Please let me know if you find any mistakes. I've checked it a few times, but I'm only human! Also the next chapter will be in Eric's POV, and after that, things get more exciting :] Thanks for reading

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"Oh, my," Meck said as Skylar rolled into training, almost late again. "What a cute top you have on," he said in a high-pitched voice. Laughter erupted around him. Skylar was happy to see that it was the Dauntless born he'd been sitting with earlier. Clearly, they were getting the picture that Meck was officially a part of their group.

She rolled up her sleeves and shot him a glare, "very funny asshole!" She threw herself on the mat beside them and laid down on her back, covering her face with her hands.

"Why are my brothers so embarrassing?" She asked no one in particular. "I mean seriously; half this faction walks around half-naked! I wear a tank top, and it's the end of the world?"

"Well," Meck explained and stretched his arms, knee pulled to his chest. Skylar uncovered an eye and peeked at him as he spoke. She noticed Little Mouse watching him curiously from across the training room and hid her smile. "It might have something to do with how you talk all the time?"

She sat up quickly and stared at him.

"You are constantly making crude jokes. And you talk about sex," he explained and smiled. "A lot."

"There is nothing wrong with being open when it comes to stuff like that," she said simply. "It's human nature."

"That is something I can agree on," a voice came from behind her.

Skylar rolled her eyes and ignored Parker.

"The bodies need for sex is natural. Being attracted to others or acting weird about it pointless," Parker continued, "just like monogamy is."

"I don't think monogamy is pointless," Skylar turned to stare at the green-haired transfer.

"Really?" he questioned. "I guess I just assumed with how much you sleep around."

"I don't sleep around you dickhead!" She stood up and crossed the mat to him. "Just because I flirt and joke around a lot doesn't mean I'm a whore. I haven't slept with a single person since I got here!"

Parker looked up at her with a raised brow before standing and folding his arms. "You had me fooled, slut."

Skylar didn't stop until she was right in front of him, but was stopped before she could throw a punch.

"ENOUGH," Four's voice bellowed through the room. "If you two want to fight, then go right ahead!" He motioned for everyone else to get off the mat, leaving them alone on it.

"I thought we didn't start fighting until next week?" Meckham questioned.

"Well it seems like these two want to get started early," Four said with a smirk. "So, go on you two! Get it out of your system so the rest of us can move on with training."

Skylar stared at their trainer, then back to Parker when he took a step back and raised his fists. Seriously? Did he really think that he would be able to beat her?

Skylar narrowed her eyes, then smiled menacingly. Parker's lips twitched, then frowned as she took her stance, motioning for him to make the first move.

"Come on lettuce head," she prodded him. "Show me what you've got!"

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"Dude!" Meckham put his arm around her as they walked toward the tattoo parlor. "I still can't believe you put him in the infirmary. And you only have a few bruises! Your first fight, a win! There is no way you won't be near the top by the end of initiation."

"Yeah well," she pushed past him and into the parlor. "I really don't like him."

Her knuckles were throbbing from the beating she'd given him. After he'd managed to pin her to the ground and make a suggestive comment, she'd lost her shit.

"Skylar!" The two initiates froze and turned to see a cheerful Zachary yelling to them from a chair, her brother Perseus standing next to him with a grin.

"Congrats you, sexy bitch! We heard about your fight!" Zachary drawled. "Heard you beat the living crap out of him. Good for you!" He glanced at her swollen knuckles proudly. It was amazing to her how many people viewed injuries like that as a sign of strength. And how quickly news spread. People had been nodding to her since they'd left training.

Perseus smacked his friend on the back of the head. "Don't call my sister sexy you douche."

The tattoo artist glared at her brother, "do I need to kick you out?"

"No," Persi narrowed his eyes at the artist. "I barely touched him."

The artist ignored him and glanced to Skylar. She realized it was the same one who did her tattoo only a few days earlier. "How's yours healing up?"

"Good," She nodded. "I was hoping to get another one, to celebrate. This one is small too."

The artist nodded. "I'm almost done with this one," he motioned with his tattoo gun to Zachary. "Then you can have your turn."

"What the fuck?" Perseus said to him angrily. "I told you I wanted one after him."

The artist shot him a glare. "You'll go when I say you go pretty boy. And that will be after your little sister here."

Perseus took a step toward him and folded his arms. Skylar swore for a moment that Lucas was standing in front of her, and not the brother who she almost never saw angry.

"Are you sure about that Mikey? Because I don't think you are."

Skylar watched her brother all but growl at the man with a smile on her face. The artist glared back at him but didn't say anything as he continued working on Zachary's arm.

