Dante," I said, motioning to the respective boys.

The three other boys each shook Aaron's hand and introduced themselves to the other Dauntless born boys. The ones that had known from day one that they were going to make it into Dauntless. These were the boys that had all had everything easy. They were just here for another normal day.

"And what about the two boys over there?" Aaron asked. For a moment I really had no idea who he was talking about so I turned back to see Hunter and Colt talking with Eric. Well, Colt was talking with Eric. Hunter was standing and watching. "Talking with Eric? If they aren't with us that means that they're with you."

I had played nice with Aaron for about as long as I could tolerate. And I was not going to be here when Colt was. The last thing that I needed was to continue speaking with him. I hated him. Even more than I hated Eric. So, as Four and Lauren's group showed up back at the main area, I nodded to Aaron and made my way politely around him.

"If you want to know anything about them you can go and talk to them yourself. It was nice meeting you but I think that we're done here," I told him and Aaron nodded.

He didn't say anything else as I made my way down the staircase and back to the train tracks. They looked almost impressed by my abrasiveness. I was only standing by myself for a second before a sea of brown hair came to stand next to me. I saw that it was Heather and I grinned at her. I was hoping that she could get her ranking up. I didn't want her to be at the Fence all the time. I knew that I would have to talk with her about boys and things all of the time. I had no other girls to do that with.

"Hey, look at that. You made your way back here and you did it without getting yourself killed," she told me.

I laughed, shoving her. "Aren't you proud of me?" I asked her.

"I am. God I really hope that I end up in the top ten of training because I do not want to be out here all day. It seems so boring."

The one thing that I had noticed up there was that none of the guards ever spoke with one another. It might have been alright if you were at least allowed to talk with your friends, but eight hours in dead silence? That was too much. Even for us. Of course I was from Amity, we weren't used to that.

"Yeah, me too. I'd much rather work in the Control Room like Four," I said and Heather nodded. "At least you get to take time off to train the new initiates. That doesn't seem like it would be anything too bad."

But Heather snorted at me. She was right on some level. "You could deal with us?" she asked.

"Hell no." And that meant that for eight months every year I would have to deal with Eric. "Come on, let's go back. I haven't eaten anything yet today," I said as the train whistle sounded and it rounded the corner.

As the train came into our view I ran forward and caught the railing, this time lifting myself into the cart much more gracefully. I still stumbled a little while I tried to find my footing, but it was the best entrance into the train that I'd made so far. Heather jumped in after me and I moved over a little so that she had room to land next to me. She grabbed me for support and I extended my arm until I was sure that she was steady.

We moved towards the far corner of the car. "But aren't you going out to dinner tonight with your mystery man?" she asked me and I hushed her, moving her away from Four and Eric.

Both looked at us like they knew that we were hiding something, but neither said anything. They just stared after us."Quiet. I don't want them to overhear us," I said softly.

"That you won't tell anyone about by the way! Not even me," she said and I sighed.

I did feel a little bit bad for hiding it from her. "I didn't want anyone to know. It's dangerous for everyone that's involved. I'm breaking the rules," I whispered.

Heather looked guilty, but she grabbed my hand and pulled me down against the wall. "Come on Alex, you can tell me. Actually you should tell me so that I can throw anyone who happens to be looking for you off," she said.

I knew that she was only telling me that because she wanted to know what I was doing tonight but she actually did make a valid point. "Alright fine," I sighed and Heather squealed.

"Thank you!" she chirped.

"I'm not going to tell you who it is but you have to promise me that you aren't going to tell anyone that I'm out with another person," I said and Heather sighed.

Clearly she had been hoping that I would tell her who it was. "I suppose so," she said.

Not that I don't trust you but they can't know because any relations like that are against Dauntless rules. I could be thrown out if we said that it was a date. I'll be at some fancy Dauntless restaurant during dinner time," I told her and she nodded.

"Where?" she asked.

In all honesty I had forgotten the name of the restaurant. I would just have to try and search for it. "I don't remember the name. Tell everyone that I felt sick and wanted to hang back," I told her and she nodded.

"I can do that," Heather said and I grinned at her.

Faster than it seemed like we had gotten here, I noticed that we were already approaching the Dauntless platform. I was pretty sure that the trains traveled faster in the middle of the day. Or at night. Whatever time five thirty was considered. That meant that I only had a half an hour before I was supposed to meet Damien for dinner.

Heather seemed to notice that I was getting nervous as time ticked by. "I'll get them out of the room right now to make sure that you have time to get ready for the date," she said.

"Thanks, Heather."

"Knock 'em dead girl. Whoever caught your eye has no idea the prize that's waiting for them. You're the best girl that's here in Dauntless. He's a lucky boy. I hope that I get to meet him one day," she said.

That time I couldn't help but to blush. Even Iris had never said things like that before. "Thanks," I repeated.

Grinning at her, we both jumped off of the train. Heather stumbled but managed to stick the landing and I fell into a somersault before popping back up, knowing that had I tried to stick the landing I would have gone sprawling onto the asphalt. We headed back into the dorms with a quick warning to get ready for dinner from Four. Everyone made their way quickly to the dining room as no one had eaten yet today. Everyone had stumbled stupidly off and onto the train from the lack of food. Even I was starving.

As the boys turned towards the dining room, I turned towards the dorms. "You're the best. And I think that I really needed to hear that. I'm actually pretty nervous," I told her as we walked back into the dorm room.

The boys had still followed and come with us into the dorms. I motioned for her to get them out of here. I needed to get ready and it would look strange if they were here as I did so. Heather took her cue and motioned at a piece of black cloth that was drooping out of her bag. I nodded at her and she smiled back at me.

"Don't be. He'll love you. Alright, now get ready. I'll get the boys out of here. Gentlemen!" she called. They all looked back over at her. "Come on, for I am starving and you are all taking too long. No buts!" The boys tried to reason that they were still getting themselves together to head down to dinner. "We're leaving before those stupid Dauntless can get another piece of that delectable chocolate cake."

She pulled the boys ahead, leaving me laughing softly to myself. It wasn't even a moment after Heather and the boys had left that I stripped my day clothes off and ran over to Heather's bag. I pulled out the fabric that was laying slightly out of the bag and smiled at it. She must have gotten it on one of the days that I had come straight back to the dorms. I knew that if there was anyone that liked shopping more than me, it was Heather.

The fabric turned out to be a silk black dress that went all the way down to the floor. The front dipped low, as did the back. But it was pretty. And extremely soft. I couldn't believe that she wanted me wearing this. It must have cost her most of her points. I grabbed it and threw it on, admiring myself in the mirror. There was a slit in the leg too that came up to just above my knee. I walked into the bathroom, smiling at myself and looked in the mirror.

