It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. -JK Rowling

That's the exact quote Tris was reminded of the moment Four candidly asked, "What exactly happened after I left you in Tori's room?"

Right after that, her first instinct was to just lie, but honestly, she new that wasn't going to get her anywhere. The guy sitting in front of her (who was rather attractive) - he knew when she was lying. He knew when she was nervous. And he'd certainly know if she was avoiding something.

So Tris describes her whole experience starting from the moment he left to when she got locked in, finding the screen and buttons, her phone not working- She makes sure to skip the part about reading Zeke's profile and mentions how she kept hearing noises when she was clearly alone.

Tris mentions the way she could see him on the screen when he was in the infirmary, and finally, when the door opened, she was going to run over to the Infirmary when she got the feeling that someone was following her.

Four rakes a hand through his hair with an indecipherable look flashing in his eyes as Tris rushes through the next parts, talking about the metal noises, how she was knocked out, and how she had to go through some type of simulation.

"Is that the punishment you were talking about with Uriah?" He asks quietly while glancing down at her hand.

Tris nods. "Yeah. It's just really weird though, what if the place where we're playing the games is just a plain room? But it works like some type of simulation?"

He grabs hold of her right hand, the one that was injured from banging the door and then again from when she was dangling from the Ferris wheel. After turning it over a couple of times, he sets it back onto her lap.

Tris curls her fingers together in attempt to trap the warmth he'd left tingling there. She'd never really felt that with someone other than him.

Four shakes his head. "I don't know, that'd be really weird, is that even possible? Do we have the technology to even do this stuff? To have an empty room but everything we see is so real?"

Tris shrugs. "Who knows?"

"And if it really is a simulation, how are we getting hurt in real life?" He adds, causing Tris to frown and shrug again.

They're both silent for a full minute before Tris watches her phone screen light up. Forcing herself to stand and ignore the stabbing pain in her stomach, she walks over to the counter and reads the text that she'd received.

TORI- I need you to come in the Infirmary. Bring Four.

Tris feels her face scrunch up into confusion, and then frustration. "Honestly, I'll never get to freaking sleep."

Four walks up beside her and leans over her shoulder to glance at her phone screen. She tries to hold her body still and not go shaky from under his warm breath.

"Okay, let's go." He states after a moment.

When he pulls away Tris slides her phone into her pocket and shoves her sandals on. After grabbing her room key she follows Four out the door. The walk is silent and the air around them is heavy with awkwardness.

"I still don't understand what happened in your game." Tris slowly states, deciding to break the silence. "I saw you with Eric, and I saw you were badly hurt in the Infirmary too after the game."

Four walks a bit more slowly while heaving a sigh. "It's... I don't know, it wasn't much of a game, more like... a fight?"

Tris pauses for a second before continuing her pace. "A what?"

"Whoever knocked the other person out first would need to go climb the ladder and press the button at a platform."

Tris feels her eyes widen. "But you guys are both freaking..." She trails off, not knowing how to finish her sentence without embarrassing herself. What was another word for strong and muscular?

She looks over at Four to see him looking down at his shoes with a ghost of a smile. But it's not the full and actual smile he used to give.

When was the last time he'd smiled at her anyway? Or when she smiled back?

"Okay, so you both are really determined, but how did you get so badly hurt?" She remarks.

Four frowns, all traces of playfulness gone. "Well, Eric being an arrogant ass, he decided that instead of playing the game, we'd have to fight till the death. And he..." He looks at her with an almost caring look in his eyes, like he's about to tell her something but is stopping himself. "...Yeah. Obviously I wasn't going to lose, and die too."

Tris narrows her eyes, noticing the way his body was tense like he was remembering something unpleasant.

"He told you something else that bothered you," She comments, observant. "What'd he say?"

There's a long silence.

"How's your stomach?" Four asks while rubbing the back of his neck nervously and looking away.

...What?

His face looked strained. She's about to give him hell for changing the topic, but then something makes her change her mind.

"Hurts like a motherfucker." Tris states after a second of glancing at him oddly. "But I can live with it."

She's surprised at the anger in her tone.

