Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Divergent. It's world and characters belong to Veronica Roth. But all the OC's I introduce in this story are of my own imagination and brought into the world with love and appreciation for such an incredible concept for a futuristic society.
A/N: In terms of age, I'm following more along the lines of the movies rather than the books, because it just makes a little more sense for Dependents to choose their Factions at 18 rather than 16. Also, there's no war and no Tris in this one. Purely Eric/OC feels here!
Also, I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this one since I have another Eric/OC story going at the moment and my followers are pretty ravenous when it comes to updates. (You know I love them, though!) But if this gets as much love then I will do my very best to keep working on it!
Anyway, please R&R because your support keeps me going! :D
POV - Juliet
Sunlight fell on my face, warming my skin and gently waking me from sleep. I smiled, stretching and inhaling deeply as I lay in my bed. Giggles floated up from downstairs, followed by the sound of little feet pounding on the wooden steps as they ascended them. I closed my eyes again, stilling my face to hide any hint that I was indeed awake. But I could clearly hear the rustle of fabric coming closer before pausing for about ten seconds right beside my bed. I felt a tiny finger touch my arm. Then a poke. A little sigh. Another poke. A small palm on my shoulder. A nudge. Another sigh.
"Got you!"
I opened my eyes and thrust out my arms, wrapping them around a suddenly-squealing four-year-old girl with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. Lifting myself only enough to get a little leverage, I pulled her into my bed and held her against my body as she continued to squeal and squirm and giggle. I covered her little face in kisses and tickled her ribs. This brought more sounds of delight from her and a bigger smile to my face.
"Well, you're finally awake," came a voice from the top of the stairs. I lifted my head and smiled warmly at the young man standing there. Thomas. He smiled back, running his fingers through his sandy-colored hair that was starting to get a little long lately.
"Of course," I told him, still cuddling the little girl against my chest as I sat up. "Someone has to get Gracie ready for the day."
She giggled again in my arms, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from my eyes before touching her index finger to my nose. I quickly dropped my face down to capture her finger in my mouth.
"Om nom nom nom nom!" Grace giggled and tugged her hand away. I grinned down at her. "Hungry?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay. Let me get dressed, and we can go down for breakfast."
"Mm'kay."
One more kiss on her cheek, and I let her scuttle out of my arms and back over to Thomas. He shook his head at us, but still smiled while he started to lead Grace back down the stairs and to the main floor of the house. I sighed and slowly got up from my bed, my own smile still on my face as I went over to a dresser and started to look for something to wear.
Being in the two-story community home I lived in here at Amity, everyone shared their clothes, so we never bothered with the formalities of having our own dressers to put things in. We had a few scattered about the upper floor, out in the open so anyone could come by and look through them. And no one minded in the least. But that was the Amity way. Peace and kindness and sharing between us all.
I quickly replaced my night dress with a long and loosely-flowing reddish-orange skirt and pale cream tank top, tying an earth-toned multicolor scarf around my waist for a touch of flair, and slipped on my sandals. There was a mirror above the dresser, and I found myself looking into it while I brushed the little tangles that had formed overnight in my long blonde hair. All my time out in the sunshine had added natural pale highlights to it over the last few years, reminding me of sinshine on the wheat fields, especially when paired with my light green eyes. Thomas repeatedly claimed I was destined to be Amity with how I radiated nature in my looks, and I had to admit that he seemed to be right.
Quickly, I braided the mass of blonde and rushed down the spiral staircase to join Grace and Thomas out on the large porch. There was already a crowd of people heading over to the massive tree with a large patio and domed framework built around it that served as a meeting place of all kinds for our Faction. Celebrations, meals, and gatherings of all sorts and purposes happened around that tree. It was the center of life here in Amity.
"Okay," I said, picking little Grace up and settling her on my hip. "Let's go get some breakfast!"
"Yay!" Grace clapped and raised her hands in the air while Thomas fell in step beside us, his hand lightly touching the small of my back as we walked. "Breakfast!"
It was a comfort to have Thomas around me. He kept me calm. Kept me smiling. We'd grown close after I had chosen Amity at the choosing ceremony, and he'd been invaluable in teaching me how to live out here on the farms. Living this way, full of peace and love, had been so different from everything I'd grown up around, but the change was welcome. I needed it. Needed this life. I was happy here.
"Good morning, Juliet," my friend Hannah cooed when we stepped up to the food line and I set Grace down so I could have my hands free for our plates. "Good morning, Gracie. Good morning, Thomas."
