Chapter 1
Tris POV
After weeks of sparring and weeks of being pinned to the mat I finally pin down our most ruthless leader Eric.
I get up off of him and smirk smugly. "Wipe the look off your face Stiff. I will be victorious next time!" He exclaims dramtically while holding up a finger.
We start laughing after. Eric isn't such a bad guy once you get to know him. He's like an onion. Lots of layers.
But once you get past that rough exterior and assholish attitude he's okay. Then you gotta peel back the okay layers to get to the better layers and from the better layers you peel it to the best layers. Next layer is almost the final one it's a prickly layer last defense to his image. Finally you get to his friendly, teddy bear layer.
And I'm almost there. Still on the prickly layer but it's coming off very quickly.
"I'll meet you back here same time?" I ask before taking a long gulp of my water. "Nope. Tomorrow is running day remember." He says. "Oh yeah that's right." I say caping my bottle of water. He just nods before giving a curt goodbye and leaving.
I sigh and head up to Four's apartment to see him for a bit before I go and get some sleep.
When I unlock the door I don't see him in his usual spot on the couch.
After a couple hours he comes in and I'm hit with the smell of alcohol. "Hey Tobias." I say. He glares at me and stumbles up to me.
He suprises me by kissing me forcefully. I don't respond at all. This seems to make him mad because he pulls back roughly and slaps me.
I let out a yelp of pain and shock. "I always knew you were too Abnegation for that." He sneers before punching me in the gut. It knocks the wind out of me.
I'm still too shocked to fight back. So he lands a few more blows before he stops. "Now get out of my apartment bitch." He sneers. I get up and scramble to get my things.
I stop in the doorway to see his muscular frame disappear from sight. I slam the door as if I'll be back and there will be more hell to come. And I keep walking back into it. I'm still in shock every time he does it.
The next day Eric POV
I see her slightly limping in. "You okay there Stiff?" I ask. "Yeah. I ran into a chair on my way out." She grumbles before starting to stretch.
I can see how she winces and grimaces while she does it. I ignore it thinking it's from the few hits I got in on her yesterday.
"Ready to go?" I ask after a few minutes of watching her stretch. Sounds creepy I know. But, I'm making sure she doesn't over stretch.
She nods and we begin to jog away from the compound in the cool morning air.
"I'll have to cut this run short today Coulter." She says slightly out of breath on our third mile. "Oh yeah why?" I question challengingly.
"Why? It's because I have to help Christina the girl you made hang over the Chasm with a few deatails for her party for me tomorrow." She says clearly lying through her teeth. But, I won't press.
"Fine. Let's turn around here." I growl out a bit. I'd have to admit the Stiff is kinda growing on me.
Tris POV
Fine? Who the hell is this? I ask myself silently. I know he's former Erudite but, come on! He knows the signs if lying and obviously I've shown some.
I decide to brush it off as we circle the lamp post that marks mile three and a half. Since we run like six miles each way.
Once we're back we bid our goodbyes and I rush up to my apartment.
I lock my door and head straight for the bathroom. I strip and look at myself in the mirror. There are two big bruises on my sides. And a couple smaller ones on my stomach.
I sigh as I start up the shower. I've just gotta last through training. Hopefully Four will stop then. I canmt even call him by his real name by myself anymore.
Honestly he's drinking every week so I get time to let these heal and then get new ones.
But this was the first time it was two days in a row. I turn around and look at my back.
When I get out and change I walk into my room and there is sitting a sober Four. "Tobias." I say shortly while applying some lotion to my exposed arms.
"Stiff." He sneers. I freeze. As I turn to him I'm knocked down. I land on my ass hard.
I see he's got a knife in his hand. Why the hell does he do this!? The logical part of my brain screams.
I try to scramble away but he kicks my side. "Be a good little Stiff and it won't hurt as much." He growls as he uses the knife to cut away my shirt and sports bra. I try to wriggle free but that earns me a cut to my stomach.
