Chapter 12: Decisions

"Wait a minute," Myra whispered. "Did you tell Mrs. Rodriguez?"

"That what," I questioned in the employee room before we started work. "That I suspect Elsa is sending me stupid text messages because I got the guy and she didn't?"

Whoever Eric had called that night we came back from Candor to request a trace on my phone came up empty. It was a disposable cell phone and it shows that the text on Monday night came from a different number than the one on Thursday night. A couple guys came over to Eric's place that Monday night also and swept the area for 'bugs'. I finally remembered exactly the type of family that Eric had. His Aunt was the leader of a criminal organization. I shifted uncertainly as the two men started to go through my things. They found something on my keys.

"It's really simple actually," the guy known as Brandon told me. "This slides right onto the key. It's small and goes unnoticed. But what it does is pretty intricate," he put an electronic tablet on Eric's counter. "This is when you've used the key. It records all of that data."

"They'll know when I've unlocked a door," I looked at them confused.

Eric came closer to me and wrapped his around my waist. "They'll know when you're at home and when you're leaving."

The look on my face must have been pure panic because Eric brought me in closer and kissed my forehead.

"Do you think its Marcus," he asked the two guys.

"He's in jail right now but I wouldn't put it past him to send one of his goons on her, like the ones who attacked her outside of her class." I had forgotten about that incident. These two guys must have been part of that group who came to my rescue. "Any one of them could have slipped that shield on her key. As far as the texts goes, it could be him. It could be her workmate," the second guy Owen stated. "Whoever it is has covered their tracks."

"That doesn't really help us," Eric snarled.

One of the guys took a step back but the other remained unflinching. "Eric, it might time to consider coming back to the Center. We could protect her there and you'd have..."

"No," Eric shouted, tightening his grip on me. I winced and he lifted my chin to offer me an apologetic smile. I nodded once and buried my face in his chest. "I got out for a reason and I'm not going back. I won't do that to Ana." His hand rubbed my back soothingly and I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent, allowing him to comfort me.

"Either Max or myself will keep the trace open on her phone and let you know anything," Brandon offered. "In other words..."

"She'll only speak to you, Owen or Max. I understand how this goes," Eric's voice was threatening. But instead of being scared I felt comforted, comforted in the fact that he was willing to protect me at all costs. It was more than just about the silly text messages I was getting. There were other things too.

"I still believe her safety would be better left in our hands if..."

"Out of the question," he continued to shut them down.

"Max knows where we could keep her. This isn't..."

"Keep her?! She isn't some toy that is kept around at the Center for the boys to play with every now and then!"

"Nobody said she was."

"This is final. I'm not putting her through any of that and I'm not going back!"

"Just think on it, Eric. You can handle some jealous workmate on your own but Marcus," Brandon sighed. "You'll need us and you know where to find us."

After remembering my attack from Mr. Marcus and his two assistants and then the other from outside my school, I wasn't sure if it was Elsa who had been texting me. It sounded too elaborate for a jealous witch over some petty one night stand to cause this much havoc on my life. Although when telling Myra about the whole texting incident, she believed it was Elsa too because of the things Elsa had said to me.

"She's suspended now and it seems a bit heartless if I tell on her, like I'm some tattle tale or gossip back in high school," I shook my head.

"She's going to think that she won."

"No," I answered. "If I broke up with Eric then that's when she'll think she won. I'm still with him and as far as I can tell, neither of us are going to go anywhere far from each other anytime soon."

"Ana?"

"Yes," I turned around to see Elena walk in.

"There's a guy out there, says he's your brother."

"My brother," I repeated in a confused manner. "My brothers live in Amity. They would have alerted me if they were coming here. Are you sure," I began to walk outside and just as I opened the door, I closed it again.

"Well is that your brother or not," Elena demanded. "You know how Brandon is about us goofing around with guys, especially since our supervisor recently got suspended."

"Brandon is only that way with you because you do more than goof around with the guys who come here," Myra retorted. "We're supposed to cash their checks not get their phone numbers."

"Whatever," she said. "Either handle it or don't. I don't really care," she walked out.