Tris starts to walk ahead of him to leave him alone but he obviously wasn't having that.

Four abruptly places a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking, and she turns to face him, eyes narrowed.

She wanted to just talk with him, have a good time, but they couldn't even have a proper conversation together anymore.

My fucking goodness I wish I never even met this guy. Tris thinks frustratingly.

"Look, Tris, I don't why it's taking me so long to-"

"AYYYYY! Tris and Four are here!" Someone yells happily.

They both turn around to see Zeke coming their way with Shauna not that far behind.

Four meets her eyes for a second before turning toward Zeke. "Hey, why're you here?"

"Tori called us." Shauna speaks up. "I think she called everyone here too, look behind you."

Tris glances behind her to see Al and Lynn walking up to them. Al gives Tris a grin and after a moment she reminds herself to give a small smile in return.

"Well I don't think anyone slept. What the fucking hell, there was honestly no point of even going back to our rooms because now we're back here." Lynn exclaims loudly with one arm waving around and the other cradled to her chest.

Shauna shrugs. "When did anything here ever happen right, Lynn?"

"Hi Tris! Did you get some sleep?" Al asks, stepping close to her as he finally reaches everyone.

Tris shrugs. "Um, sadly no. Maybe later, I guess."

Zeke points toward the Infirmary room. "We should probably go inside."

Tris feels a large arm wrap around her shoulders. "Come on, let's go then." Al says.

For a second Tris is about to make an excuse, but then again, Al was being nice. So she bites back a remark and lets him lead her over to the door. As he holds it open for her, Tris speeds ahead and immediately notices Tori's worried look, and the mess around them.

"What the hell happened here?" Lynn whistles as they take in the papers and wrappers scattered around them.

Tris feels her heartbeat speed up. She found out that I looked through the profiles. She walks ahead, forcing herself to give room for everyone else.

No, she couldn't have known, we're in the Infirmary not her room.

"Basically, there's been a change of plans." Tori states.

"Yeah, we can't sleep. That's the change." Uriah answers as he walks in and holds the door open for Marlene, Will, and Christina.

Tris looks away from Christina, not in the mood to talk. At all.

"Other than that." Tori says. "Basically you won't be getting sleep for a while. Um, you... You have another game."

There's a long silence, no one can believe what they just heard.

"Excuse me?" Al asks, while walking to stand next to Tris again. "No way."

Tris glances at Al and they make eye contact. He gives her a shrug like it's his fault that they're not going to be able to sleep. Tris takes a small step away from him.

"I'm sorry guys. I don't know what's going on. I honestly feel really bad, but you're going to have to report to the cafeteria, you'll receive further instructions there."

Tori grabs a few papers scattered on the floor and neatly stacks them. "I know most of you are injured too, but hang in there, I know you'll be able to pass the next game, you've proved yourselves strong."

Tris crosses her arms lightly over her bruised stomach. "Why are you apologizing so much, yet you're claiming you don't know what our game is?"

Tori looks straight over at her. "Because I know that whatever it is, it's obviously going to be bad. I mean, you had your team challenge already, and now there's another game? It's bound to be miserable."

Tris frowns, still not believing her.

"There's not much time. Go to the cafeteria." Tori says loudly when no one moves.

Uriah is the first out the door, and soon everyone is following. Al places a hand on Tris's shoulder to lead her over to the cafeteria.

"How are you holding up with your stomach?" Al asks as they begin to walk through the halls.

"It's getting better, I'm surprised by how fast, too." Tris lies. "I'm sure it'll have fully healed by tomorrow."

Al nods. "That's good."

They walk a few more steps in silence before Al places a hand on her shoulder again. Tris fights the urge to smack him, she wasn't used to so much contact.

But then again, you don't mind whenever Four touches you.

She shakes that thought away and tunes back into Al.

He scratches the back of his neck. "Um, you know, I was wondering if after this is all over for now... If maybe you wanted to hang out in the training room or something...?"

He's asking me out. And I don't even like him in that way at all.

"Oh." Tris stammers, speechless. "Um... Yeah... When we all go I'll definitely spend some time with you."

