They continue watching Golden Girls until Tris falls asleep with her head resting on Eric's shoulder and her legs curled up on the couch. He tries briefly to wake her, but she is particularly disagreeable in her unconscious state and in the end, he makes the executive decision to carry her to his bed and tuck her in.
They both have work in the morning, so he sets an alarm on his datapad before settling in for the night on the couch.
Eric wakes up to the sounds of his coffee maker brewing and is momentarily confused by his position on the couch. Before long, the events of the previous evening start coming back to him, and he can't help but smile at the memory. They had kept the rest of the night PG and Eric was just grateful that he hadn't ruined the evening by unintentionally taking things too far with her.
Standing up, he makes his way over to his bedroom door to check on Tris who is sleeping soundly, snuggled up in his comforter. He should probably wake her, but she looks so cozy, and he can't bring himself to do it just yet. Instead, he walks over to the kitchen and starts making them breakfast. Nothing fancy on a Monday morning, just a couple of bowls of yogurt topped with berries and granola. When the coffee is ready, he pours them both a cup and walks back over to his room.
He finds Tris in the same position she was in the last time he checked on her and takes a moment to watch her sleep.
"You know, you're being kind of creepy," she says suddenly, opening her eyes and looking at him.
He jumps slightly, nearly spilling their coffees.
"Sorry," he mumbles as he watches her scoot herself towards the headboard and sit up.
She smiles and rubs her eyes.
"Is one of those for me?" she asks.
He nods and hands her a mug. Her eyes flutter shut as she inhales the intoxicating scent.
"You could have woken me up and kicked me out you know," she says before taking a sip.
He scoffs.
"And risk getting bitten a second time? I don't think so."
"I did not bite you," she argues.
"Tell that to the mark on my forearm," he counters, earning him an eyeroll.
"What time is it?"
"Just after seven."
"Shit, I have work in an hour," Tris says, throwing the blanket off and standing up. "I need to get going if I'm going to be ready in time."
"I made us some bowls of yogurt…if you want. Before you head out?" he offers optimistically.
"Yogurt sounds great," she replies with a grin.
Maybe I should have just slept with him, Tris thinks to herself replaying the memory of their make out session in her mind as she rearranges the sale items. Sure, it would have been fast, but based on how good making out with him was, I bet it would have been amazing. Besides, everything with Four was painfully slow and look how that turned out. Maybe a change of pace is what I need.
The overhead bell rings out as the door opens, breaking her from her thoughts and alerting her to the arrival of a customer.
Tris steps out from behind the rack she's working on and looks up to see who's there.
"Oh hi!" she greets upon seeing Christina.
"Hey," Christina says quietly.
"How's it go–"
"Are you avoiding me?" Christina blurts out, cutting her off.
"What?" Tris asks confused.
"You were annoyed with me on Saturday and then you blew me off for breakfast Sunday even though you said you would meet me there. Then you don't show up for lunch or dinner and then again you are nowhere to be found at breakfast this morning. So, are you avoiding me?"
Tris had been so busy with Eric that she had completely forgotten about her argument with Christina and now she feels terrible that her friend has assumed the worst.
"No, not at all. I've just been busy. I swear. I haven't been avoiding you."
"Busy."
"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you thought I was still upset."
"Busy doing what?" Christina asks incredulously.
Tris shrugs.
"Stuff," she says lamely, not yet ready to share with Christina.
"Stuff," Christina parrots back. "What kind of stuff?"
"I –" Tris starts, not really knowing what she's going to say.
"Tris," she hears her coworker, Kenzie, yell from behind the counter. "The leadership office called. Max wants to see you. I told them you would go on your break but that's in like five minutes, why don't you just go now? It's dead anyways."
This is it Tris thinks before nodding at Kenzie and turning back to Christina.
"I guess I need to go, but I promise I will be at dinner tonight. Okay?"
Christina crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm working the evening shift."
"Breakfast tomorrow?"
"Promise?" Christina asks.
"Promise," Tris replies with a smile.
"Okay," Christina says, letting her arms fall to her sides. "But I expect you to fill me in on what 'stuff' means and on what in the hell Max wants with you."
"I'll see you in the morning," Tris confirms before walking towards the door.