"What is it," Myra asked standing up and walking over.

"I just realized that Brandon is the same guy that was at Eric's house last night. And the guy who claimed to be my brother is Owen, the other guy who was there last night," I explained.

"Brandon, our loan officer, is friends with Eric Coulter?"

"Myra," I took her hand, pleading with her.

"I won't say anything," she shook her head as though she had read my mind.

I didn't want news to get out that Brandon was involved in crime. Although the more I thought about it, I should have turned him in because he is working as a loan officer at a Bank. But something told me that if I messed with him, they'd probably take it out on Eric and that was the last thing that I wanted. I walked out to see Brandon and Owen talking casually, sitting at Brandon's desk. When Owen spotted me he stood and smiled as though we were family.

"Sister," he smiled before giving me a brief hug and then motioned for me to sit.

"Oh Ana," Brandon turned with a surprise tone in his voice, "I was just catching up with your brother."

I nodded and slowly went to sit down in the chair next to Owen.

"I knew you wouldn't recognize me when I showed up at Eric's," Brandon whispered. "I wasn't exactly dressed like how I was now."

"You work for his Aunt," I questioned looking him in the eyes. He nodded once and then tipped his head towards a camera. "Is this about my phone trace," I asked keeping my head turned so that no one could read my lips.

"I found something at your apartment," Owen spoke. "Now don't be mad," he moved to grab my hand in his as though everything were normal. "Eric asked me to go there and just get on some things," he nodded. "I got you a new phone, office-like, instead of that old crap you had. You have a new house number. Eric said he'll talk to you about changing your cell phone later. You might as well update that too and get a newer version. This isn't Bedrock." I rolled my eyes. "I also got this is for you," he took out a pretty package with tissue paper. "Pretend to be happy," he whispered and I threw my arms around his neck.

"Oh brother, thank you," I said in a loud, excited voice.

"Overplaying it don't you think," Brandon mumbled.

"You two are the ones being all secretive," I narrowed my eyes at him before looking in the bag. "A key," I took it out.

"I changed the locks and even created one for the landlord, so she won't even notice the change. Now I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told Eric, this," he motioned to the key, "is only a temporary fix. I can't do much for you or for him, despite the fact that he is our friend. There are a lot of resources available to him and ready for use should he want to come back to his Aunt. The only problem is that he won't do that because he has you."

I looked up and stared back at Owen. "What are you saying?"

"Look, a lot of us want a normal life but not all of us can get out of it as easily as Eric did. Most of it is because our boss just happens to be his Aunt," Brandon answered. "A lot of us were young, willing and naive when we joined. Eric was born into it, raised for it, nurtured and groomed to be the next leader but he didn't want it. He wanted a normal life and he got it. He got you."

"So you want me to leave him," I asked.

"No, we want you to convince him to come back," Owen replied.

"Eric won't," I shook my head.

"Camera," Brandon muttered when I turned. I shifted and put on a smile as though we were talking about everyday things instead of trying to convince my boyfriend to start up a life of crime. "You will get more protection from us, from the Center," he clarified. "That only happens if Eric comes back."

"Don't you want to be safe," asked Owen.

"Of course I..."

"Eric will do anything to keep you safe," he interrupted. "If you just cry to him and explain that you need to feel safe then he'll do whatever means necessary to keep you feeling that way. I saw it last night. Brandon saw it," he gestured to our loan officer who I was pretty sure got this job as some sort of cover for what he really was. "His Aunt will welcome him back with open arms. She'll bring you under her protection. You won't have to worry about text messages or keeping your door locked at night. All Eric has to do is..."

"Return to a life of crime," I finished.

"Well..."

"Well nothing," I looked at Brandon. "Eric won't go back. He doesn't want to. He told me that he wouldn't."

"And you believe him? If things get questionable, he'll come back to his Aunt because he wants you safe."

"And he's kept me safe."

"But for how long? It's only a matter of time before something happens and he'll run out of options. Do you really trust him that much?"

I shook my head and stood up slowly. "Eric knows about you changing the locks but he doesn't know about this proposition does he?"

