Lizyeh2000 I'm so glad you've enjoyed it so far! Here's the long-awaited update!

Shorty-leigh Thank you for reading! I'm glad the detail is appreciated, as my level of description isn't very common in fanfics!

"Kiss me."

My lips breath out the words onto his lips and its not even a second before they glide against mine with fervour. My hold on his neck strengthens and I tug roughly on his hair as his hands snake around me to hold my hips, squeezing harshly.

My teeth nip at his lower lip, as my body pushes up against him, one hand running over his bare arm. He groans as my teeth pull at his lip, before I start trailing them down his neck, nipping at every turn.

"Avery-" He breaks off as I respond with a harsh suck at the dip of his collar. "Love, you're going to have to stop."

I whine and look up worriedly. His hands are still closed tightly around me, keeping me close and I'm reassured to see his eyes dark with lust.

"Come on." He murmurs in my ear, a heavy arm at my waist as I stumble on my first step and he takes almost all of my weight. I follow him blindly.

"Hey… I recognise this…" I mutter against his chest as a familiar door comes up and he just chuckles.

"I'd hope so." He replies, before the door opens but my feet won't move in. "Come on then." All I feel is my feet being swept up and I'm in his arms again. He smells so musky, just in his neck, I have to get closer and I nuzzle further up before my lips start nipping at his neck again.

I hear a frustrated moan but pay no attention, until I've been thrown out of his arms onto silky sheets.

"Eric!" I whine as I can just make out his form moving at the base of the bed, which is too far away.

"Get changed." He says, and some material gets thrown at me.

"But Eric, I want you." I moan and I can see him freeze up slightly before turning to stare at me, my eyes wide, my teeth biting my lip.

There's a moment of silence as I see the colours in his eyes.

"You know very well no matter how much you want me or I want you, we can't do anything yet." He says coolly, but his eyes don't leave my body.

"But- but…" I trail off as my brain catches up. "You don't have to fuck me, I just want you."

There's a strained groan as he rubs the bridge of his nose.

"Love, I'm not taking advantage of you now, no matter how fucking sexy you are."

"No, I just want you here, I won't do anything I promise." I say with a light whine, and he sighs finally looking away from me.

"Then put your boob back in or I'll do something." He mutters and I blush over my red face as he comes closer and sits on the side of the bed. "Come on Avery, it's just a t-shirt-argh!"

Grabbing him round the wrist and twisting, I turn him into the bed so he lands on his back before straddling him comfortably, my hands lying on his chest.

"Fuck, Avery, do what I say." His voice is gruff and authoritive, but even drunk I can see the underlying want behind his words.

"I am." I say, clumsily reaching for the hem of my dress.

"Fuck- Avery-" He cuts off as his arms reach to stop me too late, and as my hands pull the wine red satin over my head his hands touch soft skin. "Shit! Fuck!"

He continually curses and I pause as I reach for the t-shirt he got for me looking at him questionably.

"What?" Instead of answering me he stares at me blatantly letting his hands travel my body.

"I was wearing satin, it's not like I had the choice of wearing underwear." I say obviously, but he merely breathes in sharply as I stretch upwards to reach into the t-shirt before sliding it on.

"You little minx." He mutters and I smile victorious.

"Are you sure you don't want me to do anything?" I ask lowly as I lean down over his chest, shifting my hips purposely and heavily against him.

I hear him swallow as he takes my lips and I smile through it, raking my hands across the light stubble on his jaw, letting my hips roll naturally.

But as I pull away for air my eyes are flickering and a strong sigh leaves my lips as my strength leaves me, and he rolls us back over and lifts up off of me.

"Hm?"

"Go to sleep love." He tells me as he leaves my grasp.

"Come back… Just… just sleep with me…" I moan at him but all I hear is a chuckle.

"I can't get to sleep like this love, since you can't finish what you started…"

He moves away to the light as everything starts blurring more and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

12321

The light buzz in my head reminds me of the volume I drunk the night before, and I let my mind wander through the events that led to that. First the sazeracs, the shots, the jungle juice, that ridiculously sized vodka beer pong cup… wasn't there some tequila at some point?

As my body wakes up a little after my brain, I can't help the smile that blossoms over my face at the safe, comforting warmth that surrounds me. There's no other feeling like being encased in his bare arms, with one of his legs wrapped over me too.

