A/N- I do not own Divergent or any of its characters, rights go to Veronica Roth.

August 3rd

I stand in the steamy shower, allowing the stream of water to beat down on my face. I don't know how long I've been standing in here for, but I don't want to get out. I suspect half an hour has passed when the water starts to turn ice cold. I know my mom is going to kill me when she finds out I've used all the hot water, we're only supposed to have 10 minute showers. I sigh and turn the faucet off, grab my towel from the rail and start to pat down my wet skin and wring out my hair. I feel sleepy because I've been in the hot shower for so long. I lay down on my bed not bothering to put clothes on, and start to close my eyes.

I wake up to the annoying ring tone, and my phone vibrating next to my head. I groggily pick up the phone and try to accept. My hands are still so weak from sleep that I'm struggling to do it, but eventually I manage to answer.

"What?" I moan.

"Come over to my house you lazy little shit!" Lynn laughs.

"Leave me alone!"

"No, come one! I'm bored as hell over here," unless I want her to break into my house again, I'll have to do what she says.

"Fine, fine. Just give me 10 minutes to get dressed," I reply.

"Five," she corrects. "Now hurry up!" With that, she hangs up.

I moan and drag myself up from the bed. My hair seems to have dried, although it looks a bit messy now. My bed is also soaking wet, so I fluff the covers up a bit in the hope that they will dry by the time I go to sleep tonight. I walk over to my closet and aimlessly flick through all my clothes. They're pretty much all the same, different logo t-shirts advertising anything from soda brands to space agencies. I slip on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and pull on some sneakers. I don't brush through my hair, just ruffle it up a bit, it dried in its natural waves. I barely ever bother with makeup, my skin is tan and clear. I settle on just applying one coat of mascara and smudge on some brown eyeliner to make my eyes stand out. I grab my suede tassel backpack (which is my favourite and only bag), pick up my keys and wallet and head out the door. The fresh summer air hits me and I take in a deep breath. I feel very shitty this morning so it's nice to be outside. I walk over to Lynn's because she only lives round the block from me. Once I walk up to her house, I see her and Shauna arguing on the front lawn. What's Shauna doing here?

"You best not screw it up for me either! Y'hear me?" She shouts in my face as I walk up the path.

"Shauna! Shut up we can do what we want!" Lynn screams.

I'm too shocked to answer to her, what's Shauna doing at Lynn's house? And what would I screw up for her?

"What's the matter? Can you not talk or something? You seemed to talk pretty easily when Four was around." Shauna hisses.

"Shauna, leave!" Lynn pushes Shauna onto the sidewalk. She walks away and jumps into her car, giving me a death glare on her way. Once she's left, I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding. Lynn walks up to me and grabs me by the shoulders, pushing me into the house and slamming the door behind her.

"W-what was all that about?" I ask Lynn.

"Shh!" She grabs my hand and pulls me up to her bedroom. Her parents are usually in the house so we spend most of our time trapped in her brightly coloured, musky bedroom. She plonks her self on the bed and stares at me. "Shauna is my older sister." She sighs.

"Your sister?" I almost shout. I know that Lynn has a little brother, Hector, but she never told me about a sister.

"Yeah. She moved out when she was 18, she's 20 now."

"How did I not know this? Why did you never tell me? We're best friends! How could I not know that you have a sister?"

"Calm down alright! We don't have the best relationship, and even when she did live here, she was always at Zeke's. I used to just pretend that she didn't exist." I can tell that Lynn is upset and annoyed with her sister, so I decide to not be too harsh with her.

"Why didn't you have a good relationship?"

"I don't know. I guess it's just like you and your brother, we never bonded." My brother is Caleb. He's 10 months older than me but I haven't seen him in person since he left with my dad when him and my mom split up. Sometimes I wish I had chosen to live with them too. "She also doesn't like the kind of person I am. She thinks I'm useless and a drama queen."

"Well you're not useless. And only 40 percent drama queen," I wink and nudge her arm, causing her to laugh.

