I don't own Divergent.

reviews:

lexinthecity:

Good start. Looking forward to dinner with Tris' family and the proposal.

livewithbooks:

thank you! i'm hoping this lives up to your expectations!

Today was an eventful day.

The initiates would be fighting this morning.

It would be more playful fighting instead of the intense, hardcore fights that Tris had been apart of during her first few weeks of initiation. Of course, we'd bump it up, but for now, very few of them were ready.

Up first was Lee and Luella, who had almost the same physique, making it more fair.

Lee stepped forward with more confidence than usual, throwing a punch at Luella. Luella managed to block it with her arm. Lee took another step towards her and hit her right in the mouth.

Luella cried out, clutching her jaw.

But finally, Luella seemed to have gotten past the pain and knocked Lee off her feet.

Lee scrambled away from the girl as she walked closer. When Lee got back on her feet, she shoved Luella, taking her back a few steps.

The fight lasted until Tris and I called it quits.

They each got five points, mainly for how they used the proper techniques we'd taught them.

And then it was time for lunch.

Tris and I grabbed our plates and sat down, talking quietly about this morning's training.

She was more worried that Luella had been so hesitant to fight, but even more worried that the two girls wouldn't make it through training. Even though we'd raised the numbers so that any initiate who made it through training would be Dauntless, they could still drop out. Confidence like Tris's was rare in Abnegation and Amity—the two factions all about helping others and being kind.

"It's because she's never had to do this," I assured her. "They'll adjust."

"Either that or they'll be beaten so badly they'll be kicked out!"

"That won't happen."

"What if they're killed by another initiate? Like I almost was?"

"I don't know."

"Or a butter knife incident?"

"We could ban knives."

She snorted. "Impossible."

"Exactly. We can't prevent everything."

I was getting dressed to visit my girlfriend's parents.

There was no way that I was going to dress to appease them, so I wore my typical Dauntless outfit; a tight black t-shirt under a black jacket, black jeans, and black combat boots. I made sure my tattoo was showing, and that the shirt's neckline was lower than Abnegation allowed.

Downstairs, Tris was already dressed.

She wore a tight, navy blue crop top that showed up to her bellybutton, black high waisted jeans, combat boots, and a very nice leather jacket. Underneath her jeans, she had fishnet tights on that came up to where the crop top ended.

I whistled slowly, smirking at the sight.

"Like it?" she asked.

"Like it? I love it."

We caught the next train, jumped on and sat on the edge. Our legs were hanging out, clothing wavings wildly in the wind.

"Ready for this?"

I laughed. "No way."

"Why are you going?"

"Because I love you."

I saw tears well in her eyes before she looked away. Instead of kissing her, I took her hand and smiled. She seemed to like the affection.

"I love you too." she said, grinning.

Our stop came quickly—almost too quickly.

We got back up, steadying ourselves on our feet. After taking a couple steps back so that we had room to jump from the train, we ran forward, leaping onto the ground. To soften the impact, we rolled and finally came to a stop.

I helped her up and then we started the walk to the boxy houses.

They were literally identical. Each one had two floors, eight windows, and were made of the same gray, smoothed stone. On the inside, they were simple. Plain, almost. Abnegation homes usually had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, sometimes a dining room, and a kitchen.

We finally reached the door of her house, and she knocked three times. Natalie Prior answered the door.

My heart was racing as I stepped inside.

Maybe I was expecting my abusive father to be inside, or my factionless mother to bound down the stairs. But neither happened. Instead, we now stood in front of four other people.

Caleb, Natalie, Andrew, and a girl with brown hair.

The mystery girl must've been Caleb's fiancée. She held herself with little confidence, almost wilting like a dead flower. Her hair was a tree bark brown, her eyes almost black. She was pretty pale. That was typical with Erudites; they were too busy reading to go outside.

I knew we were being investigated.

They were looking us up and down, Tris being the main target.

Caleb frowned. "Beatrice? What happened to you?"

"It's Tris."

"You changed your name?"

"I did. This is Four—my boyfriend."

His eyes widened. "You're dating… that?"

"Do you have a problem with me, Erudite?" I asked, rudely.

"No—uh, no."

I'd scared the poor kid. My mouth curled up in a smile and I took Tris's hand. The action was not missed by the surrounding people. Natalie Prior was beaming, whereas Andrew Prior looked smug.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Natalie proposed.

So we did.

I fought the urge to kick my feet up on their coffee table. I didn't want to make a bad impression on anyone today. But Tris didn't seem to care. She swung her legs over mine, keeping an arm around my neck at all times.

"So," Andrew began. "Obviously, things have changed over the past year, but we'd like to get to know you both. Mostly you two, Four and Daisy."

"Oh, of course." Daisy said. "What would you like to know?"

"Let's start with something simple. How old are you?" Natalie asked.

"Seventeen, ma'am."

