Well, a few paragraphs turned into a whole chapter here, but I'm actually very glad it did. All in all, I'm quite happy with it and I hope you are too. As always, please drop me a quick line at the end.

Eric awoke the next morning feeling like his muscles had turned to jelly, and with a small warm body curled up in his arms. Somehow they had shifted during the night, and he had ended up on his side with both arms wrapped around Tris, who had her head tucked under his chin, still sleeping peacefully.

He took a deep breath and released it, stretching with a satisfied groan before returning his attention to the girl in his arms. He would love to sit there and tell himself it had just been sex, but looking at her now and feeling his heart respond with an odd thump he knew it wasn't. He closed his eyes and saw it again, the way she had looked directly into his eyes as she rode him. He remembered how it had felt to sit there, chest to chest with his arms wrapped around her as they climaxed.

Eric had plenty of experience with girls, had had a lot of sex with women both younger and older than himself since he had completed initiation two years ago. But until last night he had never made love to a woman.

He looked down at her face as she slept, noticing how beautiful she looked with her still-swollen lips and her hair strewn out over the pillow. The warm breath of her exhales tickled his chest, and he trailed his fingers over her shoulders, across her back and down her waist, wanting to memorize the feel of her skin in case she didn't come to him again. He knew it was a possibility, that maybe she had just wanted a one night stand and that she would never look at him twice again. The thought twisted in his heart like a knife, but he had to accept it as a possible outcome.

Eric chewed his lip as he held her, wishing he knew what the hell had gotten into him. Not three days ago she had been just another initiate, and a stiff to boot. But something had happened the night before, when her eyes locked on his as she gave all of herself to him.

And maybe that was it. No one trusted him here in Dauntless, not on a personal level anyway. Sure they trusted him to do his job, well, except Four, but that was different. She had not only trusted him but given herself entirely to him, including the part of her she was just discovering and still completely unsure of. She could have picked anyone else. Hell, she could have fled the training room that night and endeavored to never look at him again, but she had chosen to trust him instead. It was something no one else had ever awarded him before.

He couldn't place it, but there was something different about Tris. Something about her drew her to him and he couldn't fight it. Even before he had found her that night in the training room he couldn't help but watch her. She had gotten his attention from the moment she had stepped forward on Choosing Day, when she jumped from the building and fell without a sound. He remembered her fight with Peter, when she had shoved herself to her feet time and time again even though she was swaying and couldn't see straight.

It was as he thought that Tris stirred, stretching and nuzzling deeper into his chest. He could tell the moment when she truly woke up and realized she wasn't alone when she was used to being so, because her whole body froze before she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Good morning," he greeted cautiously, wondering how she would feel about the previous night in the light of day.

He felt her relax when he spoke, and realized she was just as nervous as he was. Unable to help himself, Eric leaned in and kissed her softly, just a momentary brush of his lips against her own. She responded in kind, making his heart stutter.

"Morning," she said with a smile, stretching again and then wincing. He heard her groan a bit, and realized belatedly she had to be sore.

"How bad?"

She considered his question before answering. "Bearable. And worth it," she added, turning a light shade of pink.

Eric grinned. "Well I'm glad it was." He stroked her face with his thumb, silently admiring her and memorizing the way this moment felt. Though he would have been happy to stay right where he was the entire day, his stomach seemed to have other plans. He sighed. "Shall we?"

She hummed in response and sat up gingerly, wincing again as she shifted her hips. Though he felt bad she was hurting, his ego appreciated the testament to his size. He stood and walked around the bed to where the condom had ended up, throwing it away in the bathroom and taking a moment to empty his bladder at the same time. When he came back he grabbed her pajamas off the floor and tossed them lightly to her, noticing the way her eyes trailed over his naked body.

Tris stared at the clothes in her hands uncertainly. "I feel gross," she admitted. Catching the guilty look on his face, she quickly amended her statement.

"Not like that!" She reassured quickly. "Like physically gross. I'm all sweaty and sticky and it's kind of disgusting."

Eric felt the brief weight lift from his chest. "Oh okay. Well, do you want to take a shower?" He took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet, holding her against him. "There's plenty of room for both of us."

She bit her lip uncertainly, and he could tell she was nervous. Maybe it was his behavior throwing her off. He was never this nice, after all. Add that to the fact she had come to his door on a whim the night before, and she was bound to be cautious.

"Trust me?" He pleaded, cupping her cheek with his hand. She met his eyes before nodding, and he pulled her against him, cradling her head against his chest. He felt her arms curl around his waist, kissing the top of her head when he felt her relax.

"There you go," he said, smiling. "Go use the bathroom and get the water started, I'll be there as soon as I grab a glass of water." She nodded and walked to the bathroom, and he could see the discomfort in the way she moved. He didn't actually need a drink, but he wanted to give her a couple minutes to herself.

He returned when he heard the water start, coming back with a glass of water and painkiller. She took them from him with a wry smile, swallowing them gratefully. Tris stepped under the spray and he followed her, hissing slightly as the water burned his skin.

