"You two. Out. I'll deal with you later."

Eric folded his arms in front of his chest and stared icily at the three of them. Lucas and Kylie quickly scurried past him without daring to make eye contact. Alex, however, mimicked his stance and glared back at him. Maybe it was the frustration with the system and the factionless, but at the sight of him, a wave of anger spread through her. It had only been a few days and she was already tired of being ordered around all day by Dauntless members and being separated from her friends. When the door slammed shut behind him, he exhaled in annoyance. She could see the muscles in his jaw twitch.

"You are unbelievable. I can't even leave you alone for one hour. One fucking hour and you're already breaking the rules again!" Eric was almost shouting.

"How did I just break the rules? You never told me I wasn't allowed any company in here," Alex responded reproachfully.

"You're on fucking detention, of course, you're not allowed any company in here. Don't play dumb with me," Eric snapped back.

"I'm not playing dumb! If you have so many requirements for my behaviour, at least let me fucking know!" They were both yelling at this point.

"Again, you're in detention! It was obviously implied that-"

"Implied?! Now, there are implied rules for me? Why don't you put me on a fuckling leash, wouldn't make any difference anymore, would it?"

"Oh please, even on a leash you would find a way to break a rule! I can't believe it. How can this not get into your head in what kind of situation you're in? Max wanted to kick you out for fuck's sake!"

"And what should I do about it now, huh? Should I fall on my knees in gratitude to you for wanting to use me to smooth the waters?"

Eric's eyebrows twitched.

"Yeah, I heard you."

"Don't act like it's too much to ask to play by the rules for once! Everybody else manages!"

"It's not like they were put under constant control."

"How does that make a difference here? In general, please enlighten me how else were we supposed to deal with you. Should we have just ignored your connection to Jack? After all, he's only the most wanted criminal in our city, right? Maybe we should have given you a medal for trying to sleep with him, huh?"

"That's not what I said!"

"Then what are you mad about?! You did this to yourself. Fucking carry your own consequences at least once."

Alex blinked at him, her mouth open, ready to fire back but no words came out.

Eric just shook his head slightly, then gestured her to follow him. They walked in silence towards the dorm. In front of the door, Eric stopped and turned back to Alex.

"Pack your things."

"What?" Alex's heart skipped a beat.

"You heard me."

"You can't kick me out, that's-"

"Just get your stuff. Now. You're getting relocated."

Alex had so many questions, but Eric pushed the door open and nudged her inside. The other initiates watched with wide eyes as she packed her things while Eric stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. Alex ignored them all, as well as the heat that was rushing to her face.

"What? You can't kick her out, it was our-" Kylie started as Alex picked up her bag from under her bed.

"She's not kicked out. Yet. She's being relocated."

"Relocated?" A Candor boy asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Eric narrowed his eyes as he looked at him. The Candor boy suddenly seemed very uncomfortable in his position.

"That's none of your concern."

As a transfer, she had mostly clothes in her possession so her bag was packed after only a few moments. With an upright gait, her eyes stubbornly fixed on the door, she finally left the dorm. She didn't dare to ask where they were going but it soon became clear to her that they would make a stop at Eric's office first.

Eric, however, stopped in front of his apartment and opened the door. Alex closed the door behind her and followed him down the hall into the first room on the right, which seemed to be a guest bedroom.

"Congratulations, initiate. You finally got your own room."

Alex stood in the doorway and looked around with a furrowed brow.

"What do you mean?"

"Since you're no doubt incapable of following the rules, I'm taking your surveillance to the next level."

Alex looked at him questioningly and he moved closer to her.

"You came here because you craved freedom, right?"

Alex didn't reply and Eric came even closer.

"Your freedom is something you will have to earn back first. Starting today, you're only allowed more than 5 feet away from me when I give you explicit permission to do so. I will be watching your every move and if I find even one indication that you are not trustworthy, you're out."

He closed the gap between them and Alex had to tilt her neck to look him in the eye.

"One more misstep and you're out, is that clear?"

For a moment, only the heavy breathing of the two could be heard while Alex stared back at him with her eyebrows drawn together, trying to contain the emotional chaos that this evening had stirred up in her.

Eric held his gaze for a moment before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.

It took a few minutes for Alex to free herself from her rigidity and slowly step over to the bed and place her bag on it.

She inspected the room for a while. It was a small room with a queen-size bed against the wall and a dresser. A door led to an adjoining bathroom. It would have been an immense upgrade to her dorm if it wasn't a room in Eric's apartment. She sat on the bed, feeling trapped and agitated.

She was still sitting on the bed lost in thoughts when Eric called her to the living room a while later.

He was sitting on the couch and gestured for her to sit down in the armchair across from him. In front of him on the coffee table laid a few sheets of paper which he handed to her after she sat down.

"What's that?"

"Since you complained about implicit rules, I made sure to list all the rules that I expect you to follow. Explicitly."

"How thoughtful", Alex muttered as she skimmed the list. The first few things were not surprising, stating the rules for the initiates again as well as rules for his apartment. She wasn't allowed in his bedroom for example.

"I'm sure it will help you guide you through those impulsive tendencies of yours."

Alex had to suppress a smile. During the last half hour, a thought had occurred to her.

"What about your impulsive tendencies? Any plans to overcome them as well?", she asked.

Eric narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you just made an impulsive decision to move me into your apartment, right? Now, you're stuck with an initiate in your own space. Seems like we're both quite impulsive."

"I'm not impulsive."

"So, you're saying you had the idea of moving me in with you in your head beforehand? You were planning for me to move in with you? Which makes me think that you might actually enjoy my-"

"I relocated you because your behaviour made it necessary to and I relocated you to this room in order to have an eye on you."

"And there's no other apartment you could have done that in? One where you wouldn't have had to give up your own apartment for?"

"Believe me, if there was another way, you wouldn't be here right now."

"Sure", Alex leaned back and smiled, "It's okay if you don't want to admit it yet. Thanks to you, we have all the time in the world." Lucas' words echoed in her head. She had to spend her time with him, yes, but that also meant that he had to spend his time with her as well. She would annoy him out of this.

"Admit what?"

"That you want me here." Her smile turned more arrogant.

Eric propped himself up on his thighs.

"How about you admit that you want me, hm?"

Her smile froze.

"You're the one who moaned my name in bed. Just admit it, you want me."

That backfired, a not so helpful voice whispered in her head.

"That didn't mean anything. You're the one who chose to move me in with you."

"How was that my decision when you're the one who kept getting in trouble?" He tilted his head. "Maybe someone kept getting in trouble because they wanted to get detention?"

"That's ridiculous. If I could-"

Alex was interrupted by Eric's phone ringing. He picked it up and looked at the screen before standing up.

"I have to take this. Don't touch anything. Actually, it's best not to move at all." He walked towards his office but then turned around again.

"Oh, one more thing", he started to smirk, "you want me."

Before Alex could answer he took the call and disappeared into his office. Alex huffed and slumped down in her chair with her arms crossed. She would need a new plan.