Thank you SO much to Bamberlee for editing!
And oh my gosh, thank you so so so so much to everyone following along and reviewing! I'm glad you're all enjoying this. Hopefully, this chapter answers some of the questions asked! I'm trying to cover as much as I can and make the time line of their relationship make sense. They're totally not together (living wise) like they were in The Training, but it's clear they're both very interested in each other in a way that's unfolding naturally.
So thank you!
And for those reading Eva, it'll be updated NEXT FRIDAY. There's a lot to wrap up and I didn't want it to be rushed. đź’™
"Did he kiss you?"
This time, I swat away Holly and Paisley, occupying the space where Zander normally slept. I try to shove them off the bed, but I wind up smacking myself in the face while they both snicker.
"Who?"
"That guy," Paisley's voice is loud, too loud considering I'd like my parents to stay sleeping and not coming in here and ask why she's yelling. "The…one in the ugly uniform."
"Eric!" Holly answers, just as loud and just as annoying. "Sophia stopped by this morning to drop off muffins and she said you went to talk to someone in uniform. While you were supposed to be at the bonfire."
"I was at the bonfire," I sit up, fully panicked over the thought that someone had watched me go into the woods. Someone could have, but most of my friends had been busy while I talked to Jason and they were distracted when I followed him to the truck. "I didn't talk to Eric. I talked to Jason. He said they were…um, they're looking for someone from the factionless."
"Oh."
Both Holly and Paisley deflate. They recline back, sinking onto their heels, and they throw each other defeated scowls.
"Sophia made us think it was Eric," Holly sighs, oddly defeated over this development. "Not…Jason."
"I didn't see him," I mutter, and they both look confused. "Nevermind. Did you really have to wake me up? This is the first time Zander hasn't slept in here in months."
"Mom wanted us to check on you. It's almost one," Paisley reports smugly, and she smiles widely. "I guess you were really tired."
"Shit!" I throw the covers off, and I jump out of bed.
Because of who I am as a person, I don't get very far. I trip over my own shoes, the work boots I rarely wore and had shoved half under the bed, and I nearly end my own life when I just miss hitting my head on my nightstand. My arm isn't so lucky, and neither is my side. I swear again, loudly, when Holly and Paisley burst out laughing.
I swear again a few minutes later, when I discover my father has already left for the day, heading out to work in the greenhouse, with no plans of returning before dark.
"Outside."
"No. Not you," I answer Zander meanly, and I immediately feel guilty. The look on his face is equally crushed and furious, but he settles on furious.
"EVERLY! OUTSIDE! TAKE ME WITH YOU!"
When I don't answer him, he throws his truck at me, a heavy toy a neighbor had dropped off a few weeks ago. It's large and grey, and all it's missing is Eric in the front seat, scowling.
Which is fine.
Zander is scowling enough for the both of them.
The truck sails past my head, right into the wall, and it slides down to the wood floor with a loud bang.
"Really?" I look at him with zero patience, and he looks back, daring me not to take him with me.
"Bad Everly."
Luckily for me, my mother swoops in.
"Zander, we don't throw our toys like that. You almost hit Everly in the head." She frowns at him, picking the truck up and putting it on a high shelf, and he immediately realizes the error of his ways.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"You sound tired," she tries to shush him, and his rage dulls slightly when she picks him up. He immediately puts his head down on her shoulder, proving her correct, and his plea to get outside subsides. "Everly, are you going somewhere?"
"Actually, yes," I answer slowly, hoping she's not going to ask me to take him upstairs. While he looked tired, that could change the minute he brushed his teeth. "I'm going…to meet Landon."
I do my best not to wince when I say his name, but it's not a lie.
He'd stopped by for dinner, and halfway through he whispered that he had something to show me. I thought he meant after we ate, but he told me to meet him at the Dome at ten, and not to bring Zander.
He was specific about this request, and I hated that he knew Zander was always with me.
But I'd agreed, mostly out of morbid curiosity, and figured if all else failed, I would bring Zander along and use him as my way out.
I didn't need to worry. After a day of going to the lake, feeding the horses, chasing a chicken he'd named Loco, helping everyone make dinner, a bath, and playing with his trains, Zander was tired. By nine, he was rubbing his eyes and loudly informing everyone he wasn't tired, and by nine thirty he was throwing things and demanding I take him outside.
