Chapter ▪ Two
He didn't expect her to leave like that. But being the proud man he is, begging someone to stay would never be an option — Eric would not even think about it. After closing the door, after grinning at Four with that faked smile, he slowly moves toward the desk. He had a plan. Giving Four a payback he will never forget, stealing what is his, what is most important to him. He is the reason, after all. The reason for Eric being just the number-two choice back when they passed their tests. He leans against the desk, folding his arm and taking a deep breath. His back is turned to the door.
He knew it was either him or Four. One of them would be asked to become one of the four leaders of Dauntless. Eric, just being at the age of 17 was more than sure that he would be the one. Four wasn't the type for it. He would never get the respect he definitely needed in this position. He starts to remember and it was a tough time.
"Fuck!" he curses, still thinking about what happened just a few minutes ago. Being deeply sunk into his thoughts, he didn't notice someone entering the room. It was Peter, slowly moving toward Eric.
"Hey, Eric." The way he turns around and looks at him makes him stop talking for a moment. He looks pissed. For a moment Peter thinks about leaving, just turning around. But he's afraid, that this will make the leader even more pissed. Talking to him during his free time was a bad idea in the first place. "Can we talk?"
"What do you want?" Eric rolls his eyes, obviously annoyed at the fact, that the initiates still come crying to him for every single problem they have. He might be the leader, but still it is Four's job to take care of them. He told them at the very beginning. The only person who never came to him before — and he knew that person had trouble at the beginning — was Tris.
"You surely know the current rankings. Of course you do." he begins, making a little pause before he starts speaking again, looking at Eric, who just raises his eyebrows, looking at him in a somehow arrogant way. "I want to be on first place. Because I know I am definitely better than Edward."
"Oh, you are?" he asks, coming a bit closer while moving around the table. "Are you saying that I made a mistake?"
That was definitely not the thing Peter had in mind and he wished he didn't even come here. He knows that Eric, Four and probably some others take care about the ranking. He should have started this conversation differently.
"No, of course not. But maybe you've overlooked something. I think Edward and I should fight during the next training." he says, determined.
"You're not in a position to ask me for any favours. And if you're wasting my time any longer I'll cut you into pieces." he growls aggressivly until Peter finally takes the hint and leaves.
"Tell me, what did he want from you?" Four asks, following Tris down to the pit. She wished someone would just call him now, so she can get away from him. Not because he is annoying or anything like that. She just doesn't know how to response to his question and she lets it show. "Tris, if you're not going to tell me ... well, then I'm going to ask him instead."
"What?" she stops walking immediately, turning around to see him. She's not sure if Eric will keep it secret, not telling him that she actually kissed him. She knows, if she will start discouraging him from asking Eric, it will only build up more mistrust. "Go ahead then."
She turns around, leaving him just like this. He keeps his eyes on her, watching her talking to her friends. She didn't seem upset. He wished he could say, that there has been some truth in what she was saying — if she just would have said something. She did say nothing at all. When he turns around he sees Eric walking down the stairs. Four doesn't like talking to him, especially not about his relationship and Tris. But she practically asked him to do it and he knows, even with his back turned on her, that she is currently watching him.
"Eric, wait a second." he quickly moves toward him. He didn't think Eric would actually stop and listen to him, but he does. Without saying a word, without complaining. He didn't even pull a face, like he usually does. "Why did you want Tris to see you in the office?"
"I wanted to see her?" he laughs. "How do you know I wanted to see her? Maybe she wanted to see me."
"Why would anyone want to see you?" Four counters. He's not afraid of Eric and he shows less respect. But still he knows that he better is careful, since Eric is in a leading position in Dauntless. That is the only fact, what makes him control himself around him. If that wouldn't be the case, Eric would have already earned a blue eye, he knows he is able to give him.
Eric smirks. He could easily tell him anything he wants right now. Looking over Four's shoulder, he sees Tris sitting with her friends, not far from them. She doesn't pay any attention to them, eyes focused on Eric and Four. As if she expects something Eric isn't really sure about.
"I didn't fuck her, if that is what you think." he says. Whether Four likes it or not, that was exactly what he wanted to hear. He knows that Eric is telling the truth, also a bit wondering about him being honest. He turns his head away from Eric, still standing in front of him with folded arms, taking a deep breath.
"That's not what I expected." he lies.
"Careful, Four." he pushes the other with one hand against his chest, not strong enough to make him fall down, but still Four has to take a step back. "You know, that I am able to do a lot of things. And I'm just letting you know, if I want her I can fucking get her."
