Hello again everyone! Usually once I sit down to write a chapter I do the whole thing in one hit, maybe two if I get really distracted but for some reason this one took me three or four days to peck out from beginning to end.

Something else new, I've decided to try to start a Twitter account purely for those of you who read my work on here. Ideally I'd like to use it to give people a better idea of what I'm working on when, give a heads up on updates and possibly bounce ideas off people. So do me a favor, head over to Twitter and follow loveualwaysmom! I have issues sticking to social media that isn't facebook, but I'm going to give this an honest go. First off, for some reason I can't make this accept either the at symbol or parenthases, so that's why it's not there. Second, I swear quite a bit so if language offends you, it may not be a good idea. Then again, if language offends you I'm kind of confused as to how you're reading my stuff. Anyway, I digress.

Enough rambling from me, I really hope you like the chapter. As usual, it would be wonderful to hear from you when you've reached the end!

Tris awoke slowly in the morning, and it took her brain a moment to bring back the last events of the night. When it came back to her Tris smiled to herself, she wasn't sure what but there was something sweet about him wanting to hold her and being too shy to go for it while she was awake.

She stretched as best she could in the confined space between his arm and chest, glad that he hadn't pulled away from her once she had fallen asleep. She had grown accustomed to waking up in his embrace, and a small part of her was hoping that now she would be able to fall asleep the same way. Tris felt Eric's arm flex around her and shoved the thought away, resolving to analyze it later with Christina before slowly rolling over to face him.

Tris's eyes met a pair of cautious, yet somehow vulnerable gray ones when she looked up at him and slipped her own arm around his waist much the way his was around hers. She smiled slightly before curling closer to him, resting her head against his chest and sighing contentedly. His arms tightened around her, and she felt his fingers gently stroking her back as she relaxed in his arms.

"So you're okay with this?" His voice was soft, tentative and though he tried to hide it, vulnerable.

Tris nodded from her place against his chest. "It's nice," she admitted. "I never took you for a cuddler though."

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. "Neither did I," he admitted, hugging her tighter.

"Does this mean you'll stop waiting until I'm asleep?" Tris asked shyly.

"If that's what you want," he responded quietly. Her eyes were closed and her face was pressed against his chest, but Tris could hear the smile in his voice, and Christina's comment from the week before suddenly wiggled its way into her head.

"When did you start doing that after I fell asleep?" Tris asked suddenly, pulling away far enough to look at his face. She saw blood color his cheeks and failed to bite back a giggle. Eric averted his eyes then, looking off somewhere over her shoulder, and she could see the embarrassment and vulnerability in his expression. Slowly Tris removed her arm from around his waist to skim her hand gently across his chest before speaking.

"I'm not laughing at you," she told him softly. "I'm laughing because you're blushing and it's so not you."

"I know," he said quietly, catching the hand brushing across his chest in his own and holding it there. Tris felt her heartbeat stutter unevenly for a moment, but chose to ignore it.

"So?"

Eric chuckled reluctantly. "I woke up in the middle of the night the second night and couldn't get back to sleep. I don't know what made me think of it, but I thought that maybe being closer to you would help me fall asleep."

Tris almost didn't catch the way his eyes flicked away from hers toward the end of his sentence, but she was discovering that the more time she spent with Christina, the better she got at noticing when people were lying.

"That's sweet, but my best friend is a Candor transfer. Try again," she quipped.

Eric gave her a startled look before blushing an even deeper red. Tris gently extracted her hand from his own and placed it against his burning cheek, smiling slightly.

"What are you so afraid of? Just say it Eric, I'm not upset about it."

"The truth? I don't know. I don't have the first clue why I'm perfectly okay sharing my bed and my space with you, or why I spend half my day thinking about you. And I certainly have no damn clue why it feels so natural to hold you like this." She looked in his eyes and knew without a doubt that he was telling her the truth. He really had no idea.

"Neither do I," Tris lied.

...

