I seriously start to regret my life choices when I return back to the office the next day, it's like I'd never left and nothing had ever happened. I return to my desk with Claire seated beside me outside Jeanine's office and everything is the same as I'd left it, my work space completely untouched and still organised to how I like it, the only out of place item was the enormous binder sitting next to my keyboard. I had to read it in order for the mandatory testing of all new initiates of Erudite, there's to be some written exam at the end of my initiation along with a series of simulation scenarios to make sure I'm smart enough to stay. Although not physical like Dauntless' initiation process, the process for Erudite was all intellectual and the thought was daunting. The binder was huge, I am to study it while also maintaining my job as Jeanine's assistant and I realise it's not going to be an easy feat.
I took every opportunity to glance at the big binder throughout the day, it was nerve wracking. I'd fought so hard to keep my position here in Erudite, a place I never wanted to be in the first place, and the only thing standing in my way was my smarts. I could still wind up to be factionless, regardless of whatever effort I put in with Jeanine.
She had pulled me into her office earlier in the day, telling me she'd received my letter of recommendation from Harrison and to my surprise, she was on board. If I wasn't already sitting down, I think I would have fallen over. Of course there was a but, and it was a big but. I had to pass my initiation first, which I already knew would be the case. She had also assigned me a new tablet and cell phone, she instructed rather harshly not to lose these ones but I could see straight through her thinly veiled threat. If I lost these ones the same way as the others, my new home would be with the very people who have my old ones.
I'd been back in the office now for just over a week, I'd been splitting my time between work, study and the hospital. Eric was doing better and so was Nathan, although my time with Eric at the hospital had been very minimal. It wasn't that I didn't want to be there, I was just being pulled in every which way and it was draining. Not just that either, he had been short with me a couple times and I had put it down to the fact he was over being there and here in Erudite. The doctors said they'd clear him to go back to Dauntless in ten days on the proviso that he would rest and see the doctor in Dauntless every two days for a check up, it was now nearing that. I half expected him to have already left but he hadn't. He stayed.
On the eighth day it was safe to say, as soon as it was time to leave, I was out of there. I took my time walking to the hospital, I hadn't seen Eric for the past two days. I had been busy and by the time I was leaving the office I was exhausted and just went back to my apartment, I did text him with my new phone and I only half expected a call or something from him but I hadn't heard anything. I just sat staring at the blank screen in hopes maybe he'd send a text but he doesn't, so I'd left to go to the office in the morning with full intention I'd see him after. The last three or so weeks have been mentally draining and exhausting and it was starting to catch up to me in a big way. I was suddenly having doubts about everything that lead me here and now my ties to Dauntless and the pull to be back there already, it was exhausting. Not to mention the twinge in my side from my ribs was still evidently there, but with everything going on, I pushed it to the back of my mind.
On my way to Eric's room, I stop by the cafeteria and get a drink for myself and a coffee for Eric. In my short stay with Eric, I still didn't even know what kind of coffee he liked. I occasionally saw him drinking a hot cup either in the morning and occasionally around the offices back in Dauntless but I'd never actually asked what he liked, I chew on my lip as I walk down to his room after waving to the triage nurse as she waves me through to the long corridor that lead to the rooms.
I slow as I come to his room, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder as the voices inside his room float through the air down the hallway.
"Have you spoken to Allie about this?" I recognise the voice instantly, it's Jeremy. They're talking about me again and although this is not the first time I've done this and I swore I wouldn't be that person and eavesdrop on any more conversations, I couldn't help myself. I stop outside the door as I lean against the wall.
"No. And I don't want you doing it for me either so don't even fucking think about it." Eric's voice is harsh and tense sounding.
"I won't, you have my word. But.." Jeremy sighs, "I thought things between you guys were going somewhere? You care about her right?".
My breath sticks in my throat at Jeremy's words, they were talking not just about me. But more Eric and I.
"I do. But a lot of shit has happened to her since she arrived in Dauntless, it's only becoming more dangerous for her and I know what she wants but I can't give her that. Not now." I frown at Eric's words, I know when I approached him that night about what he wanted after he shot Kyle that this was always going to be a possibility. He was older than me and a leader at Dauntless, I was not really anyone special. I was an Abnegation transfer with nothing really to offer. The weight of my bag suddenly felt heavy so I place the bag on the floor by my feet.
