The Decision

by ClubLulu333

After he learns of Jeanine's plans for him, Eric chooses to transfer anywhere but Dauntless. When he picks Amity to spite his family, he finds himself in a world unlike anything he's ever known before. Will he be able to adjust to his new life, or will Jeanine find a way to make her demands come true? Eric x Everly, Frank x Tris

17. Chapter 17

So sorry for the super late update. I'm really hoping this works. The site has been buggy all day, and I'm crossing my fingers this will actually update.

This is the last chapter of the story! I will attach the epilogue to this chapter purely because who knows if I'll be able to upload anything. Thank you all so so so much for reading along for all these years! It's been such a fun ride and I'm honored so many people have enjoyed the stories. It'll be weird not to be updating regularly, and just know I've enjoyed writing about Eric and Everly tremendously. I have some mild appreciation for Frank, as he has provided me some much comic relief, and all the enjoyment in the world from writing Rylan and Jason.

Thank you all for enjoying this last story, for allowing Carole Baskins to reside not only in our hearts, but the Amity faction, and to believe in Eric choosing Amity.

Major Major Major thanks to Bamberlee for editing this final story!

---

"Do you know how to get rid of the body?"

The voice of Carole is the last one I expect to hear, and the last one I want to hear. She stands to the side of me with her arms behind her back, her blonde hair damp and limp, with only one flower barely attached to it. Her shirt is a bold pattern of animal spots, and her snow boots match. She smiles up at me, as though we are not standing over the dead body of Blythe as the snowfall picks up again, and she's quite the contrast to the white landscape.

"I'm guessing you do?" I look at her in mild horror, and there's no real connection to why I would think this. On paper, she's the ideal member of Amity. She's a chicken activist, always willing to help her neighbors with anything and everything – apparently up to and including murder, and she seemed helpful. Serene. A little too disconnected. Even now, she's unbothered by the body crumpled in the snow or the knowledge of who the woman is.

It's become very clear to me the Amity faction expected my return and will go to any length to protect me.

"Animals die all the time. It's a way of life, Eric." Carole elbows me, and her eyes gleam. It's not quite malice, but it's something which sparks the theory she might be a serial killer hiding out here. "Howard doesn't like to bury them in our yard because they attract wild animals. I'm here to offer my help. I know plenty of ways to dispose of…whatever needs to be disposed of."

"Who are you?" I stare at her, wind ruffling her hair, and snow falling lightly. The winter wonderland of Amity continues around us. There are several low howls now, echoing from deep in the woods. Carole listens to them, and when I glance toward the woods, she nods. "I'm assuming you know a place to take her."

"You should get home to Everly. I'll take care of this. Unless, you'd like to say goodbye."

I turn back to Blythe, and again, I wait to feel something. I wait for regret to kick in, for a moment of panic that I had killed her, and at any moment, the cameras could blink on to see me standing here. I wait to feel even the slightest ache of a loss for my mother, or perhaps remorse for not fixing things before I stabbed her.

It doesn't happen.

I shake my head, taking one final look at her. The snow beneath her has a slow, steady spread of bright red blood, and her body is crumpled in an awkward heap. She'd collapsed gracelessly, and there was no honor in her death. I'm sure she'd imagined it differently, perhaps with more fanfare, but certainly not at the hands of her son.

"I said my goodbyes a long time ago." I pause, and Carole smiles in horrifying understanding. "You sure you can handle this? You don't think I should stay?"

"No." Carole steps forward to frown at Blythe. Her expression is filled with disapproval, and she examines her intently for a moment. "Go home. Wash your hands. You've got blood on them."

"Thanks…" I stand there for a few more seconds, and when the wolves howl again, or whatever creature lives in the woods that Carole isn't afraid of, I leave.

I head back toward the main path to walk home. I make it there quickly, keeping my stare straight ahead and my shoulders pulled back. I focus on the dark smoke coming from the fireplaces and the glow of warm lighting from the windows. I take in the wood houses –some redone, some creaky and sprawling, some looking brand new –and I keep going.

I make it to the hill, and I don't look back.

---

"Did you do it? Is she dead?"

Everly helps me wash my hands. Hers are much smaller than mine, and they touch mine possessively. She works quickly, and it's clear she has zero issues helping me get blood off them. Out of nowhere, I flash back to a time when she asked Daniel how to get to someone's brain, and the look on his face when he realized she was serious.

I stop to stare in horror, but her question is innocent.

"Harrison came by after you left. He told me you were going to see Blythe. He said she was waiting for you to call. He's been working on a way to get rid of Jeanine for weeks."

She pumps soap onto my hands, scrubbing away until the soap lathers pink. I'd returned home to find her waiting for me, lingering in the hallway barefoot. I scowled at her, mostly because it was freezing outside, but also because the sight of her made my lungs tighten. I still didn't remember everything, but I didn't have to.

I got to experience it all over again, and it was even better this time around.

"I killed her," I confess, and Everly barely blinks. She keeps scrubbing my hands, and only pauses when I lean into her. "You're okay with this? Doesn't murdering someone go against your way of life here? Shouldn't you be telling me to forgive her? Or running as far as you can?"

"No," Everly's answer is sharp, but it's not aimed at me. "I mean, it does go against what we believe in. Normally, murdering someone would be frowned upon. Landon was asked to leave after attacking you, so murder would be held to the same standards." She pauses, and her glare turns furious. "Blythe deserved to die. She took my husband away from me and made me be quiet. She kept all of us here, not sure if you were okay or not, and threw it in our faces that we couldn't do anything. If you knew the things she said to me, or the implications she made, then you'd understand why I would never forgive her."

"What did she say to you?" I demand. Everly rests against me, and she turns on the water to wash my hands off. "Everly?"

"Nothing, Eric. Just…stupid shit about how I'm not the person you were meant to marry. It's over now, but if it wasn't, and I saw her again, I would kill her myself. Twice." Everly declares, and her defense is heartwarming.

So is her possessiveness.

She turns off the water and reaches for a towel to dry my hands. She watches me the entire time, and I finally break a smile when she tosses it aside and moves her hands to my jacket. She starts to unbutton it, scowling at the black fabric and thick stitching, and I shrug it off once I can.

"Did Carole help you?" Everly rises up on her toes, and I grab her, knocking her back against the sink. "She told me she would. She said she knows a lot about…"

"Is she from here?" I ask, but my attention vanishes when I kiss Everly, touching my lips to hers. I kiss her harder, until her lips part, and I slide my hands down her sides, until I bunch up the fabric of her dress to pull it up. "Because she's terrifying."

"She's not," Everly laughs, and the tenseness of coming home to admit I'd killed my mother is gone. I pick Everly up, setting her on the edge of the sink, and my hands move to her thighs. The fabric of her dress is thin, not at all warm, and she watches me shake my head at it.

"You liked this dress…before. I didn't hear you complaining last time I wore it."

"How are you not freezing?" I question, and she shrugs. She slips her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist, and her lips press to my cheek. "Everly?"

"I am. But I'm sure you can help," she mumbles, and I decide killing Blythe was worth it. It was worth the risk of being caught, or being spotted, and it's worth the attention it'll bring when she doesn't show up for work.

Because killing her has put me one step closer to being truly free and I'll take it.

---

The snowfall picks up right before I fall asleep.

I pry my eyes open to the sound of wind hitting the windows, and I wonder how long it'll keep up. The snowfall has been consistent all night; it came down nonstop while we ate dinner, and it disappeared into the night sky. It turned dark far earlier than yesterday, as if, perhaps, the world was mourning the spilled blood by turning as dark as Blythe's entire being. It wasn't wasted, though. Harrison stopped by to check in, using the dark as cover, but his visit was quick and efficient.

He and I sat at the large kitchen table and discussed Blythe's death.

Telling him what happened should have felt strange; as a member of both Dauntless and Amity, I'd killed Blythe in cold blood. In Dauntless, I'd be celebrated, but in Amity, I'd be told to get out. Any act of violence went against what they believed in, even out of defense.

While I had plenty of motive to kill Blythe, there was always the notion that taking her life wasn't my right. Even though she'd taken mine for two years, continuing injections leaving me under her control, I wasn't supposed to go around offing people. I suppose even the argument where I existed only to live out someone else's orders, a mindless drone doing someone else's dirty work, wouldn't exactly warrant what I'd done.

I hadn't been ordered to kill her, either.

On a very conscious level, Blythe was another death at my hands, but Harrison swore if it came down to it, I'd be cleared based off what she and Jeanine had done. He was still holding strong it wouldn't come to that. There was no jury to defend myself to, and he predicted there would be no trial if I were dragged before Jack's court. I'd asked Harrison a few simple questions –how was he going to kill Jeanine, and what about when word got back to Erudite –and he gave me equally simple answers. He would handle Jeanine, unless she came here looking for me, and he'd handle Erudite, too. He had a few connections working to step up if something happened to Jeanine, and he'd been working on this for a while. He didn't tell me everything, but he did confess he was happy I was where I belonged.

For now.

When Everly left to make coffee, I asked if he would stay in Amity for a few days, maybe giving me the opportunity to remember him like I once did and talk about things. I figured the two of us could come up with a plan. The weird tension from Dauntless was gone completely, but it was obvious my question made him uneasy. It earned me a strange look and a single headshake no.

Turns out, having power in Dauntless isn't all it's cracked up to be. Harrison had to return to explain to Kacie why he wanted the cameras off, he had to speak with Max, and he had plans for a quick visit to Candor.

He left after dessert and coffee. He kissed Everly's head goodbye, patted my arm, and told me to enjoy the next few days.

His words rattled around in my head, until I figured out why.

They sounded ominous.

I took them to mean I'd see Jeanine before long, and at a certain point, I'd have to address why I was in Amity and if I planned on returning to Dauntless. I did have a life there, though not one by my choice. I suppose I owed Max an explanation, or at least my resignation, but it didn't go unnoticed that I would be leaving them down a leader. Two if Rylan refused to go back. Three if Jason joined us.

Four, if Four showed up for some reason.

I had the sinking feeling I'd see him again, and this time, it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Eric, are you okay?"

I blink away the foreboding thoughts, and I turn my head to Everly, busy curling herself closer. Her fingers press over my collarbone, then up to my neck, and she pulls me toward her.

"Are you not tired?"

"I am," I answer, and her gaze moves from my eyes to my mouth. Less than an hour ago, I'd pushed her back into the white sheets, her hair spilling everywhere and her legs tightening around my waist, and I thrust into her until she was gasping my name. There was nothing between us but pure and carnal want: I didn't worry about the outcome, and neither did she, I just wanted to be closer to her. I got my way. I had the impression it was rougher than she was used to, and it took everything in me to slow down, but I almost enjoyed it more. "I was almost asleep but the storm..."

"Are you afraid?" She asks seriously, and her lips touch mine a second later. "If you are, I'll keep you safe."

"Will you?" I kiss her carefully, one hand on her cheek and one in her hair, and my fingers thread through soft strands, anchoring her to me. "I thought you were afraid of them."

"I was," she pauses. "Actually, I still am. I just…I had to learn how to deal with them while you were gone."