"Did Lucas and Jami talk to you about a time for tomorrow?" Perseus turned to her. "They had been arguing about whether to do a late lunch or a late dinner. I guess they both have plans to work around." His voice made it seem like he was just as annoyed as she was at hearing the words.

"They can't clear their schedule for one night?" She asked. "Where are they right now? I'll go ask them."

Perseus shrugged, and Skylar noticed Meck had walked over to talk to another artist.

"I think they're at the Dark Room," Zachary told her. Perseus shot his friend a glare, who only smiled at him broadly.

"I'll be right back, tell Meck," Skylar backed away from them.

"Sky, you aren't allowed in the bars!" Pursues followed her and shot another menacing look toward Zachary before leaving the large parlor.

Skylar marched toward the pit with a purpose, once she arrived she asked the closest person she could find where the bar was, then made her way to where she'd pointed.

"Skylar seriously," Perseus pleaded. "They're probably with leadership right now! You can't just barge in!"

To hell, she couldn't. She would only be there for a minute anyway.

When she walked into the bar, she had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust. The name of the bar was clearly because of the lack of lightness in the room, not surprising. She slid up to the bar and skimmed her eyes across the booths and small tables that covered the tightly packed room. The atmosphere was thrilling, loud and heated. She would definitely be spending a lot of time here once she was done with initiation.

Skylar's eyes landed on a booth across the room where she saw Lucas sitting next to Eric. She was surprised to see that both of them were grinning at a man sitting next to Jami, who looked like he was telling a story.

"Damn it Sky," Persi said from behind her. She ignored him and pushed her way toward the table, stopping with her arms folded once she arrived.

"I thought I told you that you weren't allowed in here," Lucas growled up at her, his grin gone entirely.

She shot him a charming smile. "I'm only here for a quick second. I ran into Persi at the tattoo parlor, and he said you wanted to discuss a time for tomorrow."

Her brother groaned from next to her before sliding into the bench beside Jami, who took a sip of his beer and leaned back with a smile.

"Fine," Lucas said. "Seven," he motioned to Jami with his beer.

"No way!" Jami sat up. "We agreed on three-thirty. Late lunch, remember?"

"And I told you I had plans," Lucas roared.

Skylar rolled her eyes and motioned for her oldest brother to scoot over, who shot her a glare.

"What? At least let me sit while you two decide on a fucking time!"

He reluctantly let her in, and the bartender took no time visiting their table to see if she wanted a drink.

"Yes, I do actually," she leaned forward and said to him. "I'll have whatever you usually drink," she winked at him.

"No, you won't," Jami said from across the table and smiled at the bartender. "She'll have a chocolate milk."

Lucas chuckled from beside her.

"To hell, I will, I'm not five!"

"Um," the bartender said nervously. "I'll just come back."

"Bring us all another round, and two of what I'm drinking. My tab." Eric said from beside Lucas. His best friend glared at him as the bartender left quickly. "Congratulations on winning your first fight," he said to her, but didn't look in her direction.

"She's fine having one drink as long as she's with us," he told Lucas. "No one is going to question me, or you, and she doesn't have training tomorrow. Aren't you the one always telling me to let loose every once in awhile?"

Skylar stared at the leader curiously. So much for being ruthless. He sure seemed fine to her.

When she turned back forward, Jami was grinning at her. Probably thinking about the spanking comment he'd made days ago.

"Who's your friend?" Skylar ignored him and nodded toward the man sitting across from Eric.

His friend shot her a strange look of annoyance. "He's introduced you to me three times already; I was sitting across from you this morning at breakfast."

Skylar raised both of her eyebrows, had he? If so she didn't remember.

"Tony," he said and shook his head, finishing the rest of his beer. "I'm Tony. I work with Jami in the control room."

Jami was still grinning at her as his friend spoke. He knew what was coming.

"Gotcha," she grinned back at her brother. "Timmy, that's a really nice name."

Tony glared at her from across the table as the bartender arrived with their drinks, placing a cold beer in front of Skylar. She shrugged and took a sip before he left.

"Oh," the bartender spoke to her. "And yours isn't on his tab," he nodded to Eric. "A guy at the bar paid for it. Do you know who Ward Palmer is?"

Skylar raised an eyebrow, yes, she did. And she could have sworn he'd told her they weren't back until the Wednesday after initiation.

She rose from her seat a bit and scanned her eyes across the bar, eye lighting up when she saw him leaning against the bar, smirking at her. She went to stand up but Lucas stopped her and motioned for the bartender to leave.

"What? I do know him," she explained. "He works the guard around the Candor sector. We're, um, friends."

"To hell you are," Persi said from across the table, folding his arms.

She sat back down with wide eyes. Every person at the table looked pissed. Royally pissed.

Both Lucas and Jami leaned forward at once.

