Chapter 7

-Berlin, Germany-

Tobias and Tris were on the train to Berlin. They had to sneak on past the guards, who Tris seriously thought were blind. They didn't do much in Prague besides flirt, if Tris had to be honest. She'd told her herself the day before that she was absolutely 100% done with flirting or any other type of romance with this guy, but she was lying.

Flirting?

She fuckin' loved that shit.

Tris Prior was a natural flirt; she did it with everybody. She loved teasing people, but usually in a non-romantic way. But with Tobias she just couldn't help herself. She loved the sensation through her veins when his face neared hers. And when he called her beautiful she felt like she was about to burst. And when they were in Prague and Tobias got extremely close to her she felt like she was going to pass out. But nothing—nothing—topped the canal in Venice. Sure, the incentive to do it was so they wouldn't get caught, but both Tobias and Tris knew it was more than some coverup. There were much, much better ways to hide, and they knew it, but the kiss worked, and they got a little more out of it than they would've if they'd hidden under the bench.

But as much as Tris loved it, she knew they couldn't do it. She lived in America; he lived in London. She was the First Daughter; he was a photographer. Surely her mother and father would not approve of an English freelance photographer. Much less, someone that wasn't even from their country. Obviously her parents would just love someone who was a true patriot for America at heart and came from a family that was too. He legally was a U.S. citizen, but probably wasn't all that loyal to the states. He always did talk about how much he loved London.

Tris hoped she'd love London as much as Tobias did. She'd done so much research about it, and she even wanted to go to college there at King's College London, or KCL. She actually really wanted to go to college there. She was already working on her essay to be accepted. They only had a 13% acceptance rate though, so she was scared. Terrified, actually. KCL was #16 of all the colleges in the world. She wanted to be accepted in because of her grades and her hard work though; not because her mother was the president. And Tris worked. She did. Straight A's since her sophomore year. She'd never even gotten a C. Ever. The lowest grade she'd ever gotten was a B- in pre-algebra when she was in sixth grade. Point was, she really, really, really wanted to get into this college.

But she didn't think about what would happen if she did get accepted. She didn't think about what would happen if there actually was a chance between them. She didn't think about what it would've been like if they maybe—just maybe—had a chance at actually being something.

It was too painful to think about something she knew would never happen.

"So," Tobias said. "you never did tell me all of your hopes and dreams."

"Man, I have to do that too?"

Tobias laughed. "You promised."

Tris groaned. "Okay. Beh, da quando ero un bambino, ero un bambino ho voluto essere un fotografo, e—"

"Could you maybe say this in English, not Italian?" Tobias chuckled.

"You never said I had to say it in English," Tris said with a shrug. "So technically I don't."

She continued. "Proprio come te, amo la fotografia, ma non lo so. Non l'ho mai detto a nessuno, oltre a mio fratello. I miei genitori vogliono che io vada in politica e tutto questo merda, ma non ho mai piaciuto. La fotografia è sempre stata una delle mie vere passioni. I miei genitori sanno che mi piace la fotografia, ma non è che io voglio essere un professionista. So che mia madre e mio padre mi aspettano di seguire le orme di mia madre, ma non credo che posso. La fotografia è la mia fuga. Mi fa sentire ... gratis. Su questo grande viaggio, mi sono mai sentito più libero. Con una macchina fotografica e un biglietto del treno in mano, mi sento inarrestabile. Voglio andare a King College di Londra. Hanno sempre. Hanno solo un tasso di accettazione del 13%, però. Ecco è la parte principale non voglio che tu sappia circa. Sono assolutamente terrorizzato di quello che potrebbe venire di esso. Ma probabilmente non voglio entrare in KCL comunque. Quindi c'è mie speranze e sogni. Spero che vi sia piaciuto."

"Tris. Please tell me what you said," he said, laughing.

"Fine. Just like you, I love photography, but you don't know that. I never told anyone besides my brother. My parents want me to go into politics and all that shit, but I've never liked it. Photography has always been one of my true passions. My parents know that I like photography, but it's not that I want to be a professional. I know my mother and my father are waiting for me to follow in the footsteps of my mother, but I don't think I can. Photography is my escape. It makes me feel… free. On this big trip, I have never felt more free. With a camera and a train ticket in hand, I feel unstoppable." Tris paused for a second. "I want to go to King's College London. Always have. They only have an acceptance rate of 13%, though. Here is the main part I don't want you to know about: I am absolutely terrified of what might come of it if I do move to London for college. But I probably won't to get into KCL anyway. So there's my hopes and dreams. I hope you enjoyed."

"So… what you're saying"—Tobias stood up—"is that we actually have a chance?"

Tris stood up and crossed her arms. "A 13% chance," she said with a sad chuckle. "But I barely know you. I mean, what's your favorite food? Do you like vegetables? Can you roll your tongue?"

Laughing, Tobias said, "My favorite food is Yorkshire puddings. I love vegetables." And then he rolled his tongue.