"Good morning beautiful." He murmurs, his voice low as ever with the morning as he kisses the top of my head. "How you wake up at a time like this after drinking like that amazes me."

"Hmm… I guess I did go a little heavy… all the alcohol is going to get me unfit, I'll have to have a chat with Beth and Lily about only ordering the amount they can drink." I reply, turning slightly in his arms so I can look up at his face. At this distance, the morning lights climbing in through the high window illuminates his eyes, appearing slightly more grey/green in the cold light. The light stubble across his jaw only accentuates his strong bone structure, and his hair is unusually mussed from sleep.

I let my fingers stroke up and down his jaw against his stubble, letting myself bask in the comfort of his scent.

"Do you like it?" He murmurs.

"Hm?"

"The stubble."

"Hmm… yeah." I say with a light smile. "But only stubble, a little roughness when you kiss me is nice, but nothing more. Being clean shaven is still nice though, it presents a more put together image, not that you need anything to help that."

"Maybe I'll start keeping it then." He says.

"What about my hair? Do you have any preferences?" I ask, examining my now natural red tresses, with the darker charcoal roots growing out.

"I like it long. And dark. Plus you look sexy when it's everywhere like this." He says, leaning over me as my hair splays out.

"It's only everywhere like this because of you, you know." I exclaim, and he smirks.

"I know."

The corners of my lips lift as chuckle leaves my lips, and he reaches down to press his lips to mine. My fingers find their way back to stroking his jaw and neck as he leans on his elbows either side of my head. His kisses grow more persistent as I pull him closer and his body pushes his t-shirt I'm wearing up before he pulls away.

"New rule. You must be wearing underwear at all times until at least mental stage." Eric says seriously, but the smile finds its way back onto my face.

"You don't enjoy it?" I ask, blinking lightly. "My memory of last night isn't that blurry-"

"You know exactly what I mean Avery." He says gruffly, lifting off of me to climb out of the bed. As the covers lift off him it only leaves more for me to admire as he steps up to his wardrobe leaving his structured back for me to stare at. "The fact that you're here means we're slacking on the whole hiding part. It's three weeks, but you know until then if anyone who doesn't trust us both, aka Axel, finds out both of our reputations here will be compromised."

"I know; I won't go out till physical is over, then the chance of me coming to you will be reduced significantly." I reply, before catching on to something. "What do you want me to say to my friends?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asks confused, turning his head.

"I had to improvise when they caught the hickeys down my neck, they think I'm sleeping with some random person." I fill in, realising we really hadn't talked in so long.

"Hm, yeah those are pretty, I got a beautiful view of all of them last night." He says suggestively as I stare back defiantly despite pulling up my t-shirt to try and cover up a few more of the marks.

"Yeah, well what do you want me to tell them when they ask me about not sleeping in the dorms last night… this morning?" I question as he pulls one of his many black t-shirts over his head.

"Tell them it was a different guy, if they think you're sleeping with the same guy then when people do find out they'll realise you've been with me all this time." He says and I nod. "But don't let it spread, I don't want anyone thinking you're easy."

"Okay." I murmur in reply. He comes back over to the bed and kisses my forehead before moving to leave the room.

"I'll go get us breakfast and get some clothes for you, we can spend the morning here I don't have any urgent work." He calls over his shoulder and it isn't long before I hear the door open and close.

Sure enough he's back soon and after eating breakfast we both lounge on the sofa, picking up the books we were last reading.

"I don't want to leave." I murmur lightly as I finish the last chapter of my book, snuggling closer to him as he has his arm round me.

He grunts in answer, letting his hand slide down to my waist from my shoulder.

"You'll see me this afternoon anyway. And every day afterwards." He says softly as he peppers kisses into my hair, closing his book.

"No matter how hot you are when we're working out, its not the same as just lying here." I say with a light pout, turning into him to put my arms around his waist.

"I'm hot when we work out?" He questions, and I look up at him.

"Don't pretend you don't know it, when you're demonstrating a shooting technique telling us how to chokehold someone." I mutter with a blush and he smirks.

"So you like it when I tell you what to do?" He questions, a grin playing on his lips as I don't meet his eyes.

"I didn't say that… I just like how powerful you are… don't make me say it, it sounds weird." I admit, turning my head away.