I hold back a yelp of pain. "Why are you doing this Tobias?" I ask tears spinging to my eyes. He laughs a cold hearted laugh.
"Because you deserve it, divergent." He growls into my ear. I try even harder to wriggle free.
But he adds two more cuts. So I stop and let him have his way with me. I don't want to die at the hands of the man I used to love. He's just like his father now.
When he leaves I'm lying naked on my floor with three long, narrow, and shallow cuts on my stomach. Thank God we have the day off tomorrow.
I get dressed as slowly as I can to prevent pain. And more bleeding.
As I lay in bed a realization hits me. The night Four saved me from the Chasm he wasn't just randomly walking by. He was the one talking to bastard.
Betraying other Divergents and me. He should be helping to protect us not helping Jeanine kill us!
I have to get away from him. Break up with him first.
But what if he tries to kill you when you break up? A part of my brain asks.
I frown at that. It could be right though. But, do I really want to live in an abusive relationship and possibly get killed in either situation?
I contemplate this as I fall asleep.
The next morning
I hear knocking on my door. I groan and get up slowly. A shooting pain shoots through my stomach.
The events of last night come rushing back. But all the same I make my way to the door.
When I open the door I'm tackled into a hug. Which causes even more pain.
"Trissy! I've missed you so much! We've only got five hours until your Leadership welcoming party! We need to get you ready!" Christina squeals.
Shit! I totally forgot that was tod- "Wait. Did you say five hours?" I ask. She nods. "The party starts at six." She says.
I look at the clock. Sure enough it's one o'clock. I groan. "Now go take a shower and I'll pick out your clothes." Christina says shoving me in the direction of my room.
I lock the bathroom door and strip carefully. I look at the cuts. They're already startig to scab over. I sigh and start the shower and get in.
Once I wash my long blonde locks I get out and dry off. Christina opens the door slightly and hands my clothes in for me to grab. And I grab them.
She closes the door and I look at the garments of clothing. The outfit consists of a black halter neck (thankfully it covers my stomach), black skinny jeans, and my combat boots. I look at the under garments. The bra is grey lace, strapless and a push up and the panties are boyshorts made of the same material.
Good job Christina. I think in my head. Nothing too revealing. Just how I like it.
I blow dry my hair before I get dressed so I don't get anything wet.
When I come out Christina squeals. "You look AMAZING!" She says excitedly. "Four will be fawning over you soooo much!" She says rapidly. "Yeah." I chuckle nervously.
"So. How do you want your makeup done?" She asks. "Simple." I say simply. "All right." She says before setting to work on my face.
"Chris. Why are you acting like this?" I ask. She chuckles. "Well I had a realization. I realized you like the simpler and less revealing things than I do. So overall I realized not everyone likes what I like." She says.
I nod. I feel her start to tug on my hair. "What are you doing?" I ask opening my eyes and looking into the mirror. "Curling your hair a bit." Chris states while moving on to another strip of hair.
After a while she has all the ends curled and brushed out some. I look at the time and see it's already five thirty. And Christina is still getting ready.
At exactly six she's ready to leave. "Let's go have some fun!" She says as we meet Marlene, Shauna, and Lynn at the end of my hallway to my apartment.
When we arrive at the Pit someone starts cheering when they spot me then the other Dauntless start also.
"I'm going to go see if I can find Eric. I need to know when I'm getting my leadership tattoos." I say to the girls. "Okay. We'll be around here somewhere." Marlene replies cheerfully.
I start scanning the crowd for a certain Dauntless leader. I spot him across the Pit talking to Max, Harrison, and Vonnie.
I make my way over. "There's our new leader!" Vonnie exclaims coming up to hug me. Vonnie is Max's wife and fellow Leader.
"Hey Vonnie. Guys." I say hugging her back no matter how much it hurts.
"Tris." Harrison says curtly before excusing himself. I go and stand by Eric.
