Ambivalence [p.h.] - EDITING

chapter 28 || how can I possibly pick you up if I have a huge gash in my arm?

"Peter!"

He has to be in there somewhere.  I've been tagging along behind Tris and Four for a while now, but I've been growing more and more anxious.  I didn't see Peter on the screen after I shut the simulation down amongst the chaos ensuing between the Dauntless.  Now that I'm outside, where he should be now, my only goal is to find him.

And Caleb and Marcus, I guess.

"Peter?  Peter!"  I push through mobs of frantic black-clad soldiers desperately, but none of the faces displayed carry his tousled brown locks, or his lightly-freckled olive skin, or his kind upturned eyebrows.  "Peter!  Peter?"

Then, out of nowhere: "Jaqueline!"

I whip around and jump as high as I can to try and see over the many, many people that are way taller than me.  It came from my right, so I turn that way and run.  Four and Tris trail after me, caught up in their own little world as they look for Caleb and Marcus.  I call his name out once again, just to get a sense of where he is now.  "Peter!"  I shove through a few more people before stopping abruptly.

That's when my cerulean blue eyes lock with his unforgettable green ones I've come to know.  "Jax!" He starts to walk over, but I'm overcome with a sense of relief and sprint into his arms.    I soar through the air and fly into him as if we were opposite poles of a magnet.  I'm about to slip my arms around his neck when I fall to the ground unexpectedly.  Compared to the bullet wound, though, that was nothing.  Speaking of which, I should probably get that taken care of.

"Ow?" I say crazed as I rub the slowly forming bruise on my hip.

"Really, Jax?  Really?  You have a bullet lodged in your left hand, which, although it sucks, isn't the worst thing that could have happened.  I, on the other hand, have one right here," he says amusedly with a little pain engraved in his features, as he points to where he got shot.  "How can I possibly pick you up if I have a huge gash in my arm?"

"Right, right.  Sorry."  Great.  I feel guilty now.

"Jax, I'm just messing with you.  But seriously, watch the arm." He smirks while reaching out his good arm for my good hand to take, and pulls me up with minimal effort.  I snake my arms around his neck and breathe in the familiar scent of sandalwood and cinnamon.  Peter's injured arm rests lightly on my waist, pulling me closer to him, while the other absentmindedly threads through the messy tangles at the tips of my hair.  I close my eyes and relax my head on his chest as the familiarity eases the adrenaline out of my system.  "You did it," he exhales.

"Yeah," I whisper back.  "I did."  I lean back to meet his eyes as he stands a good seven inches taller than me, staring into the depths of the light green swirls growing closer and closer.  I rise up on my toes to make the height difference a little smaller (though I must admit, I like being much smaller than him)and return the small smile he gives.  My eyes flutter shut as I reach up and gently press my lips to his.  We moved in unison, while my lips curled upwards in between kisses.  I feel calm, yet... yet exuberant, energized, ebullient.  Alive.

I finally break away while becoming entranced once again with hist features (mainly his eyes) when Tris coughs a little.  I turn my head with a slight pink tinge on my pale cheeks before letting go of Peter.  I send everyone around me a weary smile; I had just shut an extremely complex simulation down in a short time, while many other people were relying on me to save their lives.  And I did it.  Of course I'm going to be weary!

"Where do we go now?" 

"Amity," Four pipes up.  "We'll be wanted here, and anybody allegiant to the Erudite and this whole fiasco," he gestures around him at the distressed Dauntless, "would take us hostage.  Kill us, even.  If we take the train – which is going to be here really, really soon – in the opposite direction, we can get to Amity headquarters.  That's where the others went.  We should be safe there.