"Stop making me laugh." Four says, carelessly walking past him. He knows, that Tris doesn't even like Eric. They have talked about him a few times and she always mentioned how much she dislikes him. He remembers she even made fun of him once. What it was exactly, he can't remember anymore.
It already got dark outside and Tris sneaked out of the dormitory before Christina returns. She went outside with Will at dawn and she somehow is glad, that they didn't ask her to come with them. She didn't talk to Four the whole day and didn't even see him. It was nothing one could call an argument, they just lost sight of each other during the day. The last time she saw him was when he was talking to Eric down in the pit. And due to the reaction of both, Eric and Four, she assumes that Eric didn't mention that they kissed. If he would do, Four would probably try to beat the shit out of him. At least that's what she's expecting. How he would treat her then, she doesn't know.
She walks up the stairs. She wants to surprise Four with a visit, maybe a massage as a little apology for leaving him down in the pit without telling him anything. And then they will see what follows after. She's not afraid of intimacy anymore, but still she's a little bit shy. She and Four have slept with each other three times already, but still she doesn't like to take off her clothes completely. Last time they did, she kept on her bra and he said that it was completely fine and that they can keep it that way for a while if she wants it like that.
Reaching the third floor, she sees Eric standing at his door. He dropped the key and she doesn't like the loud noise it made. Picking it up, he notices Tris standing at the other end of the corridor. Again she wonders why she didn't just wait until he was in or why she didn't hurry to get into Four's apartment. She starts moving toward him and he waits until she speaks.
"What did you tell Four down in the pit?" she asks, standing right in front of him now.
"I told him that I didn't fuck you." he answers carelessly. She frowns at the way he said it, at the choice of words, thinking that it was some kind of very bad joke. But she never heard him joking.
"That's what you said to him?" Her question makes him laugh quietly. What did she expect from Dauntless? Eric had never been good with words, but he knows that he doesn't even need to be. He doesn't like beating around the bush and prefers to tell people directly what he means, not in a way Candor would do it, though. Unlike them, he knows when it is time to shut his mouth.
"Yeah, of course. What did you tell him?" he asks with a smirk.
"I told him nothing. But I'm afraid he's going to try again and ask me why I was there with you." she turns her head to the side, already thinking about what she could say. Eric turns around as well, opening the door to his apartment. It is dark in there, but still it catches Tris' attention and she turns her head once again, taking a look inside while he's got his back on her. As he turns around, she is still looking.
"You wanna come inside?" he asks. She should have turned around. She should have said no and just go, but she didn't. And he knew that he would get her inside his apartment. He turns the lights on and Tris takes a look around. This apartment is a bit bigger than Four's. It has big windows with a beautiful view on the city lights. There is no bed in this room, so she assumes that there must be an extra room for that. Unless he's sleeping on the couch, that is standing in the middle. But that is probably not the case. She keeps on walking slowly through his apartment and finally finds the kitchen around the corner. It doesn't look like he's cooking often.
"You read books?" she asks after noticing the bookshelf standing at the wall. It's not that big, but still it is full with books. Slowly she lets her eyes fly over a few titles and there is one she recognizes. She remembers when she visited Caleb the other day, he was reading a book with the exact same title.
"I've read them, yes." he answers, taking a seat on the couch, watching her a little while.
"This one." Carefully she takes that one book she recognizes from Caleb out of the bookshelf. "My brother was reading this when I visited him at Erudite."
She looks at him and he knows exactly what she is thinking. She is anything but stupid and he knows what she would like to ask him. He still remembers his time at Erudite. Of course he does. He never felt like he'd belong there but still he learned to play by the rules. Until that one day he was finally able to get away from that place he had to call his home. She turns around, noticing that Eric is watching her. She puts the book back to its place before she starts moving toward the door immediately. This is no place for her to be.
"Stop!", she hears Eric shouting. He stands up, walking into her direction. The control he has over her causes him to smile. There is nothing better than having control over people, let it be a group or just a single person.
"I shouldn't be here. Four is probably waiting for me." she tries to escape this situation, but somehow her feet won't start moving.
"Is that so?" He comes closer, causing her to press her body against the wall. She didn't want to look him into the eyes, but she does. Again she feels his hands on her hips, not as rough as last time. She wonders, if he would give up if she'd just slap him or kick him. But he's too close already and she is not even sure if she really wants to hurt him. Nor does she know if she really wants him to go away.