"He wouldn't hear us out last night," Owen answered honestly. "So we decided that we give you a try. I wanted to paint a horrible picture about the type of life that Eric used to lead but," he shrugged.

"And I opted for making you scared about your situation but obviously that didn't help either," Brandon added. "I've seen you around here, Ana. You're a smart girl, think about it."

"And you two call yourselves his friend," I said as I hugged Owen. "Eric has been honest with me from the beginning," I pulled away and stood up. "I know that he may not have been squeaky clean considering the things that he told me his Aunt is involved in but he is attentive and understanding. He's patient and kind and that to me makes him reliable in my book. And as for my situation, as scary as it has been, Eric has been there for me. I'm not going to make him do anything he doesn't want to. I trust him to make the decision that he wants to. I won't force his hand. Brother," I nodded to him and then turned to leave.

I was a little shaky when I returned to work and Myra asked if I was okay but I just nodded and let it go.

"Are you sure," she asked.

"Myra, I'm okay. Brandon is just," I shook my head. "He questioned my boyfriend's ability to keep me safe."

"Does he not know that Eric has saved you more than once already," Myra said in a sarcastic tone.

"Exactly. Eric has been there for me. They want me to make him do something that he doesn't want to do all in the duty of keeping me safe. I can't do that to Eric, I won't."

After work Eric called to ask if I had gotten the key from Owen. He apologized for sending Owen over without consulting me but he figured that it would be best for him to do that while I was at work. It was obvious that he didn't know that his two friends wanted to bring him back to a life of crime by talking to me. After all that Eric had done for me there was no way that I was going to turn my back on him. If he wanted to go back to his Aunt, then he could. But I wasn't going to influence his decision. He deserved that much and more from me.

That night to my disappointment I didn't get to see Eric or sleep over at his place. I had his key and I could have gone but I wanted to check on things in my apartment. Sure enough, the locks were changed, the phone was new and there was even an emergency keypad installed. Certain numbers on the keypad would lock the windows, send a signal to the police, dial Eric's phone or even contact the Center.

The next day to my amazement, I had been scheduled to work up until the lunch hour. The new temporary teller would be coming in to fill the rest of the day and I was glad that I had an afternoon to relax after yesterday's events. I was about to take lunch with Myra before she had to go back to work but instead asked if she could drive me to Eric's office. We brought lunch at a nearby lunch wagon, something that I remember Eric talking about, before I had her drop me off.

"Hey," Dillon stood up from his chair excitedly. "What have you been up to," he wrapped me in a huge hug before releasing me and sitting back down. "I feel like we haven't talked in ages. Are you coming over this weekend?"

I sighed. "I forgot about it," I looked away.

"Do you have other plans," he tilted his head.

"No but I didn't ask my boyfriend if he wouldn't mind having dinner with my cousin," I sat down in a chair he pulled from the desk next to him.

"Well you could always tell him now. I'm uh," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry about last weekend," he scratched the back of his neck.

"What about last weekend," I asked playing a bit dumb.

Dillon blinked at me in confusion. "Eric didn't tell you? Well we went on a business trip and the company we met," he shook his head and tried to sit comfortably in his chair. "The company owners often treat us dinner, pay for our rooms, and take us to games or something like that. They try to get on our good side. Anyway, they offered to take us to a strip club," he said the last part quietly. "And uh, I was in debate about going."

I wanted to hit him, I really did. My own cousin who just started dating, who knew how I would have felt about that sort of thing was thinking about going to see naked girls dance. "You were in debate," I narrowed my eyes.

"The thing was that Lauren and I went together once to a strip club. I mean the girls weren't on stage completely in the nude but they were dancing on the pole and only in..."

"I think I got it," I put my hand up to quiet him from giving me intimate details about looking at some other girl.

"And while Lauren didn't really care that we were there. I think most of it was because she was with me and I wasn't the one getting a lap dance, it was Taylor," he began. "The food was good there too. She even said that. But this past weekend she wasn't there with me and to tell you the truth, I sort of wanted to go. And I told Eric that if he went then I would go too."

"You told my boyfriend what," I looked at Dillon.

