Eric

After my argument with Ellie, I made a B-line for the training room where all the punching bags were. The place was practically deserted since everyone was eating dinner in the cafeteria and would be heading back to their apartments afterwards. I was still pretty mad about what happened with Ellie so I figured I'd blow off the steam by beating up a punching bag. I went to the first one I saw and started swinging.

Ellie did have a right to be mad at me before since she didn't know the whole situation between Jamie and I, but I was mad because she didn't come to talk to me first about it. I'd be mad if I saw her being too friendly with another guy, but I wouldn't go find my friends and make up all sorts of accusations and put false ideas in my head. I would talk to her about it first which is why I was mad. I was also mad that after being together for only about two weeks, not counting the time during initiation, she thought I'd go and cheat on her. I have never cheated on anyone and wouldn't because it's the biggest betray of trust. Being cheated on is the worst thing you could do in a relationship and I wouldn't want it to happen to me, so why would I do it to anyone else? Especially Ellie of all people. I was crazy about her and couldn't even think of hurting her like that.

I was at the punching bag until my knuckles began to bruise and bleed a little and decided to throw some knives. It's been a while since I've thrown them and figured I'd do it while I was here. I tucked a few in my pockets and then held another few in my hands. I looked downrange and lined it up before pulling my arm back and throwing the blade as hard as I could. It stuck to the target right in the target. It was a little too far to the left so I lined it up again and threw another blade, this time getting closer to the center. One more knife and I was in the bull's eye.

I kept throwing until I ran out of knives and then walked down to the target to get them. "Nice throwing." A voice said. Turning around, I saw it was Zeke. I turned back around and walked to the target, pulling the blades from the wood. "Any particular reason you are throwing knives at almost ten o'clock at night?" Zeke asked.

"Any particular reason you care?" I retorted as I pulled out the knives.

"I saw you and Ellie leave with you looking pretty pissed…and since she came back to the cafeteria without you, I am gonna guess you two had a fight."

"Why do you care?"

Once I had all the knives I turned around to see Zeke leaning on the table where my jacket was with the knives. "I am trying to be a friend here, Eric."

"You're Four's friend."

"And that means I can't be yours, too? Or at least try to be?"

I walked over next to him to put the knives down. "Yeah Ellie and I got into a fight?" I told him. "Satisfied?"

"About?" Zeke pressed.

I let out an annoyed breath. "She saw me with Jamie in the hall and thought I was cheating on her."

"Jamie as in the gay cafeteria worker?"

"Yeah."

Zeke laughed and I rolled my eyes, but smiled a little. I never had a problem with Zeke, but him being so close to Four made me wary of him. After initiation, Four and I kept a distance from each other whenever we could and only talked when it was necessary. Zeke was alright by me though.

"Look girlfriends get jealous and overreact. It's how they're wired." Zeke told me. "And I am going to assume she didn't talk to you about it."

"She talked to her friends before me."

"That's what they do, Eric. Girls always go to their friends before their significant other."

I grabbed my jacket and pulled it on. "Should I really be taking relationship advice from you?" I asked. "The guy who hasn't had a stable relationship since I don't even know when."

"Well where else are you going to get it? And I know more than you give me credit for."

Zeke and I walked out together and he turned down one hall while I turned down the other. I figured I'd talk to Ellie tomorrow about things. Right now I wanted to go take a shower and get some shut eye. Zeke was right, though. Girls had their own ways of handling things and guys had theirs. I just hoped we could call this our first actual fight and leave it at that. All couples fight and all couples get through it.

OOOOO

I went over to Ellie's the next morning. I woke up, showered, got dressed, and then took the elevator down a level to her apartment. We both had a night to think things over and I wanted to go back to the way we were before. I knocked on her door and after a few moments with no response, I knocked again. "Ellie, it's me." I said. Again, there wasn't another response. I looked at my watch and it was still too early for her to be at breakfast. The cafeteria didn't start serving food until seven and it was only six thirty. Plus she didn't work last night so she should be in her apartment. I knocked again. "Look if you're mad at me I get it, but can you just open the door?"

"To open the door I'd have to be in the apartment." A voice said from behind me.

I turned around and was met by Ellie. She was standing a few feet from me wearing a pair of black shorts and a matching black sweater. Her hair was in a messy bun and her boots were unlaced. Based on her baggy eyes she hasn't been up long, but long enough to still be tired. "Zeke came by like forty five minutes ago. He needed some help with something down in the computer room." She explained as she pulled her key out and walked towards the door. I moved out of the way so she could unlock the door. "Do you wanna come in?" she asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

Once the door was open, I followed her in and closed the door behind me. Ellie walked over to the couch and sat down to take her boots off. I sat in the chair opposite of her and put my elbows on my knees. "I came by to apologize." I began.

"Eric you have nothing to apologize for." Ellie cut me off as she pulled her legs into her chest. "I am the one who should be apologizing. I should have went and talked to you before jumping to a crazy conclusion instead of talking to Nina and Lori and Candace about it."

"It's alright, Ellie, but I shouldn't have just walked away from you like I did and try to understand where you were coming from."

She gave me a weak smile. "You know I trust you, right?"

"Of course I do."

I stood up and walked over to sit next to her. She leaned into my side and I wrapped my arm around her as we both leaned back into the cushions. "Can we never fight again?" She asked as she laid one of her arms across my stomach. I chuckled and kissed her hair. "I think we'll get into plenty of fights. It's just a matter of working through them together."

She picked her head up and looked at me with a warm smile. I tucked some of her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. I didn't like fighting with Ellie, especially when I am reminded of what kind of moments we share like the one right now. Between the sweet smile she was wearing and way she made me feel my happiest, it was a small slice of perfection. So many people, specifically people from my initiation, thought I was cold and harsh but Ellie never saw that. She is probably the only person who sees me for me which was something I'd be grateful for the rest of my life. I wasn't as cold or harsh as most people thought. Sure I wasn't particularly nice or kind to most people, but I don't want to be seen as a cruel individual who gets a thrill out of other people's pain. After Dauntless I wanted to be seen as a little harsh and a bit cold because of how Dauntless was, but I didn't want to be considered heartless. Unfortunately some people see me like that anyway…but Ellie doesn't. And quite frankly that's all that really mattered.

A/N: So I am doing better now and thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and left kind words for me. It meant a lot and I appreciate it immensely. :)