Tempest AUs

Divergent; part i.

Reese Hale shoved a spoonful of bland cereal into his mouth. It tasted the same way it had for the past sixteen years and he seemed to be the only one in his family to mind that. He looked over at his mother who looked deep in thought, though not necessarily concerned about her breakfast, and then at his twin brother, who was trying to fight a blush and the slightest of smiles. If it weren't for the fact that the two practically had telepathy, Reese wouldn't even have noticed anything different on the sunny boy's face. Finally, Reese looked at the spot where, if they were a normal abnegation family, his father would have sat. Unfortunately, the Hale house had quite the reputation that every single one of them was responsible for.

"It's going to be okay," Angela Hale finally spoke up, her warm blue eyes, the same as Flynn, looked lovingly at both her boys. This was the day she might lose one of them to another faction. Or both of them. Reese was hit by a wave of guilt, he couldn't do that to his mom.

"How did your test go?" Flynn spoke first, he usually did.

"Fine, it was very uneventful," she didn't say anything more about herself. She wasn't supposed to. Reese wanted to punch the wall every time this happened but he'd be living with a permanent cast on his hand if that were the case.

"And Dad's?" Reese dared to ask, though he knew he'd get frowned at for asking. He couldn't help it.

His mother didn't answer, she only stared at her cereal, and Flynn gave him a pitying look. He knew nothing about his dad. Just a name.

Apollo.

No last name, no story, no faction. Again, it was all because they weren't supposed to focus on themselves. He wasn't supposed to know about himself and his family, he was supposed to contribute to society and think not of what the world can do for him but what he can do for the world.

---

"If you keep smiling like that, you might blind someone with your pearly whites," Reese said to Flynn as they waited for their names to be called to take their aptitude test.

Sixteen year olds like them were seated all around them, each section holding a different faction. The Erudites in blue looked calm as did the Candors in their black and white clothing. The Amity teens were braiding each other's hair and talking happily amongst one another. And the Dauntless, well, half of them weren't even sitting down. They were clad in black and talking loud enough for it to reach the Abnegations sitting the furthest away from them.

"Nothing special about my teeth, Reese," Flynn corrected. He fit in so naturally in Abnegation. His drab, gray clothes were all Reese could ever  imagine his twin in.

Flynn had always been the kinder twin, the sunnier one, the more selfless one, the twin that everyone knew they could rely on. Reese would perform better in academics but it was Flynn that teachers couldn't help but love.

However, Reese's twin's weakness came in the form of an Amity girl, Amelie, who Flynn was hopelessly in love with. Flynn had never spoken of her to Reese but Reese was observant and cared about his brother.

Did he care enough about him to stay in Abnegation?

And the taller twin soon realized what his brother was smiling about.

"You're thinking of Amelie?" Reese asked, seriously. Reese was always serious, he didn't take things lightly and had a hard time understanding senses of humor.

Flynn's gaze, which had been set on his worn out shoes, popped up at the name of the girl's name and a fearful expression came across his face.

So it was. And Reese was hit with a terrifying thought. His brother was going to leave him. He was going to join Amity. For a girl. Reese had been so caught up about leaving his brother he hadn't even considered his brother pulling the same stunt on him.