I shrugged. "Nineteen."

"How did you meet Caleb and Beatrice?"

"We met at the library," Daisy said.

"I was Tris's initiation instructor."

Natalie nodded. "How did she do?"

"She ranked first," I said. "The best in her class, obviously. And now we're Dauntless leaders and do initiation together."

"Yeah. We even got a bigger apartment." Tris grinned.

Caleb gasped. "You live with each other? You aren't even married—"

"Dauntless is different, Caleb." Tris spat. "No one jumps into marriage."

"But you'll jump into bed with him."

Tris jumped at him.

I jumped into action by pulling her back, my arms around her waist, holding her to my chest. We were standing now, all eyes on us. She kicked and elbowed me. Caleb was watching, eyes wide.

"Let go of me!" she demanded.

When she stopped fighting me, I led her outside, where she punched the wall.

"Feel better?"

She laughed. "Yeah, right."

"Honey?" Natalie Prior asked, closing the back door behind her. "I'm so sorry about Caleb's behavior.."

"It's okay, Mom." she said.

Andrew sighed. "That was completely inappropriate. I apologize, Four."

"Don't worry about it," I assured him.

He shook my hand. "I hope you've been taking care of my baby girl."

"Dad," Tris hissed.

"I try my best, Mr. Prior. She's a handful. I was wondering.. if I could talk to you, though."

"Come on, honey," Natalie said. She threw a smile at me and led Tris back into the house.

I waited to speak until Tris was completely out of earshot. Andrew looked like he knew what my question was going to be, but let me do it on my own. This was truly nerve wracking. Only if Zeke could have seen me, sweating and feeling lightheaded. The almighty Four, worried about this of all things.

"I—uhm," I said. "I want you to know that I really do love her. She's perfect in every way, and I'm aware that I don't deserve her and I never will. Yet, I can't see myself with anyone else and that brings me to this,"

Carefully, I pulled out the ring box, containing the engagement ring.

"I want to marry Tris," I admitted. "I know you don't really know me, and I'm not sure I would trust someone like me with someone as perfect as her, but I'd like your blessing. This is probably strange, but I wanted to do this properly."

He was beaming now. "Of course you have my blessing, Four. I couldn't imagine Beatrice with anyone else. She's happy, and that's what I want."

I laughed—completely and totally relieved. He gestured for me to show him the ring, and he had the same reaction that Zeke did.

"So," he began. "Do you know how you're going to ask her?"

"I'm taking her to the ferris wheel at the Navy Pier. It's sort of special to us."

He smiled.

We went back inside, and Tris immediately looped her arms around my waist. Our height difference was more obvious now.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing," I assured her. "I just had a question."

She kissed me, and I kissed her back. It didn't last long. The other people around us didn't need to be tortured any more than necessary.

"Dinner is ready!" Natalie announced.

As usual, we were eating chicken, green peas, and brown bread for dinner. The typical Abnegation dinner was not my favorite. I preferred the Dauntless meals.

No one was to speak unless spoken to, but I didn't care for that rule. Tris didn't either.

"This is good, Mom," Tris said.

Natalie smiled. "Thank you. So, we never really got to know you two, Daisy and Four."

Andrew nodded. "Are you both transfers?"

"I'm a transfer," I said.

Daisy nodded. "Me too. I was Candor."

Everyone looked towards me.

"What?"

"What faction did you transfer from, Four?" Caleb asked. "I'm sure it wasn't Amity or Abnegation."

"That's private."

"You aren't going to tell us?" Daisy asked. "Is this how all Dauntless are? Coated in tattoos, dealing with anger issues, liars.."

"Basically."

Caleb was staring at me. I glared at him and continued eating, just until he stood up, finger pointed at me. No one spoke until he did.

"You're Tobias Eaton," he said. "Marcus Eaton's son who transferred to Dauntless."

"And this is why I do not socialize with Erudite," I muttered.

Natalie Prior set down her fork. "Caleb, sit down."

He didn't listen.

"He's a traitor!" Caleb yelled. "And he's dating Beatrice! You can't be okay with this—"

I continued eating.

"Caleb, Four is not a traitor." Andrew clarified. "None of you are."

Caleb scoffed. "He left Marcus! Your mother died, and you leave him too? What kind of a child does that, Tobias?"

"First of all," I said. "My name is Four. I left Abnegation for a reason that is none of your business, so I'd like you to stop. I am not a traitor; I belong in Dauntless."

He laughed. "No one belongs with those maniacs."

"We aren't maniacs," Tris said. "We're free. There are no rules like there are here. We zip line, we drink, we play paintball, we laugh, we yell, we wear tight clothes, we dye our hair, we sing, we party, we get tattoos, we fight. It's freedom, Caleb."

A nostalgic smile crossed Natalie's face and it hit me.

She'd once been Dauntless.

Tris threw a quick glance at me. "And I've never been happier."