It is extremely hard to write a story on my laptop. Especially when the 't' does not work. I have to put up an on-screen keyboard. How annoying is that? 'T' is in like every other word. Seriously. Just thought I'd share with you all.
Enjoy chapter 5 :)
"You have to stay away from me," Four murmurs, his voice just above a whisper.
Tris shakes her head, eyes glued to the vibrant orange sunset. Everything has been crazy. Not just the initiation, but the new relationships as well. It's impossible to know what Four is thinking. He never shares his secrets, but why would he? He is her instructor.
She has a feeling that what he says does not always come from the heart. He might tell her to stay away, but tomorrow he will probably sit next to her at lunch. Why can't anything at Dauntless be simple?
"What are you talking about?"
"You know," he replies, "You were attacked because of me."
"I wouldn't say attacked," Tris chews on her lip, "I was being trained."
"Are you defending him?"
"No," she says without thinking. He gives her a look, "No. Why-why would I defend him?" Her eyes trickle down to her fingers. She has nearly chewed her nails off, and is now picking at the cuticles.
The warm breeze sways their legs in the air as they sit on the edge of Four's balcony. It's so high up here. At least there is a small black railing to hold on to. Tris leans against it, sighing deeply.
"Listen," Four starts, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, as if a lump is stuck in his throat. A lump that he can't swallow, "It's best to keep you away from this feud. After initiation it will be easier. It won't be illegal to see each other-"
"But we're not seeing each other-"
"Try explaining that to Eric," he scoffs, "As far as he is concerned, you are sleeping with me and I am putting you first on the rankings. So it is best to stay away from me, Tris. It will be over soon," he casts a long glance at her, "Besides, you have bigger things to worry about, don't you?"
Tris bites down on her lip and nods. He is right. People like Eric are stubborn and are out looking for vengeance. When you mix the two together, you have yourself an enemy.
It's just that people like Eric are always hard to stay away from.
SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH
His cold, grey eyes stare straight at her face. They linger on her collarbone before trailing down her body. And then they rise back up.
"Come in, initiate," he purrs, stepping away so she can come in.
His apartment is like any other apartment. Plain. Grey. Full of light. Big windows. No carpets. A small kitchen. And two other doors. Probably leading to the bathroom and bedroom. All that this apartment lacks is a broken wall from which you can jump off the edge like any other Dauntless probably does. There is no balcony either.
Tris walks over to the middle of the room, awkwardly folding her arms. The atmosphere is tranquil, and that is the last thing she expected from a ruthless leader's apartment. She also senses a weak scent of bleach coming off of the floor. This apartment is more Erudite than Dauntless.
"I came here to talk," she says as soon as she hears the lock click near the front door. In just a few seconds, his warmth lingers at her back. She turns around. He is there.
"Need a few more lessons, I'm assuming?"
Tris stops her eyes from rolling and looks down instead, "I came here to talk."
She takes a seat on his black leather couch as he hovers in the kitchen. Why is it so quiet? It's midday, the Dauntless should be screaming their heads off outside. She plays with her fingers as a cold breeze blows at the back of her neck from the window. There is a clinking of glasses on her right. She turns to see Eric pouring a brown liquid of some sort into one glass. Their eyes meet and he clenches his jaw.
"I'm guessing you prefer water," he says, squeezing a cork into the neck of the bottle. Tris nods quickly, "Of course."
A minute later, she holds her glass close to her stomach, trying to remember why she came here in the first place. Quick, make something up. She panics for a brief moment, wondering if Eric is good at reading people who lie. Of course he is. He is Eric. And her luck is never the best.
"Why did you come?" he asks, grabbing a chair and throwing it near her feet before sitting at the edge of it. He is uncomfortably close. And yet, he leans in more, holding his glass in both his hands, a dangerous look on his face. Her eyes shift to his bulging biceps. She swallows a rock.
"Erm," she starts quietly, licking her lips, "I was- I was just wondering-"
"Get to the point, Stiff," he raises his voice, eyebrows knitting together.
She stares at him, slightly afraid for her life. Just like that, the atmosphere changes. The temperature rises. Her face and neck heat up, blood flushing. Eric still looks at her expectantly, brows raises, piercings tugged up. It's too late. She has lost her tongue. She cannot make anything up. And as soon as the realization shows on her face, Eric's features mirror her, a small grin on his lips.
"This is not related to training, is it?" his voice purrs. He leans back in his chair, tossing back the remainder of his alcoholic beverage. He places the glass on the coffee table, "Is this about Four?"
Wow, he is smarter than she thought he would be.