"Good morning, Hannah." I reflected her warm smile back at her, taking the two plates she offered as Grace and Thomas bid her their own hello. "Go with happiness."
"Go with happiness."
I made my way down the line, setting a few pieces of bread and some fruits with sweet cream on our plates while Grace skipped over to the table we usually sat at during meals. Thomas, as always, was right behind me, carrying his own plate as his hand lightly touched my back between my shoulders.
"Good morning, everyone," I greeted the others at the table before we sat down. They each paused to wish us good morning, then went back to their meals and chatter.
"Okay, Gracie Bug. We've got fruit and bread today. How's that sound?"
"Yummy," she beamed at me as I set her plate in front of her. I smiled and tucked a strand of blonde behind her ear.
"You should eat more, Juliet," Thomas murmured from my other side. "You're looking a little thin lately."
I giggled and nudged him with my shoulder. "I'm fine, Thomas. Really. I eat enough."
"I'm just making sure you stay healthy."
"You worry far too much about me," I told him, picking up a piece of fruit and popping it into my mouth.
He smiled, doing the same. "Because I care for you."
"I know. But I really am fine. I eat my fill. You've got nothing to worry about."
Grace squealed in delight, kicking her little feet in the air with each push of the swing. Thomas laughed and gave in to her demands to go higher, but only just a little. I watched them both as I helped load bags of grains and vegetables onto the trucks. She was in perfectly good hands, yes, but that wasn't the reason I always watched her when she was with Thomas. It was the way they interacted. The love and affection he showed her was different than the kind the others did. We all loved each other as family, but with Thomas, it was almost as if he wanted to be more of a father to her instead of a brother. But it was a nice thing to know that he truly and deeply cared for Grace.
Soon, it was time for us to take the trucks inside the wall, to the gathering of Faction members waiting for the food we provided for them. I hopped down from the truck to kiss Grace on the forehead and give Thomas a hug.
"I'll be back in no time flat," I told the frowning little girl. She never liked it when I left on these shipment runs. "I promise."
"We'll be waiting," Thomas said, shifting Grace in his arms. "She'll be fine."
"She always is with you watching over her. I'll see the both of you soon."
"Go with happiness."
"Go with happiness."
The drive to the city didn't take too long, and I didn't mind riding in the back with the shipment in the least. I loved the feel of the sun and the air on my face. It never got old to me. Hell, I even loved it when it rained. The smell of it on everything around me was one of the best things in the whole world in my opinion. Just another thing that made me feel like I truly belonged in Amity.
Going back into the city always made me a little nervous, though. The city was noisy. Crowded. Especially on the days we took in the harvests for distribution. But at least there were rarely any outbursts of violence to have to deal with. Mostly everyone just did their part to get things done so they could go about their day.
Unfortunately, today was going to be one of those rare days when we had the occasional issue pop up during the process. Dauntless had a few new recruits to their ranks working and they were apparently not going at the speed their superiors wanted them to. The bellows from the older members quickly began to fray my nerves, so much so that I had to move away from the crowd and take a breather.
I walked over to the side of one of the war-torn buildings and leaned my back against it, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths to calm myself. I wrapped my arms around my body as if they would hold me together. Mentally, I repeated to myself that it would be over soon. That I would be back home in Amity before I knew it. Then I could get back to my normal chores and leave all this behind me.
I tried to ignore the heavy footsteps echoing off the walls, but this pair sounded different than all the others. They were getting closer. Someone was coming. But they were most definitely not from Amity. We didn't sound like that, even if we did wear boots on occasion. No, these had to belong to someone from Dauntless by the way they sounded.
"Trying to get out of working, Softy? Or did you spend so much energy wishing everyone peace and love that you've worn yourself out?"
I frowned, lifting my head and opening my eyes. I really didn't want to have to deal with the rudeness of some soldier who was full of himself on top of the yelling from the others out by the trucks. I'd rather whoever this was that followed me away from the crowd to just leave me in peace.
But what I saw when I looked up took my breath away. Five years and he hadn't changed much at all if you overlooked the black bars marking his neck. He still had the same cold glare to his blue eyes, the same angry line to his lips, the same powerful and dominating feel to his presence. Eric.
He blinked, his upper body jerking back a fraction in surprise. I saw recognition in his eyes. He remembered. All this time and he actually remembered. He took one step forward, his brow creasing in confusion and disbelief.
"... Juliet?"