Eric sits in his apartment, alone, drinking whiskey straight from the bottle, which has become his habit since screwing everything up several weeks ago. What had started as an absolutely amazing night where he and Tris had expressed their love to each other verbally and physically for the first time, turned into him causing her to lose her job, and he subsequently lost her.

They hadn't gotten much rest their first night together, it seemed like they were making up for every minute of their forced separation in their interactions that night. Tris had barely gotten to sleep when Eric quietly slipped out of the apartment to catch Max first thing before the other leaders made their way up to the leadership wing. Eric was too wired to sleep, he had prepared himself for this moment, and when he had explained to Max that he wanted the freedom to be with the woman he loves he thought he was finally getting through to the old man.

Eric assured Max that his relationship with Tris was real, that he was in love with her and he saw a future with her. He promised that no matter what would transpire between the two, it would not impact their work duties or professionalism.

Max listened as Eric poured out his heart. Eric had been in the faction for over six years, a leader for five, and he was the most low key and low maintenance person he's ever managed. He's never been involved in anything scandalous, he's been completely level headed in every situation, and he's thoughtful and careful with his words when he does speak, and even more so in the decisions he made. Eric, out of all of the senior and junior leadership staff, was the only choice to lead the faction as Max's own successor, however that was not the Eric he knew that was sitting in front of him this morning.

He had given Eric an order, one that was so simple to follow, and so easy to understand. Do not fraternize with the members of the leadership team. There was no grey area when it came to the rule, and he had not expected to hear that neither Eric nor Tris had followed the rules.

Eric claimed to have fallen in love with this woman, and he said they could no longer follow the policy of no fraternization.

Max wasn't heartless, he had been married to his wife Azalea for the past forty-three years. He understands love, but he also understood when he took his oath to lead this faction, he also took an oath to abide by the rules. Eric and Tris may think they were in love now, but both were also young, and he had personally witnessed how dedicated both were to their leadership duties. He needed to do something drastic, and it needed to be quick. Eric and Tris took the same oath that Max had, and they needed to be held responsible for breaking the rules they had promised to uphold, after he had already given them both a firm warning.

"You're telling me you both have continued this relationship, knowing it was against policy, and that it has become both emotional and physical?" Max asks.

"Yes sir." Eric replies.

"And, you're saying that you are in love, and are unable to abide by the fraternization policy?" Max asks.

"Yes, Tris and I are deeply in love."

Max explained he was left with no choice, and he suspended Eric for ninety days for his violation of the policy. Since Tris was still in junior leadership, he announced he would have to do what the protocol called for and fire her.

Eric begged Max to reconsider, he took full responsibility for their actions and Max still wouldn't listen. Eric finally did the only thing he knew to do – he quit his job on the spot.

"Eric, you don't want to do that." Max had said, "you are going to run this faction one day. Tris is just a distraction from your goals. You need to be serious."

"I am serious, about her. I will marry her one day, and there's no way in hell a rule will stop me from being with the person I love. Mark my words, I will NOT choose this job over her." Eric had replied before storming out of Max's office.

Max lost his most promising young leader, and he was completely shocked that it had come to this. Harrison, Roni and Delilah had backed him completely, however Weston had called him a fool to his face, and another, albeit shorter, suspension was issued to him for insubordination.

When Max called Tris into his office, she thought he was going to offer her the permanent leadership position she had worked so hard for. Instead, she was told she was excused from the leadership apprentice program due to repeated violations of the non-fraternization policy. Tris was devastated, she had no idea Eric had planned on speaking to Max on her behalf.

She had packed her belongings into a small box, and returned to her apartment. Eric had been texting her repeatedly for weeks now, but she was too angry to speak to him.

Eric: I love you, so much. I'm so sorry Tris. I never wanted any of this to happen.

Tris stares down at the latest text from Eric and sighs. She tosses her phone on the couch.

"If you truly didn't want to talk to him, you would have blocked him by now." Christina says from beside her. "It's been almost a damn month, you need to talk to him."

"I lost my job because of him." Tris replies.

