Chapter Four: What's In a Name?

a/n: I really wanted to check and make sure y'all understand when this story is set. This story is set the year before Tris comes to Dauntless. Thanks for being patient with me and thanks to those of you who have me some encouragement to actually continue.

Four found her a few minutes later. She was already halfway back to her room. No one had tried to stop her.

"Mari!" He called. When she heard her name, she didn't stop, merely slowed down and allowed him to catch up.

"Ah. Four. What can I do for you?" It was like the girl he'd been talking to just an hour before was no longer there. This girl was confident and unafraid.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. He saw the corner of her mouth twitch up in a smirk.

"That? Yeah, that was called fighting." he blinked. She didn't even sound the same. They came to the room that the initiates were staying in and she sat down on her respective bed. "Don't be all shy now." she said, patting the bed next to her.

"I'm really confused." he admitted, sitting next to her, "First you're the weakest thing here and then you beat Blaize in the first few hits?"

"Clearly you're not confused then." she responded. He stared at her, "Look. You know about tactics right? Battle plans?"

"Yeah."

"Well being weak was my plan." he continued to stare at her, "Come on. You're telling me you don't think that was a great plan? I made everyone think I was weak as hell so they'd let their guards down."

"Right. But where'd you learn to fight like that?" he asked. "Did you have an instructor or-"

"An instructor? In Amity? You're not really asking me that question are you?" she laughed, "No. I taught myself, actually." He nodded.

"Because of your father?" he asked. She stared at him for a second.

"Sorry what?" she asked. He swallowed. He knew he'd hit a button, but he couldn't stop himself.

"You had an abusive father, right? I see the signs." she stared at him a second longer. She was silent, and then...

"Shut your mouth." she told him, "Shut your mouth and keep it shut. You don't know me. You don't know anything about me." And she walked away.

"Mari!" he called after her, but she wasn't coming back. He sighed and leaned against the wall.

Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? It's not like he was an emotional person to begin with. But there was something about her. Something about her that made him want to lay his thoughts and feelings out on a table just for her eyes to see.

He shook his head to rid it of those thoughts.

Mari paced the lab.

She'd found it unlocked with no one in it. There was no way she was going back to the "dorm" to think. No thinking got done in there.

How dare he? How dare he act like he knew her in any way? He didn't know her. He didn't know anything about-

"Hi." a voice said. Mari almost jumped a foot in the air. When she turned around she came face-to-face with a shortest girl with blonde hair and kind blue eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Am I interrupting you?" Mari blinked and shook her head.

"You're not mad I'm in here?" she asked. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Should I be?" Mari shook her head.

"I don't think so."

"Then we're fine. I'm Emily, by the way." She held out her hand. Mari nodded and shook it.

"Mari." Emily smiled at her.

"May I ask what you're pacing about?" Mari laughed. She hadn't even realized she was pacing. "I know I'm kind of a stranger but... I'm a good listener?"

And so Mari told her about the conversation with Four.

"If you want my opinion, which you probably don't, just give him a break." she said, "Four isn't the type to say what he's thinking. He's probably just having an off day, you know?" Mari sighed.

"Yeah I did kind of leave him there..." she replied.

"Maybe you should go talk to him?"

"Maybe..."

When she found him, he was sitting on a rock near the chasm.

"Hi." he turned around and gave her what she assumed was the closest thing he could muster to a smile.

"Hey." he replied. She climbed up on the rock and sat down next to him. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just watching the water flow, "Mari, I'm sorry for earlier. I-"

"No I'm sorry." she said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. I just... You brought up some painful memories. Memories I came to Dauntless to escape, you know?"

"Yeah. Trust me, I know." He said. She raised an eyebrow, "My dad."

"My mom." She answered the question he hadn't asked. "My dad left when I was five."

"I thought divorce wasn't allowed in Amity." she nodded.

"He faked his own death..." he looked at her, willing her to continue. "Well, for a time, my mom and I thought he had actually died. But then when I was eleven, and we were feeding the factionless with Abnegation, I saw him. He didn't even recognize me." she sighed.

"I should have never asked." he told her. She shrugged.

"It's okay." she said, "By the way I already knew about your dad, Tobias." He thought about asking how, but thought better of it.

"Well then you're smarter than everyone else here." She shrugged again.

"I try." She laughed softly, "Aren't we a pair?" He joined her with a chuckle and nodded.

"Indeed we are." He turned to look at her and stopped.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I, uh, like your eyes." he told her, his voice breaking a bit. They both blushed and looked away from each other. After a minute, she decided to ask the question that she was scared to know the answer to.

"Hey, Four-"

"You know my name." he said, "Use it." She nodded.

"Tobias," she corrected herself, "Should I be worried about the rest of initiation?" he sighed.

"Eric can get... intense." He admitted, "But in the physical stuff, it's clear you can handle yourself."

"And the mental?" she asked. He gave her a smirk.

"Meet me in the lab tomorrow and I'll tell you."

a/n: so yeah. i know it's terrible like always but i wanted to update. there will be a new chapter of bad for me up soon. ALSO the lab i keep referring to is the room where they prepare the fear simulation stuff. i didn't remember if there was a name or if it even exists so i made something up. thanks for reading!