Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

twenty-seven

"Get her to the infirmary. Make sure she doesn't leave until they get her thoroughly examined." Tobias orders through gritted teeth before he turns to leave in the opposite direction.

"What do you think Eric's going to do to Drew?" I ask as my friends start to lead me away.

"Don't worry about it," Marlene says, "Whatever it is, he deserves it."

I let out a sigh, letting my friends lead the way back to the compound. I doubt I could catch the train in my current state.

"Thanks again, guys." I repeat, "I don't think I can thank you enough."

"Don't worry about it, Ness." Lynn grunts, "You'll do the same for us."

"Exactly," Uriah agrees with his award-winning smile back in place, twirling his gun between his fingers. "All for one and one for- oh, shit!"

Uriah's gun clatters to the grounds as he clutches his foot in pain, making all of us burst out laughing.

While playing with his gun, he'd accidentally pulled the trigger, sending a stim dart into his feet.

"I told you to be careful with that," Marlene scolds, though it lacks heat to it seeing as to how she's still laughing so much she has tears in her eyes.

"This isn't funny!" He protests but looks like he's trying to fight a smile, himself. Throwing an arm around me and Marlene, he finally lets out a laugh. "Come on, let's just get out of here. I'm beat."

✧

I probably held a record by now. The record being 'Most visits to the infirmary by an initiate'. My hands are so heavily bandaged it looked like I was wearing mittens. I had a huge-ass band-aid on my chin that makes it look like I'd just gotten some kind of chin-job- if that even is a thing- and Marlene has been laying out some turtle-necks for me to try on to hide the finger-shaped bruise that's darkening on my neck.

"I'm pretty sure they'll fit fine, if not maybe a little larger on you," She frowns at my frame, "We haven't been feeding you enough."

I snort at her mother-hen routine, "I'm fine, Marlene."

She narrows her eyes at me but doesn't comment on it anymore, making me laugh.

"I'm serious, I'm fine." I reiterate, "Go grab some dinner."

"We're fine," Uriah waves me off, "We've been given strict instructions."

"Instructions to do what?"

"Watch you," He simply replies.

"Seriously? Are you going to watch everything I do? Even when I fall asleep?" I raise a brow at him.

"No," He grins, "Just until-"

The door swings open just then, cutting Uriah off and Eric fills the doorway, the sight of him making my heart stutter.

"Speak of the devil," Lynn mutters from where she's seated in the corner.

Marlene shoots her a horrified look, "Do you have a death wish?" And I can't help but snicker at her expression.

Eric clears his throat, "If you guys don't mind..." He trails off, gesturing out the door.

That's apparently enough to send my friends scrambling out the door.

"Interesting friends you've got," He comments, his eyes taking in all of my bandages with worried eyes as he closes the gap between us.

"They are a little weird, aren't they?" I agree with a smile, "But they're the best a girl could ask for."

I swing my arms around his neck as soon as he was close enough and reach up to smooth the worried creases between his brows.

"The bandages make it look worse than it is," I reassure, "The doctors say it's nothing serious."

Eric stays silent, reaching up to brush his knuckles against my cheek.

I grip his hand in mine, opening my mouth to tell him that I feel absolutely fine when I notice how his knuckles are busted up.

"What happened?" I frowned, "Did you-"

"He deserved more than just an ass-kicking," Eric confirms my suspicions, before I could say anything else he changes the subject. "I hope you'll be okay with staying with me for a few nights. I already made some arrangements."

"There's no need for so much trouble," I protest, "I could just stay in the dorms."

"There's no way I'm letting you sleep in the same room as Drew after what happened," He says, "Let me do this for you."

Feeling a little choked up at how sweet he's being, I can't even find it in me to resist him.

"You don't have to."

He leans in, pressing his lips to my forehead and mutters. "I'll do anything for you."

My heart squeezes at his words and as I watch him leave in search of one of my friends so they could pick up some clothes for me from my dorms, I realise how utterly screwed I am. Mainly because I think I'm falling for the ruthless leader everyone has been warning away from.