A/N: Hi, guys! I'm so sorry for not posting when I said I would last week. My 26-year-old cousin was tragically killed nearly two weeks ago and, obviously, since then writing hasn't been the main thing on my mind. My family and I went up one day for his funeral and came back a few hours after the next day, which resulted in around a fourteen-hour trip in two days. I'm now recovered from the exhaustion, but it's still a bit raw, obviously. All of your love from the last chapter really brightened my spirits every time I opened my email. Thank you all so much for your continued support. :)

I first thought about waiting until I finished Chapter 12 before posting, but I've gotten a good start on it, so here's Chapter 10. I guess you could say this is part two of the previous chapter since it picks up just about where we left off last chapter, and that's why this chapter is on the shorter side. There is at least one more part to this chapter of the same night, and I hope to post it later this week.

If you'd like see Laney's outfit for the party, you can find it on my Polyvore, which is listed on my profile. Also, we meet Laney's infamous ex, Dean, in this chapter. You can find a photo of him in the story album that's also listed on my profile.

Be warned of possible triggers in this chapter. They're only very slight, but I still wanted to point them out before hand. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, nor any of the characters. All characters belong to Veronica Roth, except for Laney Jameson, who belongs to me. This story contains mature and sexual content/situations, so read at your own risk.

Chapter 10

Laney checked her phone for what seemed like fiftieth time in a little over an hour, making sure she wasn't running too late to the party down in the Pit. She really didn't even know what the party was for, but she was in Dauntless—they didn't need a reason to throw a massive party. She stood barefoot in front of her bathroom mirror, finishing up her makeup and hair in just the t-shirt that had belonged to Eric and a lacy thong. Her makeup was subtle except for the charcoal and silver smokey eyes that stood out against her skin. Her long chocolate locks were braided into a faux hawk that went down the back of her head and had taken a good twenty-five minutes to style.

Laney normally wouldn't care so much about how she looked as long as she was pleased with the outcome, the exception being after working all day, but somehow tonight was different. Although Laney kept telling herself that she wanted to look good because she hadn't really gone out in a while, deep down she knew it was because she would be meeting up and hanging out with a certain leader. Knowing most of the countless women Eric had "dated" over the years, Laney somehow felt inadequate in comparison.

Shaking off her insecure thoughts, Laney put her makeup and hair supplies away, satisfied with the end results. She glanced at the clock once more and saw that it was already after nine. She dashed into her closet and grabbed the dress that she had in mind to wear, along with the heels she would pair with it. The dress was a short black mini-dress that hugged her body and hit her a few inches below her butt with a plunging neckline that was held together with a laced-up string. The back had two sets of lace-ups starting at her shoulder blades and curving down to her sides. The shoes she had decided on were black leather pumps with silver spikes and rhinestones on the toes.

Once Laney was dressed, she checked herself over in the mirror, put on her jewelry, and sprayed some perfume. Satisfied with her look, she checked her phone once again to see it was already 9:30 p.m. Grabbing a clutch purse, she put in all of the necessary items she might need and headed out the door. She sent Eric a text as she made her way to the elevators. She was not walking down all the stairs in her heels and breaking her neck.

Hey, where are you?

Just got to the Pit. You here, yet?

On my way. I'll text you again when I get down there.

Sounds good.

Laney felt a rush of excitement run through her veins the closer she got to the Pit. She couldn't recall ever being this nervous about meeting a guy for a night out, and she was pretty sure that they were just hanging out as friends. It wasn't like Eric had asked her out or anything. When she didn't see Eric on the outskirts of the Pit, Laney made her way into the crowd to look further.

Shuffling through the hoards of people standing around drinking, dancing, and smoking, she sent a text to find out where Eric had wandered off to. The music was blaring so loudly that Laney wondered how anyone could still hear. On her way, Laney saw a waiter carrying a tray of drinks and grabbed one off, downing it to calm her nerves. After finishing the drink, she set the empty glass down on one of the few nearby tables. Checking her phone, she noticed Eric still hadn't returned her text. He probably ran into someone he knew, or it was possible the signal was interrupted, which happened quite frequently down that far underground.

Searching further through the crowd of already mostly drunk people that were grinding all over each other, Laney spotted Four heading her way. He gave her a huge smile as if he had been looking for her. Returning the smile, Laney went up to him, figuring she had been rude enough earlier when she ditched him after they had slept together. It wasn't that she had wanted to ditch her friend, she was just unsure about how to act around him.

