Once we get to Four's apartment, he offers me a clean towel and then points me in the direction of his bathroom. I am grateful for the separation from him only because it gives me a second to breathe and to process everything. Once inside, I lock the door and turn on the water. I look at my reflection in the mirror and glance down at my tattoo. It's still scabbing, but I keep my hands away like Four had said. My heart is beating fast in my chest and I can only guess that it's because I'm nervous. I like Four, that much is obvious, but he's older than I am. He's probably had tons of experience with flirting and dating. And I...have not. I let the steam fill the room for a few more moments before I finally decide to get in. After the day of training that I have had, the hot water is a godsend on my sore muscles. I take my time washing my hair and body because the past few days I haven't really had time to have a good shower like this. Not down in the imitates bathroom; not when it was so open that anyone would have been watching. Once I feel I have eased most of the tension in my back, I shut off the water and grab the towel, drying myself off. I get dressed in the black t-shirt and jeans and towel dry my hair before I pull it back into a pony tail. I hang the towel on a hook that is on the back of the door before I pull it open and head back into the main part of the apartment.

Four is across the room, standing at a computer, looking intently at the screen, but he glances up at me as I come closer him. "Feel better?" he asks.

"Much," I say with a smile. I sit down on the stool next to him. "What are you looking at?"

He opens a window on the monitor and types something on the keyboard, so fast that I can barely follow. "I'm searching the school databases to see which dorm your brother was assigned to when he showed up."

I lean in close to the screen and I make a mental note to ask if he can teach me how to use the computer given the fact that I don't know more than how to use one for school. I think it would be useful to have a skill other than fighting, not that I would consider it a skill yet. I can't follow what he's doing or what pages he is going through, so I just lean forward on the table and glance up at his looks so serious...granted, since I've met him, he's always had that expression, but lately when it's just the two of us, he hadn't been so serious. But maybe this is just him, in his element.

"Why are you looking at me?" he asks. His eyes don't move from the computer and he keeps typing away, but I see the corner of his mouth twitching upward and it makes me blush.

I shake my head, biting my lower lip. "I'm not," I say quickly.

That's when he moves his head. He raises a brow at me. "Really?"

"What?"

"I saw you," he says.

I shake my head. "No you didn't." I feel slightly embarrassed that he caught me starting at him. Does that show how naïve I am? How new all of this is to me? Does it makes me come off as a child? I don't want to come off as immature with him. I don't want to give him a reason to rethink this...to rethink me.

He narrows his eyes at me but then turns back to the computer. After a few more clicks and swipes on the screen, he says, "He was put in Erudite."

"Erudite," I repeat, shaking my head. The classification doesn't mean anything to me. "Okay...what is that?"

"Erudite is the dorm that seems themselves as above everyone else. They believe in knowledge, like we believe in bravery. It's the highest power that one can have, and because of they think they're better than the rest of us."

By the way the muscle in his jaw tenses, I realize there might be bad blood. "And that doesn't really make for fair play between us and them?"

He shakes his head. "It's not really that," he says. "It's just, the dorms don't interact, ever, if at all possible," he tells me. "It's been like that since before I even came here. It's even like that in the city."

I know what he means. Back in the city, people from different sectors didn't interact with others. My father, who worked with some of the leadership of the city only interacted with others because of his position. But even a school before, you only interacted with people you are raised around. That's just how it's been for years and years. "Do you think it's forbidden?"

He shakes his head. "No," he says. "I can send him a message through the servers and have him meet us maybe in a few days. I don't know how they train their initiates at Erudite, so I don't know for sure if he'll come..."

"He will," I say quickly. My brother is still my brother, right? Or has he forgotten about our family in the few shorts months that he's been away from us? From what I know about this school, which was nothing when I arrived and even less now that I'm actually here, I don't know how much a dorm can change a person. I don't know if my brother still thinks of himself as part of our family, or if he considers the people in his dorm his family now. I have to believe that there is still a part of him that remembers who I am.

Four looks at me and nods. "Okay," he says. He turns back to the screen and types in a message before hitting a spot on the screen. Then it goes black. I let of a breath of relief. The nerves I had upon walking into his apartment are back, because now there is nothing to focus on. I rub my arms as a shiver runs down my spine and I silently curse myself for not bringing a sweater up with me. "Are you cold?"

I look up at Four, who's watching me. I shake my head. "I'm okay."

He gets up from his stool and walks over to the dresser and pulls out a lump of black material. He hands to me. "You don't have to save face with me," he says.

I meet his eyes and nod slowly, taking the bundle from him. I look down and smile when I realize that it's one of his sweaters. I quickly pull it over my head and as I do, I catch a whiff of his scent and it gives me more pleasure than it probably should. "Thank you."

He smiles at me and then rubs his hands on his pants. "You hungry?" he asks me.

I am, but the thought of going down to the main hall with everyone isn't as appealing as spending time with Four alone. I don't want to go back to instructor and initiate just yet. It feels too soon. But I can't be selfish in this aspect. If I don't eat, I won't have enough strength for tomorrow's round of training. So I nod. "Yeah, actually," I say hopping off of the stool. "I wonder what they're having..." I say heading toward the door.

"Whoa," he says, and he tugs on my elbow pulling me back around to face him. "Where are you going?"

I shake my head. "What do you mean?"

