A/N If you're like me and always skip Author's Notes... well, please review! I don't own Divergent. Enjoy. :D

Chapter 12

I wake early the next morning and dress. I am so tired. There aren't many people in the dining hall when I arrive. I grab a muffin and a glass of milk. When I finish, I head back to the dorm to wake Christina and I brush my teeth. I pull my hair into a ponytail and leave the dorms.

I wander down to the training room, and walk inside. It's empty. I know we're not allowed in the training room until Four or Eric comes, but I'm bored. I won't touch anything.

I open the door wider, and step inside. The door closes loudly behind me and I cringe. But no one comes inside, so I'm safe for now.

There are targets set up on the back wall. We will probably be throwing knives. It doesn't seem useful, but whatever. I pick up a knife and examine it. It's the same as the knives Tobias and I used. I twirl the knife in my hand and turn towards the target. I pull my arm back and throw the knife at the target, just the way Tobias and I used to. It hits the center of the target with a thud just as the door to the training room opens.

Oh no. Four will catch me, or worse, Eric. It is no use to hide, so I just watch as Four walks in. He walks over to the table with knives and grabs a couple. I walk over and grab some more too and start for the target again. He stands next to me and let's the knife fly, hitting the target dead center.

"What are you doing in here?" Four asks. In answer, I throw another knife. It hits the center, right next to my other one.

"What? How did you do that?" Four sputtered, shocked.

I smirked. "Practice. Just like yourself."

"Sure." Four snorts. "Where did you learn that?"

"Stiff fight club." I retort without missing a beat.

"Funny." He said bitterly. Why? "Where did you really learn to do that?"

"Stiff fight club!" I said. "My friend and I were exclusive members. He taught me everything I know."

"Oh. Really?" Four doesn't sound convinced.

"Sure. We practiced being Dauntless so we could fly through initiation. We decided to call it 'Stiff Fight Club'. It was an inside joke." I sighed. God, I really missed Tobias. "I really miss him." I mutter. I turn to the target and let the last knife in my hand. It hit the bullseye and stuck. I walk over to the target and remove my knives. "I'll go now." I say, placing them on the table.

"Nah, you can stay. You have five minutes. We could start early." Four eyes me skeptically. "Though, you really don't need my help."

"How do I get over it?" I whisper. "All the things he's done? They're horrible. I just can't get over it."

"I'm not sure who or what you're talking about." Four replies, yet something in his expression suggests he knows something. "But, I had my own problems when I came here, and I talked to my friend Zeke. Well, I talked to him after initiation, but still." He takes a step towards me. "You should find someone you trust to keep a secret. Trust me, opening up is a lot better than letting everything fester inside."

"I don't think anyone would believe me." I sound like a little, pitiful kitten.

Four looks at me, his expression softening, just like he's looking at a pitiful little kitten.

"I would, Tris. I would." His voice is thick with emotion.

"I know." I say. I feel terrible. Isn't that what he's been telling me all along? That he would listen to anything I tell him? Tears form in my eyes. "Look, Four. It's not that I don't trust you, I just fear that once I start talking, I won't be able to shut up." The tears are falling now. Four pulls me into a hug. His hand rubs soothing circles on my back. I start sobbing. It's quiet. A silent, body-shaking, chest-squeezing sob.

"Hey, hey." Four murmurs. His arms tighten around me. "After this we'll talk. Okay? Everything will be fine." I pull away. I have other things to do after training today.

"I'll be fine." I insist. "When I need your help, I'll tell you."

Four assesses me. He must not want to argue with me, because he lets it drop.

"Alright. Come to me. Not Eric. He's not at all empathetic."

I laugh shakily. "I will." I'm no longer sure I won't need Four's help. But after training, I'm going to sneak into the control room and find out what Four is hiding. Then, I'll know for sure if I can trust him or not.

I leave the room to wash my face. I don't want to looks like I've been crying. When I finish up, I walk back to the training room, and stand with Christina. She and Will are talking, but I'm glad to just stand in my own thoughts.

Peter is late. I smile broadly when he walks in at 8:02. Since Eric isn't here quite yet, Four glares at him.

"Why are you late?" He snaps. I snicker.

Peter looks down and shoves his hands in his pockets.

"I overslept." His words are quiet.

"Don't let it happen again!" Four growled.

Eric walks in and starts telling us what we are going to be doing, like we're too stupid to figure it out.

Then, Four demonstrates how to throw the knives. I watch his stance, then his hands. I know how to throw a knife, but I don't want to show that. I don't need to have people, Eric really, more suspicious.

Eric releases us and I grab four knives to start. I stand in front of the target and throw them all, hitting the center of the target every time. I need a secure spot in the first spot before stage two. I walk up and grab my knives and stand further back from the target.

I throw them and they still hit the bulls-eye.

When I come back from grabbing my knives again, Eric is behind me. Great.

"So Beatrice." He drawls. I glare. "You're good at aiming. Exceptional. I what to know how."

"Stiff Fight Club." I reply. Eric must think I'm messing with him, because he grabs my wrist and pulls me closer. Ew. I'm starting to put up my walls, out of habit.

"Bullshit." He snarls. "I want the truth."

"I'm telling the truth!" I retort. "My friend and I started practicing aiming and defending ourselves. We called it 'Stiff Fight Club'!" I didn't want to tell Eric anything, but lying to him would not work.

He laughs. "You and Eaton?!" He says this really loudly. Maybe it just sounds loud to me because he has practically in my face.

I worriedly glance around to see if anyone heard what he said. People are still throwing knives. No one heard. I'm okay. But how does he know who my friend is? Jeannine must have told him.

"Wow. That is so interesting. Stiff Fight Club. Perhaps I'll just happen to tell his father about this when I see him again." He's trying to rouse a reaction out of me. So instead, I act casual. I shrug.

