Alex POV

My knees keep moving, up and down, up and down. Im anxious. I look at the time, 15 minutes to midnight. My whole body has been on edge ever since I saw Michael this morning at the food hall. I keep replaying everything that could happen, why he is here, the look he gave Four before he left the hall. It echoes in my mind and I don't think anything he says can make me feel any different. I feel sad. Sad because the little freedom I did have without Michael and my old life is gone, replaced by a dread. He will be here, no doubt, watching my every move. He will be a constant reminder of everything that happened and the betrayal. My mind involuntarily takes me back to the day we were supposed to run away, start a new life.

I walked towards the food hall that day, and Michael and I already had a plan. We were supposed to meet at midnight, he had a guy who he paid. That guy would take us over our wall, the wall similar to the one in Chicago. Everything was set, and Michael just told me to be ready and meet him near the wall at midnight. I was excited, scared and nervous at the same time. It was finally happening, the day I dreamt of for so long, the day I would be free of the control and my old life. I thought of the freedom we could have, the nights where we could spend in each others arms. Maybe I could finally give in to him, like I have tried so many times before. The thought gave me butterflies. At 20 to midnight I took the bag I packed days before from the wardrobe. I had everything I needed to tide me over. Undergarmets, warm clothes, the basics. Michael said not to bring much, that we would find clothes on the outside. We needed to be discreet and be able to move quick, in case we were hunted. I didn't need anything but Michael.

At 10 to midnight, I picked up my stuff and said goodbye to my old life. Closed the door and ran through the abandoned streets to the edge of the wall, close to the entrance where the amity at times would come and go and farm. When I got there, I was tired and sweaty. But not tired in a way that I couldn't run, more in a way that I couldn't believe I was finally saying goodbye to this place. Tired from carrying this secret. Tonight we were escaping and tomorrow we would be hunted. I liked that thought.

At midnight I checked my watch, Michael should be here any moment. He told me not to leave without him, no matter what. Not that I would. I wouldn't know where to go without him. 5 minutes passed and I was starting to get anxious. What if the leaders saw him trying to escape and they caught him. What if he was not coming. No, he would come. He had too. He wouldn't leave me. 10 minutes passed and I was starting to get worried. I contemplated going back to my room. Maybe he was there. What if I went to his room? No. Again I shake off the thought. 5 more minutes I say to myself. Just as I turn to leave to find him I see a car, Michael calls it a Jeep. They use them for patrols. The lights are on high and they are scanning the field coming towards me. The light blinds me, and I can't see who it is. I don't need to. I hear a voice on a speaker, booming across the night. The light is still glaring in my eyes.

"Stay where you are. It is a faction offence to leave the city." The words repeated over and over as they drive towards me.

Michael is no where to be seen. I need to leave. They already know I am trying to leave. How? I don't have time to ask myself the question. I just hope that Michael got out or doesn't involve himself. Better for me to be punished than us both. He will catch up to me sooner or later, maybe in a couple of days. In that moment I make the decision. I need to run. Michael will find me, I know he will. I start towards the far end of the wall. I know there is a ladder, that goes all the way up to the other side. Its used for emergencies or lookouts. Training for dauntless. If I can get there, I can climb it. The Jeep is still driving towards me, its lights on high and the man repeating the same thing.

"Stay where you are. It is a faction offence to leave the city." I hear it in my mind, over and over. But I refuse to hear his voice up close. I run towards the wall and grab the ladder. The cold metal is inviting, and I don't realise until I start climbing that I am shaking. The car gets closer until they are under the ladder. I see a figure dart from the car and start climbing with me. I know I have a little head start, but I need to keep going. Or I need to get him off. He will sooner or later make it to the top. Unless they start shooting. I shake off the thought. If they shoot, they shoot. Although I think they will want to make an example out of me. I climb higher, faster. I spare a moment to glance down and see 3 men climbing the ladder now. The first one still within arms reach of me. Before his hand strikes out at the next step I stomp down hard on his hand, and he loses his grip for just a moment. I hear him swear under his breath.

"Alex stop!" the man screams. I stop. Frozen by the voice. Michael.

Michael is the one chasing me. The one who got out of the Jeep. The one who I just stomped on. One of them. He reaches me in that time that I stay frozen and puts his arms around my thighs and then steps where I am. His body is shielding mine.