Her lips move to the side of my jaw, unhurried and warmer than they have been. Her fingers tighten as I move her over me, on top of me, and I slide back inside her. I've been hard since she grazed her fingers up and down my arm, but drowsy with content. Out of everything I've gone through, this feels surreal. I've never given much thought to fate or destiny, but in this moment, I wholly believe. I sink beneath a wave of selfish pleasure, both in how much I like her, and how pretty she really is, and I let it wash over me.

Balanced on top of me, eyes slightly closed and her breathing turning deep, Everly is quite the sight. She leans back, digging her nails into my thighs, and there's nothing more primal than the urge to never let her out of my sight again. It's unnecessary. She's strong in every way, despite a frame I could easily snap in half, and limbs linked around mine. The urge to mark her is strong and overwhelming; I don't want to hurt her, but I want to impress myself upon her in such a way that others know she is mine.

My fingers ache as they grasp her hips, helping guide her into a pace suitable for me, but giving in when the tiny mewling sounds tell me she likes it. They own the expanse of exposed skin on her thighs, the way her legs tremble, and especially the way her head drops back and her ribcage expands.

The thought of not having this causes such a pain that for a moment, it hurts to be buried inside her. There's the sharp shatter of my own self, quick and pleasant, as I do remember her. I do remember kissing her in the kitchen, and falling asleep beside her, my hands clasped on her, as though she and I were the only two in the Amity faction. I remember confessing a lot of things, in the dark or the light, and each one feeling more important than the last.

Secrets and skeletons revealed over time, each one carving out the Eric I truly was.

As my vision turns hazy, nothing but a blur of blushing skin, dark hair, my hands yanking her now, pulling her down harder and harder, giving into the utmost of purest pleasure, I realize I love her. And that love is nothing like what I once thought. During my time in Dauntless, I never imagined what it would feel like to be loved. To me, the highest of all emotion was to win. To take down my enemy, to finish the hunt, to embrace the valor over a field of dead men and women who couldn't defeat me.

To prove my worth to a woman who wouldn't bat an eye to help me.

"Oh…. fuck, Eric."

It must be the same for Everly.

She tenses up and everything is suddenly tighter, wetter, a thousand times more intense until I am sure she loves me, and nothing else is necessary. I feel her give in to her own pleasure, guilty and greedy after two years apart, desperate and frantic as she whimpers my name, gasping it like she's drowning, and if she keeps saying it, I'll yank her up and save her. There is a moment of pure disconnect; of synapses firing and neurons connecting to create the ultimate high, and the way she desperately calls out my name lets me know this is permanent.

I remember her, crashing into me and never letting go, just like it was yesterday.

---

It's painful.

At first, I wince into my coffee, thinking the serum is wearing off. Then I remember Arlene had just given me the injection, then the antidote. She had slid the needle deep into my neck, in the same spot, and lowly informed me it could take a few days to work and there was a chance I wouldn't feel so hot.

The antidote had been discovered on accident, but it was absolutely necessary. I suppose it was for nefarious reasons, but also because Erudite lusted after the science behind it. If they could break your memories, they needed to be absolutely sure they could put them back together.

The first serum worked in a violent way: it burned, it jerked away the truth trying to break free, and it clawed at my brain until there was nothing left. It was followed by a slew of side effects, each one more unpleasant than the next, then stopped abruptly when it won.

The antidote works the opposite way: it doesn't burn, but throbs, and it shoves everything back into my brain as quickly as it can. The only side effect is I feel dizzy because my entire time in Amity is shown on a sped-up highlight reel.

I see myself meeting Everly in line at the choosing ceremony, staring down at her in pure confusion as she took hold of my arm, then I see myself looking at her while I chose Amity. I see Jeanine watching me like a hawk, lips pressed together in extreme discontent, and her rising to catch up with me. I see Everly and myself in a different house, far smaller but just as warm and safe, and people bringing things over. Chairs, a dresser, clothes, boots. Zander, staring at me suspiciously, and Forrest asking if I'd marry Everly even though I'd just met her.

I see myself blinking, stunned, that life in Amity existed so easily, without any mistrust.

The rest is just as fascinating. Everly and I falling asleep together at night, a birthday party made of waffles and her resting against my chest, Carole and her chickens, Jerry teaching me how to destroy a barn, more farm animals than I ever hoped to see, and Ashley wobbling down a dirt pathway, tripping over uneven land. A check-up by a woman who hoped I'd marry her daughter, and Arlene, frantic and horrified I was here, without any actual medicine.

Hugging Everly in the kitchen, because I was lonely, and she was all I had. Feeling desperate when I didn't know where she was. Feeling furious knowing her family thought of her as an extended babysitter, and their highest hope was she'd end up with someone who'd keep an eye on her, perhaps coaxing her into a valuable but quiet member of the Amity faction. Meeting Ian, discovering another rejected member of the Coulter family, quietly carving out a life for himself here. Elisa. Atlas.

Zander.

Always Zander, getting into wild shit, and knowing no one would be mad at him.

My friends, Jason and Rylan, Jake and Ryan, Trent and Trevor, and Forrest. Forrest's friends. A bar decorated like nowhere else, except a whole lot like its counterpart in Dauntless. Jumping off a cliff. Everly, standing between my legs, coaxing me to take her to the lake. Everly kissing me while cold water lapped around us, her legs wound around me and her hands in my hair. Her hands down my boxers. Us, in a bathtub, my fingers between her legs, drunk on the sight of her coming against them.

A fall festival. Pumpkins, pumpkins, more pumpkins, and a maze made of hay. My fingers tickling her legs while I kissed her, ignoring giggling families rushing past, ignoring us dressed in black and pink. Paperwork signed in an office, while Everly watched with wide eyes, and the stirrings of concern that what I was signing was something more.

The memories speed up, then slow down, landing on what must be the highlight reel. Our wedding in Amity, one of trickery and lust, but planned entirely out of the best intentions. Kissing her after Forrest announced us officially man and wife, and Harrison, the fucking leader of Dauntless, kissing his daughter and thanking me for allowing him to see her get married.

There were more.

Each one better than the next, gleeful and vivid, yet gutting to realize they'd been taken away from me.

Celebrating our wedding night in this very house, her tiny frame beneath mine, while I groaned her name. Being buried deep inside her, fingers entwined, her feet on my calves, the way she exhaled my name like it held actual reverence. Her head tilted up at me, her eyes burning and her smile slight, and I knew she had loved me.

I had loved her, too.

It's why it burns as I remember all of it, the highs and lows, a split head on a tractor, my father's steady hands while he stitched my skin back together, Landon attacking me over Everly wanting me not him, and realizing I might not be cut out for a life of total and extreme peace, the faint hope for a family of my own, even if it was just Everly and me.

It stings so intensely I close my eyes shut, and when I open them, Everly sits down beside me, and hands me a plate of toast and eggs.

"I thought this might help your head," she smiles, but it's wrought with tension. She knew about the antidote because I told her, and her impatience rivaled mine. "Are you okay?"

"I am now." I smile at her, feeling the pull of metal above my eyebrow, and she stares back. Her face is far more relaxed with the knowledge that I would remember her, but I knew she wanted it to happen sooner rather than later. "Come here."

I reach for her before I tell her I remember everything about her, because I'm waiting to feel different. I'm waiting to feel like the very same Eric who once lived here, who knew he loved his wife and was happy living in the Amity faction.

The feeling doesn't come.

There is no change.

No click as my personality reverts back to someone else, and no moment when everything makes sense. I simply remember everything about her, including the torn look on her face, and the way she's chewing her lip hard enough to make it bleed.

"What's wrong?" My mouth finds her neck, pressing wet, open mouth kisses there, enjoying the way she wiggles away from the sloppiness. I refuse to let her get away, but I know what she likes. She likes the slow, careful moments, the ones when she could look at me, and the ones when she knew what I felt for her was real. "Tell me. Because I have a surprise for you, and I think you'll like it."

"I have to tell you something," she swallows, and I feel her collapse against me, heavy with anguish. "I don't want to tell you. I don't know…I don't know what you'll think."

"Try me."

My answer is short, and so is my patience. The throbbing in my brain is subsiding, and everything in my head is fighting for me to tackle it first. The information overload explodes like the worst kind of bomb; quick, demanding, and unstoppable.

"Do you promise you won't be upset?" Everly turns to stare at me, and she's nervous. There's a shakiness to her that wasn't there last night, and I wonder if she's Carole's accomplice. "Eric –"

"I promise," I lie, but not entirely. I don't know what she could possibly have to tell me that's so horrible, but whatever it is, it pales in comparison to remembering she didn't like working with the children, and I actually don't know what job she holds here. "I told you, I won't be mad. There's nothing you could tell me that would make me upset."

She blinks. Her face is a little sharper than I remember, or maybe it's just that I'm really seeing her for the first time after being away from her. Everything about her is still lush and soft, but she's not entirely so innocent, not after what happened.

"She came here. She was here before…before…."

"Who was here? Blythe?" I keep my hands in her hair, eliciting the words out of her. She's seated on my lap now, and I pull her toward my chest. "You told me she came to talk to you. You said she said all kinds of things to you. Did something happen that you didn't tell me? Did Blythe do something?"

"No, not her." Everly shakes her head, and her pause is heavy. "Ashley."

I don't blink. I do hold her stare, my own as neutral as my shrug. "She showed up on her own?"

"Yeah, a few days before you. My dad was here when she stopped by. He said…. he said I had to be nice. He pointed out I wouldn't gain anything by being rude to her. She came to see what I was doing, and she asked if I would sign the papers this time. She said you wouldn't be coming back, and it was time for me to move on because you were happier with her." Everly stops, and her gaze hovers just to the side of me. "I believed her for a minute."

"And?" I try to ignore the horror pressing on my spine, and I'm fully prepared to be hit with the worst. My imagination runs wild: Ashley is capable of many things and hurting Everly wouldn't be off limits to her. "Did she –"

"I told my dad who she was and what she wanted. He told me to ask her to stay for dinner, and he would cook it. I didn't think she'd accept. But she did. She said yes, only so she could tell me all the things she was going to do with you. How your aunt was offering her all kinds of things for being with you, how your mother hated me, and they both agreed Ashley was the one worthy of being with you." Everly's fingers tense, and her next words are quiet. "My dad and Harrison…they both promised they'd look out for me. So I sat there, and I listened to her, and um, I let her eat the dinner."

I stay silent, not really sure where this is going.

Until I realize the implications of Hank knowing who Ashley was, and offering to cook her a meal.

"You worked in his greenhouse. I don't know if you remember but –"

"He poisoned her," I make a wild guess, stopping Everly before she can finish. "I remember the green house. I labeled those plants. He told me not to touch them. There was a sign that said getting too close to some could cause death."

Everly nods. She's still, like she's prepared for me to be furious, and instead, all I can do is shrug indifferently.

"Did Ashley notice?"

