Hey Hey! Well, I was celebrating my birthday and then craziness ensued, it might be a story prompt in the future! So, enjoy, even though it's a few days late! Love ya'll!
Hey cousin" Uriah grins as he sits next to Tris at dinner "Nice black eye"
"Thanks, I can say the same to you," Tris snorts in laughter as she sees Uriah sporting a black eye similar to hers. She wasn't the best at fighting, but she was holding her own. The year of training with Natalie had done her good. Even though it pained her to admit it, taking punches and kicks from Andrew over the years had also helped her. She had already beaten Myra, an Erudite transfer, and that morning, Christina, before losing to Will that afternoon.
"You know you could just ask her out on a date. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? I'm still getting the idea of what other Factions do with dating" Tris says as she moves to take a bite out of her chocolate cake.
"Huh, what?" Uriah jumps "I don't know what you are talking about?" He tries to say nonchalantly.
"Uri, you are totally into Christina, you've been staring at her the entire time she's been in line for her food"
"She's into Will and yes you can ask someone on a date or to hang out. It's a shame what the Abnegation do to people, how do they even make babies." He reasons and goes back to his dinner and Tris giggles.
"He hasn't asked her out, go for it, she's always laughing and joking with you, she could like you too, you don't know"
"Keep it down will you" Uriah squeaks and looks around to see if anyone was near them.
"You know I wouldn't have pegged you as the shy type when it comes to girls"
"I'm not shy, well not normally… Christina…I just get nervous around her for some reason" Uriah laments.
"That's so adorable" Tris sing songs.
"Hey, Chris" Uriah squeaks sitting up straight.
"Hey, Uriah…" She says slowly wondering why he was acting so weird.
"I need a hot bath; my muscles are killing me. I think I'm too tired to eat" Will groans as he drops into the seat next to Tris.
"Where have you been?" Will asks Christina "I didn't see you after your fight with Tris"
"Had to go to the infirmary, Tris here caught me pretty good. I needed stitches" She pointed to the cut above her eye.
"Sorry about that" Tris groans.
"Did Christina give you the shiner?" Lynn asks, putting her plate down next to Uriah.
"No that would be Will over here" Tris laughs.
"She put up a good fight, I thought for a minute she had me right up until the end. Tris is the reason I'm sore," Will tells the group. Tris tries to hide her smile at Christina and Al's account of Tris and Will's fight.
"Damn Stiff, I'm impressed," Lynn says before taking a bite of her burger.
"It takes a lot to impress Lynn," Uriah says matter of a fact tone.
"Since Visiting Day is coming up, we'll have the day off from training, I think we should have a little get-together that evening, you know let off a little steam" Uriah announces.
"Ohhhh that sounds like fun" Christina smiles and Tris almost laughs as Uriah's eyes light up.
"I could stay like this with you forever" Max sighs as he runs his hands over Natalie's bare back as she presses herself closer to him.
"Don't tempt me" she says sleepily. "You have to get back soon, don't you?"
"Yeah, I should. I wish we could come for Visiting Day but too many eyes will be on me and lots of folks moving around. I know Tris misses you, and so does Hana"
"I understand, I can hold out a few more months. I've been able to see Caleb the past three weeks"
Max reluctantly slides from underneath Natalie to find his clothes. He'd tried not to make his visits to Natalie consistent, changing the day and time he came. As a leader, he never knew who had eyes on him.
"I almost forgot, since you attacked me as soon as I came in the door" He chuckles as he slides his boxers on.
Natalie leaned back against the bed as she watched him. He was right, he had radioed to let her know he was coming early that morning. She had been giddy like a teenager. This was the third time she'd seen him now and she couldn't contain her happiness. As soon as he'd opened the door, she pulled him onto the bed and that's where they had been for the past few hours. They had made love dozed off and made love again. Being with him made her forget about all the other troubles of the city they were facing.
Max pulls out some fresh food he'd swiped from the dining hall for her and Natalie squeals with excitement when he pulls out a small plastic container and a fork.
"Oh my God, I never thought I would have a chance to eat another piece" She squeals.
Max grins at her excitement and passes the container with two pieces of Dauntless cake inside to her. When she goes to take it from his hands, he doesn't let go. Natalie playfully tugs it again, pulling Max closer to her. She leans up and gives him a soft kiss.
"Thank you" she whispers will a smile.
"Anything for you," he tells her giving her one last peck before going back to unpack the rest of the things he had for her.
Natalie moans as she closes her eyes and takes a bite of the cake. It tasted just like she remembered.
"How is it still so good" she moans taking another bite.
Max snorts, Natalie had craved the chocolate cake in Dauntless for as long as he could remember, she was always sneaking an extra piece at dinner when they were kids.
