Opening my eyes was a mistake, the bright lights burned my pupils, I was thankful for the quiet. Once I could adjust my eyes I looked around and took in my surroundings. I was back in the recovery room, I had an IV in my arm and my heartrate was displayed on a screen. I tried to remember what happened last night. We were in the Pit; I was drinking with Christina, Al and Erin. I was with Will, we talked and then I sat at a table, or maybe I got another drink….
"Hey Tris," Susan walked in interrupting my thoughts.
"Hey," my voice surprised me as it was stressed and horse; I cleared my throat and tried again. "What happened?" I asked her.
"I was hoping you could tell me," she said.
"I was in the Pit with Al, Christina and Erin. We were celebrating we had a few drinks then…" it was fuzzy now "then we started dancing… I saw Will and then I went to sit down."
"What happened after you sat down?" she asked.
I tried to remember but there was just nothing there, "I really don't know," I admitted. "How did I get here?" I asked her.
"Four brought you," she told me. "He found you half stripped next to the chasm, said there were two people with you who took off when he approached. You were drugged Tris," she told me.
"Drugged? By who?!" That didn't make sense, who would want to drug me? Who would take my clothes off and leave me by the chasm?
"I don't know, I was hoping you would remember but didn't expect you to," she said, and then went on to describe the drugs in my system and the side effects which included memory loss.
"Does Eric know?" I asked terrified he would be mad, that I let something like this happen to myself.
"I haven't seen him," she told me. "I called his apartment when you came in but it was late and there was no answer," she explained.
"You said Four brought me here? Did he say anything?" I asked.
"Just told me what happened and to make sure you stayed safe, he would stop by in the morning but I haven't seen him today."
"So there's a good chance only he saw me like that last night then right?" I asked her hopeful.
"You would have to ask him," she told me. I nodded understanding she didn't really know that much. I searched and searched my memory trying to bring up a memory past sitting alone at the table, but there was nothing there just darkness. I told Susan not to call Eric that I would go see him once I was able to leave. She only made me stay until 11pm so I could get hydrated enough to function on my own, the drugs were long out of my system, and there would be no long term effects. I went back to the dormitory and took a quick shower and put on some fresh clothes so I didn't look like such a mess. Around noon I made my way to Eric's apartment. I half considered knocking on Four's door to ask him about last night but decided it was best to talk to Eric first, he told me he was going to get me that night so if he tried to and couldn't find me then I needed to talk to him. I knocked lightly on his door extremely nervous, I never knew what mood I would find Eric in. When he answered I was not put at ease, he was on guard, I could tell. He said nothing but opened the door wide enough for me to enter under his arm. I stood in the middle of his living room and he stood in front of me arms crossed.
"What happened to you last night?" he asked, his tone insinuating I had done something wrong.
"You haven't heard?" I asked, not sure exactly what to say.
"I heard something," he said.
"And you're mad about it? It wasn't my fault," I told him becoming defensive.
"You thought I wouldn't be?! I made a big deal about being with you in front of everyone and a few hours later you are smashed leaving with Four?! What the fuck Tris?" he was angry now, but I could also tell he was hurt.
"Wait what? I didn't leave with Four," I told him. "Who did you hear that from?" I asked.
"I ran into your friend Keke last night, when I was looking for you, she said she saw you last with Four heading out of the Pit," he said.
"That's not true," I told him, surprised Keke had told Eric that.
"Well what the hell happened then? Where were you all night?" He demanded.
"I was in the recovery room," I said hoping he would calm down.
"What? Why? I thought your ribs were healed up pretty good now?" he asked.
"Can we sit down?" I asked walking over to the couch, I didn't want him to be upset and I was embarrassed to tell him what happened, I didn't want him to think I was weak getting taken advantage of. He followed me to the couch but still was on edge. "I was drinking with Al, Christina, and Erin and I did drink a lot and then we started dancing and then I went to sit down at a table because I didn't feel that good, and then I woke up in the recovery room…"
"What happened?" he asked, still agitated.
"Susan said I was drugged, and Four had brought me into the recovery room, he dropped me off there, she said she called you but it was late and you didn't answer and then she hadn't seen you since," I told him. I could tell he was calming down but not completely.
"You were drugged? By who? I thought you were with your friends?" he asked.
"I don't know I don't remember, Susan said, Four found me by the chasm… my clothes half ripped off." A few tears threatened to fall down my face but I brushed them away.
"Tris… I had no idea," he said.
"I didn't mean to get taken advantage of," I whispered.
"It is not your fault," Eric assured me.
"I wanted to be with you last night, I really did." Eric shot off the couch and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" I asked.
