I've got the twitchy fingers, and a thirteen year old that demands my attention. However, I missed you all greatly, and have been feeling really sucky for not posting. At all. Now I'm here to say that I'll be working hard to update regularly and try not to get the finger twitch disease. All in all, if those who have read this from the very beginning still find a passion in this story, thank you so much for your patients. And to any newcomers, welcome.

Exposed

Suddenly the phrase 'deer in headlights' becomes oddly familiar to me, because no matter how hard I try to move, my feet don't follow my command, and I can't bring myself to tear my eyes away from him. But he has no problem. His eyes widen when they land on the bag in my hands, "Tris," He breathes, and the way he says it sends shivers down my spine. "Four," I respond, my hands clench beside me and I feel like running. Christinas words are replaying in my mind, how I should explain to him everything, but I don't know him, not enough. Then again I didn't know Christina and still I trusted her. So why is Four any different? "Four I-"

"Dad?" A voice I wish I didn't hear interrupts me, "Dad, why is the door wide open?" And then Zeke is in the house, staring at the three of us with wide eyes. My breath catches in my throat when they land on me. Aggression and anger fills his eyes and suddenly my chest feels pressed on. Four makes a move towards me, but Zeke beats him to it, shoving past his dad and grabbing the bag from my hands. He grins, maliciously, and says, "Hey, nice going babe, you got the outfit," Four tenses and his shoulders square, and I don't understand what Zeke meant until he up his arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear, rather loudly, "Some fun for tonight yeah?" I bite my lip to keep from screaming at him, feeling gross with myself that he would even imply that. His grip on my shoulder keeps me from running, and I resist the urge to hit him.

Then he presses his lips to my temple and I start to feel sick, Four clenches his jaw, his beautiful blue eyes darkening as he glares at me. "Four, you know Tris, right?" Zeke asks,

"Yeah," He answers thickly,

"Four-" I try, but Zeke cuts me off,

"Babe, why don't you take a shower? And get ready?" My body hisses and growls at him, and I pull away, taking my wallet and clothes from him. I pass Four with my head down, feeling sick and not brave enough to look him in the eye. "I didn't know you were Zeke's girlfriend Tris,"

I bite my lip and head upstairs, Zeke doesn't want people to know I'm his half sister, and he stopped me from telling Four. At the top of the stairs I turn and look at Four, as he is the only one that can see me, I shake my head and turn to my room.

I close my door and lean against it struggling to calm down my heart rate, as it is making it harder to breathe. I sigh when I calm down and walk towards the shower, seeing a white towel was already set up for me, my mom must have come in here. I glance in the mirror and see my lip has been bit so hard there's blood. I take out my hair and let it fall and get the shower ready, relieved to finally clean myself.

When I'm done washing the stress from my skin I step out and wrap my towel around me. My skin looking much tanner compared to the fluffed white of the cloth. I can't stop my mind from racing to Zeke and how he reacted to the scene in front of him, and while I feel anger towards his sick notions and offers towards the sports clothes in my bag and to me. I understand better than others that he saved us all from some very stressful talks, but now I'm dreading the minute I have to go downstairs and possibly face the boy I kissed, who I happen to be developing a crush for. But then I have to stop and question myself as to how I could grow fond of Four when I've known him for only a few days.

With a frustrating huff I wipe the steam from the glass and the first thing I see are my eyes. Josh's eyes, they're like the fog that you see rolling in from the ocean every morning because the sun is so intense. Yet that light grey color is what seeps in from the outer reaches of my iris. The rest is like ripped and tampered sheets of titanium, the fractals and flecks of blue reflect every time my eyes move, making the darker grey around my pupil look more of a blue grey than a cut of metal. A peculiar set of eyes that has tied me to my birth father since the day I was set to be created, now I suppose I have my answer as to 'why me?', as opposed to 'why not?'. No, I didn't ask for this when I took my first breath of air in the hospital, I demanded it, I demanded a different life than the one that my mother and father chose for me.

Sighing I tare my gaze from my face in the mirror, not out of habit, but because I don't want to see the confused look on my face. I don't want to see the pain and the uncertainty in my eyes of where to go or what to do next. So instead I make my way out into my new beautiful room, and I put on the clothing I hid away for too long. It is at my own will that I walk down the carpeted stairs wearing black skinny jeans and a dark grey v-neck. And I suppose due to my change in demeanor, Josh was the one to meet my eyes first. He stood up from his place at the island and made his way over to me, stopping me from getting any closer to the boys that sat on the couch. "Tris," He mumbles so that only I can hear, "Are you okay? Are you sure you want to be down here?" My gears temper and switch in my head as I prepare myself for Zeke and Four's reaction. I simply nod to Josh and walk past him.

