Growing up in Candor meant growing up with none other than Peter Hayes. You knew him to be brash, cruel and manipulative. As fitting as Dauntless was for someone like him, he never needed knives or weapons to hurt. He knew how to be calculating with his words, sharpening them at there finest to cut someone deep. Your parents warned you to stay away from him, Peter Hayes the local bully.

That’s precisely what you did, even with you both choosing Dauntless as your main faction… yet Peter had other plans.

———————————————————

Peter had always carried a torch for you, although he’d never admit it. He had observed you from afar all his life, taking in just how Candor affected you differently. While he used his weapons to bring people down, to fuck with their minds… you used it honorably. You spoke honestly sure, but you used every route to say what you needed in the gentlest of ways possible. Even when talking about yourself, you were humble and modest—something he wasn’t.

The times when you tried to lie, every part of you seemed to give away the truth unconsciously; your eyes would flick away, your hands would always fidget, your tone almost never backed up your attempt at dishonesty. Anyone who had a pair of eyes could see that you were a terrible liar. You had so many tells, it was really rather adorable.

It was something Peter dare say, admired. He was drawn to your genuine personality, the way you only said what you meant. If you didn’t want anyone to know, you kept silent. Which made you all the more intriguing to Peter.

“Hey sweetheart,” he croons with a crooked smile, his hazel brown eyes focused on your soft features. He leaned against the railing beside you, watching you with a fondness you couldn’t seem to notice—something he didn’t blame you for. He had a reputation and he knew he needed to act past that if he wanted to get your attention.

“You doing okay?” He asked with a curious tilt of his head, her words tinged with what he found to be affection. His forearms settled against the metal piping, the rusting steel cold to the touch. It helped ground him to the moment, a pause against the constant chaos that came with being here in the caverns. When you tried to dismiss him, albeit weakly, he wasn’t upset. One way or another, he was going to spend the rest of his life with you.