*** DISCLAIMER ***

I own NOTHING regarding the divergent series e.g. the books/the movies
The only things I own are my own characters that I've created.

It took Nix and Andie around ten minutes longer than everyone else to make it to the mess hall for dinner that evening, as she'd been walking down the stairs from the roof after training it seamed as if the effects of her pain medication had worn off in that exact instant and she'd had to stop and take a moment before she could move again.

Andie had been worried and wanted to take her to the infirmary but Nix insisted against it saying she was fine and that they should go for food instead as she was hungry, they'd just had to walk really slowly to get it that's all.

"Hey Stiffy." A voice had called out when the girls were looking for a place to sit, she looked in the direction it came from and found Sam sat two tables away with a grin on his face, he motioned her towards him, "Come sit."

Andie made a 'pfft' noise and looked at a table closer to where they stood, it was a table that was next to one where some other dauntless members were sat and amongst them was Eric.

Nix was positive that he'd chastise her for leaving his place that afternoon after he'd told her not to and the thought of a confrontation with him which, would no doubt result in her being embarrassed infront of everyone in some way...it was extremely draining, that thought along with the fact she would continue to feel the full extent of her injury until she went to the infirmary to get something for it just wasn't an option.

"Whoa!" Andie exclaimed as Nix grabbed her arm and began dragging her towards where Sam was sat with some other dauntless members and also his fellow dauntless born initiates, "No way Nix, we're not sitting with that asshole."

"Ouch." Sam said and the girls looked at him, he gave them a grin then turned to the people at his table and said in a mocking wounded voice, "I don't think she likes me."

Some people at the table chuckled or smiled at him but Andie gave him a shove and said, "You're correct."

His body lurched forward slightly and he laughed, Nix pulled on her arm to get her away from him and sat down on the bench next to him, she then turned to Andie and patted the spot beside her.

Andie wasn't pleased but she did sit down and the girls immediately began to fill their trays with food.

"What did he do?" someone eventually asked Andie and she quickly swallowed what she was eating before she began to tell the whole table about Sam and Nix's fight, she was very dramatic and exaggerated a few bits.

Sam and Nix looked at each other a few times as she spoke and the more she did the more he was getting head's shook and noises of disapproval shot at him.

"Andie has gotten a little carried away with her story telling." Nix said loudly as the people at the table began to tell Sam off but they quietened down so she could continue and as she did she shot a pointed look at her friend, "He didn't nearly kill me. He just...got a little, too INTO it."

"You guys know what I'm like, I enjoy a fight." Sam said and some people nodded approvingly others continued eating without looking at him, "And hey, she got her own back...she kneed me in the balls!"

The table erupted in laughter which earned them looks from some of the other tables in the hall, some people commented that 'they wished they'd seen it' or 'good on her', others told Sam it 'served him right' or 'wasn't hard enough'.

"Whatever, we're friends now." Sam said once the humour died down and then he put his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, she exclaimed in pain and everyone at the table began to reprimand him for it, Andie sent a number of profanity's his way.

Nix herself tried to push and hit him at the same time but before she could he wrapped his arms, very carefully she had to admit, around her back and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." he called loudly over the others, his voice was half serious and half amused.

Nix inhaled and exhaled deeply through the pain a couple of times before she tried to pull away from him but he held on tightly and she was subjected to him apologizing over and over again, she had no choice but to place her own hands on his side and around his back.

"I didn't mean it." he said loudly, more to the others than her.

"It's okay." she said finally and tried some more to pull away but he held on, "Sam."

"I'm not letting you go, they'll all shout at me." he said in her ear and she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Guys, it's cool, he's sorry." Nix said to the table.

"Like hell it is." Andie said to her, "This guy is getting too good at hurting you and getting away with it."

"Give me a break." Sam said to Andie, his tone a little sharp.

"Let her go." she replied.

"No." he said firmly then moved both arms to around her back and before she knew it he stood up with her from the bench and began to spin around with her in his arms, "You can't stop me."

Nix was subjected to some mild pain but he was careful not to fully touch her injured side this time and she found herself feeling slightly amused, more at his sing song response than the fact he was still spinning them.

He laughed in her ear and it tickled her a little and caused her to giggle, a beat then passed before he eventually stopped and set her down on her feet, steadying her when she wobbled slightly.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a grin and she nodded, they then both chuckled together before he said, "You're sure?"

"Yes." she replied and he nodded as he pulled her in for a hug with his arms around her shoulders, she let her own hang at her sides for a moment before she placed her hands on his flanks.

"We're cool guys, it was an accident." she heard him tell the table as she glanced away, some other tables had been watching them but gradually lost interest and went back to eating their food, her eyes then found another pair across the room, a pair that had not lost interest.

She swallowed under his gaze and the scowl he was directing their way but wasn't subjected to it long, Sam released her and ushered her back onto the seat beside him.

O

Nix had just rounded a corner of the tunnel as she headed to the dormitory from the infirmary when a voice said from behind her, "The stiff is making friends."

She gasped in fright and spun around to find Eric leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Eric." she breathed out then cleared her throat, "You, startled me."

"Did I?" he asked with his head tilted to the side.

His calm demeanour and tone was making her nervous and she waited a beat before she nodded, "I was just on my way back to the dormitory."

"By yourself?" he asked.

She stared at him for a moment then said, "Yes?"

"Well which is it 'yes?'...or 'yes'?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied immediately, wishing she hadn't insisted that Andie go back to the dorm rather than wait on her to be seen by someone at the infirmary.

She just knew this wouldn't be good.

"Why?" he asked and she inwardly groaned.

"Why?" she repeated.

"Why are you going back alone and not with one of your boyfriends?" he asked.

She stared at him for a long moment then closed her eyes briefly before she swallowed and said, "I don't have, boyfriends."

"That's not what it looks like." he shot back, this time firmer and with a glare, she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off when he stepped towards her, "First Kit and now Sam, SAM? After what he did to you?"

"Eric-" she began.

"Shut up." he snapped, cutting her off and for a beat she stared at him, "If you're not careful you'll get a reputation...act like a slut and you'll get treated like one."

She gasped at the last part just as he walked swiftly passed her, bumping into her hard as he did so she was knocked into the wall, a part that was slightly jutted out.

She almost exclaimed in pain but suppressed it and placed a hand against her side, she looked away from him as she winced at the touch then inhaled deeply and looked down briefly before glancing over her shoulder.

He had stopped as he was walking away from her and was looking back at her with an expression crossed between concern and irritation, when their eyes met he shook his head and turned then marched away through the tunnel.