Broken, But Brave

Chapter 9: A Fresh Start

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Here are the final rankings." 

The leaderboard lit up with names of the various Dauntless initiates who had survived training and were now officially members of Dauntless, as well as those below the red line who would now become Factionless. But what Annabelle found most shocking was finding her name in the number one spot of the leaderboard. Damien had come in second and Izzy finished in sixth. But herself in first? Annabelle could hardly believe. It she was still staring at her ranking in shock when Izzy threw her arms around Anna in excitement, jumping up and down against Anna's frozen form. 

"We did it! Annabelle, we made it! We're Dauntless now!" 

Annabelle smiled down at her friend softly then turned to Damien who had placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The pair smiled at one another, grateful for the help they had provided to one another that allowed them to make it to this moment. Eventually, people slowly started filing out of the mess hall and into the Pit where the real party was about to begin. The Pit was filled with loud music, dancing, drinking, and of course, sparring. Annabelle and her friends were having the time of their lives until Annabelle's attention was drawn away to the sight of her brother just a few groups over in the Pit. Noticing one another at the same time, Annabelle and Tobias made their way to one another and met in a large embrace. 

"Congratulations, Dauntless. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, T. Thank you for the special help near the end. I'm sure I'd be dead without it." 

"Stop. Don't talk like that. But you remember what I said, you can't tell anyone, including--" 

"Including Eric. I know, I know." 

"You're really go to stay with him?"

"I am. It's not a question for me, Tobias. I love him." 

"Alright. Well, you better not keep him waiting any longer then." 

With a slight nudge of his head, Annabelle followed her gaze to behind her where she spotted Eric just a ways off watching her and Tobias intently. She kept a close eye as she noticed Eric's hand moving at his side, focusing as he spelled out a word with his fingers. 

'Hallway'.

Annabelle nodded in understanding, at which point Eric walked out of the Pit and towards the doors leading into the halls. Once out of his sight, Annabelle turned back towards Tobias who held a look of disdain on his face. Anna's held one of mock disappointment to which Tobias rolled his eyes in response. 

"Go. Be careful please." 

"I'll be fine. You should recognize by now that I can take care of myself. I'm top of my class." 

"Yeah, yeah. Just go." 

Annabelle smiled wide at her brother before placing a grateful kiss to his cheek and jogging excitedly towards the north hall. The moment she stepped through the door's threshold, she was immediately grabbed by her wrist on her right and pulled into a tall and muscular body. Annabelle's own smile was met with Eric's as he pulled her into a deep kiss. Annabelle easily melted into the kiss, the both of them completely at ease now that they no longer needed to hide their relationship. When the need for air finally arose, Eric pulled away and allowed himself to lean back against the wall while Anna wrapped her arms loosely around his torso and rested her chin comfortably against his chest, looking up at him with all of the love she could muster. Neither of them spoke, instead choosing to just revel in the feeling of being close to one another again. After earning enough shocked looks from Dauntless of all types, Eric finally pushed himself off the wall and placed a quick kiss to Annabelle's head before grabbing her hand in his and pulling her down the hallway to an unfamiliar portion of the compound.