I return from my work out at, coincidentally, the same time as Eric gets back from shopping.

"Hey, stranger." I greet, smiling.

"Tris!" He says, turning to see me. "Haven't seen you around these parts in a while." He laughs.

I stick my tongue out at him, "Shut up."

He lifts his bag of groceries up, "Say, I just went grocery shopping. Come inside, let me make you dinner."

I raise my eyebrows with a grin, "Alright. But no wine this time. I'm not in the mood to get buzzed tonight."

"Agreed." He says, punching the code in his door and opening it up. "Come on in and relax. I'll put the groceries away and be right there."

I walk in. "Hey, I think I might go change real quick. I feel kinda sweaty from my workout."

"Tris, you're fine. You always look good." He calls, walking into the living room. "If you really feel that gross, you can take a shower here and borrow my clothes."

"Alright." I say, smiling at him as I walk closer. His hands reach out to my waist and pull me in to him, "I've missed you."

He raises his eyebrows teasingly. "It's been 6 hours."

"Don't act like you haven't missed me too," I say, leaning in closer. I feel him take a deep breath, and then our lips meet. Our kiss is passionate but there is a hunger this time, different than the first time we kissed.

His tongue pokes between my lips, slipping into my mouth. Our tongues battle temporarily before he pulls away. "Wow." He breathes, our eyes meeting. "I could kiss you forever."

I grin and lean in, capturing his lips with mine in yet another breathtaking kiss. He pulls away, beginning to kiss my neck. "Eric," I groan, my hands moving to his chest. "I've gotta-" he bites down on a sensitive spot of my collar bone, and I feel a pulse of energy between my thighs. "Fuck," I moan, my fingers grasping at the fabric of his shirt.

He grins and hums against me, his lips moving up to meet mine as his hands begin their travel up my shirt. "Eric," I manage to get out between kisses. "I've gotta take a shower."

He pulls away with a mischievous look in his eye. "So do I."

I swat his chest, "Shut up! I just need a quick shower and then I'll be right out."

"Okay." He sighs, pretending to pout. "I'll get something started for dinner."

I smile and pull his face down to mine in a kiss, "Thanks, babe." I say as I pull away and head towards his bathroom.

I'm almost surprised at how… normal his bathroom looks. I had to walk into his bedroom to get to it, because it's an en suite, but that was normal too. You wouldn't guess that he's fucked an immeasurable number of girls in these rooms.

My stomach churns at the thought. I don't like thinking about him with other girls, especially in one night stand scenarios.

Although, I feel like what we have started is different so far. We haven't even slept together, and already, it feels like we have a stable relationship.

I lock the door and undress, taking a quick shower using his hair products. Thankfully, he uses body wash and not a bar of soap. I wrap a towel around my body and walk into his bedroom in search of clothes, but I hesitate. It feels wrong to rummage through his stuff.

I walk out of the room, still in my surprisingly short towel, and into his kitchen. He hears my footsteps on the tile. "Hey, Tris. How was the shower?" He asks, turning around. His eyes darken immediately as he sees me stand in front of him.

"Hey." I say, scratching my neck. "I didn't want to rummage through your stuff for clothes, so I figured I'd just come out and…" I trail off, noticing he's still staring at my scantily clad body. "Eric?" I ask.

His eyes flicker up to mine, "What? Oh, yeah." He says, his face almost pink. "Sorry, I forgot to put some clothes out for you. I got caught up trying to cook this. Let me show you where everything is."

I smile, following him into his bedroom. He walks over to the tables next to his bed, turning the lights on. "Babe," He begins. "Can you turn off the overhead light, please?" I do as he says, and the lighting gets dim. It feels… romantic.

His body is illuminated in a soft glow as he rummages through his drawers, pulling out clothes. He pulls a few things out and turns to hand them to me. "I got out a t shirt and a pair of my underwear… I figured it would fit you better than my shorts or other pants… if you want to go get some different clothes from your apar-"

I shake my head, smiling. "Eric." I say. "Thank you."