"No, you lost your job because you broke the rules. Not because Eric tattled on you. You lost it because you bonked your boss in my guest room."

"You seriously have no filter. I didn't bonk my boss in your guest room." Tris sighs.

"You two totally had sex in my guest room, multiple times per your own admission, and it must have been freaking amazing because he went to his boss to profess his undying love to you the next damn morning. You have another job, one you said was much more relaxing, which to me is code word for boring as hell. I don't know how you and Zeke sit in a room staring at monitors for eight straight hours a damn day." Christina replies.

"It's not boring. I'm actually running the entire security team with Zeke, not just the control room. I just spend most of my time monitoring." Tris explains.

"Do you miss being a leader?" Christina asks in a serious tone.

"Sometimes. I miss him more though." She replies quietly.

"Then talk to him!" Christina's voice raises in exasperation. "You know he quit his job to be with you, right?"

"He did what?" Tris exclaims, turning completely to face Christina.

"Uriah told me he quit his job. Max has it down officially as a suspension for ninety days, but when Max wouldn't listen to reason, Eric quit too. Uri said he's been moved into temporary leadership while Max scrambles to fix this. My god, if you'd talk to your boyfriend you'd know all of this." Christina explains. "Seriously, it took two of you to break that dumb ass rule."

"You're right." Tris agrees. "I just wish he had of talked to me before he went to Max."

"While I do agree with that, I have to ask how long were you going to sneak around? Harrison literally did a one eighty and came back like he wanted Max's job. There was no actual end in place. You could have been in the apprentice program for the next ten years waiting for all of their old asses to finally retire. Do you think you would have been happy?"

"Not at all. I love him, like all the stupid, sappy, ridiculous shit love him. I'm twenty two years old, I'm ready to get married, maybe have some kids, and just be happy and not have to deal with any of this heavy shit." Tris replies. "Our whole relationship has been so weird, first we didn't know who we were talking to, then the pandemic keeps us apart, then our damn jobs. I can't believe he quit his job. He loves being a leader."

"Do you love being a leader?" Christina presses.

"Not more than I love him. I chose leadership because it was what was expected of me when I finished first, and I did enjoy it and want a future in leadership, but it's not more important than being with Eric. A choice between leadership and him is easy, I would choose him every time."

"And you also chose leadership because you were uber competitive with Peter." Christina sighs. "Speaking of him, has he given up yet?"

"Actually yes. He has a girlfriend." Tris grins.

"Who?" Christina asks, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Lauren."

"Shut up. You all actually swapped partners. How weird is that?" Christina asks.

"Eric and I actually think they make sense. They are similar in the way they treat relationships. Speaking of relationships, how's married life treating you?"

"So freaking good. You should totally try it." She smiles.

"One day. I guess I should talk to my boyfriend first though, right?"

"Definitely." Christina replies. "Will and I didn't have a perfect relationship, you saw that yourself. We had issues, and fights, sometimes over dumb shit like me being hungry, but other times it was more serious. One of our biggest fights was because he talked to Molly about his unhappiness before he talked to me about it. I get it, they are close from working long hours together in the infirmary, but he was telling her things that were bothering him and not telling me. She was able to give him solid advice based on her own relationship with Lynn, but it devastated me. That fight led to our breakup. The main thing is you and Eric need to talk this through. You love each other, and he made it pretty clear that you come before anything when he quit his job. Give him a chance."

Tris: Can we talk?

Eric: Yes please come to my apartment.

Tris: I'm with Chris, let me say goodbye and then I'll be there.

Eric: I love you.

"Did you finally text him?" Christina asks. Tris nods in response.

"Do you think I'm crazy for throwing a career away that others would literally kill for to be with him?" Tris asks.

"Crazy in love." Christina smiles.

"He's it for me." Tris says quietly. "I love you, thank you for always helping me. For helping us. We both owe you so much." Tris reaches for her best friend and they embrace.

"I love you too. I'll always be here for you two. I may not have ever thought the two of you would end up together, but now that you have I can't ever imagine you two apart. I'm the official president of the Eris fan club, go get your man." Christina replies, scooting Tris out the door.