I get away from Christina and Tris when I can–following after Tobias. I've spent so much time around him the last week, it's weird being away from him. He doesn't look back but I know he's aware I'm following him to his apartment.

Then I realize what I'm doing is silly. I'm no longer an initiate. We don't have to hide what we are anymore. Then I'm stumped again, because... what are we?

"You're very bad at sneaking up on people," Tobias says as he unlocks his door, I snort.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you," He looks up and smiles, nodding his head toward the inside of his apartment. I follow him inside and shut the door behind me. Tobias sits on his bed, untying his boots and I follow suit. It feels nice to have my shoes off, I flop backward and sigh loudly. "I hate those stupid shoes," I admit.

Tobias leans back with me and I look at him with a smile. "45 seconds." Is all he says. I can hear the pride in his voice.

That little part of me that thrives on praise swells. My ego begins a slow rise as I turn away from him–smiling even wider than before.

I feel his hand reach for mine and I connect our palms again. It's soothing for me now that we've been holding hands more. "What was your time?"

"I think... two minutes?" He shrugs, "I can't remember, it was two years ago."

"Hmm, I'm sure Eric remembers. He looked like he wanted to bite my head off for doing so well." I roll into my side, holding a hand under my head so I can keep looking at Tobias.

He squeezes my hand, "Shh, don't bring his name into my place." The way he says it makes me giggle. Tobias whining is definitely not something I ever expected to hear.

"You're so much whinier than you let on." I mumble and he rolls his eyes, "Oo, rude too. Well–I knew that already."

Tobias pushes me over so I'm on my back again. "Respect your elders."

I gasp, "Woah, if you think there's such a large gap in age then let me down easy, Tobi."

"Tobi?" I can't help but snort loudly when he asks that.

"I'm getting lazy with names, I've been calling Christina; Chris." I explain, "Tobi is cute too, it reminds me of Tamino's nickname. Tammi." I exaggerate my accent when I say his name. Tobias falls silent and I look over at him, his eyes are on me–but he looks a bit dazed. "You okay?"

"Do you know any Arabic?" He suddenly asks.

I shrug, "Just a little. I'm terrible with languages, I understand more than I speak." This reminds me of the tattoo on my forearm. "Have you seen my tattoo?" Sober, that is. I remember when he was drunk by the chasm–he was acting so funny.

Tobias' face crinkles, "I vaguely recall seeing it before?"

"Yea? Surprised you remember at all," I say, I unzip my jacket and push my heels into his bed–arching my back upward as I fight to get out of the jacket. The sleeves are the easiest part but when I roll over to pull it off the rest of the way, I tumble to the floor. "Oh, what the fuck?"

The only sound I hear is Tobias' loud laughter, I lay on the floor just listening to him laugh at my shame. "You're an ass," I try to say over the sound of him chortling. I can only imagine how he's rolling onto his side–clutching his stomach due to the pain.

His head appears over the edge of the bed–his face is completely red and when he sees my irritated expression, I swear it sends him over the edge. The sound of his pure enjoyment makes it really hard to fight my growing smile.

"I'm–I'm so sorry but your–" Tobias cuts himself off, holding a hand over his mouth. "Your FACE!" He's losing it.

I scrunch my face up, shaking my head. "You're mean." I lift the excess part of my scarf up and over my face. "Goodbye."

"Hey! No," He whines and lifts the fabric lightly, "Come back."

I shake my head, "You're laughing at my pain–ass." I add on and he rolls his eyes, still coming down from his trip to the moon.

"You didn't think it was funny?" I shake my head, and he sighs, "I'm sorry I couldn't help it. I saw your face when you felt there wasn't any bed under you and it killed me. That's my bad."

"I was gonna show you my tattoos and everything." My lips fall into a faux pout as I grumble like a child.

He doesn't catch that, "Did you say, tattoos, plural?" Tobias pushes the fabric away and grabs at my hand, "Show me." He's holding my right hand and helps me up by sitting there being dead weight.

The dark ink against my skin catches the light and he turns my hand over, palm up. "Woah." He brushes his fingers across the tattoo and smiles, "Billie did this, didn't she?" I nod, surprised he can tell who did it. "I've noticed she uses a smaller needle, makes it look cleaner."

"I was wondering what that was, because Tori did the one on my shoulder and it looked heavier!"

Tobias makes what I can only describe as a face of surprise, "Rita Rose has a shoulder tattoo?" He teases and I push his face so he falls onto the bed. He quickly recovers and pulls my standing form near the bed by my hips. My waist is right above the bed where his head is settled.

