Hey peoples, so sorry for the long wait for a new chapter. I had surgery and then my brother had hidden the flash drive that held all of my chapters. I finally found it and will try posting regularly.

"Finally, you're awake." I had just opened my eyes when the familiar voice spoke. Lynn stood over me with a wet cloth, "I was just dabbing away the extra blood, they didn't do too good cleaning you up."

When I tried speaking my voice was too hoarse to understand, without hesitation or worry she handed me a glass of water. "Thanks." I say after I gulp down half of its contents. "What day is it? And what happened?"

"Visiting day." She stated as she helped me to sit, "Your friends all went to get ready." She rolled her eyes, a cold look crossing her face when she spoke of them. "Rumor has it you beat the shit out of your brother but Edward just barely beat you."

"I don't remember anything" I groan, "Not after Eric gave me this new vitamin, I don't think it agreed with me." What kind of vitamin has the effect of memory loss?

"Shit, what color was the damn pill?"

"Uh, red I think. Why?" she helped me stand and dress in the black dress. It was simple but not something my mother would approve of, it had a very deep 'v' and was shorter than the other dresses I had worn. It showed off the tattoos I had gotten, which would also make her unhappy. I applied the usual make-up I had worn before coming here and slipped on a pair of ankle boots, something else that would make her unhappy. "My mother is going to have a shit fit." I laughed, she also wouldn't like my new colorful vocabulary. "And she can't punish me for it, for making her unhappy and wearing things she doesn't approve of."

"She wouldn't approve of you being a lesbian either, would she?" Lynn asked with a mischievous smirk.

"No, she's the reason I never knew anything about that stuff. Remember?"

"I definitely do" she rolled her eyes once again, "How about we do something that'll make her storm right out of Dauntless?"

"I think that'd be perfect." I finished brushing through my hair then let Lynn guide me to the Pit floor.

"I'm going to see my family for a few minutes then I'll swoop in and take care of things." With a wink she walked off toward her family, they were leaned against the railing talking to each other and other Dauntless families.

I scanned the crowd and instantly saw my mother and father with my brother, my father's loud voice encompassing other conversations. I sighed and hesitantly walked towards them, as soon as they saw me their jaws dropped except for Peters; he simply looked tired.

"Alessa, what have you done to your little face!?" my mother screeched, my head started throbbing at the shrill anger in her voice. "You've ruined yourself! Get those metal rings out of your face right this instant!"

"Why should I?" I questioned, shock covered her angry face, "I am Dauntless now, you can't control me anymore." I stated simply.

"I am your mother and you will listen to me, Alessa. What has this place done to you? Look at your dress, never should you show so much skin! These tattoos, these rings! You are a disgrace to woman." Her voice held venom, my father simply shook his head in annoyance.

"Mother, I think it's time for you to leave. We are Dauntless now, we will do what we want and you can't do anything now." Peter was calm, which was always something to worry about.

"Not until your sister rids herself of those disgusting rings and changes!" I didn't expect anything less from her, she was always so on edge when it came to me.

"Listen to your mother, Alessa. Those things only make you uglier." Our father finally spoke, at that Peter snapped.

"Shut your fucking mouth." He snarled, "Every day of our lives we have had to deal with your bullshit, your cruelty, and we fucking escaped it. You can't come here and treat her like shit, I won't let it happen anymore."

"Hello" Lynn smirked as she walked up to me, she threw her arm around me and looked my mother dead in the eyes.

"And who is this?" disgust coated her words as she looked over Lynn and the little space between us.

"I'm her girlfriend." Lynn spoke before I could, my cheeks warmed and my chest tightened. "See." With that she pulled me into a warm, passionate kiss. And in that moment I had felt right, at peace with myself, and whole. There had always been a piece missing, the piece my mother told me didn't exist and threatened me over. Sparks of energy danced over my skin, I felt more alive than I ever have.

With a shrill screech my mother pulled us apart and her hand flew across my already aching face, Lynn lunged at her but Eric caught her mid-flight. "Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, I suggest you leave my compound and never come back. I will not sit and let you disrespect my initiates because you don't approve of who she is."

The shock of Eric standing up for me dulled the pain in my face, I turned from Eric to my parents who looked as shocked as I felt. Without another word they turned and left, Peter had pulled me closer and was inspecting my busted lip.

Eric set Lynn down as he faced me, "I suggest you go get that cleaned up, maybe take a pain reliever." He walked away without saying another word, nothing cruel come out of his mouth.

"I'll take you" Peter said, "You go back to your family." He added as he looked to Lynn.

Minutes later I was sitting on a bed in the infirmary as Peter cleaned my lip, I had already taken a pain reliever. "Are you really dating that girl?" he asked once he finished cleaning and applying a healing salve to my lip.

"No, she did it to prove a point to our mom. That I'm valid, that what I feel is real regardless of what she believes."

"Wait, she knew?"

"She did but she told it wasn't a thing and kept setting me up with guys, you know that." He shook his head with a disappointed look on his face.

"I'm sorry Alessa, you should have talked to me and I would have made sure to help you sneak out to meet girls." He smirked as I punched his arm, "If I would have known I would've helped you."

"I was scared, honestly" I admitted, "I thought I was going crazy."

"You are crazy but in the best way." He patted my head, "My little sister doesn't need to be scared anymore."

"Of course, I can kick your ass now." I smiled proudly, "Also we're twins."

"Yeah but I was born minutes before you."

"I swear to fuck Peter."