Author's note

As with all Fan Fiction I want it noted that I am taking some liberties with this with things that are not expressed in the original books. But it was just my way of explaining away a problem that might come up if I didn't. Enjoy.

Repost for minor edits: 10/18/2020

Christina was the first to our table and her eyes were wide, "What's going on?"

"I have no idea," I said shaking my head and huff out a short laugh.

"We'll talk later," she asked.

"Yeah, I need help with this one," I laughed.

Uriah sat down next to me and put his arm around me in a hug, "Hey, you. I would ask if I need to beat him up but I honestly don't think I can take him. He's on a whole different level of crazy."

Christina looked up from filling her tray, "So what are we doing tonight? Anything?"

"Well I was planning on just going to bed. Today was interesting to say the least." I rub my jaw, "But after that encounter I want to go hit something."

Christina looked at me closer, "Where did the bruise come from?"

I rolled my eyes, "Four and I got into a fist fight on the train coming back from the Candor hearing today."

Uriah looked at me closer, "Seriously? First you break Eric's nose then you get into a fist fight with Four? Why do I feel pointless right now?"

Will looked up from his food, "Are you kidding? Tris and Christina are two of the most serious bad ass girls here."

Christina smiled over to Will, "Yeah, and you like that I'm a badass."

"Yes, I do. No argument there," his smile got bigger, and I couldn't help but smile at them. Seeing them like that made me want the same thing for myself and Four. But that was seeming further and further off.

Just then Four walked in the door and looked over at me like he knew where I would be and then he looked at Eric and back at me with a raised eyebrow. I roll my eyes and return to my food. It was such a quick exchange no one else even noticed it. Zeke came in behind Four and I could see he suggested sitting at our table. Four just shrugged at him and followed Zeke over. Zeke sat on the other side of Uriah and Four sat across from Zeke and next to Will. Which created a very awkward situation because he kept looking up and glowering at me. Uriah hugged me in closer and kissed the top of my head.

I looked at Four to see him close his eyes and sigh like he was getting himself under control before asking, "Are you going to the training room tonight, Tris?"

I glare at him playing the part, "I was thinking about it."

Christina looked over at him, "Seriously, Four, one fight today wasn't enough?"

"Christina!" I say trying to get her to stop.

"What?"

"Your Candor is showing. And I've had enough of that today," I say back.

Four shook his head, "No, she's right. Today about got us both canned. We need to bury the hatchet. We've got a lot of work ahead of us." He looked me in the eye and I know that this was the beginning of the next section of his plan. "I apologize for my part of it." He held his hand out for me to shake.

"Well, I've apologized enough for the both of us so I'm not saying it again," but I did accept his hand shake.

He nodded, "Well, then, I accept that apology, finally."

Uriah hugged me close again, "See we can all get along. It's all good." And then he kissed my head again.

Four clenched his jaw and said, "Seriously, all the Amity in the room is going to make me sick." He shoved his burger in his mouth and wouldn't look at me again.

Christina gave me a meaningful look, looked at Four and then back at me. She mouthed, "we have to talk."

I nod, "You know I think I am just going to head home and go to bed. I'm exhausted."

Christina perked up, "Can I stay the night with you tonight?"

Will looked at her, "Hey what about me?"

I laughed, "You're not spending the night at my place. You snore too much. But Christina can."

"I don't snore," Will said in a hurt voice.

Christina nodded, "Yeah, you do."

Four glanced at me but didn't make full eye contact. I could tell he wanted to find a time and place for us to talk. But with Christina spending the night it wouldn't help. But there was no way to get around the situation, now.

"Hey, Chris, why don't you go get your things and I'm going to at least get a run in. I'll meet you back at my place in about 2 hours or so? Remember it's hot in my apartment."

"Yeah, okay, that sounds good," she said and grinned at Will in a way that said she really hadn't heard me and it might be longer than two hours.

Uriah shook his head, "I've already done one run this morning with Will and Zeke. I haven't got the energy."

