I never really had much of a plan for Lance's character, but he has become a staple to this story. Yeah, I just thought I should throw that out there into the great unknown.
The next chapter is going to be capture the flag and I'm so excited! I'm thinking of maybe having so Rhys & Eric romance or something, but I don't have any idea what yet. Drop a review and tell me what you'd like to see happen and it might just make an appearance.
T and I didn't go back to the dormitory until four that morning. I went to bed even later than that because I showered off the tears and makeup before hitting the hay. I also made sure Kadence and Elijah were in here too, I would hate to have to go searching for either of them in the night. It was already late enough, I really needed to go to bed.
Eight that morning came just as fast as I thought it would, but I was up and dressed by 7:50. I was in the training room before eight, but I dreaded seeing Eric. I basically gave him a guide book on how to take me out by telling him about my anxiety attacks and then letting him actually see me have one. I didn't even want to think about how bad it was going to be to see Lance because he genuinely terrified me last night and I knew he was going to take advantage of that.
Like he realized I was going to be freaking out, T walked up and stood behind me when Lance made his entrance. He even placed his hand on my lower back reassuringly when he saw me tense up. Something changed between T and me last night too, but this one was for the better. I had someone who was always going to be on my side.
"It has come to my attention that a bunch of you think it's okay to party at night, disregarding how early you have to get up and how important training is," Lance announced as he walked into the training room with us. "Because of this you're going to be running until four of you puke then doing pushups, sit ups, and crunches until you cry. See if you want to stay out late again after today.
"When you come back from lunch, there are going to be more fights. The pairings are over on that chalkboard if you're curious, but I want you to run while you read."
His eyes were trained on me the entire time he spoke so I started to do as he instructed to get away from it. I started off slow, jogging leisurely, as others decided to start out running full speed. They were going to wear themselves out in no time. That meant they were probably going to be the ones that puked first, I just had to make it through four of them before I got to stop.
I looked up at the chalkboard as I got closer to it and felt my heart squeeze uncomfortably and my feet stop moving completely. My fight was against Eric and the two of us were the first ones to fight. Lance was mad at the both of us because of what happened last night, we'd hurt his pride. He was being a jerk and getting back at us the only way he knew how to, making us beat the shit out of each other for his own sick amusement.
"I didn't say fucking jog, red. Get a move on," Lance shouted, making my temper spike suddenly. "I want you to run until you puke!"
"I'm not going to puke so get over yourself," I shouted back before I could stop myself.
"Everybody stop running," Lance said in a deadly calm voice. "Red is going to run laps for all of you until she pukes or passes out."
I just shrugged my shoulders and kept running while everyone else sat down, watching me with wide eyes. I didn't think about having to fight Eric, I didn't think about the stitch in my side that came from running as hard as I could, and I sure as hell didn't think about how intense Lance's glare was on my back. I just kept going because I didn't want to know what would happen to me if I stopped.
I ran the entire perimeter of the training room three times before I felt my stomach start to gurgle. I wasn't going to puke and give Lance the joy of seeing me fail, I was going to keep pushing until I physically couldn't. Or at least that was what I thought until I felt the burn of puke start working its way up from my stomach.
I ran to a trashcan and lost the breakfast I'd just consumed. I felt someone holding back my hair and rubbing my back as I kept retching even though I had no more food in my stomach. I knew it had to be T because Kadence would be talking to me and telling me about how 'I needed to stop' and 'it wasn't cute' or something like that.
"Stiff, I didn't say you could get up. Go back to your spot," Lance shouted, walking up to the two of us. "Red still owes me four laps."
"That's not what you said," T argued because I was too busy dry heaving to give a witty retort that would no doubt make my situation a lot worse. "You said she had to run until she puked, which she is still currently doing. That means she's done running."
"I changed my mind, I want her to run more," Lance said, moving closer to T as he spoke. "I want her to run until she realizes she can't treat her trainer like she did."
"Almost like you can't treat an initiate like you did last night?" Eric's voice startled me a bit, I figured he'd be eating this up after what happened between the two of us last night.
"Careful, initiates," Lance snarled out, looking at both T and Eric, "Or the two of you will be running until you have to share a trashcan with red."
"If they're running, I'm running," Kadence said, standing up and walking over to stand with T with Eric close on her heels.
"Me too," Elijah said, coming to her other side.
