HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

It is my greatest pleasure to present to you, the first Divergent fanfic of the decade (In my timezone lol)
I started writing this story about a day after I finished The Passion Series, and I'm really having fun with it! I hope you guys enjoy it as well!
The great Bamberlee continues as my beta-reader, idea giver, and faithful motivator of all things Four/Tris.
Happy Reading! ;)

PROLOGUE

TOBIAS

It's so cold outside tonight, even with my coat and Tris' arms wrapped tight around me. Winter might come early again this year but I really wish it wouldn't. I actually wish it would be the shortest winter ever recorded in history. If I transfer, Tris will spend it alone this year and the next, wrapped in blankets instead of in my arms. Then she'll spend spring and summer nights in her bedroom, instead of on her rooftop with me talking rubbish until our eyes are too heavy to stay open.

We come up here more often now, when our faction is fast asleep. Tris likes to look at the stars to find shapes and animals that aren't really there. I just like being close to her.

"Mmmm," she moans as she shivers, and I rub my hand friskily against her elbow. She snuggles closer into me, pressing her face up into my neck until I can feel her warm breath on my skin.

"You're oddly quiet," I say. "What are you thinking?"

"That Marcus will probably blow himself up when you don't come back to Abnegation," she laughs, then she lets out a slow and quiet breath. "But as much as that delights me, I have mixed feelings about seeing his reaction, because that would mean you really left. And I don't want you to go… but at the same time I do," she whispers, "I think I'll sleep better at night knowing you're far away from him."

"I won't," I sigh into her hair. "I'll be far away from you too."

Tris reaches up and cups my cheek with her palm. She has the smallest hands. "Only for a while," she whispers.

"What if I don't make it, Tris?" I shrug. "What if I can't survive in Dauntless?"

"Don't say that," Tris sits up, probably so I can see her rolling her eyes at me. "I know you will."

"But you can't know that," I insist. "How would I get through initiation? You think it's easy to assimilate into a faction you don't have an aptitude for? I mean isn't that the whole point of the faction system? To group people together based on their most defining characteristics? It'd be sort of stupid if anyone could just fit in anywhere."

Tris gives me an eye, but deep down I know she knows I'm right. After a few seconds of silence she finally admits, "Fine. I understand what you're saying, Tobias. But… we're fitting in here, aren't we?"

I sigh. "That's different. We were born and raised here. Besides, you really are selfless."

"And you really are brave," she argues, looking me dead in the eye. But she's the brave one. She's always ready to speak her mind in a faction that highly discourages just that. She's always open to new things, new experiences, and she's not afraid of change. I prefer to stick to what I know.

I look away and I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know if I believe that. And I guess now we'll never know."

For some reason, my father trained me to get an Abnegation result on the aptitude test. Somehow he knew my test would have been different from the others; I knew the entire time that it wasn't real. With the right training or information, I could get whatever result I wanted. I'm not sure what that means.

"But you're going to Dauntless… right? You won't change your mind about this?" Tris looks at me curiously. "Tobias," she insists when I don't answer.

"I won't lie to you," I answer softly, looking deep into her blue-grey eyes and pulling her back into my arms. "I'm inclined to stay here with you. Much more inclined. And I can't promise you I'll have the strength to leave you when those coals are staring me straight in the face."

Tris' face seems to sink. "Tobias, it's going to be hard… but we don't belong here and we both know it."

I look away from her eyes but I can't argue with her. We've always known it; it's how we became so close in the first place. I caught her staring at the Dauntless at school one day and warned her she probably shouldn't. She wasn't too keen on taking my advice at first, especially considering whose son I was; she probably thought I was just another mindless Abnegation. But no, I wanted to stare too; the only difference between us was that I knew how dangerous that was.

Our friendship was rocky at first because neither of us knew how many of our secret thoughts we were at liberty to share with each other. Tris made the first step in admitting how unhappy she was in Abnegation, and then I opened up about the side of Marcus that at that time no one else knew. In time we learned we had a lot more in common than we could have imagined, and running away to Dauntless together went from being a passing joke to something we earnestly contemplated and then decided upon. And somehow it became understood that I would go, she would follow, and then we'd be together as more than just best friends. Sometimes, when we're sitting so close like this, I think we already are.

"It's two years, Tris," I mumble lowly.

"And? If you come back to Abnegation then so will I, and then it'll be the rest of our lives."

"Maybe that won't be so bad," I answer with a frown, staring at the rows of grey, Abnegation houses beneath us. If we stay, Tris and I could one day have a house of our own, and it wouldn't matter what we did or said or thought when we were safe inside it. "We'll have each other," I continue, "And when you finish your initiation I can officially ask your parents for permission to court you. Until then I'll have my own place… and you could come over-"

Tris laughs at me, and her body shakes against my chest. "You don't even like that idea, Tobias. Look at your face." She looks at me and smiles.

It's not the best idea. Abnegation norms dictate that I can't officially court Tris until she's sixteen, and any close relationship between us until then would be highly inappropriate. Mrs. Prior has been allowing me to see Tris for a while now, but that might be because we're both dependents. This time tomorrow I will be considered an adult; Tris won't be for another two years. God forbid we stay here and our fathers find out we're seeing each other in private.

