Chapter 2

A/N hey everyone here's chapter 2 of Be Free and Brave I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Please review and if you have any ideas please let me know. This chapter skips Ahead to the day of Tobias' aptitude test. I was going to include the choosing ceremony in this chapter but decided not to that way I could update the sooner for everyone. Thank you to everyone who has read, favorite, followed, and reviewed it means so much to me.

-Tris POV-

Today Tobias takes his aptitude test, and although we've already talked about what he plans to do doesn't make it easier. We're both scared of what his results are; even if the results say another faction other than dauntless it's what he's not going to change his mind. But we both don't want any doubt in the decision. The hard part is what's going to happen when he leaves. Every time we talk about it he says the same thing, that he'll wait for me to join dauntless and if I'm not there in 2 years we will move on from our relationship but I don't think it's going to work. By the time I would join dauntless he would be eighteen and that's not fair to make him wait to have a relationship with a girl whether it's emotional or physical; but the thought of another girl touching or loving Tobias makes my blood boil with anger.

After laying in bed for as long as possible I start to get ready for school knowing that when I open the front door Tobias will be outside makes me get ready faster than usual. After I've finished my breakfast I brush my teeth and I'm finally ready to go. When I go to tell Caleb I'm ready there's a note on his door,

Beatrice,

I figured you and Tobias would want to hold hands a little bit sooner than when I get on the bus with Susan considering that today is his last day to walk with you. Beatrice don't be so shocked, of course I knew about you and Tobias and though I'm not trilled I know he cares about you.

-Caleb

When I'm doe reading the note of course I'm shocked that he knew I thought we were better at hiding it but apparently not. So I head down stairs and open the front door to Tobias sitting on my front steps. He turns and when he sees me he smiles at me which without fail just makes me want to melt just like anytime he kisses me. Before I can stop myself I find myself hugging him tightly its then that I notice the slight wince he makes when I hug him. Apparently Marcus decided to strike again literally except he was kind enough to not use the belt because if he had Tobias wouldn't be going to school; he must have kicked Tobias in the ribs hard.

-Tobias POV-

When Tris hugs me it hurts like hell but it is definitely worth the pain to just have her in my arms especially after the night I had and what today is

-Flashback-

I was I my room reading when Marcus comes in and yelling at me about the test tomorrow to make sure that I choose abnegation. He drags me out of my room by my hair and throws me down on the ground.

"Tobias this is for your own good" he tells me

I'm expecting the belt but instead he kicks me in the ribs over and over again until I say the words I know he wants to hear. The only problem is if you say it to early it makes him angrier and if you dot say them soon enough you'll be out cold because of the pain. After 5 kicks I tell him what he wants to hear

"Thank You Father" I say while trying not to show emotion cause if I do it'll just anger him even more.

He looks at me and then looks at my body and then tells me to take a shower and clean the carpet where he kicked me because there's blood from my injury.

He then tells me "goodnight son and good luck on your test" like nothing ever happened

I do as he asks and clean the carpet and then go upstairs to shower. When I'm done in the shower I go to bed in a lot of pain. To help relieve some of the pain I start thinking about Tris and the kiss we shared in my room earlier today. Unfortunately when I think about the kiss and her lips on the sensitive spot on my neck I start getting hard. I decide to help myself along knowing that it'll feel great but also get my mind of the pain and the emotions that follow a beating. I won't lie this isn't the first time I've fantasized about Tris but this time it's not a fantasy and that makes it even better. When I'm done I clean up and then find myself able to sleep.

When I wake up the next morning Marcus has already left for work which I'm thankful because I really don't want to look at him right now. I get ready to go but just as I'm about to leave I remember the gift I got for Tris for today's occasion because I want her to know how much I love her and that I'll wait for her.

-End Flashback-

When she's done hugging me I know she knows but I also know that she won't ask what happened because she knows I won't tell her, one day I might be able to but not today I'm not brave enough.

-Tris POV-

I know Tobias is in pain but I also know well enough to not ask him because he's not ready to share what happens I only know what I do because Tobias has come to me to help bandage his back and ribs when he can't do it himself his father stopped taking him to the hospital when he was thirteen, he said that he was man enough to take the pain and help himself because other people helping him was a selfish act and that he was abnegation so he needed to learn to be selfless. When Tobias is hurt I always want to take a belt and beat Marcus with it myself but I don't voice it because it would just upset Tobias. Although I know he knows how I feel because whenever his father is around I can't look at him without hate in my eyes.

