Aberrant

Forty-Five: Dex/Brooke

Dex: 

"Riv!" I shout, and throw myself into his arms. At first, he reciprocates and I smile as I feel the familiar embrace of his arms around me. But then he stiffens and pulls away awkwardly. 

"What's wrong?" I ask. 

He pulls a face, embarrassed, "We're not supposed to hug in Abnegation."

"What? But how do you show affection?"

He shrugs, "We-uh-we don't, really."

I stare at him, and then he pulls himself together and smiles shyly, "But enough about me. What about you? How are you doing?"

I motion to the clothes I'm wearing, "Hello? I'm Factionless now. How do you think I'm doing?" 

"Hello River," says Natalie, coming up behind me before River can answer, "Why don't you come on in? Where's Beatrice?"

"Thank you. She went to help Andrew and Caleb." He says as he steps inside. Natalie leads us back into the kitchen and River gratefully accepts a chair she offers him. 

"Everything went wrong for me in Dauntless," I burst out as soon as he sits down, "They found out I was Divergent and I would have died if Callum here hadn't saved me." 

River smiles at Callum. "I'm glad you're safe," he says. 

"But now everyone at Dauntless is going to think I committed suicide or ran away or something-" I cut off, and then say, as another thought occurred to me, "Wait, if I'm Factionless that means my-our-family won't visit me on Visiting Day." I turn to Natalie aghast, "I won't be able to see my family again, will I?"

She shakes her head sadly, and, at once, I begin to tear up again. Dad. Father. Heather. Mazie. Harmony. If I'd known that the Visiting Day was to be the last time I could see them, would I have said something different? I think back to our last conversation. No. It was mainly them wishing me well and saying how much we loved each other. 

"You've got me. Because I'm Abnegation, I can visit you as much as you want." River says softly, and I smile. 

"Yeah. That's true," I say, and I hug him again. Once more, he stiffens. 

"Um, Dex..." He trails off. 

"Shut up," I say, "Just because you can't hug me, I still can hug you. Besides, it would be selfish to refuse a hug from me right now."

I break away from him and turn to look at Natalie, who just smiling, and Callum, who's crying again. 

Another thought occurs to me and I stare at Callum. "Your family in Dauntless..." I begin. 

Callum sighs and smiles painfully. "I told my mother the truth." He shoots a quick look at Natalie, "I know we weren't supposed to tell anyone, but she and I have...had," he amends quickly, "a really close relationship and she supported me with everything I did. Hopefully she'll tell my family and the rest of my siblings the truth-or as much of the truth as she can."

I nod, and then I take a deep breath and say, "I'm sorry."

Callum smiles slightly, "It's ok." 

There's a pause and then Natalie checks her watch-it's the only accessory that she's wearing. "My family will be back soon. Would you like to go to Factionless now?"

"Factionless?" I blink, "You mean there's an actual place where the Factionless go?"

"Yes," Natalie laughs slightly, "Did you think we were going to just chuck you out on the street?"