"Do what you want." I sound and look bored, but inside I feel trapped. Eric walks off, disappointed. I continue throwing my knives from further and further back, until I hit the wall in the back of the room.

Everyone is now hitting the target. Well, everyone but Al. It is a shame that Eric notices.

"How slow are you, Candor?" Eric snarls. "Do you need glasses? Should I move the target closer to you?"

Al threw the knife and it soared to the left of the target, missing it completely.

"Well, that was pathetic." Eric says.

"It slipped." Al says.

"Well go get it!" Eric says.

"Wh-while they're still throwing?" Al stammers.

"Why, are you afraid?" Eric shouts.

"Of getting stabbed by an airborne knife? Yes, I am!" Honesty would work for anyone but Eric. We stop throwing.

"Did I tell you to stop?!" Eric yells to us. I'm so mad. This is not okay. Eric turns to Al.

"Stand in front if the target." Eric's tone is ominous.

"No." I cringe. Eric is not Marcus, but the same rules apply, in my mind. Keep your head down, mouth shut, and do as he says. I also believe that it takes more bravery for Al to refuse Eric, than for Eric to force him to stand in front of a target. That is something Eric will never understand.

"Did I say this was a choice?" Eric growls. "Go!"

Al lumbers over to the target. This is so bad.

"Four, give me a hand, would you?" Eric says.

I whip my head around to see Four's reaction. He is glaring at the floor. Then he walked over to the target. He twirls the knife in his his right hand. It angers me that he handles a knife with such casualness. Like it's a toy, rather than a weapon.

"You are going to stand there while he throws those knives until you learn not to flinch." Eric says. Oh jeez. This is wrong. Four looks at Al and lifts his hand to throw the first knife.

"Stop." It pops out almost against my will, but it is my will to stop this absurdity. Four turns to me and the look in his face is literally screaming at me, 'What are you doing, you idiot?!' He glares at me, trying to get me to shut up, but I've already decided to do what I have to in order to get Al out of harm's way.

"Any idiot can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything except that you are bullying us, which as I recall, is a sign of cowardice."

"Then it should be easy for you to take his place." Eric replied.

I shrug. "Sure thing." I retort. I walk over to the target and Al sends me an appreciative look. I lean back against the target. My head doesn't even reach the middle.

"The same rules apply," Eric growls. "Except if I see you flinch, you're out."

I laugh. "Okay."

Four turns towards me and lifts his hand with the knife up to his ear. In one quick motion, he throws the knife. It lands next to my cheek. I close my eyes and sigh in relief.

"You about done, Stiff?" Four asks me. I think about Al's sobs at night and my eyes flash to Four.

"Not even close." I growl.

"Eyes open then." He replies, tapping the space between his eyebrows with the blade tip.

I open my eyes and stare at his oddly familiar deep blue eyes. I lose myself in them and only become aware when the next knife lands an inch above my head.

"C'mon Stiff. Let someone else stand there and take it." Four says, taunting me. This makes me see red. Does he want me to fail?

"Shut up, Four!" I scream, frustrated. I see a look in his eyes that wasn't there before. A mix between anger, frustration, yet determination. Then he releases the knife. It seems closer than the other two. I hear a thud. Simultaneously, I feel a sharp, stinging pain in my ear. He nicked it. And judging by his expression, he did it on purpose.

"Well, I'd love to stay and see if you two are just as darting as she is, but I think that's enough for today." Eric muses, casually. People turn to leave. I pull the knives out of the target and start walking, but Eric stops me.

"I've got my eye on you. You better watch yourself. We train soldiers, not rebels." I nod, to indicate that I heard him, and understand what he said, then I shrug past him. Eric leaves, and now it's just Four and I.

I walk soundlessly up to him, and start twirling the knife in my hand just like he did.

"Do you think that knives are toys?" I asked casually, but anger is brewing quickly beneath my façade.

"Excuse me?" Four says, turning towards me. He watches me twirling the knife quickly in my hand. "Do you?" He asks, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to my hand.

"Point taken," I reply, placing the knives on the table with all the others. "What you and Eric did was not okay." Four stares at me.

"I'm serious." I insist. "Not to me, but Al. I can handle a knife being thrown at my face. Al can't. Eric doesn't think about others, but you do. Or I thought you did." I shake my head a little. "I really hope I'm not wrong, because if I am, I'll have no one to turn to."

Four holds his hands up to stop me.

"Hey, Tris. I couldn't deny Eric. I'm already walking on thin ice, to quote him. One more defiance on my part will rob me of my job." Four seems upset by this, and to tell the truth, I don't like it either.

"I'm sorry." I apologize. "But why did you taunt me? You could have just thrown the knives and kept your mouth shut." That was rude, but I'm so angry. Like I haven't been through enough. But now my instructor can throw knives at me if he so chooses. Not that he exactly wanted to, but still.

"Taunting you? I wasn't taunting you!" He says. "I was reminding you that if you failed, Al would have to take your place."

"Why?" I'm skeptical.

"Because your from Abnegation, and it's when your acting selflessly that you're at your bravest." Oh. That changes things.

"Thank you Four." My voice is warm and soft. I usually save this part of myself for the people I care about, but maybe Four could be a friend of mine after initiation. He seems like someone I would get along with. Obviously, I'm thinking about the fleeting moments where Four let his guard down, revealing who he truly was.

"I mean it." I say. Four steps closer to me and hesitantly hugs me. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest. The moment only lasts for a few seconds, then I step back.

"Thanks." I say. "I should go, though. I have friends to meet for lunch."

"So do I. See you later." Four says. I smile and leave the room.

A/N Yay! Knife throwing is ALWAYS fun, right initiates? Keep reviewing! Thank you! 4