Author's Note: Well, hello. It's been awhile. I don't have much to say, so I won't keep you. Here's the next chapter.

-Elise (Daisydot227)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Divergent, or any of the characters. That all belongs to Veronica Roth.

Chapter 12: An Important Message

Tris's POV:

On Monday I walked to work, the last of the orange fall leaves fluttering down on to the sidewalk. The sky had become permanently overcast, and the nearly bare tree branches shook in the chilly wind. The sidewalks were fairly crowded, but I managed to keep a quick pace as I moved towards the Abnegation building.

I pushed through the heavy doors, sighing in relief at the warmth inside the building. I shrugged off my coat as I entered the elevator, and hung it on a coat rack as I reached my cubicle.

I was sitting for hardly a moment at my desk when someone gave me word that Marcus wanted to speak to me. I went over to his office, and knocked at the wooden door.

"Come in," spoke his gruff voice, and I pushed open the door.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes," he said, and gestured to a chair across from him, which I took. "It has come to my attention that you have been working here for quite a while now, and although you have been missing a fair amount of work these past couple days, a position has opened and I'd like for you to take it."

I stared at him with surprise, but didn't speak, so he continued. "The opening is for head of the parks service. Our past head as retired, and you seemed like a good enough candidate for the job. You'd be seeing over the maintenance and upkeep of the parks. What do you say?"

"Of course," I answered instantly. "Thank you for this opportunity."

He nodded. "Of course, I'm expecting that you come to work more often, Ms. Prior. You can't go running off for trivial things."

"Yes, sir."

He smiled. "Good. I'm proud, Beatrice. I'm sure your parents feel the same way. I've always thought of you as family, especially since my son Tobias changed factions. I'm glad to see some of our youth have remained true to Abnegation values."

"If you don't mind my asking, sir, which faction did your son switch to?"

"Dauntless, of all the factions," he said quietly. I stood up to leave, and said goodbye, but Marcus didn't seem to hear me.

With my new job, I became busy, and seeing Four was a rarity. I ate dinner with my parents once a week, and began to correspond with Caleb via letters. Robert, although I left him alone on our disaster date, began sending me flowers.

A month after my promotion, I was sitting in my bedroom reading Romeo and Juliet. I heard a sound on my window, but when I looked over there was nothing there. A moment later, I heard a cracking sound, and the next second I saw a small stone hit the window.

I went over and opened the window, and I could see Four in my backyard, his arm poised to throw another stone.

"Finally," he said. "I had begun to think you were ignoring me."

"Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" I said with a small smile, not expecting him to understand my reference.

"A rose by another other name would smell as sweet," he quoted, grinning up at me. "Although, in this case, by any other faction."

"You read Romeo and Juliet?" I asked in amazement.

"Sure. I mean, I don't look to be the kind of person to read Shakespeare, but his plays were excellent."

I smiled, "I'll come down then."

I hurried down the stairs and pulled the door open, rushing to hug him. We stood in the frame of the back door, Four's chin resting on my head.

"Hey," he said at last.

"Hey," I whispered back, moving my lips against his chest.

"Let's go for a walk."

Four and I stepped out in to the cold wind, the remainder of the leaves moving across the ground as if pulled by an invisible string.

"This is exhausting," I said as we walked down the street, not touching, but comfortable in the presence of one another. "We can't be seen together, always meeting in secret."

"I know. Maybe we could convince them, but even still it may not end well."

"You wouldn't think they would kill us, would they? Not for something like this."

"We can't be sure, but I wouldn't put it past them. They take keeping the faction separate very seriously. With something like this, a whole uprising could be caused," he said, the dark shadows sweeping over his face. Four stood at the end of the street, in the circle of light from the streetlamp.

He pulled me in to the bright glow, and held me close.

"You should come see the rest of Dauntless sometime. I'd like to show you."

"I'd like to see it," I replied. Four leaned down and kissed me, his lips brushing my cheek, and then pressing against my mouth.

"I should go now. But perhaps I will show you Dauntless. It's quite magnificent, actually."

With that he was gone, and I stood alone in the bright light. I turned to head back to my house, but I found myself looking across the street towards Marcus's house. In the upstairs window, a soft light shone, but the curtain moved suddenly, like someone had been watching. I squinted, and I could faintly see the outline of a figure facing me from behind the thin fabric.

The next morning, I was putting my trash on the curb when Susan came running over to me with a piece of paper waving in her hand.

"Hello Beatrice," she said, greeting me with the usual Abnegation respect. I could tell she was trying to follow the manners that were our custom, but she seemed to be bursting with excitement.

"Hi Susan," I said, placing the trash bag in the metal can. "Did you want to tell me something?"

"Caleb wrote to me," she breathed, and I could see the energy dancing in her eyes. "What should I do?"

I blinked at her, confused. "Write back, of course."

"Should I? I mean, we're in different factions now."

I could see Susan struggling with the idea of associating with someone outside her faction. I may not have always been closely tied to Abnegation values, but Susan was different. She was Abnegation, through and through.

"Yes, you should. Don't worry about the factions right now," I advised.

"You're right," Susan agreed. "I'll reply to him."

She started walking to her house, but turned back to look at me. "Thank you, Beatrice. You're a good friend."

I had never had many friends, but now that I looked back, I had found Susan to be someone of that nature. I liked having a friend.

There was chapter 12! We're getting farther along in this story, so thank you for supporting me! I hope to have chapter 13 up soon. Thanks, and please review!