Tris sits outside of Max's office, her knee bouncing up and down from nerves.
"Miss Prior?" She hears from inside. "You can come in now."
Taking a deep breath, she stands up from her chair and makes her way in.
"Sorry to take you away from your work," he says, motioning for her to have a seat as he closes the door behind him.
"That's okay," she says giving him a small smile as she watches him make his way back behind his desk.
"There's something I need to speak to you about but it's a bit of a delicate situation."
Tris scrunches up her face in confusion. She had assumed this conversation was going to be about her joining leadership, but maybe she was mistaken.
"Okay," she says tentatively.
"There isn't really any way to ease our way into this conversation so I'm just going to get right to it. I apologize in advance for the personal nature of what I am about to ask you."
Tris blinks, waiting for him to continue.
"Are you or have you ever been in a relationship with Four."
"I…uhhh…" she stumbles, the question catching her off guard. "Why do you want to know?"
"Please Miss Prior, if you could just answer the question."
"We were in a relationship. We aren't anymore."
Max sighs, clearly that wasn't the answer he was hoping for.
"At what point were you and Four involved."
"What do you mean?" she asks, stalling.
"I need a ballpark timeline. When did you get together, when did you break up. Something along those lines."
Tris picks at her fingernails nervously. Eric had made it clear that Four would be in a lot of trouble if Max ever found out about them and they may not be together anymore but she doesn't wish any ill will on him.
"Miss Prior?"
"We broke up a little over a month ago," she admits.
"And how long had you been together prior to that?"
Her first instinct is to lie, but lying would put her in a difficult position if she ever expects to join leadership. But if she tells the truth then Max will know that her and Four were together when she was an initiate. He'll know that they were a couple when she came first in her class. What will he think of her then?
"We were together for ten months," she finally answers honestly.
She watches quietly as Max does the math.
"Your relationship started approximately halfway through your initiation?"
"Yes," she says, nodding affirmatively.
Max looks up at the ceiling briefly and then back at Tris.
"Did he pressure you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Did he pressure you into being with him? He was your trainer, your teacher. He's older and he was in a place of authority over you. Did he use that position to pressure you into being with him."
"No, not at all. Not ever," she replies, shaking her head vigorously.
"Did he offer you any incentives? Do you any…favours…in return for being with him?"
She continues to shake her head. "Absolutely not."
"At no point did he help you come first? No favouritism? No one on one coaching?"
Oh God. She thinks. The fear sims. Four took her into his and helped her learn how to hide her Divergence. But Max couldn't possibly know that, could he?
"Miss Prior?"
"Our relationship wasn't like that. It had nothing to do with initiation or him being my trainer. We just fell in love. It wasn't on purpose. It wasn't transactional. It was just two people falling for each other. Why are you asking me all of this?"
Max sighs loudly.
"Unfortunately, legitimate or not, your relationship goes against faction regulations as well as the rules of Four's position as a trainer. From my understanding, your relationship was kept secret throughout its entirety. Were you aware that you were breaking the rules when the two of you got together?"
Tris shakes her head once more.
"I didn't find out that it was against the rules until we had already broken up. I thought we were just keeping it quiet because it might give the wrong impression to the other initiates."
This time, it's Max's turn to nod.
"Okay, one last question," he says. "Was he ever…what I mean to say is, did he ever lay his hands on you? Did he ever abuse you?"
Tris' eyes grow wide.
"No," she practically shouts defensively. "He's not like that."
"Okay. That will be all. You can go now."
Tris does as she's told, too stunned by the conversation to think.
"Is he…is he in trouble?" she asks as she reaches the door.
"If what you have told me is true –"
"It is."
"– then there will be some repercussions, but he will be able to keep his job with added supervision. Barring any additional information coming to light."
"Okay."
"And Tris?"
"Yes."
"Please keep this conversation to yourself."
"I will," Tris replies before making her way out of Max's office and into the hall.
Her head is spinning. This must be why he's suspended. But how did Max find out?
"Tris?" She hears from behind her.
"Tris, is that you?"
She turns towards the voice and sees Eric walking towards her.
She smiles, momentarily forgetting her meeting with Max.
"What are you doing here?" he asks quietly, looking around.