"No. He put them in the seasoning on top of her pasta. It looked like mine and his, and she didn't even notice. She only ate a few bites, but it was enough. He told me it wouldn't take very much." Everly chews on her cheek, and the guilt is heavy. "I knew he was doing it, but she was…she was only here to tell me how she'd won. She only came by to point out I'd never be with you again, and I was so mad. I've never been that upset. My dad was just trying to help. She didn't make it past the main pathway before she keeled over. I can only assume she never made it back to Erudite."

"Oh," I stare at her face, so wrought with tension over a girl who would have killed her given the chance, and I press my lips together. "And you thought I'd be upset?"

Her voice drops to a tenseness I've never heard from her. "Eric…I willingly helped him serve her dinner. I didn't try to stop her. I let her eat it, knowing he was poisoning her. I killed Ashley. I never thought –"

"She deserved it," I shake my head, and I tighten my grip on Everly. "She wanted to hurt you. She was lying to you, trying to get you to sign paperwork to give up your place as my wife. She would have taken you down any way she could. If you didn't kill her, she eventually would have killed you."

"Eric," Everly hesitates, just long enough to move closer. "Do you….do you remember her?"

"I remember you," I answer, and her expression changes to complete surprise. "I remember choosing here, choosing to work with Johanna, choosing you. I never once wanted Ashley, and I never asked for anyone to send you divorce papers."

"Oh my gosh," she gasps, and she lunges at me, knocking her head into mine. "Eric, Eric, Eric! Do you remember…do you remember getting married? Do you remember going to the lake? Your friends visiting? Noelle wanting you to take your shirt off?"

"All of it," I smile against her mouth, and her squeak of relief brings a wave of emotions. I break away to look at her, and she struggles not to cry. "But mostly wanting to drop kick Noelle across the Amity faction."

"Tell me you remember. Tell me you remember that you loved me and—"

I don't need to tell her.

I do, because it's nice to say the words aloud, and even nicer when she lets out a shaky gasp of relief. She doesn't kiss me, nor does she try to pull my shirt off or drag me upstairs, or even to the stairs.

She collapses against me, her shoulders caving in and her face pressed against my throat, and she stays that way until the knocking on the door refuses to stop.

---

Her reflection in the mirror makes me pause.

She watches me while she brushes her teeth, and her eyes are glued to my throat. The shirt she has on is dark one I'd worn a few years ago, and she confessed she'd slept in it more often than not. I had purchased it in the market, deciding I'd had my fill of the bright colors of Amity. It doesn't fit her in any way, but it makes me do a double take.

The dark swallows her up, but not entirely.

There's some strength beneath it; forged from our time apart and crafted from our time together. I wasn't entirely Dauntless, at least not in the way most people would think, but maybe she was. Maybe being able to spend your days surviving was the ultimate act of bravery. Maybe pretending you were fine while you weren't was brave, and so was willingly watching a girl who wanted to kill you eat poisoned pasta.

She rinses her mouth out while I spit my toothpaste beside hers and I reach for her. I pull her against my side, my fingers slipping beneath her shirt to press against her ribs, and I stop when she hands me the cup.

My fingers still, their search coming to a grinding halt, because for some reason, I fully expected to find dark stitches settled there.

---

The celebration of my return happens over the next few days.

The snowfall lets up enough for the faction to return to life. Members appear outside, clearing pathways, salting slippery porches, and lighting bonfires. Our neighbors on each side, a quiet couple who handled the distribution of peace serum in the Amity faction and another quiet couple who worked in animal preservation, waved and grinned as they dropped off baked goods and wood for the fires. There was knock after knock, and a brief respite came only when lunch time hit. I opened the front door to find dozens of cookies, muffins, and flowers, all wrapped up with handmade notes.

Even with my hazy memories returning, I'd forgotten one very key factor to life in Amity, and it was that two years ago, I'd accepted the position of leading the Amity faction alongside Johanna.

I held up one card, written from Jake, exclaiming not only how happy he was that I was back and we'd be friends forever, but that Amity would have me as a leader. The gushing wasn't because Johanna was terrible; Everly explained she was fine, but had become disenchanted with being in charge, and longed for someone to take her place.

It was assumed because I was back, that person would be me.

I bring everything inside to see Everly lounging on the couch, completely engrossed in some book. Her head is bent down and her gaze is glued to whatever she's reading. I stare at the book in her hands, the cover decorated with something whimsical and bright, and the boy wizard on the front mocks me.

"Where did you get that?" I walk toward her slowly, her dress a mess around her bare legs and her hair equally loose, and she looks up slowly.

"What? This? On the bookshelf. Is it yours?" Her confusion mirrors my own. "I thought maybe it was yours. I've never seen it there before. I don't think it seems like something you'd want to read."

Something pricks at the back of my neck. An image of her sitting on a dark couch, her feet curled beneath her, reading the very same book while dressed casually. She looks different in this image, slighter but stronger, and forbidden but tempting. It harkens to a time when I wanted her, when this moment existed just like now but I couldn't have her, and before I can make sense of it, it's gone.

"His name is…Harvey," Everly smiles brightly, and sits up straighter. "Wait, no. That's not right. Harry. Maybe Harrison left it for me. It just showed up and I had some free time. What's that?" She gestures at the packages in my hands, and her eyes are filled with mild interest. "Oh, I see Carole found a suitable way to declare her love for you. Howard must be on his way out. What a shame. I thought he would live longer."

"Funny," I bark, but I do snicker because one of the baskets is from Carole. It was filled with chicken shaped cookies, all frosted with a level of skill I would imagine only existed here. "They're for me but…feel free to eat them. There's cookies, muffins, some bars from Jake that look…suspicious, and a lot of cards saying Welcome back now get to work."

"Well," Everly closes her book of fictional wizards and her eyes find mine. "We do need a new leader. Johanna announced a few days ago she'd like to take a year off. If you don't take the job, the only other person interested is…"

She pauses, smiling sweetly, and I wait.

The look on her face tells me I won't like the answer.

I don't.

---

"I'm not really interested in leading the faction. I only volunteered because I knew I'd win out over Carole, and no one wants to live under her regime. But really, I've made some questionable decisions. One was hiring Clem to work on the weekends. He's like, eighty, and he can't hear anything anyone is ordering. Two is bringing Woody to work. He uh, knocked over several of my best beer mugs and now I've gotta go buy more. And three, well three was teaching Everly how to shoot a gun. I nearly lost an eye but I guess her happiness is worth it."

Forrest shoves a heaping plate of nachos at me, then he yells out for Matt to please watch his child so he doesn't fall off the bar.

"But you, you are a leader. You've been one. Now you just have to.…do it here. Take what you know from Dauntless and make us a better faction. Starting with the Holiday Festival. Johanna banned sledding because Lacey's sled went out of control and right through Johanna's living room window. As if we could control that. So, bring it back, man. You'll be popular without trying. You're already popular. Everyone is psyched you've returned." He grins, taking my silence as agreement, but really, I'm watching his child teeter on the edge of the bar.

The kid looks a lot like him. He's got the same color hair, same wild eyes, and he tests out how far he can crawl before Matt grabs him and distracts him with a fork. Woody aims it straight at his face, and Matt's second attempt is prompted by fear. He tears the fork away, and replaces it with a drink coaster, which Woody immediately begins to chew on. Matt sighs in relief, then dangles him in the side of his arm and returns to serving beers as though nothing unusual is happening.

"He's cute, right? I brought him with me so Willow can take a nap. I think we might be having our second one. She looks queasy again. Sort of…green and woozy." Forrest throws out, and he's still the only one talking. I watch Matt swing Woody high over his head, and the kid giggles like it's the coolest trick ever. Matt beams, then swears when he smacks Woody's head on a low hanging lantern and Woody starts crying. "You know, when you married my sister, you told me I'd be a great uncle. You been working on that? Since your prophesied return?"

"You really want to know the answer to that?" I stare at him, my eyebrows raised, and he snickers.

"Hey, are you taking the eyebrow bar out? Or does it have to stay in?"

"I haven't thought much of it." I answer dryly, and surprisingly, neither had Everly.

She'd taken it out once. In our recent nights together, she'd hadn't asked me if she could take it out again. Her fingers had skimmed over the more permanent reminders of Dauntless instead: she touched each tattoo, and her questions were numerous.

"Does Everly like them?" Forrest narrows his eyes at me, and his face lights up suddenly. "Hey!"

"She does like them. I heard she's into that sort of thing. Sort of like, Dauntless soldier falls for girl in Amity and they are torn apart by their respective factions. Romance at its finest."

The voice makes me turn around so fast the bar stool nearly tips over. It's achingly familiar, and when I see Jason standing there, he grins. He's dressed in his uniform, but his hair is down, and his boots are caked with snow.

"Hey, did she get any taller?" He makes a beeline for me, throwing his arms around me tightly and nearly knocking me over, and our reunion is short lived. He's joined by Rylan, and the two of them high five each other before they take the empty seats beside me. "The real question is, where is she sleeping? Is it next to you?"

"No shit," I roll my eyes, but I have to admit, it's great to see him. "How did you get here? Why are you here?"

"I drove here! I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you're still alive. Kacie is convinced you're dead. In fact, there's a rumor going around Dauntless that you crashed one of the trucks and that's why you aren't back." Jason throws me a blinding grin. "And in your absence, I've been working overtime with Max. So…you owe me. And you'll owe me even more when I tell you Jeanine is looking for you."

"Is she here?" I stare in horror, not at him, but at Matt, now letting Woody have a sip of what looks like beer, and Forrest shakes his head.

"Relax, it's apple juice. You have a lot to learn about kids, dude."

"Are you having one?" Jason looks at me, then Rylan. "You're both having a kid? I'm super behind. I haven't even seen Sophia yet! I came here first. But I told her I'd be there in twenty minutes. We've just been calling each other whenever I can't visit."

"I'm sure you'll catch up quickly," Forrest declares, and he hesitates only because Rylan gleefully tells him he can be the second uncle to his child. "Cool, I'm in. I can help Eric run the faction and babysit whenever you need me too. Or Matt can. He loves children."

"Really?" Rylan follows my stare over to Matt, currently gagging as Woody vomits all over his arm. He holds him away with a look of sheer horror, then dry heaves when Woody does it again. "He looks…sort of nauseated. Oh good, I think they're both throwing up now."

"I should go," Forrest stands up, and he salutes me. "I look forward to working with you. All of you."

"Does he think I'm moving here, too?" Jason looks around, looking pleased. "Everyone is so accepting. Why didn't I pick Amity?"

"Don't ask me," I snicker, and the comfortable familiarity of this moment is just what I needed. Jason and Rylan both order a few drinks, and the atmosphere stays celebratory. "Hey, I do need to ask you something."

"Anything," Jason shrugs. The waiter leaves, someone new I don't recognize, and he promises to be right back. "Unless it's about Four's mental state. Because let me tell you, it's not good these days. He was in the control room when I left, looking all twitchy and mad."

"It is about him. Do you know why he thinks I killed Amar?" I ask bluntly, and Jason's eyes widen in confusion.

"Amar?"

"Yeah, his trainer? Or your trainer? Do you remember him?" I take a single nacho, shrugging when Jason looks confused. "I never met the guy but you guys said he went missing. You guys got Harrison instead."