He nods, taking my hands in his own. "I'll go continue dinner while you change. If you need anything, let me know."

I nod, giving him a quick kiss. "Thanks." He smiles, squeezing my hands and ducking out of the room.

I change into the t shirt, which is pretty long on me. I question if it is even necessary to wear pants… then I decide it might be a little weird if I walked out with absolutely no underwear to eat dinner with my new boyfriend. I slip his boxer briefs on.

I walk out towards the kitchen, seeing Eric standing at the stove. I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his torso, standing on my tippy toes and placing my chin on his shoulder. He continues stirring the food, a small smile on his face. I kiss his neck, "Thanks again for the clothes."

He sets the spoon down and turns to look at me, "You should wear my clothes more often." He says, smirking.

I grin, leaning towards him and pulling his lips down to mine. He pulls away a few seconds later, "I made salmon, brown rice, and salad. I hope that's okay."

I smile. "It's perfect."

He adjusts the salmon, "Plates are in the cupboard. Can you get a couple out?"

"Yeah." I walk over to the first cabinet and get out two plates and two glasses.

I hand him the plates and then go over to the fridge to get drinks, "Water's alright for you?"

"Yeah."

I pour the water and take the glasses over to the table, Eric carrying the plates of food behind me.

We sit opposite each other at the table, and he lifts his glass in a toast before we start eating. "To your last day of leadership training."

I smile, clinking my glass against his. "Thanks. It's been a… ride. I can't believe it's all over tomorrow."

He takes a sip of his water, picking up his fork. "Yeah… but, in the end, I got you- so I'd say it was worth it." He says with a big smirk on his face.

I begin to eat my food, and I can't help but smile at how… good this feels. Eating dinner with Eric and casually chatting feels somehow… right.

"You're smiling at your food, Prior." He says with a teasing smile. He always uses my last name when he makes fun of me. I find it kinda cute.

"Shut up, Coulter." I say, sticking my tongue out at him. "Let me eat my food in peace."

It's silent for a few seconds. "It's good." I say, feeling like I need to say something about his cooking.

"Funny," He says, stabbing some lettuce. "That's exactly what I thought when I kissed you for the first time." I raise my eyebrows and laugh, "But that's not what you meant, was it?"

"No," I say. "But I agree. It wasn't too bad." I tease, a mischievous smile on my face.

He kicks me lightly under the table, grinning. "Shut up. You loved it."

The rest of dinner is nice- it's so amazing to just… click with someone like this. I mean, I've had friends that I've clicked with, but I've never had a relationship that felt this natural.

"Well," I say as we put the dishes in the sink. "Thanks for having me over tonight. I had a nice time."

"Why don't you stay and chat for a bit longer?" He asks, pulling me close. "I can make coffee and we can sit on the couch and talk."

I bite my lip, pretending to consider rejecting the idea. "Hmm…" I say. "Okay."

He grins and places his hands on either side of my face, bringing my lips to his. The kiss deepens and I find myself walking backwards until my legs hit his couch.

I pull away and smirk, "You don't have coffee, do you?" I ask.

"Needed an excuse for you to stay," He mumbles, kissing my neck.

I roll my eyes and laugh, sitting down on the couch and pulling him on top of me. I smile up at him, putting my arms around his neck and pulling his lips down to mine. The kiss deepens and I feel his hips press into me, my core heating up.

He pulls away and begins to nip at my neck, quickly finding the sensitive spot under my jaw. My hands entangle in his hair, "Fuck, Eric," I moan, and I feel his hips press harder into mine. My hands move down his back, eventually finding the bottom of his shirt.

I slide my hands up, moving over his warm skin. He pulls away to take off his shirt before coming back down to me. His hands slip up my shirt this time, and I shiver as he reaches my ribs. "You look so fucking sexy, wearing my clothes." his lips press against my ear, "But I bet you'd look even cuter without them."

I giggle and reach my hands down towards the hem of my shirt, pulling it off, my bare torso now exposed. "You're so fucking sexy," he mutters, his kisses moving down towards my chest. He lightly bites my nipple, eliciting a gasp as my hands curl in his hair.

