Tris POV:

Morning doesn't come soon enough. But when it does, the sunrise greets me with a small glint of overpowering brightness that shines through the small window of the apartment. It demands my attention one second too many and I groggily give in and push a quilt off my body,

I don't sleep with a quilt. The dormitory bunks don't have quilts and Max provided me with none anyways.

I suddenly remember that Peter and Al attacked me last night and now, where am I? I'm in an apartment that's just a little bit smaller than my own. It has black everything-black walls, black furniture. But one thing is not black. Three words are written in grey on the wall. "Fear God Alone."

I get up from my bed and feel the words with my fingers.

Then someone chuckles. I turn around just enough to see Four leaning against the bathroom doorpost. "Up already?" he jokes. Then he walks towards me. I stay silent, barely breathing as he puts his hand on my forehead then on my cheek. "Feeling okay?"

I nod. "Last night was such a blur. What-"

"Al, Peter, and Drew tried to knock you out," Four says.

"Drew?" I ask. "I only remember two."

"He left early," Four says. "I caught him when he was running out of the Pit. He said Peter and Al were trying to rape you and he didn't want to be a part of it because Max would find out and kick him out of Dauntless."

I sit back down on Four's bed and look down at my hands. Folding them together, I struggle to find something to do to distract me from wanting to know more about last night.

Then Four clears his throat. "Training starts in half an hour. If you get yourself together, we should be able to run by the Pit and grab a bite to eat before training." He looks at me before biting his lip and grabbing a shirt off his dresser. "It's the smallest I have, and I thought you might need one."

"Thanks," I say. I nod and stand up awkwardly.

Four looks over me from head to toe. "Are you doing okay? I noticed your ribs were bruised." He blushes a bit and I love it a lot.

"They're fine," I lie. They hurt terribly. "Although it hurts to breath."

Four shakes his head. "Can't help you there," he says, crossing his arms and smiling slightly.

"Peter would probably throw a party if I stopped breathing," I joke.

Four smiles a bit more. "Well, I'd only go if there was cake."

I smirk. "I've been here for a few weeks and still have no idea why everyone raves about it."

"Well as soon as you change you've got to try some," Four says.

"Excuse me," I say. "Sorry. Coming through. Right behind you. Whoops! Sorry! Excuse me!"

Four looks at me and shakes his head, laughing. "You've been here for two weeks and still sound nothing like the Dauntless." Then he sighs. "Here," he says. He shoves past a middle aged man with a musky odor and a whiskey-smelling breath and picks up two trays with muffins and eggs on them.

"Thanks," I say. "Sorry, I'm just used to-"

"Yeah," Four says nervously. "I grew up that way too." He scratches the back of his neck eagerly before leading me toward Max's table.

It's the same as every morning, except today, someone totally different is talking to Max. Someone Max doesn't usually talk to.

"Dauntless leadership is given to the first and second ranked initiates each year. They can take it or leave it," Max says. "Of course, Beatrice will be offered it this year, but I'm sure the second position will be given to someone with leadership nearly as good as her. She'll probably be ranked first anyways."

"Of course sir," Peter says.

He continues to talk, but I stop listening immediately. I freeze in my steps. "What's he doing here?" I whisper to Four.

Four shrugs. "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this."

Max suddenly looks at me. "Tris," he greets. "Take a seat. I've just been talking with Peter about leadership around here in Dauntless."

I gulp to myself and bite my lip, sitting down next to Max. But as soon as I start to bite into my muffin, he stops me.

"Is that a...bruise...on your cheek?"

I shrug. "Must've got it from fighting."

"Fighting stopped yesterday," Max says. "This wasn't there yesterday."

I realize that Peter or Al must have given me the bruise. Put Peter's right there. He draws a line over his neck with his finger, not taking his eyes off mine once. I quake a bit in my chair before realizing that Peter is right. If I rat him out now, he'll attack me later tonight again and this time something worse could happen.

"I-I must have whacked myself in my sleep," I cover up.

Max stares at it before sighing. "Be more careful next time, Beatrice," he says tiredly, before getting up and getting more eggs.

Peter nods at me before getting up and following Max.

Four opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, Al walks up to the table. He takes Max's seat and takes heavy, strained, slow breaths for a minute before turning to me. "Hey Tris-"

I stand up. "Never come near me again," I say slowly.

"Tris-"

"I knew you were there last night. Don't think I'm stupid. I know you betrayed me," I say quietly. Maybe if no one else hears it, no one will notice that my voice is shaky. "And if you ever come near me again, I will kill you."