Al frowns. "No. Not with everyone. I meant alone. By ourselves. Just the two of us."

Tris opens her mouth to speak, but thankfully, by some miracle, Zeke comes to the rescue.

"Hey, Tris. We need you in the front. I have to talk to you." He declares, glancing at Al briefly.

She gives Al a small shrug apologetically, then follows Zeke who's pulling at her arm. The moment they're out of hearing distance from Al, Tris lets out a deep breath.

"Thanks." She exhales. "I really needed to get outta there."

Zeke looks at her with a frown. "Wait, what? What was he doing?"

"I-" She pauses with a frown as well, mirroring his confused expression. "Why did you call me to the front?"

"Hmm.. I don't know..." Yet Zeke tilts his head to the left ever so slightly.

Tris slowly glances to her far left to see Four scrolling through his phone nodding to whatever Uriah was explaining beside him.

Zeke smirks, and sings quietly only for her to hear. "Why you gotta have no clue? Don't you know he's human too?"

Tris snorts. "What do I not know about?"

Finally, he fully looks at her. "Damn, Tris. I can't tell if you're joking or not."

"I honestly don't-"

He shakes his head. "You're so goddamn smart and observant, yet you can't pick out this obvious detail?"

Zeke sighs, knowing Tris doesn't exactly get his point.

"I mean, think about this. Four has never glanced twice at a girl. But you...?" He hums, not finishing the rest of his sentence.

"Look, Zeke." She states, "We're not exactly in a good mood with each other right now, okay?"

They finally arrive to the cafeteria. Everyone files in and Tris takes her usual seat at the edge of the bench right next to Uriah and Marlene.

Group A was already seated as well, and Tris couldn't help but look for Eric. When her eyes finally found him, she was easily able to see the bruises near his jaw and body. Bandages were also easy to spot because he was wearing a muscle tee to show off his battle scars and muscles.

She looks away when a loud ping sounds from the screen.

Hopefully you got some sleep. If not, you can do so after completing your task.

You are now going to take a test.

This is not a competition against each team, it's a challenge for yourself.

Have you ever faced your fears?

Keep that in mind as you go through the door.

Group A, file near the blue door in the back. Group B, file near the black door in the front.

Enter together though it might not make a difference either way.

Good Luck.

There's a pause from everyone in the room before they slowly make their way to the doors they were assigned to. Tris lingers near the back and crosses her arms over her stomach. Hopefully they wouldn't be doing anything that'd hurt her too bad.

"Just go, don't wait." Shauna calls out to the front of their line.

Lynn happened to be standing directly in front of the door. After hearing Shauna, she turns the knob and steps in. Everyone else follows suit, and soon it is Tris's turn.

She takes a long deep breath before setting foot through the doorway, and since she was the last one, the door automatically slams closed behind her.

Tris is engulfed in darkness within seconds. It felt like her eyes were closed, she couldn't see anything.

"Guys?!" She yells, only to hear her voice echo back. Why was she alone?

"What the fuck?" Tris hisses in confusion and frustration. She'd literally entered seconds after Shauna did.

Suddenly, there's a dull yellow light in front of her. Far away, but close enough to see.

Slowly, she holds her arms out in front of her and begins to walk. It was such a vulnerable feeling to be walking in complete dark, feeling like any second someone could grab your body and you wouldn't even be able to see them.

There's a loud bang, Tris curses as her head smacks into glass.

The light was suddenly brighter and it took her a moment to realize it was a spotlight directly above her.

Tris yelps as something cold touches her feet. Jumping away, her eyes widen after realizing what was beneath her.

Water.

She was in a glass box with water near her feet.

And it was starting to fill rather quickly.

"Oh my God." Tris murmurs. "How the hell...?"

She immediately scoots to the very corner of the tank and presses herself against the cool glass.

Tris takes a sharp intake of breath when the water reaches her ankles. She couldn't even tell where the water was coming from, only that it was there and filling so fast.

It isn't until after the water reaches her knees that she begins to panic and take her situation more seriously. The water wasn't stopping, there wasn't a way out at all.

