Another chapter! Woohoo! But before we begin, I want to clear up some confusion. She WILL get back with Amar. Remember, I'm taking you through Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant (where Amar comes in) times. The past chapters have been the two years before Divergent. Hang with me for a few more chapters and you'll see what I mean.
Max's isn't an old man. When she saw the wrinkles on his face, she meant the he looked tired and worn from stress. Also, she hadn't seen him in a year and a half!
Hope that clears it up for ya. Enjoy!
After sneaking out of the small room, my feet walk the damp halls. I run my fingers along the damp rocks and listen to the dripping sound from the spray of the cassam. The cassam that holds so many fears, sorrows, and secrets. Finally, I arrive at a room that I've never seen before.
From the adjared door, I can smell the alcohol. As quietly as I can, I push the door open with my foot to find an apartment painted a light baby blue color with some line from the Erudite manifesto written in black, bold letters. Sneaking into the room to find... Eric?
I rush over to him, my boots quiet on the stone floor. His body limp against an old black bean bag chair, he still holds the last brown bottle he was drinking. Gently, I take the bottle from him hand, making sure not to wake him. I take the bottle to the sink and dump the liquid down the drain. Afterwards, I search for a trash can.
If I learned anything from Eric it was this: when he drank, he drank a lot, broke stuff that night, and threw up the next morning.
I look in the corner, I see where he broke part of a picture frame. I sneak a glance at Eric, seeing his body now curled up against the black leather.
I finally spot a black trash can hiding in the corner of the room, on its side. I go to it, quickly, but quiety. I fix the bag with as minimal noise as possible, only to have a rough hand on my wrist.
Crap.
"How did you get in my room?" Eric slurs. I look up to find a an I didn't recognize. For an eighteen year old, he looked older. He wasn't the young, handsome fellow I first fell in love with in a Erudite library. Now, he was a rough, sexy, tattooed man with many piercings in his face. My eyes count 25 piercings. "Well?"
I yank my arm away from him. He may look different, but he was still Eric. "Your door was open. I came to check on you. Honestly, you never do anything when you're drunk except break things. That, and you still can't hold alcohol."
Eric reaches down and grabs my hip, pulling me closer. The smell of alcohol on his breath makes my stomach turn. "Abby?" He whispers.
Crap. Lie, my brain screams, Lie and lie now!
I scoff. "Please. Eric, you're drunk and disorderly. It's Four." (Sorry, Four….. Please take the fall for this one.) "All you see is someone you wish was here to take care of you. Now go lay down."
Eric squeezes my side and takes a deep breath. "Four, dude, you smell like a girl. Sorry about the whole grabbing you thing." He practically throws my side away from him. "I just miss her."
I grab his shoulder. "I know. Seriously, go lie down."
I don't know if the alcohol kicked in or if he listened to me, because Eric went back to his bed and fell asleep. Rolling my eyes, I take the trash can to the side of his bed.
I know he won't remember anything, which is why I turn on my heel and walk away.
AS I walk through the Dauntless halls, my mind takes me back to when Eric and I broke up. It was a month before the Choosing Ceremony and one of thsoe sunny afternoons that either made you love the Earth you were walking on, or hate everything that breathed. I was having one of the latter days. Eric had drank too much the night before when I told him I wanted to break up. Now that I told him again, he was steaming.
"Why do you want to leave me?" He yelled. "I thought I made you happy!"
I refused to cry that night. All I told him was, "Not like this," before I started towards the door.
Out of anger, he took my vase, the one I made, the one that had flower he helped pick, and threw it at me. Luckily, it hit the doorframe. Two more inches, it would have been me.
I spun around to come face-to-face with a boy that had an evil gleam in his eye. The boy that was once a caring, intelligent, young man was now a cold, dangerous, human being.
And he has been ever since.
That night, before I stormed off to another friend's house, I spat in his face. "You are not who I thought you were, Eric. You were, but now…. I don't know what happened to you."
I stormed off. As the month passed, I figured out what had happened to my sweet little Eric. My Aunt happened. Auntie Jeanine practically took him under her wing when we broke up. I stayed away from him, disappearing into the background, while Eric began to rise. Auntie Jeanine got him on one of the her special projects and he disappeared from my life. Until the month ended and we both transferred to Dauntless.
Talk about worst luck.
I physically shake my head to get the memory out of my head. I walk the halls of Dauntless, until I come to another room. Peeking inside, I see a man at a computer. A smile finds its way onto my face as I creep into the control room.
Coming up behind the man, I wrap my arms around his neck.
"Hi," I whisper into his ear.
The man freezes. I try not to giggle. He always was a scaredy cat. Turning in my arms, a smile appears on his face. "Abby. You're back."
I chuckle. "Hey Four. Not officially, but I'm coming back soon."
The brown-haired man smiles at me. "I'm glad you're coming back. To be honest, I think that we kind of need you back. The training that I hear the initiates are going to go through is going to be tough. I think Eric needs you to take him down a few notches, make him try not to kill the kids."
I chuckle. "Yeah, speaking of Eric, I may have gone to his room and said I was you." Four arches a brow. "He was drunk, I know how he gets when he drinks, so I fixed a trash can for him to throw up, into when he wakes up. He woke up, asked how I got in. I told him I was you. He then said he was sorry for grabbing your side and that he misses me. He then said you smelled like a girl. So…. take the fall, please?"
Four groans and smacks his head. Technically, I don't give him a choice. He looks at me from between his fingers, a smile making its way onto his face. He reaches out and pulls me into a hug. He must have gotten taller, cause his head now rests on to of my head. I laugh, and so does he. His body shakes when he laughs, causing my head to vibrate.
"You, my friend, are crazy."
"I know. Well, um, I should get going."
I pull away to fix my dress. As I look back up, I notice how much Four has changed since I last saw him. He isn't little, scared Tobias anymore. He wasn't scrawny Four anymore. Now, he is strong, Dauntless legend Four. I look up into his eyes.
I see broken eyes. "Abby, stay. If not for me, then for Eric and Max. We need you."
I run a hand through my hair. "Uh, look. I want to stay. I haven't felt this much at home since I was last with Amar. Four, I have to go. Look, uh, I will be back when the initiates arrive, just in time for me to stop Eric from killing them. Until then, don't tell anyone that I'm coming back. Not Eric, not Max, not Zeke or Uriah. No one. I will see you in a few months."
I go up to him and place a sweet kiss on his cheek then quickly walk to the door. Before I duck out of the room I see Four lightly touch his cheek with his hand, a half smile tugging at his lips.
"Bye, Abby. See you in a few months."
Time to start running again.
Ok, give me a few more chapters and I will bring in our beloved and Tris! If you like the story, let me know! Love yall!