"When do I get my Leadership tattoos?" I ask casually. "Tomorrow after lunch. Better decide where you want them." He says. I nod. I know he has his on his neck.
Max has his on his shoulder blades, Harrison has his around his upper arms, and Vonnie has hers running up and down on either side of her spine.
I start to think about where I want mine. I may get them on my wrists so they look like bracelets or whatever.
I feel Eric nudge me. I look at him slightly confused. "Number Boy is heading our way." He says motioning with his head infront of us.
I look to see. Sure enough Four is coming our way.
He wraps an arm around my shoulders 'protectively' but, he squeezes my shoulder hard. "Coulter." Four says coldly. "Four." Eric grits out. "Now if you'll excuse us we have to talk." Four says before leading me away towards the Chasm to our spot.
"What the hell are you thinking getting near him!?" Four practically shouts. I clench my jaw. Clearly he's a bit tipsy.
"Well, I kinda have to since he's my fellow Leader and he's been the one training me." I say through clenched teeth. His eyes darken a shade.
He slaps me hard. "Don't back talk to me bitch. Tomorrow you will quit leadership and work at the tattoo parlor like you were supposed to." He growls in my ear before shoving me and walking away.
I stand against the wall in shock. I feel tears well up because of the shooting pain everywhere. I need to get home. I start that way. That's when I let the tears fall.
I'm about halfway home when I hear someone calling my name. I turn around and see Eric jogging up to me.
"Stiff you missed your Leadership announcement." He says once he gets into my hearing range.
I just nod and turn around and start walking holding my cold hand to the burning spot where Four slapped me.
I hear Eric fall into step with me. "Everything okay Stiff?" He asks concerned. I'm suprised his voice doesn't contain a trace of mock concern.
"Yes everything is fine." I answer quickly. But apparently he doesn't accept the answer. He grabs my shoulder making me stop and turns me to face him.
As he slowly peels away my hand from my face I take the time to study him.
He is actually quite handsome. With his sharp features and his grey eyes. He's wearing a tight dark grey dress shirt that shows off his muscles, black jeans, and his combat boots. Damn he looks hot.
Wait what!? I close my eyes and mentally shake my head to get rid of that thought. When I open them I see Eric's hand reaching up to my face.
He grabs my chin with his pointer finger and thumb. He turns my head to the right. "Who did this to you Tris?" He asks in almost a whisper. I bite my lip.
"It was Four wasn't it." He states almost growling now. I nod my head slowly and look up at him. He's looking at the wall anger swirling in his grey eyes.
"Please don't do anything. He might kill me if he knew someone knew." I whisper. His eyes snap to me. I look pleadingly at him. He finally gives. "Fine. But," uh oh, "your staying with me tonight." He says. "If you don't I'm going to do something about it." He says. I nod.
When we get to his apartment he goes into his room and comes back with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"Here these are the smallest things I could find." He says handing me the clothes. "You should know where the bathroom is. And you can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." He says before walking away.
He did not just offer to sleep on the couch. No way is he going to do that. I hurry to the bathroom and change.
I find Eric in his room. By the looks of it he just got done changing. I have to hold the pants up a bit to not let them fall down.
"You are going to take the bed and I'll take the couch." I say as threateningly as I can.
"No you are going to take the bed and I'll take the couch." He argues back crossing his arms over his muscular chest.
We bicker about it for a while until I finally say "How about we both take the bed! You sleep on one side I sleep on the other." I snap.
He looks shocked before his face forms his usual smirk. "Fine. I guess that could work." He says before walking over a peeling back the covers to one side.
I glare at him slightly and go and do the same to the other side.
We both crawl under and get comfortable. "Goodnight Eric." I say turning my back to him. "Night Tris." He says.
I fall asleep quicker than I normally would.
The Next Morning (sorry for the multiple THE NEXT MORNING things)
I wake up and stretch a bit. But my normal large movement stretching is limited.