"Why not? You know how this is going to look to her?" Jeremy sighs one more time.
"I know, I should never have let it happen to begin with." There's an edge to Eric's voice that makes my stomach twist, I shouldn't be listening. I could just walk in there and just pretend I hadn't heard anything, I could leave too but that didn't seem logical either. I let out a sigh as the headache that had been brewing all day hits me, as I contemplate what I'm going to do.
"You know, for someone who's smart, you sure are clueless when it comes to women."
There's silence in the room from both of them, the coffee and hot chocolate burn in my hands as I wait for someone to speak. When neither of them do, I decide on my first option as I pick up the bag and swing it over my shoulder as I walk through the door of Eric's room. Giving the door a light tap on my way through, both sets of eyes look to me as I walk in and it feels like they're piercing right through me.
Eric is sitting up now and he looks much better than he did a couple days ago, although his gaze holds an edge to them just the way his voice sounded a couple minutes before. Jeremy is seen rolling back and forth in a wheelchair he obviously stole from somewhere but only he smiles in greeting at me.
"Hey Allie," Jeremy greets cheerfully, as if they weren't just talking about me.
"Hey, how's Nathan doing?" I ask politely, trying to keep the shake out of my voice as I put down my bag on an empty seat beside the bed.
"He's good, he's coming back to Dauntless tomorrow actually. I'm hosting a welcome back soirée for him."
"That's great!" I smile warmly which he returns.
There's a moment of awkward silence as I chew idly on my bottom lip, my eyes looking anywhere but at Eric's piercing gaze.
"Well, I'll leave you two to it. It was good seeing you again Allie."
I just nod and smile as I watch as he rolls himself out of the room, Eric clears his throat as I stand there awkwardly for a few seconds too long after Jeremy leaves the room, bringing my attention back to him.
"Oh.. I um, got you a coffee. I realised I didn't know what you liked, so I guessed.." I step closer to the bed and hand him the second cup which he takes, his fingers graze mine briefly and there's like a shock that runs through me as I pull my hand back and tuck some hair behind my ear.
"Thanks" Eric's voice is rough and it's like it's the first time I'm hearing it, "How much of that did you hear?" He's caught me and I look down to my cup. In the little time we've spent together, he can already pick up when my mood is off and I have a really bad habit of listening in on his conversations and getting caught.
"Enough of it.." I trail off as my eyes return back to his face, my eyebrows knitting together which I'm assuming mirror his own. I just watch him as the air between us grows thick with our silence as I chew my bottom lip, my fingers picking at the side of my cup where a piece of styrofoam is peeling away.
"Allie.." He starts but I stop him with a shake of my head.
"No, it's fine. I get it.." My voice is small and the way he's looking at me now makes me want to run for the hills, his stare as intense as ever. This is uncharted territory for both of us, we weren't together but we also weren't apart. He'd shown me time and time again that he'd do anything to protect me and I willingly will let him. There was something about being with him that made me feel safe but in this moment, I can feel him pushing rather than the pull that I normally get.
He's silent for a few minutes as he adjusts himself as he sits up more, holding the styrofoam cup in his large hands.
"It's better for you to stay away, I'll do my part and make sure Harrison holds up his end" He leans over and places down his cup on the table beside his bed, I try and hide the sting of his words as I stare directly at him, completely unmoving.
"Why do you get to decide what's better for me?" His eyes narrow at my words, I don't mean for my voice to come out the way it did. "Sorry.." I immediately apologise as I pick back up my bag and swing it over my shoulder, as much as I wanted to stay and hash this out some more, I needed some air. The room suddenly felt too tight, too claustrophobic.
"Allie, just.. can you stop for a second."
"No, I.. I got to go. Sorry.." I don't know why I'm apologising again, but I do anyway before hightailing it straight out of his room. I ignore Jeremy as he calls my name, he must have been listening in from the hallway the same way I was a few minutes ago.
I'm not exactly concentrating as I exit out the double doors and one of the doors hits someone with a thud, knocking the person over. It's an older woman, her hair tightly pinned back into a neat bun and her black rimmed glasses slip down her nose.
