Four enjoyed the time he was able to sleep in this morning. He took a day off from his usual workouts due to Visiting Day that would be starting in a few minutes. He was in no rush to get down to the Pit, not wanting to see anyone if they did come. This was a day of remembering for him as the one person he would have wanted to see was gone from his life. She died so many years ago but memories of her were still fresh in his brain.
He couldn't find his other shoe and if he was late to school he would have to answer to his father when he got home. As he was scrambling around his room, he looked up and saw his mom holding his other shoe with a smirk on her face. "I found this on the roof, any reason why it was up there?" He laughed and grabbed it from her. "Just a place to escape too sometimes. Love you mom!" He quickly walked around her and left the house.
He was late for dinner, which meant one of two things. He would be spending his night in the closet or be facing his father's belt. Either way, he knew he was in for a long, hungry night. He slowly opened the door and saw broken dishes lying on the floor. He heard his mother whimpering in the other room and went to check on her. That's when he found him. The belt snapped against his back, tearing one of his last shirts wide open along with the skin. He screamed out and fell to the floor. "Why were you late? Was it because of your incessant daydreaming? Or did your divergence slow you down?" Marcus cracked the belt again and opened another gash along his son's back. As he raised his belt for another, his mom choked out, "Please stop. We need to share the news." Marcus' eyes shifted and he got a sickly sweet smile on his face. "Oh yes let's share with him. Your mother and I are so thrilled to be welcoming another child into our lives. Aren't you excited for a new baby brother or sister?" He couldn't answer, couldn't imagine another child having to go through this. Marcus wasn't happy with his lack of response and grabbed a hand full of hair and dragged him to the closet. "We will have to make room for the baby, maybe this will become your permanent room if you can't learn to obey my rules!" He slammed the door shut as the sobs began.
As his mother's belly grew, so did his need to protect her. He would jump in front of punches and belts to keep her safe. One night when he was sleeping, she snuck into his room with a gift. He saw the beautiful blue sculpture as she placed it on his nightstand. "This is to remind you that you are always safe and loved. I know we aren't supposed to have things like this but I couldn't resist for you. It will always remind me of your eyes." He thought that was a weird thing to say but was too mesmerized by the beauty of the object. "Just keep it hidden, he won't like it." And with that she slipped out of his room. If only he had known that was the last time he would see her.
He was pacing the floor of their house, waiting for news on the new arrival. Suddenly the door was flung open and Marcus' eyes settled on him. He knew something went terribly wrong, he had never seen his father this upset. "Your mother is dead. I've always said kids are poison and now one has taken her life. It's just you and me from now on and I am finally going to teach you some respect." Marcus slowly pulled his belt out of the loops as Tobias crumpled to the ground in grief.
Four snapped back to his apartment and realized that tears were streaming down his face. He wished he had brought it with him but he left the sculpture behind to let his father know that it was always his mother who had control over him. He missed her tremendously and wondered if she would have valued his choice, the man he was becoming today. He slowly got ready, knowing he should be down there if any initiates wanted to introduce their parents to their instructor. As he made his way down, his thoughts drifted to Tris and hoped for her sake at least one family member would come. It was so unbearable to watch others reunite and know that you have no one. He thought of his first Visting Day as he made his way to the dorms.
Four watched all the other initiates, especially Dauntless born, be greeted by smiling faces. He knew he wouldn't want to see his father even if he bothered to come but that wasn't the case. He would never visit the son who betrayed him and that was what hurt the most, he had no family left. He stood off to the side and watched the waterfall through the chasm while listening to happy stories, laughs, and exclamations of reunited families. Zeke dragged him over to his family for a while but he could only last so long before he felt like an outsider. He made his way around the chasm when he noticed a space between two rocks. He slide in between them and found a path that lead down behind the waterfall. This is where he stayed until he heard the last family member leave and visited this place often when he needed some time to straighten his thoughts.
He entered the dorm to see Eric was already there. "Attention! I want to give you some advice today. If by some miracle your families do come to visit you, which I doubt, be careful to not appear too attached. You are Dauntless now, faction before blood, and we take that very seriously around here." Keeping us divided, that is what Four always felt it was when people said 'Faction before Blood.' By breaking those strong family ties and not letting others acknowledge where they came from, it kept society broken and easily manipulated. Four sees Eric stop Tris and tell her she did well and he watches her face drop. He realizes the same thing she does, if Eric thinks you did something right, you obviously did something wrong.
He drifts out before anyone notices him, finding his place along the railing, thinking about heading down into the chasm soon. He watches everyone reunite with family, Peter's family looks just as slimy as he does and Will's family is identical matches to him. Then he sees her, one grey sentry standing alone, eyes scanning the crowd. He wants to see Tris' reaction when she sees what Four can only assume is her mother. He remembers when she first hit the net thinking Abnegation would completely forsake her. Seems he was proven wrong and a smile breaks out on his face.
He sees Tris slowly scanning the crowd, not wanting to appear too eager and then her eyes connect with her mom's. To say he's seen her smile before is an understatement, those have just been flashes. This was her true smile, her face lit up, mouth stretched as wide as it can go, and true joy shone on her face. Four felt himself drift toward her but had to stop himself. This joy was not for him but he hoped one day it might be, that smile might be aimed at him. Looking at her was like waking up, seeing the sun for the first time.
Four leaned back on the railing but focused his ears on their meeting, just wanting to be a part of a happy family for once. Her mother remarks on how Tris has filled out and looks good. As she is talking, he realizes she knows a lot about their training and compound. Could she be a transfer? He gives her a once over and realizes she stands a little too straight for a stiff and looks around a little too much. He begins to thinks he might have at one time been Dauntless. He watches Tris' face fall as she finds out her father was unwilling to come and hears that they aren't allowed to visit Erudite either due to tension between the factions. He takes one more look at Tris' mom and realizes that she may recognize him from Abnegation and he doesn't need that. Just as he is about to walk away, he hears her ask Tris about him. "Oh that's just one of my instructors. He's kind of intimidating." Four smirks at the comment but blushes when he hears her mom's comment of, "He's handsome!" He looks over his shoulder again and sees them walking toward him.
Four smiles as he sees Tris' face wrapped up in nerves. Her mom sticks out her hand, 'She's definitely Dauntless' he thinks, and introduces herself. "I'm Natalie, Beatrice's mother." Four is still awkward at this even though Zeke made him practice a million times, which gives him away to keen eyes as a transfer. As he shakes her hand he realizes Tris notices his lack of skill with the greeting and knows she will conclude he isn't originally Dauntless, especially with no family around him.
"Four, nice to meet you." "Four? Is that a nickname?" "Yes. Your daughter is doing well here." "That's good to hear, I know a few things about Dauntless initiation and I was a little worried." Four shook his head and reassured her, "You shouldn't worry." Just as he was about to leave she asked the question he was dreading, "You look familiar Four, do I know you?" He knew he had to be rude now so she would be put off on remembering him. He hoped for his sake, this wouldn't be another black mark against him as Tris was concerned. "I don't make it a habit of associating with Abnegation. I'll leave you to it." He turned and walked away, back toward his room, unable to stay any longer. He had to get away from Natalie's prying eyes, the same analytical eyes that her daughter had, before she realized who he was.