There was only about ten minutes left until I had to meet Damien so I knew that there wasn't much that I could do. Glad that I hadn't been able to dry my hair this morning, I took my slightly curly hair and grabbed a few pins that were laying on the counter. I pulled the long tendrils of hair up and let some pieces fall down my back. It was the perfect mix of messy and dressy. I quickly applied a dark coat over my eyes and made sure that my eyeliner went all around my eyes. My lips were coated in a soft pink and I did a pop of color on my cheeks before dashing back out of the bathroom. I grabbed the one pair of heels that I had bought and slipped them onto my feet before glancing back to the full length mirror. I looked the prettiest that I had ever felt.

Knowing that there wasn't much time left, I grabbed the excess material of the dress and darted out of the dorms. To my luck there weren't that many people milling around. Most were probably at dinner right now. The few people that I did pass all just smiled at me and a few gave me compliments. Every day Dauntless felt more and more like a real family. As I made my way to the Pit I slowed down and glanced around stupidly for the restaurant. I didn't know what I was looking for. Damn it.

But just as I began to panic I heard a familiar voice. "You look lovely." I turned back and saw that Damien, who was wearing a nice black suit, was grinning at me. "I'm glad that you decided to come. For a while there, I really thought that you weren't," he said and I smiled bashfully at him.

He held out a hand to me and I took it, glancing around to see if anyone else was on this side of the Pit. Thankfully, we were alone. "For a while there, I really didn't think that I would either," I told Damien, who nodded at me.

He had clearly been expecting that answer. "I wouldn't have blamed you," he said.

I wanted to get off of the topic and try to start anew. "But thank you. It actually isn't my dress, I just borrowed it from my friend," I said and he smiled at me.

"Well it looks beautiful on you," he said.

He took me by the hand and began to pull me into the back of the Pit, where I saw a pretty restaurant, glowing in blue lights, set far back into the Pit walls. Lanterns were hanging from the outside and the rock face was bare on the inside, lit with candles and a small river flowing through. It was prettier than anything in Amity. Damien looked down at me and smiled, obviously noting that I liked the place.

"What do you think?" he asked me.

"It's not as Dauntless as I was expecting," I said.

Damien laughed at my wording. "Some of Dauntless might surprise you."

Turning towards him, I nodded. "Some of it already has. Anyways, I'm glad that you were waiting out here. I don't think that I ever would have found it without your help," I said as we walked up to the hostess.

He laughed at me as he smiled at the hostess. She was one of the tamer people that I had seen here in Dauntless. Her bright red hair was slicked back and I couldn't see any tattoos or piercings except for one tiny stud that was in her nostril. It looked nice on her though. She had dark eye makeup and nodded to Damien.

"Damien Roberts. Reservation for two," he told her and she nodded.

"This way," she said.

She grabbed two menus and walked us about halfway into the restaurant before seating us at a table that was somewhat hidden. I couldn't help but to wonder if Damien had requested this table. "Thank you," he told her and she nodded, walking away.

"Your server will be with you shortly," she called back to us.

There were a few other couples in the restaurant, most spattered sparingly throughout the building. "I hope you like it here. This is my favorite restaurant in Dauntless," he told me.

A waiter came up to us, pouring each of us a glass of something whitish that certainly smelled like alcohol. But I knew that it wasn't vodka. I was pretty sure that it was wine. He asked for our orders and Damien nodded for me to go. I looked over the menu but nothing made any sense to me. I flushed and looked up to Damien, who seemed to take the hint. He ordered for me and I smiled at him as he ordered himself the same thing and the waiter left the table.

"I'm sure that I'll like it. I've actually never been to a restaurant before," I said and Damien laughed loudly. "Don't laugh!" I yelled at him with a little laugh of my own.

It wasn't cruel, like Eric's. It was soft. I found that I liked it. "That's pathetic. How have you never been to a restaurant?" he asked, once he had calmed down.

"Amity doesn't have restaurants. We only have the one main eating area," I told him.

Damien looked genuinely confused by the fact that we only had one main eating area. I had originally thought that Dauntless only had the one dining room too. "Why doesn't Amity have any restaurants?" he asked me. I shook my head.

It was kind of an embarrassing story. It made us look like the biggest airhead peace lovers on that planet. "You'll just laugh again," I said.

"Probably. But I want to know. I didn't think having to go out to eat something meant that you weren't being peaceful," he told me with a teasing grin.

Smiling at him, I took a sip of the wine that was on the table. Damien clinked our glasses together as a toast and I smiled at him. It was extremely sweet and tingled on my tongue. I could just barely tell that there was any alcohol. "It was a rule that Johanna put in place. Probably when she took over as the leader of Amity. There used to be a restaurant but usually everyone wanted to eat there," I told Damien, who nodded at me.

"Amity food that boring?" he asked me teasingly. He was slowly sipping on his wine and I smiled. He looked so old, but it was nice.

Smiling at him, I shook my head. "It was actually extremely boring. Johanna felt like there wasn't enough peace in Amity, as everyone was separated during the most peaceful hour of the day. Dinner," I told him.

I knew that I was a little red in the face from my explanation and Damien laughed at me once more. "That's a load of bullshit," he said.

Laughing softly, I nodded, taking another small sip of the wine. It was almost impossible not to down the whole thing. I couldn't help but to wonder if Damien was thinking the same thing. "Trust me, I know that," I said.

"They don't think that you should be allowed to have dinner with a significant other, or family, or friend in just a little bit of privacy?" he asked me and I shook my head.

It was the one thing that all of the other Factions never understood about Amity. There was absolutely no privacy. There was even less privacy in Amity then there was in Candor. And that was saying something. "That's another thing about Amity. There isn't really much about privacy there. People in Amity don't think much about hiding things from each other. They think that it takes away from the peace," I said.

Damien cocked his head at me, as if ushering me to go on. "Things are that out in the open?" he asked.

We're worse than Candor, if you can believe it. We just aren't as outspoken about it. "It isn't unusual to walk around and see plenty of younger kids together, wrapped around each other. It's one of the things that always made me as uncomfortable as humanly possible," I told him, hoping that I didn't sound like a gigantic prude.

Obviously Damien knew my worries. "You don't sound like a prude," he told me.

I laughed softly and shook my head. It wasn't that I minded that they were showing their affections for each other, it was just that I didn't like the fact that they had to go so far. And in public too. It seemed that Damien understood where I was coming from though as he smiled at me and nodded.

"Although you might have to worry about that here in Dauntless too," he told me and I groaned.

"I think I've seen more of people than I ever really wanted to," I told him.

We both laughed at my comment. "For most of the time it's all about work, but from time to time you might not want to go into the Pit. People get a little too much to drink sometimes. And then they just can't stop," he said.

I was brought back to the other night, about a week ago. "Yes, I understand," I said softly.

