"You didn't tell me that!"

Skylar waves off, unbothered by my outburst. "Why would I put the two of you on the same team? That's no fun."

I begrudging accept the paintball gun from a member, grumpily slinging it across my chest. Unlike initiation, we won't be shooting stim darts for end-season War Games. Something along the lines of people having work the next morning and lower costs. "What's not fun about slaying everyone together?" I'm not afraid to admit it. After my first War Game with Eric, I've developed an unhealthy dependency on him.

She smirks knowingly, only increasing my anger. "You'll see."

"Then I'll just swap guns," I say defiantly. All I need is to swap my orange one with a green, then I'll be with him. "I'll ask Zack."

"He'll say no," my friend sings sweetly.

Zack said no.

"Can you believe her! Gah!" I growl, reclaiming my spot next to a relaxed Eric.

"You mean the teams?" he asks.

I unceremoniously bump into him as the train jolts. "Yeah. I thought we would be in the same one," I grumble, grabbing a suspended handle. I'm not sure how he balances so well on such a rocky trip.

Eric slides an arm around my waist, keeping me steady. "Well, couples do like to separate themselves during War Games." Compared to me who was dumbstruck with horror, Eric was completely fine that the captains read off our names on different lists. I was raging to get to Skylar while he was happily grabbing our different guns and pulling us away from the crowd. It didn't turn out quite how he planned, considering that I chuck my gun back to the box and marched to my, once again, moronic friend.

"Is it about the cold?" Eric coos softly in my ear. "You can take my jacket. I won't mind, as long as you don't get shot."

Blood rushes to my face and I jerk away from him. I don't get far - if at all - thanks to the tightened arm around my waist. "No, it isn't," I hiss. So, I may have purposely not taken my hoodie because I thought we were together. "I am a strong independent woman. Of course I can survive the cold," I growl.

He hums mockingly. "You are a strong independent woman," he agrees, grinning. "But cold is your number one enemy. I remember you shaking like a leaf on the first day of training." He's chuckling now, and not so subtly too. I shrink into myself as some people glace our way. Leave it to Eric to embarrass me.

"You know what?" I say, feeling a sudden surge of boldness. "Watch me. I'll prove to you that I can survive the cold of two am, and I'm going to beat you while at it." I will paint his stupid jacket neon orange if it's the last thing I do.

He sobers slightly. The small crinkles at the corners of his eyes still annoyingly visible. "If you say so. Just make sure you follow through with it," he warns playfully. "I don't want to lead a search party for when you pass out of hypothermia."

I should've taken his jacket.

It had conveniently slipped my mind that summer ended and it's now autumn, meaning that the temperatures went from chattering cold to full-body shivering cold. "Hey, how long do the War Games last?" my teeth chatter as I pathetically ask.

Skylar strolls like it's as cool as dusk. That wouldn't have bothered me twice as much if she wasn't only wearing a tank top. "At least two hours? Depends on how long it takes to retrieve the flag and stuff."

I trip over a pothole, stumbling forward to regain footing. The protruding laser on the gun digs into my stomach, causing me to wince and yank it away. "That's twice as long as our initiation's!" I whine. To my defense, I wouldn't be half of a whiner had not Skylar doltishly separate us.

"That's because we have to have both flags at the same time to win," she states. Skylar is pumped for tonight, a bounce in her step to match. Pretty soon she would get tired of me lagging behind the group, dragging my feet like a child. "But don't worry, I think I've come up with a fool-proof plan."

My ears perk, interested to get this over with. "Really? What?"

She laughs at my burst of energy. "I'll share it once we group up."

"Or we could just give it to Anna," Skylar's loud interruption ceases all bickering. All heads turn to her, confused and skeptical. All except me, who is, once again, in complete utter horror.

My 'no' is drowned out with multiple 'why's from the team. "Who's Anna?" a large blurry male asks.

"Yeah, who's Anna?" someone else adds.

Without warning, Skylar steps to the side, exposing my shivering self to the rest of the team. This is not what I hoped for as a first impression. "This is Anna," Skylar introduces. "She's new to this."