"Shit.. I'm so sorry." I panic as I help the woman up from the floor, she wears a friendly smile as I help her back to her feet.
"It's okay, I'm fine..I'm fine." She adjusts her dress suit, putting it back into place as she brushes off the fact I literally bulldozed her over in my haste to get out of there.
A couple of the reception nurses rush around their desks to come to her aid, "Mrs Coulter, are you okay?".
I startle at the name, a name I'm very familiar with and I realise I just knocked over Eric's mom, I'm assuming she's Eric's mom. She has the same colour hair and her eyes are a piercing grey blue, the same as Eric's. She brushes them off with a wave of her hands, "I'm fine, please. Go back to your desks." They listen instantly and I suddenly feel nauseous, her tone exudes the same authority as Eric's. It can't be a coincidence.
"I'm so sorry Mrs Coulter, I.. I didn't see you. I was just leaving and I, well, I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm really sorry." I end up biting my tongue as my apology spills out but she seems unbothered by it, unbothered by me.
"No harm done," She pauses as she eyes me over the top of her glasses, "I've seen you around before. Do I know you?". She asks, her tone is polite but at the same time demanding.
I give her a small nod, "I'm Jeanine's assistant" I say quietly as I adjust the shoulder strap on my bag, the nauseous feeling in my stomach only intensifies.
"Right, right." She smiles with recognition and nods at me, "The Abnegation transfer. Marcus Eaton's daughter. I saw your father the other day, he's a very vocal opinionated man."
"Y-yeah he is," I stutter over my words, eying the exit of the building behind her.
She notices my hesitation and she's looking me up and down now, her eyes just as piercing as Eric's. The thought of him, makes my stomach twist unpleasantly, "I'm sorry, am I keeping you?".
"No, no. I was just on my way home."
She smiles politely again, it's hard to believe that this was Eric's mom. Although she has some similar traits, she seems much nicer than I imagined she would be. She was still pristine and held herself tall with a hard expression, but her smile was polite and kind. Completely the opposite to how I'd pictured her.
"I want you to have dinner with me tomorrow night, 6:30pm. I'll send a car over to pick you up."
I try and come up with an excuse as to why I can't but my mind goes blank, there's nothing. Even as I part my lips to protest her request, which didn't exactly sound like a request, more of an order. My excuse dies on my lips.
"Great." She smiles from ear to ear, sounding honestly pleased that I had not so verbally agreed. "I'll let you go, I'm here to see my son. He got shot and didn't have the nerve to tell his own mother."
"Eric?" I only ask in hopes she'll tell me something different, the coincidence alone is too great.
"You know my son?" She asks, surprise evident in her tone.
"Yeah, I know him." I chew on my cheek, I don't miss the way she eyes me as I bristle at the mere mention of him.
She just smiles once again, "I'll see you tomorrow night Miss Eaton". With that she enters through the doors I literally just came out of, I can still see Jeremy standing in the hallway, his face hard as stone as his eyes meet mine then land on Eric's mother as she struts down the hallway towards Eric's room. I'm thankful Jeremy doesn't come after me even when I finally exit the hospital, the cool breeze bites at my skin as I stand there for a few minutes just to breathe in the cool air. The clouds have turned dark, a clear indication that winter is closing in. A drop of water splashes on my cheek and I realise it's going to rain, what a great way to end an already equally bad day, walk back to my building in the rain.
And that's exactly what I had done, I walked the short trek to my building in the pouring rain, by the time I walked inside I was sopping wet from head to toe. The two Dauntless guards who had been following me around for the past week, followed into my apartment building not long after me. I thought their presence would be a nuisance but I barely even recognised they were there majority of the time, they'd kept their distance and kept to themselves, they mainly stayed in the lobby and would follow me to work and back. At least I knew Harrison was still looking out for me, I had to give him that.
After I'd showered and gotten changed into my pyjamas, there was a knock at my door and to my delight Angel appeared and I all but lunged for her. I craved some normality in my crazy world and even though she was far from normal at times, she was what I needed right now. I cried as soon as her arms wound around me, the weight of everything that was happening became too heavy.