His brief flush of color told me that he had been thinking about it, too. "Sometimes Dauntless sounds more like Amity then people would like to believe," he told me softly.

The glass of wine was up to my lips and I had been about to take a drink. But before I could, I took the glass away from my lips and placed it back on the table. There was something that I had to say. Maybe I shouldn't have said it, I knew that it wasn't the nicest thing that I could say, but I wanted Damien to know that I hadn't completely forgiven him.

"Yeah, I understand about the whole people drinking too much. Especially down there in the Pit. Maybe they should put a limit on how many drinks that people can have," I said.

Just like I had been expecting, it came out about as rudely as I had thought that it would. I almost apologized, but I managed to stop myself. I just wanted him to know that I hadn't forgotten about that night. This night determined whether or not I would forgive him. His face was flushed and he looked down abashedly. He forced himself to look back up to me once the dinner plates came. We both thanked the waiters and placed the napkins in our laps.

"Look, I know that I've already apologized for the other night but I want to apologize again. I'm so sorry. I drank too much and I shouldn't have even come near you with myself the way that I was," he told me and I nodded.

I actually appreciated what he had told me. He was right. In that state, he should have never come anywhere near me. "At least you can recognize it," I said.

"But just believe that I will keep saying that I'm sorry until you actually believe me. I know that I shouldn't have laid a hand on you like that."

"I believe you."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, so I was glad when he continued talking. "I want you to know that I really care about... Eric?" he said.

There had been a bright smile on my face until the ending of his sentence. Could I really not even go on a stupid date without hearing about my awful leader? And did that mean that he actually had feelings for Eric? That would be so typical. The guy that I had come here with actually was gay and had feelings for that ass.

"You care about Eric?" I asked Damien.

He seemed to have been broken from his trance and he shook his head, looking at me like I had lost my marbles. I stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain to me why everything had just gotten so weird so fast. We had been having a nice night before this. As always, Eric ruined things for me.

"What? No," he snapped and I crossed my arms.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Was I being set up here? "Turn around and look. He's right there." I turned back, my face turning an ashen white. There he was. "With... Of course he would come here with her," Damien growled but I didn't bother to listen.

My gaze was fixed on the hostess stand as I looked over at him. Well maybe I wasn't just looking. I was staring stupidly at the leader, with some girl I had never seen. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing a completely black suit. He actually looked gorgeous, but that just made me want to put the butter knife on the table through my hand. His girl was pretty too. She had long blonde hair that was curled gently and a few tattoos on her shoulders. Her black dress was short and landed on her mid thighs. He was holding her around the waist and seemed to be hardly listening to whatever story she was telling him.

Despite what I wanted to admit, a little pang of jealously shot through me as I glanced at the couple. Maybe it was just because there was actually a girl that he treated nicely in this Faction. But the nagging little voice in the back of my head told me that it was because it wasn't me on his arm. Needless to say I finished off the wine in the glass at that comment. The girl was giggling at something that Eric had said, but judging by the look on his face, it wasn't very funny. He actually looked kind of angry as he scanned the restaurant.

Was there a chance that he was looking for me? As his gaze turned over to me, I glanced back at Damien. "Is that his girlfriend? I didn't think that he was dating anyone," I said softly, making Damien ear his eyes away from Eric and look over at me. "I didn't think that anyone was foolish enough to actually want to date him."

My comment was definitely said angrily. I was not going to let Eric ruin this night. And I wasn't fool enough to not be well-aware that he'd come here to ruin my night. Damien snorted at me and I glanced over at him. He was shaking his head as he plunged into his dish. I followed his lead. Had I not been so angry about Eric appearing here, I would have realized just how good the food was.

"That's not his girlfriend," Damien said.

I couldn't help but to notice that my heart soared a little bit at his words. "Oh?" I asked, hoping that my voice didn't sound too hopeful.

"Eric doesn't have girlfriends," Damien continued.

"Oh," I muttered, my heart deflating.

Why? I didn't care about him. "He just has girls that he brings around every once in a while. He never has them for more than a week," he said.

Despite the fact that I really didn't know Eric all that well, it sounded exactly like him. "He sounds like quite the charmer," I said.

The corners of Damien's lips turned upwards. "I imagine that he's extremely charming. But those girls are always so excited that Eric wants anything to do with him," he said.

I glanced over at the girl once more. She was grinning ear to ear as Eric leaned over to her and gave her a tiny kiss behind the ear. Even from here I could tell that she was melting inside. I could also feel the burn in my stomach at his actions and the desire to chuck the kitchen knife through his fat head. He ate in the dining room every night. Why, of all nights, did he have to come here? Just to irritate me.

"What kind of girl would want anything to do with Eric? He's a damned monster," I said to Damien, not really meaning my words.

Just as the hostess began to show Eric and his date to their seats I looked away and focused my attention back on Damien. We were going to have a nice night. Eric's being here was not going to ruin it. I wasn't going to let it happen. Damien sighed as he leaned back in his chair, swallowing another piece of his food.

"They think that he's dangerous. Girls apparently really like that," he told me and I laughed.

"Well you aren't exactly way out in left field. That's kind of true. But he isn't just dangerous, he's just an ass," I hissed.

Maybe the whole thing explained the strange fascination that I held for Eric. "Plus no one has ever been able to tame Eric. Every girl thinks that it would be perfect to be able to say that they were the one that tamed the wild Dauntless leader," he said.

Glancing back towards Eric, I scoffed. "I somehow think that there's no taming Eric," I muttered.

He was an asshole who could care less about whose feelings he hurt to get where he wanted to be. "Plus apparently they think that he's attractive," he said.

That time I couldn't help but to laugh. I wasn't going to tell him that it was true. But I had no interest in Eric like that. Despite what my heart told me every time that I looked at him. An ice cold voice cut my laughter short though. I wanted to turn back and snap at the laugh but I knew that I was already on thin ice.

"Hello, initiate," Eric sneered and I turned back to look at him.

"Hello, Eric," I said softly.

"Roberts," he nodded quickly in Damien's direction before looking back at me. "What the hell are you doing here for dinner?"

In the reflection of the plate, I could see that I was going completely white. I had to make sure that I was careful with my words. Eric could throw me out of here on the dime. "Eating, I thought," I said quickly.

Unfortunately it was the wrong thing to say. "I thought that you would want to be downstairs in the dining room. Not up here, blatantly breaking the rules of Dauntless," he snapped.

A little surge of anger shot through me and I rolled my eyes. Damien was watching us carefully, seemingly ready to step in at any moment if the need arise. "Eric, the last time that I had checked it was not against the rules to go out and have dinner with a friend," I snapped at him.

"We'll take this table," Eric said, motioning to be seated at the table right next to us.