"She hates the fact that I'm starting to hang around with her friends. But I met Marlene through Shauna, so what does she expect?" Lynn shakes her head out of frustration.

"Why doesn't she want us to hang around with them?"

"Because she thinks we're going to cause drama or embarrass her. But I don't even care, she can't always live in this perfect little bubble."

"Well, it's not up to her what we do. And I knew Four anyway."

"Yeah, about that…" Lynn rolls her eyes.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"She got pretty pissed off about the fact that you went to Four's house."

"Why would she care about that?"

"I suppose she's always been pretty close to Four, and he's never let her in like that. She also doesn't want you to hurt him," she pauses, "I don't even know, it's just bull shit."

"How would I hurt him? I only saw him once, it's not like we're dating," I laugh.

Lynn looks at me and smirks. She's about to say something but thinks better of it, dropping the conversation.

…

We sat in silence for a while, since Shauna's outburst I've felt more unwanted than usual. On one of her many efforts to try and cheer me up, Lynn decided that she wanted to take me to the local tattoo parlour. It's the same one that Lynn always goes to, she's friendly with the tattoo artist, Tori. We arrive at the small shop in the city, and make our way inside. It's dim lit and smells like disinfectant, the walls are covered in pieces of artwork and pictures of tattoos. A tall woman with dark hair walks through the beads that hang off the doorway and smiles warmly at us.

"Nice to see you again, Lynn. Wanting another tattoo?" The woman, who must be Tori, asks Lynn.

"I actually came here because Tris is a tattoo virgin and I want to change that," she smirks at me, "but I may be persuaded to add another small one to my collection."

"Alright," Tori laughs. "Nice to meet you Tris, got any ideas in mind?"

"Nice to meet you too, um, I actually wanted something that Lynn drew for me." I reply, looking at Lynn who wears a shocked expression.

"Oh really, what's that?" As she asks me, I reach down into my bag and retrieve the piece of tattered paper that I always carry with me in my bag. It's a drawing of three black ravens, she drew them and sent them to me in the mail when I wasn't living in Chicago. It was after I had just had a breakdown on the phone with her about missing my old perfect family unit. The ravens represent my mom, dad and brother Caleb. We're not the same as we used to be, but that doesn't mean that I still don't hold a place for them in my heart. "Wow. Nice artwork Lynn, where were you thinking of having them Tris?"

"Just below my collarbone, if that's okay?"

"I think we can handle that," she smiles at me, "come through here, I'll get started straight away."

I follow her into the small room and sit myself down on the chair. She arranges all her equipment and needles and holds up the black drawing. She starts to make a stencil of the drawing, and then copies it onto my skin, asking me if I like it. Honestly it looks even better than I imagined, and I can't wait for it to permanently become a part of me. The needle makes contact with my skin, it's not comfortable, maybe even painful. But I don't like to admit defeat so I just bite down on my lip and squeeze Lynn's hand. Eventually, Tori announces that she's finished and holds up a hand mirror for me to look in. Tears threaten to prick my eyes when I see how beautiful it looks. I've carried this drawing with me everywhere I go for a couple of years now, and to see it physically imprinted on my skin makes me proud.

"Can't believe I drew that," Lynn has her eyebrows raised and smiles slightly, her voice thick with emotion. I know that it will mean a lot to her that I got one of her drawings tattooed onto me. She's always dreamed of becoming an artist, and I'm the only one who's supported her, who told her how amazing she is. Her parents are ashamed of her and think she's going to become a deadbeat drawer from downtown.

"Well believe it, because you did!" I laugh and nudge her. "Thank you, I love it, and now everyone will get to see it."

She smiles at me and laughs. "Okay Tori, I can't resist. Get me seated on that chair!"

Tori laughs as I hop down from the chair, Lynn takes my place, but she straddles the chair so that her back is facing us. She pulls her hair up into a not on the top of her head, revealing the small tattoos on her neck and behind one of her ears.

