A/N: Auuggghhh! Right, so it's been a few days… But we're back now!

Here's some PeterxLauren action, since it's been a while since we've seen some! Sorry it's a bit short, inspiration is low for us...

***Peter's POV***

Lauren and I have spent all day packing and unpacking. Her landlord wasn't too happy that she was leaving him, but Lauren didn't seem to care. She dropped the key on his desk and made me hand over the spare. Our real estate agent had decided to remove all connections between us and her, probably because she doesn't want to get mixed up with the Factionless Drive crew.

Now, though, Lauren sits on the kitchen counter, taking in our efforts to make the place look nice. It's an older home with lots of "charm," as she puts it. It's a good, sturdy house with two stories and enough room for us. Neither of us plan on having children, so we don't need an excess amount of space.

"Peter?" she asks suddenly, startling me.

"Ya?" I ask.

"Your phone is ringing," she says. I feel my phone buzzing and I check the caller ID. It's an unknown number, but I decide to answer it anyway.

"What?" I snap.

The person on the other end seems a bit taken aback before recovering and saying, "Uh, is this Peter Hayes?"

"Yes," I drawl out. Who is this?

"I'm Tori from the Chicago Hospital, and one of our patients phones was recovered. His 'in-case-of-an-emergency' contact was you," she says in a cautiously friendly way.

I rub a hand against my forehead, pushing my hair back against my skull.

"Who's the patient?" I ask.

"He was Eric-" she begins.

"Was?" I interrupt. "Why are you calling me, again? We aren't friends."

She sighs into the phone, and another phone ringing can be heard from her end of the line. It must be a busy day for her, not that I care.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, sir. Do you know anyone we can contact to put together funeral arrangements for him and sign off on some paperwork?" she asks, all happiness seeping out of her tone and giving way to her tiredness.

I clench my jaw. "No, I don't." I angrily slam my phone down on the table after hanging up the call abruptly.

Lauren hops off the counter and moves towards me, staying only an inch away. A look of questioning is on her face, lined in her mouth especially.

"Who was that? What's going on?" she asks.

I put a hand on her elbow in an attempt to keep her calm and steady. "The hospital. Eric's dead."

For only four words, the effect is pretty big. She stares just below my eyes and looks lost in thought. Suddenly, though, she snaps back and puts a hand on my jaw. I watch her, frozen, unsure of what she's going to do next.

She sighs. "I sort of figured that was coming."

"I'm surprised he made it to the hospital," I say.

"Well, I'm just happy he's gone and you're here," she says running her hand down my arm.

I wrap my arm around her waist and bury my head into her hair. "I love you, Lauren." The words feel strange coming from my mouth for the first time.

"Ditto me, Peter," Lauren says, and I feel the smile grow on her face.

I move my other hand down to Lauren's waist and hold the hem of her shirt in the tips of my fingers. She moves her hands so they wrap around my neck. Her mouth hits mine, and she starts kissing me. I start kissing back and she jumps up, wrapping her legs around me. I push her back against the nearest wall.

My hands start to trail up her shirt and I slide it over her head, discarding it to the side. Her hands tangle in my hair as our lips crash into one another's. I carry her towards our new bedroom and flop us down onto the bed. She rips off my shirt, and that's when I snap back into reality. I lay beside her, breathing erratically with my chest moving up and down.

She grabs hold of my shirt again and pulls it over her head. She leans in one last time and kisses my nose delicately, unlike the roughness of our previous kiss.

Her cheeks are tinted a light pink that is currently blossoming across her face towards her cheeks. I can feel the tips of my ears doing the same. Her pupils are huge, almost completely blackening her blue irises. She stares into my green ones with so much emotion on her face I can barely comprehend it.

"I love you, Peter," she says, nuzzling up in my chest.

We stay like this for about thirty minutes, me just stroking her arm as she slowly starts to drift off into a peaceful slumber. Before sleep can overtake me, though, I check the clock and decide I still have time to call Tris. She needs to know about Eric.

I don't know why I don't just ask Lauren to tell her, but I don't. Tris will be able to tell Four and Uriah and whoever else it would matter to that Eric is dead. I gradually get up while Lauren stares at me. She watches my every move and motion that I go through to dial Tris's number into my now cracked phone. Stupid temper of mine broke it on the kitchen counter after the hospital call about Eric.

I dial in the numbers to my phone with less fervor than I'm feeling. Within the first ring, she picks up, making me double-check the time. It's nine.

"Tris?" I ask immediately, not wanting Four to answer her phone and hang up on me.

"Yes…" Tris says slowly. "Who's this?" she asks with suspicion lacing her voice.

"It's Peter," I tell her almost begrudgingly. I feel like my name is dirty when I talk to her, and like I'm worth something when I'm with Lauren.

"Oh," she says. It's a simple word, but there's so much history behind it.

"I got a call from the hospital today, since apparently I was listed as Eric's ICE number. He's dead." My voice sounds cold, even to me. I can see Lauren stiffen a bit out of the corner of my eye. I shoot her a compassionate look.

"Th-thanks for telling me," she says, her voice breaking.

"I'm sorry, Tris," I tell her. I mean the words.

A/N: Do you guys like Peter and Lauren being a couple? Are you glad Eric's (finally) out of the picture? Remember to pretty please review! :)