"A drunk mind speaks a sober heart."- Jean-Jaques Rousseau

I don't know exactly what I'm getting into as I walk into the tavern. I look out of place, covered in my trademark sweater, jeans and combat boots. The other girls are…. a lot less covered, to put it nicely.

Waltzing over the to the bar, I slide onto an empty seat at the end. No one recognizes me or asks how old I am. Thankfully. I sip my first beer slowly but consume at a steady pace.

Around me the place is booming, noisy and eclectic. It's only when I see the girl and boy, they don't look too old, that I remember why I'm here.

"It's easy." Lucas said, the light brown hair flopping over his tan face. "Just throw and aim."

"I have terrible aim." I complained.

He smiled. "Just try it."

I inhaled deeply and threw. My eyes peeled open to see the knife stuck in the very edge of the board. "That was awesome." He said. "No one ever hits the board on the first try."

He walked closer to me and laced my fingers through his. "Can I kiss you, Charlotte?" He asked sweetly.

I blushed and nodded. "Yeah."

Our lips locked for the first time. Clueless fourteen year olds, that's all we were. Our first kiss was two years ago.

Exactly two years.

"I need another!" I call holding up my mug, trying to drown my nostalgia in beer and booze.

More people start to file in, crowding us until we're all on top of each other laughing to the loud music and dancing to the smell of liquor.

If Lucas and I were fourteen, the initiates were two years older than us. If they were two years older….. Bennett would be going through initiation when I was kissing Lucas.

Hell, Bennett's been in Dauntless all this time and I didn't even give a second thought to his past.

Just forget, Charlotte.

It's a good feeling, forgetfulness.

After a while, the world spins in front of me, probably from all the dancing.

Then I realize it's not from all the dancing. It's 'cause I'm drunk.

Drunk.

It's a real funny word when you think about it…

Drunk. D-runk. Dr-uuuuunnnnk.

Kinda sounds like plunk or monk or junk.

Drunk.

I try to make my way out when I slip on my own feet. The hard floor hits hard on my knees. Someone kneels down to help me. "Are you o-Oh my God."

They jerk me up so I can face them. My vision is too blurry to tell if I know them. "Hello." I say with a nice smile.

The person shakes his head. "Rosie, you're coming with me."

Rosie?

My name is Charlotte.

I let the person scoop me up in his arms. "You smell good." I say nuzzling into the neck of my carrier. I can tell from the silhouette of his face its Bennett. The way his nose has a teeny-tiny arch in it like mine.

"Thanks." He doesn't sound sincere.

I slump against him and sigh. I don't know why I do; it just feels like I should. He opens the door of an apartment, probably his apartment.

He heads straight down the hall, not bothering to turn on the lights as he does. When I walk into the bathroom I notice how bright it is and then how organized everything looks.

This could never be my bathroom.

He sets me on the toilet and starts to untie my shoes. "What are you doing?" I ask liking the way his hands feel on my feet.

He looks up at me with hard eyes. "You a favor." I let my head roll back and look at the ceiling before I realize he's still talking. "-Wash all the alcoholy smell off of you so know one will know."

I giggle a little. "Alcoholy."

He laughs a little. "At least you're a nice drunk."

I laugh and pull away as he tugs on my shorts. "What are you doing?"

He tilts his head. "I just told you."

"I can give myself a bath." I say annoyed. He drops his hand and walks out of the bathroom.

"People need help when they're drunk, Charlotte." He says loudly.

I fiddle with my pants but stumble a little, the world spinning like a top. "Bennett." I complain.

He walks back in, clearly amused. He doesn't say anything, just slides them off leaving me with only my black underpants. It's good that he keeps his face straight because I'm sure I'd slap him if any sign of emotion came across it. "Arms up." He tells me, pulling my sweater over my head.

I'm starting to feel nervous, not because I'm self conscious, just because I'm drunk and couldn't stop him if he wanted too do anything. I swallow, knowing he's right if I want to make it back to training without smelling like a bar and getting in insane trouble with Eric and the leaders. And more importantly Tobias and Tris.