I awkwardly pat my cheeks and nose with my warm palms. "Er hi, I'm Anna," I say stupidly. For every second that passes, my regret of not staying at my apartment grows. This is the singularly, most awkward encounter I've ever had since transferring. I'm certain that there are at least twenty pairs of eyes doing absolutely nothing except judging me. What I would give for a movie night with my dogs instead.

"What's so great about her?" the same blurry man asks. Right after he says that, he grunts in pain.

"Don't be rude!" a female hisses from beside him, adjusting the gun back around her shoulder. I slowly edge back to my position behind Skylar.

She cruelly doesn't let me, stepping away further as she elaborates, focusing the spotlight on me. "She's Eric's girlfriend. So, if we pass it-"

"Wait, you're that girl? So are you two actually, actually dating?" some girl interrupts. "I didn't know Eric does relationships."

Someone else answers the question. "Duh. Have you not seen the two of them? They are basically glued to the hip." That's incorrect. It's my dogs that are glued to my hip. Eric comes in fourth place.

"How am I supposed to know?" the girl snaps, "I don't keep tabs on Eric like you!" If everyone in Dauntless was this easily riled up, I completely understand why Eric didn't do relationships before this. I wouldn't either.

Before the situation could escalate, Skylar continues. "Anyways... If we give Anna the flag, she could just locate the other flag and then we'll win."

"Except that if she gets hit, she'll have to release the flag and we'll lose," a mousy male voice points out. A few murmurs of agreement sound throughout the circle. I can't help but agree too, seeing that this is my chance at slinking back to the shadows.

To my utter dismay, Skylar came prepared, just like she did when she took my Hawk. "She won't," my friend says confidently, "Eric will make sure of it." My heart drops and a scowl etches onto my face. If I had to not get shot, it would purely be due to my skills, not privileges. I am an extremely capable woman who came as the first ranked initiate. I am far from being some damsel in distress.

"Eric doesn't baby me you know," I growl. "And I can win without his whatever protection." Someone among the group shouts 'lies'; I ignore him. I couldn't give two shits about him anyway.

Skylar claps her hands. "Well then, that's settled. We'll create a diversion by guarding the docks while the rest locate the flag. Oh, and Eric too, if possible." I blink. "All in favor of this plan say 'I'."

When the majority agrees, I panic. "Wait, I didn't say 'I'!" There is absolutely no way I am walking around like a suicide bomber. The risk of me getting shot is high, especially when these members are far superior to initiates. "I could get shot and we'll all lose! Can't you see how risky this plan is?" Where am I supposed to hide the glowing flag anyway? In my pocket?

Skylar hums. "Fair point." I sigh in relief. "But as long as there's someone with you, they could just take the flag and go; no biggie."

The flag feels extremely gross in my bra, not that I could do anything about it. It was the only way to seal off all light, thanks to the padding. I'm reminded again of not taking Eric's jacket, for I wouldn't have to suffer such a fate if I did. Or you could've just brought your own hoodie, the sarcastic voice in my head blatantly points out. I ignore it.

Predicament aside, my chilly night stroll has been mostly peaceful. For some reason, the full-fledged members are perfectly content in not having mini-wars, preferring to snipe each others' heads and not-so-silently cackle about it.

I keep my gaze on the ground, careful not to step on anything except flat tar and dirt. We've been walking aimlessly for an hour now, and I won't lie that this is starting to become a drain. Had my dogs be here, I'm sure I would be home sound asleep already. Their keen ears would catch the tiniest noise, exposing our enemies in no time.

"Haven't we been here before?" I whisper to Skylar.

My friend is still – for reasons beyond me – in an extremely good mood. While I had given up with all the crouching and tiptoeing, she's still going strong. We have yet to see any other people except the occasional scouts that report back empty-handed. There's a program in our phones that allows us to track our teammates' statuses. Something that would've been extremely beneficial during our initiation War Games. We spent half an hour locating everyone after the game had ended.

"No, we haven't," she whispers back. Pulling out her phone, she points at the street we're at. "See? We were there earlier, now we're here." The streets look the same to me: parallel lines of boredom.

"Right…" I whisper back less enthusiastically.

"Another one of our members just got knocked out," Skylar groans. "I'm telling you, these guys suck." Just as she says that, a splat is heard. My heart skips a beat. "Dammit!" she yells loudly, grabbing her leg.