Of course that wasn't enough as Eric motioned for the two tables to be pushed together. I rolled my eyes as he smirked at my obvious annoyance. "Even if that friend happens to be a Dauntless member," I muttered.

He leaned into me as he took his seat and I couldn't help but to feel bad for Damien. He had brought me here so that we could have a nice dinner and now here was Eric, ruining everything. Eric sat himself next to me as the girl sat herself next to Damien. We were all staring at each other curiously.

"Watch yourself Amity. You might want to be careful with your next few steps," he told me. He was always threatening me over something. Even if that something made no sense. The girl that he was with cleared her throat irritably and I glanced up at her. "This is uh- Sally," Eric introduced, like he could care less.

He hadn't even bothered looking up at her. He had only held his hand out to take the seat next to Damien. Rather than just continue to make the night awkward, Damien stood up and pulled out her chair, giving her a soft smile. I grinned at his act and nudged his leg as they both sat down. It was actually rather nice. Maybe he wasn't the kind of guy that I had first pegged him for. Damien still had a soft smile on his face, but Sally looked furious.

"Sarah," she snapped darkly at Eric.

I very nearly laughed. What an asshole. He was that careless that he hadn't even bothered to remember his date's name. That was a typical asshole move. She seemed to agree with me as she stared down Eric, not that he had even bothered to look up from the menu. Finally looking up from his menu, probably sensing that we were waiting for him to say something, he dropped it onto the table and stared back at her like she was less interesting than watching a wall dry after it had been painted.

"That's what I said," he told her and I rolled my eyes.

That most certainly had not been what he had called her. "No it isn't," I muttered.

His gaze turned to me and he scowled. "Anyways, I just think that it might be fun to all have dinner together," he said.

He hadn't bothered to look at anyone other than me. I knew that this night was going to turn into a pissing match between the two of us. I silently apologized to Damien. Maybe he would take me out again so that I could make up to him for tonight. Because I knew that this was no longer our date.

"Besides, I would just love to see how you do around real Dauntless members," he told me and I scoffed.

He really had absolutely no faith in me. "Thanks for your faith in me," I snarled.

"Oh and you can tell Damien here all about the trip to the Fence. Where, if you do somehow end up staying here, you know that you'll be working," he sneered at me.

If there had been a glass of water on the table I was sure that it would have gone all over his fat head. He just wanted to make me mad by saying things that weren't even true. I was not going to end up at the Fence. I was currently not even in the rankings that went to guard the Fence. And I didn't intend to drop back down.

"Excuse you!" I hissed at Eric, startling Sarah and Damien. "If you don't happen to recall, I beat the top ranked initiate from the transfers during our first fight." Eric scoffed. Maybe he was thinking about how close I had been to losing. "I beat him and I'm pretty good with the guns for only having been using them for a week. I'm ranked fifth! That puts me up for one of the best spots here in Dauntless."

"It's still early. You have time to slip down," he said.

"But I won't. And you know it."

He scoffed at me and leaned back in his chair as Sarah gasped and smiled at me. It wasn't like she didn't seem like a nice girl but some part of me already hated her. The little voice that had become quite a problem in the past few days told me that it was because she was the one that was here with Eric.

"Wow you beat the top ranked initiate for the transfers?" she asked me.

I nodded at her. "Yeah. But it took a while," I said.

"That's pretty impressive. What did you do?"

Instead of saying something, I just stared stupidly at her. I knew that I was about to sound like a complete moron, but I had no idea what I had done to fight him. The only thing that I had even thought to do was to just kick his ass. But I was pretty sure that it wasn't the answer that she was looking for.

"Umm, I just fought him. The way that anyone would have fought," I said softly.

She grinned at me with a wide smile. I was wondering how she ever made it through initiation. She looked like she barely knew how to fight. "Not anyone. Someone weak," Eric put in.

My gaze snapped over to him. "But anyways, Eric, I can't wait to be at the top of the initiate ranking so that I can get a leadership position," I said.

His eyebrows rose. "Come again?" he asked.

"You heard me. Getting a leadership position. Then we can talk about how great I am all the time," I bragged.

Eric scoffed at me and shook his head. He looked utterly unimpressed and I noticed that both Damien and Sarah were sitting at the table awkwardly. They clearly wanted us to stop this fighting but I was pretty sure that Eric and I would be snapping at each other until we left later. I supposed that both of us would have something to make up for. Although I was sure that Eric wouldn't care what Sarah thought about the date.

"Please, initiate. I intend to see you at the bottom of the rankings so that I can personally see you out the door," he said.

"That's so nice of you. You care so much that you would walk me out," I snapped back.

"I don't give a damn about you."

"Thanks."

"The only reason that I'd walk you out is so that I could watch you be with your true family," he sneered.

Well I definitely should have seen that one coming. I growled deeply. This had gone on long enough and we were both making our dates uncomfortable. Turning my head to go look at Damien, I smiled sweetly at him and saw that he was smiling at me as well. I was glad to see that our stupid little interruption hadn't done anything to damper his mood.

"Damien? Would you please go get me a drink?" I asked him politely.

He nodded, standing up from the table. "Of course. What would you like?" he asked.

"Anything works."

Damien took a step back from the table and smiled at me. "Of course. I think it's time that we all get a drink. I think we'll be needing one," he said. I couldn't help but to laugh. He was right about that. I was pretty sure that none of us were getting out of here without a good laugh. "Sarah would you care to come with me?"

She looked almost impressed that someone had spoken to her. "Yes. I'd like that," she said. She smiled and let him help her up from the table. Before they walked away he turned back to me and I smiled at them.

"We'll be right back. Try not to have too much fun without us," he told me with a little wink.

There was no way that Eric and I would ever have any fun together. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as he snorted and shook his head while they started to walk away from the table. "Don't worry, we won't," Eric called after them.

Barely a second passed before he turned back to me. Now that we were alone, I was acutely aware of how close together we were. He was smirking at me and leaning into me. It unnerved me but I managed to stay where I was and watch him. Although I would have loved to punch him as he slipped his legs between my own.

"Now tell me. Why are you really here with him?" he asked me.

I let my head fall to the side. "Excuse me?" I asked.

"I know that you aren't the type to come back here with a guy who damn near assaulted you. So why are you here?"

He was just trying to admit that I was coming here on a date with a full Dauntless member. "I'm trying to have a nice night with a friend," I snapped.

"I don't think so."

"I really don't think that I care."

"Trying to make me jealous perhaps?" he asked me with a sly grin.

I scoffed loudly and felt like I might throw up. There was no way that I wanted to make him jealous. I didn't care about him! "Please!" I snapped at him, dropping my head when I saw that I had drawn the attention of a couple a few tables down from us.

"No need to get so excited, Amity," Eric teased.