Before he unhooks anything I catch his hand and look into his deep green eyes. They're so soulful and honest even as they spin. "I trust you." I whisper.

He doesn't show any sign of thought before answering, "I would never, ever hurt you."

I nod, the world still spinning a little, though maybe it's just me. I turn around and feel his warm hands on my back. "I didn't know you had a tattoo." He says snagging the black bra before it falls to the ground. I feel like covering my chest but I decide on being Dauntless and keeping my hands to my sides.

He slides off my underwear and proceeds talking to me. "I have one too, well a couple actually."

He guides me to the bathtub, the water hot and running. "Do you like bubbles?"

I nod, feeling spoiled. I smile at myself a little. I kinda like it. Who doesn't like bubbles? Then again, why would Bennett have bubbles? Isn't he a guy? I though only girls liked bubble baths…? He pours some in the bathtub, just enough to keep me a little covered.

He holds my arm helping me step into the bathtub. I almost slip, the room still spinning. I press my knees to my chest and he gets the handheld showerhead and sprays my back with it. I let him wash me hair, massaging my head.

It's nice, being pampered.

Even as a child I don't think anyone ever bathed me. Stupid Evelyn is stupid. "Thank you." I say through his long fingers working through my hair. "And thank you for pampering me." If he replies, I can't hear it over the roaring showerhead washing off my hair. "I've never been cosseted in my life."

He laughs a little. "You have a pretty impressive vocabulary for a drunk girl."

"I'm not drunk." I reply. He laughs again. It's a good laugh, pure and genuine. Rare.

He works his hands down to my shoulders rubbing them. It feels good and friendly, like I'm safe. "Charlotte, you are so drunk."

"I've never been drunk before." I state.

"You're going to have a killer hangover then." He says then asks. "Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" I ask forgetting everything in the sea of his soft hands.

He sighs, "Get drunk."

My eyes snap open. "Lucas." I totally forgot about Lucas. Guess the alcohol worked… I'm sure Bennett had something to do with it. Maybe there isn't only intoxication by alcohol.

Maybe there's intoxication by romance.

"Ex-boyfriend?" Bennett asks.

"Yeah… it was um," I don't want to answer these questions "the anniversary of our first kiss."

Bennett doesn't say anything, but I know he's thinking. I almost feel bad for forgetting about Lucas. But then I think of where I am, Bennett's bathroom with him massaging my shoulders. No one, ever, has treated me like this.

Like I am queen of all things.

"Why are you so nice?" I ask all of the sudden.

He shakes his head. "I'm not nice."

"You're being nice now."

He rubs his thumbs on my neck. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

I don't understand. "How would I get hurt?"

"The world sucks, Charlotte." His voice rises. "I just don't want you to get hurt in it."

"Getting hurt is inevitable." I state kicking my legs up on the faucet making them look longer than they are. "Believe me, I've had my fair share."

"Me too." He says. I want to ask him what happened, but I decide I should probably put a stop to this. Whatever this is.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I ask. "Hoping to get laid?" I mutter. Probably what it is.

He stops rubbing my shoulders. "Is that what you think this is?" He sounds angry.

"I don't know what to think." I swallow. "Bennett I'm just so messed up."

"You know, Charlotte...I know about you. About what Levi did to you."

I turn around to face him, bubbles covering my body. "How do you know his name?"

Bennett sighs. "You're not the only one he hurt, Charlotte." Bennett moves in closer to me. "You're not the only one with a story."

I lean on the side of the bathtub. "Tell me." I prompt him. "Tell me your story."

He stands up and I can practically feel the emotion welling in mine. I don't want him to go. "I'll tell you in a minute." He walks away for a minute and leaves me to prune in the bathtub.

Everything about now is weird. About being drunk in Bennett's bathtub. About being spoiled. Too much of it is probably bad for me but a little bit every now and then seems nice. Bennett must really like me if he's treating me this well.

