The sky seemed black when something buzzed against Eric's leg, rapid then paused, then rapid again like it had a hard time containing it's excitement. Apparently the motion of the electronic device was enough to pull the woman in his arms out of her pit of shock and horror, she pulled her face from his sticky shirt, her nose, eyes, cheeks and lips flushed a cherry red color, eyes puffy though her tears had long ago run out. Her fingers reached around into her back pocket, whipping out her phone, her eyes looked dead. She looked hollow like she was locking herself away from everything that had transpired between them. When those foggy eyes of hers landed on her phone screen however, they widened, her lips parting and eyebrows raising, her finger swiping the screen in less than a millisecond before raising it to her ear, "Hello?" She said, her voice surprisingly strong,
"Hey!" It was Beth, "Where are you guys?"
"At the Park, not far," Tris said, avoiding Eric's questioning gaze, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, just wondering when you're coming home?" Beth asked, her voice pippy,
"We can come home right now," Tris said, shifting from Eric's hold, wriggling out of his lap, her legs and chest were on fire, and she could have sworn then that Eric was a heater in human form. "How long have we been gone?" Tris asked, stretching her legs and back,
"Two almost three hours, it's almost nine you know? I called because I figured you'd try to check in," Beth told her,
"You want me to check in?" Tris asked loudly, sparing a glance over at a resting Emily,
"Well," Beth paused, "yes," she said hesitantly, like she wanted to say more,
"Are you okay?" Tris asked again, walking back over to Eric, looking at him warily, at this he tensed up, leaning forward and standing up from his seated position. Bethany chirped through the phone, voice unsteady, clipped, to anyone else her lie would have been passable, but to Tris, her wavering was a dead give away, "Yeah, totally,"
"Are you sure?" Tris pressed, gathering Emily up, listening with held breath to the other side of the line,
"Yep, just hungry," Beth said, "Anyway, bring something home? I heard there was a UFC match today on TV and it's going to play in a few minutes, I thought we could eat dinner and watch it,"
"Okay sounds good," Tris sighs, "See you soon," The phone line cuts and the screen goes home in her hand, slowly, Tris looked at Eric, her eyes lazily tracing the bend of his body, his ruffled clothes, his stoic expression, save for the raised eyebrow. A smirk twitched onto the corners of her lips, "It was Bethany, asking if we were coming home soon," Eric nodded, not paying it too much mind before he rose to his feet, stretching his legs, arms, and back. After several pops and grunts he stood straight and slid his hands into his jacket pockets, staring pointedly at the blonde woman, a blank expression on his face, "What?" She asked, lacing her fingers into the grip of Emily's leash, Eric shrugged, "Nothing," He said, walking off in front of her in the direction of home, he only got a few paces in front of her before she grabbed his forearm, fingers digging in to his tattooed skin, "I promised Beth we'd pick something up before we went back," She told him, voice quiet, was she okay? No of course she wasn't, any idiot should know by her slight trembling that her mind was still at war with her memories. If anything, he wanted to be the smarter guy who would make her feel better, hold her like he had been on the bench. But he also knew of her strength, and if she needed him to lean on even for the time being, she would say so. A part of him, very small, whispered that she wasn't that type of person to confess her struggles. He refused to believe that.
So instead of saying something to her about how frail and shaken she looked, how pale her face was despite the red bitten spots on her nose and cheeks, how she should have thought to go straight home because she really looked like she needed a hug; he nodded once and mumbled a very soft "Okay," And let her lead the way through the barren park.
The trees looked like burnt skeletons reaching up to the sky for a hint of sunlight, golden rays of life to touch them if not the earth rather than the depressing rain that poured upon the ground at night. Emily seemed to like the near frigid cold of the night, as she waddled and panted giddily by Tris's side. The blonde woman beside him hadn't removed her hand from his arm, nor had she stepped away from him, and now their footsteps were in the creepy sync that they fall into. Creating a steady beat to fill the silence between them.