"Are you leaving?"

I point toward the door. "Aren't we going to go eat?"

He grins at me. "Not down there no," he says. "You're going to help me cook."

I raise my eyebrows at him. "You...cook?" I ask following him to the kitchen in the apartment.

"I'm decent with a pot of boiling water," he tells me. "Which is why you're going to help me."

I purse my lips in thought, but then end up nodding. "Okay," I say. "What do you want me to do first?"

He takes out a pot hanging above the island then fills it with water at the sink. "Can you grab the chicken from the fridge for me?"

"Yup." I get the chicken out and then set the container on the counter before turning back to him. He puts the pot of water on the stove and looks back at me. I've cooked before, but it's never been as exciting as this is right now. Spending time with him, learning new things...this was how I wanted my new life to be. I wanted to learn new things and have new experiences and someone to share them with. This was it. This was perfect. "So what are we making?"

"See if you can tell me," he says smiling as he walks over to the fridge, coming back with carrots and celery setting them on the counter. I recognize the ingredients. I've made this hundreds of times for my family. This was a normal meal that we made where I lived. Where I was raised, you cooked with a minimal of flavor and this was one of those meals. I don't know what people ate in other parts of the city, but could this mean that he was from the same part of town that I was from? know what else we need

"Potatoes?" I ask him. My voice cracks on the word because I am nervous but I am also excited to find out more about him.

"Yeah," He says with a grin as he starts to cut the other vegetables. "They're in the pantry on the bottom."

My heart is racing as I walk to the small door and tug it open, bending down to grab a few potatoes before heading to the sink. I grab a knife and begin peeling them. Our backs are to each other now, and the only thing I can hear is our breathing as we both work. I lick my lips nervously.

"Are you going to ask me?" His voice is quiet, but I can hear the tension in his voice. Why is he nervous? I'm the nervous one. What if we knew each other before but I have no idea who he is? Does that make him angry that I don't remember? I didn't have friends...hell I barely knew my neighbors.

I swallow and concentrate on the task at hand. "Uhm..." I pause because I don't know how to ask it. I don't know what words to use, or how to phrase the question. So I give up and I throw out the first thing that pops into my head. "How close were our houses?"

In the quiet room, I can hear him swallow. At least that means that I'm not the only one that is nervous. "I lived a few houses down from you," he says. "But to your next question, no, we didn't know each other."

I set the knife down and turn around, but the only view that I have is of his back. "How did I miss you?" I whisper. "I mean, I understand why you would have missed me, but-"

"I didn't miss you," he says. He turns around to look at me, that half smile on his lips. The one that makes me weak in the knees.

"What do you mean? I ask him.

"I knew who you were. Our families...they interacted on more than one occasion."

This throws me. "What?" I rack my memories trying to remember what families we had done dinners with, but I don't remember anyone who specifically stood out to me. I shake my head. "I don't..."

"You wouldn't," he says, turning back around to continue working. His voice has changed now. And through his shirt I can see that his muscles are tense. I don't know if I should ask him more, or if we just leave it at that. I don't know how to be a girlfriend. This is all new to me. But I don't need to urge him, he continues on his own. "I rarely attended dinner when there was company. My father and I...we didn't get along."

"Oh." That explains why I had never seen him. If I had seen him, I would have remembered. "But you had seen me?"

He keeps working, so I turn back around to finish with the potatoes. "I was upstairs, passing down the hall and you were in the front hallway. I didn't really want to be seen, so I booked it back to my room, but I saw you."

I feel myself blush so I bite my lower lip and bow my head a bit. The fact that he had seen me when I was like that...from before, it should embarrass me. It should make any guy turn away and change t heir mind. But not for Four.When I finish with the potatoes, I set them on the cutting board next to Four and look up at him.

"Is that why you want to help me?" I ask him.

He glances down at me. "Part of the reason."

"And the other part?"

He looks amused. "The other part you should already know."

I can't help but smile. "Because you like me?"

"You're damn right," He says and leans down to kiss me.

I stand on my toes to meet him halfway, grabbing onto his shirt to help keep my balance. When the kiss breaks I look up at him and shake my head slowly.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing," I say. "You are...exceptionally phenomenal, you know that?"

"Ah, come on," he says shaking his head. "You're gonna make me blush."

I nudge his arm."I'm serious."

"So am I," he tells me. He takes the cutting board to the pot and slowly drops everything in . When he's done he turns back to me and takes my hand. "Listen up, Tris. I only want to say this once, okay?" I nod. "I like you. And it scares me."

"Why?" I ask, confused.

"Because I haven't done this before."

"You haven't done what?"

"This...dating," he says.

I stare at him. Dating. Were we dating? Was this a date? Was I on a first date and I didn't even know? Wow. Talk about oblivious. "Excuse me?"

"I've never dated anyone," he says. "I've been so busy focusing on learning everything that I could here that never focused on me. And it wasn't like anyone there was anyone here who caught my attention."

"So you're saying...that..."

"This is as new to me as it is to you," He laces our fingers together and I bite my lower lip. "So don't be afraid to say anything to me, okay?"

I swallow and then nod. "Okay."

"You promise?"

I pull on his shirt and kiss him again. "Promise," I whisper against his lips.

A/N: Wow. I kind of rambled hard core here. But it's okay. I liked it.