Eric's POVI woke up with my arms still around her. Thankfully, she hadn't moved that much during our little slumber. Her leg was drawn up, laying across mine. I smirked.
I like this.I rubbed my hand along her back, making a small sigh stifle from her lips. She arched her back, stretching her arms out all the way in front of her. I saw her eyes slowly drape open. She looked up at me, giving me a cheesy smile. I furrowed my eyebrows, and smiled back. I don't know how, but she always managed to look absolutely perfect when she woke up. Her hair is tousled with a few little strands in her face and her cheeks are stained pink. I had every urge to lean down and kiss her, keeping our lips locked until I was satisfied.
Unfortunately, I held back. I continued to stare at her until she looked away. I watched her fill with embarrassment as she noticed how she was laying.
"U-uh, sorry…" she stuttered while moving away. A little hint of disappointment poked in my stomach as she sat up away from me. I looked at the clock. It was past midnight.
"Wow. That was a long nap", I commented. We had slept through dinner. My stomach growled thinking about the chocolate cake I had missed. Surprisingly, I found myself not caring. This has to be the first time I've cared more about a girl than my chocolate cake.
"Yeah, well… ", she trailed off. She stared at her hands without finishing her sentence.
"Here, why don't we find something to do", I proposed. She looked up with a small hint of suspicion in her expression at first, but it faded away as I helped her off the bed. We both were still dressed from earlier that day, so we headed out the door. We climbed up the stairs that led out of Dauntless.
As she saw the night sky about her, Sarah reached out to it like it held some sort of hidden answer from her. She stared at it with a whimsical blur in her eyes. I wandered what it felt like to be so intrigued by nature. I knew she wasn't one with the Amity from the first sight I caught of her, but sometimes she held their kind face in her own and their beaming light in her eyes. It was enough to remind me where she was from, but make me grateful that she stood here with me instead of working the farms where she didn't truly belong.
She looked at me, the same glow radiating from her dazzling eyes. "I thought the initiates weren't allowed to leave the Dauntless compound", she questioned.
"Well you see, I am no initiate." I teased. I grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the train tracks. The night smelt of summer grass and the cool air blew the hum of cicadas around us. Everything felt just right. I heard the train billowing from a few feet away, catching its small beacon of light that shone in its path.
We both began running as it wove past us. I kept my hold on her hand and jumped, bringing her with me when we landed roughly in the train cart.
She sat up rubbing her head, "Well that sure was smooth".
I shot her a wide grin. "Smooth is my middle name"
When we neared my ideal destination, I waved my hand for her to get up. Within seconds we both had jumped off with ease. We walked side by side to a huge building covered with mirrored-windows. I slipped my hand through a hole in the glass that covered the door and unlocked it. We stepped inside, the dark walls echoing from our footsteps. I punched the up button on the elevator, thankful that they were somehow still on.
I looked at Sarah to see her rocking back and forth on her heels, staring at the ceiling. I often found myself dying to get inside her mind. I constantly wondered what information or wild thoughts the turning gears in her brain were digesting. It interested me that her simulation times were so short, dragging a long gap from her and the other initiates' simulation times.
When we left the elevator, the view of the rooftop greeted us with a welcoming beauty. You could see over every building in the city from where we stood. There were four chairs from when the other guys and I would come up here to drink. We would shout at the city sky, letting the Dauntless inside us echo loudly.
I walked past the chairs, letting the shadows of their memories rest there peacefully. Instead, I perched myself at the edge of the building with my feet dangling. I stared down at the street with dull pain. Sarah sat down next to me, following my gaze.
"How many have ended it here?" she asked quietly. I'm guessing she could see the sting the streets below flung onto my face, and I looked back up. I let my eyes wander the dark sky. The moon floated among it with a ghostly haze.
"I don't have a number to give you", I replied more sharply than I intended to. I felt her stiffen next to me. I instantly wanted to apologize for my tendency to act like an asshole without even trying, but I felt her hand rest on my shoulder, letting me know she accepted that I didn't want to talk about it. "My mother was one of them", I confessed. I felt the pinch in my heart from the secret I held inside me being set free. I was not one to cry, but in this moment I feared that tears would slip from my eyes as the image of my mother's pointed cheekbones and dark brown eyes filled my head.
"I'm sorry Eric, I shouldn't have asked". Her gentle voice only made me feel worse for being so closed up. Thankfully, she said no more. I knew I could trust her. Even in the short amount of time we had known each other, I felt like we had a good understanding of who we were. I viewed her as a flower that had once been a bud, sealed up with no light, pushing to get out. Once she had freed herself, her brilliant petals could show their vivid beauty, and absorb the burning sun that beamed above her. She was a powerful girl without even knowing it. Gentle, but strong. Kind, but brave.
She was everything I wish I could be.
I reached my hand to her cheek, tilting her face towards mine. I stroked my finger along her jaw, feeling her soft, sun-kissed skin. We both knew what we wanted.
I leaned forward and found her mouth with mine. The intensity of how bad I wanted her right now was obvious. I didn't desire her in some sexual way that some others might. No, I wanted her as a part of me. I wanted her body pressed to mine, with our lips burning together. I wanted to smell her sweet scent as we held each other tightly.
I pushed her down gently, letting her back lay among the building-top as I loomed over her. She looked into my eyes, hers masking a clouded thought. This girl beneath me was the only one I accepted. She saw both my cruel and gentle side, which scared me beyond my own knowledge. I leaned down to kiss her again, this time not as gentle. Every inch of my body pulsed forward, begging me to grab hold of her and never let her go. But like the wild flower I had described, she is free. I cannot tame the dancing flames that lurked behind her eyes. I only knew one thing. I wanted us to be free together.
She kissed me back, her hands wrapping around the back of my neck. She sighed into our kiss, making my heart slam against my chest. The battle of the hidden romantic and the instinctive man inside of me raged on.
My fingers tangled through her golden hair. They softly wrapped around them like gentle feathers. I brought my face away, staring back her with admiration. Nothing could ever amount to what I felt right now. I was even surprised at the sudden well of emotions inside of me at this very moment.
She watched me without a visible expression on her face, but her green eyes radiated the wild rays that beamed inside of her.
_
Sarah's POV
When we were back in the compound, I walked with Eric down through the tunnels that would lead us back to our rooms.
"You tired again, yet?" He asked without looking at me. He stared ahead of him, walking with his hand brushing against mine.
"A little, but I think I'm finally ready to go back to my own bed", I replied.
"If that's what you want", he said steadily.
"Oh, you're asking what I want?" I joked.
He snapped his head down to look at me with a smirk, "I guess I am"
"What I want, is sleep. Whether it's next to you or in that cramped excuse for a bed shouldn't have to be a decision", I began. "But I wouldn't want to fuel any suspicion from the others. I don't want them thinking my ranking has anything to do with me sleeping in the same room as one of the leaders".
"Maybe you are part Erudite", he chuckled. "Good point, though".
I looked at him with a little smile, and squeezed his hand. "Goodnight, Eric" I said, turning towards the dormitory. Before I walked through the doorway, I felt him pull me towards him. Instead of kissing me, he held me close to him.
"Goodnight", he whispered. And without saying anything else, he walked away.
_ I hope you guys liked seeing into Eric's inner thoughts! Thank you for reading, and also a thanks for the people who are reviewing (: -Sarah