Al looks down for a minute, and I take it as the right time to walk away. I push my chair in, discard my tray, and rush out of the Pit.

But I don't hear it slam. Four catches it and runs after me. He comes to my side and walks with me. "Tris," he starts, but doesn't finish.

I stare at the ground and slow down. "I just can't," I say. A tear falls down my cheek and more follow. I'd rather drown in my tears than face Al right now. He betrayed me. He tried to kill me. I trusted him and he tried to, or worse, attempted to help Peter rape me. "I can't do it."

I stop walking and slump against the wall, letting the tears fall. Then I feel shoulders around me. Four is hugging me.

"Don't cry," he says. "Once you cry you won't be able to stop and we'll never make it to training. If you don't go, Peter and Al will know that you can be messed with, and they'll continue to mess with you. Prove them wrong and keep your chin up."

Suddenly, Four's lips are against mine. I wrap my shoulders around him and pull back, smiling. "Come on," I say, taking his hand. "Or we'll never make it to training."

"So what happened?" Christina asks at dinner. Four insisted, with Uriah's eager approval, that I try the chocolate cake, but while my plate is filled with sweets, Christina's is filled with salad. She told me she needed to watch her figure if she was going to go out with Will, but I don't see why. Her body is model perfect, thin, lean, and tall.

I shrug. "I was walking to the dorms when Peter and Al attacked me."

"No way!" Christina exclaims, her fork up in the air and her elbows eagerly on the table. "Did they try to, you know?"

Another shrug. "Four says that's what they were going to do."

"Four?"

I blush a bit and bite my lip. "He saved me."

"Tris!" Christina yells. "And you're just telling me now?"

I shrug, but before I can respond, Christina grins showing her perfect white teeth. "Well, tell me all the details."

"He just," I start. "I don't know. Beat up Peter and Al and then brought me to his room and that's where I spent the night."

Christina, as if it's even possible, leans closer to me.

"You know," I say, through a bite of chocolate cake. "This is really good."

"Are you kidding me?" Christina says.

I shake my head and lick my fork to make a point.

Then someone crashes thunderously into the seat next to me.

"You mean you're just now realizing that?" Uriah asks, shocked.

I shrug. "I've been here for about three weeks and this is the first taste of it I've had. I have to admit, it is pretty good."

Uriah looks at me like I have two heads before turning his attention back to his tray. I take a good look at what's on it and gape at it.

"What?" Uriah asks.

"You can feed a small army with that," I say with a slight laugh.

Uriah looks at me, his expression straight and serious. "That's what Dauntless intends to do."

Before I can say a remark back, Christina gapes as well. "Uriah!" she exclaims. "Do you know how many calories are in that-that mountain?"

Uriah laughs for a minute. "I'm a man. I need my cake calories."

I can't sleep. "Christina?" I whisper.

"What?"

"I was just checking if you were awake," I whisper from the top bunk.

"I am," she says back just as quietly.

"I'm going to the water fountain," I say. Then I gasp. "Where's Al?"

"What do you mean?"

"His bunk is empty."

Christina shrugs. "Maybe he needed a drink as well."

I groan. "I hope not," I whisper, but Christina doesn't respond. She must be asleep.

I tiptoe out of the dormitory but don't go to the fountain just yet. I take one look past the hallway and decide to go to the Chasm to think.

"Hey," Four says. He runs up to me and puts his hand up in mine, looking me directly in the eyes. "You doing okay?"

I nod.

"Tris."

I shake my head and look down to my feet. "I'm not, okay? I don't want to be okay anymore. I just can't."

"Does Max know yet?"

"Is it best if he doesn't?" I say. "I saw Drew talk to him before dinner, but that's all I know."

Four shrugs. "Peter will most likely want to get revenge, but Al will most likely-"

Before Four can finish, a scream fills the air and Christina runs out of the dorms.

"What was that?" she asks. Then she gasps and runs into the Pit. "Al!" she screams. "Tris, Al just jumped!"

I take one look into the Pit before looking up at Four and crying into his chest.

A/N Hello my peeps! Sorry I haven't updated in an eternity (more like a week) but it's Spring Break and my Grandpa just died on Saturday, so I've just been lying around, eating jellybeans (the black licorice ones were Grandpa's favorite), crying, listening to the Frozen soundtrack over and over (Let It Go is ma jam) and watching way too many episodes of The Bachelor (Juan Pablo is a jerkface). But I finally mustered up the energy to write this so I hope you guys like(d) it!