Tris moves so that she's standing directly in front of the glass and starts pounding her fists against it as hard as she could.

No progress.

A wave of sudden fear rolls over her. She was trapped. She couldn't get out. There was no way she could do a thing.

And she was so scared.

It was like something woke up and was screaming inside of her. This was one of her fears.

The water was reaching her waist.

She stares at her helpless and desperate looking reflection. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to drown, she was terrified.

The water was now passing her collarbone.

This can't be real, I don't want to drown.

I wish this could break like ice.

Then the water reaches her chin, and Tris takes her last deep breath before she is finally and completely submerged under water. But this time when she taps on the glass with her fingertips, it shatters as easily as thin ice.

Just like she'd wished for.

Now she is standing again in darkness, with another dim light up ahead.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" Tris yells, cold, wet, and shaken. She holds her hands out in front of her.

Just try to get through the hallway.

Before she can take one step, she is swept off her feet with a big wave of water.

Panic and surprise, that's all that goes through her head as her body flies to the ground.

Frantically, Tris waves her hands in front of her in attempt to break her fall but instead, her fingers clasp around something grainy and hard.

A rock.

She curses loudly as her ankle bangs straight into a jagged corner and cuts through her flesh.

Tris couldn't even speak or scream, every time she opened her mouth, a huge splash of salty water sprayed into her mouth and burned at the cuts on her body. She was being whipped around by huge waves that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

There was a deep dread filling in her stomach, and the only thing Tris wanted was to get a fine hold on the rock- except each time she got one hand to find a good grip her other hand would slip right off.

She was out of control and it was driving her completely insane. Fear and despair coursed through her own tired veins.

Come on this can't be fucking real. Water from nowhere? Hell to the no.

Tris screams in frustration as her knee bangs into the rock again. But then that's when she notices an indent in the rock almost shaped like a hook. It was all the reassurance she'd needed.

Throwing her entire weight and concentration into that small hope, Tris jumps and tightly curls her fingers around the curve she'd discovered.

The water stops crashing around her and within seconds she is standing in a bedroom. Her bedroom.

However, it is covered with mirrors everywhere.

Tris feels a frown start to take hold on her face, but it doesn't last long before she yelps in surprise as a loud banging sound comes from her window.

Turning around, Tris lets out a terrified scream. There's a bloody man trying to break in.

No, not trying.

He'd already unlocked the latch to get in.

Frozen with fear, Tris watches as he slowly climbs inside of her room with blood dripping from his torso.

Then she turns toward her door and starts to run.

"LET GO OF ME!" She shrieks as an arm grabs hold of her, and it takes her a second to apprehend that there were more bodies behind her. Taking one glance, she sees people with mangled bodies and faces struggling to get to her.

Tris couldn't even breathe anymore. It was like she was watching herself in third person, unable to move and unable to talk.

No no no no no, what did I do before, how do I get out of this?!

I wished for something and it happened.

I need to protect myself.

I wish for a gun.

It's like a switch is turned on inside of her, and she instinctively navigates herself toward her closet and quickly runs inside.

Her hands find cool metal almost immediately, and she begins to shoot whatever comes in her way.

Every single mangled body.

The scene around her begins to fade into black, and Tris is absolutely grateful because she didn't want to see splatters of blood anymore.

Then she's in a new room with metal walls surrounding her.

The breath is knocked out of her as she recognizes the three figures standing in front of her.

"WHAT?! Mom?! Dad?! Caleb!" Tris cries as her legs immediately launch herself forward-

-but she doesn't make it very far before a strong arm pushes her back.

"Do it. Kill them." A man in front of her demands as he tilts his head to her. "Which one shall die first, eh?"

Tris follows the man's gaze to her body and notices the gun in her right hand. It was different than the one she had been carrying a minute ago.

"W-what?" She whispers.

"Someone has to die here first before they all do." He states while raising his arm with his own gun in hand. "If you don't choose, I will. I'll kill them in front of your eyes. I'm giving you 10 seconds."

Tris feels the tears fill her eyes as she watches her family in front of her. This wasn't real. But it looked real. It felt real.

"Ten."