He lost out to our mother, still holding him, as his eyes were closing.
"Oh, okay, well have fun. Don't stay out too late. It's supposed to be cold tonight." She pauses to look at me, and when I look at her, she smiles. Kind of. "That's nice you're going to meet him."
"So nice," I flash her the most innocent smile I can, and she misses my underlying and not so subtle sarcasm. "I'll be back soon. If Zander is still up, I'll help you put him to bed."
"Don't worry about that," she waves dismissively, because he's about to pass out. "Just go have fun. Tell Landon I said hello."
"I will."
I won't.
I leave before she can say much else, and I head out into the dark night, hoping to solve the mystery of where he's been going.
I regret my decision to meet him.
My mom was right; the night air is cold, and it's so cold it hurts my skin. Landon doesn't offer me his jacket or his shirt, because he's too busy dragging me through the woods. He'd been waiting for me at the Dome, and he looked pleased when I showed up. Not happy or elated, but pleased, like his plan was coming together. He then instructed me to follow him, and when I couldn't keep up, he grasped me by the arm and hurried me along.
His grip was tight.
Eric's grip had been tight, but somehow different. He'd kept me in front of him because he wanted to, but Landon was mostly pulling me along so I wouldn't slow him down.
I finally jerked my arm away from him when we reached a deep parting in the woods, and the panic set in.
"No, I can't go any further."
My stare flies around the tall trees, set on both sides of a sharp ravine. To the left, is a pathway leading into pure darkness. To the right, is a worn, dirt road used by Amity when the main roads for delivery flooded.
"It's not much farther. You promised me," Landon looks at me, his stare wild with impatience and urgency, and I can't figure out why he needed to bring me out here. My trust in him was minimal; my father thought he was a good guy, but he was off lately.
Impatient.
Angry.
Sharp with the looks he was throwing me.
Sharper with his hands, back on my arm, yanking me with him.
"Landon!" I try to move away from him, but the ground becomes too steep. I wind up holding onto him because my shoes prove impractical for traipsing through these woods, and he becomes my only source of balance. His boots crunch over the earth with a thud, and when my chest has become so tight with fear that I think I might die, he finally stops.
"We're here. I'm trying to help you."
He gestures just beyond the tree line, and I stare in total confusion.
And horror.
He's brought me to a factionless camp.
I look up at him slowly, trying not to let him know I'm freaking out, but I certainly don't want to be here. The factionless weren't bad people, until they were. Most were hungry. Unhappy with being kicked out of their own faction. Miserable because they had nowhere to go, and no one who cared if they lived or died. Their population was large, growing day by day, and often their faces blurred together until you couldn't tell them apart. There were old factionless, young factionless, and an unsettling number of children.
The ones with children, the youngest always dirty and feral and recoiling from us, came for lunch sometimes. Johanna fed them willingly, without question, and I knew it physically hurt her when they headed back into nothingness.
Not all were good, though.
There were some who were violent. Angry. Furious over being removed from their homes or failing to secure a place after their failed initiation. I couldn't imagine the agony of choosing a new life and leaving everything you knew behind, only to be banished to the outside. They couldn't return home, and they couldn't try again in another faction.
She tried to help.
Sometimes, they worked in our fields. During the hottest months, when the crops were plentiful and the workers couldn't keep up, Johanna asked for their help. She paid them however they liked; some wanted food, some wanted shelter, and some wanted to stay.
So, she let them.
Any other faction leader would be prosecuted for such an offense, but our faction needed the help. Not enough people were willing to spend their days doing manual labor, so it was rumored everyone turned a blind eye to what Johanna was doing.
Sometimes, you could tell. They might be wearing our clothes, or living in the communal housing, but they were nervous. Not even the peace serum or the knowledge of where their next meal came from was enough to erase years of being cast aside. My heart hurt for them. They were accepted here, yet they kept to themselves. A few had married girls from Amity, solidifying their place in the community, and a few of the factionless women had been taken in by farmers needing help at home. It almost always worked out, even resulting in a couple of the weddings I'd attended, but if someone dug deep enough, they'd discover they weren't actually listed here.
