𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝟎𝟎𝟗

"𝙎𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪
𝙎𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚
𝙎𝙚𝙚, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚."

𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘴 - 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 + 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

You stumbled over your own feet for the umpteenth time in the doorway of the initiate's quarters. The ice pack was rapidly melting in your hands, leaving a trail of droplets all the way from the corridor where Eric had stopped to confront you. 

Everyone's heads snapped up to watch you race in. Luckily it was only your friends who watched you struggle for balance.

"Took you long enough," Christina joked, the smirk not leaving her face as you handed off the ice pack to Tris and instantly began breathing into your frozen fingers. You tried to hide your embarrassment with your hands. You were still unbelievably flustered from your interaction with Eric a few minutes prior.

You took a seat on the cot next to Al, folding your legs underneath you. "The infirmary requires a higher clearance," you explained. You didn't feel like telling them the real reason you were late. "The nurse let me go this time but we can't go back without an instructor."

"Nice job taking one for the team," Christina socked you in the arm. "And you say you aren't fit for Abnegation."

Will cleared his throat on the mattress next to her. You hadn't known either of them long enough to tell, but there was definitely something going on between them. No matter where you were, you could always count on finding them together in a corner somewhere.

"Fun fact," he said, in a tone that let you know that there was a very small chance that this fact was fun. "Amity are widely known for adopting key traits of other factions in order to keep the peace in tense social situations."

Tris looked up from icing her wrist to give Will a strange look. Even Christina chuffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "And since when are you the expert on Amity behavior?"

"I did my research on all of the factions. Another fun fact is that Candor often resort to snarky comments when they feel intellectually inferior."

Your jaw dropped at the insult and Christina stuck her tongue out at him, delivering a swift kick to his side. "Fine, you got me. But (Y/N) isn't Amity anymore. She's Dauntless. We all are. So you can stop acting like a walking textbook as if it means anything anymore."

The mood instantly deflated. It wasn't the first time someone had mentioned the prospect of never going home. The first few nights were filled with homesick sobs that no one could place in the dark bunkroom. Once or twice you caught Peter staring at a corner of the mess hall, lost in thoughts of his old homelife.

But no one had dared to say it out loud until now.

For a few moments, you just sat in your brewing loneliness until Christina piped up once more, clapping her hands with false confidence. "This is getting depressing. I want a tattoo."

When no one got up, she rolled her eyes and reached across the cot for your arm, hauling you to your feet before dragging you out of the room. "A tattoo?" you chirped, watching the rest of your friends follow obediently behind. "Aren't those...permanent?"