(Divergent does not belong to me, unfortunately)
My alarm goes off and thankfully it does not wake up Tris. I leave a note on the counter letting her know know where I am in case she wakes up. I take a muffin with me as I head to the training room. It feels like it has been years since I have worked out and my muscles are telling me so but I push through. After getting all of the weights out of the way I decide it is time for a run.
I couldn't tell you how long I ran but I run until my body is screaming at me not to run anymore. I grab my things and walk (incredibly slow) to our apartment and when I arrive I find that she is still asleep. I mentally give myself a pat on the back because I know that I am the one that wore her out. I grab my clothes from the closet and hop into the shower to wash the stink of running off of my body.
It takes about about 15 minutes and when I come out dressed and ready she is still sleeping, so I climb up on the bed and and bring my lips to meet hers. Tris' eyes flutter open and she looks at me and yawns, "I'm so sore." I laugh at this and tell her "If you hadn't slept in you could have had a bath and you wouldn't be so sore. Unfortunately you did so you need to get dressed so we can go get some food before your meeting with Max."
Her eyes fly open. "I completely forgot!" she practically yells as she runs to the bathroom. "Can you pick out some clothes for me?" she asks. I do as I'm told and after she is fully clothed we head out to breakfast. We are walking down the corridors hand in hand and I am trying not to cringe from all of the stares but Tris keeps smiling and give my hand a reassuring squeeze.
We get out food and for the first time in the Mess Hall we sit side by side. She leans over and kisses me and then non-chalantly takes a bite of her pancake. I laugh and rub my hand along her spine. Shauna, Zeke, Four and Lauren come to join us and Zeke whistles, "So I hear congratulations are in order you two..." Tris looks at him and says "Yeah, I'm pretty proud of being number one too." Zeke lets out an incredible laugh. "I wasn't talking about that and you know it!" At this I laugh and acknowledge him by nodding my head.
I am getting more and more uncomfortable as breakfast continues. I have never been a PDA kind of guy and it's not that I am not proud that Tris is mine and all of these guys really do need to know that she is indeed mine. I am brought out of a panic by a weird clicking sound in my ear and when my eyes refocus I see that Shauna is snapping at me. "Eric" she says. "Do you need to go talk?" I look up at her. "No." I say. "I am just having a hard time with all of the stares, but I will get over it. We should probably go anyway." I grab her tray and mine and then come back and lift her up from the table and in front of everyone pull her in for a kiss. There are whistles and claps and when we pull apart both of us can hardly breathe. I grad her hand and weave our fingers together and turn to leave the mess hall.
As we are walking down the hall I reach into my pocket and take out a the key that I had made for Tris. "I am going to be working all day and your duties won't begin until Wednesday so you'll need this to get in and out of our apartment." I say while handing her the key. She looks so happy that I find myself smiling as well. Once we get to the leaders offices I give her another kiss and leave in the hall with the other new members and go into my office. I grab my tablet and walk back through the hall into Max's office.
There are 15 minutes left until the meetings are set to begin. "Is there any news about Peter?" I ask Max. "No." he says. "His trial isn't scheduled until next week." I nod my head and take my seat as Tris is lead into the room. "Hello Tris." Max says "How are you feeling today?" She shrugs and says, "I feel okay, my stomach is a little upset and sometimes my mind goes funny, but the nurse says that is normal with the trauma that I have been through."
I feel like my eyes could burn holes into her, how could she not tell me any of this. "That is understandable, but you are one tough cookie and one of the best initiates we have ever seen." Max says. She nods her head. "Thank you." "Now, let's get down to business, as you are well aware as the highest ranked new member you have the opportunity to become a leader. Would you like to accept that offer?" At this Tris looks at me and then looks back at Max. "Yes sir, I would." she says.
Max looks overjoyed. "There are a couple of positions available first is the job of being my assistant. Second is to be the operations leader, that includes making sure everything is running smoothly here at the compound, and last but not least would be the position of Dauntless Liason, which means you would go to the leadership in the other 4 factions and discuss things with them on how to better the city, punishment strategies, and whatever else may come up." Tris takes a minute to comtemplate everything Max has said and then says, "I would like to be your assistant for now but I want to know that there will be other opportunities in the future. Is that a possibility?"
Max smiles broadly at her. "Of course it is." he says. "All of these positions are interchangeable so when someone gets let go or steps down the person in the position below them will step into their spot, it's kind of like the domino effect. Does that make sense?" he asks. "Yes, it does." she says. "Now, about your living quarters. Are you going to need an apartment or do you have somewhere to live already?" he asks with his eyebrow cocked.
"I'm going to live with Eric, but I need to know that the option is there in case something happens." she says. My mouth instantly drops and she shakes her head. "Of course it is Tris." Max says. "We will always make sure you are taken care of, now are there any questions that you might have?" She shakes her head one more time. Max stands up and reaches out his hand and she rises and does the same after they shake Max hands her all of her job materials. "I'll see you on Wednesday Tris, now, can you please send Uriah in?" "Yes sir, thank you." she says and she turns and walks out the door.
The rest of the day goes the same, I end up having lunch in my office so that I can just have a minute of peace to reflect on everything that has happened so far. We get back to it and eventually all of the new members have careers and apartments. At the end of the day I lock up my office and am officially beat so I head back to our apartment hoping to grab Tris for dinner because the two of us really need to talk.
I unlock the door and find that the apartment is completely empty. I turn around and lock the door again and head down to dinner. I am about halway there when my communication device goes off. I make it to Max in record time hoping that it isn't Tris. Unfortunately he tells me that I am needed in the factionless sector for some kind of dispute that is happening down there. I hop in the nearest vehicle and Jeremy tries desperately to talk to me as we drive along and thankfully we make it to where we need to be.
I tell him to keep the vehicle running and turn to walk to the quadrant where the call came from. I am walking down and alley and an eerie feeling comes over me and no matter how hard I try I cannot shake it off. I hear a noise behind me and turn suddenly but there is no one there. I continue walking still unable to shake the feeling when someone grabs me from behind. I am being dragged into a building and am trying to grab my gun but my arms are bound. I feel a stabbing pain in my abdomen and as I am tossed further in the building I feel another one placed into my back. The pain is searing and I finally get my arms free and grab my gun but they are running away. I fire a shot into the air hoping Jeremy or anyone will hear it. I cannot walk and I am getting colder by the second and the last thing I see before the world goes black is Tris' face.