Four finished his last fry and said, "Do you mind if I join you?"

I nodded, "In the spirit of burying the hatchet. Sure."

Christina glanced at me as Four and I got up and started to leave. I just shook my head because I was not having this discussion here.

"Four, I've got to go to my apartment and get changed."

He nodded, "Yeah, me too."

Four and I walk back to our apartments together but quietly, we're still playing parts even if it were more subdued. We still act like we're not happy with each other. When we got upstairs we silently entered our separate apartments and it was almost immediately he was at my window. I opened it and he jumped through. We were still in the middle of a heat wave so I opened up several more windows, with Tobias's help, while I was at it. I figure the room might have time to cool off before Christina came up. I turned to Tobias and he pulled me to the bed. The intense look on his face told me he didn't want to talk or go for a run. "Hey, we still have to play this out. We have to be where we say we're going. We can't suddenly be all over each other. We have to do this slowly."

He growled, "I know but give me 10 minutes." And we fell on the bed together with him on top of me. Kissing me like he did before, like I was the only thing saving his life, and I was immediately put into a sensual fog where he was the only thing I wanted or needed. His touch and kiss erased all the crap of the day. And I felt so good that something clicked in my brain. Everything that I'd worried about with intimacy was wiped away, too. I wanted him and even though everything else around me was going crazy he was the rock I needed to stay sane. And these moments like this were not to be feared but enjoyed because it grounded me.

"MMMM…Tobias we need to stop," I said pulling away.

He rested his forehead against mine, "Sorry, got carried away. I know you aren't ready yet and this is not how I want it to happen."

I smiled because I knew he was reminding himself to not push me too far. "That's not really it." I put my hand to his cheek, "I am ready, I'm not scared any more, and I want you. It's just the timing is really bad. We have to go for that run and Christina will be here tonight."

"You're killing me here, Tris. I didn't need to know you're ready. Now that's all I'm going to be thinking about," He said with a smile, and rolled over onto his back to catch his breath.

I sat up and looked back at him, "I'm sorry, I know this is all horrible timing."

He reached over and took my hand, "Stop apologizing. You're right that the timing is off. I don't have protection for you so we'll have to figure out what precautions we need to take. And how to get those precautions where it doesn't give us away. We have to be careful."

I nodded, "I could talk to Christina, she knows that it's one of my fears so I can just play it off as I am just trying to overcome that."

He nodded and pushed himself to his feet, "Okay, get changed and I'll come knock on the door in about 15 minutes or so." He pulled me up and kissed me one last time before leaving the room.

By the time he knocked on my door I had changed into a tank top and running shorts. I just hoped it wasn't as hot in the training room as it was up here. It was underground so maybe I had a shot in cooling off. When I opened the door he had his Four face on but he looked me over for a second and then shook his head, "You think we can do this without killing each other."

"Probably not but at least we can say we tried," I said and headed out after him.

How it turned into a race I will never know, full out running for as long as we could handle it. He chose the path because he was faster than me, and had longer legs. We headed towards the training room and made a couple of laps there then left and ran all over the dauntless compound and through so many obstacles I thought I was going to wind up dead before we were done. We stopped at the Pit for a breather. When we ran in people were staring and I realized why he chose to go all over the compound. The more people who saw us getting along in some way the better the chances it got back to Max that we were behaving ourselves. As I stood at the rail catching my breath I saw Christina was headed in the direction of my apartment. She stopped and looked at me funny.

"What?" I asked breathless.

She leaned in, "Umm, nothing but you aren't wearing much clothing and you two look all hot and sweaty together. It's an interesting look is all."

I roll my eyes at her, "Come on let's go back upstairs so I can get a shower."

She shook her head, "I am not running right now. I just had a shower."

"Fine I'll meet you up there," I took off running again and I here footsteps behind me and I look back to see Four running after me. I grin and take off at a faster pace.

I hear him groan and speed up to not only catch up but pass me. I speed up to try and catch him before we make it to our apartments. We have a serious problem with competition.

