Hey guys, I know this chapter is shorter than some of the others and after all the great reviews from the last chapter, I feel like this one might be a let down as it's mostly filler until the next big scene which will be next, I promise. It was originally supposed to be attached to this chapter, but it was getting pretty long, so I decided to dedicate it to it's own page. It's nearly finished, so I hope to have it up soon! Anyway, hope you guys are still enjoying the story!
Eric woke up first, still wrapped in his blanket. Beside him, Olivia's body was snuggled up against him. Her arm, freed of the blanket, was wrapped around his torso, and her head rested inches from his.
He turned to look at her, the sunrise shinning golden through the window onto her face. Her long eyelashes rested against the tan skin of her cheek and her rose bud lips parted slightly in sleep. If he wasn't trapped in the blanket he would have ran his hand over her red tinted hair, but not wanting to disturb her, he instead settled to look at her.
She was very pretty, he knew that the first time he had met her, but now he understood that she was human too. She made mistakes like everyone else, including him, and he wondered why he had painted her as such a bitch before.
Eric's nose tickled and he tried to avoid it by holding his breath, but the sneeze won out and Olivia woke up at the noise. Her head jerked up and she looked at him, then at the window.
"What time is it?" She asked searching for her alarm clock, and groaning when she saw it was 6 am. "Oh no, we're going to be late!" She shoved the top blanket off and the second dropped to her waist when she sat up.
Eric got a good view as her naked chest was in his direct line of sight, and he felt a hardening down low. She must have felt the breeze and remembered the fact that she was naked underneath the blanket, because she quickly pulled it back up around her and glared at him.
Eric gave her a shrug, but didn't hide his grin at her discomfort. He finally freed himself from his own wrapping and stretched, resting his hands behind his head while she got up without any more difficulty.
He laid there, enjoying the comfort of a warm bed, and watched Olivia grab her clothes and leave to change somewhere else; he sneezed again.
Olivia quickly changed into her clothes in the bathroom and rushed out to start breakfast, but when she entered the other room her mother was already setting food down on the table and Connor was sitting, ready to eat.
"Oh, you're up! How are you feeling?" Linda asked pleasantly, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Fine, but why didn't you wake us up?" She asked, sitting down and filing her bowl with porridge.
"I figured you needed the sleep if you slept through your alarm. Besides, when I went in to check up on you both, you two looked so sweet I couldn't bring myself to disturb you." She winked at her.
Olivia rested her eyes in her hand in annoyance at her mother's meddling.
Eric sneezed loudly as he entered the room soon after her and sat down as well. Linda walked over to him and placed her hand on his brow.
"Hmm, you're not warm, probably just a cold." She said and sat down. "I don't know what made the two of you to stay out in the rain like that, but try to not do it again."
Olivia looked at Eric and knew she didn't plan on it. Then her gaze stopped on Connor, who was busy eating his food with his head bowed. At his attempt to not bring attention to himself, she was reminded of the reason why she and Eric were in the rain to begin with.
She looked at Eric again, filling his porridge with milk and sugar and thought about what he had said. She knew Connor most likely would transfer to Dauntless and there was nothing she could do to stop it, so he might as well be prepared, and decided to not bring up the letter from the school.
Her gaze drifted back to Eric. The man was like a magnet, pulling her in even when she fought hard to get away. His beard was in full now, but kept short and she thought it suited him better than the shaved version of him. It made him look more masculine, somehow.
Eric looked at her and when she saw him glance down to her chest for a brief second, she scowled at him and covered herself. Linda kicked her under the table. "What?" She asked, turning to her.
"I was asking you about the letter you got yesterday." Linda replied. Oops, she must have been too focused on Eric to hear her.
She saw the curious look he gave her, wondering whether she would tell or not. "Oh, it was just a letter from Jacob, asking me to go to the dance with him tomorrow night." She lied offhandedly.
Linda frowned. "Oh... Then why did you yell at Eric after reading it?"