I trust him.

I really trust him.

"Do you still need help?" Bennett asks.

I may, I may not, but either way I tell him I do. "Help would be nice." I push all the bubbles to one side and rinse all the bubbles off of me. The drain makes an annoying and loud sound that startles me a little.

Bennett grabs my arm to steady me. He keeps his poker face, helping me dress in one of his t-shirts and sweatpants.

He holds my arm inching down to my hand and guides me to the bed. I have a nervous feeling in my stomach but I figure if he wanted to take advantage, he already would have.

"Sleep here tonight. I don't want you stumbling around the Pit alone at night." He says patting the bed.

"I wouldn't stumble." I protest.

He shakes his head. "Charlotte, you can't walk in a straight line for five feet. You are so stubborn."

I sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm not stubborn, just right."

He looks at me. Just looks at me. I would kill to know what's running through his head.

"So your story?" I ask scooting closer to him.

He scratches behind his ear. "Yeah… that…" He falls back on the bed and I do with him, resting my head on his chest.

What else am I going to do? I'm drunk.

He strokes my wet hair. "When I was about eight or nine, there was this man who would wander the factionless slums-"

"Were you factionless?" I interrupt.

"Yeah." He says. "I thought you'd have figured that out by now." He continues when he realizes I don't have a comment. "But this guy, Levi, he made a special place for me early in the morning." Bennett sighs. "Abuse. God, it was terrible. Once I asked where he was at night, the late night, and he told me he was with a girl." Bennett kisses my head unexpectedly. "He told me, once, the name of the little girl. Charlotte Clements."

That's my name.

He wraps his arms around me, keeping me safe and pressed up against him. "I promised myself I would find her and save her, save us both from him." He sighs. "I never did think about her when I came to Dauntless." How'd he get in Dauntless if he was factionless? "Then you feel down on the net, the last one." He sighs. "You were so beautiful, falling." My heart flutters a little. "Then you said your name was Charlotte and…." He sighs again and doesn't continue.

"I'm sorry." I say turning to face him. "That it happened to you too."

He presses his lips to my cheek. I pull away and look at him. Dark brown wavy hair and green eyes, barley hooked nose, and sweet lips. "You don't sleep, do you?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Not usually, mostly in the early evening for a little while but then I just can't."

I nod. "I know the feeling." I yawn. "Is being drunk supposed to make you sleepy?"

"It can, I guess." Bennett says getting off the bed and tucking me under the covers. He kisses me on the forehead, then on the nose, then gently on the lips. I still taste like beer, so I'm surprised he'd kiss me.

"Where are you going?" I ask. He turns around, puzzled. "You don't want to sleep with me?"

He raises his eyebrows, debating on being excited and or confused. "Sleep with you?"

I roll my eyes. "I want to sleep with you in the most innocent sense of the phrase." He looks at me, still puzzled. "I don't know I guess something about being able to synchronize our breathing really attracted me to the idea." Bennett steps closer, so he's sitting on the edge of the bed. "I would really love to fall asleep to the sound of your voice and the smell of your hair." I say slowly.

Bennett climbs on the bed, shifting the weight making his side sink. I know that my head is on his pillow because it smells like him, like man and fresh towels and sweet metallic sweat.

The space between us is charged and electric. "Bennett?"

"Yes?"

"Don't be a chaste idiot." I can practically see his smile as he wraps his arms around me to hold me. "Sweet dreams." I whisper kissing him on the cheek before pretending to fall asleep.

I know Bennett won't sleep that night, but at least he pretends too. His hand slides over my shoulder blade, rubbing my tattoo.

My wish came true.

I fall in quickly, not blaming the beer because I'm no longer drunk on the alcohol.

I'm simply intoxicated by romance.

A/N

It's been my favorite chapter so far :) Thank you Lauren and Ella (123lovestory) for reading it ages ago and helping me shape it. Y'all are awesome! Thank y'all so much for the sweet reviews! It's just the best feeling ever when you tell me your opinion on this story.