"Red card," all three of her brothers said at once.

Skylar froze in her seat.

What.

The.

Actual.

Fuck.

All three of them?

She looked between her brothers, who were all glaring, shooting each other knowing looks. She leaned back in her seat and took a long gulp of her drinking, downing half of it in one shot. The air between them all was so tense; she was sure she could cut it with a knife.

"Red card huh? All three of you?" Her voice came out like a snake's bite, poisonous and quick.

No one answered. Skylar shook her head and smiled grimly.

Jami said quietly. "You wouldn't still be sitting here if you genuinely like the guy, you'd be over there. You're attracted to him, that's it. And you shouldn't be, he's an awful human being."

Skylar didn't bother telling him how many times she'd heard that about each of her brothers, especially Lucas. She looked at Jami as she took a sip of her beer bitterly. So much for waiting for Ward to get back as she had been. She was no way she was going to try anything with a guy that god red-carded by all three of her brothers.

"Okay," Tony said. "Can anyone explain to me what a red card means?"

Lucas chugged his drink before explaining, but Skylar got to it first.

"Shade came up with it," she sighed. Years had passed since he'd died and said his name still hurt. "When I was nine, I had a crush on this boy he despised. So, he came up with a brilliant idea." She emphasized "brilliant," so he knew she didn't feel like it was all that brilliant at the moment.

"Each one of us got three red cards to use on each other throughout our lives. If we didn't like the person someone was seeing, we could use it, and they had to end it, immediately. Others in the family can use their card to veto the decision, or use two of their own."

Another silence broke out between them.

"Who is Shade?" Tony asked her. "Do you have another brother?"

Skylar finished her drink and set the empty glass on the table, then slid from the booth and stood, ignoring his question. No one else answered him either.

"Let me know which of you are using a card," she told them.

"Are you going to veto it?" Persi questioned. "If so, I have a feeling we all will one so you can't.

Skylar stared at him. Did they all hate Ward that much? He was an asshole, she knew that much, but he didn't seem so bad. And he was a good kisser, though she hadn't done much more than that with him. He'd tried, but she was still a virgin, and she hadn't been about to change that before she even transferred. She doubted any of her brothers knew that she was anyways.

She shook her head, "No. Eric, do you mind letting me know when dinner is tomorrow, once they decide? And when I can come over to cook?"

Her voice was flat, and she didn't know why. She didn't even like Ward that much. But the fact that all of her brothers were so willing to use a card, so quickly, irked her to the bone. What had she missed about him that they hated so much? What had she not seen in his pretty face that they did?

"I'll let you know in the morning, Sky," Jami said quietly, looking at his beer.

She ignored him and kept her gaze on Eric, whose face was neutral, conveying no emotion when he nodded to her.

Skylar walked away from them and to the bar, right up to where Ward was standing.

"Hey gorgeous, it's good to see you again, and to finally have you here in Dauntless with me," he told her and tried to pull her in for a hug. She stepped past him and motioned toward the bar.

"Can you put my drink on a tab for me, please? I can pay for it after initiation when my points work here." She told the bartender.

He sent wide eyes toward Ward, who was glaring down at her. The bartender nodded and introduced himself as Damon.

She turned toward Ward, who had shot a menacing glare toward her brother's table. She didn't bother turning to see their faces; she knew they were probably glaring right back.

"I don't know what you did to them, or why you thought it was a good idea not to tell me that all three of my brothers hated you so much before starting," she motioned in between them, "whatever you, thought that this was. But you should know, I don't fuck around with liars, and I have no interested in any kind of man who can elicit a response like that from a Smith."

She made her way past him, but his arm shot out and stopped her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he growled down at her. "You told me that you wouldn't see me if I wasn't single. I broke up with my girlfriend for you."

Skylar laughed at him; she hadn't known that.

"Better crawl back to her," she told him. "Because I'm not interested anymore." She glanced back to the table to see that both Eric and Lucas were standing, anger lined their features. Jami was leaning past Persi to watch them.

"Why, because your stupid ass brothers don't like me?" he let go of her arm, shoving it away. "That's horse shit. You can't possibly care that much what they think? They're dickheads!"

Skylar raised her eyebrow, "clearly I do. And talking about them like that isn't getting you anywhere." she said it like she was trying to let him down easy, his glare deepened.

"But no, it's not just that. More, well, more interesting things have caught my eye." She glanced back to Eric, hoping that Ward didn't notice she meant him. Because she didn't, that would be crazy. He was her brothers best friend. And their leader. And much older. And not that cute.

"See you around, Ward," she said confidentially and strode out of the bar. Wondering, as she went, what the hell had just really happened, and why they hated him so much, including Eric.