~Jade's POV~
I grab the inside handle of the train, and lean myself out the train car's opening. I see the roofs of the familiar red bricked buildings coming in fast from around the corner, and I let my family know. Miles, Liam and my Aunt all stand and huddle around the same car opening. "On three okay?" I say, and I watch them all nod in agreement, "One... two... Three!" I shout, and we all jump off the train, and land onto the roof of Dauntless. Next, we all jump down onto the net for fast entrance into the building, instead of taking the stairs.
Once we're all off the net, we decide to head to the cafeteria for something to eat. We enter the half empty food court, get our food, and take a seat at the same table from our first day here. I eat my food as my brother's and aunt talk amongst one another. I chime in with something quite clever just before I feel a hand land on my shoulder. In that instant I was reminded of the day Al had done the same, just before begging for my forgiveness.
The images of his sad beaten face flashed in my mind just before I turned my head to see who the hand actually belonged to. I gasp a little, and stand from being seated to embrace my beloved boyfriend. "It's nice to see you too." He laughs a bit, and hugs me back tightly. I take in his intoxicatingly delicious, home-like smell and just like that, I felt safer and happier, even. If that was even possible.
I peeked my eyes open in the midst of hugging him and noticed three familiar faces behind Four. Christina, Will and Tris all either wave or smile as I peeked. I release Four and greet my friends after what felt like an eternity. "Yeah, all three of them came knocking on my door earlier looking for you so I decided to help find you. When we looked this place up and down and couldn't find neither you or Miles, we all checked the security cameras and saw that you all left Headquarters." Four says, obviously curious. "Yeah, where'd you guys all go? And also, why did you guys leave so enthusiastically? And why haven't we meet this lovely lady right here? I have many questions Natalie." Christina asks, and we all laugh at how curious she was, even my aunt -the lovely lady- had giggled a bit.
I take a deep breathe in and look to both my brothers and aunt, gesturing for them to stand. I stand next to my aunt, "Don't worry, I'll answer all your questions in a minute, but for now, since you guys found us, and Christina mentioned it, there is someone I'd like for you all to meet." I say and look over to my aunt, "Christina, Tris and Will, meet my Aunt Lacy. Aunt Lacy meet our friends." I add. Christina's eyes go wide as she is happily the first to shake my aunts hands, "oh my gosh heyy! You two never told me you had an Aunt!" Chris say looking over to only me and Miles, which compels me to look at Liam. I am reminded that my friends are still clueless to the fact Liam is now more then just the Dauntless-Born trainee Instructor to me. I watch as Will shakes my Aunts hand with a smile, and so does Tris.
Moments before I can get a word out, I notice Christina, peeking over me and my brother's shoulders. We watch her face contort into confusion, "I knew I saw someone else on the cameras. Your names Liam right?" Chris asks him, and he nods. I lock my arm with Liam's and pull him a tad closer to my friends, "There's something you guys should know, something very important actually." I say, looking at all three of them. And Christina squints her eyes and crosses her arms, "Go on. . ." She says, and I beckon for Miles with a gesture. He comes in between me and Liam, resting each of his arms loosely around our necks. I look over to Four and his wide smile causes my own smile to grow.
I make eye contact with Chris, "Remember the day we came here, when we were on the train?" I ask her, and she and Tris nod. "Remember how I told you and Tris 'that guy' you pointed over to was my twin?" I ask them, and they nod again, but slower. "Well . . . I was wrong, and I was only wrong because we we're never twins to begin with. We're actually a set of triplets. And Liam here, is our little brother." I confess, and I watch as all of their eyes widen in unison. I look over at Christina, awaiting either an announcement of betrayal for keeping this 'secret' from her, or maybe a wail of excitement but, surprisingly, neither came. "Christina? Speechless? Unheard of. I guess this particular secret is a doozy huh?" Miles says, and me and my siblings laugh. Christina raises an eyebrow, "So wait, you're serious? This is serious?" She asks in disbelief, Liam nods for us.