Caleb smiles reassuringly. "Bea, it's okay, you can kill me first."

"Nine."

Tris shakes her head, the tears beginning to spill.

"Eight."

"Beatrice, honey, don't kill them, just kill me. It's okay, don't cry." Her dad gently tells her.

"Seven."

She whimpers. No. Never. Not dad either.

"Six."

"Beatrice sweetheart, we all love you. Momma loves you more. We all understand, go ahead, don't cry my dear."

Tris shakes her head, fast and vigorous.

Hearing her Mom's loving voice sends her over the edge. Her tears are falling with no way to stop them.

"Five."

She could never lose her family. It happened once, it wasn't going to happen again.

And she knew with all her heart, that they'd be ready to sacrifice themselves for her the same way she'd always be ready to sacrifice herself for them.

Tris turns to the man and raises her gun. He snorts.

"You fool, you cannot shoot me."

Tris scowls. "Wasn't planning on it."

Her vision becomes black as she tilts the gun to her own head and pulls the trigger.

Nothing.

She was standing in the middle of downtown Chicago at night with hundreds of security officers walking around.

There was a young guy sitting with his head against a building, not being noticed by any civilians walking past, and as Tris makes her way closer, she recognizes him insanely fast.

"Four?" She whispers.

He had a wound on his stomach and had a look of pain on his face, but as soon as he hears her voice, his expression softens.

"What? Tris?" He asks as he turns his head.

Tris watches as his eyes widen in surprise, and when she glances at her reflection from a window next to her, her eyes widen too.

She was wearing a blue sparkly sequined dress that stopped at her thighs and her hair was hanging loose right past her shoulders, lightly moving with the breeze.

Looking around her, Tris gapes at the fact that every girl around her was wearing the same thing.

Except Four was only staring at her.

He clears his throat and begins to push himself up. Tris rushes over to his side after watching him wince.

She supports him as they stand together and she tries to hold his body weight as he leans on her for support.

"What happened to you?" She asks.

Four frowns. "We need to get out of here, I'll explain later."

Tris furrows her eyebrows. "What?"

"Just go." He says, and Tris begins to guide him toward the alleys.

They walk for a good four minutes before a man passes by.

He whistles as he eyes Tris's body. "Damn, what a sight."

The man reaches out for Tris's waist and she gets ready to punch him, but in a flash, Four's arm whips out and shoves the man back so hard it's enough to send him a few steps away..

Four's smile is full of artificial charm. "Don't ever do that again."

But despite his smile, the man is smart enough to see the fire and intensity in Four's gaze. Noting the obvious hint, he backs away and gets lost in the crowd.

Tris whips around and scowls at Four. "What the hell? I can protect myself you know."

"I saved you the trouble. He would've picked a fight."

"You idiot, you can't even stand straight." Tris hisses. "What makes you think you can fight him?"

Four looks at her with an irritated stare. "If it comes to defense, I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"As am I, thank you." She retorts, pulling away from him.

A mistake. Four stumbles but when Tris goes to reach for him again he stands straight, hiding the strain it was causing him. "I'm fine."

Then the scene changes, and she is with Four again, however they are running with guns in their hands.

Confused, Tris glances beside her and opens her mouth to speak. "Four, what are we doing?"

He looks at her urgently. "I told you a second ago, were you not listening?" He just shakes his head. "Of course you weren't listening, why would you with everything going on around us?"

Then Tris notices the background around them. Fire. Blood. Screams and moans. Shots.

"We need to get to the evacuation center and get out of here, we're the only two soldiers left out on the field. Everyone is safe."

A bullet whizzes past Tris's shoulder, and Four immediately pulls her closer to him without breaking their pace.

Then he takes a deep breath as they turn a sharp corner. "As a soldier, I have one last thing to do here."

Tris frowns, starting to feel her breathing become quicker than usual from their fast sprint. "What?"

"Whatever happens, no matter what happens to me, leave me and get to safety."

"Hell no!" She screams to him as they dodge another bullet. "We're getting out of this together, understand?"

Deep dread and fear begins to uncurl from her stomach.