"The control room, there should be some kind of footage of what happened to you," he said.
"I thought cameras were only on the outside of buildings and through the city for protection," I asked.
"There are some in the Pit, it was a tester zone we used to try out different camera, no one expect the leaders know they are there so don't tell anyone," he said, before storming out the door. I felt very vulnerable just sitting in Eric's apartment, I knew he had the right intension of seeing what happened to me, but I really needed him to be with me at that moment. I took some time to pull myself together before heading over to Fours, I knocked and he answered immediately.
"Hey Tris," he said, he was in lounge pants and a black t-shirt. I had never seen him so comfy, it made me laugh.
"You look cozy, mind if we talk?" I asked.
"I do actually," he said, not budging. It took me off guard.
"I wanted to talk about what happened last night…"
"After you blindsided me with your sudden obsession with Eric, you are lucky I helped you at all, I had feelings for you Tris, and the least you could have done was tell me you didn't feel the same way, instead of leading me on and then embarrassing me."
"I didn't mean for it to happen like that," I didn't realize just how shitty I had been towards him, he was right I should have talked to him. "I had feelings for you too, but then Eric… it just kind of happened." I didn't know how to explain it.
"What he told you all those stories about me and convinced you he is the nice guy? You are fooling yourself if you think anything but pain is going to come out of a relationship with him."
"Four I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You did a hell of a job, last night I saw you next to the chasm with two people and they ran off when I approached, your clothes were torn and I dropped you off with Susan, your other new BFF," he said, rolling his eyes.
"She said you would come back in the morning, why did you say that if you hate me now?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.
"Because despite what she and you may think, I am the good guy, I was worried about you."
"You didn't come back though… I would have liked to have seen you, you continue to help me Four, I can't tell you how much it means to me," I said.
"I didn't want to cause problems with you and Eric, when that whole relationship blows up in your face you will only have him to blame." With that he closed the door on me. I banged my head against the wall lightly before turning to go back into Eric's apartment.
"Have a nice chat?" Eric was standing just down the hall, clearly had been watching my conversation with Four.
"I just wanted to see what he could tell me about last night," I said, my voice so light I didn't even know if he would hear me.
"Sounded like a lot more than that to me," he walked past me and went into his apartment, I followed behind him.
"You know it is not like that with me and Four, you saw in my fear landscape."
"So you just let him tell you I am a bad guy, a monster and don't say anything?" he huffed. "Thanks for that."
"Eric he was my friend, he helped me through initiation while you were busy making it the hardest possible task for me, and even after blindsiding him he still saved me last night, I am not going to apologize for talking to him."
"So what you think he is the good guy again?"
"He is a good guy, so are you it isn't a contest."
"You think I am a good guy?" he asked, and then laughed. "Yeah, right," he added under his breath.
I walked over and pushed him onto the couch before crawling onto his lap. "You are not a good guy, you are a bad guy, but one of the good ones," I told him, leaning in and kissing him. "Understand?" I asked. He squeezed me around the waist causing me to laugh before he nodded.
"I am everyone's favorite villain," he told me, his eyes dark.
"I know," I agreed. He glared at me clearly expecting a different answer. "And I'm not some princess that needs saving."
"You are the definition of innocence and all things good," he said, rolling his eyes at me.
"I've come to enjoy the darkness," I told him. "Don't worry about me and for once let someone help you." He scoffed at me.
"I don't need help."
"You need somebody; no one can do it by themselves."
"Tris I want you…" he stared into my eyes deep and powerfully, his black eyes melted into the brow eyes I loved seeing and I could tell he was opening himself up to me, I saw him struggling to do so and I respected him so much for it.
"I want you too." He kissed me and it was soft and gentle, something I had not experience with him before. "See gentle can be good sometimes," I teased him. He laughed before squeezing me tightly, until I burst out into laughter.
"I found something in the control room," he said, moving me so I was off his lap.
"I hope so you were gone long enough."
"Well I went and paid a couple of your friends a visit after I saw the tape," he told me, becoming serious.
"My friends?" I asked confused.
"Look." He pulled up a video on his laptop, and it was the Pit from last night. "You are here at the table." I saw myself drinking out of a plastic cup.
"Oh yeah, I got water from the bartender," I said, the memory coming back to me. I watched myself drink the entire cup and then a few minutes later stood up and began making my way through the crowd but quickly I watched myself deteriorating, the drugs hitting my system quickly. I rounded the corner and then I couldn't see where I went.