"Look, before you run back and tell everyone where I brought you, just listen to them. That's all I ask. If you don't agree with them, then…no big deal. They aren't hurting you and they won't hurt you," Landon whispers, and he takes my hand in his. "I told them I was bringing you, and they know who you are. Just let them share their stories."
"Landon, what is going on?" I knock his hand away from mine, and the urge to run is strong. "Why are you with the factionless? Why are you…"
I don't get to finish my sentence.
The forest comes alive right before my very eyes. There are a few makeshift lights, a few fires lit around the center, and swarms of factionless. They pour out of the woods in droves, dirty clothes and tanned skin, and they head straight for the middle. They make a circle, filling in so much space some can't enter the clearing, and they wait.
There is a low murmur, then a quiet roar as someone walks down the middle. She holds her head up high as she greets them, and she walks confidently, like she's greeting her court.
She is.
Someone says her name, and I realize not only are they planning something, something big, she is their leader.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
"Can she fight?"
The man stares me down with a dark air of disbelief. Next to me, Landon promises him I can try, leaving out the fact that I've never so much as hit anyone in my life.
I'd like to punch him, though.
"How old is she?"
"I'm eighteen," I answer for myself, finding, yet again, another person deferring to Landon over me. "Who are you? How old are you?"
He doesn't answer. The man looks right at me, but he never smiles. He eyes me up and down, like he's trying to size me up, and his dark shirt and dark pants tell me he knows how to fight.
I find him pretty unapproachable, considering he seemed important here.
"You said she wants to help?" He looks over at Landon, who's busy staring at me with a look on his face hinting I need to fall in line. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why I'd ever be aligning myself with the factionless, or this random guy who won't tell me his name. "She's too small. I can show her how to fight and I can show her how to shoot, but her odds of being an actual soldier aren't great. She can be taken down by anyone larger than her."
I'm immediately defensive, even though I don't want to be a soldier.
"Can one of you tell me what is going on? What are you training for? Why are you here?" I ask both of them, but mostly Landon. He busies himself by greeting someone next to him, and I faintly recognize him from the Dome. A healthy dose of fear hits me when I realize they're close, and this isn't the first time Landon has come here. "Please?"
"Why did your boyfriend bring you if you-"
"Hey, you said you wanted to grow the army. You said we need everyone we can. She's…her dad's Hank. He's well known in the Amity faction. I thought if we got Everly to help us, and maybe her dad, they could pull some people in. She's got a lot of friends, Hank…he works with the initiation class. They can help, too. Once he's in." Landon answers quickly, right by my side before I can announce he isn't my boyfriend and I hadn't wanted to come here. "I haven't explained everything to her. I wanted her to see it firsthand."
"See what? A bunch of factionless…forming an army?" I take a wild guess at what's going on here, and my stomach hurts so bad I might throw up. "You really think this is smart? The Dauntless soldiers will-"
"They won't do anything because they don't know about this. They think they do. They think they know what's going on, but they're wrong."
The woman from earlier interrupts me. She stops beside Landon and the guy I was talking to, and she smiles. It's supposed to be warm and kind, but it comes off arrogant and unlikable.
"I know this must look crazy but hear me out. Landon brought you here for a reason. He told us you are kind and helpful, and you never turn away those in need. We're the same, you and me. I just want to help. We're working to build an army because we want to change the system. We want to fix what's broken. And we can. We just need help. Your help."
"My help?" I stare at her, her dark hair wild and curly, and the man next to her looks similar. His brown hair is the same color, but short, recently cut, and he stares me down with an unfriendly almost glare. His eyes are blue, but they are dull, tired and impatient and not just at me.
I've watched him glance around, eyeing everyone warily, and I get the strange feeling he's not actually factionless.
His shirt is too new. The dark fabric is a fresh black, so dark it hurts my eyes, and his boots are clean.
For a dizzying second, I'd say he was from Dauntless.
But that would make no sense.
"I'm Evelyn," the woman steps close, and she takes my hands in hers. I have to crane my head to look up at her, and she smiles again. Wider. Sharper. Forcefully. "I hear you're Everly."
She says my name at the same time the night sky lights up. There's a crack of thunder, loud and rumbling and perfectly timed, and her fingers tighten so I can't let go.