"Max wanted to see me," she replies simply.
Eric nods his head knowingly and does a quick sweep of the hallway.
"Follow me," he says before leading her to a door on the far left of the hallway.
She follows him silently only realizing that he's led her to his office once they are inside.
He closes the door behind them and turns to face her.
"Did you tell him?" she blurts out crossing her arms over her chest.
"What?"
"Did you tell Max about me and Four? Are you trying to get him in trouble?"
Eric looks at her somberly.
"Do you really think I would do that?" he responds, a hint of sadness in his voice.
Tris shakes her head and plops herself down in a nearby chair.
"I'm sorry," she says, her head in her hands. "No, I don't think you would do that. I just…I don't know what to think. How did he find out?"
Eric lets out a deep breath and sits down next to her.
"Someone overheard Four on Saturday and went to Max. Actually, two different people went to him on Sunday with two different but overlapping stories."
"What do you mean? What did they say?"
"The first person claimed Four helped you finish first because you were sleeping with him. Max said he just dismissed him because he didn't believe it, but then someone else went to him and said they found out about your relationship and that they were worried he would try something with another initiate. She also saw him being aggressive with you and was worried for your safety."
"You know who told, don't you."
Eric nods.
"I can't tell you who, but I will say that I genuinely believe the second person thought she was doing what was best. The first one on the other hand had his own agenda."
"I lied to Max."
"What do you mean?" Eric asks with furrowed brows.
"He asked me if Four ever gave me one on one training to help me come first during out relationship."
"Did he?"
Tris closes her eyes and takes a few breaths.
"He realized I was divergent when we first started doing the fear sims and was worried that if I continued the way I was going that someone would find out about me, and that I could be in danger. So, he brought me through his landscape and taught me how to complete it using Dauntless logic rather than Divergent methods."
"You've seen his fears? You went into them together?" he says, taken aback by the information.
She nods her head affirmatively.
"Oh," he says, his face falling.
"What?"
"It's just, that's really…intimate," he admits, uncomfortably. "Afterwards, what happened to your times?"
"They slowed down."
"So basically, he helped you get worse?"
"I guess."
Eric shrugs.
"Then you didn't lie. He didn't help you come first. You did that all on your own."
"But…"
"No buts. If he hadn't helped you, you still would have come first. So, what he did didn't affect your position. Therefore, you didn't lie to Max."
"Okay."
They sit quietly for a moment.
"Did Max ask you about everything?"
"He did."
"Did you tell him anything?"
Eric sighs.
"He asked me if I had seen anything inappropriate during initiation. I told him that I could tell you guys were into each other, that Four was into you especially, but that it never seemed like more than stolen glances and mild flirting so I didn't think much of it. He also asked me how long I had known after the fact, and I told him I only found out about it on Saturday."
"Was he mad that you weren't the one that went to him?"
Eric shakes his head.
"He said he would have appreciated the heads up before he was bombarded but when I explained that you told me in confidence and that I had assessed everything you said and didn't see the point in drudging something up that was clearly over he understood. He did ask me about the abuse accusation though…"
Tris' eyes grow wide in mild panic.
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him that I didn't witness any abuse personally and that you were adamant that he had never hurt you, but I did say he was harassing you and it was pretty intense."
Tris rubs her temples as she feels her eyes begin to water.
"I'm sorry that you got pulled into this," she says, looking at the floor. "God, when I found out Max wanted to see me, I was nervous but excited. I thought he wanted to talk to me about leadership, not this crap. I'm such an idiot."
Eric reaches forward and rests his hand on her thigh.
"Look at me. You aren't an idiot. Four's the idiot. If he had just left you alone and kept his mouth shut Max never would have found out."
Tris leans back and looks up at the ceiling as a tear falls from the corner of her eye.
"I guess I'm stuck working at the shop now."
"Absolutely not," Eric says firmly. "I'm not giving up on you joining leadership just because your ex has a big mouth. I already told Max I wanted to talk to him when he has time."
Tris stares at him.
"You can't be serious? He's never going to want me to join now. Not knowing what he knows. Plus, he obviously knows that you and I were together on Saturday which just makes it even worse. If you ask him now, he's just going to think I'm using you to get into leadership and then he'll for sure think I did the same with Four in order to finish first in initiation. Nuh-uh, no, you are not asking him. Just give it up Eric."
