BULLETS ⚊ divergent

FOURTEEN

"How do you know?"

"Well, I did hurt them a lot with my choice," he started, "But being someone from Amity means forgiving. I've always thought that that should be something normal in all factions. Parents shouldn't think that their children are betraying them when they make the choice to live in another way, one that fits who they are better than the one they were born into," Nate's eyes met hers, and he released a sigh, "I'm sorry. I tend to get passionate when I discuss this. It's just... if it was betrayal, why would there even be a choice?"

"You are leaving your family behind," Lilith's voice was soft, when she spoke, after a few seconds.

"Yeah," he nodded, "To serve my community in a way that my talents are better suited for. If anything, my family should be proud of me. And I know they are, even if they miss me."

Lilith nodded her head, pondering over her friend's words, before questioning him about who was coming to see him. Nate's eyes had lit up even more as he told her about his parents, who he seemed to love dearly. The brunette couldn't hold back a grin as Nate told her about his mother, Alice, a woman who seemed to be nothing but pure Amity, and his father, Edward, an assistant to Johanna Reyes with a taste for poetry. The love he had for both of them was obvious, and Nate's excitement as he spoke of them seeped into her as they made their way back to the Pit.

For the first time since Lilith had moved to Dauntless, the Pit was filled with people wearing clothes with colors other than black. There were the warm tones of Amity, the greys of Abnegation, the blues of Erudite, and the white accents here and there from the Candor. Her eyes sweeped the crowd, looking for Adelia, but the woman was nowhere to be found. Her smile fell, but she quickly masked her disappointment when she noticed Nate was grinning. She followed his line of sight to see a middle aged couple covered in red and orange garments, and she elbowed her friend lightly.

"Well, go on," she said, gesturing towards the couple.

"What about you?" Nate's gaze turned to her, before he smiled at his parents, "You can come over and meet them, you know? While your family doesn't get here."

She shook her head, "I'll be fine. Go enjoy your time with them."

Lilith watched as Nate made his way to his family, immediately enveloping his mother in a tight embrace. She couldn't help but smile at their reunion, tearing her eyes away from them after a few seconds, in order to give them privacy. Folding her arms over her chest, she looked around the Pit for any signs of her family, the anxiety she had been experiencing before breakfast returning all at once. Chewing on her lower lip, she looked to where Christina was speaking to her mother and her younger sister. The small girl gave her a wave when she noticed her looking, and Lilith returned it, though she made no move to join them. Her eyes then found Peter and his parents, and her jaw was clenched as she wondered if they knew what they had raised. It wasn't their fault, and Lilith didn't blame them for how their son had turned out. Her only question was if Peter wore a mask in front of them, too.

Deciding that she had looked at the Hayes family for long enough, Lilith looked to the other side of the Pit, spotting Siobhan with an older man with the same crystal blue eyes and two toddlers requiring her undivided attention. Her friend had never spoken to her about her family, and the brunette had never thought about asking, since that wasn't something the transfers talked about. Upon further inspection, Lilith noticed that one of the toddler girls shared no similar features with Siobhan or the older man, and her eyebrows were furrowed as she attempted to create a theory about who the little girl was.

"That's Camden," Eric's voice came from her left, and she glanced at him to see him looking at Siobhan's family, "They took her in after her parents passed away in an accident, last year."