"So you're right," Tris told Christina, "But he has no idea."

"Enlighten me?" Christina asked vaguely as she worked on a sketch.

"Eric," she elaborated. "Last week you said he liked me."

Christina looked up at her and grinned from ear to ear. "That's not all I was right about is it?"

"Nope," Tris told her. "Every night, save the first, was deliberate."

"Wait, what do you mean he has no idea?"

"I mean he has no idea he likes me. I can tell."

"Are you sure?" Christina asked her dubiously.

"Positive, I've been friends with you for too long," Tris told her with a grin.

Christina nodded in agreement. "That's true. So, how do you feel about him?"

Tris plopped down in the chair next to Christina. "I don't really know," she confessed. "I mean, I really like waking up with him like that. And..." Tris trailed off, feeling herself blush.

"And what?" Christina piped up impatiently. "Don't make me pry it out of you."

"Well, now that we both know he's been doing it deliberately, I'm hoping it becomes a normal thing."

Christina giggled and grinned widely at Tris. "Oh yeah, you like him," she stated matter-of-factly, making Tris groan.

"And what am I supposed to do about that when he has no idea he likes me?"

"Just have to wait for him to figure it out. Or make the first move, your choice."

"I can be patient," Tris muttered.

...

"What are they going to do at my appointment?" Kat asked Tris nervously that evening, looking up from her schoolwork suddenly.

Tris thought about it for a moment. "Probably just check everything," she said evenly. "See how the baby is doing, how you're doing. Make sure you're healthy, that there aren't any problems." Tris smiled. "I wouldn't worry too much."

Kat nodded. "Okay." She picked at her cuticles idly, chewing her lip. Silently, Tris thanked Christina for teaching her how to read body language.

"What's on your mind?" Tris asked her.

Kat sighed. "What happens when Eric finds a girlfriend?"

"He... Has a girlfriend I guess," Tris said uncertainly. "I don't follow. You mean what happens to me?"

"That too I guess," Kat said. "But what happens to me? What happens if he finds a girlfriend and decides he wants her around more than me? What if she doesn't want me around?"

"Oh honey," Tris sighed, moving to put her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "First off, you mean more to him than any girl ever will. Trust me. And second, I have no doubt that anyone who didn't like you or want you around would be shown the door." Kat nodded to herself, resting her head against Tris's shoulder.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Kat asked her suddenly.

Tris looked down at the other girl in surprise. "What makes you ask that?" She wondered aloud. Other than his apparent cuddling her at night, Tris couldn't think of anything they had done to give off that vibe.

"I poked my head in earlier because I thought you were awake-"

"Oh," Tris cut her off, laughing. "Yeah, apparently your brother is a cuddler."

"Is that all it is?"

Tris thought about it. "For now," she answered finally. "But who knows."

Kat grinned at her. "He likes you. I can tell."

"I know he does," Tris told her, smiling. "But he doesn't. Not yet anyway, so don't say anything to him alright? Let him figure it out at his own pace."

"Do you like him?"

Tris laughed aloud, trying not to blush. "Do your work, girl."

"So, yes."

"A little," Tris admitted. "Again, just don't tell him anything."

"Deal."

...

"So apparently Kat poked her head in this morning to see if we were awake," Tris told Eric casually that night as she walked back into the room. Tris said it casually, laying down on the bed as she did.

Eric froze, turning to stare at her with his pants half off, and Tris couldn't help but giggle. "Well, strip and get over here baby," she teased lightly, patting the bed next to her.

"Do you want me to strip strip?" He joked, hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his boxers and winking at her.

"Sorry, not tonight," she said with a grin.

"Damn shame," he returned, kicking his pants off before laying down next to her. "You're missing out. Baby," he tossed back.

Tris rolled to face him, grinning in response to his teasing. "Anyway," she reminded, making his lighthearted smile fade.

"What did she say?" He asked, sounding worried.