"You could be who we're looking for. Landon tells me the Dauntless soldiers like you. One in particular."
She pauses. When I look over at Landon, he's unfamiliar. Less the tall, quiet boy I'd grown up with, and more like someone who fit in here. He looks strange to me, surrounded by men and women who have nothing, but something tells me he's found his place.
Which is how she knows my name.
"They don't like me. They just want information." I slide my hands away from hers, and I step back.
I don't like this Evelyn.
I don't like her or her little crony beside her, still glaring at me like he has a reason to. He crosses his arms over his chest, and his exhale is heavy.
"She's not going to help. She has no reason to. You're wrong in thinking we need a larger army. We need to train the ones we have. The more people you involve, the higher the chance of this getting out. You can keep everyone quiet for a while, but someone will slip. Eric is actively working this. He's going to question every factionless person he finds until he gets what he wants." he announces darkly, and there's a hint of authority to his tone.
He must work somewhere where people listen to him.
"He might even ask her. They've been patrolling Amity more than ever now."
"Tobias, you're letting your fear get the best of you," she chides, and her head tilts. "If she chooses not to help, Everly will keep this quiet. Because if she doesn't, she could hurt people she cares about. Not just Landon. Not just herself. Her father. Her brother. They were both here. They both want to make a difference. You could, too. If you try."
"My dad was here? Forrest?" I blurt out quickly, paralyzed in the depths of fear. She has to be wrong. I must be dreaming or have hit my head this morning. Even with the most minute details –a gathering of factionless, discussions of an army, of training and shooting and fighting, and this talk of making a difference–I know this isn't right.
My father would never stand for something like this.
He was good.
Kind.
He worked hard to contribute to Amity.
He pushed Forrest to make a difference, to help out fellow mankind without hesitation.
He wouldn't have been here, blindly following a woman creating an army that went against everything he knew.
"I um, I have to get back. I have to put Zander to bed and..." I lie, immediately regretting saying his name, but the fear is overwhelming. "I won't say anything, to anyone. I promise."
"Good. You'll have some time to think it over," Evelyn nods, and her satisfaction is too much for my liking. She knows she has the upper hand. If my father is involved, or my brother, there isn't much chance for me to pretend this isn't happening.
"Landon, I need to go home." I speak firmly, ignoring the heavy gaze of the guy named Tobias, and his judgmental stare. He watches silently as Landon takes my hand in his.
"Okay, I'll take you home. Evelyn, I'll be back. I just wanted you guys to meet her."
I hate him.
I hate him so much it burns, and I only let him hold my hand because he leads me away from them. I hold on until we're through the blur of factionless, through the thicket of trees, through the darkness. I tear it away from him once we're out of the woods, and I walk a few steps ahead, hurrying to get home.
My eyes burn, both from fear and anger.
Whatever he was getting himself into isn't good, and he knows it.
"You can't go back there, Landon! You can't. She's…what is she doing? Starting a war?" I sound frantic, and I am. My dad was good, Forrest was good, Landon was sort of good, and Evelyn was not good. "You really think this is smart? Dauntless is everywhere! The soldiers are everywhere! They've been here twice now. Every day they're showing up! They're-"
"Why do you think we're doing this? You think we want to live under their rule? You think all of us should bow to whatever they ask?"
"They aren't asking anything! Just that we live our lives and…" I pause when we near the Dome and I know he's in this too deep. "You're going back, aren't you?"
"I have nothing here. There isn't anything worth sticking around for," Landon answers hotly, and he whips around to look at me. "I know you aren't happy, either. I can see it on your face. Everyone can. You aren't fooling anyone, Everly."
"I'm happy," I protest, but it comes out like the lie it is.
"Are you? Are you really? You're enjoying watching those little kids every single day? You're enjoying babysitting your little brother because no one else wants to? Are you loving spending your days being told how good you should be? How peaceful you should feel? You don't even want to be around me, and your father promised me if I stuck around you'd-"
"What happened to you?" I step back from him, once again dragged down into a hot dose of fear. "Why are you acting like this? This isn't you. This is crazy."
