TOBIAS

After we finish eating, Tris takes the trays back into the kitchen and washes them while I head back up to the showers so that I can get cleaned up before we head back into the snow. I wasn't sure how I feel about getting back into the city. I didn't know who I would run into and if anyone would be dangerous. The idea was to keep the peace…and by doing that we chose for them to keep their memories. If peace was lost, then what would have been the point? If anything went wrong while we were in the city, I wouldn't be worried. I'll go collect any weapons after my shower, so that if we're ambushed, we'll be ready. It's not on my agenda for the day to get into a fight. I just want to walk through the city, get our things and then head back. Part of me wanted to stay, because the city was the only home I had ever known, but the other part just wanted to leave this place as far behind us as possible. This was not where I had envisioned Tris and myself spending the rest of our lives. Granted, I didn't really expect us to spend the rest of our lives at the Bureau either. But considering what I had seen out by the Fringe and broadcasts that were shown to us and articles that I had read about how the DP... it felt like here in Chicago; might be the safest place for us.

After getting out of the shower, I head back up to my room with my towel wrapped around my waist. I open the door and Tris turns to look at me, her eyes widening appreciatively. I grin at her as I make my way to the drawers and pull my clothes out. I let the towel fall as I put my shirt on and I hear her clear her throat. I turn back to look at her. "What?" I ask, my tone teasing. Her cheeks have turned red and I turn from her to get my pants on. I hang my towel off the back of the chair while Tris goes to the bookcase and inspects the books that I have. There are not many there, most of what I read while I was here were things that I could skim through and then get rid of. I didn't want to fall under the category of being weak because I was also intelligent. Back then, being more than what you set out to be was a crime. And I couldn't risk that. I couldn't risk Dauntless leaders figuring out the truth about what I wanted and that I was aware in simulations. I couldn't risk them knowing about me and then throwing me out of my own Faction. I couldn't be Factionless, because the thought of running into my father while out on the streets…I would have rather jumped into the Chasm and died.

I watch her as her fingers skim over the spines of books that I haven't even touched or thought about in almost a year. I stand behind her, a few feet back so that she can make her own assumptions about the dusty shelf. I keep my eyes on her face, her lips moving as she mutters the titles, pausing as she pulls one out. She holds it in her hands and blows on it, causing a cloud of dust to appear. She coughs, and takes a step back to look down at the cover, getting away from the dust particles. If we stayed, I would definitely have to clean that up. I would have to do a lot of cleaning; straightening up so that everything was livable. Livable for two, that is. "I've read this."

She looks up at me and her voice pulls me from the mental to-do list for when we get back and I smile. "Yeah?" I ask. It was one of few things I had in the room that connected back to my life in Abnegation. Granted, it wasn't something I really wanted to remember, given I didn't have many good memories from that home. The ones that I did have, were only with my mother and the moments we did have without my father around, were far and few between. It was a book that my mother had started reading to me, something that we were reading together, but we didn't get a chance to fix it before she ran of and left me to deal with Marcus on my own. But I had found a copy while on patrols…part of me wanted to believe that Evelyn had left it there for me to find…though why she would have risked coming out into the open and being seen by Marcus just to bring me a book that I never even finished was beyond my logic. It didn't make sense to me. And as a Dauntless I wasn't supposed to wondering about things like logic, or sense. Just Bravery. And maybe running away from Marcus wasn't brave…but I had no choice. I had to stand up for myself. I was sick of being his punching bag.

The story was of a young man who goes off on an adventure after finding out that he was magic. The things that I had heard about the book were good. It had been a huge success when it first came out. And the books following were better. But I only had the one. Maybe if we go back to the Bureau I would be able to find the rest. Maybe now I would have the time to actually finish the one in Tris' hands. I met her gaze. She nods.

"It's exciting. And it was a nice escape from the gray walls in Abnegation," she tells me. "I might have snuck it into the house and read after lights off."

I click my tongue against my teeth, shaking my head. "You mean to tell me that Beatrice Prior was a bad girl before she came to Dauntless?" I tease.

"Shut up." She laughs and pushes my arm. I grab her forearm and pull her against me, looking down into her eyes with a playful gaze. "Make me," I tell her. She stares up at me and grabs the front of my shirt, pushing up onto her toes to kiss me. I want the kiss to last longer than it does, and she ends it, falling back onto the balls of her feet.

I let out a breath and take the book from her. "We'll take it with us," I say. She nods.

"I have more books at home, I think," she says, and then she bites her lip. "My old home."

"You can still call it your home," I tell her. "Especially since we haven't found one of our own yet."

"You want a home with me?" she asks, lifting her chin, a small smile on her lips.

"I want everything with you."

"Good answer."