I look and see a pair of strong arms wrapped around me. I panic for a second thinking Four came into my apartment in the middle of the night. But, I remember Eric had me stay with him. In. His. Apartment.
I try to carefully get out of his grasp so I can relieve my screaming bladder but he holds me tighter.
Next I try wriggling free. No use he pulls me closer so I resort to grabbing te pillow I was using and repeatedly smacking him with it. He almost immediately wakes up and covers his face from the assault.
I take this moment to spring up and get into the bathroom before I mess myself.
Once I'm out I barely have time to dodge a pillow thrown at my head. "What was that for?" I ask. He grumbles in response.
I look at the clock. It's already eleven thirty! I point at the clock and he follows my gaze. I see his eyes widen.
I rush to my apartment and change then I head down to lunch.
I sit by my friends and thankfully Four isn't there. "Where were you this morning?" Uriah asks. I groan.
"Trying to wake Eric. I'm getting my Leadership tattoos after this. He's so damn hard to wake up." I mutter. They start laughing.
"That must be why he looks so angry at you." Zeke says discreetly pointing at the Leaders table. I follow his finger. Sure enough Eric is glaring at me. I stick my tongue out at him. It makes his scowl even deeper.
"So how did you wake him up?" Lynn asks actually interested in a conversation for once. I snort just thinking about it.
"I tried shaking, yelling, and other things except kissing," I say shivering at the thought, "I finally ended up smacking him with the pillow until I somewhat woke him up so I could use his bathroom because I didn't want to piss myself. Then he almost had a headshot with the pillow.
"It would've hurt on how hard it hit the wall." I say furrowing my brows. "Ahh so you wacked him with a pillow then he threw a pillow at you?" Will asks simplifying it. "Pretty much." I say taking the last bite of my hotdog.
"I'd be pretty pissed if I had gotten wacked awake by someone." Christina says shaking her head. I roll my eyes.
"Well I need to go." I say standing up. Before I get too far Eric's ringtone rings out. I cringe at it.
It was custom because well it fit his personality. "-So close I can taste it, I see what's mine and take it (finders keepers, losers weepers) Oh ye-," I pick it up.
"What do you want Eric?" I grit out. "Oh nothing just some revenge for this morning." He says I see him smirking across the room. I glare and sit down.
"Was that Panic! At the Disco?" Marlene asks holding back a laugh. "Sadly yes. It seemed to fit him perfectly." I say shaking my head.
They all laugh. I frown a bit. "I am so killing him for this." I mutter. "Well I've got an idea. Let's all call Trissy so we can see what our ringtones she has four us!" Uriah exclaims.
He calls first. He gets Happy by Pharell Williams. Next is Will who gets This Is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco.
Christina is happy when she hears I Write Sins Not Tragedies as hers. Zeke gets Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin.
Marlene gets Bring Me Back to Life. I can't remember how to spell the name. Shauna gets Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots. And Lynn gets Teenagers by My Chemical Romance.
And when Four calls they hear Numb by Linkin Park. I sigh and answer it.
'You didn't drop out.' He growls. I excuse myself from the room real quick.
"I know I didn't and I don't intend to." I grit out. 'Fine then. You know what will happen the next time I see you in person.' He chuckles darkly before hanging up. I gulp slightly and head to the tattoo parlor remembering the glint of the black matte blade.
After waiting I few minutes Eric finally comes in casually chatting with Vonnie.
She walks up to Max and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips.
I look over at Eric to see he's already looking at me. I remeber how safe I felt waking up in his arms this morning. And I never felt safe in Four's.
That's when I decide on where to do mine. "Let's get you started Tris." Tori says leading us to a private room. "Where do you want them?" She asks setting up her tattoo gun.
