♘ Be Brave ♘

LXX

That night, I leave the dorm to go use the restroom in the hall, but it's locked when I get there. I knock, and there's no answer. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" Silence. Then... "I'll be right out, Four." Cassandra. Moments later, she opens the door, and faces away from me. Smiling, I turn her around.

"Fancy meeting you here--" I freeze. She's bleeding! "Hey, are you okay?" She nods and holds a wad of paper to her nose. "Yeah. Fine. Just, I don't know, I've been getting these nosebleeds lately."

My eyes widen. "I'm okay, though. Really," she says. But I'm not sure who she's trying to convince - me or herself. "Have you gone to the infirmary?" She shakes her head. "No. It's not necessary. I'll be alright. I promise." I frown. "How can you be so sure? You need a doctor."

She rolls her eyes. "God, Four. You're too dramatic sometimes." I glare at her. "I'm not dramatic. I'm concerned, and I have every right to drag you over to the infirmary if I need be." She holds her hands up. "Okay, okay. I'll go. Later. See? I'm not even bleeding anymore. I'm fine."

I sigh. "Just promise you'll go ask the nurse about this. Please?" She nods. "I swear." I kiss her cheek. "Okay. Go to sleep. I'll be right out." She leaves and heads back to the dorm. When I return, I lay back down and try to get some rest, but the image of the bloody tissue she was using seems permanently ingrained into my mind.

"Psst. Four." I open my eyes and see Cassandra standing over me. "What is it?" She tucks her hair behind her ears. "Can I... stay with you?" I frown. "What do you..."

Oh. "Um, sure." I move over and she puts her arm around me as she makes herself comfortable. "You sure you're okay?" She smiles. "Positive." I sigh. "Okay." She gives me a quick kiss and closes her eyes.

Despite the lack of light in the dorm room, I am able to make out the outline of her necklace.

"You don't take this off at all, do you?" She sighs. "What?"

"Your necklace." I reach out to touch it, and the cool metal hits my skin. "I do, sometimes, but not often. It's really important to me. My brother gave it to me the day he... the day he transferred to Dauntless. Said that as long as I had this with me, it would be as if he'd never left our house."

"It's beautiful," I whisper, and she chuckles. "Thank you," she mutters, before turning around and going to sleep.

"Goodnight, my love," I whisper.