Now we were both seated on the floor in my small lounge room surrounded by pillows and blankets, I just finished telling her everything down to the fact that I was supposed to be eating dinner with Eric's mother tomorrow and I had no idea what to do about it.
"Why didn't you tell her no?" Angel looks at me, concern evident in her big green eyes.
"I couldn't.. I tried but I froze. It's going to seem weird right? I don't even know why she wants to have dinner in the first place".
"Are you going to tell him?".
"I don't know, I feel like this is something he won't be very happy about." I sigh, running my hands through my damp hair.
"All the more reason to tell him, it's not like you made the plans. She did." She shrugs her shoulders, I look to my new phone sitting beside me and sigh as the screen is completely black. I half expected to see it light up with the only other name in it apart from Jeanine's, I'd saved Eric's number in there not long after I got it. I don't know what I expected, I sure didn't expect him to come running after me. It was clear I needed the space when I had left the hospital, at least he was giving me that.
I pick it up and Angel watches me with a smirk, I know she's right. I need to tell him, even if I am still upset with him. She gets up and leaves me on the floor while she goes to my kitchen, I ignore her as I open up his name on my phone and I start typing before I have a chance to talk myself out of it.
I wanted to let you know, I saw your mother today at the hospital. She invited me to dinner tomorrow night, well she demanded I have dinner with her. I thought you should know.
I leave it at that and I quickly hit send as Angel comes back with two bowls of ice cream and I smile at her in thanks as she sits down next to me.
"What are you going to do about Eric?" She asks, her mouth full of the frozen decadent chocolate. The reality was, I had no idea.
I smile politely as the waiter walks me to a table situated near the back of the all exclusive restaurant, there were people dressed in dark blue everywhere and the tables were arranged in a way that I'd never witnessed before. Delicate white fabrics adorned each table with shiny silver cutlery arranged and intricately folded napkins sat in the middle in the shape of a fan. It seemed this was the place to be on a Friday night, there was not an empty seat apart from the table I was headed to. Mrs Coulter was already seated there, punctual and pristine as ever. Her hair was down now, not in the tight bun I'd seen her in the day before, it fell in loose waves around her small face. She looked up from her phone as I approach and the look she gives me is eerily similar to Eric's, intense and studying my every move as the waiter pulls out my chair and pushes it in as I take a seat.
We are both silent as the waiter takes the liberty to fill my empty glass in front of me with the strong smelling red wine that Eric's mother had already ordered for the table. She offers him a polite thank you and to give us time before coming back to take our order. I felt considerably under dressed, her dress she had on was beautiful and she looked every bit an Erudite. I on the other hand was still wearing my same clothes that I had on in the office, although not completely out of place but far too casual to measure up to the frocks and suits that other people were wearing. I hadn't had time to change, through my deliberating on whether or not I was coming, I ran out of time to actually pick something nicer and before I knew it I was sitting in the car she had sent to pick me up to bring me here although I'm pretty sure I could have just walked as it wasn't exactly far from my building.
"Allie, I'm glad you could come tonight." She smiles at me as she takes off her glasses and places them on the table by her phone, giving me her full and undivided attention.
"Thank you for inviting me Mrs Coulter." I sit up a little straighter when she cocks her head slightly, her gaze making me feel a little uneasy.
"Erana, enough with the Mrs Coulter. It makes me sound old." She smiles as she joins her hands in front of her, still eying me off. "How's your initiation into Erudite? Is it as gruelling and painstaking as I remember?".
"It's not easy, that's for sure. It's challenging but I think I'm doing okay, lots of reading." I gulp down a mouthful of the wine and almost dry reach as it burns down my throat, I hold it back as best as I can when I place the glass down. I'd never had wine before and the look on Erana's face is amused, but she chooses to ignore it.
"You seem like a smart girl, I'm sure you're doing excellent." She pauses briefly as the waiter from before places a basket of dinner rolls in front of us and the smell is intoxicating, they smell like they're freshly baked. Something I was still growing accustomed to here in Erudite, fresh food always constantly being served and whenever people had enough they would just throw it in the bin. In Abnegation it was always customary to always eat whatever food was leftover or it would be saved and given to the factionless and it wasn't always fresh. I pick up a roll and start eating it as she continues, "So, you're probably wondering why I asked you here."