"Yes, I am in fact biologically related to your friends here. Can't you tell?" Liam says, making a gesture to his own face, then ours. We all laugh a bit, but I could tell one person was still not convinced. "Will? What's the question your face is literally shouting?" Miles asks him, and Will uncrosses his arms and puts them in his pocket. He then steps a little closer and examines all three of our faces, "If you are indeed triplets, how come I specifically remember seeing you two in Amity attire on the day we came here," he pauses, looking at only me and Miles, "and him in Dauntless attire?." He looks to Liam, "How can you explain that?" Will asks, and I give Will a cocky smile. "There's a complex and really long explanation for that. Would you like to hear?" I ask, and without words all three of my friends take a seat at the table.
It is then my family and I explain the long and slightly adventurous journey and what it took to finally reunite the parts of this family that had been disconnected years ago. We start with Visitation day, and how our mother told us the truth about our little brother, then Miles jumps into explaining how she gave us her ring in order to find and earn Liam's trust, considering our mother had thought he had our father's matching ring. After that Liam chimes in with the fact that he had lost our fathers ring, leading to me mentioning that Eric had somehow got his dirty grips on it. Four takes a seat next to me at the table whilst explaining how getting the ring back lead to him and Eric fighting for it. He also mentions how he not only knocked Eric out, but he also knocked him out of his authoritative position as well.
I continue with the fact me and Miles went on a search for Liam after the big fight, and our aunt continues for us in explaining how we ran into her and figured out she was our aunt, and figured out Liam was in fact our brother. From there, Miles explains how we left our aunts in search of Liam to explain everything to him. I explain that when we did, I remembered that Dauntless Leadership granted that me and Miles could come to Amity to see our father since he couldn't visit us due to his injury. Miles explains that we did, but with the company of our aunt and little brother. I explain the lovely ride there, and finally, Liam explains the tear-jerking family reunion.
"Wow. You guys really are telling the truth." The former female candor says, perplexed. I look at Tris and Will and see that their mouths are agape. "This must've been a real shocker when your mom told you two, and even for when they came to you, Liam." Tris says, and I look at my brother's. "It really was actually, I've honestly never been more hurt, confused, excited and curious in my life until the day our mother had told us we've had a sibling this whole time. A sibling we shared the womb with at that. I know Miles can agree." I say looking to my older brother. He nods his head, "The moment the word 'Triplets' fell from our mother's mouth on visiting day, I had instantly felt this need to not only meet you, Liam, but to also protect you. I'm very glad I get to call you my brother." Miles says, and Liam shakes his head with a smile.
"You all have gone soft on me. Now it's not just Miles who's as soft as cotton balls." Liam's says with a chuckle, just before engulfing both me and Miles into a group hug. I hugged my brother's, even though both were nearly a head taller then me. I release them and I look into Liam's eyes, and I could definitely see water bubbling at the floodgates. "I guess you could say, we're all as soft as cotton balls." I say, and all of my siblings laugh. I then pull both my brothers over to my friends and they immediately find something to talk about.
After awhile I see Christina out the corner of my eye, look around the cafeteria, then look down at her wrist watch and gasp. "Guys guys guys, it's wayyyyyy past curfew curfew." She announces, and I turn my head to Four, and so does everyone else. I can see it in his face now, I can see that the sense of leadership we will now give him will inflate his ego, according to the now playful but smug smile on his face. "Since I've recently took Eric's place in the Leadership ranking, I'll allow it. But only for however long Natalie here seems fit. You all can thank me later." He says in a slightly different and oddly historical tone, and I laugh at this new and funny facade he's putting up from getting the promotion. "Don't get all cocky on us now, I don't wanna start saying 'I liked Instructor Four better'. I actually want to like leader Four." Christina says, and no matter if she was trying to hide it or not, her candor was surely showing.
Four laughs, "Trust me, I'd be the last person to let this new sense of control and authority change who I am." He says, and looks over to me with a smile. And from there, the night went as expected, full of pleasant conversation and laughs. And after about an hours worth more of that, everyone could agree it was time to get some sleep, and headed off to bed.
⢠⢠â¢
-November 16th-
The next morning I woke up comfortably tangled in strong arms. I smile as his strong natural cologne-like smell fills my nose. "Good morning." He says into my ear, just before placing his lips onto my neck. "Good morning to you too." I say to him, lifting my arm up to run my hand through his soft brown hair. He sits up a bit, leading me to do the same.
