We Are Divergent

Chapter Twenty-Seven

At around eight o’clock the next night Tobias and I were ready to go to meet Evelyn. It was a pretty long day of training with the initiates, thankfully no longer including James, with their fear landscapes. At lunch I asked Christina if I could borrow a fancy ring to use as my “engagement ring” and luckily she had one for me. She didn’t push me on why I needed one, but she seemed a little dubious on why I asked for it. We tried to leave as inconspicuously as we could and we didn’t tell anybody we left, since we don’t want the Allegiant to know. They wouldn’t want us risking anything. Tobias gave me a gun to put in between my waistband and sweatshirt and he took the knife.

We hopped on the train without saying much to each other. The world around us appeared to be dark and silent except for the whisper of our breaths and the quiet clacking of the train as it headed towards the factionless.

“Let me see the ring?” Tobias asked, pulling me to him with one arm and taking my hand in his to observe it. “Wow, I have better taste than I thought.”

I rolled my eyes even though he probably couldn’t see.

“You know… I kind of like seeing a ring on your finger… and acting like it’s from me. It feels like it could be real.”

I felt my heart stutter a bit as he said that. I cleared my throat. “Why?”

“In a weird way it makes me feel like we are united. People would know immediately not to try anything with you because the ring tells them you are mine.”

I felt my cheeks heat up at his possessive words. “Everybody already knows that,” I said, resting my head in the crook of his neck.

“Not everybody.”

I laughed. “So we should get our facts straight, since the main reason we are supposed to be going there is because of our engagement.”

“Okay. So we should be engaged for… a month? Because she knows that she wouldn’t be a first priority for us to tell. And we should plan to have a long engagement, so that we don’t have to explain weddings or anything for a while.”

I nodded. “That sounds good. I think you should be the one who brings up the city. She already doesn’t like me very much and I think I would be more suspicious.”

“I agree,” He sighed. “I don’t think anything will go wrong. It sounds foolproof.”

“It will be fine,”

I held his face in my hands, our bodies wedged up against the wall of the train. I pressed my lips to his, causing an immediate low moan to escape his throat. Maybe I have been a little cruel to him… It has been a while since we made love for the first time, and I have been either so busy or so tired lately. I wonder if he cares but just hasn’t said anything... My arms locked around his neck and his hands kept my waist firmly against his as we kissed heatedly for a few minutes.

“We have to jump,” He said, sounding short of breath.

I ignored him, kissing his warm neck.

“Tris,” He pleaded. I don’t know if he is pleading for me to stop or for the strength to tell me to stop… “We’re going to miss it.”

I moved my mouth to his ear. “Sorry. I got carried away. What with the engagement and everything. We can finish this later.”

I tore myself from him, not waiting to see his reaction, and I jumped off the train. I heard him land a few moments after. I walked in front of him, heading to the tall, damaged looking building in front of us located on the far end of the city.

“Tris, stand by me please.” I heard him whisper.

I stopped walking, looking around as my eyes adjusted to the dark. I had forgotten that a lot of the factionless still live on the streets. Some of them are mentally ill and are not able to be a part of the working factionless class. I noticed a couple of people in the alley next to the building, and one of them, an old man, was staring right at me. I felt a chill run down my spine and I looked away, holding onto Tobias’ arm as we quickly walked towards the building.