My socked feet not making any sound against the dark hard wood floors as I sweep my way to them. Without a word I walk in front of the two boys, getting their attention. Zeke looks shocked, but over all still angry with my presence. And much to my dismay Four looks just as upset. Zeke opens his mouth, "Baby why don't you wait for me upstairs?" My skin bristles with heat, and it's either from embarrassment or from anger. My face doesn't change though, and instead of my voice wavering, it sounds stern, like a threat, "Ezekiel," He stiffens, "Why don't you listen to what I have to say before you and I take it upstairs?"

"Tris," Josh says, I flash a smile that feels wrong on my face and look at Four. My eyes narrowing into a glare, "Four, we need to talk,"

"Yes we do," I pause, he doesn't, "We need to talk about you kissing me when you've already got a boyfriend, what the fuck? And what's this about ignoring me all weekend after doing that, you're a mess Tris,"

"Yes, I am," I hiss, "And no, I don't need to talk about kissing you when I already have a boyfriend, because I don't."

"What?"

"You're the first guy I've ever kissed, let alone looked at," I can't help but scoff,

"Tris, that hurts, you don't remember all those nights in my room when Uriah was out with-" Zeke tries,

"Kind of a messed up thing to say to your sister," I say, "Don't you think?" And then there it was, the look of hatred and the look of confused shock. I had just sealed Four's involvement with my life and now I had to trust him, regardless of what Zeke believed. For A split second my eyes caught Josh's face, and I was shocked at the emotion displayed on his face. He knew all of this would happen, and that things were about to get rough. Four looked away from me and towards his friend next to him, "Sister?" Asking as if he wasn't entirely sure he heard me right. Zeke's facade cracked, "Tris is…" He trailed off, just in time for Josh to speak, "She is my daughter," His words finite and light holding a heavy meaning that rubbed salt at the back of my eyes and made my heart beat harder against my chest.

Josh made a casual display of sitting next to me on the coffee table, and pulling me close to him in a hug. Feeling caught off guard I froze and bit my lip, watching Four's eyes, the emotions going through them. He looked uncomfortable but still envious of the situation, the blue getting darker then lighter as the sun hit his face and receded back behind the clouds. I clenched my hands into fists and kept myself from reaching for him.

Four looked between Zeke and I, taking in the similarities and differences, the only thing Zeke and I had in common was our lips. Uriah and I almost had nothing in common, he had bluer eyes than me. "Half sister anyway," Zeke mumbled,

"So what are you doing here?" Four asks me,

"The home I once lived in isn't open to me or my mother anymore," He looks like he understands, as in he can comprehend what this is. "You were kicked out?"

"Of a sorts, I left, and brought my mother with me, getting us both out of a bad situation."

"Why leave?"

"Andrew was explosive once he found out," Josh filled in for me,

"Andrew," Four repeated, his eyes locking on me, "Prior?"

"Yes, so we're staying here for a while, at least until we can figure something out," I say quietly, no longer keeping up my walls of caution. Four looks at me with eyes so intense I resist the urge to squirm. So instead of backing down I put a frown on my lips and risk losing myself in the depths of the gateways to his soul. Then suddenly my feet work on their own, and strangely, so do my hands. Four follows me without protest outside to the front porch, the sun setting as cold sets into our bones.

I don't let go of his hand because he is also confused, he has been dragged into this without his consent and despite Zeke's efforts, so has he. Because now we all have to be careful with what we do and say as we are in a delicate situation. I turn and look up at his face, for the first time noticing how tall he is compared to me, but his blue eyes seem so lost in thought that I feel compelled to pull him out of the ravine I shoved him into. "Four?" I whisper, noticing how bronze his skin looks with the orange tint of the setting sun.

When I don't get his attention I place a hand cautiously on his chest, saying his name a bit louder, "Four, hey," He blinks, looks down at me with a strange look on his face. One that I can't tie a name to, and then suddenly my body ignites as his lips press to mine. This is nothing like the first time I kissed him, it's deep and it's slow. Less experimental and more demanding, my footing slips and I stumble from him, eyes wide. The only thought in my mind is how much I want him to do it again. Slowly my eyes trail down his body from his lips to his chest to his clenched fists and then back up. He doesn't move, so I do, this time it's he who stumbles back against the door as my hands cup his face, our lips melding slow and hard against each other, and suddenly I'm curious as to how far I can push this.