"That is if he went then I would go too. At least we'd look out for each other you know? If things got too questionable then we would leave together."

"That's kind of stupid."

"It's the same thing Lauren told me." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Anyway, Eric told me that it be best if we not go at all that way we wouldn't be tempted. And I couldn't help but think that here I am trying to convince my little cousin's boyfriend to come to a strip club with me so if I get in trouble at least he'll get in trouble too. I don't know," he shrugged. "It was pretty stupid thinking. In the end I'm glad we didn't go. The owners were kind of sketchy."

"Sketchy owners and you still wanted to go," I rolled my eyes.

"What can I say," he opened his arms wide. "I am a guy and I had a small moment of weakness. I came clean with Lauren that part of me wanted to go. And after she yelled at me, threw things at me and finally calmed down she forgave me for wanting to look. And then she reminded me quite pointedly that if I ever did touch, she'd cut off my manly parts and feed them to her dog."

I started laughing and then paused when I noticed Taylor move his chair around to look at us.

"But she also told me to apologize to you because I could have possibly got your boyfriend in trouble with you. Which by the way," he sat up straighter, "He didn't want to go and tried calling you all night. I asked him about it yesterday and he said that you were out celebrating with friends because it was the last day of class."

I was kind of shocked that Eric lied and didn't tell Dillon about what happened. Something told me that he was leaving it up to me to inform my cousins about it. And truth be told, I didn't want to. I had already told Myra mostly because I had a feeling that it was Elsa. But other than that I didn't feel the need to tell Dillon or Peter about this. Hec already knew as well because he was with me when I got the text. But I was kind of tired of everyone knowing about the drama in my life. I had to stop with the pity party that I was creating for myself. Maybe I had a right to - especially after what I had been through. But if I really wanted independence then I had to start relying on my own strength.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I passed all my classes and I'm looking forward to the next semester which does not start until mid-January, so I'm pretty excited about that."

"I'm proud of you Ana. You should have called Lauren. I'm sure she would have wanted to go with you. Girl's night," Dillon shrugged.

"I'll remember that," I smiled. "I haven't really had a girl's night out."

"You've been working hard lately. You deserve one. Anyway, give me the grub," he pointed to the package.

"Oh sorry," I stood up, shaking my head. "This is actually for my boyfriend."

Taylor and Adam started to laugh, causing my head and Dillon's to turn in their direction. Adam almost fell off of his chair but didn't. They began teasing Dillon and I sort of felt bad for him. I offered to give him the extra bag of chips that I had but he declined it and said that this weekend I had to bring beer or something along those lines to make up for it. I pushed away Adam's hand when he said that he would take the chips instead and walked over to Eric's office door.

"Come in, Ana," his voice called just as I lifted my hand to knock.

For a moment, I wondered how he knew it was me and then I remembered that he mentioned he would sometimes watch me on the camera when I came into the building.

"You know," I opened it and walked it, "I don't take kindly to people stalking me," I smiled seeing him typing away at his computer.

Eric glanced up at me and smirked. He moved some things on a nearby chair, pulling it closer to his and motioned for me to sit. "To what do I owe this pleasure," he asked.

"I brought you lunch. Well, technically it's almost one in the afternoon."

"I know," Eric sighed before giving me a quick kiss and then turning to his work. "I just wanted to finish this last write up for the Erudite factory and got a little carried away."

"So your company is really going to buy the factory in Erudite," I asked.

"Mm," he hummed in agreement and continued working.

"Does that ever mean that you might move there?"

Eric stopped typing and turned to look over at me. Please say no, I pleaded in my mind. I don't know if I could take it if he moved away. I had just gotten him. He moved himself away from the keyboard and swiveled in the chair until he was facing me. Leaning forward he took my two hands in his.

"Whoever is assigned to the factory there would get a huge promotion," he gulped as if thinking about something. "I want it. I feel that I've worked hard enough for this company but then again so do a few other supervisors around here. I have some competition. They know that I could manage that factory and its employees as well as the other supervisors could. No one has been told anything yet and I think that's why I want to finish all the details and finalize proposals."