He looks into my eyes for a moment, and then begins to examine my face with his own. "What is it?" I ask, and a wide, closed mouth smile slid onto his face. "Nothing, it's just . . ." He trails off for a while, stuck there just gazing into my eyes. Just from the absent-minded yet fully aware look in his eyes, I could tell his trance like state had something to do with me. "I never would've thought I'd feel the way I do when I'm with you. I honestly never thought I'd love someone like I love you." He confesses to me making me all bubbly, yet I'm drawn nearly speechless.
"And I never thought once that I'd get to hear words like that from you. And yet here we are." I say to him, and he keeps his smile but furrows his eyebrows. "Really? You never expected this? . . . Us?" He questions, and I lay back onto the bed, to where I'm now positioned to look up at him. "No I didn't. I wished for us, I hoped for us, and once even prayed for us but, I never expected us. Initiation was hard, and stressful and I wanted to be safe and not add onto that so, I didn't allow my hopes to stretch too far." I answer honestly, and I watch as his expressions change from disbelief to surprise. "Our circumstances made me believe, well, . . . " I trailed off, not knowing how to form the desired sentence. He squints his eyes at me, "made you believe that I was too good for you maybe? . . ." I just look at him, and his expression softens.
"Don't tell me you thought you weren't good enough for me." He says, and after moments of just looking at each other, I nod. And all he does is laugh-scoff, and shake his head. He sits up some more and places his hand onto my cheek, "If I would've known, I'd tell you just how foolish you were to believe such a thing. In my eyes, you're a queen, and Dauntless? Would be your kingdom. And me? I'd be nothing more than a peasant, or the towns fool even, unworthy of such privilege to the queen." He says to me, and I find myself smiling, yet shaking my head. "I adore what you see of me but, there's a flaw in this royal vision of yours." I say while sitting up, and straddling his lap. He places his hands at my waist and glides them to down my hips, sending chills up my spine.
"You wouldn't be a peasant nor would you be a fool," I pause, "You'd be my King." I say, just before placing my lips onto his. And the moment I did I could feel his hands on my hips tighten, just as I could feel his lips move against mine. I kiss him for what felt like hours before we decided it'd be time to get out of bed. We showered -separately-, got dress, and headed out to get some breakfast before meeting Lauren and Liam to continue getting training ready for next years initiates. We eat together, and surprisingly, without anything interruptions from friends or family.
After taking another bite of my food, I see Max approaching the table and I realized I spoke -or more like thought- too soon. He lays a hand onto Four's shoulder and speaks into his ear. Moments after he does Max walks away, and Four begins to get what's left of his food ready to throw away. "Lemme guess, top secret leader stuff?" I ask him, and we stand together and throw our trash away. "Yes, top secret leader stuff." He says, and kisses my forehead before embracing me.
"I'll meet with you, Liam and Lauren at noon in the training room, okay?" He says, and I nod as he releases me. "I love you." I say to him, and he smiles. "I love you too." He responds, and gently squeezes my hand just before letting go of it and walking away. I sigh and turn to head in the direction of the sleeping chambers, in search of my brother's and friends. Just as I'm about to enter I begin to hear prominent voices.
". . . Look at her guys, look at how weak and scrawny she still is. Even after all of initiation you're still the stiff that walked in here." I hear an all too familiar voice say; Peter. "Leave me alone." Another familiar voice says; Tris. "What do you say guys? Why don't we see what's under that towel huh?" I stomp into the sleeping chambers to see Peter, Molly and Drew circling one of my good friends, while her body was covered by nothing but a white towel. "You heard what she fucking said, leave her alone." I raise my voice, and all heads snap in my direction. "Oh. Look who's come to save the day . . . Again. Why can't you just mind your business hippy?" Peter says as I continue to walk up to them.
"Because, this is my friend you've decided to harass for the second time. And you're all as stupid as you look if you thought I'd turn a blind eye." I say making eye contact with each. Noticing that I got the attention of all three predators, I look at Tris and gesture for her to head back to the bathroom with my eyes. Tris heads off but, Molly had noticed and would have stopped her from leaving, if it wasn't for me. I stepped in her path of direction and meet her glare with my own. "Do remember that I have kicked your ass before, and trust me, I'm not the least bit afraid to do it again." I say to her with my arms crossed.
