Chapter ▪ Eleven
Tris
I know he wanted me to come back. I know he wanted to explain what it was between Lauren and him.
It was a strange feeling to sleep in the dormitory again after such a long time. But I didn't feel like hearing Eric out. I had rather prefered to spend the rest of the night with Christina and Will. It was an amusing change. Even though it only lasted a few hours.
After the shower I sit at a table in the cafeteria. All alone once again. I need more time to think about what happened lately. I want to hear what Eric has to say, I want him to explain these things to me. But at the same time I don't want to hear anything about it. I'm afraid our relationship will get destroyed by his business. Only because I decided to stick my nose into it. I wish I would have just walked away when I heard Lauren and him speaking in the office.
I wonder how long Lauren stayed at his apartment. I wonder if he waited for me or if my absence even bothered him. Maybe he needed some time on his own as well and was glad that I gave him the chance to let some thoughts run through his mind. Maybe he hoped that I would be the one to keep him from these thoughts and without me he was helplessly lost in them.
I lean forward with my elbows on the table and begin to massage my temples, hoping that the headache will be gone in a few seconds. I close my eyes and try to think about something else.
"Good morning, Tris." I open my eyes to see Four suddenly sitting in front of me. He looks wide awake, but not as fresh as he usually appears. The dark circles under his eyes tell me that he didn't get much sleep last night. "Is everything alright?"
"Sure." I snort tiredly as I lean back and cross my arms. "My boyfriend kicked me out of his apartment to let another woman stay. It feels great! I wouldn't want it to be any different."
"Well, he got his priorities, I guess." he says, his lips forming a smile. His words, the sound of his voice and the look on his face — I have so many reasons to just knock him out, even though I know I'm not able to go that far. "Anyway, I actually just wanted to know if you were able to find out anything yesterday. What did he say?"
"I stayed with Christina and Will and slept in the dormitory afterwards." I look down on my hands. My voice sounds like I did something wrong, like I expected something else from myself and now I'm disappointed. My mind isn't clear enough to differentiate right from wrong. I'm anything but satisfied with my own desicions. It's like I'm completly blind, trusting a voice in my head of which I know it can't be trusted. But I do it anyway.
"Oh, I didn't know that." he says, nearly whispering. "You know I am still there for you."
I can't remember the last time his voice sounded so soft and caring like it does now. I feel the palm of his hand touching my cheek, making me look up into his eyes, but they are not the first thing in my sight.
I stand up immediately after I looked over Four's shoulder to see Eric coming. I feel happy to see him. I know that the little smile on my face isn't very appropriate right now, but I couldn't hold it back. He's wearing a simple black t-shirt, nothing special. But that's what I like the most on him. It's not too wide, so it shows off his muscular and tattooed arms.
His eyes are fixed on Four and it tells me that I'm not the reason why he is here. He roughly grabs his arm, pulling him up to make him stand before he pushes him hardly to the ground. I quickly take a step back.
"You think you're clever, don't you?" Eric stands in front of Four, who is standing up again, carelessly cleaning his clothes as if nothing happened. "Are you afraid of me, Four? Is that the reason why you've sent Lauren to me? Did you think she can make me change my mind?"
"No, it was her idea. She thought she could talk some sense into you. I told her that it's useless but ..." he pauses and looks at me, then back at Eric. "I guess there are still people in this world you can trick with your lies."
I notice two, three people walking into the cafeteria and so does Eric. He slowly moves towards Four until they are just an arm's lenght away from each other. I look down on Four's shoes. He was about to take a step back, but stoped before his foot completes the move. I wouldn't say that he is afraid of Eric. I'd call it great respect for the things our leader his capable of in his position.
"Listen," he speaks quietly but still loud enough for me to understand. "if Lauren or you again feel the need to take care of my business, I swear I'm gonna shoot you both on the spot." He turns around and walks past me. He didn't even look at me once.
I quickly follow him up the stairs before too many people get sight of us. I expected him to go to the office but he keeps on moving up to his apartment. I stand behind him when he unlocks the door, opening it and waiting for me to go inside first.
At first we don't say anything. I sit down on the couch while he gets himself something to drink before he sits down next to me. He's leaning forward with both of his elbows on his thighs. Slowly I let my hand run up and down his back until I move closer to his face, pressing my lips against his temple. I'm not sure if it really helps but I have to admit that I don't know what else I could do. I don't want to ask what he was talking about or why he even attacked Four like this. I don't want to put any more pressure on him.
"Are you two getting along again?" he suddenly speaks and I'm glad he broke the silence. I just wished it would have been another question. Four shouldn't be the main subject right now.
"No, not really." I shake my head and I'm not even lying this time. We talk more than we used to before, but that doesn't mean that we are close to each other again. "He's jealous. That's all."
Then he finally looks at me as he begins to smile. "Obviously."
He leans back, pressing his lips against mine. I've been waiting for this since the moment I saw him down in the cafeteria. Since I've passed the first stage we don't get to spend much time together. Yesterday I've slept in the dormitory again, so it feels like it's been way too long. After a little while I back away slowly.
"That's alcohol." I state, looking at the glass standing on the little table in front of the couch. I thought it was water or something else until I tasted it on his lips. He begins to laugh and now I'm wondering why I was so surprised. He's one of the Dauntless leaders, after all. Of course he keeps such stuff in his apartment.
"What else did you think? Water?" he makes it sound like it was so obvious. But it wasn't. Not for me.
"How am I supposed to know what you drink? It looks like water."
I take the glass and hold it up as if I would want him to take a closer look at it. But he just takes it out of my hand, putting it back on its former place and leans forward again to kiss me. The taste isn't bothering me at all.
We stay like this for a while, kissing and feeling each other. It was just one single night without him but I notice that it feels like so much more. I guess I got used to his presence way too fast and this is the result. I stop and back away just a tiny bit and our eyes meet.
"I love you." I say quietly, my eyes fixed on his. At first he doesn't say anything, moving closer again instead to kiss my lips shortly. I feel the goose bumps raising on my skin and I catch myself longing for his warm body, his strong arms around me. As if he'd read my mind he stops kissing me and does exactly what I have wished for, whispering into my ear.
"I love you, too."
A/N: Tell me that you have Eris-feels! Because I do! I definitely need more of that cute stuff between the two of them, aah. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and leave a nice review please! It shows me that most of you are still interested in this and didn't get bored by now, haha. You will keep me going with telling me what you think! c:
