In all honesty this kind of came out of nowhere for me, but I hope you like it all the same! Leave me a review at the end please!

~*~ Six Months Later ~*~

Eric stepped into his apartment and slammed the door behind him with a sigh. Wearily he leaned back against it, closing his eyes for a few moments and relishing the peace. Just him and Kat now, thank god. Time for a quiet night in, he certainly deserved it. When he opened his eyes and saw Kat, though, he couldn't help but groan.

She was sitting quietly on the couch, back ramrod straight and twisting her hands in her lap nervously, his own gray eyes staring out at him from her face, full of guilt. Fucking hell. He searched her face quickly for new piercings and sighed in relief, for a moment he'd thought she'd found someone to give her another one. The last five months or so Kat had started in on a rebellious phase, which didn't entirely surprise him after what their parents had put her through.

Tracking her down and pulling her away from the older kids was almost a nightly ritual now, and more than once he'd had to wake up several times a night to make sure she was breathing or hold her hair while she threw up after drinking too much. She had also taken a liking to piercings, which he supposed was partially his own fault. He hadn't raised too much of a fuss over her second one, just thrown her a dirty look and reminded her of what he had said her first day. She acted remorseful, but he soon discovered she wasn't. The third he had chewed her out for not listening, and removed at least half of his own as an example to her.

After the fourth he had walked down to the tattoo parlor to ask about it, and discovered that while Christina had respected his orders to Kat and refused to give her any more, Tori had no problems giving her whatever she wanted. After promising consequences to anyone who gave her another one, he had returned to his apartment to give her an ass ripping.

What he hadn't expected was her ability to melt his anger with a few tears, or how hard it would be on him to cause them. For the first time in his life, Eric thought he might just have an inkling of what it was like to be a parent.

Pulling back from his memories of the last few months, Eric moved to stand in front of her where she was seated on the couch, crossing his arms and scowling when he really wanted to tug her into his lap and take care of her the way he had when she was a toddler. But those days were long gone, and now he was forced to be the heavy in his parents' place. His stance made her shrink in on herself slightly, eyes filling with tears. Damnit.

"What is it?" He asked wearily, readying himself mentally for another argument.

"Um..." She shifted her weight uncomfortably. "I went to the infirmary today because I haven't been feeling good lately..."

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and it was everything he could do to not sit down and hug her, wipe her tears away like he always used to. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that he couldn't only be the good guy now. He had to be the bad guy too. But damnit, it was hard.

"The lady, she told me..." She took a deep breath and averted her eyes, and a weight settled into his stomach. Whatever it was, it was bad.

"Are you sick?" He asked her, concern overriding anger.

She shook her head. "No, she said I'm pregnant," Kat whispered.

Eric froze, staring at her in disbelief while the word bounced around in his mind without meaning.

Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant.

Pregnant.

His voice was deadly calm when he spoke, and he saw her flinch back, knowing it meant a storm was coming.

"What did you just tell me?"

"I said I'm pregnant," she said, louder this time.

"You are thirteen years old!" He yelled, making her jump as his temper snapped. "Is that what you've been doing all this time when I've had to come hunt you down at eleven at night? Sleeping around? For god's sake you shouldn't even be going out yet and here you're going to tell me you've been screwing around! Did you even stop to think about getting pregnant or did you just jump into bed with someone?" Eric paused, but Kat remained silent.

"Did you?" He yelled. "Did getting pregnant even cross your mind?"

She shook her head meekly, staring at the floor as tears coursed down her cheeks. It was a mark of how angry he was that he didn't even feel the usual desire to wipe them away. He was too pissed.

"Of course you didn't!" Eric screamed. "Because you're a child!"

"No I'm not!" She retaliated immediately. "I choose in only three years!"

"And do you know what happens then?"

"I choose which faction I belong in, duh."

"Exactly. And no matter what that test tells you, no matter where you decide to go, that baby stays here!"

His pronouncement made her pull up short, and he seized the opportunity.

"Faction before blood Kathryn," he told her, back to a normal volume. "Or did you forget that?"

They were interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by Tris coming halfway in before stopping in her tracks as the atmosphere of the room hit her.

"Kat invited me over for dinner, but maybe I should come back..." She said hesitantly, eyeing a crying Kat and a clearly livid Eric.

"Yeah- Wait, actually come in," he said, covering his face with his hands as he tried to deal with his anger. "Maybe she'll talk to you, I need to go before I say something I don't mean," he muttered, striding to the door and slamming it behind him. Kat jumped at the noise, still crying silently.

"What am I taking your side for?" Tris asked her with a smile, sitting down and pulling the girl into a hug.

"I don't think you'll be on my side," Kat admitted.

"Okay, then what has your brother's panties in a wad?"

Kat sighed, relaxing now that Eric and his temper had gone. She knew Tris would be disappointed, but Tris was her friend.

"I'm pregnant."

Tris froze much the way Eric had. "You're... wait, you're serious?"

Kat nodded, wiping the tears off her face.

"No wonder he lost his mind," Tris muttered to herself. "When did you start having sex Kat?"

"About three and a half, maybe four months ago?" She answered uncertainly, trying to remember.

"Just one boy or not?" Tris asked, fighting to stay calm and not chew her out. Clearly, Eric had that part handled.

"A few," she admitted, "It started with Zack, and then I started hanging out with him and his friends and they all wanted to."

Tris made a mental note to talk to Zeke and Uriah before Eric found out their younger brother had been having sex with Kat.

"Do you know whose baby it is?"

Kat let out a few more tears before shaking her head.

"I mean, I understand he's mad but why is it such a big deal? I'm almost an adult and he's treating me like I'm a little kid."

Tris smiled to herself, remembering the days when she thought the same. She had been right about Kat's age too. Boy had her parents set her straight. They never hit her, but they had made it very clear that Tris was far from an adult.

"You're not a little girl anymore, but you're a long way from being an adult," Tris told her. "That much is obvious just because you didn't think about getting pregnant."

"I didn't think it would happen to me though."

"That's my point. If you were as close to being an adult as you say you are, you would have known it was a possibility. You're way too young to be having sex Kat."

"Eric does."

Tris ignored the mental image as she answered Kat's statement. "Eric is almost nineteen."

"Do you have sex?"

"You spend too much time with Christina," Tris chuckled. "And no, I don't."

Clearly that hadn't been the reaction Kat wanted. "But why not? It's fantastic."

"I'm sure it is, and sometimes I want to, but I'm not in any hurry, I'm only sixteen. I haven't found anyone I want to have sex with yet."

"I've seen you checking out my brother," Kat returned.

Tris blushed at being called out. "Your brother is hot," she said bluntly. "That doesn't mean I'm going to hop into bed with him, I don't even talk to him unless it's about you or leadership stuff. Looks and feeling good isn't all sex is about."

Kat nodded thoughtfully, and Tris was glad to see she was getting through to the girl.

"Why did you start having sex anyway?"

"It's fun."

"And? Chasing your friends around the pit, dressing up and jumping on and off trains is fun too."

Kat pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Because I wanted someone to want me," she confessed. "Eric doesn't, he's always gone."

"He's a faction leader Kat, it's his job. Do you have any idea how hard he fought to be able to keep you here?"

Kat shook her head. "He's a leader, didn't he just have to say he was going to?"

"He's a leader, not the leader, and he's certainly not the one in charge. He had to fight with Max for hours before he got his way. Almost got himself kicked out of his position for you."

"Really?" Kat asked.

"Oh yeah, I heard about it from my friend Four, remember him?" Kat nodded, and Tris went on. "He said they were in Max's office screaming at each other half the day before Max gave up."

"But why is he gone so much?"

"Because Abnegation and Erudite are at each other's throats," Tris admitted. "He spends half his time with Erudite these days, same way I spend half of mine with Abnegation. Dauntless is the only thing keeping them in check right now, and it's taking a lot of work."

"I just wish he'd at least said something, it always feels like I'm in his way."

"Well, why don't you tell him that when he gets back?"

"Will you stay here?"

"If he's okay with it I will," Tris told her. "But if he wants it to be private I'm not going to intrude. Anyway, have you been drinking lately? When was your last period?"