I felt warmth spreading through my body; this many people had my back. I had more people than just T to back me up. That made me feel stronger, like I could handle whatever Lance dished out to me. I had diserved to be punished for talking back and had to take what was given to me. That was what Dauntless meant, taking your medicine when you had to and backing up your friends.
"Thank you, but this is my punishment. The rest of you don't need to take it for me," I said, standing up and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "I can run four more laps, I don't have anything else to vomit so it should be okay."
"No, I get to make the decisions and I want to start the fights now," Lance said. "Red and Eric, on the mat. There's no conceding, we're fighting until you can't fight anymore. Since you both lost yesterday, I want to see what you've got."
There was no way I could win a fight against Eric and I knew that. He was big, broad, and pissed at me. He may have defended me just now and confused the hell out of me, but he was still mad and I knew it. I ignored every muscle in my body screaming at me to stop, I got up from the floor and made my way over to the mat. I couldn't show weakness or I'd be at the bottom of ranks in the snap of Lance's fingers. He was just looking for a way to humiliate me like I'd humiliated him last night.
Eric stood in his fight stance as he waited for me to get into mine. I wanted him to throw the first punch, I knew he had a tendency to do that, so I could act accordingly. I bet he also thought that he was going to beat me easily, probably knock me unconscious out of pity. That pissed me of more than anything that had happened this morning; I was not going to be an easy victory. I was going to fight my ass off before I went down.
Eric threw a punch and it connected with my shoulder, knocking me back a bit but not off my feet. He was fighting me, but he was also giving me a chance to fight him back. I stood back up and punched him in the stomach, making him double over so I could bring my knee up to his face.
Blood soaked through my pants and instantly felt guilty about it. I was going to back off until Eric used his entire body weight to tackle me onto the mat. The wind rushed out of my lungs and I couldn't seem to get it back no matter how hard I tried and it scared me. I remembered distantly falling out of a high tree back in Amity and feeling the same.
He didn't need to put his knees on my arms to stop my movements, I couldn't seem to make my hands move because I was too focused on making my lungs do their job. He didn't take pity on me, he pounded his fist into my face so hard my teeth clacked together and I saw black dots as pain exploded in the center of my face.
I forced my eyes open and saw that his face was caked in thick, dark blood from where I'd busted his nose. I also felt the thick, metallic liquid filling up my mouth from where he hit my face, probably making my nose match his. The more I looked at him, the more he started to look like Wyatt again and the more my heart started to try and beat its way out of my chest.
I was back in that orchard, but this time it was different. I knew how to fight and get him off of me, and I sure as hell was going to fight him this time. I brought my hands up and dragged my nails down his cheek, taking skin with me. He hissed in pain and reached up to cup the wound; I took that as an opportunity to flip him onto his back. His knee knocked into my ribs and I yelped, but I wasn't going to lose this fight. Before he could fight me back, I hit my fist against his temple and saw his eyes roll back in his head as he fell unconscious.
I forced myself up to my feet and walked over to Lance, spitting the mouthful of blood onto his feet. I didn't need to say a word to him, I knew my face said more than my mouth ever could. I turned on my heel and walked over to help heft Eric onto Leo and Frankie's shoulders so he could go to the infirmary.
"Break for lunch," Lance said, but I was already gone.
I washed my face off in the bathroom and saw that most of the blood was coming from my nose. It was throbbing and pointing at an unnatural angle –it was broken. That meant I had to go by the infirmary and get it set before I went back to training. The only thing that kept me going was that I'd already done both of my fights which meant I didn't have to compete in anymore of them.
"Looking in the mirror too long makes you vain," T said, making me jump and slap a hand over my racing heart. "Sorry, I thought you saw me walk in."
"No, I was focused on making sure all my teeth were still in my mouth," I said, grinning in the mirror to make sure they were all there. "Looks like none of them are missing, thank god."
"Let me look at your ribs," he said suddenly, walking up to me and lifting me up onto the counter. "I saw him dig his knee into them, it was a low move."
I waggled my eyebrows as best as I could considering it made pain shoot across my face. "You're just trying to see me naked, Tobias! I'm scandalized!"
His face heated up, but his hands were all business. He pushed my t-shirt up and put my hand over it so it didn't fall. His eyes were intense and brooding as he looked over the bruising and the scrapes that littered my pale skin.
His fingers pressed against my skin and made me want to hiss, but I held my tongue. His touch was clinical and to the point. I didn't want to ask why he was so good at what he was doing so I just sat as silently as I could. I was afraid that it would bring up bad memories for him and making him sad wasn't worth it. I already felt enough like shit, adding guilt to that would just make it worse.