Calm down, Alex. Don't look like an idiot. "I couldn't care less about you! I do not want you and I never will. That will always be the case," I sneered at him.

He didn't look the slightest bit bothered as he merely scoffed and shook his head. He clearly thought that I had some feelings for him. "We'll see about that," he said.

I tried to brush off that comment. "I came here with him because I wanted to give him a chance to be friends. I don't have a romantic interest in him and especially because it's against the damn rules here in Dauntless. I'm not stupid. Despite what you think," I said when I heard him laugh. "So now it's your turn. Why the hell are you here, of all nights? And with your little friend?"

Part of me had thought that I might catch Eric off guard with that question but I had known that I wouldn't. He knew that I was going to ask him that question the minute that the two of us were alone. "You know what? I think it's cute, you're so jealous her," he told me and I rolled my eyes.

"I am not jealous of her. I couldn't care less about you," I snapped at him.

There was no way in hell that I was jealous. I never would be. "I'm here because I have a new woman that I wanted to impress," he told me with twinkling eyes and I scoffed.

"Somehow I can't believe that."

"Believe it or not, I'm a very sought after date here in Dauntless," he said.

That time I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. He was glaring darkly at me and I really couldn't help myself. I knew that it was a bad idea to laugh at a Dauntless leader but the fact that girls actually wanted to date him was a maddening thought. Did they have any idea what they were actually getting into with him? He was a damn monster.

"I actually do find that very hard to believe."

Eric raised his pierced brow at me. "And why is that?" he asked.

"Because I know you. You're an ass. Anyone that would willingly come to you must be out of their mind," I said.

He merely smiled at me. "And are you?" he asked.

My heart gave a little flutter and I forced myself to ignore it and his question. "And I also find it nearly impossible to believe that you're actually trying to impress her," I said and he raised an eyebrow at me. "I just think you're here because you want to try and ruin my night out."

He grinned a cruel grin at me. I didn't like the look that he was giving me. Eric gave me a little smile and leaned into me, grabbing the last bite of food on my plate and popping it into his mouth. I wanted nothing more than to jam my fork through the skin on the back of his hand. He was such an ass.

"Why would I care anything about you?" he asked me.

I scoffed, brushing off his comment. I didn't want to admit it but that had actually hurt to hear. But I knew that I didn't matter to Eric. I was just another initiate that he probably wouldn't ever speak to again after initiation was over. And that shouldn't have been something that bothered me.

"I don't think that you care about me," I said, my voice adopting an almost weak tone.

"You're fun to mess with but I couldn't care less about who you really want to spend your time with. I just want to make sure that I make your life as hard as possible. I enjoy watching you squirm," he hissed lowly.

I went to retaliate back to him but I never got the chance. So I settled with saying something else. "So I've seen," I muttered under my breath.

Damien and Sarah returned before I could say anything and I stared at the two as they both returned to their seats. Damien placed a glass of whiskey down in front of me and I thanked him softly as he placed his own in front of himself. I stared at him as he took a seat and had to fight to smile at him. Eric had made me so angry that it was damn near impossible to smile.

But the other two missed the tense gazes that were exchanged. "Well look at that. No one has killed each other yet. Here you go," he said as he handed it over to me. I angrily turned the glass back and downed the entire thing before slamming the glass back down. "Whoa - Uh - Do you want another one?" Damien asked as the waiter walked over.

"Yes, please."

The waiter merely nodded and walked off so that he could get me another one. I glanced over after the waiter had left and I rolled my eyes at the sight. Eric and Sarah were locked together, both smiling into the kiss. Well, Sarah was smiling, but Eric was merely smirking. Little asshole, he knew that this was getting to me. He just wanted to make me angry.

"That is disgusting, isn't it?" Damien asked me as he leaned forward.

"It almost reminds me of being back in Amity," I told him softly.

"I just wish that we could get him back," he said.

Or maybe he really wanted a kiss. Either way, I wouldn't have minded that. Suddenly a little light went off in my head. I realized what I could say to make them feel as uncomfortable as I did. Smirking at Damien, I leaned into him a little more. I didn't need Eric to hear this right now. Not that he was probably listening to me.

"I think I might actually know a way to get him back. Just make sure that when I make my offer, you say no," I said.

He raised his eyebrow. "What are you planning?" Damien asked.

"Say you have to work tomorrow or something."

"Okay."

Turning back to the other couple I cleared my throat. At least neither one of them made a move to separate themselves from the other. But, as I coughed again, they managed to finally bounce apart. Although it looked like Eric still wanted to be in a kiss with her. Sarah was blushing softly but Eric was watching me with a knowing smirk.

"So sorry to interrupt, but Sarah, may I speak with you for a moment?" I asked the woman.

She nodded at me. "Of course, Alex," she said.

"I just love to meet new people but greetings like this are so hard to get to know each other. So I propose that we play a game," I said deviously.

She smiled brightly, clearly not understanding that the game that I was proposing was not something that was exactly friendly. It was designed just for me to embarrass Eric. There had to be some way that I could. She looked excited at the prospect, Damien was watching me with a smile, and Eric was leaning back in his chair, grinning at me.

"Well I love games. I think Eric does too," she said brightly. He nodded, just barely noticeable. "Or, at least, you love my kind of games."

There was a little smirk as she leaned into Eric, who grinned back at her. I recoiled in disgust and shook my head. I did not want to hear about that. Although a little part of me was almost curious what kind of games Eric liked. Probably ones where he was in power. I assumed that he was the kind of guy that always liked to be in power. Sarah finally looked back over at us and grinned.

"What type of game did you have in mind?" she asked me.

Trying to brush off my disgust, I smiled. I grabbed the next drink and made sure that it was full, placing it at my side. "A game that I've seen plenty of you Dauntless play," I said. She nodded at me, seemingly finally catching on to what I was saying. "No one in Amity played it and it always looked like so much fun."

"If it's the game that I'm thinking of, it's really fun. We play all the time," she said.

Although Damien still looked a little lost. I wasn't sure if Eric knew what I was talking about. "You ask a question, and I can either take a drink or tell the truth. It goes all the way around the table," I clarified. Although I was pretty sure that they all already knew how to play. "Any takers?"

For a moment I thought that no one was going to decide that they wanted to play and I almost began to blush. That hadn't gone the way that I had been expecting it to. I had really thought that someone would want to play. To my surprise, it was actually Eric that stepped in to save the day.

"I think I'll go for a game. I'd love to see what it is that you're hiding here," he hissed at me, staring at me through lidded eyes that made my core tingle.

Breaking my deep stare at Eric, Sarah's light voice brought me back to the present. "Why not? I love to tell people about my life," she said and I scoffed. I had already noticed that. Now that I knew that she was the one that warmed Eric's bed at night. And I definitely hadn't wanted to know that. "And it isn't like I have anything to hide."

