Author's Note: My friends! I can't believe it either. Two chapters in one week? I know, it's a miracle! But really, I felt you all deserved it after my long absence. I won't keep you long, but I wanted to remind you to review this chapter!

-Elise (Daisydot227)

DISCLAIMER: I think we all know that I'm not nearly brilliant enough to create such awesome characters as Tris and Tobias. Veronica Roth, however, is that brilliant, so yeah, all credit goes to her.

Chapter 11: Confessions of an Erudite

Tris's POV:

The bus dropped me off at 10 p.m. in front of the large glass Erudite headquarters. I had seen the building several times, but only from the street. I had never been inside.

My breath was frosty in the night air and I could see that there was condensation on the windows as I grew closer. Street lights illuminated the cracked sidewalk and made the foggy windows glow a greenish color. I tried to see inside, but my efforts were fruitless, it was too cold.

I pushed through the glass doors walked across the marble floors to where a woman was sitting behind a desk. Her brown hair was kept in a severe bun and spectacles rested on the edge of her nose. She looked up from the computer and examined my rumpled grey clothes.

"May I help you?" she asked, her voice nasally and rude.

"I'm here to see Caleb Prior," I replied, keeping my tone even.

"No visitors after hours, especially not on days that aren't visiting days. And especially for members of the more distasteful factions," she said with a level gaze.

I bit my tongue and tried to keep my temper. It was strange, because I usually didn't have a temper.

"It's for government business," I lied. "I'm Marcus Eaton's assistant, and it is crucial I meet with Mr. Prior."

The woman sighed. "Well I suppose. Caleb Prior, did you say? He currently resides in room 425, floor 5."

I thanked the woman and made my way to the stairwell. As I climbed the concrete steps, I began to feel nervous. Caleb didn't know I was coming and I hadn't seen him in over a month. For the first time, I began to wonder how he would react. Had being in Erudite changed him?

I was nearly out of breath as I reached the fifth floor. I pushed open the heavy door and tried to find my bearings. Long hallways stretched out in multiple directions with rows and rows of doors that all looked alike. The only distinction between one and another was a number printed on a stainless steel plaque.

A sign on the wall, also the same stainless steel material, informed me that Caleb's hallway was to the left. I followed the increasing door numbers until I found Caleb's door on the right side. I took a breath, and knocked.

The door opened after a moment, and there stood Caleb, just as I remembered him. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue boxer shorts and his blond hair was rumpled. He rubbed his eyes and stared at me.

"Beatrice?" he asked in amazement. Then his face grew hard and he demanded, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," I said stubbornly. "I guess I thought I would be received more welcomingly."

Caleb glanced down the hallways and ushered me inside, closing the door with a soft thud.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I will say I'm quite tired, and well, most Erudite already don't take to my Abnegation heritage quite well. I don't think you being here is helping."

I nodded with understanding.

"Still," I said. "I'm your sister."

"Yes, I know. Didn't I say I was sorry?" He said again.

"Okay, okay. Aren't you supposed to have a roommate?" I asked.

Caleb nodded. "I do, his name is George. He's doing late night lab work tonight, which I suppose makes me lucky. He wouldn't approve of you coming here."

I sat down on Caleb's bed finally got a good look of the room. There were two desks overflowing with books on the opposite wall. In fact, there were books everywhere. They were spilling off of bookshelves and from underneath the beds and scattered on the floor. There were two other doors in the rooms, leading to the closet and bathrooms, I assumed.

Caleb sat on the other bed, across from me, crossing his feet underneath him, like how we used to sit when we were kids.

"So what does bring you here?" he inquired, his blue eyes flicking over my face.

"I wanted to ask your advice," I began, and the story about Four spilled out of me, and I barely took a breath until I finished.

Caleb sat there, very quiet, and I could hear him thinking. At last, he said, "This reminds me of Romeo and Juliet."

"What?" I asked.

Caleb jumped off the bed and searched among a pile of books on his desk. He sorted through them until he found what he was looking for, a tattered old book which he handed to me.

It was bounded in emerald green leather and had gold letters printed on the cover.

"Romeo and Juliet," I read. "William Shakespeare."

Caleb sat down again and took the book back from me.

"The book is actually a play that was written a long time ago. It was written even before this city was founded. It's about this young couple, Romeo and Juliet. They both come from families that are feuding with each other, and they meet at a party, without knowing who the other is. When do they realize who the other is, they are already too in love and begin meeting in private."

I took the book and opened it to the first page of script. "Never was there a story of more woe than that of Juliet and her Romeo. Are you kidding me, Caleb?" I asked him in disbelief.

He shrugged. "I mean, yeah, everyone dies in the end. But that doesn't mean it's going to happen to you."

I scoffed and hit him on the shoulder. "Sure. Compare my life to a play that was written as a tragedy."

He laughed, and then I asked him, "But really, what should I do?"

Again, he thought for a long time. "I'm not saying I approve, but do you really like him?"

I nodded, and Caleb continued. "Well then you should try to stay together. Maybe there is a way you can appeal to the government and try to find a way to make it, ah, legal."

I nodded. "I hope you're right. But I doubt there's ever going to be a way to make it legal."

Caleb smiled gently. "So… um, Beatrice. How's… how's Susan?" he asked, I finally realized how sad Caleb looked. He missed me, I knew that, but he also missed Susan too, more than I might know.

"She's doing well," I said. "She's missed you, but I doesn't help that you don't ever write to her."

"That's not my fault!" Caleb snapped. He relaxed, and said gently, "I mean, I want to. I really do. I just don't want to make things worse, or give her false hope. I have the same problem you do, I love someone from another faction."

I noticed the way he said love. I knew he wasn't using it flippantly, but that he really meant it. Caleb loved Susan.

"Write to her, Caleb. There's no reason you should leave her wondering why."

He nodded and I stood up and hugged him.

"I should go now," I said.

"Yeah, George might be here soon," he said. "You be good, Beatrice. Make Mother and Father proud enough for the both of us."

I smiled and as I reached the door he added, "And take the Romeo and Juliet book. Read it, it's good."

I held up the book and gazed at it, running my hands over the cold leather. "I will."

I stepped out into the hallway, and Caleb closed the door behind me.

When I reached the lobby, the woman was silent, and she didn't look up from her computer this time.

The air had somehow gotten colder as I stepped outside, but the bus soon arrived and I climbed in. There were only a few passengers, a man from Candor and an old Abnegation woman. I made my way to the back of the bus and sat down, resting my head against the cold window. I opened Romeo and Juliet and began to read.

Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean…

Well, well, well, my pretties! Another Romeo and Juliet reference? How dare I? I must not kill anyone! On that note, I haven't decided if I should end the life of one of our precious characters. We've had enough deaths in Allegiant (I'm speaking to you Veronica Roth...) to last a long time, but you never know. Speaking of Allegiant, has anyone else thought that Tobias seemed sort of different? I'm not sure what is off but he seems like a new person. Maybe that is just part of the fact that the book is partially in his POV, and we now see what happens inside his head. I don't know, I rambling now. Anyways, thank you and PLEASE REVIEW!