Reza wraps an arm around me and practically drags me back to his apartment as I sob. He sets me down on his bed and brings me a box of tissues.

"Now what's wrong?" He asks, gently stroking my cheek.

I wipe under my eyes, I probably look like a softy- crying like a baby because I got into a fight with my brother I'd forgotten for more than half a decade. I can't tell him Valor is my brother, I can't stand to.

"Valor-" I start. "He told me...my father passed away this morning. He only knew because Amity leaders knew he was close with my family." I bury my face in his jacket, inhaling the scent of his sharp, delicious cologne.

"Oh, Bree," he gasps, rubbing my back. He pushes me away so he can look into my eyes and brushes a piece of hair out of my face. "Let me go tell Max you've had a family emergency, and are in no condition to fight. I'll take the rest of the day off, and we'll get through it together."

I nod and sniffle. "Please," I say weakly.

He gently tears away from me and straightens his jacket. "I'll be back, okay? You can lay down, make yourself at home."

I nod again and he leaves. I crawl under the blankets and curl up, the pillows smelling of Reza's cologne. I fall asleep, but am wakened a few minutes when I hear frantic voices outside the door.

"She's in no condition-!" I hear Reza's muffled voice.

I sit up and push the covers off of me. The door flies open, and Kieran rushes through the door before Reza can stop him, and soon Syd and Alec walk in, too.

"Bree!" Kieran gasps, he runs over to me. "I'm so sorry, I heard."

Syd and Alec sit down on the bed too.

"I'll be okay," I say. Kieran wraps an arm around me, and I can see Reza's muscles tense from across the room. "Just let me take a break."

Kieran nods. "Will you be okay, with him?" He whispers.

I crack a sad smile. "Yes, I've known him for years. He's like a brother to me."

"Alright," he smiles sadly and kisses my cheek, and this time Reza walks over and intercepts us.

"She needs to be alone," he says.

Syd hugs me and Alec offers condolences, all for the father I've not lost yet. I wish I could tell them, but it'd only complicate things.

After they leave, Reza sits down on the bed and turns on his TV. He buries his face in my hair, and his inaudible whispers tickle my skin.

"It'll be alright," he said. "We can get a pass and go see his funeral so you can say goodbye."

"Reza-" I say, but cut myself off. I have to tell him, sooner or later. "My father is alive," I say.

"What?!" He draws back from me.

"It's not that, it's... It's Valor."

"What did he do to you?! I'll beat his-!"

"He's my brother!" I burst out, which I've done a lot of today.

He practically falls off the bed. "He's WHAT?!"

"My brother!" I stand up and walk across the room. "He's my brother..."

Reza walks over to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. "Please, explain." He says in a soft tone.

"He's six years older than I," I start. "And when he left, and after Jax was born, I told myself it was time to forget about Isaac and move on. He was my role model, but I hated him for leaving us."

"Isaac?"

"Valor's real name is Isaac," I say. "At least, it was before he left."

"Isaac," Reza says. "All along, he's baddest guy in Dauntless, and his name is Isaac. Isaac." He looks back at me. "Why are you so upset?"

"I've been upset for six years, and emotions that've been locked inside for that long. I yelled at him, for leaving us. I told him he wasn't my brother, and he told me to stay away from him. I loved him, Reza. He was my brother."

"Hey now," he says gently. "It's alright. You can stay away from him. Alright?"

I nod. "Alright."

I spend the rest of the day, and night, in Reza's apartment. He brings me the delicious chocolate Dauntless cake from the dining hall, and word that Kieran's been asking of me.

It is around eleven o'clock, and he takes my plate and sets it back in the kitchen. He walks back in and brushes the hair out of my eyes.

"Please tell me you'll never let anyone hurt you without telling me ever again?" He asks.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"No, I am," he says. He kisses me gently, a condolence kiss. His arms wrap around my back, pressing his hands in the small of my back. He moves down to my neck, his lips brushing over a bruise I've acquired over the past week in fighting. I hold his face in my hands, kissing him back with growing firmness. He pecks me on the forehead.

"Bree, I love you. So much. Don't you ever forget that." He says as we press our foreheads together.

"I won't," I press my hand to his chest, and soon, we fall asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, I walk in late during training. Max is lecturing, again, yet I catch Syd gazing at him dreamily. I don't see how she's so interested. I walk over and sit down by her, with the entire initiate class' eyes trained on me.

"Care to join us, Bree?" Max asks mockingly, but when Reza shoots him a look, he shuts his mouth. "We'll be going through our last simulation before the fear landscape test," he goes on. "While each of you is taken back, the others will wait here and fight. Understood?" The class nods yes, and Max walks over and grabs a black clipboard hanging from the wall. "Bree Boggess," he calls.

I stand up and walk over to him, and I feel Kieran's burning, questioning eyes on my back.

"What did you do last night, Bree?" I can practically hear his thoughts. "When is your father's funeral? Or are you lying to the older brother you never had?"

"I have an older brother, Kieran!" I want to scream. "I wish I could collapse and tell you everything, but I can't. I can't because I'm a coward."

Max leads me out of the training center, and into the dark, silent hallways. Our shoes click on the cement floors.

"When will you be going to see your father?" Max asks in a way that seems short of sincere.

"I won't be attending his funeral," I say. "He was part of my old life," I say with a stone face.

Max is silenced by this, hopefully impressed by my Dauntless outlook. We reach the room soon enough, and I sit down in the chair while Max gets the serum and syringe together.

"Are you ready?" He asks.

"Does it make a difference?" I reply curtly.

He nods and pushes the thin needle beneath my skin. It doesn't hurt anymore. It's when he pushes in the plunger, and I can feel my veins being inflated with the orange serum, it hurts. I swallow the lump in my throat and close my eyes. Everything goes black for a few seconds.

I wake up under bright lights, so bright that I can't open my eyes. I hear quiet chatter around me.

"Is she awake, doctor?" A soft female voice says.

"I think so, I'm glad the operation went as smoothly as it did," someone says. Even without opening my eyes, I can tell it is the voice of a ruggedly handsome doctor.

The lights dim and I open my eyes. "Wha-? What?" I ask.

"The de-Divergence operation is over," the nurse smiles. She has dirty blonde hair in a pixie cut, and is short and skinny.

"De-Divergence?" I ask.

"Yes," the handsome doctor pulls back his mask to reveal a chiseled face with a bit of a scruffy beard. "You are no longer Divergent. All is well; you can go back to your home in Dauntless."

"Where is Reza?" I ask him.

The nurse looks at the ground, and takes a few steps away.

The doctor can't hold my eye contact. "A normal life for a Divergent one…" he murmurs.

"NO!" I scream. "He didn't! He can't! Where is he?!"

The doctor and nurse turn away, and I am alone in the dark. In the distance, a glass case is illuminated. Reza stands inside, beating on it with his fists. I sprint toward him, and when I get there he looks at me happily, yet with sadness in his eyes. A green gas starts to disperse from the ceiling of the enclosure, and he starts to choke.

"No!" I scream again. I have to save him. I press my palm to the glass. Break, I think. Shatter.

The glass explodes into thousands of tiny shards, spraying out and setting him free. He falls into my arms, gasping for air.

"Bree," he says. "You saved me."

But before another word leaves his lips, he falls over, dead.

I hate simulations.