"You want the promotion. That's understandable," I nodded, seeing the same drive and ambition that I saw in Cain. But there was also a different light in Eric's eyes.

"I have been considering how this would affect you a lot lately, especially with the possible promotion. I," Eric cleared his throat. "I wouldn't be moving there right away if they choose me. They'd station me and a few supervisors up there to oversee the work for a week or so at a time. And after being away from you for one night, I know that things will take a lot of trust in one another should I be gone for a week or longer. The obvious solution would be for you to come with me when things get permanent over there, at least," he rubbed my hands together with his, "that's what I want."

I opened my mouth to protest but Eric placed two fingers gently on my lips.

"It's too soon," he stated. "I know," Eric chuckled. "I imagined how this discussion would go, how you'd respond. I know that it might too soon for us to talk about moving."

"We've only been dating for a month."

"I like to think that we've been dating longer," Eric replied causing me to smile and shake my head at him. "To be completely honest with you Ana, I don't want to lose you and at the same time I don't want to lose this promotion. You mean a lot to me, no matter how long we've been dating. And this promotion," he sighed again, "I'm turning thirty next year. I don't want to be stuck in the same spot for the rest of my life, like no offense," he looked towards the door, "like Taylor and Adam."

My face brightened at the mention of them. "So if you wanted the promotion and they didn't, why were they on the trip?"

"They're going to make a new team down there. We're going through the employees that they have to see who to keep but we're also putting in a few from here and if they pick me, Dillon is part of the team. Taylor and Adam were asked but they don't want to go. They're," he rolled his eyes, "comfortable, at least that's what they said."

"Dillon is going to move, too?"

"If he takes it, which more than likely would happen. He is from Erudite and from what I heard, his family is still there."

I nodded. "My Uncle passed away a couple years ago."

"He probably wants to be close to his mom," Eric agreed. "I can't say I understand how he feels though. I mean my mother lives here but she hardly ever wants to spend time with me. She goes to Erudite to see her sister but not her daughter. You see my sister lives in Erudite and when my sister comes to Dauntless, our mom just doesn't want to get together with us," he shrugged. "I guess for me I'd rather be by my sister than my mother at the moment."

"When would you know for sure if you need to move," I asked sensing that he wanted to get off the topic of his mother. She had cancelled plans for Christmas as well a few days back and he was upset about that too.

"They'll probably let us know in a month or so about who is up for consideration," he explained. "They want a team down there by the Spring, at least that's when they're projecting that the buyout should be completed. They're going to give the current owners some time to situate themselves."

"That's fairly generous of your company."

"It is and I'm kind of surprised about it," he nodded. "They're hoping to re-open everything by the Fall that way majority of the people will have work through the Winter. That means that sometime around September, I'll need to be living there if I'm promoted." Eric continued to hold onto my hands and looked intently at me.

"I can't decide right now Eric," I answered. "But I will give you my decision before then."

"Even if," he pulled me into his lap, "you decide not to move, this doesn't need to end." Eric held my face near to his, "I am still going to want you."

I stayed with Eric for the next hour as he ate his lunch and showed me a few things that he was working on. The project looked huge and I couldn't help but think that Eric was taking on a major responsibility. Part of me could see another difference in Eric wanting this promotion. Cain had gotten his job because his Father had made a few calls to certain friends to get it for him. I could see how hard Eric had worked to get to where he was. The more I thought about it the more I could see how driven he was, not to become the next business heir tycoon like Cain. It was so that he could become a better person, someone he thought was worthy in his own eyes. If he wanted prestige through manipulation, he could have contacted his Aunt to get him the connections but he chose instead to do it for himself and it made me smile.

"What," Eric asked with a small smile on his face.

"I'm proud of you. You work hard," I leaned over and kissed his cheek. I pulled back just in time to see something flash on his computer. I glanced over and gasped. "Is that us in Candor?"

Eric hummed in approval as he went to click the mouse.

"No, leave it," I grabbed his hand and smiled up at him.

He smiled back and gave me a gentle kiss. "You're on the desktop too."

"What," I asked in delight as I let go his hand.