I glance at the bright green paint on her thigh and send a bullet towards the general direction it came from. Nothing.

"Go!" Skylar yells. The force she packed into her shove makes me stumble forward. A bullet whizzes behind me. Immediately, I aim my gun towards the bullet's source and pull the trigger.

It pathetically hits a wall. I curse Skylar for making us walk directly under the moonlight. It's a full moon too, causing our silhouettes to be incredibly noticeable. Unlike us, the shooter is smarter, hiding in the darkness of alleyways. I can't spot any movement.

"Just run!" Skylar snaps, tossing her ammo clips to me. Combined with the little light and her bad aim, I fail to catch it. When I squat down to snatch it, another bullet almost grazes my head.

"They would just shoot me, you idiot!" I snap back, stuffing the clips into my back pocket.

"Stop yelling! You're just attracting attention to yourself!" Skylar scolds. She's flailing her arms in the air, worsening our situation for anyone who's nearby. I'm not sure why I didn't pair up with someone else, the girl who hit the guy with her gun would've been a good choice.

Oh wait, I didn't get to choose.

I'm not sure if I appreciate Skylar dictating everything I do in this game. I'm glad she's now out.

I point at myself. "Me? You're the one yelling louder!" Figuring that it would be harder to hit me if I weren't still, I shuffle my feet in random directions.

"Well, if you haven't noticed… I'M DEAD."

"And I'm not!" I snap back, getting fed up of this situation. Lifting my gun back towards the shooter's general direction, I begin splattering everything with orange paint. It is an incredibly unwise move, considering that we weren't given many ammunitions to begin with, but it worked.

Disgusted splutters and gags sound from the alley, the attacker had been hit right in the face. I sigh in relief and take cover, reloading my gun. If this was the norm of War Games, I think I'll have to sign up for sniping classes.

"ZACK?" Skylar screams at her eliminated boyfriend. Despite no longer being in her vicinity, my ears sting. "You asshole!"

"I won." I hear him chuckling. "Now you need to pay up."

Skylar groans in frustration. "I would've shot you at your crotch if Anna hadn't shot you in the face," she growls.

I don't stay to listen to their bickering. With all the commotion earlier, no doubt there were already people heading our way. Breaking into a light jog, I dig my hand into my pocket for my phone. I belatedly realized earlier that if I didn't have the flag, I could be jolly well camping and waiting for the game to end. Without Eric, it's hard to find joy in hunting and being hunted. Things would've been so different if we were on the same team. We would probably be talking whilst shooting everyone in our way.

This past two weeks of working with him has been nothing short of amazing. Tedious tasks aside, I enjoy brainstorming ideas and figuring out problems with him. He sees things so differently yet so similarly that our compromises lead to the best solutions. I suppose I appreciate the fact that he views me as a co-worker, not an apprentice who knows nothing – which I occasionally am.

"Hey, Anna right?" a soft male's voice sounds from my right; I jump in fright and jerk away. Gravel crunches loudly under my tennis shoes. When it registers that he scared me, he immediately apologizes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

'No shit you didn't,' I wanted to snark back. The whole Skylar-thing left me in a sour mood. Add in Zack and her re-uniting, I'm burning mildly in jealously. Never again am I allowing her to drag me into this mess. "It's alright," I lie. "What is it?" I take in his lean form and average height. He's one of the scouts, I vaguely recognized him when we were splitting into our respective roles.

"I believe I've found the flag," he says. My face brightens. I can't wait to get this over with. "It's at the tower here," he shows me the location through his phone. I use my phone to mark the location, ready to return to the comforts of my bed. Finally, there's a lead after over an hour of futile efforts. "I'll follow you there. But we need to be careful, I believe that quite a number of our team was taken out there, which is why we haven't gotten much news around that area."

"Yes, of course."

I love sleep. Sadly, the rest of the Dauntless population can't relate to that. They don't understand the lengths one would go for their primal need to rest. Maybe it's because they secretly have caffeine added to their food, or that they think sleeping is for the weak.

Back at Amity, sleeping was pretty much sacred. No one was allowed to make noise outside at night. And those who went out during the night only did so to sleep under the stars. I did try it once, only to come back with bug bites and my nose feeling numb from the cold. I never tried it again.