"They're not broken, but they are really bruised. I would suggest going to the infirmary and getting pain killers while you get your nose set," he told me, helping me off the counter. "Remind me to never piss you off, Amity."
He was talking about me kicking Eric's ass, but I just shrugged it off. I didn't want to brag about it, I just wanted to go get something for the pain and something to eat. I'd lost all of my breakfast earlier and was starting to work up quite a hunger. I'd pissed off my trainer and made half the initiates help me do it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was kicked out of initiation for disobeying orders and having a loud mouth. If that was true, I was at least going to get a last meal out of it before I became Factionless.
"Come on, let's go. Your nose is freaking me out," T said, walking with me to the infirmary. "Plus I want to see what Eric looks like, up close and personal."
There was a slightly sadistic side to the Abnegation transfer that surprised me a little bit. I just shrugged it off and allowed him to lead me to the infirmary. Eric was lying in one of the beds, but he was conscious. His nose was already splinted and seemed to be setting back quickly. He had a set of four bright red, bleeding lines down the side of his face and I realized those were from my nails. I hadn't fought very fair either and needed to apologize for it.
"Hi," I told him timidly, gesturing for T to give us a minute alone. "Can I sit here?"
Eric just shrugged, wincing when it made him hurt. I knew that feeling all too well, I felt it every time I moved my body right now. I sat by his hips and took a deep breath, I hated apologizing for things. It was like admitting I was wrong and I wasn't too fond of that either.
"I'm sorry for not fighting fair," I forced out. "I scratched down your face and that was a dirty move to make."
"I don't need your pity," he forced out. "I just got my ass kicked by the smallest girl here, an Amity transfer, that's enough."
That hurt more than I wanted to admit, but I knew I deserved it. He and I had a lot of fun last night and I ruined it by telling him it was a mistake. I was too scared to let him get close to me, I didn't want to disappoint him or get hurt again.
"I've got to go get my own nose set and something for my ribs. Feel better," I said icily, standing up from his bed. "I'm glad I kicked your ass, maybe it'll make you lose some of your arrogance."
"I should've let Lance have you last night," he told me. "He probably would've gotten more than I did from your frigid ass."
I couldn't stop myself from wincing at the thought of Lance 'having me' last night, but I pushed through. "What are you talking about? All we did last night was dance."
"You're so stupid, blaze. Do you think I danced with you because I wanted to be your friend?" he taunted. "I wanted to get you in bed on your back with me between your legs. I didn't think it would be this hard, to be honest. You know what they say about Amity girls and I know you're no exception. Everyone knows what you've been doing with the stiff…"
"Come on, let's get your nose set," T said, swooping in and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Don't waste your time on him, it's not worth it."
To say that I was devastated wouldn't even cover what I was feeling right now. I'd never felt quite like this before in my entire life. I couldn't even cry, the feeling was too intense for crying. I literally felt like someone had carved my organs out of my body and left me a shell. I don't even know how to put into words how I fell, I just knew I never wanted to feel it again. I couldn't even focus on the thing about T and me.
The nurse set my nose with a splint and gave me a sleeve of pain killers for my ribs. She seconded what T already told me, my ribs were just bruised not broken, so I didn't have worry about them. I didn't look back over at Eric before T and I left the infirmary. I felt like that would've made me cave in on myself, but maybe I was just being dramatic.
"He just said those things because he wanted to hurt you," T whispered to me. "No one's talking about us doing anything."
I nodded my head because somewhere in the depths of my mind that made sense to me. When people were hurt, they often lashed out at others. I told him that us hanging out and having fun was a mistake and then I beat the hell out of him in front of our entire initiate group including our trainer. That probably hurt his feelings along with his pride and he wanted me to hurt as much as he did. There was no way he could know about me and my sensitivity to sex, especially when it came to promiscuity. I probably wasn't Wyatt's only rendezvous in the apple orchard…
"I just want to go eat and go back to training," I told him quietly. "Eric lost both of his fights so I'm ranked above him at least. Hopefully that means I'm ranked close to the top of the transfers."
I could tell he wanted to pick some more, but he let it go for me and I was grateful. I plastered a fake smile onto my lips and sat down by Kadence in the dining hall with T on my other side. The last thing I wanted was for more people to think that I was broken than the ones that already did.
Like I said earlier, drop a review telling me your ideas for a romantic moment between Rhys & Eric for the capture the flag game next chapter.