"Oh shit, right!" Jason exclaims, and he and Rylan tear into the plate of nachos like they haven't eaten in days. "Fuck, how did I forget that? Harrison made us practice hunting in the woods and shit that wasn't on Amar's lesson plan. He claimed there was some mythical beast or something that lived there. We never found it."

I wait patiently, and he shakes his head.

"I don't know what happened to Four or why he's so stuck on that theory. I heard about it, too. I think because of the work you did, he just assumed you took out Amar. Harrison said the guy split because his test results were suspicious, and he was on Jeanine's radar. I guess you could make the connection to you, but…we all told him to chill."

"He's got a kid here," I announce, and Rylan looks both grossed out and impressed. "I just saw the girl in the chicken coop. She kept telling me not to kill her."

"Oh yeah, he's convinced you're out to kill everyone. Even Everly," Jason pretends to think it over, and then he smiles when Rylan elbows him. "We had to tell him to calm down and prove she's alive and well."

"I think he's jealous. He's stuck in the control room most of the time. Kacie hates him. He works shitty hours. He's become our resident conspiracy theorist and that's saying something." Rylan offers with more than a hint of glee. "The other day, he told me there's shit beyond the wall. Oh, and that Quinten is poisoning him."

"Well, that last part is highly plausible," I toss back, and I get a good laugh out of him being paranoid over Quinten's cooking. There is a good chance Quinten is poisoning him, but odds are, Quinten is fucking with him. "Hey, are you guys both staying for a few more days? Harrison told me Jeanine is coming looking for me."

The two of them look at each other and they nod at the same time.

"Oh, she is. We're supposed to stay here through Saturday. Harrison's orders." Jason announces brightly, and Rylan nods. "Max approved it. He knows what's going on. He's devastated you won't be back, because apparently, you were the only one who turned in your paperwork on time."

"He doesn't think I'm coming back?" I raise an eyebrow at them, and this time, they shake their heads in unison.

"No one does."

---

"Are you alright?"

This time, she hugs me like she knows me. I shove Arlene away from me, but after a few seconds. I let her hold on for just a moment, but only because she'd shown up right in the middle of me washing the dishes. I'd wiped off my hands, answered the door, and stared blanky at her.

The sight of Arlene in Amity was as confusing as ever; her black scrubs were not snow proof, she looked cold, and she raked her fingers through her hair to get the snow out. Her coat was black, a lesser version of the leaders' jackets, and her stare was as icy as the air outside.

She appeared to be the exact same Arlene, except she hugged me, then tried to rip my collar down to see my neck.

"Did it work?" She hisses, and I swat her away, returning to the kitchen. "Where is your wife? Are you here alone?"

"It did work," I call back over my shoulder. I turn the water back on in the sink, and I return to washing the dishes from breakfast. I'd awakened first; I cooked breakfast, and Everly came downstairs, looking both concerned –as if I were the one who'd catch the kitchen on fire, and pleased that she didn't have to make anything –and the two of us enjoyed a quiet meal. She left to go visit her mom, and I'd watched her leave with a funny feeling in my stomach.

The snow was packed high. Our house sat on a hill, and while our pathway had been cleared, it wasn't easy to walk back up here. It appeared most of our neighbors were staying home, and I expected Everly to make a fire and ask me to sit with her.

Instead, she got dressed, threw on my jacket and some mittens, and announced she'd be back in an hour.

"Why are you here? Did you run out of souls in Dauntless to capture?" I don't turn around because I can hear her walking inside, and her pause makes me glance back. "Stop trying to spy on me. I'm fine."

"This is quite the house," Arlene comments, and her boots thud over the wood floors. "Where is Everly? I was hoping to see her."

"Well that's creepy," I finish washing the last few things as Arlene walks closer. "You may not see her. Because she's not here."

"I see you're as witty as ever. I came by to make sure you were doing okay. I'm not staying long," Arlene stops beside me, and her gaze is suspicious. "The antidote….it hasn't been tested very well. Daniel is beside himself wondering if you're alright."

"I'm fine. It took longer than you said, but I remember everything. I didn't enjoy the process, but hopefully, I'll never have to repeat it." I turn off the water and dry my hands on a towel. "I'll call Daniel tonight. I told him I'd be in touch."

"And your mother?" Arlene tilts her head in a way that tells me she knows exactly what happened to Blythe. "Erudite sent out an alert announcing she's been reported missing. One of her staff called it in. Evidently, she and Jeanine's assistant are both gone. There's a rumor they got lost in the woods coming here and haven't been found. I thought perhaps you would know something about this."

I catch her stare, and she struggles not to smile.

"Are you accusing me of something, Arlene?" I smile back, allowing myself a moment of malice. "She hated you, you know. She hated that you worked for Daniel and you left and he hired Camille."

"Dauntless was a huge opportunity. How could I pass it up?" Arlene huffs. "Besides, I have nothing to do with your father's relationships. Blythe was rude to his entire staff. I don't think any of them cared for her."

"Are you a fan of his new wife?" I cock my eyebrow, and Arlene does her best not to look irritated by my petulant tone. "Everly told me he remarried. I'm sure he's happy. We'll see if this one lasts."

Arlene's eyes narrow.

"Be nice. Camille is very lovely and they are happy. It's nothing like when he was married to your mother. "Arlene pauses, and when her eyes find mine, she's smug. I wait patiently, and her next words make me tilt my head.

"If you must know, Camille is the one who insisted Daniel try and stop Blythe."

---

The spoils go to the victor.

The phrase sticks in my head, and I like it. Everly read it to me from the book she was reading. This was a different one, with a bird on the cover and a bleak premise, but she seemed to like it. She told me I'd live in the Capitol, and having no clue what that meant, I rolled my eyes and asked where she'd live. She announced with me, and I couldn't argue her logic.

Life had settled in a strange way, and with each day, I knew I wasn't leaving.

I didn't have any plans to leave, but I did know I had things to take care of, and I couldn't rest until then.

Two days ago, Jason had shown up. I hadn't seen him or Rylan since that day, but I did get a few of their messages. They were cryptic. Sent in code in case someone was monitoring it. Jason's were more straightforward: he had arrived at his post and his estimated return to Dauntless was six days.

Rylan's were less formal: the chicken had flown the coop, Four sucked and was refusing to answer his phone calls, and did Jason or I have plans for dinner.

There were others.

Was I busy for dinner? Had Jason made contact with any alien life forms? Did Jason or I call in back up?

I skim the latest one while I walk, a detailed and lengthy paragraph hinting he was going hunting, Harrison was nearby, and Courtney wasn't feeling too hot. She had a code name, too, and really, were anyone reading his messages, they'd assume he was either drunk or had partaken in something he'd purchased in Amity. I respond quicky –a single I'll meet you for dinner –when I reach the lake.

There's no one here.

The lake spans an expansive section of the faction, and I stare at the spot where I'd swum with Everly. It felt like a lifetime ago when she'd brought me out here, and for a split second, the sun warms my skin the same way it did then.

It vanishes when Landon shows up.

He walks right toward me, primed to fight.

I barely blink in his direction. There is no rush of fear, no exhilaration at the sight of knowing his death loomed minutes away, or even the savory feeling of knowing I could beat the shit out of him and no one would stop me. Amity was slow today; the faction remained closed due to the storm, and the only people out were working in the kitchens. Everly warmly informed me they were preparing lunch for anyone who needed it, and there was a large staff prepared to deliver it to those who couldn't leave their homes.

The silence is welcome because it amplifies the sound of Landon marching through the snow.

For a brief second, I contemplate letting him live. My time in Dauntless hadn't turned me into some crazed killing machine. I understood the reason and logic behind why some lived and some died; often, those who met their fate were our foes. They deserved to meet their demise, either with their intent to harm, or their intent to kill.

The main reason Dauntless exists is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. The faction was never formed to carry out Jeanine's plans, nor was it formed to control others. The honor behind it is keeping the members of the factions safe, and today, I will uphold that honor.

"I thought I'd see you sooner," I stare Landon down, unmoving from the bank of the lake.

It's a frozen wasteland here; a layer of ice has covered the lake, and the snow frames it in large heaps.

"I've been busy. I was trying to figure out the best way to tell you I watched you kill her," Landon answers thinly. He looks decent; he's not nearly as thin as half the factionless, nor is he dirty. He's fairly strong, having found freedom in belonging to no faction, and my guess is what Blythe paid him has lasted all this time. "Big mistake. It won't be long before someone finds out."

"What she did? Or what you did?" I take a single step toward him, unflinching as ever. "Come on now, Landon. I don't think drugging someone for payment is very upstanding. Let's not pretend otherwise."

"You don't belong here. You don't belong with her," he snaps, and the inexorable start of his downfall begins. "Everly was fine without you. She was fine living here. She doesn't need you making her…making her…"

"Making her what?" I hold his stare, and the sharpness of his dark shirt is as vibrant as mine. We're both dressed in black, and if you looked quickly enough, you'd mistake him for a rogue soldier patrolling through Amity. "Not want to marry you?"

"You don't know her. You don't know how she is. I can handle her. I was promised her." He sounds whiny, not quite as lethal as he was hoping. "I worked to get to know her and you just showed up and took her away."

"So that meant you could drug me?" I size him up, and I know I'll win this fight. "That meant you got to decide what faction I belong in?"

He shrugs indifferently, as though he did have the right to do those things. It sparks a familiar rage in me, like the last time we'd fought, but I let him finish. "It means I'm over you. Today is the last day you live here. I'm going to make sure of it."

I expect his punch the same way I expect him to try to kill me. He was nearly successful the last time I saw him, but only because he had Blythe distracting me. Out here there is no one but him and me, and a frozen tundra of nothingness.

He's laughable.

The scrappiness from before is gone. I imagine he's been training with his friends, perhaps assuming this day would come. His punch hits my chest, but standing in cold, wet snow gives him no traction. I shove him away from me and roll my eyes.

"Really? You want to fight? Do you really think you'll win?" I taunt him, and to make things fair, I shrug off my jacket. It was a heavy one Everly had found, and she'd helped me button it before she kissed me goodbye and told me to hurry home. "I spent years in a faction you sent me to. Don't think I didn't pick up a few tricks."

His eyes widen as my fist hits his jaw. The crack is mildly satisfying, but it pales in comparison to the violence I'd witnessed in Dauntless. There, almost every argument is settled with your hands. There is no plea for peace, because it came from being the one to take down your opponent. The ultimate honor is to win, and that's exactly what I intend to do.

Several punches and one cracked arm later, Landon steps back a little too far. I push him back onto the ice, and he slides wildly as he regains his balance.

"I think you're weak and you've always been weak. That's why it was easy for your mother to come for you." Landon spits, and he wipes at his face. He's not bleeding, but he is cold. "I think you're afraid and that's why you picked here. Real men don't run from their problems. They face them head on."

I take his words as advice.

I rear back before I take him head on. The blow hits him squarely in the stomach, and he keels over in pain. I kick him as hard as I can, my boots crunching over thin ice, and there's a gush of water as it cracks.