She might not have anything to hide, but I had quite a few things to hide. I nodded at both of them, thinking that we were done deciding who was going to play. But before I could ask the first question I noticed that Damien was filling up his own drink. Even after I had really not wanted him to play.

"I think I'll play too," he said. I looked over at him. I had told him not to play for a reason. I didn't really want him drinking. I wanted to see what he was like completely sober. "Don't worry. I like these kind of games. And it's killing me to see what the great Dauntless leader is hiding."

He was looking at Eric with a dark smile. And, with that, I nodded. I could see why he wanted to play now. I couldn't blame him. They clearly weren't very good friends. And that was long before I had come into the picture. Just before we started the game though, I knew that I needed to take a moment. I wasn't really sure what for, but I just needed a moment. So I stood from the table and gave an awkward smile when Damien looked over at me.

"Um, actually before we get started I think that I'm going to use the bathroom. I'll be right back," I said with a grin, trying to look completely fine.

"You alright?" Damien asked, looking like he was about to stand and follow me.

Smiling softly, I gently pushed him back into the chair. "I'm fine. Just need the restroom. Don't start without me," I said with a little lilt to my voice.

It was very hard to try and look like I wasn't a little awkward. So I stood and headed out from behind the table and towards the bathroom. Turning to the back of the restaurant I was stopped by Eric, who stood from the table as well. Seriously? Could I not even go to the bathroom without him bothering me?

"I think I'll second that notion. Been a busy day. I haven't gotten to use the bathroom yet," he said and Sarah nodded at him.

Maybe he really was just trying to go to the bathroom... The two of us walked to the back of the store, both of us standing as still as possible. I went to keep walking back but Eric grabbed my arm and pulled me down the correct hallway for the bathrooms. I was about to thank him but I never got the chance. He grabbed me tightly by the shoulder and pushed me back against the cave walls. I was just barely able to stop a scream from tearing out of my throat. Eric pressed himself into me and I gasped. Was he actually going to kill me?

"What the hell do you think that you're doing with him? Did you forget about me saving you the other night?" he snapped at me.

Well this changed quickly. I shook my head at him. Sneering at him, I shook my head and tried to get out of his grasp. But I couldn't. He was like a steel panel up against me. There was no way that I was going to be able to get away from him. He made sure that his weight was directly on top of me so that I couldn't move.

So I would have to just speak to him. "Of course I didn't forget that. There was a reason that I said thank you the other day at breakfast," I said.

Eric stared darkly at me. His stare was piercing. It felt like it was going directly through me. Like he knew all of my secrets. I didn't like it at all. "Obviously you didn't listen," he snapped at me.

"I'm not here because I'm interested in him. I'm here because I wanted to give him a second chance to be a friend. I believe that most people deserve a second chance," I said honestly. That was the truth. "Especially one when they're sober."

I genuinely did believe that Damien was a good person once he got all of the alcohol out of his system. Eric scoffed at me and pressed his body into mine once more. I hated to think it but we actually fit well into each other's body. We were just the right difference in height to fit well into the curves of each other's bodies. What the hell was I thinking? I didn't fit well at all with Eric.

"Oh, please, tell me the truth," he said.

I cocked my head at him. I wasn't quite sure what the truth was. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You looked like you were having a nice conversation, but I can tell. You want something more. You're bored here, pretending that you don't want something more," he told me and I scoffed.

He was so full of himself. I didn't need anything more. Maybe I wanted it. But I didn't need it. "I was having a lovely day here with my friend," I hissed at him.

"No you weren't."

"I was too!" I barked.

But he was right. I was bored. Damien was perfectly nice tonight, but I wanted something more entertaining and exciting. "I see it in your eyes right now. But maybe it isn't for Roberts. Maybe it's for me."

I knew that I was starting to turn pink. Damn him. "Get over yourself," I snarled.

"Maybe that's the reason why you keep glaring at Sarah out there. Is it me that you'd rather be here with?" he asked me, leaning into my neck.

Pushing back against him, I blushed when I felt his lower half hit mine. But I refused to show him that he was getting to me. "Get over yourself!" I yelled, stopping when I realized that I wasn't strong enough to get him off of me. "I don't want anything to do with you. I don't want to be with you. In fact, I pity the poor girl."

Eric raised his pierced brow, motioning his hand towards me. "Go on," he said teasingly.

"She has to go back to your room tonight. I only can imagine how big you make yourself out to be, only to let her down," I told him sweetly.

He laughed at me and shook his head, now letting most of his weight lay down on me. I coughed and tried to push him away from me. But just as before, it wasn't working. "You really think that I'm a letdown in my own bed?" he asked.

Did I think that he would be a letdown? "I..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

So I merely shrugged my shoulders at him. I had no idea actually. And despite what that little voice in my head said, I didn't want to find out. "I'm sure that I have something that I could show you. You'd probably even like it. Just say the words and I'll take you back there right now," he said.

My jaw practically dropped as I gulped deeply. Was he really offering to break Dauntless rules to be with me?"What?" I asked.

"You can leave that asshole and I'll leave Sally," he whispered and I rolled my eyes.

"Sarah," I corrected. I knew her name better than he did.

"I don't care, and neither do you. We'll go back and I'll show you that you aren't nearly as good as you like to think," he told me softly.

There was a soft purr to his words. Part of me wanted to shove him off of me and tell him to get the hell away from me. But another part of me wanted to know what it was that was going to get me back into his bed. No, I couldn't do that. I had a date right out there. He had a date right out there. But still, I just wanted to know. Knowing the words wouldn't hurt.

"And what are those words?" I asked him so low, I wasn't even sure that he could hear me.

But he had. He leaned into my ear and I shivered as his hot breath hit my ear. He did things to me that no one else could have ever done to me. "I think that you know," he told me.

I shook my head at him. I had no idea what he wanted me to say. "I don't know," I whispered softly.

My voice gave a small shake as I spoke slowly. "All I want to hear is, you win," he said.

And it was right then that I realized what he wanted. He wanted me to lose the bet. He couldn't have wanted me in his bed less. The only thing that he wanted was to win the bet. He just wanted to get to put a tattoo on me. He didn't want me, and that stung a little. Even though I would never admit that. Although I essentially had. I had told him to tell me what I had to say. I had pretty much told him that I wanted to go back with him tonight. But that wasn't true.

It would never be true. "Come off of it! I don't want you. I never will," I hissed at him as I shoved him off of me. This time, he actually backed off of me. "Just wait, Eric. I can't wait for these next few months to be over just so that I can get to put a tattoo on you anywhere I please. And of whatever I want."

His gaze narrowed at me as he came back over to me. But that was not what I wanted right now. "You know that you're going to lose. Just admit it," he said.