"I actually can't look at my face," I roll my eyes, and my voice is laced with annoyance. "Except for the five seconds I get during my monthly haircut."

"Tobias, I know you don't want to stay here," Tris says firmly. "So what are you really afraid of?"

I'm afraid of being away from her. The best moments of my life have been with Tris. The only times I've laughed out loud or grinned until my cheeks hurt, I was with her. How do you spend two years away from the only person who gives your life some sort of meaning? And what if she realizes she's strong enough to be happy all on her own? Or with someone else other than me?

"A lot can happen in two years," I admit softly.

"I won't change my mind if that's what you're thinking. I mean, do you really think I'd come back here? Do you think I want to be called Beatrice for the rest of my life?" she gags when she says her given name and it makes me chuckle a bit; she only started hating it after I started to call her Tris for short. She couldn't deny how much better it suited her.

"It's not that," I answer. "You don't think you'd change your mind about me? We're both young and…" It's such a horrid thought that I can't even complete it.

Tris' mouth hangs open, but then she smiles. "Look around you, Tobias. Do you really think there's anyone in Abnegation who could change my mind?"

I shrug. "Robert's been looking at you lately. He's closer to your age than I am." I'm sure Caleb wouldn't mind at all. He's Robert's friend and he hasn't failed to tell me just how inappropriate he thinks my friendship with Tris is. Not like it's any of his business.

"Seriously? Robert? Ew, Tobias." Tris playfully rolls her eyes at me again. "I'll pass. I don't think I want to endure the torture of trying to be someone's perfect Abnegation wife." She scans my eyes for any hint of a smile. When she doesn't find one she shifts a little closer to me and takes my hand. "I've never met anyone like you, Tobias, who makes me feel the way you do. The only time I can be myself is when I'm around you. It makes me feel safe."

"You really mean that?" I look down and whisper.

"Of course I do," she says. "Besides, I'm the one who should be worried about you going to Dauntless and forgetting about me. Dauntless girls are pretty. And even the ones who aren't put stuff on their faces to make you think they are." There's a tiny hint of insecurity in her eyes. I only see it because I know her better than anyone. "Make sure you ask them to wash it off first before you commit. So you really know what you're getting yourself into."

She jokes about it, but Tris has always seemed to feel intimidated by Dauntless girls and the way they look in comparison to her. She complains about how her hair always has to be in a bun, she thinks her eyes are dull, she thinks her Abnegation robes make her look like a child in adult clothing. But I don't think there's anything wrong with her at all. In fact, I could look at Tris all day. She's the kind of beautiful that shines from the inside out.

It's typically the other way around with Dauntless girls. They glamour on the outside when there's actually nothing in there; they seem hollow to me.

"How many times have I called you beautiful?" I ask her.

"A lot," she bites her bottom lip. "But you haven't seen much else. And you'll be seeing a whole lot more in Dauntless. When it comes to clothes they seem to prefer less or at least tighter, showcasing themselves-"

"-In a way I couldn't possibly find more unattractive," I finish for her.

I wish she could see how beautiful she really is. I blame Abnegation. I blame them for making her believe it's a crime to look at herself for more than five seconds.

"I could never forget about you, Tris," I add, and I rub my hand against her hair. "Two years aren't enough. A million years wouldn't be."

Her eyes wet with tears, Tris nods. "Okay," she whispers.

"Okay?"

"Okay," she nods again. I pull her closer into me, and she presses her face into my chest. I never thought something could feel this right. "So we're really doing this?" she whimpers.

I freeze for a moment. This is the hard part, saying goodbye to her, even if it's just for now, it might be the last time we sit on this roof and stare at the stars. It might be the last time I hold her for the next seven hundred thirty one days. But I remind myself this is a long term plan, and as long as she's in it with me, we'll be okay.

I nod slowly. "We are."

"I'll be there on Visiting Day," Tris says softly as the first tear makes its way down her cheek. "I promise."

"And I'll be right there waiting for you." I smile. "And just in case I can't wait that long, don't forget to leave out the key."

"Okay," Tris smiles with a small sniffle. She always leaves me the spare key to the backdoor by the stairs, under the cactus.

My fingers find her cheek, and smoothly they curl around her neck. I bring her mouth to mine and kiss her slowly, savouring the warmth of her sweet lips. They're even sweeter than I had imagined.

I don't get enough, but I pull away, not wanting to make Tris uncomfortable.

"I thought we would wait," she whispers. With a blush she adds, "Not that I mind… or anything."

"It's my promise to you… that I'll never forget you," I say. "They say you never forget your first kiss."

"Well in that case," Tris smiles. She reaches up and pulls my face back into hers, and we kiss again, our lips dancing slowly around each other. It's a much longer kiss, and a much deeper one, a kiss I could never forget even if I tried.

A/N: I hope you guys are looking forward to the rest of this story! Please do let me know what you thought of the prologue :)