"Fuck off, Landon. I think everyone is tired of your shit."

The second kick is to his ribs. I hear the snap as it happens, and I'm well aware it'll hurt for weeks. Each breath will be strained as the broken pieces shift, and it'll prolong the healing since he'll be forced to handle it without any sort of pain medicine.

If he were to somehow stay alive.

"This is far from over. I have so much on you. I heard about your little hunts. Your mother told me about the people you brought to Jeanine. She told me…" Landon's voice grows hoarse, and it cracks when he hoists himself to his feet. He steps back to catch his breath, wincing and groaning, and his stare darkens when I step forward.

Carefully.

"She told you what? How mean I am? What a terrible person I am? Did she ever tell you what she planned for you? Because in her eyes, you'd eventually be nothing but a liability. You'd be next on her list, Landon. It wouldn't be long before she wiped your memory clean," I point out, and I smirk when he scrambles backward. We're a good distance from the shore, and there's a good distance of space between us. "Why'd you do it?"

"To get rid of you," he snarls, and the faint crack disappears when he grows furious. "I thought they'd kill you there. I thought you'd die trying to prove how brave you are, or you'd be brought down by your own arrogance. I knew there was no way you'd last here, especially –"

He falls.

The ice cracks wide open, and I lunge back just in time. The lake greedily sucks him beneath its icy surface, and the dark depth is endless. I catch a glimpse of him floundering, and for a second, I assume he'll be fine. It's likely he can swim, and he's grown up here.

But the lake is deep, and the floor of it drops off sharply. I found this out when I swam with Everly. I could reach up until a certain point, and we'd passed the shallow bank. Even if he could reach, or claw his way out, the shock of cold is bone chilling. He breaks the surface once, hair slicked to the sides of his face and his skin white as bone, and he immediately sinks back down. The water sloshes and swirls with his efforts to stay alive, but his own stupidity keeps him beneath the surface.

Everly warned me to stay away.

She buttoned my jacket for me with ease, her nails painted a dark maroon color, and she lowly informed me the lake did not freeze completely. Everyone assumed it was solid, and a few kids had tried sliding on the ice or playing around, but it always resulted in it cracking. I hadn't given it much thought, until she frowned, and told me the water was downright freezing, and she'd once dreamed she'd fallen in the river, chased by a faceless monster and barely survived. She said even in her dream she could feel the cold, and it was intense enough to make it impossible to breathe.

"Fuck."

The word slips out before I can stop myself, but I make no move to help him.

I can't.

Despite a lackluster fight and an ego goading me to yank him up by his hair so I can kill him myself, I can't. It's likely the ice would collapse the second I got close enough, and I'd be in the same boat as him. Even now, tiny cracks appear beneath my feet. I force myself to move slowly, and when the cracking becomes loud enough, I take off.

I stumble on my way back, the shore appearing much farther than I remember, and I trip over a ridge of shattered ice. My boot catches the side of it, and I do go under. It splits wide open for me, like a horrific gift of karma, but luckily, I'm tall enough. My feet hit the bottom immediately, and Everly is not wrong.

The shock of cold takes my breath away. I can't move, and my lungs constrict. The water sloshes around me like lead, and I understand why Landon was sucked under right away. My limbs freeze. My brain stops thinking about anything except how cold I am, and numbness washes over me.

So does the feeling of being jostled, and the wild stare of Harrison appears before me.

"MOVE! She'll kill me if you die!" He yells at me, and I let out a bark of stunned, drowsy laughter. I've been in this water for under a minute, but it feels like hours. "Fuck, Eric move. You're not that far away."

I realize Harrison is in the water with me. I dimly put together the theory that he was here, watching and waiting and probably making sure I didn't die, and he's been forced into action.

I thank him, politely this time, but I also remind him he sent back half my reports in Dauntless.

I don't hear his answer.

All I know is my eyes close, and at some point, I open them to a dimly lit bedroom. Everly is beside me, buried beneath a thousand blankets, a roaring fire, with her arm thrown over me and her legs bent to slip between mine, and the room is so warm I feel like I might spontaneously combust.

I sit up slowly, sweaty and undressed to only my boxers, and there's the faintest ache in my chest, and the ghost of a bruise where Landon had punched me.

---

"You dumbass. Why the hell would you walk on the lake? Though I suppose you get points for lack of evidence. It'll be months before the lake unfreezes, and even longer before I can have it searched for a body." Harrison shoves a mug of hot chocolate at me, and I scowl at him. "Don't give me that dirty look. You're lucky I have some pull here. A better plan would have been to take him to the cliffs."

"My plan was to kill him. He walked out onto the lake." I mutter, but there is no malice and little energy behind it.

Turns out, I was in the water for a whole five minutes. It took Harrison a minute to make me realize what was going on, and three minutes to get out of the deeper water. A minute to slosh to the shore, where I collapsed, shoving him away and swearing I was fine.

I was not fine.

My skin burned, my head and chest ached, and Everly let out a howl of panic when Harrison got me home. I remembered none of this. Not her running a lukewarm bath, not the huge fire she lit, the warm soup she made me eat, or the mountain of blankets she piled onto the bed. I did remember waking up in the night to her lying beside me, and after a hot shower this morning, I felt fine. A little drained, mildly sore, but grateful to be alive.

I wandered downstairs to find Everly and Harrison eating breakfast, and when I sat down to join them, he informed me Landon never emerged. I tried not to look at Everly, but she appeared unfazed. She sipped her coffee, darkly informed me not to go by the lake anytime soon and got up to answer the door. I heard her politely tell someone I was fine, and she promised I was alive and well and would return to the faction as soon as I felt better.

"Well, he's not very bright, either. I thought you'd snap his neck in half. I pictured this happening very differently," Harrison muses, and his words make me exhale heavily. "I hated that kid. Always sulking around, pissing me off. Thought he knew better than everyone. What he did to you is unforgivable."

"I guess we don't have to worry about that now," I point out, and I grudgingly drink the hot chocolate. "Why does Everly get coffee and I get this?"

"You nearly died. Let's ease up on the caffeine until you're feeling better." He shoots back.

"I feel fine!" My protest falls on deaf ears. I sip the drink slowly, and I hate every minute of it. "So now what? Blythe is dead. Landon is presumed dead. Ashley is…" I pause when Harrison tilts his head curiously, and I figure I might as well fess up. "Also dead. That only leaves Jeanine. Unless you've killed her already."

"I haven't. I've been busy. I handed in my resignation and Max is making me fulfill it."

"You're leaving Dauntless?" I don't know why I'm surprised. He seemed to prefer Amity, even though he was a brilliant military strategist. "What about –"

"If you don't take the job as leader here, I will. I already spoke to Johanna about it. It might even work if I just….hang around and help you. It's a big faction. Lots of decisions, lots of members, lots of…things that could go wrong. I can help you and the army."

"It still exists?" I look up when Everly returns, and she brightly informs me Howard is coming back in a half hour to prove he's still alive. "Have you been training them this whole time?"

"I have. I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve, and I don't plan on letting Everly live anywhere she isn't safe. So, I'm making Amity safe. And it'll be even safer with you leading it." Harrison smiles at her, far nicer than I've seen him look. "I just need your agreement on it. I'm meeting with Johanna in an hour. If you agree to stay and take on the job, I'll also let Max know you won't be back. He can't really expect you to return, considering you never chose there. He'll be bummed, but he's got plenty of upcoming members to pick from."

Everly looks up at me, and I glance down at her. Her red dress matches my flannel shirt, and her bare feet are pulled beneath her. Her fingers toy with mine, warm and content, and her head rests against my chest.

I nod my head, and the look on Harrison's face is pure approval.

---

"Turkey is almost done! Where is Everly? And Elisa? Are they outside?"

Ian stands before me dressed a little too formally considering it's snowing outside, and his apron is so new it still has creases in it. He'd come up with the offer of cooking a holiday dinner for everyone, and the idea was both appealing and horrifying. I agreed without thinking it through. I tried to rein him in once we went over his guest list, but he refused to make any adjustments.

Most of the names were from Amity –his family, Everly's family, Courtney's family, Sophia's family, our friends Jake and Ryan, a few of his friends, Jerry, Howard, Carole, and May. The rest of the names were not from Amity –Daniel and Camille, some of Ian's friends from Erudite, Harrison, and Four.

I crossed his name off the list, but I lost out when Everly pointed out it was unlikely he'd show up.

It had been four weeks since Ashley joined the Carlen's for her final meal. Three weeks since I killed Blythe. Two weeks since Landon had fallen beneath the water. One week since Harrison returned from a visit to Erudite, and his expression was tense. He and I stood in the kitchen, conversing in quick whispers, and he informed me that not only was Jeanine distraught over the death of her sister, she blamed me.

Whole heartedly.

A bounty was placed on my head and sent to each faction. There was a reward offered if I was brought in alive, and a lesser reward if I was brought in dead. I must have looked ready to drive to Erudite and kill Jeanine right then and there, but Harrison told me in a shocking turn of events, no one was backing Jeanine on this one.

Jack Kang held a weird, mild affection for my father after Daniel saved his father's life. He refused to believe Daniel's son, the one who had chosen Amity, was out there murdering people left and right. Dauntless half-heartedly accepted her demands to find me. Max took the orders, passed them to Jason, who immediately refused to follow through. Harrison told the soldiers to hold off on looking for me and threatened to kill anyone who did try and find me. Abnegation politely declined all involvement.

Johanna refused to even acknowledge the message. She informed Harrison she would do no such thing, and she hadn't seen me murder anyone therefore she had no reason to think I would. My time here had proven me a model member of the faction; I was on track for leadership when I left, and were I hiding out here –a theory Jeanine brilliantly came up with –she wouldn't waste her time looking for me when she had a faction to run.

Which left Erudite as the only faction truly thinking I'd done anything wrong.

Even better, Harrison had been working to turn Jeanine's faction against her. He wove a fun tale about the serums and what Jeanine was using them for, and it spread through her labs quite quickly that their hard work was going to brainwash their own members. He went even further, exaggerating how many people had been given it, and as proof, showed a video clip of Four, running through the hallways of Dauntless looking wild.

He was fine.

He was only running because he'd overslept for his shift and he was sick of listening to Kacie bitch at him.

It worked.

Fear was an excellent motivator. By the end of the week, most of the workers in the labs refused to show up. The hospital went on strike, and my father took his first day off in years. The libraries closed. The schools went dark, families didn't leave their homes, and even their stores locked their doors. No one wanted their brains messed with, and on the darkest day of winter so far, Jeanine was officially renounced as their leader.

Harrison grinned when he told me, but what came next was a warning, and one I needed to heed: my aunt was likely to come looking for me, desperate for both revenge and proof that I was the Amity Harbor Butcher.

But I had some time.

Jeanine was asked to leave, and rumor has it, she's been holed up somewhere near the border of Amity, just waiting for me to let down my guard.

"They are. They were helping Atlas build a snowman the last time I checked." I wipe my hands off on a paper towel, and I take a slight reprieve from mashing potatoes. "Are you sure this is a good idea? This is a lot of people. The faction is pretty much defenseless if anyone were to wander by."

