Bare Hands (Sequel To No Sympathy)

Independence

The song above is the song that was on repeat while I reading this part in the book all those years ago.  The Nostalgia comes back to me every time I listen to it...

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But even though I don't look away, Tris does. She closes her eyes and turns away.

If there's anything I regret from doing this, it's making Tris feel that way.

Tris is slumped in his hair, the bullet hole in his head do dark it looks like another piercing. It could probably pass for one if not for the amount of blood pooling from it.

Several of the Dauntless take it upon their selves to get Eric out of the chair and cover him up.

But the other Dauntless see what I just did as a ticket to freedom. A reason why we don't need Candor.

I grasp onto their hope.

They start pumping their fists in the air and screaming incoherent war cries.

As we  begin to file out of the room, to file out of the room, I make sure to stay close to Tris. She doesn't look so good.

The Dauntless crowd the hallway, blocking put the few Candor guards that I'm guessing Jack has sent to get rid of the commotion.

As we near the end of the hallway, I spot Jack Kang putting his arms up to stop us.

How stupid can he be.

"What are you doing?" He asks frantically. "Where are you going?!"

"Back to Dauntless!" Multiple people yell at once.

"Back to.. But you can't! If you leave, you will not receive any more help from Candor and if need be we would be willing to fight against you."

He sounds so desperate.

"We're Dauntless, we don't need you to fight for us." I say loudly.

"YEAH!!!" Half the faction yells.

I wrap my arm around Tris, but she doesn't seem to notice.

We are Dauntless.

We are free.

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Dauntless looks exactly like I remember it, dark, cold, hollow, but incredibly familiar.

It feels good to be home again.

The rest of the Dauntless spend their time playing Truth or Dare in their rooms or trying to scour the area for beer or other snacks.

I simply take Tris to my old Apartment and wait for her to say something; she still doesn't look very good.

"Are you...alright?" I ask her. I know how much she hates when I ask if she's okay.

"Sure.  I just watched you shoot someone in the head but I'm fine." She says sarcastically.

"Sorry for that.  I didn't know you'd react the way you did." 

"I know you didn't" She snaps.

I almost wince but remember that she's not doing the best right now.

It still doesn't erase the hurt though.

After several moments of silence, I leave her to go find Zeke and the other Dauntless.  When I finally locate them, their already drunk and stumbling to a room.  Shauna is among the group.  I follow them even though I know that what they're doing is not exactly something I'd want to engage in.  

Turns out, I'm right.

They're playing Seven Minutes In Heaven.  

I try to disappear by sitting on one of the beds in the room and shrinking away, but even a drunk Zeke can spot the old Stiff coming out in me.

"Get over here Stiff, we're about to have some real fun over here!" He says loudly, raising his bottle in the air.

Figuring that I probably won't be able to evade going, I walk to the circle and sit down in one of the gaps.

And that's when I notice the girl next to me.

She looks shyer than usual, but when I look at her, she flashes me a quick smile.

Lauren.

I sigh.  A sober Lauren is hard enough to deal with.  A drunk one will be even more trouble.

Unfortunately enough, Zeke is the one to pick the first two people to go.

He must sense my discomfort from being so close to Lauren because he points at me and her.

I fight the urge to crawl back into the corner.

Lauren gives me another smile.

"Let's just get this over with." I grumble, and go into the bathroom.

She comes in shortly after me and I close the door, go into the corner, and fold me arms.

"So..what?" She asks, clearly wondering why I'm not making any advances.

"Look, I'm going to tell you this plain and simple: I don't like you.  I'm in love with Tris, and unless you're her in disguise I'm not doing a d@mn thing with you." I know I come off as harsh, but apparently I  hadn't made it clear enough last time.

But she doesn't seem to be taking no for an answer.

She quickly switches from shy, reserved mode into seductive mode and begins walking toward me.

I instantly start sweating.

I have exactly zero experience in how to avoid contact with someone who keeps pursuing me, least of all in a seductive way.

But I know well enough how to push someone off.

So when she lifts her finger to caress my arm, I push her off and move to the side.  

She seems caught off guard at my reaction, but she keeps coming.

I stop to think.

Is this how Tris felt in those early days when I would sometimes pursue her?  Is this how I made her feel even though I wasn't being outright seductive?

I must've made the mistake of letting my guard down, because Lauren chooses this second to pounce.

She latches on to me and attempts to fit her mouth to mine, but I'm not having it. I almost knock her on her face as I shove her shoulders.

She stumbles back slightly but recovers quickly.

"You know you want it, Four.  Tris couldn't possibly compare to me." She wiggles her eyebrows and folds her arms.

I chuckle but don't say anything.  I'm not fueling her fire.

"Oh, does that silence mean I'm right?" I sigh.  "Come on Four.  No one has to know." She smirks.

Outside the door, I hear a timer go off.

I walk to the door and wrap my hand around the knob. Lauren comes up behind me and attempts to wrap her hands around my waist, but I don't let her. 

Instead, I whip my head around and give her the most stern look I can muster.

"My name isn't Four." 

I leave the room.

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HOW'D YOU GUYS LIKE THE TWIST!! XD But seriously..that escalated quickly.. OH WELL IT'S ZEKE'S FAULT! Lol...Tell me in the comments if what I did even made any since or not because I'm trying to get a sense of whether or not I should keep adding in these side scenes....Hope you like this chapter!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!! HAPPY READING! =D