"It isn't? How would you even know? You've spent the past few days doing everything you can to find a way out, and I'm offering you one. Think it over before you tell me I'm the one who's crazy. Staying here, with the way things are, is crazy."
I shut my eyes when he stops in front of me, and this time, his grip is tight enough it hurts.
"People will quickly find out you stayed here because you were afraid of picking anywhere else."
He lets go, but I keep my eyes shut until I'm sure he's gone, and the night sky opens up to a cold, slow rain.
"Are you okay?"
Forrest watches me wash the dishes for a whole two seconds before he decides to help. He gracelessly moves himself closer to the sink and reaches for one of the plates.
"Everly, what's wrong?"
I look up at my older brother, and I work hard not to blurt out why I hadn't spoken during breakfast. I actually hadn't spoken to anyone since I got home last night. I arrived back to find the house silent. I walked carefully, avoiding any creaky spots on the steps, brushed my teeth and went to bed.
I was numb.
Petrified.
I'd long heard of small rifts with the factionless. Some factions, like Candor, found them to be a disgrace to society. They turned their heads when they walked by, or like Dauntless, they would fight them off to defend their territory. Abnegation helped whenever they could, but they couldn't sustain an entire factionless population. That left us, but it was clear our helping was slowly turning into an alliance.
I wonder if Johanna knew.
"Forrest, did you go to some meeting? With a lady named Evelyn?" My hands shake, threatening to drop the dish into the sink, but I manage to hold on.
Forrest does not.
His plate crashes to the bottom, clanking loudly.
"Evelyn?" He picks up the plate quickly and inspects it to make sure it didn't break. "Yeah, yeah, okay, so you…so you know about…Evelyn because Landon took you, right?"
He's panicking.
His cheeks are red, and he stares at the sink until he knows I'm looking at him.
"Are you helping her?" I rinse off the bowl and set it on the dishrack to dry. "Landon said he had something he wanted to show me. I met him at the Dome, and he took me to this meeting and I didn't know what it was, until they asked if I knew how to fight."
Forrest blinks.
"Wow."
"Are you fighting with them? They're trying to start some…some war," I speak a little louder, but not loud enough that anyone else can hear us. My mother is in the living room with Zander, watching him climb the bookshelf while she fixes my father's shirt. "They said you and Dad were there."
Forrest blinks again, and this time, he shakes his head furiously.
"I went with Landon, once. He said it was like this, this…brotherhood thing. He kept saying, I know I can trust you. I know you want to help. So I went. I didn't agree to anything."
"Do you know how to fight?" I stare at my older brother, his long hair hanging down to his shoulders and his eyes a different version of mine, and he sighs in resignation.
"Look, okay. Here's the truth. I've been dating someone. I met her at the lake a while back, and…I thought I knew everyone in Amity. But not her. I think…I think she might have been factionless at one point. Maybe not. Maybe she just…maybe her family doesn't have as much. Anyway, it's been going really well. We ran into Landon a while ago and he invited me to go with him and said I'd get it once I was there. And, hey, I sort of understand why they're doing this. They just want things to be equal. So…yeah, yeah I know how to fight. And if someone tried to hurt Willow, I'd fight them."
"Willow?" I reach for Zander's glass, covered in peeling stickers that will never come off. "Her name is Willow?"
Forrest freezes, and Mr. Everyone Is My Friend And I Share Everything With Everyone suddenly has a secret.
A secret he didn't want to reveal.
"Yes, but don't tell mom and dad. Don't tell anyone. I want to see where it goes. Maybe I'll marry her and move out and…" he suddenly stops, and I turn toward the direction he's staring. "Zander, weren't you scaling the walls a minute ago?"
"No. I want to see Willow."
I burst out laughing, feeling marginally better for the first time all morning, because Forrest looks like he might throw up.
"TAKE ME TO WILLOW! WHERE IS WILLOW?"
"You heard him," I laugh even harder when Forrest swears, and he shoves the plate at me.
"Fuck!"
"FUCK!" Zander calls back, and he looks pleased with himself. "Take me to Willow! MOM! MOM! WILLOW! FUCK!"
"No!" Forrest roars, and he takes off, trying to catch Zander. He leaves me to finish the dishes, still laughing at his ruined secret, but it stops when I realize this still isn't good.
