Natalia's POV

Nearly a week had passed since the night she'd gotten her tattoo and ended up in Eric's apartment. Thankfully, she'd managed to slip from his grasp and had run from the apartment so fast she'd be surprised she didn't get lost on her way to the dorm. Since then, he hadn't said a word to her, let alone acknowledge her presence.

Eric didn't even look in her direction, and if he did, his gaze passed over hers like she was nothing more than a cloud of air. It was beyond frustrating. How could someone do something like that, screw with her head like that, and just act like nothing happened.

Matthew and her friends had even begun to see less of her outside of training hours the past few days because of her sour attitude, which pissed her off even more.

Callie had told Natalia last week that she was the kind of person who was better at being a lone-wolf, but she didn't mean to be. Nolan had been her friend, but they hadn't been that close. She had only really had Matthew.

The only good thing about this week is that she'd managed to use her anger as fuel during her fights, and had only lost two of seven. Natalia took a sip of her coffee and sat down outside the door to the training room, where they were to meet before going to another training area for their first fear landscape.

And Michael. He'd tried to catch her eye nearly every time she looked at him, his look desperate. She ignored him and steered clear of him outside of training.

Their entire group had been so close, but Michael was the one that was the closest to her and her brother. As she sat, her thoughts ran wild.

She thought about how patient William was when Michael taught him to play the guitar. How patient he was when he taught her; she hadn't played in a long time, and she missed it.

She thought about how he tried to convince Benito to learn as well, but he only preferred to listen.

She thought about the way her brother would look at Benito when he thought no one was looking. She assumed that he had known how William felt, but she wasn't sure. She wondered if Michael ever noticed that she looked at him in the same way Michael looked at Benito. She almost laughed at the thought.

Michael had viewed her as his best friend's sister, despite saying otherwise. But if he had cared about her, he should have tried to see her after William died. She had tried for so long not to think about that simple fact, especially since they were the ones who had found him. Together, they'd been together that day.

"Still avoiding people, or do you want to go in with me?" Natalia looked up to see a happy-looking Andrew motioning to the door of the training room. Why was he so cheerful? Her stomach was rolling with the thought that everyone was about to watch her face one of her fears, did he not have a problem with that?

"And here I thought that people were avoiding me," she told him dryly. He laughed at her and helped her up, "We all figured your grumpiness was just because of the fighting, so Matthew recommended we give you a bit of space. It was hard on all of us, fighting our friends like that."

Natalia took the last sip of her coffee as they walked toward the training mat that had some of the Dauntless-born and the trainers waiting. Her heart jumped to her chest when she saw that none of the leaders were there. She knew they would be soon, to watch alongside the others.

"You're nervous?" Andrew sat on the side of the mat and motioned for her to sit. "You shouldn't be, not after the past week. Plus we are switching between fights and the landscapes, so at least we have a break from each."

She only sighed in return, they had been told they wouldn't just be facing one of their fears, but their worst fear, right off the bat. Like an infant being thrown into a pool of water, expected to know how to swim with no training beforehand.

"So," Andrew leaned back on his hands. "Can I give you a word of advice? Without you getting upset?" Natalia raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded. Usually when people said something about

"They say that the friends you make during initiation are often your friends for life." He said it simply, as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Stop pushing people away. It's stupid, and a waste of time," He leaned forward and propped one of his legs up. "I know its what your used to, but you its not like that anymore. No matter how pissy you get, or how much you try to push them away, those Dauntless-born aren't going to quit being your friend." He paused.

She didn't argue, she didn't say anything actually, because knew that he was right. She watched him grin at her, "I might though."

Natalia looked up at the ceiling and laid down on her back, grateful when he changed the subject. He was right, he was so right.

The two of them made small talk until their friends arrived, each of them spoke to her as if nothing had happened. It made her heart sink, to know that she'd shut-off the world around her and they were so willing to forget it.

Natalia barely heard the trainers speak once everyone arrived. Then she followed reluctantly to the training room that they'd be doing their landscapes in. Oohs and ahs surrounded her when they entered. The room was large, and to the right side was a collection of machines, a chair was placed next to them.

She gazed at the ceiling, seeing that two large screens were hanging at an angle. She turned her head to the left to see that there was a balcony, following it she realized that it wrapped around the back of the room, over the top of the entrance.

And standing right above that entry, was Max, Eric, and Andrea. Others were standing beside them, their trainers and a few select individuals, but her eyes snapped to Eric's almost immediately. She hadn't expected to catch his eye since he'd denied her very existence since their kiss, but found herself gazing into his intense dark eyes. It nearly wiped her off her feet, but his intense gaze didn't waiver.

Four began speaking to the group behind her, so she was forced to look away, though she didn't want to. She couldn't read the leader's expression, and she wanted to know what he was thinking.

Natalia continued to barely listen to what Four was saying. Her mind had been so fuzzy all day because she was so nervous.

She didn't even realize they'd started until the screens lit up in front of them, and Jacob showed on the screen. Though she wasn't keen on the fact that one of her friends was screaming and trying to fight off a herd of wild wolves circling around him, her mouth fell open as she watched.

It was incredible, the technology that went into being able to see inside someone's head like this. She found herself leaning toward it, wanting to know exactly how it worked. His landscape seemed to have lasted forever, and one it was done, people nodded toward him as he stumbled to the exit that was nearly hidden behind the machines.

Natalia gulped and looked back to the screen in amazement.

"Natalia," she felt an elbow at her side and looked back down, realizing that half the group's eyes were now on her. "He said your next," Matthew whispered and nudged her forward. "You'll do great okay? It's probably just your fear of bees and wasps, and that's nothing."

She nodded and walked toward the chair. Four nodded to her as he connected wires to her arms and gave her a clear liquid to drink. She felt dizzy. Just bees and wasps? Easy for Matthew to say, he wasn't allergic! Those nasty little creatures couldn't kill him with one sting!

Once she gulped the drink down, she laid back and closed her eyes. Her mind blocked out the room around her, and she dove head first into a memory she'd tried very, very hard to forget.