"Are you worried about Jeanine? Oh goodness, what is that old bat going to do? Throw some serum in your face? She'd have to find you first. Oh, and tell me your thoughts on a neighborhood watch. Donald is trying to put one together. Since this area is sort of…away from the others." Ian grabs a stack of plates, and he's at the table before I can blink. "Did you meet him? Don? He just showed up and wanted the biggest house for him and his wife. Kept asking about Carole. Said she referred him here."

"And no one found that suspicious?" I stare at Ian incredulously, but I had met Don. Three times. He'd wandered over to introduce himself, saying he'd retired from Candor, and he was thrilled to meet me. I found him weird, but that wasn't out of the ordinary here.

"Oh, everyone did. But they like the idea of a neighborhood group so…."

He trails off as everyone shows up for dinner. There is no holiday we're celebrating, only the darkest, coldest day of winter. Perhaps a bit of the celebration was my official decision to resume working with Johanna, which had morphed to her announcing she'd let me shadow her for two weeks, and then she would be gone.

"Sorry, that took longer than planned. Atlas wanted to build an army of snowmen." Everly appears out of nowhere, a lovely sight of dark green and black. She moves to stand by me, and her arms slide around me. The gesture is sweet, but it's also because she's freezing. "Did you wear a jacket? You're ice cold."

"I had a sweater…" she shrugs, and she refuses to let go. "Wait! No, don't move! I'm trying to warm up."

"This looks lovely, Eric. It's so wonderful that you wanted everyone over for dinner," Eden beams, but when we lock eyes, I know she's struggling not to laugh. "Do you need any help?"

"No," I glare at her, but really, I'm not that mad.

A few days ago, she showed up with all kinds of stuff for me. I'm not someone who needs frivolous gifts or presents to be won over, but the stuff she brought wasn't anything outrageous. Dark flannel shirts, new boots, pants meant to last through a few winters, scarves, mittens, a slew of murder mystery novels not starring Carole, some supplies I'd need to keep up with the house, firewood, matches, and a kit to make S'mores.

And some more medicine.

A whole bottle of the tiny white painkillers, with a written note stating only to take them if my head was cracked open again.

It spoke volumes for a woman who firmly believed the alignment of the stars and planets would affect someone's mood. Or that if I ground up enough ginger, I wouldn't throw up when Noelle jogged past my house for the fifth time. Or Everly wouldn't get pregnant, or would, depending on how many herbs she consumed on what day.

I also found Eden entertaining on a few levels, because she was patiently waiting for Harrison to move here full time.

She and Hank had split up amicably. I nearly spit out my coffee when she told me. She sunk into the seat beside Everly and reassured us there were no hard feelings. Hank was always well aware of his place in her life, and while he loved her, he wasn't exactly in love with her. Eden's expression tensed, and this whole exchange shook me to my core. I had assumed he adored her, but Everly later told me their relationship had blossomed out of necessity: Eden needed help, Hank wanted a family.

He'd had one, but he'd also spent most of his time working. His dedication mirrored Daniel's when it came to his job. Because he oversaw the greenhouses, he was often called away at a moment's notice. It might not have been brain surgery, but his position here allowed us to have food through the winters. The other factions depended on Amity for food, and without his genius, they would have none.

Even more of a shock, was the news that he was staying with a friend and he wasn't at all upset that his wife loved someone else. He accepted it gracefully, like he knew the day would come, he was happy with the time he'd spent with her, and he was ready to spend some time on his own. His children visited frequently, and they held no hard feelings. They liked his new friend, and Ian made a wild guess Hank would eventually marry her, and he daringly mused Everly would potentially wind up with another brother or sister.

I had held onto her hand tightly then. My fingers wound through Everly's, woefully and needlessly afraid the same fate might befall me, but she caught on quick. Everly shook her head, leaned into me, and very quietly told her mother as long as they were all happy, we were happy for them.

I think of that talk today. My fingers creep around her side, pressing below her ribs and I pull her inward.

"Did Four show up?" I mutter, hoping he'd gotten lost in the woods, or perhaps fallen off a cliff, but unfortunately, Everly nods and informs me they're outside. "Oh, great. Good. You tell him we assigned him to sit by Zander."

"He's very sorry for accusing you of murdering Amar," Everly points out. She leans against me, smiling as Courtney and Rylan head inside to help Ian pass out the dishes. "He apologized several times."

"Yeah, well, I don't like being wrongly accused of murder." I glower, and Rylan snickers.

"What if he rightly accuses you of murder? Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I shrug, and the chaos of everyone being here unfolds around us.

Jason and Sophia come into the kitchen with Elisa, red-faced and grinning. Everly's entire family –Leif, Wesley, Holly, Paisley, and Zander –file in, and Hank trails after them. He's brought his friend with him, a woman named Kerrie, and I recognize her from the wedding. At the end of the table, Carole sits arguing with Howard and Jerry about using chicken feed vs making your own chicken food, and Harrison sits watching them with a very displeased stare. He catches my eye, and he rolls his as he moves his chair away from Carole.

Next to them, Daniel and Camille sit, entirely out of place, watching everyone around them like they've never seen such a sight.

Jake and Ryan sit by them, downing beers with Forrest and Willow, and every so often, Woody knocks something off the table, pleased when it lands with a loud bang. Ian's friends from Erudite sit by them, and Atlas stands by Elisa, asking her to pick him up. I eventually let go of Everly to help Ian carve the turkey, and there's a rush of distance when Everly steps away.

I dislike it.

She takes the seat near Daniel and Camille, joining Jake and Ryan in their questioning of how many brains Daniel has actually seen, and I watch with mild amusement when they are all impressed with his answer.

Even Camille cracks a smile, and an even wider one when her eyes meet mine. It's tentative, still unsure of her place in my life, still not certain how I'll accept her as my father's wife.

Before I can stop myself, I smile back without thinking.

---

"You have a lovely family here."

Camille, the lone sane person who wore a coat not meant for show, hugs me goodbye. She holds on tightly, knowing it'll look rude if I jerk away from her, and she barely comes up to my chin. I let her hug me, because a few minutes ago, Daniel had threatened me.

In the nicest way possible.

Riddled with absolutely no grief over his divorce with Blythe, and the faint knowledge that she was missing and it was unlikely she'd be found alive, he hugged me while lowly informing me he was very happy with Camille, and I needed to be nice or he'd never come back.

Normally, I'd have lost my shit. He was in my house, in my faction, telling me I had to pretend I was thrilled I had a stepmother, and he was using his relationship with Everly as leverage. She liked him. Perhaps my wife had a fondness for surgical procedures I didn't know about, or maybe she just found him to be nice and could appreciate who he was, but he knew it. He'd come to see her when I couldn't, and it was obvious they were close. Even Camille had gone upstairs with Everly, laughing as Everly insisted she see something she'd bought, and the two of them returned beaming.

So his bargain –be nice to Camille or they wouldn't come back –was good natured, but telling. He wanted to be in our lives, he wanted me to be nice, and he knew I wouldn't be able to say no.

It had become very obvious to everyone, including me, that I couldn't stand for Everly to be upset. I felt like I owed her for the two years I was gone, but more importantly, I wanted everything to be back to normal. All it took was a few blinks in my direction, her fingers twisting through mine, or her head against my chest, and I had no choice but to agree to whatever she wanted.

Therefore, I grudgingly agreed to Daniel's demands, offered to bring Everly by to see him and his fancy house, and I promised I would even play nice with Camille.

"Thank you for coming by." I half hug her back, more affectionally than I ever hugged Blythe, and when she lets go, and I hold on for a second. "Actually, I have to tell you something."

"Um, sure?" Camille startles, and she glances left and right. "Here?"

"Outside."

She nods, and Daniel is too distracted talking to Eden to notice. I lead her out the front door, and a few weeks ago, I'd have pushed her off the porch. Here I stare at her, the woman who'd married my father after years of working alongside him, and she stares right back at me. For a whole minute there is nothing but silence, and the faint voice of Carole, demanding to know why Four's name is a number.

"Is it…is Everly…" Camille breaks the silence, and I stop her before she can ask if Everly and I are having a baby. I shake my head, and I lower my voice.

"I killed Blythe."

I'm met with more silence, broken up only by Four's insistence that Carole does not call him Tobias.

In front of me, Camille's eyes widen in surprise, but I have to admit it feels good to say it out loud. I wasn't planning on telling Camille or Daniel what I'd done, but over dinner, Camille held Atlas, informed Rylan that eating three entire pies for dinner probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world, and helped Everly carry all the dishes to the sink. She talked with Courtney for a while about what to expect during childbirth. She told Sophia how to get pregnant, though Jason choked on his stuffing then looked visibly interested. She told Willow to call her if she couldn't stop throwing up, and she told Forrest Woody was doing just fine, and it was okay to feed him sweet potatoes if he liked them.

At one point, she looked around, and I knew this was a far cry from a sterile operating room in Erudite, but she had the same content look on her face that I often felt.

She doesn't look content now, but I shrug indifferently, as though Blythe's murder was no different than me announcing we were out of milk.

"I didn't have a choice. She came here to threaten Everly, she came looking to take me back to Dauntless. She would have come for you, too. She kept telling me how you and Daniel had an affair, and I knew she wouldn't let it go. She'd drugged me once, and she'd do it again."

Camille stays silent. She stares up at me, her brown hair not pulled up in a ponytail and her dress pretty, yet too formal, and she finally blinks.

"You killed her? Here?"

"Yeah, a few weeks ago." I lean against the doorframe, and we both turn as Four loudly thanks Carole for inviting him over but he's just fine and doesn't want to see any chickens. "I don't know why I'm telling you. I guess…I just wanted you to know. I think she would have killed you. Or maybe erased your memories if she had the chance."

Camille nods. There's plenty of understanding in her stare, but she still looks surprised. "How will you get away with it? Did anyone see you?"

"Harrison helped," I answer quickly. "He turned off the cameras. Carole got rid of the body. Or so she claims."

"Carole…well, that makes sense," Camille shrugs, tilting her head up at me. "So, now what? Are you…do you regret it?"

"No." My answer is immediate. "I just wanted you to know because…I'm glad Daniel's happy. I'm glad he's happy with…you."

Her eyes widen even further, and for a split second, the wave of nausea I feel is all consuming.

Being nice isn't in my nature, and neither is dealing with the look on Camille's face. My acceptance of her isn't necessary at all; even if I loathed her, it's unlikely Daniel would end things. But I know what it feels like to be welcomed into a family without question, and I need all the people I can on my side.

So I let her hug me again, and this time, I nod my head when she dryly asks if I'm sure I'm not drugged, and I snort when she suggests perhaps I need to get my head checked. I say goodbye when Four nearly trips out the front door, his stare wild and his tiny, gremlin child in his arms, and he hotly informs me Everly has somehow caught a plate of toast on fire and Daniel is upset at the lack of fire extinguishers in our home.