"I may not show people myself but that doesn't make me against... doing technically immodest things. And I wasn't alone when I got these done. Russ was there for the one." I point out and it's very slight–but Tobias' grip tightens on my hips. I look down at him. "You okay?"

He gulps and it makes me feel so confused. "I'm alright."

"That's a lie," I argue, "You're lying, what's wrong?" I lift his chin with my hand and he pushes up onto his knees. Something stirs inside me.

"Just surprised you'd let him see that part of you... that's all." Tobias sounds like he's trying to be incredibly devoid of emotion but I see it in his eyes. He is jealous. The thought of him being jealous over something like that makes my ego jump.

I furrow my brows at him and pout once more–this time as a means to tease him. "Awe, are you jealous I let him see my shoulder blade?" I lift his chin even higher and despite him kneeling on the bed, he's still my height and maybe one inch more.

Tobias tilts his head at me, "Do you want me to be jealous?"

I shrug, "Maybe I do, Tobias." He smirks when he hears his name, "Do you wanna see both of my shoulder blades?" I ask, brushing my nose against his cheek. Heat spreads behind my light touch and now I'm smirking. "I always forget this is your first time doing this too."

"Is it because I'm so mature?" There's a slight mocking quality to the way he says that.

"No, it's because you're such an ass." I turn away. "Seriously, do you wanna see my tattoos?" I lower one of my shoulders and look at him from over it, "I show you mine, you show me yours."

Tobias nods, "I do, sorry." I'm not sure why he apologizes but I hear him climb off of the bed to stand behind me. "Is it okay if I...?" He brushes a hand over my shoulder where the stretchy fabric of my shirt is and I nod shakily.

This is the most skin he's seen of mine since visiting day. And even then–there were lacy sleeves protecting my arms. He slips a finger under the short sleeve and drags it down. The material stretches with ease, allowing him to see the Dauntless seal on my right shoulder.

Then he slides a hand down my elbow, bending it and pulling my arm out to the right–looking at Baba's handwriting once more.

"What's it mean?"

I gulp, unable to speak for a moment. "My darling. It's Arabic, habibi."

"It's beautiful." Then I feel a kiss on my palm and look at him in wonder. He kisses my shoulder next, then moves to the other side. He pauses when he sees the Fractured seal on my left shoulder, "Is this for your family?"

"Yes, Tammi gifted me the design at visiting day."

He kisses the seal and a shiver shoots down my spine. I roll my stomach in on itself from the sensation and blink slowly. When Tobias' hand finds my stomach from behind me, I freeze–holding my breath. The only thing I can hear is my heart and it's worryingly fast.

Tobias steps closer and I'm quickly surrounded by his warmth. There's nothing I can do but keep still. He pressed his forehead against my shoulder and hugs me from behind. The contact is almost too much. But then I remember how close we were in his fear landscape, then on the train. This shouldn't make my heart try to escape from my chest.

"You okay?" Our question.

"Very much so." I'm almost embarrassed by my answer until he pressed his chest against my back and I realize his heart is beating just as fast as mine. "You're everywhere, Tobias." I don't really know what I'm saying. His presence is overwhelming me.

"Oh–do you want me to step back–"

I shout, "No–" And grab his forearm, twisting around so I'm facing him. "No, it's... a good everywhere." I quickly fill the space between us, resting my cheek against his chest. I listen to his heart and sigh.

He's hugging me again and I can't believe he's so warm. "You're always everywhere for me, Rita." I don't say anything, "Physically–mentally. It's never-ending but I'm not sure I'd like for it to end either way."

"I think about you a lot too," I murmur quietly.

It's almost shameful how often my thoughts drift to him. "We have to go soon." He says and I nod.

"That's okay. We have to act like before, don't we?" I feel the vibrations of him saying yes through my cheek. "Okay. I'll be the perfect little thorn in your side."

Tobias chuckles, "You're not a thorn, you're just a rose. A dangerous one, though." I furrow my brows. "It's a compliment because even though you're killing me–I'd never leave your side."

"How do I... kill you?"

I think I know but I have to hear him say it out loud. I have to know how much he's affected by my presence. Because when I'm alone with him, I crumble.

Tobias lifts my head and I stare right into his eyes–they're the same shade of brown as mine. They're so comfortable. They remind me of home. "I care so much it hurts. But it's the best pain I've felt in my life."