When they got back onto the street sidewalk, the lamps lit up her white blonde hair, turning it to moonlight atop her pretty head, though the moon had yet to be seen this cloudy night. She spared him a glance, eyes big and glossy and more down to earth, she was here now back to herself and away from the horrors and pain she had experienced. They were this beautiful opal blue, like burning blue fire, the kind only seen in an often times violent chemical reaction. But there was nothing violent in those pools of fascinating blue. He could stare at her all day, admiring the curve of her lips; her upper this little wave of a rose petal that framed her lower lips perfectly, like roses. Her face was this perfect angle, no matter what direction he came at her from, she was always addicting to look at, never awkward. Her nose, though a bit long, was sharp and keen to fit between her eyes and cheeks; cheeks that were high with the bones that set them in a soft heart. She was stunning, awe inspiring and if it wasn't weird he would watch her, no matter what she was doing as long as he could see her.
She smirked, it was a slight flutter and twitch of the corners of her lips before she spoke, "What?" It was a simple chirp of a voice and still it was enough to spread a content smile onto his lips, "You know where we're going?" He asked her,
"Yes, it's this charming little burger place," She sighed, turning away from him just as the pedestrian sign turned green, they walked and she continued, "I used to eat there a lot when I was in high school, it's called Doughty Burgers, you might like it,"
"What were they like?" He asks, letting every word of hers bleed in,
"Pardon?" She asked, shooting him a confused glance,
"Your brothers, if you're all around the same age, you must have gone to school together," He clarifies, observing the way her lips press together and eyebrows knit for a moment before she looks away. Everything is out in the open now even if she didn't want it to be, Eric had a habit of noticing things after a person started to lose it. Tris was on the very edge of losing her cool with her past, which allowed Eric to pay more attention to the way she acted, her words and the meanings behind them, what she did with her free time. It almost struck him as funny, that she was the therapist and he the patient but now the axis had flipped. "Caleb didn't go to the same High school that I did, Tobias did though, but he was a junior when I was a freshman, so I only spent two years in school with him,"
"How was that?" Eric asked,
"Interesting," She sighed a smile tilting her lips, "He was a troublemaker, if he wasn't beating someone up, he was sneaking out-ditching class," She smiled genuinely now, her hand sliding down from his elbow to his lower forearm, holding him there, "And what did you do?" He asked her,
"Well, Tobias liked to be in my business, so if I got a new boyfriend or my grades started slipping he would let everyone know it. There were times when I wanted to humiliate him with bathtub baby pictures and the student yearbook, but I decided against it. Sibling rivalry wasn't in my status-qo. Besides we were both one and the same, he the extrovert of the family and me the total introvert, despite the many fights we did have, and the loss of someone we loved, and shocking discoveries, we still stayed together. Him always the super protective older brother, and I the brainiac younger sister,"
"Sounds fun,"
"Oh it was," She says, her hand now at his wrist, "Most of it anyway,"
"What about the loss?" He asked her, looking down at her,
"I think that's a story for another time," She says softly, her footsteps slowing the slightest bit, "We're here," She mumbles to him, pausing in her tracks and looking towards a rusted brick building with a hunter green rain cover, the sign was in bright red and the door read 'open'. Tris smiled and lead him into the restaurant her fingers around his wrist now as the smell of cooked red meat hit them both. Bubbling hot sliced cheddar cheese steamed and continued to cook on the hand ground and prepared patties that sizzled and fumed with natural grease. Employees dressed in black and red worked with fresh vegetables and tomatoes, cutting and laying and garnishing each special order plate. It was something out of a movie, with the styled and signed pictures of old ford trucks and buicks. Girls serving at older outlets from the beginnings of the restaurants big boom into the monopoly race.
Beside him, Tris smiled, drawing her hand from his wrist for a moment before she walked further inside, but she stopped. Frozen in place, fingers limp in his hand as he squeezed. Slowly he laced their fingers together, drawing her attention back to him as he leaned in, lips brushing her ear as he whispered to her, "You're right Tris, I'm not your friend, but you're wrong about me being just your client," She pulled away from him, staring up at him wide eyed, just as he pulled away from her, snapping the scissors of truth on a fine string that tied them together. He supposed he had told her now. She was smart, she could understand.