All I feel are light pecks scattering my forehead down to my ear, before he lifts me up so I sit on his lap, and I lean down to kiss him.

They're light kisses, playful, and he nips at my lips as I curl my fingers into his hair as his hands stay firm, wondering up my back. As I pull back I smile happily, and his own lazy smile graces his face.

"God you're gorgeous." Is all he says before leaning in to kiss me again, lifting me up as he stands and I wrap my legs around him.

"What are we doing?" I ask as he places me on the kitchen counter, before reaching for a nearby bag.

"You, are putting your own clothes on." He says, pulling out a set of black underwear, some sports leggings and a black round necked t-shirt. I whine slightly clutching onto the much too large perfect t-shirt of Eric's I'm still wearing, but as he looks back at me pointedly I take the underwear from his hands. He looks at the wall behind me as I slip it on over my legs, and then looks completely to the side as I pull his t-shirt over my head and rip the tag of the sports bra. Once its on he turns back to remove the tags of the black sportwear, helping me into the t-shirt before moving back so I can pull the leggings on.

"That wasn't so difficult, was it?" He questions as he pulls me towards the door and I reply with a sigh.

"Could you keep my dress from last night here?" I ask and he nods, before I turn to face him in front of the door, leaning on my tip-toes to place my hands on his shoulders.

"See you in a bit." He murmurs, before closing the distance between us and sucking firmly on my lips. My hands slip down to press against his muscled chest, whilst one of his reaches down to the back of my hips and the other cradles my head closer.

When he finally pulled away I leaned back up and pecked him lightly, before opening the door and leaving before I changed my mind.

12321

"I can't believe we already have fights again, it still feels like yesterday we last fought." Beth moans.

"What, still hungover?" I ask dryly and she glares as the table laughs.

"I know what she means though, I thought I'd be used to it by now but I always forget how fast the fights come." Ben agrees.

It really has already been a week. A week full of making sure I avoid bumping into Eric, a week of not getting lost in his eyes across the Pit, and instead busying myself with fixing all the relationship problems, romantic and platonic, that followed that drunken night.

Turns out, Jay and Lily had a tryst of sorts, except she passed out whilst they were making out as Jay confided in me. She doesn't remember one bit of it but she can tell something's up and they've been avoiding each other. Obviously there was the whole thing with Ben and Beth kissing and her almost throwing up on him, so they were a little frosty too, which in turn just gave me more cover as none of them asked what I had gotten up to that night.

By now we all talk at mealtimes, but other than that we all split off, Beth and Lily together, Ben's become closer with Mark and Leon, and Jay and I usually wonder off.

I finish my breakfast and stand to leave, and Jay stands as well.

"Already done? Let's go." He says, and we leave the other three still eating.

"You shouldn't carry on avoiding her you know." I say as we leave their hearing range.

"Avery, you don't understand! Even though nothing happened I still took advantage of her, I was nowhere near as drunk as her. You didn't tell her, did you?" He asks fretfully, and I shake my head.

"No, but she knows you're acting weirdly you barely look at her." I say as we enter the training room. "But that's not what I'm talking about. We have two weeks till the end of physical. Two weeks for her to prove herself. And if she doesn't…"

"Don't even start." Jay snaps, stalking towards a punching bag and taking a heavy swing. "You can't play that card to get me to talk to her, you want her to stay just as much as I do."

"It's called being realistic Jay. Even if she does win both fights, who knows whether that's enough to make up for four months of losing." I say as I take up the punching bag next to him.

"…We'll get her through." Jay mutters between punches, and we carry on until everyone's here, and Four and Eric walk in.

"Right, fights! The rankings you get after these fights will be the last before people are cut. So, the likelihood of them changing by then are slim." Four states as he paces the room.

"First pair, get going!" Eric instructs, and sure enough first up is Jay and Leon.

As the two get going, it's clear it's quite an even fight. They're both heavier men, and have quick footwork but slow, powerful hits.

They trade blows for a good few minutes, and as the fight comes to a close… it could almost be called luck, but Leon's slow reaction after a particularly forceful punch from Jay allows Jay a hasty uppercut to his jaw, leaving Jay the winner.

Lily is given a dauntless-born ranked 24th out of the 29 dauntless-born as an opponent, and she even manages to avoid all of her hits and ends it with a simple blow to the temple.

