Thank you yet again for all the reviews and feedback!
I know some of you are a bit wary of Eric because of the way he behaved, but I am trying to obviously keep him in character to make it more realistic. Don't worry, he won't be like that for long. I got this, I got this ;)
His heart stops. His breath hitches. What he is witnessing cannot possibly be real.
Four stumbles away from the monitor in the control room, not able to tear his eyes away from the screen. The picture is slightly distorted but everything that is happening is pretty clear.
His hot blood rushes up to his face as Eric looks up and locks eyes with him through the monitor, shooting him a smile. No. No he fucking didn't.
Without any hesitation at all, he turns around and storms out of the room, sprinting through the first corridor.
This has gone out of hand. Eric cannot be a man with self-respect if he abuses somebody as innocent as Tris to get to his absolute worst enemy. Four scowls under his breath as he jogs down a flight of stairs. It's his fault. He shouldn't have shown any sort of affection towards her.
His hand lingering on the small of her back. Picking her first to be on his team. Giving her compliments. Four knew that he was being more than an instructor. And Eric noticed that.
It's all his fault.
His anger only increases as he approaches the training room. His eyes are as wild as the Dauntless flame.
Eric steps out of the room, looking smug. Oh, he could kill him.
Four gets to the door faster than lightning and grabs hold of Eric's shoulder, "You have crossed the line."
"Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me." Eric growls, shoving his hand away from him.
There is a small cough in the room, catching Four's attention. He looks through the door frame to see the petite figure that belongs to Tris standing up, her arms wrapping around her waist. She looks helpless. All the confidence she has been building up washes away in an instant. No. It was taken from her. By that fucking prick.
Eric raises one eyebrow before walking past Four, clenching his jaw.
"This is not over," Four says before jogging into the training room. It seems like she is too far away. That he will never get to her on time. But he does. Once Tris sees him, she clutches her neck, limping towards him.
"Eric-"
"I know," he says, scooping her up into his arms. Then he sighs and steps away. He is a leader. That is all.
"Why would he-"
"We need to put some ice on that," he soothes, rubbing his thumb across her chin. Tris widens her eyes and then takes a deep breath. And closes them.
She has no idea what is going on. This feud between him and Eric is a strictly hidden secret. As much as Four appreciates that she deserves an explanation, it would probably sound childish.
They are grown men. And they fight constantly. Over something that happened long ago. But everything Eric does to this day shoves him closer and closer to the edge. He is the one who introduced the rules of being cut. He is the one who is always unnecessarily ruthless. As if every person he has met has done something bad to him.
He probably has psychological problems.
Tris catches her breath and wipes away the last moisture left on her face. Four is tempted to touch her again. To brush a strand of hair behind her ear. But he can't. Maybe by showing Eric that he doesn't care will stop him from taking his anger out on her.
"Come on," he whispers, patting her back and leading her out of the room, towards his apartment.
SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH
Tris presses the bag of frozen peas to her chin, wincing slightly. The events of today have her in slight shock. A leader can't do that. It's unspoken of. It's illegal.
She was brought to Four's apartment after the fight. He gave her water, he gave her ice and he even washed out her wounds. There weren't many of them. She only has a bruised chin and battered knuckles. She can't help but feel that Eric was holding back. If he wanted to hurt her, he would have. It was mostly fear that has clouded her judgement. She was in too much shock to fight properly. And every touch from him felt like a knife grazing against her skin. It probably didn't hurt more than her fight with Molly.
"Here," Four says, handing her another glass of water.
"Thank you," she manages a smile.
When he sits next to her on his bed, she takes a slow sip. Her throat aches as she swallows, but she shakes it off quickly.
After a long silence, she eyes her instructor, "I know he is not allowed to fight with initiates."
Four releases a somber sigh and turns his head to look at her, "Look, I know you want to report this. But it would be better if you let it go."
"How can you say that?" she puts down her glass and frowns, "Is everything allowed here at Dauntless? Even spontaneous attacks?"
"Tris," his voice warns, "I will take care of it. I work with him. I can do this for you. It's all on the security footage. You just have to keep this to yourself."
"Why?!" there is something he is not telling her. It is illegal. She has every right to press charges. It can get Eric suspended from leadership. But why can't she tell anyone? Does Four actually want Eric to remain here? This is his chance, why isn't he taking it?
"I think you have bigger problems to concentrate on right now," he says, chewing on his bottom lip. He's right. Staying at Dauntless. That should be her priority.
A bit of Fourtris for you in this chapter.
What do you think? Why would Four want to prevent Tris from pressing charges? Ahh review! :)