Tris

This time when he tries to lift up my shirt, I don't make him stop; in return, I get to take his shirt off. His tattoos are the same, handsome and all, but he added a new one. Under all of the faction symbols, right above his tailbone. It is a circle, completely shaded-in black, except for three outlines of crows. I touch my shoulder, where my crows are. "Why did you get my tattoo?" I ask. He responds so meaningfully, "Because you mean so much to me. You are now forever part of me," "But why is it next to all of the factions? Why not put it on your arm or something?" Now he is touching my shoulder too. "These are all what I want to be: brave, selfless, honest, smart and kind. But I also want to be with you, even if I don't show it often. These five factions make me divergent, but you do too, Tris," I can't help but smile. "Oh, so we are back to Tris now?" He laughs.

Later that night, after - to be honest - kissing, we snuggle up in a blanket and decide to play a game of Candor. (Similar to Dare, except you have to say the truth.) I start, and ask her, "Have you ever slept someone else besides me?" "No," she answers truthfully. "Okay, phew! I got nervous for a second," I joke, "Your turn," "Okay...have you ever been on a date with someone because your friend told you to?" "Yes, so many times right after initiation. Zeke was such a player. Always needed me to go on double dates, even if they were girls I hated," She was surprised. "Wow, so shallow!" "Ha ha, very funny. Okay. My turn...did you ever do something really bad when you were a little Stiff?"

"Yes, actually! Sometimes, really early in the morning, I would sneak in and look at myself in the mirror," I dramatically gasp, "I just couldn't get enough of it! I'm just so beautiful," "Yes you are," "If you could give memory serum to anyone in Chicago, who would it be?" Hmmm...tough one actually. "I think Caleb," She looks surprised. "Why?" "Because he just doesn't deserve to know you," "Aww, thanks. I thought you would say Marcus or Evelyn," "Well, actually, today I got some memory serum and brought it with me when I was inoculating everyone," She nodded along, "I was going to either give it to Marcus or Evelyn. But I ended up giving it to Peter," She looked so surprised. "That took an unexpected turn!" I guess when you think about it, giving Peter memory serum does sound like a big deal.

"Well, you'd never believe it, but he asked me to give it to him," "Wait why? I'm so confused," "He felt really bad about being such an asshole, so he wanted to start over. But I gave him a mixture of memory serum and inoculant that ended up making him forget his memory only temporarily," "Oh. Well that was nice of you. Why did you do that? We hate Peter," "I don't think it was nice of me. I'm not generally a nice guy. That must be why I like you! 'Cause you're not nice either!" He mocks, reminding me of when we were in Amity, and I was under peace serum. He continues, "No, it wasn't nice because he was being a coward to run away from his problems. So tomorrow morning, when it wears off, he will remember all of the things wrong with him and have to deal with it,"

"Is it hard for you?" I ask, "Just forgetting everything that we've spent our whole life learning about? Our whole adolescence following?" He looked confused. "I'm not sure if you realize it, but you just completely quoted the code of conduct for dauntless. And now, our whole faction system is fall apart! With the head of Allegiant and head of Factionless working together?" He clenches his jaw, drifting back to reality involving his mother. "I'm so sorry Tobias that this is all happening, but you can talk to me. Is it hard to let go?"

"It's weird, Tris. I feel like I have, emotionally, grasped the situation. But, physically, I can't help but be dauntless," "You don't have to be dauntless," I interrupt, "You can be brave and selfless, and not dauntless and abnegation. We need to start to signify the differences between the characteristics of factions, and just characteristics," I put my arm around his neck and start playing with his hair softly. "I guess I feel that being dauntless is what I'm best at. Everyone is good at being brave," "Look at me, Tobias. You are amazing at so many more things than just throwing knives. And not everyone is good at being brave. I mean, look at Caleb. Or Peter," We laugh, "You are extraordinary," And as the last word slips out of my mouth, he kisses me. I can't help but cry; when he asks me what is wrong, I respond, "You are perfect."

That night, I dream of my initiation without Tobias. Lauren was the one who told us initiates to jump, but wasn't as harsh as Eric was, so I felt comfortable. I still jumped first, but Eric was holding the net and slapped me when I reached for his hand to help me come down. Then, Zeke was my trainer but fell in love with Christina, who wasn't my friend. Zeke never realized that I needed help with my fighting, and I became really hurt in training. I barely made the cut for the first part of training. Don't even get me started on the second part of orientation: simulations. When Zeke saw that I was different than everyone else, he brought me to Lauren who brought me to Eric who brought me to Max who brought me to Jeanine and well... that was when she still wanted to kill all divergents. So she killed me. I woke up as soon as the gunshot, breathing heavy, sweat dripping down my face. Where was Tobias?

"Are you okay?" he asked, just walking in. I rubbed my face with both hands. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just a nightmare," "What about?" "Life without you," "Seriously?" "Seriously. Zeke trained me," "Wow that must have ended well," "Yeah! Why are you up so early?" "Firstly, I don't think it is considered early anymore. You slept in really late, actually," I smile, "It is hard to wake up when you don't want to night to end," "And secondly, I needed to pick this up," Finally, I realized that Tobias got a haircut, was in a suit, and was really...short? No, no, Tris, I thought, He is on a knee. Wait... Everything came into focus. He was proposing to me. He took out a small, velvet box and I took in a sharp breath. "Beatrice Prior," I laugh, "Okay, you can use that name just this time," He smiles and continues, "Beatrice Prior, the second you fell into my arms - literally - I sensed something in you. You were just like me, a naive Stiff. But that wasn't our only connection. You are so dedicated and beautiful and strong and loyal and...I'm sorry," Was he tearing up? So sincere. "I'm trying to propose, but I'm having trouble with the words.

"Point is, you are different. Not just divergent, or genetically pure, you are special. I let you in my apartment, I let you in my fear landscape, I let you in my heart. And I don't ever want to let you go. So, babe," he grins, "...will you marry me?" I let the tear roll down my cheek, look at the silver diamond glittering in the sunlight, and I think about how this will change my life. Waking up next to him every day? Having kids? Growing old together? (I can't help but let the Amity side of me take over and just imagine...) He clears his throat. "Uh, Tris? It is okay. Is this too sudden? Because I understand if you want to wait or-" "Shut up, of course the answer is yes," And with that, I dive into his arms and I hold on. And we will love each other throughout senescence.