"Is there another camera over where I went?" I asked. Eric nodded and then clicked a button that switched views. I saw myself fall against the wall until I was on the floor, and then Keke and Al appeared in front of me. I watched Al pick me up and rip my shirt off, about to rip off my shorts when Four came into view. He jogged towards me and Keke and Al took off in the other direction. I saw Four stare at me for a long moment before he bent down and picked me up in a cradle, it was hard to watch my lifeless body just hang there in his arms.
"Okay I get it," I told him, closing the laptop. I couldn't bear to watch anymore.
"The bartender slipped something into your drink; I talked to him he said Keke gave him the drugs and told him to give it to you."
"That doesn't make any sense, why would she do something like that? I thought we were friends."
"I wasn't able to find her, but believe me I will be asking her," he told me.
"You can't hurt her," I told him.
"Well that is too damn bad; Al and Keith are in the recovery room already."
"What?!" I exclaimed. I gathered Keith was the bartender from last night. "What did you do?"
"I beat the shit out of them," he said as though it were obvious. After I thought about it for a moment and knowing what they did to me it was hard to be upset.
"Well okay," I agreed.
"That was easy."
"Well they deserve it," I answered. "Did Al say why?"
"I didn't really give him a chance to talk," Eric admitted.
"Aren't you going to get in trouble?" I asked, not wanting him to risk his leadership position for me.
"They aren't going to say anything, they are lucky I didn't kick them out of Dauntless."
"I want to deal with Keke," I told him. "I want to know why she would do something like this."
"She is jealous, girls like Keke who use their sexuality and hot bodies to get away with whatever they want, to get whoever they want, and then you come along top of the female class, with a Dauntless leader on your arm." Listening to Eric I could feel a memory begin to form, fuzzy but coming back to me.
"Four's not a Dauntless leader," I whispered.
"I was talking about me!" Eric shouted.
"No, no! I remember something now," I told him. "Keke was dancing and kissing Four in the Pit, and then they left together for like 25 minutes before she returned and she was boasting about being with a Dauntless leader, that I was not the only one who could score a Dauntless leader."
"As you said Four is not a leader," Eric reminded me. I rolled my eyes; he was so competitive it was actually stupid.
"The point is," I said, returning to my train of thought. "Erin reminded her of the same thing and she got really upset and left and then…"
"And then what?" Eric asked.
"I can't remember," I said my epiphany coming to an end. "So she did all of that to try and embarrass me because people think I scored you?" I couldn't believe the actions of Dauntless people sometimes, this kind of thinking never happened in Abnegation.
"Tris I don't think you see yourself clearly at all, you are 3rd ranking in your initiate class, you were handpicked by Four to be his little pet, and now you are my girlfriend, you have any idea how many people are going to be jealous of you? On top of that all my enemies are now going to be yours, anyone who wants to try and hurt me or tear me down is going to start with you"
"I'm your girlfriend?" I asked, stunned.
"Is that the only thing you heard?" he asked, brushing a frustrated hand through his hair.
"I heard you and I get it, and trust me I will deal with Keke. A girl like her, physical pain isn't the way to get her back, she needs to be put in her place," I explained, showing I had listened and understood what Eric was saying to me. "But did you think you could just slide the girlfriend card in there unnoticed?" I asked.
"Well what did you think we were doing? I made a scene in front of everyone to show you I was serious," he said, becoming defensive. "If you didn't want it to happen you should have stopped me."
"You don't have to get all hostile," I laughed, it was clear whenever Eric felt threatened or even slightly vulnerable he was going to get defensive. "I want to be your girlfriend, I just didn't know if that is what you wanted, and Susan told me you have never had one so I didn't want to make any assumptions."
"There is a reason I have never had one," he told me. It was clear by his demeanor there was in fact a very personal reason he didn't have one before me.
"Care to share?" I asked, I wasn't going to push him today if he didn't feel like opening up, he had done enough for me and the fact he called me his girlfriend got him a free pass for the rest of the day.
"Not particularly," he replied.
"Want to make out?" I asked him, trying to perk him back up. He looked at me with the funniest grin.
"Who asks that?" he questioned. "I forget how young you are sometimes." I laughed and stood up walking away from him.
"Well fine then, I will just find something else to do." Eric shot off the couch and grabbed me around the waist throwing me over his shoulder. I couldn't help but laugh.
"You are not going anywhere," he said, and then smacked me on the ass. He let me slide down and wrap my legs around him. I leaned in and started kissing him, before he sat us back down on the couch.
"Next time you laugh at my offer it is off the table," I told him.
"What if I just throw you on the table?" he asked.
"I can get behind that," I smirked. And then there was no more time for talking.
A/N No cliffhanger this time! Hope everyone is still enjoying it, getting a taste of what Eric and Tris are like now that they are together. So much more to come I hope it has not dulled at all, please let me know, and Thanks so much!