"I will not. Now get the hell off of me. I'm not going to sleep with you," I hissed at him.

The last thing that I wanted right now was to lose a part of my dignity to this asshole of a leader. I wished that he had gone somewhere else during his Choosing Ceremony. I didn't want to have to deal with him every day. He made my life here a living hell. And it had only been a few weeks.

"You're right. You won't," he told me.

I cocked my head at him. What did that mean? "What?" I asked. I thought that he wanted me to sleep with him.

He was obviously please with me. "You'll try and for a while I'll let you. But I'd never want someone like you. Weak. Just pretending to fit in here. It's actually really pathetic," he said. I couldn't help the sting that shot through me at his words. No one had ever spoken to me that way. "Don't worry, I'll let you take it just far enough so that I can win that bet and then, then you never have to deal with me again. See? I'm actually not that bad of a person -" he continued, but I cut him off.

Before he could utter another word, I reached out and slapped him across the face, hoping that my tears were not going to fall. His words had hurt me a lot more than I would have ever wanted to admit. And I never would admit it to him. I was stronger than him. Just because he was telling me that he didn't want to sleep with me didn't mean that I was a bad person.

"Fuck you," I snarled.

But it had come out much softer than I had meant for it to. It was weak and shaky. Not wanting to have him turn it around on me, I turned and walked out of the hallway. As I made my way back to the table, where Sarah and Damien were talking softly to each other, I plastered on a fake smile and grinned at them. They both looked completely content with the night. Eric took a seat right after me and I was happy to see that there was a small print of my hand on his face.

"Sorry about that. Took me a minute to find the bathrooms and Eric was so polite to wait for me," I said and Damien nodded at me as I took my seat back.

Eric and I exchanged a quick look with each other. The other two didn't notice the tenseness in my stance. "That was sweet of you," Sarah said.

Eric completely disregarded her. "We ready to play the game?" I asked.

Everyone nodded at me. "Absolutely!" Sarah chirped.

"Definitely," Damien said.

Eric said nothing but nodded. He was staring right at me but I fought not to look at him. I didn't want to see him right now. "Alright, well I suppose that I'll go first. Eric, what is it that attracted you to Sarah in the first place?" I asked him. He looked pissed that I had questioned him. "Just yesterday I thought that you were single."

He gave an answer that would have made any self-respecting girl reach out and slap him, just the way that I had done not two minutes before. "I just saw her and knew that she was someone that I had to take back home," he said with a little shrug. Sarah had gone a little pink but she was still smiling. "Turns out that I was right. Do you have any idea how bendy yoga makes a person?"

He was asking me and I nearly threw up my dinner. I did not want to hear about his private life. "No, but thank you for informing me," I said quickly.

"Maybe you should try it sometime. I think you're a little stiff," he told me with a grin. I shook my head and looked away from him. "Alright. My turn. Damien." I glanced up. I thought that his question would be for me. "How's your love life going? Anyone in Dauntless you're interested in?"

There was a small smirk on his face. Damn him. I knew that he was asking that just so that he could get Damien to admit that it was me. As if he could make my night even worse at this point. Damien raised his glass to Eric and took a drink. Eric scoffed and looked away and just as he did, Damien turned back and winked at me. I blushed a little and looked away. At least I knew that someone at this table was really interested in me. Damien finally set the glass down and looked over at Sarah.

"Sarah. How about one for you?" he asked and she nodded happily. "Why would a nice girl like you be with Eric?"

I leaned in, curious as well. Sarah giggled softly and glanced over at Eric, who looked like he could have cared less about her answer. She seemed to be a very sweet girl and it was killing me that I didn't know why she was going out with someone as awful as Eric. She smiled at us and leaned over the table slightly.

"Oh well I actually never thought that Eric was a bad guy," she said and I snorted. "I always saw someone sweet under all of that hate. I just hope that I can find it." At least she was a good person. "And if nothing else, he's a great bed warmer at night." This time she winked at him. There went any respect that I had gotten for her. "Alright, how about you, Alex? You haven't gotten a question yet." She was right about that. "I just want to know one thing. Why did you choose to come to Dauntless?"

If I had been drinking something, I would have spit it out all over the table. My eyebrows shot up to my forehead and I stared stupidly at her. That wasn't the question I had been expecting. I had thought that it would be something about training or why I was here with Damien. I had not thought that it was going to be why I came to Dauntless. From the looks of it, it didn't seem like anyone else had been expecting the question either.

"Oh during the Choosing Ceremony?" I asked her and she nodded. "Wow, that wasn't the question that I was expecting."

I was scratching nervously the back of my neck when she smiled and picked up the glass of wine that she had set out in front of her. She took a small sip before speaking. "Well I actually was in the Records Room, which is where I work, and I saw your file. I couldn't help it," she said with a little blush on her cheeks. I gave her a small smile. I had done the same thing when I had seen my friend's files. "Eric had come back grumbling about you and I had to know why." I scoffed. Of course Eric had been complaining about me. "So I read your file and saw that you had scored Amity on your Aptitude Test. So why did you come to Dauntless?"

I had to fight to make sure that the color didn't drain from my face. I had to come up with a lie here. I had come here because I had scored multiple Factions. I was Divergent. But there was no way that I could tell them that. They would kill me for sure. I had to lie and say that I had just decided to come here because I hated Amity. Or something like that. I would figure it out.

"Oh I - Uh - I always forget about that. I just couldn't go back there. I hated Amity so much that I knew the minute that I was told that it was the Faction that I suited for that I had to leave. I didn't care what the Test said. So I came here. And thankfully it seemed to be the right choice," I said.

Sarah nodded at me, looking pleased with my answer. "That's as good a reason as any," she said.

I nodded at her and turned to Eric. "So now, Eric. Why is it that you are so hard on me here?" I asked him and he stared at me. "And it is not because you think that I can't make it here. So why?"

I genuinely was desperate to know what the answer to that was. I had to know why he treated me so poorly compared to everyone else. But naturally, he wasn't going to answer that question for me. Eric raised his glass and downed it, never looking away from me. I shook my head at him and sighed. He had to be kidding.

"I think I'm done playing. Just like me calling you by your name, you'll earn that answer one day, initiate," he said, sneering the last word at me. I sighed and shook my head as he stood from the table and held out a hand to Sarah. "Come on."

Sarah grabbed his hand and let him pull her to her feet. She said a quick goodbye to us and I waved at her, watching them head up to the hostess table, pay, and leave without looking back once. I was a little bothered that Eric hadn't even looked back at me once. I would have. My eyes were still locked on the place that they had been standing when Damien placed a hand on my shoulder, surprising my slightly.

"Are you ready to go, too?" Damien asked me.

"Yeah," I said, letting him pull me to my feet, just the way that Eric had done.

