The Way Back

Chapter 16

TRIS POV

"So," Tobias says, draping an arm across my shoulders. "First place."

My face goes hot as we walk though an underground tunnel made of white stone, which blue lamps illuminate. "Yes, but you came in first too. With only four fears. That's much more impressive than me," I deflect.

He shakes his head. "Your initiation was much more competitive and brutal than mine."

"I guess you got me there."

With a lopsided smile due to his seemingly slight intoxication, he asks, "What job are you going to choose?"

I shrug and lean closer against him as we walk. I have to talk louder now because we are passing some sort of party, with booming music and shouting and cheering. "I'm not sure yet," I reply. "I'm thinking maybe I'll be an ambassador to the factions. Christina said that she wants me to choose leader-in-training because Peter will try to sign up, but that doesn't really sound like my thing." Who is Christina? And Peter?

Tobias scratches the back of his neck, his arm falling from its place on my shoulders. We stop walking. "He won't get the job."

"What? Why?" I feel like there is something he is holding back.

"Well...as you know, the Dauntless leaders, especially Max, have tried to recruit me for a while," he explains. He shrugs, letting his hand drop. "I decided to take him up on his offer."

I smile widely, reaching out to hold his hand. "That's great, Tobias!" I exclaim.

But he seems flustered rather than excited. "Yeah, I... I did it because of you."

My head tilts, confused. Becoming a leader sounds like a huge deal, and I don't understand why he would make a decision like that because of me.

"What?" I ask.

"I never really fit in here," he says softly. Luckily I can hear him now because we are away from the partying crowds. His eyes are shadowed in the dim light, though I can still make out the dark blue that surrounds his pupils. "I was actually planning on leaving Dauntless for the factionless a while ago, as soon as initiation ended."

"Why?" The word "factionless" strikes something inside of me, awakens concern. It must be dangerous to be without a faction.

"Because I didn't want to be in a corrupt faction any longer. I decided that I would rather be living on the streets than living in a faction I didn't belong in."

I bite my lip as I lean against the wall behind me. "That doesn't make any sense," I state. "You have a home here. You have friends, you have a faction that has taken you in..."

"And that didn't feel like enough until you came."

My stomach feels heavy with guilt. I stopped him from doing what he wanted to with his life.

But didn't I save him from a life of poverty and emptiness? Living eternally on the street doesn't sound appealing.

He continues despite my troubled look. "When I met you, I knew something was different. I didn't know how at the time, but I knew you would impact me in some way. Of course, now you're important to me, but all throughout initiation you showed me that by changing me. You flipped my outlook on life, and even though I do want to stay here with you now because I—I care about you," he stumbles over the words, like he meant to say something else, "I also want to stay here because I see a faction worth saving. I can be the person to do it, to make it a better place for you, for us."