Broken, But Brave

Chapter 8: The Final Exam

"You too?" 

"Yeah. Me too." 

"What would happen if the others found out?" 

Tobias was silent for a moment, wondering if he should in fact tell Annabelle the truth. He didn't want to. He wanted to protect her from it as long as possible, forever if he could. But he knew that doing so could potentially end up doing more harm than good, especially if she was going to continue to be involved with Eric after training was over. 

"They'll kill you, Anna. Erudite is using Dauntless to hunt and kill Divergents. Eric is part of the group." 

"How do you know this?" 

"I just know. I need you to trust me, okay? You cannot tell Eric. I know you don't like to keep secrets, but this is one that can never get out. You can't trust him with this. I'm sorry." 

Annabelle nodded her head as she forced the tears trying to free themselves from her eyes to stay put. Tobias was right; she hated keeping secrets from Eric, especially something so fundamental to who she was and how she behaved. It was like keeping an entire half of herself away from him. How could she do that when she so clearly was allowed to see the two very different sides of Eric? How could she only give part of herself to him when he gave her every bit of himself? The thought made Annabelle sick, but she knew based on the seriousness of Four's words that it wasn't a risk worth being tested. 

Tobias looked on in sympathy as he watched Annabelle's internal struggle with herself. He placed a comforting hand on her leg, hoping to shift her focus from her own thoughts back onto him.

"You should go eat and rest. It's only going to get harder and more exhausting the more fears we start to go through." 

"Okay. Thanks, T." 

Without another word to one another, Annabelle exited the testing room to find herself in the empty waiting hall and allowed herself a moment of peace and quiet to breathe. She remained in place just in front of the testing door, just taking long and deep breaths to try and regain her composure before facing her friends in the dining hall. She was startled from her peace though as the door to her right suddenly slammed shut and Eric exited the room, stopping short at the sight of Annabelle. The pair stared at one another for a moment as Eric clearly debated whether or not it would be safe to talk there, but he seemingly decided against it as he walked out of the hall without ever saying a word. Annabelle sighed in slight disappointment. She knew it was the smart decision, but agreeing to keep a low profile was much harder than either of them had anticipated. Still, Anna forced herself from the wall and made the way to the dining hall herself, hopefully to clear her mind of her fears and Eric all at once. 

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Tobias and Annabelle had been hard at work for the past two weeks on ensuring Anna would perform perfectly for her final exam. Both were shocked to find that on day three of her training, she re-lived the same four fears she had already been through. After a week of the same, both were able to find the humor in the Eaton siblings each only having four fears, although Annabelle wasn't going to name herself after it. Still, it made the job of perfecting her simulations that much easier, while no less exhausting. Annabelle and Eric had only met up one other time in the past two weeks, mainly because of Annabelle's overall exhaustion at the end of each day of training, but also because he too had become busy with a new assignment from Max, one Annabelle was too afraid to ask about. But still, they made the most of what little time they did have together while still needing to hide their relationship. But finally, the day came for Anna's final exam. She was nervous to perform in front of Dauntless leadership, knowing that the slightest slip up could potentially cause her life, but she was excited to finally become a full-fledged member of Dauntless. To be with Eric freely again.