He moved the mouse to shut off the screensaver of the two of us and then closed the windows on the computer to show the other picture the two of us had taken during Thanksgiving. He had both arms wrapped around me and was trying to kiss me but I had shyly turned away just as the picture took. We both had those silly smiles that said we were lost in the moment and caught up in the bliss of being with one another. It was a beautiful shot that showed how much we were into one another. I could see why he kept it on his computer.

"I forgot about this picture," I replied softly.

"I never did," he added nuzzling into my neck.

"I should get going. I stayed pretty long," I attempted to get up but he pulled me into his lap.

"Thank you," he whispered before kissing me gently. "For bringing me lunch," another kiss was placed on my lips. "For not dismissing my desire to want this promotion," I received another kiss. "For spending this time with me, hearing my concerns and thinking about our future," one final deep kiss that caused me to moan and Eric's tongue to slip into my mouth.

Our bodies were pressed together much like they had been when I straddled him when we were at his place or mine. My fingers were gripping onto his hair and his brushed up the back of my shirt as if we were trying to get closer. Our kissing grew intense and I desperately attempted to match his movements. Suddenly his hands came around my butt and squeezed until I felt him stand. My legs wrapped around him until I was placed to sit on his desk. Eric's hands slowly massaged my thigh the same way his tongue and lips did to my mouth.

There was a beep on his desk behind me and either I pressed a button by accident or his phone was going off. I tried to pull away. He placed one hand behind my back, choosing to ignore the phone and urging me to continue.

"Your phone," I mumbled.

"It can wait," he replied, biting my lower lip. "I missed you last night."

And I had missed him too. It felt weird sleeping in my own bed without his arms around me. I had gotten so used to it. At the same time I didn't want to be completely dependent on sleeping in my boyfriend's arms. This time Jane's voice came over the intercom and Eric continued his assault on me until I placed my hand on top of his chest. He pulled away and I looked up to see him smiling down at me.

"What," he growled turning to the phone.

"There's a package here for you."

"I'll come out and get it later," he turned back to me.

"They're saying that it needs to be delivered to you personally." There was a slight noise and I could tell that Jane muffled her voice. "Security is on their way and Dillon is trying to get him out of the building. Apparently it is from a Mr. Marcus Eaton."

I froze and Eric noticed. He leaned down to cup my cheek and kissed my forehead. "It's going to be okay. Stay in here until I sort this out." My hand reached out and grabbed his shirt. I looked up, desperately telling him not to leave. "Ana, I'll be right back," he kissed me gently before freeing himself and walking out of his office.

Not even a few seconds later, Dillon was walking in. I jumped off the desk and ran straight into him.

"It's not him."

"It might as well be him," my voice muffled by being so tightly embraced in my cousin's arms.

Eric never told me what the package was. He only said that he was calling the Police and had them meet us at my apartment. Two police officers removed a suspicious package at the front of my door along with a note that said: No lock can keep me out - M

Detective Hanna - my supposed undercover boss from the Pit - arrived on the scene as well and took Eric's statement about his package.

"I'm doing things the right way this time," Eric told her before she left. "Prove to me that my faith isn't misplaced."

I knew what he was talking and from the look on her face she knew as well. Eric could have easily gone to his Aunt to have him take care of this situation. Instead of doing that - knowing that that would pit him in a situation where his Aunt would ask for him to return - he went to the Police. She gave Eric a nod and once again pulled me on the side to give me a talk about the type of people I keep company with. Mr. Marcus still had some time left in jail so I wasn't too worried and the fact that Eric's 'friends' were helping also made things a little bit better for me. Eric wasn't having us sleep apart. I wanted to protest - actually I did protest, quite profusely.

"I'm not taking something away from you," he countered once we were back at his place. "I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Eric, I don't want to become dependent on another guy. I want to be able to handle myself. What is going to happen when you decide to leave? How am I going to handle things once I am all alone again?"

"Why do you keep doing that? Why do you insist that something bad is going to happen between us?"

I sighed and looked away. We both were quiet for a moment until I felt Eric's arms wrap around me.

"Ana, look at me," his voice was gentle this time. I turned my head but didn't meet his gaze. His hand lifted my chin slowly until our eyes met.

