So now we all know," says Four, quietly, "that you are afraid of a short, skinny girl from Abnegation." His mouth curls into a smile.

He holds my face in both hands and kisses me back. I press into the distance between us until it is gone, crushing the secrets we have kept and the suspicions we have harbored-for good, I hope.

I didn't realize until that moment that Dauntless initiation had taught me an important lesson: how to keep going.

He seems designed specifically for speed and deadly accuracy. But not strength, not particularly-he is smart, but not strong. Only strong enough to carry me.

Guilt [is] a tool, rather than a weapon against the self.

I have done bad things. I can't take them back, and they are part of who I am. Most of the time, they seem like the only thing I am.

What?" I ask. "I'm developing a theory." "And it is?" She picks up her hamburger, grins, and says, "That you have a death wish.