"On my neck. I know it'll hirt like a bitch but a Leader's gotta be tough right?" I say. Everyone looks at me shocked. "Are you sure?" She asks quietly. I nod. "I'm sure. Time to toughen up and be Dauntless I say as she starts to do the stencil.
As she starts doing the tattoo I learn that I was right. I does hurt like a bitch.
Once it's finished I'm impressed. It looks awesome. She puts on some cream to soothe the irritated skin.
After I'm sworn in I'm offically a Dauntless Leader.
As we're leaving Tori pulls me off to the side. "Tris. You have to be careful around him. He's unpredictable. He could turn on you in seconds. Just be careful promise me." She says in a low voice.
"Be careful around who Tori?" I ask eyeing her warily. "Four. He came in here drunk the other day. He said if you messed up big time he was going to kill you." She says bitterly. "I will Tori. I promise." I say hugging her.
Thoughts stir in my head as I walk to my apartment. I'm suprised to see Eric awkwardly standing by my door.
"Hey Eric. Do you need anything?" I ask him as I unlock the door. "Can I just come in?" He asks running a hand through his hair. "Uh, sure." I say before entering and him following.
"So. Is there a problem of sorts?" I ask. He hesitates before nodding. He looks around.
"I overheard Four talking to Jeanine this morning." He says lowly. I bite my lip and nod for him to continue.
"Jeanine said she was developing a serum that would work on Divergents. And Four agreed to be a test subject if he was allowed to kill you." Eric whispers quickly. He seems nervous.
I nod. "I knew something had to be going on. Thanks for warning me Eric." I say putting a hand on his shoulder causing him to look at me from staring at the floor. I feel as if my hand is buzzing with electricity.
I see a faint smile on his face. He looks down after a bit and I remove my hand. And the buzzing feeling stops.
I get up and get a couple beers from my fridge. I open them both and offer one to him.
He takes it and starts to sip it. I settle myself next to him on the other end and turn on the tv.
I start channel surfing when I come across my favorite movie. The Hunger Games.
"What in the hell are the Hunger Games?" Eric asks as it comes on to the Reaping scene. I pause the movie. "It's about this society. It's called Panem. And it's divided up into twelve districts there used to be thirteen before the uprising. And every year since the Capitol won the rebellion they've held a Hunger Games.
"It's were each district draws or Reaps one male and female tribute. The Careers are from Districts one, two, and four. And it's basically just a big killing game until one tribute remains. So they become the Victor of that year. And the reaping age is 12-18. So if we were in that type of thing I would be if reaping age.
"And every year they put one slip in unless you take tesserae grain to feed your family then they put your name in every time you take tesserae out for you family monthly. And I'll go grab all the movies so you'll know how it starts and ends." I say getting up.
Several hours later
As the last credits roll and several beers later I look over at Eric.
"Okay. So why in the hell does she pick Peeta over Gale!? I mean come on Peeta is a wimpy cowardice bastard!" Eric says suddenly. I start laughing. "I think the same way also. It made me so mad they didn't end back up together." I say still laughing.
I stop when I hear, "Damn your so beautiful." I look at him. He seems shocked that just came out of his mouth. I can't help but blush.
I know we're probably both drunk. Well maybe Eric is just a little bit tipsy as am I.
I don't know why but I get the sudden impluse to kiss him and I do. It isn't long before it's a makeout session.
But it turns into something more.
A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! I got this done quicker than expected. Sorry if I have any grammar or spelling mistakes! And I'm starting Review Goals. So for this chapter let's shoot for 6 (haha get it?) But I'm serious. It can be good or bad. I'd like to thank MastaGamerita (sorry if I messed up your name!) for my last review on Never Giving Up it meant so much to know at least one person understood (in not matter what way) why I'm making the choice not to continue the story. And I'm still working on the third chapter of Blown Up and Blown Away. It's a slow process since I've been really busy with work and stuff. I'll try to Update every week depends on how much time I've got. So Update date will probably be Friday or Saturday. It depends. So bye for now!