He leans down to kiss her, trying it one more time and she repeats the kiss without hesitation. His hands run down her ass to her thighs, lifting her up to carry her to the bedroom, closing the door behind them. He just wants to make sure, that she doesn't think about fleeing again, like she did last time. She feels the soft mattress under her back and opens her eyes as he pulls away, straightening himself up to take off his shirt. She bites her underlip. Looking at him now, she wonders why she left the first time when he kissed her in the office. He's a man, handsome and muscular and exactly what she wants right now.
He begins to tug at her pants and she helps him, pulling it off and throwing it onto the ground. It surprises her how easy she does these things, while it took her ages until Four was even allowed to look at her naked legs. She spreads them a bit as Eric came down to kiss her lips again. His lips move down, leaving a few kisses down her neck. The little moans she lets out make him smirk a tiny bit. He could easily get used to that. His hands wander under her shirt, pulling it up. Right after that she sits up, opening her bra slowly to take it off. She knows, she never did that for Four, but with Eric it is different. She wants him to like her body and she wants to show him what she's got to offer. She never thought that this would be easy. She leans back down, covering her breasts with her right arm. Eric took her wrist, removing her arm that covered her upper body and pinned both of her hands above her head and he smirks at her.
It didn't take them long to take off their clothes completely and Tris feels his hands at her thighs. She takes a deep breath as he widens them a bit, navigating his cock to get inside of her. When he's deep enough, he places both of his hands on each side of her head and pushes his member in slowly, as deep as possible. While one of Tris' hand is wrapped around his muscular arm, having something to hold on, the other moves up to his face. With the palm of her hand she touches his cheek, what causes their eyes to meet. It's not the look he usually has, there was nothing arrogant or proud in his eyes. For a moment it was like she could see right through him, not seeing the brutal leader of Dauntless but another man.
He looks down again, watching his cock as he begins to move it in and out. He started slowy and she moans as he got a bit faster.
"Eric ... " His name escapes her lips, being louder than before. She likes the feeling. It's different than the sex she had with Four and it's probably much better. She somehow isn't that shy anymore, even when he's touching her breast while they kiss again. And even Eric has to admit, that this is different than what he had with other women. Much different.
After both of them finally came, Eric slowly pulls out and lets his body lazily fall down beside her. For the first few seconds they didn't say anything, just trying to catch their breath and slowly coming down from their high.
"Fuck." he says, followed by a quiet laughter. Every now and then he had to remind himself that this was nothing special. It was just sex and he did it for no other reason than — right! He did it because Four deserved a payack. He almost forgot about it. Carefully Tris moves to take a blanket, pulling it up to cover her naked body as she sits up to look at Eric, who is just lying there, doing nothing.
"I knew this was a bad idea." she says, running her hand through her blonde hair. It definitely was fun, but now that they are done, her mind found some room to let Four in again and she's thinking about him. He didn't deserve this.
"What makes you think it was a bad idea?" he says with a smirk. "Because it wasn't."
She still looks at him. She remembers his face just a few minutes ago. Now he is back, that brutal and proud leader of Dauntless.
"If you want to go, then do it. I won't stop you now." he stands up, putting his clothes back on.
"Can I stay?" she looks up to him, her lips slowly forming a smile. She doesn't want to see Four right now. Not after this. And she also doesn't want to meet Christina on her way back to the dormitory. She can literally see her questioning eyes in front of her. Eric didn't turn around to see her. He didn't expect her to stay and he doesn't want to show her how surprised he is. How she is able to catch him off guard.
"Do whatever you want." he shrugs, still with his back turned on her as he pulls down his shirt. He got her inside his apartment, he will get her out — if he would want to. He doesn't and he lets her stay.
She lays down again, still covering her body with the blanket. She can smell his scent on the place he was laying before and she likes it. She turns her head to the side, wondering what time it is. She just realized, that he's making himself ready to go, leaving her alone in his apartment.
"Where are you going? It's late." she states. He already moved toward the door before she spoke, what makes her wonder, if he would have said something if she didn't ask him. She knows, she has no right to ask him that question. It is none of her business anyway and she wouldn't be upset if he wouldn't tell her. She realizes, she would love to have him right beside her now, sleeping next to her. But he won't change his mind and he leaves without saying a word, just looking at her shortly before he starts walking out the door.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you guys for your nice words and tips! I got a few reviews and I'm really happy to hear that most of you liked the first chapter and told me to continue. I just want to let you know that I do read every single review I get and I appreciate all of them. I will definitely keep on working on this fanfiction and I gladly take any advices and tips for the upcoming chapters as well. Tell me if you liked the second chapter. Thanks a lot!