"Don't shoot. I got her! he yells down towards the other 3 men and the driver. Looks like the driver had his gun pointed at me, ready to aim and fire. "We're coming down" he says to them and I can't believe my eyes. Im staring straight ahead at the wall, the ladder. Where I am. Shocked and frozen. Michael. Why is he chasing me? Why wasn't he here. What is this? Before I can speak he whispers in my ear, and his voice sends shivers down my spine. "Please don't hate me baby. Please, I had to do it. They found out. Please just come with me." he says. The desperation is clear but I still can't move. He kisses the back of my neck and whispers again. "I love you. I will explain everything. Please just come down with me".

"Michael" I say defeated. I start to have so many thoughts go through my mind. First the meeting, the chase, the climbing. Then the realisation. He outed us. He told them that we were escaping. Why? I thought he wanted this. "Why?" I ask this time aloud. My voice breaks when I ask and he knows he has to say something to get me down.

"I'll explain everything when we get down from here. Please." he says and takes my hand. Squeezing it. Im still holding the ladder tight. The metal is warm because my hand has been resting on it for so long. He takes steps down and I follow. There is nothing else I can do. I have to follow. I have to find out what happened. When we get to the bottom I jump down the last couple of steps. I slowly turn, to see who they sent to capture me. The faces are all familiar. They're Michael's friends. His closest. Josh, Tarek, Matt and Deon. I turn to face Michael. He is in black dauntless gear, his guns strapped to his legs in holsters. He is wearing a bullet proof vest. No bag. Nothing like we planned. He was supposed to wear all black. Light and simple. No weapons but a pistol. That was the plan. This is the gear he wears when he hunts or is on a job. It all starts to make sense and he can see my mind go in a million different directions.

"Guys give us a second. Wait in the car" he says, and they all turn and leave. Another clue that they knew what we were planning.

"So when did you decide you would turn on me Michael?" I ask, and the venom in my voice makes him flinch. He steps towards me but I put my hand up. "Come any closer and I swear I will kill you". He flinches. It hurt. Good.

"I didn't turn on you Alex. I didn't" he stops. He doesn't know what to say. He realises there is no good way to say it. "They found out. Isabelle found your bag this afternoon. She told Aro and they asked me about it. I had to lie and say I didn't know anything about it." he says quickly. His eyes find mine. "I had to pretend I didn't know. They sent me to retrieve you. If they sent anyone else they would have shot you at first sight." he says, and I can see his eyes are searching mine for forgiveness. I can't believe it. That rat. Isabelle has been trying to get one over on me for years. Her crush on Michael just cost me my freedom. I make a mental note to make her pay. Bitch.

"So you're telling me they found out and you couldn't warn me. I don't know, maybe tell me before I left to meet you" My hands go to my head, I can't believe this.

"I couldn't tell you. By the time I found out it was too late. They interrogated me. I had to.."

"Save yourself?" I finish for him.

"Alex. Please, you have to believe me" he takes a step towards me and I have had enough. I lunge for him and connect with his jaw. This wasn't what he expected and he falls back onto the grass. I straddle him and start laying in. Every punch fills my eyes with tears. I can't believe he did this to me. He saved himself. He could have warned me, but instead he made sure he was safe. The tears spill over and the sounds that I make are animalistic. The blood stains my knuckles and he doesn't even defend himself. He raises his hands to catch my hands but I'm too fast. He lets me hit him until Matt and Deon take me off him. I elbow Matt and hear him swear. Josh goes to help Michael but I hear him tell him to leave him alone. He is fine.

"Alex please" I hear Michael beg over and over.

"Just leave her man. We need to get back" Josh says and Deon and Matt take me to the car. They sit me in the back seat between them. Matt had to tie my hands in front of me to keep me from lunging at Michael again. He gets into the car and Tarek gives him a rag to soak the blood.

"I can't say you don't deserve it man" Tarek says to Michael trying to make light of the situation.

"Shut up or so help me" Michael says and everyone goes quiet. We make our way back to the city and I can't take my eyes off the back of his head. My hands itching to make their way around his neck and squeeze. I can't believe it. Im still in shock. He betrayed me. All the talk about leaving together, starting a new life and being free. All of it, gone because he was too scared to warn me. Too scared to admit he was going to run away too. I could out him, tell them what he wanted to do. Tell them it was his idea, and that he had a guy who was going to help us escape. But I can't. Not because I care about what happens to him, but because I want him to regret this for the rest of his life. I want him to know that he is the reason we are done. And he will never have me again.