"It did cross my mind" I admit with a mouthful of the fluffy doughy bread, she takes a condescending sip of her wine as she watches me and I suddenly feel conscious as I place the roll down on the small plate to my right.
"I knew Jeanine growing up, we were best friends." I wasn't expecting that tidbit of information and she must realise my surprise as she smirks in my direction, "She was always very smart, smarter than anyone I knew. Dare I say, smarter than me. When she became leader of Erudite, she became close with Eric. But I saw through it, I knew what she wanted from him. I wanted him to stay here in Erudite but he was a smart kid, he wanted more than a simple life here and she could give him that."
I stare at her wide eyed and pick back the disgusting wine, knowing better this time, taking a small sip while I try and wrap my head around her words. "What was Eric like growing up?" I ask and she just gives me a knowing smile as she leans back in her chair a little.
"Very stubborn, just like his father was. But he was a good kid, smart. Always listened, his father was very hard on him but Eric was cut from the same cloth. They didn't see eye to eye a lot of the time."
"What happened to Mr Coulter.. if you don't mind me asking?" I knew I was pushing but I figure Erana was telling me these things because she wanted me to trust her and in a sense, I felt like I could.
"He worked in the labs, they were working on something new and there was a contamination breach. He was exposed, along with his assistant and he passed before they could contain it." I stare at her in horror and I don't miss the way her face drops a little at the memory and I suddenly feel guilty for asking.
"I'm.. I'm so sorry, that must have been terrible." I say softly but she straightens back out and gives me a small smile, the memory disappearing from her look as she returns to all business.
"It was a long time ago, Eric was twelve at the time."
"That must have been hard, raising him on your own."
"She managed." The voice startles me and my heart nearly leaps out of my chest, I look to my right and there is Eric standing next to me with his eyes trained narrowly on his mother and gone is the white hospital gown and in it's place is his black Dauntless uniform. Crisp and sharp looking and I have to swallow the lump that's formed in my throat when he looks down at me, his steel grey eyes burning straight into my very core. He doesn't say anything else as he limps to the table beside us and takes the vacant chair that someone had just gotten up from and he drags it over to our table and places it directly next to me so he can sit and face his mother, I don't miss the way his knee bumps into mine under the table but I don't move it as he rests it there.
"Nice of you to join us Eric, please take a seat." Eric's mother scolds him but he just stares at her unbothered as he reaches forward and takes a bread roll from the table, his arm grazes mine as he brings it back and takes a big giant bite while he stares daggers at his mother.
"I told you to leave her alone Erana," Eric scolds back and his mother looks equally unbothered but I don't miss the way her eye twitches when he says her name rather than mom.
"I'm not bothering her, she agreed to meet me. I didn't force her." She did have a point although she didn't really give me an option to say no either. I decide to stay quiet as I pick up my wine and take another sip, all before Eric leans over and takes the glass from me to have a drink himself. I just stare at him before looking back to Erana from across the table.
"What's your game plan here? I told you to keep her out of this." His posture is tense and I jolt when his hand moves under the table to rest on my knee to stop the nervous bounce that started as soon as he sat down, I stop immediately but his hand doesn't move away and my knee is pinned in place next to his.
"Did I miss something?" I ask the both of them, looking to Eric then back to Erana who is now pursing her lips together in a thin line.
"My Mother seems to think since you work for Jeanine, she can use you to out her to the public. I told her no but she insisted you know more than you're letting on about Jeanine and you could help."
"What?" I stare at him dumbfounded, "Wait.. I thought you said you didn't talk to your mom?".
"I don't." His fingers dig into the bare skin of my knee as it starts bouncing again and he shoots me a side eye to say stop but I can't help it, the whole conversation has my stomach in knots.
"Is this true?" I ask her and I realise then and there that us meeting was definitely not a coincidence, she must have known I was already there and I have the strangest feeling she knows more about me than I think.
"You work for Jeanine, you're in her office. It wouldn't be hard for you to occupy certain documents that could possibly incriminate her that we could take to Candor. Have her put on trial."
"No!" Eric's bark makes me jump along with a few people that were sitting close by, "It's too risky." Eric's voice is quiet now, not wanting to draw anymore attention.