"Uriah inherited your love for chocolate cake. I literally watched him eat four slices at once"
Natalie giggles again as she licks the frosting off her fork.
"Have you seen anything else suspicious with Erudite? Have any more bodies turned up?" Max asks once she's finished, and he pulls on his pants and looks for his shirt.
"No, it's been quiet" Natalie confirms as she grabs Max's shirt and slips it on. It drowned her but it smelled of him and she wanted to sleep in it when they were apart. She wasn't ready to tell him about what the Factionless were planning. She needed more time to convince Evelyn to back down and work collecting as much information about the divergent among the Factionless.
"Umm so you expect me to go back to Dauntless shirtless," Max asks in a low voice as he leans over Natalie, and she falls gently back on the bed with a smile.
"I'm sure no one would notice" she teases and not moving to take the shirt off.
Max takes a different approach even though he wanted to do nothing other than to be inside her again, he really couldn't stay longer. He grabs her side and begins to tickle her, while his lips stayed on her neck. Natalie shrieks with laughter, trying to still his hands.
"I think it looks better on me," she groans when be bypasses her lips to nibble on her neck. She had no willpower to keep her hands off him as she spread her legs and wrapped them around his waist.
"You are a bad influence," Max whispers as he pulls back and Natalie giggles.
It's another hour before Max is able to pry himself away to leave. It was getting harder and harder to leave Natalie now.
"Stay safe" He whispers as he opens the door and steps into the alley.
"Of course, tell Tris and Hana, I love them" Natalie reminds him.
He leans in for a kiss which Natalie eagerly grants him.
"I love you" he whispers when he pulls back and looks into her eyes.
"Always and forever" she replies honestly. Max was a part of her that would never leave. She spent so much time trying to forget him and she realized that she should never be able to.
Max leans in to give Natalie one last kiss at the doorway and takes off in a jog down the alley. Natalie leans against the door with a contented smile. She wanted nothing more than to be with her family. The city had to change, grow and evolve in order for that to happen. The war that was brewing was evidence of that. She just needed more time to help calm things in the Factionless section, but Evelyn was so blindsided by hatred she didn't see that there was a path forward that didn't involve bloodshed. There were threats all around, and she was overwhelmed thinking about all of them.
Evelyn narrows her eyes as she watches the scene play out in front of her. All of the years she'd known Natalie she'd never disclosed her daughter's father. Seeing the leader of Dauntless here in the Factionless, prying himself out of her arms. It all made sense.
"You keep your secrets Natalie, and I'll keep mine" Evelyn murmurs.
Tobias watches Zeke as his eyes move across the floor of the pit following someone. It was a Friday night and Max had run both of them off from his apartment for the evening since Visiting Day was tomorrow, telling them to go have some fun for the night.
"Who do you have your eye on?" Tobias asks, looking at Zeke who seemed to be smiling to himself.
"Ehhhh…." Zeke sighs, he hadn't said anything to anyone about his crush yet. He was still trying to figure out if he should take the risk. He knew that he was tired of all the girls he normally messed with. Lauren was currently making it known that she was interested in Zeke since Tobias had blown her off several times. Zeke had been in two short-lived relationships, one when he was sixteen and then the last with Maria, which ended a month ago. He wanted something different, something serious. There was only one woman that he interacted with that made him want to know her better.
"I like someone, but she won't be into me" Zeke confesses quietly.
"How do you know?" Tobias probes.
"She's older, more serious, I have to approach this differently"
"That's profound" Tobias teases, taking a sip from his cup.
"Shut up" Zeke laughs but his eyes go across the pit again. Tobias looks over at Shauna, noticing she was watching Zeke.
He hated it for Shauna, he could tell by how she looked at him that she was into him, but she clearly wasn't on his radar.
Marlene and Caleb make their way through the Factionless section. They had gone to see Natalie first that morning and then handed out supplies.
"I'm all out, I guess I should have packed more" Marlene observes looking down at her now empty bag.
"I'm out too, we still have a few hours before Ms. Haskins will be expecting us. Come on, I want to show you something"
Caleb leads them out of the Factionless section but instead of walking straight to Abnegation they turn, walking toward a great big field. They stop when they reach the edge of the marsh which stretched far and wide until it reached the wall.
Just before the marsh, there was a section of cement and Caleb sat down motioning for Marlene to join him.
"Is this your secret place?" she asks looking out at the marsh only seeing a few birds flying by.
"Yeah, my sister had her best friend, he transferred to Dauntless too. I guess I should have always known they were never going to stay in Abnegation"
Marlene smiles as he chuckles at his own thoughts. She liked listening to him talk, hearing about things that he could never share with anyone else.
