I know, I know...I realize why people love this series so much (I do too and I wanna finish reading it). But rest assured, no-one's parents change. I've seen enough OCs related to Tris and/or Four to last me a lifetime... *shudders*

He had a choice to make. Would he stay Dauntless forever, and always be somewhere near the mother who tortured him throughout his childhood? Or would he become Amity, and get away from the pain and the suffering?

Piano rubbed his temples as he sat on his bed. Whatever he was doing, he needed proof of his identity, something to get rid of the horrible presence of his mother. He needed a tattoo. A scorpion, he decided. A big one, sprawled across the back of his right shoulder. Not a scary scorpion...just a scorpion. He wanted one because his father, who grew up Erudite, had told him that he was a "Scorpio", represented by a scorpion. He wanted the stars on his side.

That night, his father took him out to get it put there. Piano had his star sign inked into his back forever. Though the artist questioned his scars, his father was able to answer discreetly.

"...no matter what you choose, Piano, I'll be here for you," his dad said gently, wrapping his arms around his son. "She'll never hurt you again for as long as I live..."

He nodded slowly, looking back up at him. His eyes shimmered with pain, but not just from the tattoo he received moments earlier. Piano was hurting from the serum they used during his aptitude test. In fact, his entire head hurt. The teen had no idea why, but gosh darn, it did.

Within a few hours, he went blind, only for his eyes to recover a little shortly after. He needed glasses before he could attend the Choosing Ceremony. Though the pigmentation in his irises was never stable again, he was at least able to see.

But his choice was made. He just needed to go.

On the train, his old friends sat around in a circle, playing a game of spin-the-bottle. Piano didn't join them. He wasn't interested in love like that...nor was he looking for a kiss.

Instead, he let himself think about what he would do with himself if he stayed, if he left. Piano sighed. Staying was hopeless. His sister would never leave Dauntless. She fought too much and too brutally. He couldn't imagine her in any other faction. And then he knew he had to leave.

...

A blue-eyed boy stared up at the sky, his face dappled with zits, yet it was painted beautifully with the colors of the sunrise. His blond hair shone gold in the early morning light, and he loved it. But his current faction said "no" to this self-love. Sol was Abnegation-born, and had his heart set on leaving from the moment he got his test results. Divergence aside, he was freed. He had scored Amity as well as Abnegation.

Thanks to a highly-studious Erudite friend, he knew where he belonged. There was a cut statement from the Amity manifesto, one entitled "Involvement". The way it read let him know that he could stay at least somewhat selfless in Amity. He could love others as well as himself without fear of being scolded for it.

There was nothing he wanted more than to clean himself completely, share his expressive acts of love and kindness. He wanted to see the world outside the city, of course. More than anything, Sol desired the freedom to get up and run around barefoot, and wear something other than these bland grey clothes. Something brighter. Something that would make his mother whisper in his ear and tell him that he looks wonderful. He wanted to let go of city life, and Amity was the best way to go about it.

"Sol," his mother called. "Breakfast!"

He got up, trudging from his room into the dining room. Finally, he could eat. Though it was certainly nothing special, it wasn't his favorite. But he ate it anyways. He'd need the energy and such for the Ceremony.

"...why so quiet?" she asked him.

His father, forever an Abnegation, was off at work. They were about as free as one could be to discuss anything they wanted. Even Sol.

"I...I'm not staying. I don't like the idea of Dad coming home to a not-full house, but...I think I'm better off this way."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to choose Amity. I'm picking Amity and I'm not coming back here...ever. Unless I need to..."

His mother fell silent. Was he interested in someone that Abnegation would never let him be with? Or was it something different? He couldn't be...or could he?

The boy looked down at his plate, half-ashamed, half not. Sol played with his eggs, poking the liquidy yolk over and over again with the prongs of his fork. He liked his mom, he really did. But he was Divergent and he needed to get far away from the control of the officials. Far, far out of their reach. So Amity was a logical choice.

...

Sitting alone in his room, he realized he had to do something. He couldn't stay in Candor for long. It wasn't that he disliked honesty, and it most certainly wasn't that he was a lying bastard. He had knowledge that he couldn't contain. He had to go somewhere better.

Like a few others, he was also Divergent, one with inconclusive test results. He not only needed to free himself from confinement, but he needed to let his endless spring of knowledge flow. Though Erudite would put him in the most risk of being found, he loved learning above all else, and his intellect would greatly help him fit in and hide. It was an ingenious plan.

He smiled. Though the boy he had been chasing for a little while wasn't so bright, maybe he too would pick Erudite. Maybe then they could show them all-

...how dauntless they were in coming together to start a family.

He realized how stupid it all sounded. Like he'd pick Erudite to be with him. As if this boy he loved would really abandon his own course in life just to be beside him.

The teen let out a shaky sigh, burying his head in his hands. "...I'm so sorry... I...I was dumb and... I could never...never have guessed I'd be so stupid!!" he sobbed. "...s-so stupid as to fall head-over-heels for someone who...who's so battle-scarred and gentle..."

His father poked his head in. "...you okay, Xereno?"

Xereno shook his head violently, not looking up. "...I...I'm so stupid...! Erudite doesn't deserve me..."

"What do you mean?" the man asked softly, sitting on the bed beside his son.

"...a-at school...th-there was this other kid. We got along great...yet we were so incredibly different...and...and I think I...I think I love him..."

The man fell deathly silent. Those kinds of relationships were dangerous here. Surely his son knew that...

"...p-please...can we...can we make a stand in one night? S-start a small revolution...one for love? F-for all the broken hearts that came when someone's lover left the faction?"

"Xereno, don't you understand? Faction before blood-"

"He's not family!" the boy exclaimed, almost yelling. "He's my beloved! And we're not even related!"

"...your faction is supposed to give you a reason to live."

"Love is stronger!!" Xereno argued, his face red with anger. "Who cares about the like-minded people I live with?! If I have someone I love, I should be with them!!"

His father couldn't come up with a reasonable argument. He just sat there quietly, unable to speak. Had the founders of this city's government forgotten about the strength of such feelings? Or did they dismiss it by saying:

"If you really love them, then let them be happy!!"

That was his father's final argument.

Xereno shot his father a glare. "So much for helping me...thanks a lot, Dad..."