It had taken them a few minutes, because this little burger joint wasn't just her favorite it seemed, it was quite popular in this little city. They hadn't spoken to each other, aside from discussing what Bethany might like, and of course, who would pay for the meal. For once, Tris let him pay, a whopping 12.19 for three burgers and two soft drinks with a side of fries. The order taken to go, smiles exchanged and a few slight brushes of skin to skin later Tris, Eric and Emily were walking back to the house.
It was on one particular glance and sip of her drink that Tris decided to ask him, overstepping the boundaries she set for herself, "How many tattoos do you have?" She asked him, looking back at him with wide dark eyes, her lips glazed with the sugary drink in her hand. He smirked, the right side of his mouth spreading up further than the left, "One," He answered,
"One?" She repeated, raising a perfectly sculpted blonde eyebrow,
"Yep, it's all connected,"
"Then, what does it mean?"
"Well, up my neck it's a labyrinth that reaches around to the base of my skull," He explains, watching the look of slight curiosity flash through her eyes, "The only full path recedes into my hair, it's actually a maze. But down that, to my shoulders are a set of wings, there's stuff between them that goes down my spine and reaches down my arms but that's about it. Not too many tattoos," Eric sums up, smiling down at her. Wanting to tell her the things that ravaged the back of his mind at only 5 days with her. "What do they mean?" It was a simple question, except, it wasn't. His tattoos sealed away demons and created promises etched into his very skin. The meanings behind them were deeper than what his eyes could entail. He didn't know if he was willing to tell her those meanings yet, so instead he responded with, "What about yours? I heard you have four,"
"Me?" She asked, her tone light, treading on ice.
"Yeah, I'll trade a piece of mine for one of yours," Eric offers, his voice slightly gruff and direct,
"Okay," She nods once, "I have one tattoo that spreads across my left collar bone," He looks at her pointedly, eyes flashing something strange, "It is three ravens, one for each beautiful soul that I meet in this life,"
"Beautiful soul?"
"Someone who is purely good, despite their behaviours or their situations, their past," She mumbled, staring off after Emily, the cold wind picking up and reddening her cheeks and nose. She ought to have known, her impact on him and his sister, in just the five days. Did she know, that she truly has an influence on the world, aside from her silence and her rough way of teaching, she was extraordinary and Eric couldn't remember the last time he had ever met someone like her. Part of him wanted to tell her she was appreciated, not alone as she so chooses to be. That there's more to her life than her past and her job, and living alone in a big and beautiful house.
Warring with himself was very unlike Eric, he was normally such a self assured person, confident in his words and actions, but now around her, always around her he had watched what he said, and did. If he weren't bedridden he would have been able to stop his heart from squeezing tight in his chest when he felt her brush her fingers through his hair, to keep from staring at her in awe as she held up the weight of her world on her shoulders and still managed to help him. He swears to himself that he would have changed a lot of the things he did around her, because not a few days ago was he sick of her presence, of her very voice. Now he can't get enough. What was it, that she was doing to him to make him feel this way? He would have asked her if her phone didn't ring.
Quickly, reflexively her hand shot to her back pocket and whipped out her phone, her eyes just grazing the screen as she answered, "Hello? We're on our way," Tris said, smiling slightly to reassure herself that she wasn't failing as a guardian. Panting is the first thing she picked up and slamming doors, something that made cold shoot down her spine and electricity to shock the nape of her neck, Tris stopped, "Hello? Bethany?"
"Tris? Where are you?" The teen whispered,
"Almost there, I can see the block, what's wrong?" She asks, picking up her walking pace again. Eric shooting her worried looks before steeling himself inside and out again. "Tris hurry,"
"Bethany, what's wrong?" Tris asks sternly, switching her gears into a slight jog,
"There's someone trying to get into the house,"
"Hide, now, don't try to fight okay? Don't end the call, but don't make a sound until we're there," Tris said quickly, hushed, sparing a fleeting glance to Eric she clutched her phone tighter and ran, sprinting and letting go of Emily's leash, knowing the dog would follow. Feet slapping against pavement, cold wind biting and rushing against her skin, the sound of tires of a street whisking by filled her ears like a jet engine taking off. The buzz low in her head as she ran through oncoming traffic not bothering to stop, or look back to see if Eric was following lead. She huffed, unused to such speed in such a long distance on short notice, she couldn't really remember the last time she ran like this, borderline for a life. Her heart crashed against her ribs, aching and scratching at her parched throat she licked her lips and pushed harder, long legs stretching wide as her house came closer and closer into view. No she would not lose Bethany to someone else, she would never lose someone like that again.