"LJ, there you are," Four said, his toothy smile still on his face as he brought her into a tight hug that lasted longer than she expected.

When Four finally released her, Laney noticed that he had a nearly empty beer bottle in his hand, he was sweating slightly, and his eyes were nearly bloodshot. "Here I am," Laney responded, surmising that he was already hammered.

"I didn't know if you were coming or not," Four commented, his words slurring together. "I missed you today after you ran away from me."

Laney noticed that he actually looked good in his black button-down shirt that had the top two buttons undone and dark jeans. His scent of cologne wafted up into her nose and smelled amazing. Laney stopped herself, wondering when she began to look at and think of Four that way. "Yeah, I figured that I would have a little fun. It's been awhile." She left out the part about meeting Eric on purpose.

"Come dance with me." Four grabbed her hand, tugging Laney behind him to the dance floor before she could say no.

Laney knew right then he was definitely drunk because sober Four never really liked dancing. It wasn't long before he stopped in a less crowded spot and turned to face her. He pulled her close to his body, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Four, how much have you had to drink?" Laney asked a bit concerned while dancing with him.

"Not that much," Four replied, scrunching his face as if he were thinking. "Maybe about seven drinks. Why?" Four began running his hand down Laney's ass suddenly, taking her by complete surprise.

She grabbed his hand and brought it back up to her waist with his other one. "Four, please don't," Laney started before he began grinding into her. She swallowed at finding him semi-aroused against her leg.

"Why not? You liked it this morning when I had my way with you," Four commented smugly with a smirk, obviously unaware of how loud he was being.

"Ok, come on, we're taking you home," Laney said sternly, feeling her face turn red when several people around them turned to look at her after hearing Four's comment. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the Pit.

Four suddenly pulled Laney back to him, kissing her heatedly on the lips and running his hands down her body. Laney hesitated, but found herself returning the kiss. When she broke the kiss, the smirk was still plastered onto his lips.

Laney sighed, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "Come on, Four, please. Let's just go to your place," Laney pleaded as she began to pull him back out of the Pit once again.

Four followed her finally as they made their way up to his apartment. The elevator ride was uncomfortable from Four's insistence on continuing what he had started in the Pit, while Laney tried to keep him at bay without hurting his feelings. She also tried to hold back the urge to purposefully smack him. She had had to deal with her ex, Dean, drunk a lot, throwing himself all over her and being overly possessive, and she had hated it then. She still found that she hated it now, even though she knew Four most likely had no idea what he was doing.

As they finally reached Four's place, Laney punched in his code and yanked him inside when the door unlocked. She knew it was only a matter of time before Four passed out, having drank with him many times in the past over the years. Four sat on his bed, watching her as she pulled out a pair of sweat pants from his dresser.

Placing them on the bed beside him, Laney began to unbutton his shirt to help him get changed. She didn't notice at first as Four brazenly ran his hand up underneath her dress until he gripped her thigh, running his fingers over her panties. Laney gasped at the sudden contact and acted out of instinct, slapping her friend across the face harder than she meant to.

Laney watched Four hold his face as he removed his hand from her. She sighed, knowing she needed to leave now. "Four, I'm sorry, I have to go," Laney said, grabbing her purse she had set down by his bed and quickly retreated to the door. She didn't bother stopping at his numerous calls of her name, nearly slamming the door behind her and running as fast as she could in her heels to the elevator.

Laney spent the time in the elevator trying to collect herself, sighing at the drunk antics of her friend. She knew he would most likely regret it all in the morning. As she made her way to the Pit once more, she checked her phone to give herself a distraction. She saw a text from Eric that was sent twenty minutes ago.

Just getting your text. Bad signal, I guess. Text me again when you get this.

Laney quickly typed a reply in hopes that Eric was somewhere where he would receive the text.

I'm on my way back to the Pit. Had to take a drunk Four home.

Laney waited a few minutes before diving back into the throng of people after not receiving an answer. She checked a few of the bars to see if he might be at any of them, but had no luck finding the blonde leader. She ordered a couple shots at one of the bars, her night already heading south fast.

Continuing to look through the drunk crowd, Laney heard someone calling her name. She turned to find none other than her ex, Dean, leaning against the wall with a beer in his hand. Upon discovering who it was, Laney swallowed. She hadn't run into Dean in a while, and the last time she had, she had feigned having to be somewhere. Their breakup hadn't been on great terms since he had cheated on her, but he hadn't wanted to end the relationship.

"Hey, Lane, how are you doing?" Dean asked with a smile that she remembered all too well. Laney found herself cringing at the familiar nickname he had always called her.