I didn't quite make up the space to pass him before we got to our rooms but we both nearly ran into the end of the hall before we got stopped. I sank to the floor trying to catch my breath when I hear him chuckling next to me. I look over at him and start laughing too. He points up to the camera right over our heads. They probably can't see us from the camera angle but they can hear us if they turn on the mic. "That was stupid," I say.

"Yep, but I think it was necessary," he said. There were so many things we couldn't say right now and that run released a lot of tension. For Tobias and Tris it was more sexual tension but for Four and Tris it would hopefully look like we released a lot of anger in a non-damaging way. He stood up first and gave me his hand to pull me up. "I guess I'll see you in the morning. I'll let you know as soon as I get that list."

"Alright," I said and let myself in my room. It was weird knowing he wouldn't be there tonight. I rushed through my shower and threw on a different pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

I was just coming out of the bathroom when I heard a tap at the door. I swung the door open and Christina didn't wait on the invite. She just came right in throwing her stuff everywhere and unloaded several muffins on my table along with several bottles of water. "I got us some snacks at the dining hall. Figured you might want something after your run."

"Yum," I said slamming the door and grabbing a muffin and some water. I plopped myself on the couch and looked at her, "I know you're dying to ask so go ahead."

She sat down on the other side of the sofa and said eagerly, "SO, what happened today? Cause there was a LOT of weirdness going on."

"Tell me about it. Some of it I don't even understand," I told her the version of the story that the others involved would be seeing. Explaining how Four couldn't seem to keep still at the meeting. I kept some things to myself due to my job but explained how he seemed to have an attitude and I wasn't sure how that was going down with Marcus. This, then, led to our disagreement before coming home and on to me punching him then him punching me. I also explained what I knew would be safe to say about our meeting with Max, which wasn't a lot, and that Eric was there giving commentary. I didn't go into the tactical teams because I wasn't sure who would be on the list we got. Then I covered what Eric said to me at the table and what I told him. "And that's where you came in."

Christina's mouth dropped open, "Oh my God, Eric's insane."

"Yeah, I'm fully aware." I said back picking at my muffin.

"So what do you think Four is thinking? I mean, he's been furious with you for a couple of months and now he's just okay with everything because his boss says he should be?" She asked and I could see that as a red flag.

"I think he's thinking the same thing I am. If we don't want to be Factionless or demoted to horrible jobs we need to find a way to work together. We don't have to like each other but we can't keep getting into fist fights or yelling matches in front of people," I said and take a drink of my water.

"I guess I can see that, he's pretty serious about his career and very intense."

I hedged, "So on to a different topic. I have a weird question to ask you, or lots of questions, actually."

She tilted her head curiously, "Sure, anything."

"So you know that one of my fears is… well… sex. And it's not something we talked a lot about in Abnegation. I think that's where the fear stems from and I was hoping you could help me. I mean I know the basics obviously because we're taught that in school but I also know there's a lot I don't know," I say embarrassingly.

"Oh, okay, yeah," she said and her openness to hear me out made it very easy to continue. Apparently she had this whole conversation with her mother several years ago and being Candor they just tell you what you want to know without making it seem like something you shouldn't talk about. We talked about types of birth control that I had no idea existed. Like the doctors could just give you a shot and you were good for six months. She said as soon as she and Will moved in together she got her first shot. Apparently a lot of Dauntless women get it because it's easier to keep up with and nobody cares in Dauntless if you're having sex with someone. But people do care about unexpected pregnancies. I nodded, that made sense with the Dauntless attitude, doing what you want but don't be stupid. By the time we had pretty well exhausted this topic I realized it was midnight and I needed to get up in the morning. Thankfully, I did have an alarm next to my bed now and wouldn't need to rely on Tobias to wake me up.

We pulled out the couch for Christina and when I lay down in my bed I could smell Tobias on the sheets. I smiled despite the fact that I knew he wasn't there. It made me feel good to have his scent.