Ordinary Acts of Bravery [A Divergent Fanfic]

Chapter 7 - Victory, or defeat

When the ledge I had intended to reach for appeared in sight not far above me, I jumped for it, intending to wrap my fingers around the edge of it. However, the second my fingers did, the cement crumbled, sending me sliding down against the side of the building. I yelped, choking the scream that threatened to leave me as well while I frantically tried to grab onto something that would steady me as I fell. I just had to grab something, anything!

Then a strong arm wrapped around my waist, pinning me against the building. I came to a halt immediately after. My heart roaring in my chest, my blood rushing. It was all keeping me oblivious to how Eric was holding onto me as I rested my forehead against the cold side of the building. It had been him who had caught me, who else would it have been? He was the only one with me.

When Eric shifted, it forced me to shift as well. My hands reached up for anything to wrap themselves around before hoisting myself up, releasing some of the weight Eric had been carrying. It also enabled me to understand how we were now standing.

Eric had been holding onto the building with one hand, the other rested around my waist. His hand on the wall between my hip and the cold cement. My shirt had shifted up, allowing me to feel his hand on my bare skin. Eric had also been standing on a small ledge, only supported by his toes, as his knees rested against the building's side. One on each side of me, his pelvis pressed into me because he had used his entire body to pin me against the building. It had properly been an involuntary reaction, but a reaction that had saved my life.

My feet found the same small ledge Eric stood on and reclaimed most of my own weight. The silence that followed between us when I dared look back at him from the corner of my eyes, was unbearable, if not uncomfortable. Eric's entire body tensed against mine when I caught his gaze. His blue eyes reflected so many emotions and was so much deeper to look into this close.

I had half expected him to yell at me for being careless—if not wanted him to do so instead—and when it came, I relaxed into the building. The unexpected closeness of him had not been entirely unpleasant. I had been able to feel the hot air on the back of my neck every time he exhaled. It sent a shiver through my body, riling something up inside me.

"Watch where you place your damn hands." Eric finally snapped at me, waking me up to the severity of the situation. I felt everything. Especially the closeness of his warm figure, the cold wall underneath my clothes, my damp skin glistening with small pearls of sweat, and the exhaustion from the climb. I was still breathing heavily as I dared look to the ground, far underneath us, struggling to keep the image of my body—broken from the fall—lying right there on the pavement. A fall from here would end my life, I was most certain off it.

Shivering, I pulled myself further up and removed myself from Eric's strange embrace. "Thank you." I rasped, throat dry and head still spinning. Eric heaved a defeated sigh while allowing me to climb further up above him. It didn't take me much to understand that he followed behind me much closer this time until we reached the next ledge.

I hauled myself up onto the ledge, quite ungracefully so, but before I could turn around to reach a hand down to Eric, he had already hoisted himself up beside me, quite effortlessly in fact. I scowled and turned inward towards the city again. Eric followed me but remained at a safe distance from the edge. It made me wonder why he acted so differently.

"Do you have a moment to share your thoughts? What is the meaning of this? Or are we just wasting precious time?" Eric then scowled at me after a brief silence. I must've looked a little offended because he raised an eyebrow when I didn't answer him right away. I grabbed the side of the hole, gauged into the building where windows properly had been many years ago, while leaning further out. I intended to annoy him a little before replying.