My fingernails scrape the nape of his neck and move up into his black hair as his own arms grow tight around my waist. A huff of a laugh escapes me when his lips part, my tongue instinctively rubs against his lip, his soft lips, before it meets his own tongue half way. I'm so lost in the erotic feeling that I didn't notice his hand snaking up my spine to my hair, in which it's tangled itself. A hum escapes my lips and he smiles against me, ceasing his kiss and pressing his forehead to mine. A serene silence overtakes us, and it's nothing short of comfortable. A strange feeling to me in the midst of everything, but when his breath tickles my lips and face, I want nothing more than to stay in this position.

It becomes apparent that we can't, however, when he shifts in his spot and untangles his hand from my hair. "What was that for?" He asks me,

"I could ask you the same," I reply finding myself smiling, then his hand is on my cheek and his thumb pressing against my chin. The look on his face at my expression is adoration, and I find myself wanting to smile harder. Then a smirk slithers over his lips as he looks down at my blissed face, "That," He whispers, "Was for leaving me hanging in the parking lot,"

"And if I leave you hanging again?"

"Well," He quips, brushing his lips against my own, "I would have to do this again,"

"So what's stopping you from doing it when you want?" Then he smiles at me, and for some reason, I decide that his lips curl perfectly at the corners, enough for his eyes to crinkle slightly. Then he leans in slightly, brushing his nose against mine and his lips touching mine gently. But instead of letting him pull me away from the world and get lost in him, in his firewood spice scent, in the feel of his hands on me, I step back from him. Offering a small smile and pulling him away from the door, "I'll see you soon," I say to him, opening the house door and closing it behind me, the smirk on his lips the last thing I see.

Zeke is no longer downstairs in the living room, and instead my mother sits with a blanket around her shoulders and a mug in her hand. Josh is sitting next to her, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand gently, and his lips moving, forming quiet mumbles that only she can hear. The subtle movement of a nod of her light brown haired head is all that tells me she is listening. The sight is so different from the actions my mother and Andrew had participated in together. He would be reluctant to touch her at times, and others he would almost smother her in affection. She would seclude herself from him, and I once saw it as distaste for such actions. But now I know better.

Wordlessly I made my way towards the stairs and trudged up, allowing Josh and my mom to talk. My real surprise however, was the person sitting on my bed. Zeke sat on the edge of my bed with his hands in his lap, his head tilted down. Immediately my skin bristled and my fists clenched, my body becoming alert and preparing itself for an attack of words. So I breathe, and close the door behind me, waiting to hear whatever he has to say. Then he parts his lips and something like a croak tumbles from them onto the floor, then he tries again, "I'm sorry…" He says, my hands loosen and my shoulders drop. "I shouldn't have... I should have just waited, I made this much harder on you than it should be."

"Yes, you did," I mumble to him, walking over to him and sitting next to him. The bed bouncing slightly, "Zeke, if you were really sorry, you could get to know me, rather than protect yourself. Trust me to keep you looking good rather than fear my mistakes making you look bad,"

"I know, Tris I know, I just-" And with that I brought my hand up, and struck the back of his head. He made an ugh noise as his teeth clicked together, his eyebrows knitted together and a frown plastered his lips as he rubs the back of his head. "I also wanted to say that my dad asked me to train you,"

"Train me?"

"So, when the moment comes, instead of slapping the back of my head you can deck me in the face," A bubble of laughter left my throat and I shoved him with my shoulder, "He asked you?"

"I happen to know self defense, and have taught it to many people."

"Why?"

"My dad got in trouble a lot, and so did my brother."

"So you learned it?"

"With Four."

"Four? Why are you so willing to teach me?"

"You're not the first to be in a vulnerable position, Tris," He says to me, but he states it like a fact, not like an insult. And surprisingly it doesn't brush me the wrong way, it just makes me painfully aware of who Zeke is. He's the older brother to me and Uriah, and he's done more for his family than what I could imagine. And yet he sits here on the bed he has practically gifted to me and is offering to teach me how to defend myself, to be strong, to be independant. I did not know Zeke from school, nor did I ever think I would, things started falling apart before they even started to come back together, and surprisingly, amazingly, somehow, I managed to get out of a harsh spot and into a softer one. Then my lips part after I wet them, and two words tumble out, "Thank you."