There's only one person who might know how to fix this, but getting to them wouldn't be easy.
"You'll have to come back."
Johanna looks at me from behind her desk, a safe distance away from me. She reaches forward to adjust some papers, and she nods her head over to the computer.
"I have a meeting in a few minutes. Dauntless has been insisting we have these…check ins. I can't miss it or they'll show up here. And we know what happens when they show up here."
She grimaces at the thought.
"This won't take long," I try my case, but even I know that's not true.
It would take long.
Explaining this whole story would take time, time neither of us have.
"Come back in a half hour. We can talk then. Unless this is pressingly urgent." She speaks evenly, still unbothered by her looming virtual meeting. "Is everything alright, Everly?"
For a split second, I contemplate answering no.
Everything was far from alright.
Landon had taken me to a secret factionless meeting. I got to see them building an army, though I didn't know this for sure. I learned Forrest had gone to one, maybe more, and now had a girlfriend he wanted to protect. I learned they thought I could help. I learned I couldn't even say anything, because not only were they involved, they claimed my father was, too.
The weight of this is immense, but I wind up not saying anything.
In front of her is a list from Dauntless, neatly typed up and spaced out, and I have a feeling I'll have to fix this from the inside out.
I close my eyes.
It's a risky move at best.
The tree trunk I'm leaning against is large and heavy, rising up from a wide base. But I'm perched on a smaller branch of the tree, enjoying the quiet and the green, and maybe eight feet below me is Zander. He looks around quickly, left and right, then at the house.
"Everly! WHERE ARE YOU!"
I don't answer him.
In my defense, we are playing hide and seek.
It was a nice distraction from the past week.
Days ago, I'd left Johanna's office feeling disheartened. I only let it last a minute, because I had to think logically. It was unlikely she'd be able to help me the way I needed. She couldn't shut down the meetings going on, nor would she ever refuse to help someone without a faction. I decided I'd talk to my brother and my dad, and once I had them on my side, we'd all talk to Landon.
It went over like a lead balloon.
Forrest retreated from me the second I asked to talk to him. He shook his head, hissed he'd only been to one, no two, maybe three meetings max, and he swore he wouldn't say a word. When I asked my dad about it, not bringing up Evelyn's name or the actual meeting but hinting that Landon was acting weird and kept bringing up something about the factionless, he less than politely told me to focus on my initiation.
Which wasn't all that easy.
Toddlers were everywhere. I caught myself in a moment of standing in the middle of a storm of small children, screaming and thrashing left and right, and I announced I needed a break. Immediately. Mable looked startled, but she sent me home an hour early, walking me out and promising me she understood.
Today was the same.
I left two hours early, telling her I hadn't really slept and I'd be better tomorrow, and she made me swear I'd go take a nap. I did. I felt a little better, until Zander found me and demanded to play hide and seek.
"EVERLYYY!"
He yells my name again, and someone laughs. They tell him to check in the backyard, and I recognize the voice as Wesley. I keep my eyes closed until I hear the front door of our house slam shut, and then, I hear him.
A different voice.
Right below me, talking to someone on his phone.
His voice is immediately recognizable. He snaps and snarls at someone, demanding they do their job or he'll be glad to find someone else who can, then scoffs when they presumably defend themselves. I watch his head drop to look at his phone, and I stare at the back of his head.
His hair is a light blonde. It's slightly darker at the top, and it's shaved so close on the sides it's nearly nothing. When he tilts his head, I can see the barest hint of the dark columns on his neck.
There, standing below me, is Eric.
"Orders are not optional here."
He barks at someone, and I wonder who works for him. I try to imagine taking orders from him or seeing him in an office every day. I don't know what their offices look like, but I imagine they are dark. I imagine he has one away from everyone else, and he doesn't let anyone visit.
"You have two hours to get this fixed…or we'll be having an entirely different discussion when I get back," he threatens, and I shift forward. The tree branch bends beneath me, and in my quest to get away from Zander, I'd failed to notice it was one of the older ones. I'd been arrogant in thinking it was safe, because my younger siblings sit on it all the time.
Now it creaks, threatening to spill me right on top of him.
