Tris finds Al alone in the dormitory, and he tells her that he avoided his parents during visiting hours because he did not want to reveal how he was doing in initiation. Tris points out that, though he has lost every fight, he has done so deliberately. She asks whether he could tell his parents the truth, but he shakes his head and says that his father always wanted him to be Dauntless. Tris then asks if he chose Dauntless because of his parents but he again shakes his head, explaining he feels it is important to protect people and stand up for them. He sees this, as opposed to hurting people for no reason, as true courage. Tris is reminded of Four’s comment that Dauntless used to be about teamwork, and she wonders what the faction was like in her mother’s time.

Even though they have stopped talking, Tris sits beside Al. Her father used to say that, sometimes, the best way of helping someone is just to be near them, and she likes to act in a way that would make him proud. However, when Al puts his arm around her, she shrinks away. He apologizes, and Tris wishes that she could tell him not to take it personally—that her parents rarely held hands, even in their own home, and that she has been trained to pull away from affectionate gestures.