We walked over to the hostess station and I watched as he paid for our meals. "Hey, I'm really sorry about tonight," he told me.

"It's fine. You have nothing to apologize for," I said. He didn't know that Eric was going to show up here.

"I didn't think that Eric was going to show up here. I've only ever seen him here once." I raised a brow at him. So he wasn't a regular here. He only showed up on the night that he knew that I would be here. That figured. "And that was over by the bar," he said and I smiled.

The hostess handed his card back and Damien thanked her, leading me from the restaurant. It was later than I had thought that it was. Most people seemed to be turning in for the night and I knew that my friends would all be asleep by the time that I got back. That was a good thing though. I could avoid the questions for now.

"It's alright Damien. I know that you didn't plan this. I'm just sorry that Eric has to come and destroy everything that I want to have. This date, or meeting, or whatever this was. I had fun, even though Eric was here," I told him with a little smile.

We made our way through the halls, back to my dorm. There really weren't that many people that were lingering around. Damien turned down to look at me with a smile and I went to wiping my face. Did I have food on me or something? That would have been the perfect ending to this night.

"Did you say date?" he asked me.

That was mortifying. He didn't want to be on a date with me. He just wanted to make up the other night to me. "I - I - Well I don't know but -"

"No, hey, I thought that it was cute," Damien interrupted, smiling at me. "I'm glad to hear that you still want to be together." I nodded at him and smiled softly. So maybe I had judged him a little too fast. He was a good guy. He had just made a mistake. We all made them. "Even after me acting like an ass and after Eric barged in."

I couldn't help it. We both laughed loudly. We were passing through the Chasm and I shivered. Damien wrapped an arm around me and I smiled at him, sneaking further into him. This place was always colder here than I really thought that it would be. I smiled at him and looked up. He was definitely taller than me, but I liked it. I wouldn't want a guy that was my size.

"Well I guess I decided that you really do deserve a second chance. And you made tonight fun for me. I'd like to do this again," I told him honestly.

It was nice being with him. It made me feel like I belonged here. Damien seemed to agree with me as he nodded and led me out of the Chasm, not bothering to let go of me. "Again would be good," he told me and I smiled.

At least he felt the same way that I did. "Good," I said softly, blushing and looking down at the floor.

"Look, my apartment is just past the dining room. Its number 1021," he told me and I blushed. Was the really telling me his apartment number so that I could come visit him? Maybe he liked me a little more than I had thought that he did. "Come visit me whenever you want to go do something again."

"I'll take you up on that offer," I told him.

"Or we could stay in if you want to avoid your Eric problems. I think he might have a tracker on you," he said.

Despite how angry Eric made me, I couldn't help but to laugh. I needed that. He smiled at me as I laughed and I grinned brightly at him. He was smiling at me in a way that no one had smiled at me before. Not even Florian had ever smiled at me like that before. It was nice to see from someone much nicer than Eric.

"In that case it would probably be good that I stay away from your apartment. God knows that he's looking for any reason to throw me out of Dauntless," I said and he laughed, shaking his head at me.

I was pretty sure that he still wanted me to come visit him, I would just have to be careful. That could get the both of us in trouble. "That's Eric for you," Damien said.

We came up to the door of the dorms and I smiled. "Thank you for walking me back to the dorms. You might want to stop here though. My friends would probably never leave you alone if you went in there," I said.

Although I was well-aware that they were probably already asleep. He nodded at me anyways and I waited awkwardly in the hallway. I wasn't sure what I should do here. Whether or not I should kiss him, or hug him, or maybe do nothing. We were friends but we were kind of together, too. I wasn't sure what I could say or do with him.

"Then this is goodnight. I had a good time with you, Alex. Despite everything," he said.

That was a nice thing to hear even after our horrible night. "I had a nice time, too."

"I hope that you come visit me soon."

"I'll definitely think about it."

He leaned into me and I smiled as he gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. That was a nice compromise. But that was not what I wanted. I wanted something more after a night of Eric drilling it into my head that he would never want me. So I leaned into Damien and pressed my lips gently to his. It didn't last more than two seconds. Our lips merely brushed and we both smiled at each other. My stomach warmed as I pushed away from him and grinned. He didn't try to lean back into me but he did smile and brush my cheek that I was sure was completely red by now.

"Thank you for tonight. I have to focus on training for the next few months but I'll stop by soon," I told him honestly. Training was number one, but that didn't mean that I couldn't have fun too.

Giving me a quick hug, Damien retreated down the hall a little before turning back to me and smiling at me. "I can wait as long as you need," he told me and I smiled. He reminded me of Florian in some ways. Maybe that was why I was pulled to him. He was something familiar. "I know how stressful initiation is. Hey, don't let Eric get to you."

I laughed. "You have no idea how many times I have to tell myself that daily," I said, making him laugh.

"I'll see you soon. Goodnight," he told me.

He smiled at me one last time before walking down the hallway and disappearing from sight. I smiled back at him and waved before sliding open the door and walking inside. Like I had expected, everyone was already asleep and I smiled. They all looked like they had been out for a while so I knew that I had to be quiet. I really didn't want to wake them up and have them question me on where I'd been. I slid into the bathroom, making sure that I took off the shoes first. They clacked so loudly.

Once I was in front of the mirror, I let my hair down out of its hold and placed the pins back in my bag before walking into the bathroom and washing my face clean of all of the makeup. Once I was sure that it was all off, I walked back into the bedroom and slid the dress off, placing it back in Heather's bag. I wasn't worried about anyone seeing me so I leaned down and grabbed an oversized black shirt, slipping it over my head and jumping into bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I thought all about my date and the next time that I would be able to see Damien. For the first night in a long time, I didn't think once about Eric.

A/N: Here we have another edited chapter! They take me a little while to completely redo them so just check back regularly if you're looking for new updates. I will probably be making a sequel in the upcoming months, so keep an eye out for that, too. Drop me a review if you feel the need! Until next time -A

mmelody6: Here's hoping that you liked this chapter as well!

MrsBrynnNorthman: I'm so glad that you like it so far! I hope that you like this chapter as well. I know that an eight month initiation is long but I wanted it long for two reasons. Number one, I can have a long story full of everyone getting to know each other and lots of things can happen. Also, it's more realistic to me. People take times to learn those skills. Thank you for the review!

Guest: So glad that you like it! I think that Alex should win too, but we all know that things can happen on the way! Even though she's positive that she can win. The next one if here and I hope that you like it! I'll try to have the next one out even faster.

Mexican guest: So sorry that it took me so long to get this update out. But school takes priority over everything else. Although now that I'm home I can write more than I can during the school year! :)

Xo-StoryTeller-oX: Sorry about that, your review didn't show anything that you wrote. But either way, I appreciate it and I hope that you liked this chapter!