"Wait!" my teammate whisper-yells. "Are you insane!" I ignore him, continuing up the stairs of the tower. I did feel slightly bad for leaving him behind. He's a nice man, politely maintaining a safe distance and not trying anything funny. Or maybe he isn't, it's just that the standards are set low in my desperation to go home.

We didn't see anyone when we arrived near the tower. As he mentioned, there was a significant amount of green paint on the ground, but other than that, nothing. The enemy's flag was draped on the ledge like a beacon, with no one watching it. It's a sad miracle that it took so long for us to notice it.

From the way my nose tickles, the tower is too dusty for my liking. The smell of rubble and powdered concrete makes my nose sting. I see why the flag is placed here unguarded - it has a built-in torture mechanism.

I wince and curse when rumble crunches loudly under the soles of my boots. Even though from boringly watching the waving flag, I knew there wasn't anyone. I didn't want the man from downstairs to tell me off from attracting attention. I've pissed him enough as it is.

Coupled with the darkness, the climb to the top is a long one. My heartbeat thrums in my ears at the prospect of falling off the stairs from the lack of railings. At this point, I dare say that this is scarier than what I experienced in my fear landscape.

The second I reach the top, I sag against the wall. I unsling the gun from my chest and hastily prop it aside. The green flag is to my right. I am in no hurry to get it. It's about time I dictate the game.

It's nice here. The slight breeze blowing the wisps of hair from my face. Before me is the view of the buildings below, the sight surpassing the grueling walk Skylar dragged me for. Despite having nothing to do but scowl and contemplate, I've yet to come to terms with the idiocy I went through.

"Here for the better view of your team's demise?" Oddly enough, I don't jump when I hear him. It must be the exhaustion from everything that's happened these past hours. His darkened form moves in front of me, back against me. He lifts the scope to his eye, aiming down on sight.

My lips twitch upwards. "How did you know it was me?"

Eric chuckles, shaking his head ever so slightly. "Because if it were anyone else, they would've been shot already." Just as he finishes his sentence, he pulls the trigger.

Of course Eric managed to hit the target with one try. I'm not sure why I even second-guessed. The colorful shout of surprise is as much loud as it is familiar. It came from the guy that led me here.

"Touché." Pushing myself off, I move beside him and rest my elbows on the ledge. "And here I thought it was sheer determination and skill that brought me here." If it wasn't for my fear of heights, I would have looked down to see the comical damage.

Eric places the gun down. "Dream on," he replies cockily. I can practically hear him eye-rolling. I scowl, for I truly believed so. The urge to jab him in the stomach is strong, but I rather do that when we aren't four stories up.

"So you spared me…" I drawl, closing the gap between us, "Catching feelings, aren't you?"

He shifts to face me, I don't do the same. "Aren't you feisty today." Despite not seeing him, I could tell that he's smirking.

I smile and lean my head on his shoulder. "You didn't answer the question."

He bends down to my ear; goosebumps appear. "You know I always had feelings," he mumbles softly. A shiver runs down my spine. My mouth is dry. I expected to make him squirm, but he turned the tables instead. Stupid Eric.

"Oh," I say belatedly. My hands are wrung together, twisting as my distraction. He doesn't say anything; accentuating his words.

Fuzzy.

My insides are fuzzy. Shivers come in waves and I can't stop them. Eric could undoubtedly feel it, having moved directly behind me. He lightly trails his palms down my arms, goosebumps rising in his wake. My hands cease their fidgeting when he covers them. I watch as he lazily untangles them and folds our arms around my waist, pulling me closer. Warmth radiates from his chest. My eyes close and I sink into him.

"Anna." Speech leaves me when I feel him nibbling my ear. Every romance book I've read did not prepare me for this. Any moment now, I'll melt into a puddle. A sad, pathetic, puddle. "Do you trust me?"

I gulp. "Yes."

Cold air hits my back. My eyes snap open. His hands move to my shoulders, turning me to him. My brain does not register what is happening from the whiplash of his actions until I realize I'm higher than him. And he's standing.