"I know you keep saying it Eric. I should be able to put it in the past but I," my eyes closed and I leaned further into Eric. "I hate that I'm suspicious. I hate that I'm putting you through this. It's going to be difficult being with me and you don't deserve that. You..."

"Sh," he whispered and lifted my head away from his chest. "Can I ask you a question?" I nodded. "Why did you bring me lunch?"

"Because I," pulling away from him, I shook my head. "Did you not want me to bring something for you?"

"Don't over analyze my question," he put up a hand to touch my cheek, "just answer it."

"I wanted to do something nice for you," I shrugged now uncertain about visiting him. Maybe he didn't want me there.

"Don't over analyze it, I just said," he shook his head and then pulled me back to him. "Why did you do it, Ana?"

"I wanted, I wanted to be romantic I guess."

"You guess," he questioned. "No Ana," he shook his head. "Tell me honestly what you were feeling, what you were thinking."

Taking a deep breath, I began to think about earlier this afternoon. "I wanted to show you that I was thinking about you because I was. They gave me the rest of the day off for some reason and I thought it be nice to stop by and surprise you and see how you were. I didn't see you last night and I missed you too. I just wanted to see you, spend time with you, and talk about your day. I hoped that you would be happy to see me," I smiled and he smiled back. "Isn't that what girlfriends do? They do things to make their boyfriends happy," I shrugged and looked back down.

Eric lifted my face up again. "And I was happy to see you there," he smiled gently before kissing my forehead. "In case you don't remember, I did call it a pleasure to see you. Not only that but you did get food from my favorite lunch wagon and showed up for me, actually showed up."

"It was just a little thing."

"It was more than that. I like that you took the initiative to show me that you cared. Did you realize that in that moment that you decided your afternoon was better spent getting me lunch and eating with me in my office that you had confidence in not just our relationship but in yourself? You did that not because you were suspicious or frustrating me, questioning me or even being frightened. No," he shook his head, "you did it just because you wanted to make me happy."

Eric kissed my cheek and then pressed his lips to mine softly.

"Ana, it wasn't just a little thing that you did. It meant a lot to me. And I want more of that and I know that you can give more of yourself. And that whole staying with each other thing," he pressed another soft kiss to my lips. "You're not going to get dependent on me just because I ask you to stay with me or for me to stay with you. I'm just letting you know that you always have me to fall back on, to support you." He brought me into a gentle hug. "Keep doing the little things Ana and I know that you'll have confidence in everything else, I believe in you."

My eyes opened as I wrapped my arms around Eric's waist and pulled us closer together. I had realized what he had been saying all along. I had to learn to appreciate the little things that I was doing. He certainly did. I had an idea and I went with it because I knew that I missed him, I wanted to see him and that he would have wanted to see me too.

I told his friends that I wouldn't force him to decide. I had put that trust in him without him even knowing it and in the end he did call the Police instead of his Aunt. I knew he didn't want to be a part of his Aunt's crime organization and I didn't make that choice for him by letting my fears get in the way then. Why was I going to start doubting him now?

Before I could tell Eric anything, he pulled back and smiled down at me. "If you want, I can take you back home. Just know that I won't be pleased about it."

I shook my head. "No, I want to stay with you," I leaned up to give him a kiss.

We spent the rest of the week with either me at Eric's apartment or Eric coming to mine. One night I finished work early from the Pit and got dropped off by Hec at my apartment. Eric was still working late but promised he would be on his way there. Just as I got out of the shower my phone rang to let me know that Eric was outside. We spent that night making out and touching one another on my couch. It never got carried too far and part of me was glad about that.

There were nights where we went to the gym, others where we stayed in his place and Eric showed me a few things on the punching bag. It always ended with Eric trying to steal kisses in between punches. I had never felt this light before.

"Mm," he pulled away one night that he and I were wrestling on the mat in his place. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me again before pulling us both off the floor. "You're just, I don't know," he shrugged and then brought me into a hug. "You've been more cheerful. I don't know how to explain it but, you seem to be free."

