DPOV

Was I under attack or was I at home?

The hit was enough to jar me awake but the force wasn't enough to injure or even hurt me.

What was the weapon of the attacker?

I had been woken up in various creative ways all thanks to my sisters and a wicked old grandmother who not only was the instigator but also the propagator of such incidents. From the dumping of cold water to pinching, from itchy saplings to tickling I had seen it all.

Before much could happen simultaneous blows that followed caused me to act reflexively, releasing my hold on something, I made a grab for the attacker and moved quickly to switch on the light so that I could observe the situation at hand.

Sensing the intruder dash for the exit, I grabbed them by their hand, shoving them towards the bed hoping that the bed would catch the fall, giving me enough time to get a control of the matter.

Seeing her face, the events of the last night came flooding in and I momentarily sagged in relief. She appeared fine and her hitting me confirmed the fact that her senses were alert, but the force behind that hit made me realize that she needed to be better to remain in the faction.

Her face clearly showed her surprise, but it was her hair that drew my attention, some locks had escaped from the tie, framed her face and, the light reflecting, made them appear golden brown, resembling honey.

Dragging my stare back to her face I noticed her eyes, darting around the room frantically, she looked everywhere, at everything ,but me.

Her worried glances and rapid breathing suggested that she was clearly panicking at the situation and it wasn't good. Weak as she was, unaware even, if she had a panic attack, nothing good would come of it.

Trying to calm her down, hardly had I taken a step towards her when she jumped up and almost fled. Sensing her distress, I withdrew. This little act of her hurt, but I snuffed the thought with logic.

'You've done nothing to gain her trust.'

Though not pleasant the logic and reasonings always helped me to persist beside resisting.

Moments later, as an offering of peace I steadily held out my hand to offer her water. She appeared to be in need of hydration.

Little did she pay attention to my actions, only moved away. Steeling myself, I added, "Its only water, I promise ."

Wondering what had happened with her to make her this distrustful, I withdrew, to stand leaning against the wall, observing her, but again the current situation didn't call for trust.

I had been warned that she might suffer from some side effects, was it one of those playing in?

"Why and how am I here?"She appeared to growl.

Her distaste for her condition apparent in her eyes.

"You and your friends had been pranked last night, only that it turned out to be quite troublesome and serious on your part."I stated with faking confidence.

The words were vague even to my ears and I wished that it would be enough to satisfy her curiosity.

" So here you are treated, safe and on the road to recovery."I added on a second thought, choosing my words carefully as not to trigger her panic.

"So you didn't kidnap me?... I'm not drunk or... drugged?" She questioned with a peculiar expression on her face.

It was as if a combination of curiosity, relief and confusion. It amused me as to how a single person could convey so much in a particular expression. Just the movement of eyes, the furrowing of brows, shape of the lips,...

"No, none of that." I answered stopping myself from losing my train of thought.

A small smile appeared on her face, she probably didn't realise it, and I hoped that she had taken my word for the situation.

My belief turned to relief and then joy as she , tentatively reached for the bottle, had some water and then chugged down the whole bottle, sagging into the covers with a sigh. She had trusted me.

'One of a kind, seriously' added my mind.

I sat down on the floor where I stood, observing her in the moment of quiet. She had changed but somehow she was the same.

She had grown taller, ('ofcouse she did', added my mind), appeared stronger, her hair had grown longer, she no longer kept it in a bun, she had grown leaner, yet her eyes held that fire, her face the glow, her attitude hadn't changed, but somehow she looked even fiercer, even bolder. She was the violent Abnegate.

As if sensing my thoughts, she looked up to meet my gaze and appeared flushed.

"You didn't answer my question." She stated, surprising me.

"I did. All of them." I argued.

"No you didn't, not exactly." She countered.

"What are you talking about?"

"About HOW, I got HERE. " She finally clarified, appearing partially annoyed, and equally embarrassed.

"I carried you." I stated hesitantly.

The words made me realise that the side effects had actually kicked in.

She flushed at my words and noticing her discomfort, I excused myself to give her some space, my reason being, informing others.

Contacting Adrian, I informed him of the development and requested him to bring Ivan and Sonya along when her arrived.

On returning to the rooms, I found her curios gaze follow my movements and I informed her that company was ro arrive soon.

"When can I return to training?" She spoke, amusing me.

"Not until tomorrow."

'Not before Sonya adviced that its okay.'

"What?" She asked out of the blue.

"Nothing."Was all I could say.

I was guilty, and it had been weighing down on my conscience since the last night.

Distraction was what I needed, so I set to ready myself for the day. In all of it the duster remained constant, and putting it on reminded me of the life I had and the one I wanted to have,before I came here.

"What?" I questioned her as I caught her staring at me once again, while I put on my shoes.

"Nothing." She replied smiling, and that small smile made my day for it experessed ease and comfort of the moment that we had allowed ourselves to be swept away in.

"Sorry." She stated breaking the spell, but I didn't know what she had been apologizing for.

"You know,... for hitting you with your book."She clarified.

"It's okay, I'm just glad that you didn't tear it."I added smiling.

But that feeling of loneliness weighed me down. The memory of where the book came from added to my homesickness.

'Act professionally. ' Whispered a voice in my mind.

As I reluctantly made an attempt to converse.

"But you need to be better at defending yourself, had you been in actual trouble , that act would have in no way aided you." Stating the first thing that came to my mind, while she only nodded somberly.

"What is this room used for?"She questioned after some time.

I had noticed her observation.

"Its my room."I stated and she seemed pleased.

"Can you tell me what happened last night? I tried but I can't seem to remember anything. "

The words tumbled out of her mouth, as if she was nervous.

"Yes, someone played a prank on you and Lissa, in which Lissa escaped but you collapsed." I answered directly trying not to set her off, yet remained vague for the sake of our mission.

I didn't like it but that was all I could do. The mission couldn't be jeopardized, but this approach wasn't the best. For ince she was trusting me to speak the truth and here I was trying to evade.

Before I could dwell on more of my opinion, Lissa burst into the room, with Adrian, Ivan and Sonya in tow,and effectively prevented Rose from interrogating me any further.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hello people!

I kept my promise, and the next update will be on the upcoming Wednesday night or Thursday morning!

Hope that you have a great time ahead!

And don't forget to express your opinions on the chapter!

-Katnipsc ;)