"Umm…" She looked at him again.
"She was mad, because she thought she had to accompany me the whole time so I could attend. She asked me to not go, but I refused to stay home." Eric supplied for her.
"That's silly, Olivia! Connor and I can stay with Eric, while you go with Jacob. There's no need from him to stay home." Linda said at her seeming absurdity.
"Of course, I should have thought of that." Olivia said, going back to her meal.
"I think you owe Eric an apology." Linda scolded. Eric snorted in his milk.
"I do?" Olivia asked, looking up at the both of them.
"Yes, you do. You yelled at him for something so trivial, keeping the both of you in the rain, and now he has a cold. I think that warrants an apology." She gestured to Eric.
Eric watched her, his brow raised and a slight smirk playing on his lips as he waited for her to apologize for something that she didn't need to apologize for. Olivia cursed inwardly and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Eric, for yelling at you and keeping you in the rain." She said clearly so she wouldn't have to do it again.
"It's not like you haven't yelled at me before." He said, brushing it off like it was nothing, but the look in his eyes told her that he was amused she had to do it to keep up with the lie.
The rain had continued on through the night and only stopped before the sun rose, their feet squishing the soft ground beneath them as they walked to the truck where Connor caught his ride to school.
Connor walking with Eric a few feet behind his mother, said quietly so Olivia wouldn't overhear, "I did what you told me to do, yesterday."
Eric put his hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed. "I know. The principal told your mom what happened."
Connor looked up worried. "She did? Why didn't mom get mad?"
"Your mom and I had a talk about it. I think she decided she was ok with it and let it go." Eric reassured him.
"Phew! I thought for sure she was going to ground me so I couldn't go to the dance tomorrow!" He relaxed with relief. "Hey, you wanna know what happened after I punched Dante?" He asked obviously excited about something.
"What happened?" He asked to humour him.
"A girl kissed me!" Connor bounced as he walked.
"Way to go Kid! You're first kiss and fight all in one day. Who was the lucky girl?" He patted him on the back.
"Avery Wallace, she's Dauntless. She told me I was brave when I hit Dante and kissed me. Then Mr. Camden caught me and took me to the principal's office."
"Is she going to be your girlfriend now?" Eric teased.
Connor frowned in thought. "I don't know. What do you do with a girlfriend?"
Eric laughed. "Same thing you do with your other friends, except you get to kiss."
"Oh, well that doesn't sound too bad." He replied, fixing how his backpack sat on his shoulder. "Did you have a girlfriend in Dauntless, Dad?"
"Hmm… Not really. I was pretty busy when I was Leader, it didn't leave much time for a relationship." Eric said, not wanting to inform him of the friends with benefits part of dating.
They made it to the truck and watched Connor get on, waving him good-bye as it drove towards the city gates. Then they turned to go to their own jobs.
"I want to thank you for covering for me at breakfast." Olivia said after walking side by side in silence for a bit. "I know you didn't have to do it."
"Well, if you weren't going to give the kid heck about it, I didn't want Linda to do it for you." He explained, looking down at her profile. She looked up at him and gave him a quick shy smile, before resuming her stare straight ahead.
Oddly, he didn't want to stop their conversation, so he asked, "So, did Jacob really ask you to the dance tomorrow?"
"No, he didn't, but I'm sure he won't say no when I ask him later today. I can't go without him if I don't want my mom asking questions." She said.
"I guess not." Eric said, feeling a twinge of jealousy, hearing her say that. He had felt it the first time he saw them together at dinner, then again after their date, but they were only small ones. More from viewing her as his property, his damaged girl, but this time it was stronger. He was starting to like her and he didn't want Jacob getting in the way of what they were building.
"I'll see you later." She said good-bye, leaving him with Paul before he could return the farewell. He watched her go, her long hair braided down her back, swinging side to side with each step she took. He made a promise to himself to show her that he was worth falling for, instead of Jacob Willemsen.