"I am," I answered. "It's like you told me earlier to find the little things in life that we do for each other and I did. And I ran with it," I let out a small laugh. "There's a certain freedom in not being anxious. I realized that it wasn't just me trusting you. I had to trust myself too. And I feel that way when I'm with you."

"Good. I just want you to feel the same way I feel about you," he kissed me before taking my hand and walking me out of his exercise room.

Christmas at Dillon's place was rather loud and annoying. As always, Taylor and Adam had gotten pretty drunk. Adam picked up one of the girls that worked at the Pit with us and they had left the party together. Of course they didn't make it far because as Dillon was helping me carry down a few gifts to Eric's car we spotted Adam and the girl in his car.

"I almost want to go over there and shine a flashlight at them pretending to be the Police," Eric joked causing Dillon to look at him questionably.

"He's changing," Dillon had told me earlier.

"What," I asked.

"He's more relaxed now," my cousin answered. "I think you made him fun."

"Eric was always fun."

"No," Dillon shook his head. "It's different now."

Looking at Dillon and then at Eric as he contemplated playing a prank on one of his employees made me smile. I guess Eric was becoming lighter as well. He could see that I was letting go of certain things. Before we came to the dinner, I was looking at myself in the mirror and smiling at the new dress. I still didn't think that I was gorgeous but I felt beautiful. And I remember that Eric had said that it is all about how you feel. I looked over my shoulder to see him scandalously checking me out before he walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed a kiss to my shoulder.

"You look wonderful tonight," he whispered.

"As do you," I turned around and ran my hands over his button down shirt. Slowly my fingers ran down his chest, playing with the buttons every now and then. Meanwhile Eric's fingers traced circles along with elbow. I went back up to his shoulders and noticed a sigh leave his body. We had to stop soon. I smoothed my hands again before looking up at him. "We'll open gifts when we get back home?"

"Of course," he kissed me and we had left.

He definitely was different now that I thought about it. Dillon placed the gift that his mom and sister had sent over to me as well as a gift he and Lauren decided to give me. It was in an envelope and I knew exactly what was in there. "Merry Christmas," Dillon said as he told me goodbye.

ERIC

My hand that wasn't on the steering wheel held Ana's hand softly. Every now and then I'd give it a squeeze and smile over at her as she did the same. The past two weeks had been chaotic and I wasn't quite sure how she would come out of it fairing. But one look at her smile and I could tell that she was happy. I was starting to have my own doubts about us every time she had that fearful look in her eye. But it hadn't been there since that day Marcus delivered the package.

The package, I thought as I lifted her hand and gave her a gentle kiss. I knew at that moment that the text messages were not connected to Marcus. He had sent me a picture of me and Ana sleeping at her apartment. The police had already looked at the building where I suspected the picture was taken - due to intelligence received while training under Jeanine - and confirmed that it was rented by Marcus Eaton. The text messages were too elaborate to be Ana's workmates and the fact that Brandon or Owen couldn't find anything only left me with one other option. And if it was her that sent those texts then I made a good decision on going to the Police.

"Did you want to open your present at my place or are we going to yours," she asked.

"Why don't we pick up what you got and head over to my place? I got a couple gifts for you there."

She suddenly got excited and turned a little in the chair to face me. "You never did tell me what you thought of the decorations."

Ana surprised me a couple days ago and had got a small tree to put in my apartment. I came home and everything looked amazing. It wasn't overdone in anyway. It wasn't thrown together either with lights hanging carelessly all over the place. The tree sat in a corner by the large windows overlooking the City. A string of lights hung only around the living room along with garland that had white snowflakes in them. A green table cloth was spread out over the table with silver and green napkins. It was as if she had it themed. And I liked that it was different than the usual red and green. She did have a few red ornaments in the tree but it matched the City light's in the back during the night. When we both sat on the couch, looking at the tree and her decorations that framed the window behind it with the City's view I knew that Ana was the one, the only one for me.

"I love it," I smiled at her.

"Do you really," she asked in that shy voice that made her adorable. "Honestly Eric," Ana shifted as much as the seat belt would allow.

"Honestly, it feels like home."