Then there's a loud boom, and before Tris can comprehend what's going on her body is thrown to the ground by the explosion.

"NO FOUR DON'T DO IT!" Tris screams, she knows what he's going to do.

But it's too late, Four had already thrown himself on her body to shield her as well and the whole area around them turns a bright fiery red.

When the smoke clears, she realizes she was not harmed at all.

But the body lying motionless beside her?

Four.

Motionless.

Dead.

All because he felt that it was his duty to protect her even though she was fully capable of doing it herself.

Four's body melts away into blackness leaving Tris kneeling in the dark hallway alone again with tears streaming down her face.

She was so done.

Pushing herself off the floor unsteadily, Tris breaks into a full-on sprint through the hallway. It didn't matter that her tears were making her vision blurry, because she couldn't see a damn thing anyway.

Except the floor beneath her feet was now hard. And how did she know this? Because she could see again.

Collapsing onto the ground, she looks around her and comprehends that she is outside practically lying down on a road. There is no sunshine, but it is morning. Just dark clouds blocking the sunlight.

In front of her, there's a huge board with the names of everyone in Group B and a timer next to each name.

Tris grasps two things from the board in front of her.

For one, her time had stopped counting the moment she'd busted out of the dreaded fear hallway.

And two, the time next to her name was unbelievable.

00:05:24

5 minutes after all that?!

Something had to be wrong. She'd been terrified and running for her life for maybe more than 30 minutes, so how the hell was it five minutes?

Yet, the seconds on the other timers were going slow and steady so there was no way hers went faster than the others.

Wait.

Her timer was the only one that had stopped. No one else had come out?

Seriously? Last one to enter, first one to exit.

Beyond my imagination.

Tris brushes a hand through her now damp hair and shakes her confusion away.

Obviously, that was a bad idea, because apart from confusion, the only other emotion she was feeling was fear.

Had she really just faced some of her fears?

Tris can feel the tears start to well up in her eyes and a lump form in her throat as she remembers her family. What was that? They'd been so real, their faces, their bodies, their voices.

Even their personalities matched her memory perfectly.

Then the reality of it hits her. She might never see them and feel them so close like that again. Her parents were dead already.

A loud gasping noise makes Tris whip around to see Uriah stumbling through the doorway. His time stops.

About 7 minutes.

Tris makes her way over to him and rubs at her face to conceal all her pain, and she appreciates the way Uriah doesn't point out her tears as well.

"W-when did yhou g-ghet here?" Uriah asks, huge gushes of hair bursting through his move so heavily it was hard to understand him.

She gestures toward the board and Uriah's eyebrows rise as he reads the time. "Wow."

They both are silent for a minute before Tris catches the way Uriah eyes were welling up as well.

"Fucking hell, that was so damn scary." He gasps shakily, no longer caring about acting calm and strong about it. "Tris I can't-"

He trails off, not knowing how to explain the fear and adrenaline all in one sentence, but Tris nods showing that she understands completely.

Uriah places his hand on her elbow and gives it a squeeze. "I can't even think right now, everytime I blink I can see it still." He pulls his arm away from her and turns. "Is it okay if I leave you? I'm just gonna go on a run, I'll-"

"-It's fine, do what you have to do." Tris interrupts, already feeling vulnerable all over again.

Uriah gives her a nod of gratitude, then begins to run.

Tris takes a deep shuddering breath and makes her way over to the curb. She plops down onto it and brings her knees to her chest, deciding to just let her tears fall. Burying her head into her knees, she lets out little whimpers. She was tired. Extremely tired. Tris couldn't remember the last time she'd even gone to sleep. Or what about food? Had she eaten?

A stupid question, she wasn't even hungry. Who would be?

As she closes her eyes for a few seconds, she understands what Uriah is talking about. A mangled body with a bloody face stands before her every time her eyes are closed for more than 3 seconds. She was going to be scarred for a long time.

Tris decides to study her wounds. Nothing too serious, only scratches, scrapes, or bruises. The worst of it seemed to be her ankle, but she couldn't feel any pain because of all the adrenaline running through her, only a small buzz in the areas where she was hurt.