A blush colors her cheeks and she looks down. Her silence seems to aggravate him, "You tell that asshole to stop sending his-"
"He didn't send me," Tris cuts him off, her heart racing in her chest. This seems to take him aback. The anger in his face subsides and he relaxes in his seat, "I just wanted to tell you to stop going after him."
Eric's laugh is as sudden as when you get hit in the face. He throws his head back, all teeth showing. She almost smiles then. But obviously this laugh is fake. It terrifies her to imagine what else he can fake this easily.
"Tris," this is the first time he used her real name is fucking ages, "You shouldn't get involved in things you know nothing about."
"Maybe that's true," she says confidently, "But then you shouldn't get involved with people who are guaranteed to win your war."
His smile drops. His eyes turn cold again. Shouldn't have said that.
She sinks into the couch and raises the glass of water to her lips. She can almost hear her throat squeezing the water into her system as she swallows. The silence before the predator jumps on the pray.
"What did you just say to me?" he stands slowly, towering over her.
Tris puts the glass down, on the couch, on the floor- somewhere. She doesn't notice. Once her eyes stick to his, she cannot break her gaze.
Before she has the chance to reply (which she wouldn't have managed to anyway), Eric leans down and places each hand on either side of her on the couch. If she was having breathing problems before, now was when she would have gone into a cardiac arrest. She holds her breath as his sigh tickles her chin.
"I was beginning to lose my shit with all the Candors we got this year," he whispers, their noses almost touching, "But if you think for a second that letting their attitude rub off on you is a good thing," he grips her chin with his hand roughly, "I'm afraid that you're associating with the wrong crowd."
She speaks before she can stop herself, "Wrong crowd? You tried to kill me!" She shoves at his chest roughly, surprised to find hurt in his eyes. As usual, his soft side disappears before she has the chance to really look at it. The force of her push made him lower his hands. His eyes narrow and he sits next to her instead. Slowly. Cautiously even.
"I wasn't planning on hurting you," he whispers, trailing off at the end of his sentence. He will never apologize. He isn't capable of an apology. Good. What she wants is for him to feel guilty. And maybe her visit will not have gone to waste. Tris turns to look at him, biting her bottom lip.
"Eric," her seductive voice surprises her. He whips his head to look at her, also surprised. This is what she needs to do. By occupying him with another activity, he will stop going after Four. By showing him that she is on his side, maybe he will have enough brains to figure out that he doesn't need to use her as a weapon. Because Eric will think that he is already hurting him. By 'stealing' Tris. He thinks they are sleeping together, right?
Eric leans back on the couch, furrowing his brows slightly. Even Tris is confused. This is not the way to stop a war.
She cannot say anything else. She doesn't know what to say. Her eyes linger on his parted lips. And soon enough, he gets the hint. The corner of his mouth tugs upwards. He leans closer.
Unexpectedly, his hand squeezes her thigh. She gasps softly, still clueless about the whole intimacy thing, "This is why Stiffs shouldn't fuck together. Neither one of the two learns anything."
Tris forces a smile, trying to think like Eric. According to him, she is not a virgin. Since the day her ranks started to go up.
In a split second, his mouth is on hers. She holds her breath, squeezing her eyes shut. The air is still. Her heart stops. Time stops.
Eric sighs, letting hot air shoot across her cheek. You're supposed to breathe?
He kisses her again, pressing into her until her whole head is lying on the top of the couch. She kisses back hesitantly, keeping her hands in her lap. He tastes like alcohol. And smoke. And lots of other things girls like her wouldn't ever come near in their lives.
For a second he pulls back to whisper, "Fuck, you're tense." And then their lips crash together again.
It goes on for what feels like an hour. Her hands end up in his hair. His lips end up on her collarbone. They kiss passionately on the couch until she finally breathes. Until she learns how to let go and be Dauntless and cross out her two fears all in one day.
He is breathless when he pulls away. They stare into each others eyes. His orbs turn hard and cold again.
"You're out of bounds, initiate," his voice full with authority, "You're missing simulation practice."
So for those of you who may still be confused- basically Tris had this plan to go to Eric and make out with him in order for him to think that Four's love gave up on him, and he evidently became the alpha male. Four does not know this. Four and Tris are NOT together. Eric thinks they are. Or WERE.
So there you go. Tris had a plan and she did what she had to do, hoping to achieve her goal (which is for Eric to think he has everything and therefore he can stop hurting Tris in order to let it get to Four). Because obviously why would Eric want to beat her up and shit like that if he thinks she left him, right?
Confusing triangle. Please review :)