Chapter of Insurgent (the actual book): 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the Divergent trilogy or any of the characters.

I slip my legs silently out from hers, hopping in the shower. The only thing that keeps me from becoming hysterical is the sound of Tris's breath going in and out. I take a quick shower, then I hop out, slipping on a T-shirt and jeans. I turn on the electric razor and begin to shave the beard that has begun to grow in.

I hear Tris's breath stop, and for a horrifying moment, I think she's dead, but then I hear her stir, and I see her head pop up.

"Good morning," I say, as calm as I can. "How did you sleep?"

"Okay," she whispers, standing up. She wraps her arms around my waist, burying her head into the small of my back. I set down the razor and hold her hands in mine. I stroke her fingers softly, needing the comfort just as much as she does.

"I should go get ready," she says after a while.

"I'll get you something to wear," I say quietly. I grab her a pair of shorts and she slides them over her bare legs. Reluctantly, she lets go of my hand and steps out of the room. I pick up the razor and continue shaving, only barely able to hear her footsteps over the sound of buzzing.

When I turn off the razor, however, I can hear her as clear as day.

"Don't call me 'little girl'," she says angrily.

"I'll call you whatever I want," Peter says back. Peter.

Then I hear a fist collide with a jaw. Inside, I feel pride for my girl, but I know that the Amity will not feel the same way. I drop the razor and run out of the room to find people of every faction surrounding the two grappling figures. A man dressed in red grabs Tris's right arm and pulls her off of Peter.

As Tris flies by me, I see the guilt piercing in her eyes, and I feel inevitable guilt for my dream, yet again. I had no right to be dreaming such a thing about her.

"Tris, calm down!" I say, grabbing her shoulders.

"He has the hard drive!" Tris screams at me, and suddenly I realize why she's so angry. "He stole it from me! He has it!"

I walk over to Peter, red lining my vision, ignoring the woman speaking softly to him, and I press my foot into his ribcage, hard. But I don't care about the whimpers of pain coming from him. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't have the right to pain.

"We won't be in a safe house forever," I whisper, "and this wasn't very smart of you."

I lean down and pull the flash drive out of his pocket and his fear-filled eyes stare unmoving back at me.

I turn back to Tris and add, "Not very smart of you, either. Do you want to get us kicked out?"

Tris scowls at me. The Amity man who restrained her earlier begins to pull her towards the Conflict Room.

"What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!" she exclaims.

"You violated the terms of our peace agreement," he says gently. "We must follow protocol.

"Just go," I whisper softly to her. "You need to cool down."

No one argues with me.

The two Amity men lead Tris down a hallway and I follow cautiously. "Watch your step," one of them says. "The floorboards are uneven here."

Finally, we arrive at the Conflict Room.

"Are you putting me in time-out or something?" she asks, scowling.

I hear their voices swimming in my head, and I walk out to the orchard. I sit on a small wooden bench until I hear a voice calling my name.

"Four!" It calls. It sounds confused. "Four! Where are you?"

I recognize the voice as Tris's, but she sounds so… Amity.

"Tris?" I ask, ducking under the branch. She runs towards me, a silly smile on her face until she falls. I catch her, my fingers burning with electricity.

She smiles goofily.

"What did they—"

She cuts me off with a kiss. I kiss her, desire filling in me, but then I pull back, curious why she's acting like this.

"That was lame," she says, her voice sounding like a child's. "Okay, no it wasn't, but…"

She steps onto her tiptoes to kiss me, but I press a finger to her lips.

"Tris," I say sternly, trying not to laugh. "What did they do to you? You're acting like a lunatic."

"That's not very nice of you to say," she says, her voice sounding like a schoolteachers. I feel a tingle in my spine. "They put me in a good mood, that's all. And now I really want to kiss you, so if you could just relax—"

"I'm not going to kiss you. I'm going to figure out what's going on," I say softly.

She pouts, then her face lights up. "That's why you like me!" she exclaims. "Because you're not very nice either! It makes so much more sense now!"

"Come on," I say. "We're going to see Johanna."

"I like you too."

"That's encouraging," I say flatly, trying not to laugh again. "Come on. Oh, for God's sake. I'll just carry you."

I pick her up, bridal style, as she kicks her feet with a loud giggle.

We walk for a bit, and when we reach her office, she is sitting behind her desk.

"You really shouldn't cover up your scar," Tris says, and despite how much I try to shut her up, she keeps talking. "You look prettier with your hair out of your face."

I set her down quickly, but she laughs.

"What did you do to her?" I say angrily. "What in God's name did you do?"

"I…" Johanna frowns. "They must have given her too much. She's very small; they probably didn't take her height and weight into account."

"The must have given her too much of what?" I ask angrily.

"You have a nice voice," Tris says to me.

"Tris," I say softly, "please be quiet."

"The peace serum," Johanna says calmly. "In small doses, it has a mild, calming effect and improves the mood. The only side effect is slight dizziness. We administer it to members of our community who have trouble keeping the peace."

I snort. Now everything makes sense. "I'm not an idiot," I say haughtily. "Every member of your community has trouble keeping the peace, because they're all human. You probably dump it into the water supply."

Johanna doesn't respond immediately. Instead, she fold her hands calmly in front of her.

"Clearly you know that this is not the case, or this conflict would not have occurred," she says. "But whatever we agree to do here, we do together, as a faction. If I could give the serum to everyone in the city, I would. You would certainly not be in the situation you are in now if I had."

She makes me feel sick to my stomach. "Oh, definitely," I say sarcastically. "Drugging the entire population is the best solution to our problem. Great plan."

"Sarcasm is not kind, Four," she says gently, her voice making me want to puke. "Now, I am sorry about the mistake in giving too much to Tris, I really am. But she violated the terms of our agreement, and I'm afraid that you might not be able to stay here much longer as a result. The conflict between her and the boy—Peter—is not something we can forget."

"Don't worry," I snarl. "We intend to leave as soon as humanly possible."

"Good," she says, smiling. "Peace between Amity and Dauntless can only happen when we maintain our distance from each other."

"That explains a lot."

"Excuse me?" she says incredulously. "What are you insinuating?"

"It explains," I say through gritted teeth, "why, under a pretense of neutrality—as if such a thing is possible!—you have left us to die at the hands of the Erudite."

Johanna sighs and looks out the window.

"The Amity wouldn't do something like that," Tris says loudly. "That's mean."

I choose to ignore her.

"It is for the sake of peace that we remain uninvolved—"

"Peace," I spit. "Yes, I'm sure it will be very peaceful when we are all either dead or cowering in submission under the threat of mind control or stuck in an endless simulation."

Johanna makes a face, and I see Tris try to mimic it.

"The decision was not mine to make," she says, suppressing her anger. "If it was, perhaps we would be having a different conversation right now."

"Are you saying you disagree with them?" I ask sharply.

"I am saying," she says, "that it isn't my place to disagree with my faction publicly, but I might, in the privacy of my own heart."

"Tris and I will be gone in two days," I say angrily. "I hope your faction doesn't change their decision to make this compound a safe house."

"Our decisions are not easily unmade," she reassures. "What about Peter?"

"You'll have to deal with him separately," I say. "Because he won't be coming with us."

I take Tris's hand in mine, and begin to lead her out of the room.

"Four," Johanna says. "If you and your friends wish to remain… untouched by our serum, you may want to avoid the bread."

I snort. "Thanks," I mutter over my shoulder.

I knew it.

As usual:

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