He stands there staring, probably wrought with jealousy over his own orphan status, until Rylan comes to find him, followed by Ryan, then Jake and Jason, and pretty soon the entire dinner party is outside on the porch, looking at me like I've lost my mind.

---

I do lose my mind.

I lose it when a few weeks later, I walk outside into fresh snow, and I listen to the sounds of Amity. The first thing I notice is that something is wrong. While the air is still and sharp, it quickly turns tense. A wave of birds rush away from one of the trees, a howl in the darkest part of the woods echoes, and the scamper of animals hanging out near our porch is loud.

I walk carefully.

I keep my stare straight ahead, my intent only to head into what is now my office and return home before dark. I'd accepted the position once before, and I had accepted it again once my memory was back. Leading Amity is something I never thought about, but it no longer felt strange; I'd shadowed Johanna for two weeks, and on the fourteenth day, she permanently logged out of her email account and told me to find her if I had any questions.

Or Jerry.

Or Hank.

Or even Howard.

She gave me a set of keys which unlocked the barns and the initiate housing. She gave me my own email address made up of my first and last name, made me send out an introduction to each factions' leader, a list of delivery schedules, a list of farmers and the days they preferred to work, a binder made up of 400 pages of information pertaining to the faction, and wished me luck.

She did pause for a single minute, but only to inform me it would be wise to bring in others to help out. She smiled brightly, knowing Rylan had not returned to Dauntless, and Jason's move here was only a few days away. I agreed with her logic. A few days later, they both became official members of Amity. It wasn't exactly a common move; rarely did anyone transfer factions after choosing their permanent faction, but this was a special circumstance.

A day after Johanna resigned, I went to the most boring event of all: the Leadership Dinner. I attended it alone, because Everly fell asleep before I got home and when she did wake up, she looked so exhausted I figured I'd let her go back to sleep.

It would have been better with her there with me, but I sat by Jerry, and the two of us listened as the status of the factions was discussed. My presence was welcomed, and so was the new leader of Erudite. Cara and I were introduced, and after a round of applause and a few whistles in my direction—mostly from Jerry –the discussion turned toward each faction's inability to provide for members. Candor couldn't grow shit in their mess of concrete, Abnegation had zero luck and zero time, and Dauntless wasn't exactly set up to grow crops. Erudite had tried to create a few things in their labs, but since the serum debacle, no one trusted them and their genetically modified food was left to rot.

Which it didn't.

I liked to imagine someone eventually threw it out and called it a day.

They also discussed a few security concerns. Dauntless was being led by Max and Tori, along with a few new leaders, a man named Jeremy, a woman named Stella, and someone named Chad. They had agreed to patrol the factions fairly, and their hunt for Divergents and rampant factionless policing came to an end. They were shifting their focus to helping protect the factions, or as Jack Kang dryly reminded them: their original purpose.

I sat back in my chair, smug as ever, because Harrison had also left Dauntless. He'd been busy with the Amity army, under the guise of us still needing one. It gave him purpose, and every so often, I heard rumors that the factionless were planning an attack on the factions. Harrison wanted to make sure we were ready, so his army trained weekly, and I had to admit they looked just as impressive as the Dauntless army.

By the time the meeting ended, it was clear Amity had become a strong contender as the most well-rounded faction. The hard work of the farmers was praised. It became clear that without us, the other factions would fail. You could lead a faction into greatness, but if they couldn't eat, it was pointless. With more members than ever choosing Amity, it would be incredibly helpful to have someone else running things with me.

So, it was decided that since I would need help, and since Jason and Rylan were willing to move, they could. In the strangest moment ever, Four also put his name in to move, and because his son resided in Amity, so could he.

Though his move hinged on my approval. I didn't necessarily need Four living in Amity, and much to my agitation, he showed up to talk with me about it.

The meeting was quick.

He grudgingly admitted he'd wrongly accused me of murdering Amar. He also grudgingly admitted I wasn't who he thought I was; the rumors he'd heard about my time in Amity were wrong, and my time in Dauntless wasn't even honest. He agreed that the drugged version of me, while unfriendly and unpleasant, had mostly done my job and ignored him. Our only interaction came when I had to critique his training, and he loathed it because he didn't want to be there.

He wanted to be with the most boring person in the entire world: Tris.

He stood before me unwavering, and his stare was unflinching when he admitted he had no desire to live underground. He confessed he'd considered leaving before. He'd prefer to be factionless over listening to me bark orders, or have Kacie breathing down his neck. He even went on to warn me there was a factionless army, a poorly trained group he'd caught on numerous patrols, and he offered to help me keep that group out of Amity.

I eyed him darkly, made him sweat it out for a few minutes, and agreed with an eyeroll.

I didn't care where he lived, so long as he and Tris stayed far away from me.

Today, I pass their house and throw it a bored glance. It's not as large as mine, nor is it as nice. It sits at the very end of the row, set back a little further for privacy, and it has a large patio. It's quiet. Secluded, given his neighbors are a good distance away, but close enough they could help if needed. Everly and Tris are friendly, and every so often, I get to hear about Four's baby, or the earth-shattering news that Tris had milked a cow.

I pause for a single second to glare even harder, when the sound of footsteps grows loud, and a wave of déjà vu washes over me. It makes me shiver, and I refuse to experience anything of the sort again.

"No."

I shake my head because I've already killed Blythe in this exact setting. A frosty wonderland, while she slipped and skidded toward me dressed in clothes not meant for snow, thinking she was going to drag me away from Everly. I glance around left and right, and I exhale in sheer annoyance when I see her, because this is not on my agenda for today.

I'd left Everly in bed.

Warm and pretty, scowling when I said I had to go to work.

I focus on getting back home to Everly, and I swear because this will put me back at least twenty minutes. Off to the side of the woods stands Blythe's sister. Dressed not in royal blue, but a dirty, damp dress with limp wrecked hair. She stands near a rickety fence Rylan and I had agreed needed to be replaced, watching me. I'm not quite sure she's really Jeanine, because she looks absolutely trashed. Weeks of hiding out has not been kind to her, but the snarl on her face is telling.

It is her.

The sight of Jeanine is shocking. I think of her less as the former leader of Erudite, and more as someone related to Blythe, capable of the same destruction. It's an accurate assessment, because a second later, she raises her arm, aims, and shoots me.

Well, she tries to.

The bullet goes right past, and I glance back at her in surprise. When I look at her, she's fumbling to stay upright, and her arm sways wildly.

"Hello, Eric."

"What the fuck?"

"No more games. This ends now." She fires the gun again, and I recognize it as one from Dauntless. They have an armory, well stocked yet poorly guarded, and before I'd left, I'd insisted someone might want to inventory it.

Clearly, no one listened to me.

"Are you serious?" I duck as the bullet zooms by me, and her face contorts into pure rage. She fires again, her face turning red as she misses once more. I step away, watching her carefully. She's a poor shot, but there's a slim chance she'll get lucky. "You drugged me! You took me away from the faction I chose!"

"You were supposed to listen! You betrayed me!" Her shrieking sounds unhinged, and she is. She sways wildly again, and her eyes are dark. "We had a plan, Eric! You were to lead Dauntless! You were supposed to do what I said!"

She shoots again, and this time, it comes awfully close to my ear. I swear loudly, and I realize I am woefully unarmed. In Dauntless, I had weapons assigned to me, and I had even brought one with me when I came to find Everly. It had gone the way of the dark uniform; Everly had put it somewhere, and I'd forgotten to find out where.

I swear again, realizing my brain is melting here. I was too distracted by how much I liked having a wife, and how nice it was to fall asleep beside her. I was also too distracted by how pretty she is, how her dress was looking a little too short these days, and her skin had a funny green tint to it sometimes.

"You worthless piece of –"

"Okay, okay stop shooting at me. What the fuck do you want? What do you want me to do?" I try to calm her down, so I quit moving. She has less chance of hitting me from a distance, but unfortunately, she steps closer. "You want me to go back to Dauntless? You want me to fix this? I can talk to Jack –"

"It's a little late for that," Jeanine hisses. "I'm done with you. I will make you pay for killing my sister. I'll make you pay for choosing Amity. I'll make you pay for destroying my family. Say goodbye, asshole."

"Goodbye."

This time, the gunshot comes from behind me. Two gunshots, actually. They both hit Jeanine at the same time: one hits her chest, one hits her throat, and she goes down easily. Her hands fly upward, clawing where the blood begins to spill, and her voice is weak as she gasps my name. Much like her sister, her collapse is graceless. Unlike Blythe, Jeanine screams in agony, then screws her eyes shut as she tries to stop herself from bleeding.

"Why did you shoot her! I was shooting her!"

I whirl around to see Everly standing there, wide-eyed and furious, with a gun aimed directly at Jeanine. Beside her is someone I don't know, dressed not in black, but in a plaid shirt and dark pants. His blond hair is cut short, similar to how I'd cut mine, and he towers over her. He looks annoyed, especially when she turns and glares at him.

"Of course I shot her! Why did you shoot her?"

"Why did I shoot her?! She was coming for him!" The man looks at her like she's insane. He lowers his gun a fraction of an inch, and his jaw is tense. "You told me to shoot her if she attacked him. She did shoot him. I'm protecting all of you."

"Okay, but I shot her first. I don't know why you needed to shoot her when I already shot her," Everly argues and I stand there, staring at them both in pure and utter confusion. She turns to me, and her stare is frantic. "Eric, are you okay? Sorry, it took us a long time to get here. We tried to run."

"Everly, what the fuck is going on? Who is that guy? Where did you get a gun? How did you get over here…" I pause when she looks over at me, and I have to admit, she's pretty when she's mad. "How did you know she was here?"

"Harrison called me. He told me Kacie called to say she saw Jeanine coming this way and it was likely you'd cross paths. So, I followed you and you're lucky I did. She could have hit you." Everly answers, and she turns to her companion. "Oh, and this is Carl. Carl with a C, not a K. Harrison brought him from Dauntless to help out for a while. He's supposed to be keeping you alive if it comes down to it. Even though I had it handled."

"No, you did not!" Carl exclaims. "Jeanine was shooting at him. I told you to hold your fire. I'm trained to shoot back when attacked, you know."

"You're from Dauntless?" I rub my forehead, then I rub it harder when I see Carole sprinting in our direction. She's got Howard with her, and I groan, thinking how I'll owe her twice now. "Seriously? What is going on?"

"I'm protecting you!" Carl answers quickly, and he stands up straighter, trying to be taller than me. "We met a few times in Dauntless. You were never very friendly, but uh, it's alright. I was told about your…condition. Everly and I became friends when her dad asked me to help him."

He looks down at her with some mild affection, but he stops when he sees me planning to kill him. "Hey, whoa no…I have a wife. I have a kid. Charlotte and Everly are friends. I have twins actually. Maybe more. Charlotte's really mad at me these days."

"She is," Everly confirms. "I really like her. She's very nice. I invited them over for dinner tonight. I thought I'd make raviolis."

"Am I dreaming?" I blink my eyes a few times, and behind me, Jeanine moans. Its wretched and horrific, and her breathing is choppy. When I glance back at her, her skin is a lovely shade of grey. I assume shock is setting in, and the amount of blood can't be helping. "When I open my eyes, none of this will have happened, right?"