The first thing I say to him is "I love you Tobias Eaton" he just looks at me and smiles but a single tear slides down his check and I think to myself "well you already hugged him might as well kiss him" and that's exactly what I do I kiss his check where the tear stopped ad then I kiss him on the lips sending him as much love as possible with just this one kiss. It's a simple kiss but the emotion behind it isn't. Everything that he needed to know about how I feel about him is behind that one simple but complicating kiss.

When the kiss is over he looks at me and says "I love you Beatrice Prior" when those five words leave his lips my heart beats faster and my stomach flutters like the first he said it and every day since. I'm going to miss those words and him more than anything.

He takes my hand again and laces are fingers together and then we walk to school in comfortable silence just enjoying feeling of being with each other. Right before we separate I kiss him which he deepens and even though we're in public I don't care because tomorrow he's leaving and I might not get to kiss him again so I'm going to savor every kiss until then. We separate and I hug him one more time careful not to hurt him.

"I love you Tobias, be brave" is the last thing I say before the bell rings and we have to separate.

-Tobias POV-

I'm sitting in the cafeteria with the other sixteen year olds waiting for my name to be called so I can go take the test that tells me where I belong. Though I already know that I'm going to pick dauntless part of me wants to stay in abnegation because then I won't have to leave Tris, but then I know deep down that Tris doesn't belong in abnegation yes she's selfless but not with everyone only people that truly need it. As I'm thinking I hear a woman in all black say "Tobias Eaton"

I stand up and follow her into a small room she closes the door "My name is Tori and I'll be administering your test, sit down and drink this"

I sit and drink the next thing I know I'm back in the cafeteria there are no tables but there are two trays in front of me one with cheese the other a sharp knife. Behind me a man say's

"Choose."

"Why?" I ask

"Choose," he repeats

I look back at the trays in front of me I then ask "what will I do with them?"

"Choose!" he yells

When he yells I'm reminded of Marcus and my curiosity is replaced with anger. I suddenly grab for the knife. The next thing I know there's a large dog with sharp teeth growling ad crouching low looking like he's about to attack. I drop the knife to show the dog I'm not a threat and the next thing I know its licking my face and rolling on his back for me to rub its belly but then a little girl appears, not just any girl but Tris when she was around ten yells "Puppy!"

Next thing I know the dog is running towards the girl but because tossed the knife I have no way to protect her so I run towards the dog and tackling it to the ground. When I wake up I'm back in the testing room with Tori who's typing extremely fast and nervously on the computer.

"What are my results?" I ask

"They were inconclusive" she says calmly

"What do you mean they were inconclusive? The test can't be! How am I supposed to decide?"

"There were multiple results Tobias" she says

"Multiple results? How is that even possible?" I say confused

"Your results were Dauntless because you picked the knife. Second was Erudite, because you were smart enough to know that the dog saw the knife as a threat not you. The last result was Abnegation, because you saved the girl without killing the dog while sacrificing yourself." She says in a nervous voice

"What does that mean for me? How will I know what faction to choose?" I ask

"Tobias you are Divergent, you can't tell anyone not your friends nor family do you understand it's extremely dangerous. As far as your test results in the computer are concerned you received Dauntless as your one and only result. Now leave, and if you choose dauntless be careful."

"Thank You Tori" I say

I wait on the front steps for Tris to get out of school, luckily I don't have to wait very long when she sees me a giant smile is on her face all of sudden breaks out in a run when she gets to me we kiss and its exactly what I needed after the news I just got. We made plans to walk to the meadow before the abnegation sector starts no one goes there because it would be considered frivolous and selfish to stop and smell flowers. When we get to the meadow we sit and eat the sack Tris packed for us. A few minutes later I finally get up the nerve to give her the gift I got her.

"Tris"

"Yeah Tobias" she says with a concerned voice

"Tris I know the next two years are going to be hard on both of us, so I got you something to remind you of me and how much I love you as well as the promise I made to you that I would wait for you…"

I hand her the small bag I found to put it in. She takes it and opens the bag with a gasp. In her hand is the small black pearl on a silver chain to wear around her neck. She looks at me with a huge smile and a few tears on her cheeks.

