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Ryan yanks his shirt back down, "It's nothing." He violently twists the door handle and all but jumps out of the closet before I can blink again. Shock at being able to stay standing upright without his support after our session today comes at a far second to his behavior.

Another set of marks left on me comes to my mind and drowns everything out. He closes the door behind me, but he doesn't meet my eye when I put myself in front of him. "We need to get you checked out. Who knows-"

He slashes through the air with his hand, "I know, SS, and I'm fine." His voice is firm, unyielding. When his eyes land on me, his expression softens. "Look, this isn't your fault, Samantha."

"Of course it is!" My exasperated shout echoes in the corridor. "I kicked that pillow at you like an idiot and now you're hurt. That's the definition of fault."

I watch as he runs an agitated hand through his hair. "I put you in that position."

A groan rips out of me, "Stop being such a martyr. You knew you were hurt, and you weren't even going to tell me. How would you feel if I did that to you?"

His eyebrows draw together, and his eyes run up and down my body laser focused, searching for injury. Once he seems satisfied that I'm not about to keel over from some hidden ailment, he exhales through his teeth, "I wouldn't care for it."

I take a shaky step toward him, "Then don't hide things from me, and I won't hide things from you."

He gives me a curt nod. As we head for the dining hall, he matches his pace to my faltering one. Honestly, I'm over the moon that I'm able to manage any kind of pace after being a boneless pile of goo last week. Ryan guides me to our table before striding away to get both of our lunches.

Fin is already well into his meal, but Nuri and Michael are on Ryan's heels as he makes it back to the table. He's balancing four trays laden with all kinds of food. I throw myself on it the second the first tray touches the table. "Where's Archer?" I ask when I come up for air.

"He had to get back. Something about a mix up with the fertilizer." Fin says into his food. Archer joined the farming track after quitting his mission team, and his section is like his baby. One time, during a tour from the education program, a student walked off the path and onto Archer's freshly tilled soil. Poor kid still flinches when he sees my brother.

I lean into Ryan's side after demolishing the second tray. Luckily everyone else has started to throw away their trash, so I'm able to ask the question that's been on my mind without an audience, "How long until I see you again?"

His shoulders shrug heavily, "I wish I knew."

"Guess I should have taken more advantage of our time in that closet."

Ryan grunts, "If it were up to me, we'd still be in that closet, SS. It had a lock and everything."

Fin clears his throat loudly from behind us. Heat rises to my face, but I swivel in my seat to stare at my brother anyway, "Don't you have something better to do than eavesdrop?"

With an arched brow, Fin crosses his arms tightly, "Believe me, Samantha, I would rather be deaf than hear any part of that conversation." Piercing Ryan with a withering glance, he opens his mouth again, "But since I did hear it," he uncrosses his arms and leans into Ryan's space, "if my sister is ever found in a closet with you, you'll have more to worry about than an errant black eye."

I roll my eyes at him, "We'll make sure not to get caught then."

Ryan makes a choking sound beside me as my brother straightens and rubs the bridge of his nose. Instead of a retort, he just shoots a look at me that promises a long lecture in my future before stomping out of the dining hall. "You know, I think everyone is so intimidated by Archer that no one gives Fin his due. If I ever go missing, SS, search Archer's field first."

I pat his hand, "Don't worry, Ethan is still way ahead of you on the hit list."

"Then your brothers and I have something in common."

At dinner, it's just Fin and me. Apparently whatever they did to Archer's crop was enough to keep him at work late. On one hand, that keeps him from hearing about the closet debacle, but it also means that there's nothing distracting Fin from his lecture. "You explicitly told me that you two aren't in a relationship. What are you thinking? Not to mention the fact that he's your trainer now. It's inappropriate."

He's said the same variation of the same sentiment about five times now, and I'm starting to get a dull ache behind my left eye because of it. The repeated rejoinder about Ryan and I not being in a relationship grates on my ears more than the rest of it. We haven't revisited that particular conversation. There hasn't been time, but I feel like adding the label to whatever is going on between us wouldn't bother me like I thought it would.

Ethan is ancient history after everything he's said and done. Besides, with the way we live, there's no guarantee that I'll make it to my next birthday. I might as well chase what makes me happy as much as I can, and Ryan has made me happy. Actually, he's made me feel calm, frustrated, confident, and a myriad of other emotions too, but that's neither here nor there. It's time for me to stop pretending like I'm less involved with him than I am. "There's no rule against being in a relationship with your trainer." I tell him quietly. He stops mid-rant and cocks his head to the side in question. "Nuri and I checked."

"I thought she...does Nuri want to date her trainer?" He asks before he can think the better of it and immediately rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Nevermind. That's Archer's problem to work out."

I smile at Fin, "Does that mean you're going to tell him?"

He shakes his head at me, "Sam, I would rather shave my head than get in the middle of that."

Knowing my brother well enough to know that he will pass this on to Archer no matter what he claims, I sigh softly, "She did say that her trainer is very hands-on during their training." Fin's eyes narrow, and I can't decide if he's more aggravated that someone might steal Nuri from Archer or if he's just bracing for Archer's eventual reaction to this information.

Hopefully Nuri doesn't get more than she bargained for with this scheme because Archer will know about it before the sun comes up based on Fin's reaction. If Nuri's trainer wasn't a woman old enough to be my mother and skilled enough to bring a grown man to his knees, I'd be worried about her safety. The bright side of this is that I've given Fin something else to chew on, and it's made him give up on his lecture about my dating life for the rest of dinner.

When Fin drops me at my door for the night, I lock it behind me and lean against it heavily. Exhaustion has finally caught up with me, and I'm out seconds after my head hits the pillow.

Pounding on my door rips me out of the most dreamless sleep I've had since I got my trial date. It's followed by Archer's gruff voice, "We're going to be late, Sam! Get up!"

My eyes pop open. Shit. I check the time. All but falling out of my bed, I rush to get dressed and fling my door open before I've even laced my shoes properly. "I guess training drained me more than I thought." Hopping from foot to foot to tie my laces, I shoot my brother a grateful look, but it stalls out. He's wearing a matching uniform to mine. A far cry from what he wears for the farming track. Everything locks into place, "There was no fertilizer mix up? Was there?" My teeth grind together savagely.

Fin appears at Archer's elbow. He's not wearing his uniform for the medical track. Though I recognize the clothing instantly. After all, if I had been paying Ryan any real attention these last few years, I would have known what his track was long before I heard his voice in my ear during the trials. "What did you two do?"