"Well first she asked what would happen if you had a girlfriend, she was worried if that happened you wouldn't want her around anymore. I told her that she's more important to you than any girl ever will be."

"Did she believe you?"

"Certainly seemed like it."

"What else did she ask? I can see it in your face Tris," he reminded her.

"She asked if I was your girlfriend," Tris responded, trying to sound casual.

Eric played with her hair as he answered. "What did you tell her?"

"I asked her what made her ask, she told me about seeing us this morning. I told her that her brother is a cuddler," Tris evaded. It wasn't like she was lying, after all.

"Anything else?" He asked, sounding nervous. Tris smiled at him and scooted closer to him, resting her head on his chest. After a moment of hesitation he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, stroking her back absently. If she hadn't been able to hear his heartbeat stutter and then speed up, she would have believed his casual façade.

"Not really," she answered quietly, listening to his heart race. Tris stroked his chest slowly, fingers skimming the sparse hair there seemingly without conscious thought. Under her ear, his heart stuttered again.

Over the course of the day Tris had both thought about and accepted the fact that Christina was right, she really did like Eric quite a bit. There was something incredibly relaxing about letting him hold her this way, and something very endearing about his shyness that was so different from the Eric she had known before.

"What is this Tris?" Eric whispered. Tris tilted her head to look at his face, and saw him staring at the ceiling. Dimly, she wondered if he had meant to say it aloud.

"What do you mean?" She inquired softly, resting her palm flat on his chest. Eric looked down at her suddenly, which she took for confirmation that he hadn't been aware of speaking aloud.

"I... I don't know," he said quietly. "Nevermind."

Tris rolled over to lay on her stomach, still laying partially on his chest. "Don't do that. What is it?"

"Don't do what?"

"Shut down, close me out. What are you thinking Eric?"

He heaved a sigh and looked up at her, running his fingers through her hair as he thought.

"This is new to me," he admitted. "Not the physical part, obviously, but this," Eric emphasized, waving a hand uncertainly between them. "Caring like this. I'm not used to it..."

"Not everything can be quantified," she told him softly. "I know that that's what you want, that's what's comfortable because of where you grew up but not everything can be neatly categorized. Sometimes things just don't make sense."

"I'm starting to realize that," he said, chuckling slightly. He stared at her for a long moment, and Tris could practically see the wheels turning in his mind.

"What are you thinking about?" She inquired softly.

"You," he said honestly. Tris could see in his eyes how much the admission cost him, how much the entire conversation was costing him. "What are you thinking about?"

Tris smiled at him, and gently stroked her fingertips down his jawline. "You," she returned.

Eric wrapped both arms around her then and gently tugged her down to him, running his fingers through her hair. Tris draped her arm over his waist gently, tucking herself against him and sighing contentedly.

"We should go to sleep," Eric said several minutes later. "I have a long day tomorrow."

Tris nodded and stretched out, lifting her head from his shoulder. After a moment of hesitation she leaned over and gently kissed his cheek, lingering there momentarily. She felt his hand tighten on her shoulder, and suspected that if her head had been on his chest still she would have heard his heart stutter again.

Slowly Eric turned his head to face her, gray eyes almost brimming over with emotion she could tell he didn't understand. His eyes flicked down to her lips for a moment, telling Tris exactly what he wanted. She met his eyes and saw the fear there, the uncertainty that told her that she would have to be the one to make the first move, if one was going to be made.

Slowly Tris leaned forward, letting her eyelids flutter closed the moment before her lips brushed against his. His hand moved up to cup the back of her neck as he returned the kiss, soft and hesitant.

They lingered there for several moments before pulling away, and the open vulnerability of the way Eric looked at her made Tris's own heart stutter, much the way his had several times that night. She stroked her thumb gently across his lips, and gave him another soft kiss before rolling over.

After only a moment's pause, she felt his arm go around her waist and tug her flush against his chest. Tris settled herself comfortably into his embrace and closed her eyes, letting the sound of his breathing lull her to sleep.