I'm sitting on the ledge. "Eric!" Panic fills as I throw my arms around his neck. His arms tighten briefly around my waist, notifying me that I don't only half an ass to keep my balance. I relax slightly, burying my face into the crook of his neck. "You're crazy," I grumble.

"Crazy for you," he drawls huskily. His breathing is slow and deep on my neck, each exhale felt against my skin. Then I feel a lash from his tongue, followed by a hum of approval. Warmth spreads from to my lower region. My breath hitches. "You're mine."

Eric pushes against me, the space between our chests becoming non-existent. "Anna." He's biting my shoulder, teeth tugging at my skin. Nothing I've experienced that comes close to this. His tongue replaces his bite marks, soothing the dull pain created. I struggle to contain my moan. My senses have gone haywire from when he murmured my name. The way it rolled off his tongue and how he's affecting me now is too much for my inexperienced self to bear.

A hand goes between us, sliding to my jaw and gently angling it up. He trails his nose up my jawline. My nether region throbs. "Eric." I breathe out.

Beneath my arms around his neck, I feel a shiver. The surge of empowerment and pleasure goads me to continue. A new addiction. "Kiss me."

And he does just that. A guttural groan resounds from his throat as his lips mold with mine. He moves feverously, arms tightening in possessiveness. His tongue swipes along my mouth for entrance. I try my best to complement his actions, letting him in. Feeling him move so deftly against me, I can't help the awkwardness that's starting to settle at the back of my mind. I signed up for something I've no experience on.

I wished I had listened to Skylar's kissing lecture.

I'm unsure of when Eric realized this, but when he did, my thoughts have raced from 'be calm and just go with the flow' to 'this is the stupidest thing I've done'. He pulls away suddenly, knocked from a trance.

Just like every intimate moment we've had, it's shattered. "What's wrong?" It's remarkably embarrassing how Eric drops everything he's doing to check on my stupid wellbeing. He scans my form whilst patting my shoulders and back. Checking for non-existent damage, I believe. Once he does a temperature check with the back of his hand, his brows furrow in confusion. "Anna?"

Sheepishly clearing my throat, I struggle with what to say. "Err, yeah." I swallow thickly. The fear of not being good enough resurfacing. I should've practiced. Eric of all people would've high standards. Taya told me that he was very particular about certain things. There's no doubt that I'm a bad kisser. It must've been the first thought on his mind. "Nothing."

He frowns deeply. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I wave a hand nonchalantly. "Everything's fine." My heart pounds in my chest, a sinking feeling settling in. I can no longer make eye contact.

He abruptly takes a step back when I slide off the ledge. Without wasting a second, I pat down my leggings and grab my gun. "Did I do something?" he asks.

I turn to him, confused. He stares at me, the creases at his brow as deep as before. "No, you didn't. It's nothing, really." I take the first step down the stair when I remember the dangling flag. "Come, we should get back," I do my best to sound normal. It wouldn't do me good if things blew up. I extend his gun to him, green flag in hand. He doesn't say anything.

My team cheers when I appear with both flags in hand. Skylar is the loudest of them all, hooting and telling everyone how her plan was fool-proof. I politely declined when some members were about to carry me up, blaming it on nausea. The sinking feeling grew when the both of us silently walked to the train's pick-up point. Eric didn't strike up conversation, but I could tell he wanted to. I did grudgingly reassure that everything was fine. However just like me, he knew it wasn't.

"You should put this on." Extended towards me is his black jacket. The train is due to arrive in a minute.

My first instinct is to decline, but the look he's giving me indicates that he weirdly serious. I accept it. "Okay."

I made sure to pick a car without Skylar on it. I was hoping to be left alone with my thoughts, but I wasn't surprised when Eric continued by my side. "Did you regret it?" he asks quietly.

A new string of thought is resurfacing. Waves of guilt crashing into me like ice-cold water. Have I made a mistake?

I inhale deeply. "No." I pull the jacket tighter around me. "No, I don't."

A/N

Credits to my time management for making this possible.

This was a nice chapter, until it wasn't. But rest assured, the next one will be hella adorable (and painful).

My trials are coming up, so I'll only be posting after two weeks (14 days from now). Thanks so much for the support and reviews :) Puts a smile to my face when I wake up.