"I'm doing well. You?" Laney asked politely. She noticed he hadn't really changed a lot in looks since their split; his dark brown hair spiked up in its usual style, muscles still bulging showing off his numerous tattoos, and a slight beard on his face. Dean's build fell somewhere between Four's leaner one and Eric's bigger, bulkier one, but was closer to Four's.

"Doing great. You're looking good," Dean commented, his eyes traveling up and down her body a few times, obviously checking her out.

Laney felt a sudden wave of nausea come over her and felt really gross at the thought of him flirting with her. "Um, thanks," Laney responded, playing with her fingers. She noticed Dean making his way closer to her.

"You know, we should catch up. It's been a while, huh?" Dean asked, wrapping his arm around her back.

"Um, yeah, ok. I'm supposed to be meeting someone, but haven't seen them, so I can spare a few minutes." Laney knew she would regret it, but she would do anything to get him to leave her alone.

Dean lead her off to one of the many alcoves on the perimeter of the Pit away from the crowds where it was quieter. The further Dean took her from the crowd of people, the more nervous Laney got. When they stopped, she realized they were close to the chasm, the roar of the water in the distance flooding into her ears, but they were far enough away so they wouldn't fall in.

Laney crossed her arms over her chest, making sure to keep a safe distance from Dean as he leaned against the wall once again. She watched as he pulled a cigarette and a lighter from his jeans pocket, lighting it and sticking it into his mouth. Laney had always thought smoking was disgusting and had detested being around Dean when he smoked, which was a common habit of his, because of the smell alone.

"What have you been up to, Lane?" Dean asked, taking a drag from his cigarette and releasing the smoke from the side of his mouth to blow it away from her.

"Not much, I've been working a lot lately," Laney said, her eyes gazing off at the people in the distance.

"Yeah, same here. I heard you got stuck taking care of the devil himself." Dean commented before taking another drag. "Surprised you're still alive to tell about it."

Laney looked at Dean once again. "I didn't get stuck doing it, I wanted to. Eric's not that bad once you get to know him, but he's the way he is for a reason. Would you really want a leader of Dauntless to be all nice and cuddly?"

Dean snorted at her comment. "No, I guess not, but he's still an asshole."

Laney shrugged, wanting to change the subject. "Yeah, he can be." But so can you, she finished in her head.

"So, I saw Four all over you earlier. Are you and the Stiff a thing now?" Dean asked nosily. He had always been jealous of Laney and Four's friendship, making no effort to hide that fact.

Laney swallowed at the thought of anyone else she knew seeing Four all over her, but shook off the thought. "He hasn't been a Stiff in five years, so I don't know why the name hasn't dropped yet. He's asked me to be with him, but no, we're not together."

"Well, if you're not together, you sure have grown a lot closer if you're sleeping with him. Do you do casual relationships now?" He flicked his spent cigarette away, moving closer to her.

Laney heard the jealousy in Dean's voice immediately, narrowing her eyes. "It's not like that, Dean, and no, I don't. Four's asked me to be with him and the sex is just something we do occasionally."

"Hmm, bummer." Dean paused a minute. "You know, I miss you, Lane." Dean pulled Laney into him, keeping her hands in his. "I want you back."

"What?" Laney asked flabbergasted. Before she could stop him, her back hit the concrete wall as he pinned her to it.

"It's been almost two years, Lane. I've grown up since we broke up, and I haven't found another girl like you. We could start over." Dean ran his hands up her sides.

Laney thought she was going to be sick at his words, his smoky breath not helping. She tried pushing him away, finding quickly that he was still much stronger than she was. She then heard the sound of a rip and noticed that Dean had torn the skirt of her dress easily, his hand snaking up to her panties.

"Dean, please stop," Laney pleaded, feeling him continue.

"Oh, no. You're mine, Laney. You'll always be mine." Dean whispered into her ear. "I can do what I damn well please with you."

Laney thought quickly as Dean began to kiss her neck. She stomped her foot down onto his as hard as she could and managed to get away from the wall. It wasn't long before Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. Laney turned around quickly before he could grab her other hand and went to punch him in the face. Instead of hitting Dean, she felt and saw him duck quickly out the way, her hand colliding full-force into the rock wall behind him.

All Laney felt was white, hot pain searing up her arm from the impact of the blow. A scream that she didn't even know she had let out was released from her lips, tears immediately springing into her eyes. Time seemed to stop for a moment until she gathered herself. Holding her throbbing hand to her chest with her other hand, she turned to see Dean about to retaliate with a smirk on his face. Her mouth dropped momentarily.