"Tobias I love it thank you it's beautiful, will you put it on me" she says in her sing-song voice that is reserved for me on special occasions like this one.

"Of course, I love you Tris" I say while putting the necklace on her

"I love you too Tobias, Can I ask you a question?" she asks

"What's your question?"

"Why a black pearl?" she asks and I know she's asking out of curiosity not because she doesn't like it

"I picked black for a couple reasons, black pearls are very rare just like you are, black to represent dauntless but most importantly it is said that a black pearl represents hope for men with wounded hearts. Tris you are my hope"

Next thing I know I'm being attacked by her kisses which I'm enjoying immensely until she pulls away

"Tobias I got you something also" she says with a smile she then hands me a small box.

I take the box an open it inside is a black leather bracelet with her birth date engraved into the leather. I know exactly why her birthday is on the leather it's the day I decided to be brave enough to kiss her for real and asked her to be my girlfriend. We used to kiss each other on the cheek but it was always as best friends until that day. It was her birthday and in abnegation people don't celebrate birthdays except for me and Tris we always did something together on each other's birthdays that day I decided to take her to the meadow.

-Flashback-

"Tobias where are you dragging me to? I thought we decided to ride the train for my birthday like we did for yours?" she asks

"Tris we'll go there next but there's something I need to do first ok? Now come on"

"Fine if we have to" she says slightly irritated with me which I know all too well after being best friends for most of our lives.

We finally get to the picnic I set up for her of her favorite food chicken sandwiches and banana bread for her birthday cake. When she sees the picnic she looks at me surprised and then gives me a tight hug. This past year we've developed the habit of holding hands and hugging it just happened one day, and since then we haven't stopped when she holds my hand it feels right like it's a missing puzzle piece that's found its place. After lunch I look at Tris and she's happy hopefully what I'm about to ask her doesn't upset her.

"Tris, I have a question and you don't have to answer if you don't want to but I need to ask this question it's important."

"Ask the question Tobias and I promise to answer no matter what." She says with a steady voice

"Tris do you umm… have you ever… do you think… gosh why can't I say this"

"Breath Tobias, just breathe it's just me here, we can tell each other everything. Just be brave Tobias" she looks me in the eye the whole time calming me down but her silver blue eyes have the tendency to do that to me.

"Tris, have you ever thought about us being together in a different way?" I ask nervously

"What do you mean? Do you want to stop being best friends?" she asks all panicky

"No Tris you'll always be my best friend, I was just wondering if you could ever see yourself as my girlfriend and me your boyfriend" I ask nervously

"since I was seven I wanted to be your girlfriend, but I settled for friend because I realized that I'm not pretty at all and you could be with a girl who is" she says deflated

"Tris you've always been beautiful to me and I was ten when I knew that eventually you would be my girlfriend. You accepted me even though I'm not nice and selfless and all my scars physical and emotional you're the only one who stayed and cared about me. Tris will you be my girlfriend?" I ask her trying to hide the desperation in my voice

"Yes, Tobias I will be your girlfriend" she says with a giant smile

Next thing I know I'm kissing her which was weird at first because it was both of our first kiss but it felt amazing to finally get to kiss her after wanting to for almost a year.

-End Flashback

"Do you like it Tobias? I thought you could wear it while you're in dauntless for the same reason you got me the pearl, maybe it was stupid idea…"

"No Tris it's not stupid at all I love it and I love you. Help me put it on and I promise to never take it off until you come back to me"

"Tobias I'm not the one who's leaving and I know you don't have a choice but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I love you so much that it's going to be hard to not see you everyday let alone not to be able to hold your hand or kiss you." she tells me this as a few tears silently slide down her cheeks. Tris doesn't cry often but when she does its usually in front of me because she knows that I won't make a big deal about them like her mother would.

"That's why I gave you the pearl to help with the pain of us not being together. Any time your hurting just look at the pearl and know that at that exact moment I'm thinking about you and us being together again. I love you Tris" I just barely get her name out before she lunges from her spot and kisses me fully on the mouth similar to the kiss we shared on the train two weeks ago. A few hours later I know it's time to go home to face not only Marcus but the decision I'm going to make and although I already know it doesn't make it any easier just like Tris said no matter what it's going to hurt.