"I'll take care of the body. Eric, are you alright?" Carole yells, and she and Howard stop by Everly and Carl. "I came running as soon as I heard gunshots."

"Of course, you did. We know you like nothing more than a fresh body," I shrug. "Here, she's not dead yet, but she will be soon. Everly and Carl shot her."

"Oh, nice. Harrison told me he'd been working to make sure you were proficient at shooting." Howard pushes up his glasses and he surveys the area. "She's not doing so hot. Are you sure you don't want her taken to Erudite?"

I stare at him, wondering just exactly what he thought could be done, and Everly catches my eye. She shakes her head, and steps over by me.

"We should just let her die. She won't make it much longer, plus you know, she tried to kill him," Everly points out, and Carl agrees.

"She's wanted for a bunch of crimes. They're going to kill her anyway."

"Eric, what do you want to do?" Carole asks, and I take a second to glance around.

Everly stands beside me, smiling with pride over shooting Jeanine, and for once wearing a coat meant for cold weather. Carl with a C, who I've never met before, also looks proud, but cold and impatient since he doesn't have on a coat. Carole and Howard stand there patiently waiting for me to make a decision, and behind me, Jeanine slowly loses consciousness, as her head slams into the snow with a thud.

The world of Amity comes full circle. Jeanine promised me we'd meet again when I first picked Amity, and she was right. She'd come for me just like she said she would, but now, there is no need to be worried. Even if we took her to Erudite, it would be unlikely she'd survive the drive there. Turning her over to Carole seems too kind and leaving her here for the wolves to eat is too fitting.

In the end, I let Harrison deal with her.

He shows up with Eden to stand by Everly, flanking each side of her and asking if everyone is okay and I let him take over.

I take one final look at Jeanine, pallid and eyes half shut and covered in her own blood, and I don't say goodbye.

I move over to Everly, I take her hand in mine, and the sense of closure is freeing.

She and I leave together.

We walk to the office while Carl and Harrison talk with Carole and Howard, and I don't look back, not until we've reached the stables. I pause at the large doors, and Everly looks up with a hint of concern, but I smile at her.

The air is back to normal.

The animals return, skittering by and scrounging for food, the air is no longer tense, and the wolves retreat back into the woods, disappearing amongst dark trees and snowy hills.

"Eric, are you okay?"

I look down at Everly, cold fingers entwined with my own, and I smile. Behind her, the world of Amity returns to its quiet self: Carole and Howard work to help Harrison, Four stumbles out of his house to shriek what is doing on, and Carl loudly tells everyone he's willing to stay if we need help, and he really, really likes it here.

The snowfall starts up again, lazy and less violent, glittering flakes falling from the sky, and I tighten my grip on Everly's hand.

"I am now."

---

Epilogue

"Are you sure you want to go?"

She shakes her head, long black hair falling into her eyes, and I brush it back. Big eyes flash up at me, pleadingly, and she sticks out her lip.

"You sure? You can stay here if you want."

She shakes her head. Her dress falls off her shoulder, a size too big but her favorite ruffly thing in the entire world, and I help her fix it back up. She smiles at me, then throws her tiny arms around my neck and asks to see the horses again.

"Okay, well…. we'll go. I think your Uncle Forrest is there."

"Forrest," Eva repeats, and she buries her head in my neck. She doesn't weigh much, and she's far shorter than I was thinking she'd be. She holds on tightly, and the two of us take off, heading toward the stables and waving hello to the neighbors during our walk.

All around us, spring blossoms.

Unlike Erudite, Amity seemed to be enchanted by each season. I spent a few summers cooling off in the lake, swimming beneath golden tinted rays of sunlight, and relaxing on the porch while Harrison grilled dinner. I spent a few falls handing out candy to Zander and his friends, dressed like my normal self, and sitting around a bonfire with Rylan and Jason. The winters weren't my favorite. Everly was permanently cold, chilled to the bone because she refused to get dressed properly, and we were forced inside. I did appreciate the roaring fires, the way she and I often wound up in front of them, and the gathering we held every year since my return.

Spring brought a lot of things, including some allergies, plenty of flowers, and a slew of blossoms everywhere. People stayed outside longer, visited and lingered on porches and patios, and stayed up late while their kids played.

It wasn't a life I ever imagined for myself, but once Eva was born, it was like everything came into focus.

After Jeanine's death, Everly told me she was pregnant by falling asleep every night at six thirty and looking like a bleary-eyed zombie for weeks. She didn't really eat, she threw up when Harrison brought over deer jerky, and once I came to bed, she confessed she thought she was pregnant.

I'd figured it out long before that day.

It wasn't hard to notice the very subtle changes to her, or the fact that she suddenly had an aversion to every smell, every food, and couldn't keep her eyes open. It also wasn't hard to notice the way she looked nervous, perhaps thinking neither of us were ready for a child despite knowing it would happen.

It turned out fine.

I held onto Eva seconds after she was born, and I knew I was screwed. She might have had my grumpy expression and indifferent attitude, but she looked just like Everly. Her hair was dark, she was on the small side, and the only proof I'd had any help in creating her was her grey eyes. They blinked up at me suspiciously, then she started crying and wailing until I handed her over to Everly.

The next few months were a blur. Eva was a good baby, sweet and easy going, until she didn't get her way. She preferred to sleep on one of us, she refused to sleep alone, and she quickly figured out if she screamed loud enough, we'd pick her up.

It didn't help that everyone was so smitten by the sight of her that she never got put down. Daniel and Camille visited often. They both held her nonstop, and there were a few arguments between Eden and Harrison over whose turn it was to see her. The support we had as new parents was overwhelming, but very helpful. They made us dinner, held her so we could take a nap, and made sure we were taken care of.

Over time, I realized having a daughter was better than I could have ever thought. When she turned one, I watched her turn her nose up the vegan cake someone had made, and smash the sugary, glittery one Hank had brought. She grinned up at me, her face covered in frosting and her pink dress streaked with pink sparkle, and she waved a tiny fist in my direction as if she were very proud of herself and she thought I should be, too. It was then I tried to imagine ignoring her, leaving her to fend for herself, refusing to be around her unless it furthered my image, or drugging her to do my bidding, and I couldn't.

It made my blood boil to imagine her hurt, and my head hurt to imagine her not being with us.

When she turned two, just a few weeks ago, I decided she was never leaving Amity. She sat beside her best friend, who was, unfortunately, Four's son, and he helped her open a present. Adam was a good kid, not much older than her, tall and polite, and very, very kind. Most kids raised here were kind, but Adam seemed to look out for Eva. Four and I side eyed each other when Adam enthusiastically gave her his gift, and Rylan lowly informed us we'd better become friends now, because we'd be related by marriage before we knew it.

I tried to punch him, but he was too fast.

His own daughter was in his arms, her long hair wild and tangled, and her feet bare. She shrieked in utter delight, yanked on his hair, and sweetly begged him for more cake.

Rylan and Courtney had named her Mars. I was there when she was born, only as Rylan's moral support, and I was awarded the title of Godfather. I accepted it willingly, and it was great practice to hold such a small creature, only to have her turn her head and barf all over me. Even better, I was stunned when Rylan turned out to be a fantastic father. Nothing fazed him, especially not fatherhood.

Which worked in his favor. Mars was wild from the start; her hair matched his and they made the same expressions, and while she looked like Courtney, she shared Rylan's inability to sit still. She was constantly covered in scrapes and bruises, and her favorite person in the entire world was Harrison. She would constantly make a beeline for him, and she loved showing him whatever trick she had learned.

She also loathed the idea of her mother being pregnant. Rylan gleefully announced they were having another baby, and he was hoping for triplets.

Jason and Sophia's son was much calmer. They'd had him a few months before Eva, and he was as serious as Jason was about aliens walking among us. I had to admit I found him pretty cute; they often dressed him like a tiny farmer, and he idolized Atlas. Atlas was older by more than a few years, but he often played with Elijah without complaint, and Jason and Sophia eventually moved over by Ian and Elisa.

The world of Amity grew in ways I never expected, and some I did. Carole took a more active part in our initiation classes, because they soon became so large it was hard to work with all of them. Howard managed to stay alive. Hank did marry Kerrie, and the two of them lived a quiet life, in a house decorated in more flowers and plants than one would imagine possible. She was very soft spoken, but she fit in well to the mix, and I found her a breath of fresh air compared to the whirlwind of Rylan careening through with Mars, or Jake and Ryan showing up with half the staff of Harry's for a surprise happy hour at my house.

"Kitty!"

Eva points to a squirrel, one watching us from a high spot in a tree, and she waves. The squirrel takes off before I can explain it's not a cat, and for once, I don't want to. I had assumed I would. Growing up in Erudite had made me very critical of the education system. I had originally found Amity's initiation lax and my assumption was their schooling was the same. I'd never thought about that until Eva was born, but a lot of things were different these days.

"Are you sure you want to see the horses again?" I ask, knowing full well the answer is yes. "Eva, want to go see Grandpa?"

She looks at me, her eyes lit up with confusion over which grandpa I meant, and she shakes her head no. "Horses!"

"Fine." I grudgingly keep walking, and I unenthusiastically wave at Four and Adam, watering plants in their yard. Eva watches intently, but she pulls on my hair and shrieks when I slow down. "I'm going, I'm going. I don't want to stop anyway. Four is annoying."

He must be able to hear me. He rolls his eyes, but he's not entirely insulted. A few days ago, I promoted him to assistant to the regional farm manager. He was decent at doing their scheduling, didn't seem to mind the long hours, and found solace amongst a sea of crops. He also worked with the army, though Harrison's eye twitched whenever he showed up.

"Eva, don't you want to take a nap?" I yawn, speeding to wave at Carole, and hurrying so she won't try to talk to me about expanding chicken rights. She'd gone to Candor to speak with Jack about this pressing issue, and he later called me and asked that she never return. "I need a nap."

"No. No nap," Eva shakes her head, and her tiny hands hold on tighter. She grasps onto the longer pieces of my hair, wavy and unruly, then she pats the beard I haven't had time to shave. I held some appreciation for life here because there was no pressure to have short hair, to shave daily, or to dress as darkly as possible. I still chose the darker shirts and pants, but I didn't feel like an imposter wearing them. "Daddy, look!"

I follow her stare to the stables, and I slow down to appreciate the sight before me.

Everly stands there waiting for us.

Her long dark hair is mostly out of its braid, her feet are bare, and her dress doesn't quite fit right these days. I imagine this baby will be a boy, though I could be wrong. There was a chance I'd end up with nothing but daughters, all looking exactly like her.

She smiles brightly at us, green eyes flashing with appreciation at the sight of me carrying our daughter, and I smile back. We head over to her, and when I'm close enough, I yank her against my side. I kiss the side of her head, and she hugs both Eva and me, brightly telling us Karl is ready to be brushed.

I hold on for just a moment longer and I don't let go until the very last second.

Coming here was by far the best decision I've ever made, one determined by a million factors, but none better than her.