Okay, okay.” I set my hand on top of his and guide it to my chest, so it’s right over my heart. “Feel my heartbeat. Can you feel it?” “Yes.” “Feel how steady it is?” “It’s fast.” “Yes, well, that has nothing to do with the box.” I wince as soon as I’m done speaking. I just admitted to something. Hopefully he doesn’t realize that.

Caleb," I say, "I love you." His eyes gleam with tear as he says, "I love you, too, Beatrice.

My father has a way of persuading people without charm that has always confused me. He states his opinions as if they’re facts, and somehow his complete lack of doubt makes you believe him. That quality frightens me now, because I know what he told me: that I was broken, that I was worthless, that I was nothing. How many of those things did he make me believe?

Not like Tobias, who is almost shy when he smiles, like he is surprised you bothered to look at him in the first place.

I will be my undoing If I become my obsession.

I know that change is difficult, and comes slowly, and that it is the work of many days strung together in a long line until the origin of them is forgotten.

Are you asking me to undress, Tris?' A nervous laugh gurgles from my throat. 'Only ... partially