"The only ass that's getting kicked is yours, you're out numbered bitch." Peter says, and just then, I'm spun around and pushed against the nearest wall, with two strong hands around my throat. I look into Peter's eyes as his grip around my throat tightens, and my feet lift from the ground. "P-Peter. . ." I manage to choke out from the lack of oxygen. I look to Drew who watched with pleasure, then to Molly who surprisingly, didn't. I could see the terror I currently felt on her face.
But she didn't do anything, beside watch of course. I managed to pry his fingers from my throat and got little air, and a scream out before he strangled me even harder. The lung burning, mind numbing torture went on and on and on until, it suddenly stopped. His hands are ripped from my throat and I fall to my knees, taking in the largest breath I have ever taken in. I look in the direction Peter literally flew and, all I could see was my older brother standing over him, throwing punch after punch.
My younger brother kneels down beside me, "Sis, are you okay? What just happened???" He asks, and I take a moment to just cherish the fact air can now travel in and out of my body freely. "These fuckers were messing with Tris while she was changing and I stepped in, and Peter just went fucking psycho and started choking me!" I say in-between breaths. I look up to see Christina in Molly's face and Will in Drew's, blocking them from helping Peter, who was still to this moment getting the beat down he deserved. "Alright Miles that's enough." Will says, my brother ignores him. "Miles I think he learned his lesson. You can stop now." Liam says helping me stand.
Miles continues to ignore, and by then my brother was beating on an already unconscious body. I wobble over to him and wrap my arms around his torso, and begin to gently pull him away. The moment I touch him he stops, and his tense muscles relax but, his now glossy eyes are still locked on Peter. The sadistic glint in my brother's glare began to fade after he spat on Peter's lifeless-like body. He looks to me and, I notice tears begin to fall from his eyes.
I place my head on his chest, and wrapped my arms around him. He hugs me back, sniffling next to my ear. I release him and look down at his hands, which were literally covered in blood; Peter's blood. I pull him to the sleeping chamber's bathroom, and I turn on a faucet. He puts his hands under the water, with obvious intent to wash them but, he just sits there.
He sits there watching the blood from his hands go down the drain with the water. "Miles?" I say softly, and he just continues to stare as the drain. "To walk . . ." He begins, and all of my attention is pulled to him. "To walk into the very place I sleep, and see my baby sister nearly lifeless against the wall, in the hands of the exact guy who was once moments away from actually taking you away from me? Away from us?" He says to me, and watch as his bottom lip quivers. "Nat, I don't think you understand what kind of pain that caused me to just witness." He adds with a shake in his voice. "Natalie, I've seen you on the floor unconscious, I've watched you put yourself in danger purposely, we've witnessed someone's dead body being hauled out of a deep hole, we've had enemies ever since we first landed onto that god forsaken net, and you've nearly died three times now!" He raises his voice, but not at me, more like, because of me.
"I can't be the only one that's truly noticed how threatening this faction is." He adds calmer, and I think about all the potentially traumatizing, and cruel nature that has gone on inside this building. But I also notice something else, "No you're not. I came into this faction fully aware I'd be living my life much differently then how we lived back in Amity. I was ready for that. But I can agree with the fact you and I were not ready for all of what you mentioned. I can agree I never thought I'd get knocked out, have knifes thrown at me, see a dead body, nearly die a few times, nor have my throat squeezed like a fucking lemon but," I pause, "You aim your blame at the faction, when you should be aiming it at the people inside of it. Half the shit we've been through would have never happened if just a hand full of people hadn't existed. Or at least hadn't decided us as prey, and you know that." I say, and he tilts his head at me. "If that's the case, when will it end? If it's the people inside, what makes you think it'll just stop at people like Eric, like Peter even?" Miles asks, and he finally continues to wash his hands. "Miles, it's ending as we speak. Eric's been knocked out of Leadership by Four, and Peter?" I look out the bathrooms wide open entrance to see Molly and Drew drag Peter out of the sleeping chambers. I look back at him, "I'm pretty sure you just took care of him." I say. "And if we meet more people like them?" He asks, and I look at him determinedly, "we'll handle them the same way we handled these," I pause for a few moments, "Together."