Tris looked down and chuckled, then lifted her head. "Even if we did get together, my parents would never approve. They don't even know I applied to KCL, actually. They want me to go to Harvard."

"They have more than half the acceptance rate. I mean, not that you couldn't get in. You totally could. I was just saying."

Tris smiled. "Thanks for the boost of confidence."

Tobias seemed somewhat flustered, which confused Tris. He tucked his hands into his pockets and rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet, then said, "I know this may seem really quite rude and too straightforward…but may I kiss you?"

Tris laughed. "Well at least you asked." And then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing him closer. Tris assumed Tobias was over the moon at this.

However, Tris said against his lips, "But I think we should wait until I get into KCL. Because the odds are slim."

Tobias breathed out. "Right. Of course. I get it."

But neither of them pulled back.

Tris grabbed the collar of his leather jacket with both hands, pulled him down and kissed him again. Tobias seemed startled by her, but quickly responded. She kissed him for awhile, but finally decided to pull back, but only slightly, so their foreheads were resting on each others. She never wanted to pull back; she always wanted to feel this closeness. But she pulled back anyway, smiling.

"Some temporary goodbye kiss you got there," he chuckled.

Tris smiled again and blushed. She couldn't stop. "Uh, yeah, I guess. Um, well, I think I'm going to go get a drink at the bar. Can I get you anything?"

"I'm coming with you. And really? A bar? You're eighteen. You have to be 21 to drink."

"And, legally, I can drink. We're in Germany."

Tobias sighed. "I can't stop you, but I can watch over you."

"Oh my gosh," she said as she stepping into the bar car. "My first alcoholic beverage!"

Tobias just laughed. "I'd recommend wine for you."

"No way, man," she scoffed. "We're in Germany. I'm having a beer."

They sat down at the bar counter and the woman came over, suspiciously eyeing Tris. "Aren't you a little young to be orderin' a drink?"

Tris pulled out her ID she's had with her all along and handed to her. Luckily it wasn't in her wallet when Uriah stole it.

The woman gaped. "You're—"

"Tris," she said with a wink. "Just Tris."

Her eyes were wide and she handed Tris her ID back. "Uhm, right. What can I get you?"

"You're best beer."

"And for you?" she asked, turning to Tobias.

"I'm good."

"Okay," the woman said. "I'll have that right out."

Tris turned toward Tobias, who was thoughtfully staring at her.

"You'd look cute with pigtails," he decided.

Tris raised her eyebrows. "Pigtails?"

Tobias just nodded.

"What makes you think that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Like, the low ponytails over the shoulders. Not the super high ones. You know what I mean."

"Yeah. But—seriously?"

The woman brought Tris's beer over, and she thanked her.

"Wait," Tobias said to her. "Could I trouble you for two of those hair ties on your wrist?"

She looked down at her wrists, then took two out of the five off of her wrist and smiled. "Keep 'em."

"You're too kind."

"You've got to be joking," Tris deadpanned.

He just simply handed them to her.

Tris grunted, took a sip of her beer—which was surprisingly good—and took the ties. She parted her hair in the back, half and half. She put the two halves into strands over her shoulders. She then smoothed them out, then said, "Satisfied?"

"Very," he simply said.

Tris just rolled her eyes and took another sip of her beer. "Oh, by the way, with the canal thing and stuff, you should know that was my first kiss."

"What?" Tobias asked incredulously. "I wouldn't have done that if I'd known!"

Tris shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"It was your first kiss, Tris. You remember that forever."

"That was special to me. C'mon, what's more romantic than having your first kiss on a canal in Venice?"

Tobias dryly chuckled. "It probably makes it much more less romantic that it happened because I didn't want us to get arrested…I don't even know if we'd be where we would be if I hadn't, to be honest."

Tris humorlessly chuckled. "So if you hadn't kissed me in Venice, you don't think any of this would've happened? Like, with us?"

He shrugged. "I guess not. You aren't exactly one to convey your feelings all that forwardly."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"None of this probably would've happened if it weren't for the fact that I kissed you in Venice," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"So what you're saying is that I'm not brave enough to pull a move?"

He shrugged. "Well..."

"Attention passengers, we will be arriving to Berlin in approximately two minutes."

Tris took the last sip of her beer and slid a few bucks under the glass. She was beyond angry. "If it weren't for Uriah on the train when we met him, I would've kissed you. And I'll have you know that I am a very brave person. I don't take lightly to being called a coward, which is practically what you did. There's a difference between being reckless and brave. And when I kissed you today—twice, might I remind you—that was obviously a reckless decision that I shouldn't have made. Goodbye, Four." With that, she quickly stood up so he couldn't catch her and briskly walked toward their cabin. Since she was small, she could weave through the crowd trying to get to the door. Tobias…not so much. She got her drawstring bag at their little "room" and found the nearest exit off of the train.

"Attention passengers, we've arrived in Berlin, Germany, at 8:37 P.M."