"If it's not done when I get back…"
"Shit!" I swear loudly, knowing the cracking sound wasn't good. I try to grasp onto the branch above me, fumbling wildly in an attempt not to fall. Once I have hold of a stronger branch, I pull myself up so I'm kneeling, and I try to calculate how to get down without dying. The fall won't kill me; it'll be more embarrassing than anything, but there's a chance I could break my leg. "Oh fuck, no!"
The snap is so loud I'm sure the whole faction hears it.
I move quickly, figuring I can hop down the rest of the way, but I don't get very far. Eric looks up right as I lose my balance, and his eyes widen in surprise as I lose my footing completely. I hit a few branches on the way down, groaning at the scrape of one against my leg and the knot that hits my knee, and before I can blink, I hit his chest.
He catches me easily.
Our third collision is the most jarring so far. He's solid and unmoving, and he holds onto me tightly.
For a second, neither of us speak. I look up at him in pure surprise. His hold is awkward, but he shifts his arm so one is beneath both my legs and the other is under my back. I reach out before I remember he probably won't let me touch him, trying to steady myself. I throw my arms around his neck, hoping to slow my racing heart, and I can't decide if it's beating so quickly because of the fall, or because of him.
"Did you just…fall out of the tree?" He looks up curiously, into the sprawl of large branches and vibrant green leaves, and his expression is one of total disbelief. "Why were you up there?"
"I was playing hide and seek with my little brother," I answer quickly, not even sure how I was speaking to him.
Up close, this close, he was far more handsome than I could ever imagine. His eyelashes are long, his lips are full, and his skin is perfectly smooth. His hair looks different than anything I've ever seen, but everyone here has long hair. His is longer on top but combed back and kept in place so it doesn't move.
The ends flip up just the tiniest bit, and its nowhere near as uniform as I bet he prefers.
"Thank you for saving my life," I smile at him, noticing he somehow manages to hang up on whoever he was talking to. "I didn't mean to fall. I thought the branch was safe."
"Are you always this uncoordinated?" He stares right at me, his eyes dark and deep and less cold than in the truck, and he juts his chin out. "This is the third time we've met like this."
"Must be fate," I shrug, watching him smirk. I like him better when he's smiling, or sort of smiling. "Um, can I ask you something? Please?"
"No."
"How old are you?"
This question was something I just thought of. It wasn't that Eric looked years older than me, but between the dark uniform, his general presence, and his aversion to doing anything other than scowling, it was hard to guess. I was secretly hoping he was close to my age, but the amount of power and authority he wielded led me to believe he isn't.
"Why do you need to know?" He cocks his head, suspicious of my motives. "Are you taking a survey?"
"Yes. I'm trying to get the average age of every Dauntless soldier I fall into. So far, it's only you."
Eric's stare leaves me for just a second. In the distance, there are people talking. I bet it's Jason and probably Not Jason, coming to find him, here despite Johanna's meeting. Judging by his sigh, I'm right.
"Stay outta the trees, Amity. You don't seem to do so well when your feet leave the ground." He moves to put me down, but I hold onto his neck tighter. There's a silent struggle on both our parts, because he doesn't seem to want to put me down.
I know this, because it would be incredibly easy for him to simply let go of me and have me fall.
"Are you…twenty?"
My fingers touch his hair, right above the collar of his jacket. It's short, but soft, and he jerks his head away.
"Knock it off, Amity. I'm…." His lips part open for a second, hesitating to answer me, until he finally drops me to the ground with zero grace. It takes me a second to realize what's happening, but his hands stay on me until his friends arrive.
I was right. Seconds after my feet touch the ground, Jason and Not Jason spot him. They yell his name, and Not Jason loudly reminds him Harrison is waiting for them back in Dauntless and he said to quit fucking around.
"Have a…safe drive home," I try to fix my dress, smoothing out the skirt and reluctantly telling him goodbye. Despite my best efforts, I've gained no real knowledge from any of this, except that the tree was deceivingly old. "Bye Eric. Thanks for catching me."
He stands up perfectly straight when I say his name, and he turns to look at me. Something passes between us, warm and strong and undeniable, and he nods.
He takes a single step toward his friends, but looks back once more, then sighs.
His shoulders rise up, and he answers me before he walks away.
"Twenty-four."