"Fuck that."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Fuck that and fuck your ex-boyfriend. He stopped you from joining the first time around, I refuse to let him win this time too. You deserve this. Your skills are wasted working at that place, you are meant for so much more."
Tris looks at him with a sad smile.
"Thank you for believing in me," she starts. "But even if you did talk to him and he did magically agree to let me join, you know there's no way he'll let me work for you, right? Not now that he knows…well actually what does he know? What did you tell him about us?"
Eric scratches the back of his head and scrunches up his nose.
"I may have misled him a little," he replies cautiously. "I told him we've been on a few dates and he kind of took that as a much longer period of time than it's actually been."
Tris lets a small laugh.
"A few dates? Anyone would have assumed the same."
"I know, but it was easier to say that then to explain our day of dates to him."
"Yeah, I get that."
"I think it made him trust my answers even more though, to be honest. I've been so busy since joining leadership that I've never prioritized dating, so for him finding out that I've been spending what little free time I have with you said something to him about your character. He really doesn't believe there was ever any ill intentions when it came to you and Four's relationship. At least from your end."
Tris looks at him skeptically.
"I feel like I should be offended that he probably only believes me because we're dating."
"I'm going to circle back to the 'we're dating' comment in a second," he starts, grinning. "But for now, it's not like that, he just trusts my judgement. He doesn't know you at all and he doesn't have a lot to go off. I'm sure he would have given you the benefit of the doubt even without my approval or whatever you want to call it."
"Okay fine," Tris concedes. "I should get going though. I'm due back at work in ten minutes and I still need to eat."
"No way. You're not getting out of here that easily," he says teasingly. "So, we're dating then? No more of this we can't date because I might end up being your boss nonsense?"
Tris smiles and rolls her eyes.
"I didn't say that. But I don't see why we can't date now that working for you is obviously off the table."
"Come on Tris," he starts.
"We're free to date now. Let's just be happy about that."
Eric sighs.
"I have to go get food, but we'll talk later?"
"Stay for a few more minutes?" he asks hopefully. "I have some food you can have if you're okay with mac & cheese and a chocolate muffin? I know it's not exactly a balanced meal but…"
Tris leans forward and cuts him off with a kiss.
"Thank you," she says, pulling away.
"Man am I glad the way to your heart is through food," he says smirking.
Tris laughs.
"I meant thank you for having faith in me and for having my back. But yeah, keep feeding me and you'll never get rid of me."
Eric stands up and makes his way over to his desk where he picks up a small container and a baggy with a muffin in it.
"Are you sure you don't want me to talk to Max?" he asks, handing her the food. "I really think he'd be much more open to it than you're giving him credit for."
Before she has a chance to answer, the door opens, and Max's voice rings out.
"I have a few minutes if you still want to talk to me, Eric," he says before noticing Tris' presence. "Oh, I didn't realize you weren't alone."
"I was about to leave," Tris says uncomfortably, standing up with the food in hand. "Eric was just feeding me before I go back to work since I'm low on time."
She gives both men a small smile before walking towards the door.
"Tris," Eric calls out to her as she opens the door.
"Yes?"
"Um…" he starts, looking for the right words. "Do you have an answer for me? For what we were talking about before?"
Tris takes a deep breath and looks between Max and Eric.
"Do whatever you think is best," she says tentatively. "I trust you," she adds before walking out the door.
A/N: I'm trying to decide how far to go with this one. I have the next two chapters written and a full secondary plot that I'm debating getting into but I'm also considering ending it in a few chapters. I have some life changes coming in a couple of weeks including starting a new job and it's likely I will be VERY slow to update once that happens. So I need to decide if I'd rather end it so that you guys aren't waiting around for ages or if I want to keep going even though it'll likely be slow progress. It would also take the story in a bit of a different direction. Still primarily Eris, but their relationship wouldn't be the only focus.
Anyways, for now, I hope you enjoyed this one and I'll probably post once a week for the rest of the month. I just need to edit 11 and 12 and then get 13 typed out.
Feedback/comments etc. always appreciated and thank you for reading!