I'm back in present day, in my room. My knees are still bopping up and down, up and down. Anxiety is reaching a point, similar to that night on our way back to the leaders. I hear a knock at the door, and I jump up. Michael comes in, wearing all black. Dauntless style. His hair is messy, he hasn't shaven but it suits him. Makes him look manlier. He closes the door behind him, and I don't sit. I stay standing, a safe distance away from him.

"Don't freak out" he says. He places his hands in front of him, as if to say its ok.

...

Michael POV

Her hair is a mess and she is moving her weight from side to side. Anxiety shows all over her body. From the way her posture is, to the way she keeps darting her eyes for the door, then to where my weapons would be. She is unsure why I am here and I don't blame her. I expected some sort of reaction similar to this.

"Michael. I don't have time for small talk. Why the hell are you here?" she says quick and abrupt. I sigh because I can see she is not excited to see me at all.

"Ok. Ok. Calm down" I say and instantly regret it. She starts pacing back and forth with the same look in her eyes as the night she got caught climbing the wall in Washington. I need to start talking before she attacks me again. "I was sent here on my own mission. I wasn't sent here to look over you or out for you if thats what you think"

"Look out for me? When have you ever looked out for anyone but yourself Michael" she bites back and I deserve it. I guess I shouldn't expect her to think I care, even though I do. I still do.

"The leaders want me to get close to Evelyn. They need someone close enough to gain her trust. I don't know what they want me to do yet, but they said to get close to her. Thats all I know" I say and search her eyes, willing her to trust I am telling the truth.

"Isn't Four close enough" she says agitated.

"Apparently not." I say and start to feel the anger boil up. "Although when they said close Alex, they don't mean sleeping with the enemy close". I couldn't help myself. I needed to know what was going on between them. I could see this morning that something was developing. Or developed. I don't know and I hate it. She scoffs, as if offended.

"What ever I do or whoever I do is none of your concern" she bites back and I feel myself getting angrier and angrier. I clench my fists to stop myself from punching a wall. The thought of them together enrages me.

"It is my concern now. Now that I am here". Even though I have no orders for keeping an eye on Alex she doesn't have to know that. I don't want her with him. More than she has to be atleast. This doesn't make her happy and she steps closer to me. Threatening body language is Alex's specialty. Usually people buckle under her stare. But not me, I know her tricks.

"Stay out of my life Michael. I mean it. You get to Evelyn whatever way you know how, but don't tell me how to work my orders. I know what I have to do, and I don't need you to control me" she says fast and quiet. I can see her fists clench too. She is pissed.

"Like I said Alex, now that I am here, I expect you to obey" but I don't get to finish my sentence because she lunges for me, her arm swinging out towards my jaw. I feel the sharp pain as her fist connects with my jaw. That hurt. She has a mean right hook. I expect her to go for another, because the Alex I know doesn't stop at one punch so I anticipate it and grab her left arm before it connects with my face. I twist it and her body angles back. She lets out a gasp and I step close, so my body is against hers and her arm is in front of my body but behind hers. We are close, and I can smell her hair. It smells like apples. "Cut it out Alex" I whisper in her ear. My body can't help but react to her. Its magnetic when we are together. We have always had this attraction to one another and I can see it affect her the same way. She gasps when I get close.

"Go to hell" she says as she tries to pry her hand away.

"Promise you won't hit me again and ill let go" I doubt she will not try again, but sometimes I have to state the obvious to the angry version of Alex.

"Let me go Michael" she says as she turns her head towards me. Her lips look soft, and I contemplate kissing her right now. I haven't tasted her lips in so long. My body wants it. I want her. She notices the thought "Let go" she says again and turns her head away from me. I let her go and she grabs at her wrist. I don't think I held it too tight. She probably just wants to get as far away from me as she can. The thought upsets me more than it should.

How did we go from kissing and barely keeping our hands off each other to throwing punches and wanting to kill each other. What I wouldn't give to go back. If I could, like I have told myself and her before, I would go back instantly. And I would have kept running up the ladder, away from our old lives. I wouldn't have chased her, I would have shielded her until she got over the wall. I should have left with her that night. I thought I was protecting her and us, but I just destroyed it. Destroyed us and what could have been.

I tell myself every night, if I could go back I would have run away with her. But I can't go back. All I can do is get her back. And I will.

***Next chapter is Alex and Tobias. And the next couple of chapters after that is them growing closer.

Let me know your thoughts and comments. How do you like. the story so far. What do you want to happen.

Until next time.

Tash :)