"What do you want and where do you want it?" Tori asks, changing the needle of the tattoo gun and wiping everything down.

"I want to add another name under my grandma's, same style of writing," she replies.

"Okay, what name?" Tori asks.

"Tris." Lynn turns to look at me and gives me a shy smile. "Do you mind?" She asks me.

"N-no," this is a meaningful gesture. Lynn was close with her grandmother before she died, she practically raised her. She was also the only person in Lynn's family who was accepting of who she is. She understood Lynn's feelings and strange personality, she used to tell Lynn that she reminded her of herself when she was younger, except she was never brave enough to show it. She died when Lynn was 13, causing her depression. She's never quite been the same since, her eyes no longer hold innocence and she's a bit rougher around the edges. "Why do you want my name?" I still sound shocked.

"Because," she pauses, "you've helped me through a lot. I don't know where I would be without you. Hell, I probably wouldn't even be on this planet anymore."

I swallow thickly at this. Even though I've had my own problems, I've always helped Lynn with hers. We've helped each other. I've encouraged her to be the person she is and helped her come out to her parents. I was also there to pick up the pieces when they didn't react well to the news.

"Well, since you gave me the name 'Tris', I'll allow Tori to ink it onto your skin," I wink at her and she laughs, giving Tori the heads up to get started.

In no time at all, the tattoo is finished. Lynn didnt even flinch once, but I'm not surprised since this is probably her 20th tattoo. They're all small or tiny ones, but she has plenty. The writing looks beautiful, and lies underneath her grandmother's name on the back of her neck. We say goodbye to Tori and head back to Lynn's house.

…

"My neck is itching like a bitch," Lynn groans.

"I know, mine is too, what can we do to stop it? The cream is useless!" I sound just as fed up as she is.

"Hmm," she pauses for a moment and taps her chin, pretending to be thinking hard. "I may have something that will take the edge off." She gets up off the bed and walks over to her desk, pulling an old mint tin out of one of the drawers. I know what's in the tin, and I can't say I'm surprised. "Care to join me?" She wiggles her eyebrows. I shrug my shoulders in reply and she laughs, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the open window.

"Go on then, suppose it will take my mind off things." I sigh.

"It always does!" She walks back over to the other end of her room and closes her door shut. She grabs a used towel from her hamper and rolls it up, placing it in front of the gap at the bottom of her door. This old trick seems to do the job of keeping the smoke from leaving the room. She comes back and pulls a lighter out of her pocket, and takes a pre-rolled joint out of the little tin. She lights it up and takes in a breath, her shoulders relaxing almost instantly. She hands it to me and I do the same, eager to feel its calm release. We finish it off and continue to stare out the window. My head feels about 10 times lighter and I keep looking to Lynn and giggling. I look way more happier than she does, but that's because she's become used to the feeling. Her eyes are slanted and the corners of her mouth lift up slightly.

"So..lets talk about your new male friend." She says to me, winking.

"What male friend?" I laugh.

"Oh shush Tris you know I'm talking about Mr. sex God! Also known as Four," she smirks.

"Mr. sex God? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I mean I wouldn't pass on the opportunity to get him into bed."

"Lynn! I mean he is pretty hot but I didnt think he was your type? You know since he doesn't have long hair and boobs!"

"I think girls still look sexy with short hair actually," she corrects me. "But I mean look at him, I still wouldn't say no."

"He's not even my friend. My mom wanted him to tutor me, but I told him he didnt have to. He rang me up yesterday actually saying she left some of my books there."

"Seriously? Dude! Are you going to go over there and get some? I mean.. them," she laughs at her own stupid joke, and I can't help it. I laugh along too.

"I don't know I was just going to leave them, I don't need them anyway."

"Yeah but this is an opportunity to see him again. He might invite you in. Not to hook up with you, but its still a chance to talk, right?"

"I don't even know if I like him. I don't really like anyone."

"Well you're not gay like me so you're just being stubborn. He's nice and attractive, come on Tris, don't be stupid!"