In a second, Dean was suddenly knocked down onto the floor. There in front of her stood Eric, anger coming off him in waves and an icy stare trained on Dean's limp figure. Laney watched as Eric kicked Dean to keep him on the ground longer before moving over to her.

"Hey, are you ok?" Eric asked, looking over her with concern, his anger now gone. He quickly removed his t-shirt and put it on her to help cover her up. "Did he touch or hurt you?"

"Yeah, I think so. He tore my dress and fondled me a little, and then I tried to punch him. He moved and my fist the hit the wall instead. I think my hand might be broken," Laney explained, her body shaking a bit.

"Let's get you to the infirmary."

Laney sat on one of the beds as Jenna examined her left hand while they waited for the x-rays, trying not to cry out in pain from her hand being touched. Eric stood nearby still shirtless with his arms crossed over his chest, clearly lost in thought. While waiting on Jenna to finish with another patient minutes before, Laney had observed Eric quietly. She noticed he hadn't spoken a word to her since they had left the Pit and could tell he had something on his mind other than her safety, but wasn't sure what it was. She had a feeling that once they left the infirmary and were alone, he would let her know what was on his mind, whether or not she wanted to hear it.

Trevor brought in a tablet and pulled up Laney's x-ray slides on the screen that had been taken before she was brought to the bed, showing Jenna the results with a few taps on the screen. "Yep, you were right, LJ. You've broken a couple of bones in your hand."

"Oh, great," Laney commented with a sigh.

She looked over the x-rays on the tablet in front of her, instantly seeing the multiple breaks in her metacarpals and phalanges, meaning that she had broken three fingers—her index, middle, and ring fingers—along with two bones below her index and middle fingers in her hand. She was surprised with how hard she had hit the wall that it had only broken five bones in total. She noticed as Eric looked over the x-rays from beside her without a word.

"We'll need to set it in a cast, but, first, we need to wait until the swelling goes down. For now, we'll put on a brace for you to wear to keep the bones stabilized in the meantime," Jenna explained as if Laney wasn't familiar with the procedure.

Laney looked down at the uncomfortable temporary brace on her hand quietly as the cool wind blew around her. Eric had walked her back home and dug out some clothes from her dresser for her to change into. He had still yet to say much to her, and Laney knew it was only a matter of time. Eric left her to make sure Dean understood to leave her alone if he wanted to continue to live, promising that he would be back soon.

Her night had gone to shit ever since she had first entered the Pit and wished she could just undo it all. Laney wanted to go back to earlier in the day when she agreed to let Eric go to the party in the first place. Her hand was still hurting immensely, even after taking a few pills for the pain. Her hand was already black and blue.

Looking out over the railing she was currently leaning on, Laney sighed while deep in thought about the night's events. She had changed into a long-sleeve hooded t-shirt and some gym pants just after Eric had left and made her way to the pier, leaving him a note saying she needed some fresh air. She had washed off all her makeup and her hair was now in a loose ponytail. She thought it might have been difficult jumping on and off the train without the use of her hand, but the task hadn't been as hard as she thought.

Standing up straight, Laney made her way over to the bench that she had come to know well as an Erudite dependent after she lost her mom, using the little bit of light she had thought to bring with her that was clipped to her shirt. She sat down and pulled her legs up, hugging them against her. It had been a while since she had come out there to the abandoned pier, memories from doing so frequently as a child flooding into her mind. Glancing up at the sky, she saw that it was cloudy and the stars were hidden from view.

Laney didn't know what she was feeling at the moment, but she hadn't felt so lost and unsure of her life in ages. Now that she was out there all alone, Laney wished she had just stayed in her apartment and waited for Eric to return, but she made no moves to get up from her spot on the bench, even when she realized she heard thunder off in the distance.

It wasn't long before Laney heard heavy footsteps that seemed to be moving in a hurry coming towards her. She waited until they were closer to her location before she even bothered to turn her head toward the sounds. She saw the familiar face with the light beaming up around him from the jacket that he wore. Laney somehow felt a sudden calm wash over her as she heard her name called out by the familiar deep voice. It was then she realized how much she just wanted to forget about everything that had happened in the last few hours and be held.

So, the party didn't turn out quite as well as Laney and Eric were hoping. As I said before, this chapter is continued in the next one. We'll definitely get more of Eric's side of the night's events, so we'll have that to look forward to.