"Want me to turn it down?" She asked uncertainly.

Yes. "Nah, just give me a second. It's warmer than I'm used to."

She nodded and stepped underneath it, tilting her head back and sighing as the water quickly turned her skin red. After a minute the water didn't seem as scalding as it had before, and he stepped farther under it with her. It was still hotter than he would have liked on his more sensitive bits, but he could manage.

Gently he took her by the shoulders and turned her so her back was to him, and grabbed the shampoo bottle from a shelf beyond her reach. She moaned softly when he began working his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp at the same time. He worked it through her hair longer than he needed to, enjoying the feeling of taking care of her.

He almost put the bottle back where it had been after he doled out some for himself, but changed his mind and put it down within her reach with a smirk. He saw the soft smile on her lips and knew she'd gotten the message.

Her eyes closed as he washed her, kneading her muscles with strong fingers as his hands slid over her body, making him hard. As much as he would have loved to pick her up and pin her against the wall of the shower, he knew she was just too sore for sex just yet. Instead he dropped to his knees, pushing her to lean against the wall and pulling one of her thighs to rest on his shoulder. Though his mouth hadn't met her yet, her head was resting against the wall and her eyes were closed. He grinned in satisfaction, he couldn't help it.

Knowing she was sore and not wanting to inadvertently hurt her he focused purely on her clit, relishing the feel of her fingers tugging at his hair as he brought her over the edge, quickly this time and without preamble. She cried out loudly as she came, melting in his arms when he stood once more, and he quickly rinsed his face while her eyes were still closed. She jerked in surprise when she felt his fingers on her still sensitive flesh, but he simply rinsed away the fresh stickiness coating her.

Eric wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, not with the hot, passionate kisses of sex but the tender, sweet ones of requited crushes and first love. His erection slowly faded as they kissed, sexual desire overpowered by the warm, happy bubble in his chest that made him feel his age for once. It wasn't often he got to feel and act eighteen, and he intended to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Her smile when he pulled back was hesitant, he could see in her eyes that she had registered the change in his feelings for her and that it confused her. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips, securing it there before sitting down on the toilet and holding his arms out to her. Tris wrapped another towel around her body and stood in front of him with a slightly bewildered expression on her face.

"Come here," he asked softly, patting his legs. She sat down sideways, still looking at him as though wondering what the catch was. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest, resting his cheek on the top of her head. Eric heaved a sigh, wishing he didn't have to say what he did.

"I know I'm confusing you Tris and I'm sorry," he began, moving to look into her eyes as he spoke. She nodded in agreement with his statement and he chuckled lightly.

"I'm not going to pretend I know what happened or why, but something changed for me last night." He swallowed heavily, all his instincts screaming at him to shut his mouth, not open himself up this way. He had been raised in a home where logic was abundant and emotions were never expressed or experienced, and it was choking him now.

He took another breath, and it shook when he exhaled. "Emotions aren't my thing Tris," he confessed softly. "I don't know where this came from or even what I'm feeling right now. Hell, even trying to say this is almost impossible. All I know is that I can't get enough of this. Not even sex, just holding you and kissing you."

Eric paused, closing his eyes and trying to steady himself. If he had grown up in a house where emotions were acceptable maybe he wouldn't be drowning in his own, but he hadn't been and now he was. When he spoke again, his voice shook the slightest bit.

"And I understand if you don't want anything to do with me. I've been cruel to you and you have no reason to forgive me for that now. So if you can't give me that chance I won't push it, I promise. But if you can then I want you to know I want to try this."

He watched her carefully, unable to read the emotions in her eyes, unable to tell if she was a moment from getting up and fleeing the room. He was dying to know what was going on behind those eyes, and trying to be patient was killing him. He had practically bared his soul to her, against every instinct that had been instilled in him. Now he simply had to wait and find out if it was the wrong choice.

...

Tris regarded Eric carefully, she could see the fear and the turmoil in his wide gray eyes and felt an overpowering urge to comfort him, to curl up against his chest and let him hold her the way he needed to. This was a side of him that no one else in the world knew existed, one that even he probably hadn't guessed at until now. It seemed that beneath the cold, cruel and malicious leader everyone knew and feared there was a young man desperately craving love and attention, something he had never been given before.

He was right when he said he had been cruel to her, but seeing this side of him she realized that it was probably all he knew. It seemed like loving people and being cared for were as new to Eric as sex was to her. And while physical affection had been almost nonexistent in her childhood, she had known beyond a doubt that she was loved by her family. Though Eric had obviously been intimate with plenty of women, any sort of emotional attachment was clearly unfamiliar territory for him. Perhaps it meant something.

...

Minutes of silence passed as she contemplated his words, and the longer it spanned the more he convinced himself she was going to say no. Just when he was ready to break, however, she smiled.

"Well first off, I believe it's called a crush." She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, brushing his lips with her own. He sighed in relief, heart thumping unevenly in a way that was almost painful.

"And second," she whispered, "how could I not want to be with someone who looks at me like you are right now?"