"I thought you said you and Jeanine were friends?" I look to Erana who is still pursing her lips.
"We were, she let her greed for power and her far fetched ideals get the better of our friendship. I want nothing more than to see her crash and burn and Eric told me you feared coming back here and I thought maybe I had a chance to have you on my side."
"And I told her to leave you out of it." Eric says with a hint of warning laced into his words as his fingers dig almost painfully into the skin of my knee. I reach under the table and grab the top of his hand to try and pry his fingers off me, he must realise what he's doing because his grip lessens but he still doesn't let go and I sigh.
"I don't know Erana.." I start as I look back to her, "I wouldn't even know what to look for. Sure Jeanine is scary and I've heard the rumours but I don't know Jeanine, she hasn't done anything to me to hint she's as crazy as everyone says."
"Be smart about this Miss Eaton," Erana stares me down, gone is the friendly polite smile that I first met her with and in its place is a cold hard stare. "At least think about it. Don't wait too long though, she's smart. She has a lot of followers, with eyes and ears everywhere."
With that she stands and hands over a card to me, with a quick glance down at it I can see that it's her contact information. "It was lovely to see you again Miss Eaton." She throws Eric a quick glance which he returns with a scowl.
I visibly relax once she is gone and so does Eric, his hand finally releases its death grip on my knee and moves it around the back of my seat around my shoulders.
"What was that about?" I ask him and for a moment he just lets out a huff as he relaxes back in his chair, the stress of the conversation with his mother clearly taking a toll on him.
He just shakes his head, "Have you eaten?" He asks not even bothering to answer my question and I decide not to push it. For now.
I shake my head, "Does half a roll count?".
"No, it doesn't" he answers flatly before raising his hand to get the waiters attention. When the guy comes over, he's immediately intimidated by Eric's uniform as he stumbles over his words. Eric pays him no mind and just orders a pasta dish for me and steak and vegetables for himself, without even bothering to ask what I wanted. Not that I minded, I was kind of leaning towards pasta anyway.
"So I take it we are staying for dinner then?" I'm being sarcastic but he just gives me the smallest hint of a smirk as he stretches back, even though we are at a table for two he still refuses to move to the other side of it, luckily the table is big enough so he stays put by my side with his legs spread apart with his knee still firmly touching mine.
"I've eaten nothing but hospital food for days, I need a decent meal, not that bland Abnegation crap they serve... No offence".
"None taken, I didn't even know food can actually have flavour after moving here. Even the bread tastes better."
He snorts at that as he picks up my wine glass again, he grimaces at the taste and when a waiter walks past he gets the guy to take away the horrible wine and to bring a whiskey for him and something sweet for me. "You know the bread is from Amity, right? The bread you'd get in Abnegation is probably the same but because of their values, the bread is most likely days old because they want the other factions to get their deliveries first. Being selfless and all that crap."
"Really?" I stare at him shocked, "I didn't know that. Have you ever been to Amity?".
"A couple times, Johanna doesn't particularly like me around there."
"Really? She didn't fall for your witty charm and your dazzling blue eyes?".
I let out an 'ow' when he pinches my shoulder, "Funny. Whoever thought a stiff could have a sense of humour?" Ignore his jab as our food arrives at the table and we immediately dig in.
"I've only ever been to Amity once, with my father. I liked it there, it seemed peaceful. I was young at the time so I didn't really know that the only reason they're like that is because of the peace serum they lace all their food with." I let out a small laugh when I dig in to my pasta and it's by far the best pasta I have ever eaten.
"I've had peace serum before and I can tell you now, it's no joke. That shit is strong, once it wears off it feels like you're coming down from a high. It took days to get out of my system."
"Really?" I let out a laugh with a mouthful of food and nearly spit it out at the same time, "I would love to see that. Actually, I would pay to see that."
"Ask Jeremy, I'm sure there's a video of it floating around somewhere." He gives me a hint of a smirk as he chews on a mouthful of steak and I relish in the moment of how normal this feels with him, we haven't exactly had a quiet moment together and the fact he's sharing all this tidbits of information feels huge for me.