When her car was in view and her body heaving and burning, she stopped, widened eyes slowly narrowing and eyebrows knitting together, gears locking into place before sparking and spinning like mad in her mind. Tris clenched her fists, pausing only for a moment to ensure Eric in his shape was able to keep up, and that Emily didn't run off. Tris then turned her sights to her house, glaring hard at the door, noticing how it was slightly ajar. She tossed a wary and infuriated glance at Eric, holding a finger up to her lips before she gestured to the house. At the corner of her eye she noticed how Eric grabbed Emily's leash, standing near the front door in case the intruder tried to book it.
Swiftly and silently Tris silenced her phone and handed it to Eric, sliding her thin fingers against the paint of her door and pushing it slowly open. Eyeing the dark of the house, stepping in slowly heel to toe, silently lurking to the shadows. Slinking along the wall and looking for any signs of a break in, finding none she steeled herself, listening for a creek of the floorboard as she moved, brushing her fingers against the wall. A door shutting and footsteps made her pause, eyes narrowing and lips turning down into a sneer. Ears picking up what her eyes could not around the corner, had to be male, unless the woman had larger feet and weighed almost 200 pounds. The person teetered, leaning back and stepping towards the kitchen, foot falls assured, breaths shallow and even. When he was within arms reach of her, she lunged, a snarl escaping her as she shoved the infiltrator hard against her wall.
He grunted, and in a split second she assessed what she could, stong chest, broad shoulders, tall, very tall, well muscled and tense. That was all she got before she and him were on the floor growling and snarling, throwing fists and fighting dirty. When she got the chance she kicked him off of her, rolling up to her feet and screaming for Eric, knowing that she wasn't strong enough to take down the attacker. She was then slammed to the ground, dragged back by her legs, nails clawing at the ground. He fell to his knees over her lower back, wrapping his arm around her throat and holding up, just hardly cutting off her air supply. She gasped, holding her breath before seething through her nose, bucking up and hitting her tailbone to where his jewels were, he groaned and loosened his grip, allowing her to swing her elbow back into the centerpiece of his chest making him fall back off of her; and though her elbow was hurting more than it should, she scrambled to her feet and backed away from him enough to stumble into Eric's arms. He held her arms and pulled her back away from the man who was struggling not to whither on the floor. She struggled, adrenaline coursing through her like a drug, making her thrash and pull against a man twice her size, "Tris," He said, but it wasn't Eric.
Tris froze, her mess of white blonde and near black underlay of hair settling over her right eye, strands sticking to her dropped mouth as she stared wide eyed in realization as to who was in her house. She panted slowly and deeply, slowing her racing thoroughbred heart. "You got good," He continued, his voice hoarse as he got to his feet. Eric's hands tightened around her upper arms as her body slowly went slack. Suddenly the lights flipped on and all faces and places were illuminated. There he stood, clad in the usual black that stuck to him like skin, he looked the same, dark blue eyes, tanned skin, dark brown hair, crooked and hooked nose, but this time it sported blood. The same crimson that covered her knuckles, and dripped from her lip.
He squared his shoulders and wiped his nose with his strong hand while he looked over to the light switch placement, and there Bethany stood; clutching a knife slack at her side as she stared at the three others with a bewildered expression.
I am so sorry for not posting, I was stuck for a while but still wrote, though it was very little. Anyway, I apologize if this chapter is a bit less catchy, and the angst isn't too developed, but I don't have much Drama in my life, in fact I strive to avoid it. But I hope that a short cliffhanger is enough to get you all and I through to the next chapter, which will be much easier to write. Anyway, enjoy.