I sigh and lean my head against the wall that we're sat against. I guess it wouldn't hurt if I went over there.

"What time is it now?"

"It's only 7. Perfect time. I'll even drive you there if you want?" She's being unusually thoughtful.

"It's okay I'll just walk, it's only 15 minutes. Then I can walk back."

"Oh yeah good thinking, then you can stay at his!" She starts to giggle hysterically and stands up, grabbing something from her dresser. "Here, let me spray this on you. You reek of weed." She sprays strong perfume all over me, I'm probably going to give him a headache. I shrug on my thigh length tailored tartan jacket and grab my bag.

…

There's banging and shouting, that's all I can make out. I can't tell what they're shouting about, but I can tell by the tone of voice that it isn't happy shouting. They're not having a party, they're having a fight. As I approach the house, I realise the chaos is coming from in there. Four's house. The perfect house with the freshly painted door, and bunches of yellow carnations planted alongside the path. I should walk away, right now. But I can't, my stubbornness and curiosity is pushing me forward, telling me to nock on that door. I knew it would get me into trouble one day, I just didn't know when. I gulp and clench my fists, deciding to pursue the reason why I came. I did tell him that I would be coming, after all. As I raise my hand to touch the brass knocker. I get a terrible feeling in my stomach of what could actually be going on in that house, of what I could be interrupting. I start to get a flashback of the things that happened a couple of years ago, my palms go sweaty and I grab the knocker, banging it loudly against the door. Partly to pull myself back from my threatening haze, partly to pull a stop to whatever madness is happening behind these walls. The house goes silent. Too silent. I step back from the door, knotting my fingers to stop them from trembling. All I can think about is what a bad idea coming here was. Now that I seemed to have stopped them for the time being, I should probably run away before they realise it was me who knocked on their door. I start to back away even further from the door when it slowly creaks open. Four stands in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, panting with a furrowed brow and wide eyes.

"Tris?" His voice is hoarse, it sounds like he's been shouting at a concert all night.

"Yeah, um, I actually um- I came to pick up those books! Uh, you know the…math ones?" I look anywhere except at him, I feel mortified.

"Oh okay, just wait here." He walks away from the door, closing it slightly but not fully. There's still utter silence reeking out from the house, except now I can hear Four shuffling around. He comes back and opens the door, holding a plastic carrier bag filled with a few books. He doesn't say anything, just continues to stare at me. I slowly walk up to the door in silence, counting each step I take. I wonder if I would be able to sneak a peak inside the house, but he hasn't opened to door fully enough for that to be possible. I feel his gaze burn on me as I reach out and take the plastic carrier bag from his hands. His arm continues to hang loosely at his side, but he unclenches his fingers so that I can take the bag. He continues to stare at me, with a confused and shocked look on his face. I finally meet his eye contact, and wish I didnt. I get the sudden urge to need to get out of here quickly. I was an idiot for interrupting, they were probably just having some stupid argument like most families do, and I disregarded their privacy and intruded on them.

"Thanks, um, gotta go, bye!" The words are rushed and I turn away quickly, keeping my head down and charging down the path.

"Tris, wait!" He shouts, starting to jog behind me.

"Sorry, I'm in a rush, I've got to um- got things to do," I have no excuse and he knows it.

"Let me drive you home, you shouldn't be walking on your own when you've, you know…" He pauses and fails to finish his sentence.

"When I've what?" I turn around to look at him.

"Either I'm right and you've been spending time with your friend Mary Jane, or you've just got really bad allergies."

He's probably referring to my blood shot eyes. Damn, I was silly, but it would have been even more silly of me if I had turned up to his house wearing shades.

"I-yeah, allergies." I sound exasperated but I really just want to get out of this situation right now. I could break into a sprint pretty easily and be home in five minutes. "I'll be fine, I just want to walk alone." I walk away from Four and don't look back, but I feel his dark blue eyes on me until I turn the corner. There's been too much family drama today for my liking. I don't know what I just nearly walked in on, but I know it couldn't have been pretty.