He comes back up, his hands now replacing his lips and I capture his mouth with mine, my hands moving lower towards the growing bulge in his pants. My fingers roam over him, feeling his manhood grow harder.

I slip my hand back up and in the front of his pants, reaching in his boxers and gripping his length. "Tris," He moans, his hips thrusting into my hand. "Fuck."

I begin to pump my hand around him, feeling him grow harder against me. I swipe my thumb across the tip, using his precome as lubricant. "Shit," He groans.

"You like that?" I whisper, my own voice gravelly now. He doesn't even reply, just lets out a moan as I continue jacking him off.

Then, it finally hits me: I'm about to have sex for the first time since Tobias and I broke up.

My stomach twists uncomfortably at the thought, and I pull my hand away.

He looks down at me, a sly smile on his face, "You wanna move this to the bedroom?"

It takes everything in me not to say yes.

I purse my lips. "I can't do this." I whisper.

It's too fast.

He furrows his eyebrows, his expression serious. "Tris, what are you talking about?"

"I just…" I begin. "This all feels too soon. I want to get to know you better."

"What?" He says, sitting up now. "What? Tris, you do know me"

"I just feel like it's too early, I-"

"Tris, we've been going out for weeks now. We eat lunch together every day." He says. I'm silent.

There's a pause.

"I'm not trying to force you to sleep with me. We don't have to do that. But I'm kind of hurt that you feel like you don't know me."

"Eric," I say, my hand on his forearm. "That's not what I said. I just want to wait until we're together a little while longer."

He's silent.

"It feels too soon after Four." I whisper.

His gaze quickly moves to mine. Anger burns in his eyes. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Eric, I-"

"No, Tris." He snaps. "You told me you knew that relationship was over for months. You told me you haven't felt like this in a long time. Why did you tell me that shit if you feel like you're not over him?"

"It's not that I'm not over him… Eric, we were together for over 2 years! I can't just immediately start fucking other guys! I loved him, and I don't feel comfortable committing myself to someone this fast!"

He groans, "Then what have we been doing for the past 3 weeks, Tris? Why did we flirt for months leading up to all this?"

Silence.

"Is this a game to you? Are you just using me? Trying to make Four jealous by being seen with me?" He asks. "Is that why he's always popping up around us?"

"No!" I defend. "Eric, why would I do that? I told you, I like you! I wasn't lying, and I'm not using you. I just don't want to sleep with you this soon! That's it!" I say, pulling my - his - shirt on and standing up now.

He runs a hand through his hair. "Okay." He reaches out towards me. "I'm sorry."

I back away.

"Tris-" He begins, pleading.

"No." I say, pushing past him and towards the door. "I'm glad tomorrow's the last day of training. I don't know if I could stand to work with you for any longer." I glare, my hand on the door handle. I haven't left yet.

I'm giving him a chance.

A chance to fix this.

"C'mon, Tris." He pleads, walking towards me. "I'm sorry I got mad. I overreacted. I would never force you to sleep with me."

"Whatever." I scoff.

"Tris, I'm sorry."

I'm quiet.

"I-I've never been in a relationship that lasted that long. That's why I didn't understand why you were hesitant. My relationships have been at the most, 6 months. I've never been that committed to someone before."

He pauses.

"But I want that with you, Tris. I want to be with you. I want to commit to us. I've never felt the way I feel about you with anyone else."

I smile slightly, walking towards him. He takes my hands in his. "Tris, please don't give up on us. I know it's been a little rocky recently, but now that we've talked about it, I think we'll be okay."

"Yeah." I agree. "I'm sorry."

He shakes his head with a small laugh. "Don't apologize."

"No, I feel bad." I say, pulling him closer. "But you're right- we'll be okay"

He leans forward and kisses me, "Why don't you stay for coffee? For real this time."

I chuckle, "For real this time." I repeat.

We stay up for hours talking and kissing and it was… amazing. And even though I don't want to admit it… I think I'm falling in love with Eric Coulter.

hope ya liked it, have a nice day :)