We don't spend much more time there, we finish our food in comfortable silence, our conversation from the day before in the hospital has been completely forgotten. I understand his motive behind it now and I'm finding it hard to stay mad or upset with him, I also have a strong feeling he might not even follow through with keeping his distance.
Once we finish eating, he walks me out with a hand resting in the middle of my back all the way to a waiting Dauntless truck that sits idling out the front of the restaurant. I see Jeremy in the front drivers seat who gives me a wave, followed by a small wink with Nathan sitting next to him in front. Eric holds the door open for me and after I get in, he climbs in beside me with a grunt and his hand holding his side. I wait till he's settled in beside me before speaking, "How are you feeling? Did the hospital actually discharge you or did you discharge yourself?".
He gives me a side eyed smirk and I know it's the latter, "I'll be fine, nothing I can't handle." The rest of the ride back to my apartment building is quiet, this time there is no voices crackling over the radio and there is no threat of a factionless attack. Eric sits so close I can feel the heat radiating off of him and every time the truck jostles, his leg bumps into mine. I'm surprised not even Jeremy or Nathan say anything, but the silence is welcome.
Once the truck stops and Eric gets out, I follow suit behind him. His hand gripping my elbow as he helps me out, "Are you going back to Dauntless now?" I look up at him and his face is stern as he looks down at me, his body primed towards mine.
"Yeah. I have a lot to catch up on. The final fear landscapes are in a couple weeks time and I need to make sure Four hasn't fucked anything up with their training" I don't miss the bitter tone when he says my brothers name and it makes me smirk.
"You really don't like him, do you?" I tilt my head quizzically, in this light he looks every bit intimidating as the street lights give his face an eerie glow, his jaw tight with his eyebrows pushed together with his hair now perfectly styled back.
"I don't hate him.. I just don't like him. He's like a rodent, harmless but a pest." I snicker at this but the laugh dies in my throat when he takes a deliberate step forward until his chest is almost touching mine and I have to tilt my head way back to look up at him, I rest my hands against the front of his jacket, the fabric rough and stiff beneath my fingers.
Before I can even think he leans down and presses his mouth to mine, at first I'm as still as can be but I relax into him when his hand grabs at the side of my neck to pull me the rest of the way in. His kiss is firm and demanding and I try and suppress the whimper that wants to escape when his tongue meets mine, well aware of the two spectators still sitting in the front seat of the truck. For someone who wants me to stay away, he's doing an awful job at convincing me otherwise and I half believe that I don't think he knows what he wants but I'll happily help him figure it out.
He finally pulls back but doesn't let me go as his fingers graze over the soft skin of my neck, his goodbye is evident in the way he's looking at me now and I struggle not to just pull him back in and make him stay. "I'll see you soon" he says lowly as he runs a thumb over my bottom lip and I can't stop the shiver that runs through my body at just the smallest touch, he seems to notice as he smirks at my reaction before pulling away and getting back into the truck and I'm forced to watch from the sidewalk as it pulls away from the curb. I watch as the window rolls down and I get the faintest glimpse of his tattooed arm out the window as it drives away and I bite back the grin as I head into the main lobby of my building, I practically jump out of my skin when a hand grasps my elbow to spin me around and I come face to face with my brother.
"Toby? What're you doing here?" I ask in surprise, his face is as hard as stone and I know it's something serious. He wouldn't risk coming here at this hour otherwise.
"We need to talk.. Now!"
A/N - I am incredibly sorry this took as long as it did coming out, I had serious writers block and came down with a bad bout of Influenza. After about 2k words, I realised I absolutely hated it and restarted from the beginning again. I'm still not 100 percent happy with the start but I feel like it got there in the end so I might come back to this and edit at a later date, or if someone is willing to lend a hand that would be much appreciated and I'll credit where it's due. I wanted their fight to be a little bit more heated than what it was, if you could even call it a fight. You get the idea. Leave your thoughts, and don't forget to follow and favourite to keep up to date on the next update. Much love, SJ xo
P.S. I'm in the middle of writing up something else of what would have been if Allie had chosen Dauntless instead of Erudite so keep an eye out for that. Not sure if it'll be anything huge, maybe a series of one shots of what her time would have looked like had she gone to Dauntless. So keep an eye out for that one ;)