Then there's faint coughing, but immediately, Tris feels her body react in a way it never had before. A strong surge of relief and warmth all at the same time, and to top it all off, terror.

Tris knows who the body walking through the doorway is before she can even see him.

And when Four suddenly steps into view, she feels her breath get taken away.

Never had she seen such a beautiful human being in her life.

He'd sacrificed himself for her in her fear, and she absolutely hated it. In her fear, he died for her, and she was so sure for a moment that it was real and the person in front of her was a dream.

I said I hope we never fucking met. I might as well have said I wish he'd died. Tris thinks in complete horror.

It was the last straw of her sanity to keep a strong posture any longer.

She jumps up from the curb and breaks into a sprint. The moment she reaches Four, she flings herself against him so hard that even though he manages to catch her he goes walking a few steps back. Before he can say anything, Tris bursts into sobs as she buries her face into the crook of his neck.

"You're okay you're real you'refineIhateyouwhydidyoudieformeImsorryIwantedyoutodieididntmeanithowcanyoulookatme?!" The words jumble into a mess as she lets out another sob and the last of her sentence is not heard.

Warmth and reassurance is all she feels from the heat radiating off of Four.

"Shh. Shh. Tris, shh I'm alive, I'm here, don't cry." He whispers over and over, yet she can hear the slight tremble in his own voice from having just gone through his fears as well.

He seats them both onto the curb and pulls Tris so close that she is overwhelmed with the sweet humming sensational buzz throughout her whole body.

Four buries his head into her hair and tightens his arms around her. Tris was too exhausted to let out another cry, instead, her body shakes uncontrollably from either fatigue or distress, she couldn't tell.

It was crazy, she only knew this guy for what? A few weeks, and suddenly he was all Tris wanted. To be in his embrace forever.

How had she lived with him for so long without even trying to hold him like she was now? It was so thrilling. She wanted to kiss him, to get lost in him, right then and right there.

Just the very thought and urge made her spine tingle.

The thought of Four dying scared her so much, she still couldn't even understand.

Tris breathes in his scent as he holds her tightly against him.

No. Wait. She was acting insane.

Little pieces of her sanity were piecing back together again.

What was she doing?!

Tris pulls away from Four and stares at his face, trying to study his expression. She jumped on him, did he have any wounds? Was he hurt? How did he carry her then? Did he want her off his lap? Why was she so fucking stupid?

Tris vigorously wipes her tears off her cheeks and begins to stand when Four opens his eyes again. His eyes search hers and she is so taken back by the intensity and exposure from his gaze. Never had she seen so much vulnerability in him until then.

He wipes a stray tear from her cheek and Tris finds herself leaning into his touch. Craving it, even.

Don't. The logical voice in the back of her head tells her.

But she was so done.

She didn't even care anymore.

So Tris leans her head against his forehead and lets out a small breathy sigh. Four tilts his head up and brushes the most softest kiss under her eyelid.

"I'm sorry." Four whispers against her skin. "For always fighting with you. I'm just... I don't know."

Tris tries to hold her composure and not go shaky from his hot mouth on her skin. "Don't be sorry."

They're silent for a second as Four brushes his lips on the tip of her nose.

"Are you still pissed at me?" He whispers, afraid to hear her answer.

Tris pauses.

Then all she does is lift the corners of her mouth up. And when Four sees this through his half closed lids, Tris feels his mouth curve upward against her skin as well.

She couldn't recall them being like this to each other in so fucking long. It was always shouting and arguing or just complete silence.

For the first time after so long, they both smile.

And it just felt so good to finally let go.

A/N- Hey guys,

Thank you SO much for you help and suggestions, it really did help me with getting snippets of your ideas and combining them into this chapter.

And I know. I'm sorry. I can't even talk... or type how sorry I am for like, disappearing for months, but I wrote this long chapter to make up for it and hopefully you guys don't hate this story.

I think I just needed a break to deal with life and to try and get inspired by different things to use in my story.

Please follow, fave, or review (definitely) if you haven't.

I'm hoping I haven't lost all of you. :(

Love you all, I'm not even joking. Love you to the moon and back.