"Sometimes I would come here to clear my head or just think"
"I bet this was pretty when it was filled with water. I used to like looking at the chasm back in Dauntless." Marlene comments watching the light shine over some areas where water was sprinkled throughout the marsh with long blades of grass.
"Chasm?" Caleb asks turning toward her his interest piqued.
"Yeah, the underground river, it runs through Dauntless. It's strong and it roars. Some people jump when they know they are ready to end it all. The water always calmed me down, the sound of it moving, I loved to just watch it"
They lapse back into a comfortable silence and Marlene leans back on her hands, soaking up the sun. One of the things she had been enjoying about Abnegation was being outside more. It would be cold in a few months, and she wanted to soak up all the time outside she could.
"What are you thinking?" he asks, looking at her, taking in her beauty.
"That I feel like I can be myself with you," she says turning her head to look at him. "Things here are so different from Dauntless. I feel like I'm fumbling through everything, not being selfless enough, and it's so much pressure. But you make me feel like it's okay to not be all the things they've been teaching us, to just be me. Even if it's only when we're alone"
"I feel the same way. And don't think I've ever really been myself around anyone but you. My sister and I had only started to get close before she transferred, but I feel at home with you."
Marlene can't even describe the feeling that washes over her. It was as if nothing else mattered but the two of them. Leaving Dauntless unsure of what her life would be like didn't seem as unsure because of Caleb.
"What are you thinking?" She challenges.
"Even though I know it's against everything I've been taught, I really want to kiss you"
Marlene feels her heart beat a little faster and butterflies in her stomach. Because she wanted him to kiss her, to throw all the rules of Abnegation out the window. Then Marlene is surprised when Caleb does exactly what she wanted and presses a kiss to her lips.
He pulls back quickly not sure what came over him.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking" Caleb stammers and scolds himself.
Marlene bites her lip and then grabs him by the shoulders.
"Shut up Caleb," she tells him before pulling him back to her to kiss him this time.
Caleb grins against her lips.
"Slowly" Marlene whispers pulling back a little noticing that Caleb was a little awkward in how he was kissing her.
He swallows and nods and follows her lead easing into the kiss slowly. This time he savors the feel of her full lips on his. When Marlene opens her mouth, he does the same. He groans when she slides her tongue in his mouth and slips his hand to her neck to hold her head steady and is rewarded with a moan from Marlene. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead against hers.
"Wow..." He breathes moving to look into her eyes.
Marlene bites her lip and smiles as she reaches up and touches his face. She'd never been kissed like that.
"This can be our special place now" Caleb whispers to her.
She smiles and gives him one last peck on the lips before getting up. She holds her hand out for his. He gets up and places his hand in hers looking down at how they fit together like they were meant to be joined.
These stolen moments with her meant everything to him now.
Tris decides to see where Christina's head was at with Will the night before Visiting Day when they go to the Dauntless boutique to shop for new outfits. Zeke and Uriah were throwing a party the next evening so everyone could let off some steam. This was the first party Tris had ever attended and she could barely contain herself, she was so excited. It felt nice to be thinking about regular things like dating instead of the pressure of all the secrets and lies between the faction's leaders.
"So, what's up with you and Will?" Tris asks curiously as she and Christina look at the dress options. It was still strange for Tris to have the ability to choose what she wanted to wear instead of the same two standard abnegation options.
"Ummm, I don't know" Christina shrugs looking for her size in a dress she thought would go with her figure.
"Why don't you make the first move, he can't take his eyes off you"
"I want to make him work for it"
"Like make him jealous? Is that why you've been flirting with Uriah?" Tris was pretty sure Christina had no idea just how into her Uriah really was.
"No, I'm not one of those types of girls, I mean, Uriah is really handsome and funny, I just don't know…"
"You like both of them?" Tris puts down the pair of pants she was holding to look at Christina with her eyebrows raised.
Christina thinks about it, Uriah had seemed a bit nervous around her lately, but they all ate every meal together and hung out in the evenings. It had never occurred to her that he might be into her. She wasn't opposed to the idea though, but Will had been doing cute things like always wanting to sit next to her, telling her she looked nice, and bringing her ice packs after her fight, and she felt comfortable with him.
"Umm, Yeah I guess so, I feel like Will and I have spent so much time together, I've been around Uriah because of you, he's handsome for sure and he's fun, not that Will isn't, but he's smart and sweet, I don't know, I just…" Something in her wouldn't allow her to say that she was just into Will, there was something about Uriah whenever they locked eyes across the table at breakfast or dinner.
"Want to keep your options open?" Tris finishes for her.
"Yeah, something like that"
Tris nods her head as they go back looking over the clothes available. She was going to have to break it to Uriah that he was going to have to step it up if he wanted a chance with Christina.