"I'm not sure when it was," Kat admitted. "Maybe two months ago? And a little bit yeah, but not much since that one night last month."

Tris remembered the night in question, when Eric had actually taken Kat to the infirmary, fearing alcohol poisoning.

"Well you can't drink anymore, not while you're pregnant. It can really hurt the baby. You have to be careful, alright?"

Kat nodded. "I will be," she promised.

"Good."

...

Tris and Kat were chattering an hour later when Eric finally walked back in the door with bleeding knuckles. The moment the door was closed Kat ran across the room and hugged her brother tight around the waist, resting her head against his chest. His expression showed surprise, but he caught her all the same.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered into his shirt, crying again.

"I'm sorry too Kitty," he told her, hugging her tighter. "I shouldn't have screamed at you like that."

Eric caught Tris's eye. 'Thank you,' he mouthed to her. She smiled and nodded, shrugging as if to say 'no big deal'.

Eric let go and took Kat by the hand, guiding her to the couch while Tris moved over to allow them room.

"Well, let's figure this out," he said wearily, lost as to what to do. "You're too young to raise a kid Kathryn," he told her sternly. "I hope you realize that."

She nodded. "I know."

"I mean, the way I see it the only options are to end the pregnancy or me try to raise it. Any other faction adopting would be an option, but that's harder to do here since we all live in one compound."

"I'm not ending it," Kat said sharply, folding her arms over her stomach.

Eric nodded. "I thought so. But damnit I don't know if I'm ready for something like this Kat."

"What makes adopting so hard?"

Eric opened his mouth to answer, but Tris beat him to it. "Because you would see him, or her, every day and not be able to do anything. It would be their baby, so you wouldn't spend any time with it or anything. And you may not think so now but that would be really hard."

Eric rubbed his eyes wearily. "We'll talk about it more later, alright? Nothing needs to be set in stone tonight."

Tris caught Kat's eye and nodded at her. "Um, Eric?"

"What's up Kitty?" He asked warily.

"Could you try to spend more time here?" She asked in a rush. "You're always gone and when you're here you're either distracted or sleeping and it feels like you don't want me."

"Oh Kitty, I'm sorry," he said softly, tugging her into his side. "I'm pretty busy right now, but I'll do my best alright?"

Kat wrapped her arms tightly around his waist in response, and Eric held her like that for several long moments.

"Why don't we eat with everyone else tonight?" He asked. "I don't feel like cooking tonight."

Kat grinned and nodded, she much preferred to spend dinner with the entire group.

"Alright, you head that way and we'll catch you up, I need to talk to Tris a minute." Kat gave him another squeeze and bolted out the door.

"I don't know what you said, but you're a lifesaver," he muttered, dropping his face in his hands. Tris laughed and, after hesitating only a moment, rubbed a hand across his back.

"I just tried to be her friend," she said evenly.

"I don't know how the hell I'm going to do this," he admitted to her. "I've got my hands full enough with her and dealing with Erudite. How am I supposed to do that with a baby around?"

Tris only hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I would help, if you wanted me to."

Eric turned and gave her a surprised look. "You'd do that?"

Tris nodded. "I like your sister," she said. "And like you said, you've got too much on your plate already."

Eric nodded, a sigh of relief escaping him. "If that ends up how it goes, I'll probably take you up on it. She say anything about a father?"

Tris shook her head. "There are a few options, she doesn't know who."

Eric sighed heavily. "Great."

"I thinks she'll be alright now though, as long as you take a few minutes a day with her. I think it was an attention thing," Tris told him honestly.

"I'll have to work on that then."

"I'll try to talk to her more often too," Tris told him. "If she feels like she has a friend maybe she won't run off to boys like that."

"Thanks for everything Tris," Eric told her honestly. "I owe you."

Tris shrugged again. "Don't worry about it."

"Stiff," Eric said lightly, shoving her shoulder.

"Nose," she returned with an elbow to the ribs.

Eric dodged the elbow and got up, making his way to the door. "Come on, I'm hungry." With a smile, Tris followed him out the door.