Beth loses her fight against Kray, and Ben wins against the dauntless-born ranked 9th, and after a while of waiting, my name is called.

"Avery, Mark, in the ring!" Four calls, and I make eye contact with Mark across the room. It feel as though the whole room is silent as our footsteps echo up to the mats, and I'm ready before I even step in.

And when he starts off grabbing for a hold, covered by a false punch to my jaw, the concentration in his eyes is unreal.

I put as much space between us as possible, and merely twirl out of the way as I assess his movements. I've only seen him fight once, but I can tell he uses a much more complex technique than any of the other initiates. He reaches for holds around the torso and thighs before using his superior upper body strength to lift his opponent into the air, before dropping them and letting his body weight do most of the damage.

As I look for openings in his foothold I see none, as despite his body being top heavy his feet are planted solidly. So it's going to be dirty tactics for now.

When he next reaches in to get close, I duck underneath his arms and elbow him sharply in the neck, causing him to cough and lose his balance. I trip his ankle making him stumble back further but his recovery time is faster so instead of being able to find the most effective point for me to hit, my instinct takes place and my knee firmly lifts right in between his legs, and he recoils backwards with his legs glued together.

This substantially weakens his foothold as his feet are much closer together, and now I can lower my centre of gravity, ready to really fight. I turn to gain momentum into the sharp concise kicks I aim to his knees, adding in a couple of sharp punches to his solar plexus and in between his collar in order to keep space between us.

Though it seems like he can't handle my agile attacks, he simply widens his arms as if to hug me, before toppling us over onto the ground before pinning my arms.

The massive weight he has winds me for a second, but I don't give him an instant as I shift and kick my legs up causing us to roll over, him landing on his back and me on top off him. Knowing I have to work fast I flick off of him to the side, and as he gets up onto his knees I swing my leg around which knocks him right to the side of his head, and as he recoils I catch him by the neck, swiftly cutting off his air supply as I press into a nerve point on his neck, which leaves him limp as I step back and kick him squarely in his temples, knocking him out to fall on the ground.

As I finish standing, my breathing still even, I hear the chalk scraping and look to see Four circling my name. And I leave a deep breath out before bending to try and lift Mark up by his shoulders.

"I got it." Eric surprises me as he pulls Mark over his shoulder by his torso, and I follow him to the side where Leon lies and the others wait. As Eric places him down he turns to me and leans down to my ear.

"Perfect." He murmurs softly, before walking back to the chalkboard where Four waits.

The last few fights finish up, and then we all wait in whispering silence. The rankings. Fifteen people get cut after physical. 25 stay.

"Do you think any of the dauntless-born will get cut?" Beth asks worriedly, looking around the group.

"Maybe…" Ben says.

"Yes." I say confidently. There are at least three dauntless-born who are worse than all of the transfers not including Isobel or Lottie.

"Right, rankings are up. I wouldn't get your hopes up if your below the line, one fight doesn't do anything." Eric announces, and all the initiates flock to the board, along with a few spectators.

Avery

Mark

Jay

Leon

Charlotte

Raven

El

James

Kray

Zander

The top ten is simple and expected, with Zander who everyone has long stopped associating with rounding it off. Ben is ranked 13th. DT 15th. Beth 19th. Lily… 25th.

"I'm above the cut line!" Lily gasps, her lips parted and eyes in shock.

"Oh my God Lily well done!" Beth gushes, harshly hugging her friend.

"I can't believe I managed to improve this much… Avery… thanks." Lily says softly, before hugging me and I pat her on the back.

"All the extra training paid off, you just need to keep it up." I tell her, but as I meet Eric's eyes across the room through her hug, something in his eyes tells me this isn't over for her.

OMG FINALLY ANOTHER CHAPTER! Thank you so much for all the support, I know I've been gone for an absolute age, and I'm sorry to say finding time to write has become increasingly hard so the weekly updates I was managing before the summer will probably not continue- but I am not giving up on this fic! As you can probably tell there are only going to be a couple more chapters in this instalment, and then I'm going to start a new M-rated fic for the start of mental stage, since I have really been struggling to keep out the smut…. Anyway, for now we have a lot of fluff and a lot of Eric, along with some good action! I was really excited to add in Mark's martial arts style of fighting, and for the next chapters the fights will hopefully be increasingly dramatic! Anyway thank you so much for reading, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, read and review as always!