To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series

Chapter 8 (Eric's POV)

I wake Sunday morning excited to see Hosanna.  I'm surprised she didn't come over to get me for breakfast or something.  I get up and shower before crossing the hall to knock on her door.  After there's no answer, I dig her key out of my pocket.  I open her door and search it to find that she's not home.  I'm kind of bummed out that she's gone and didn't say where she was going.
I lock up and make my way down to breakfast alone.  I sit at the leaders' table with Lydia and Max.  "I'm surprised Hosanna was off so early," Lydia comments.
"You saw her today?" I ask dying to know where she went. 
"Yeah.  She was just leaving when I got here," she says.
"Did she say where she went?" I question.
Lydia laughs.  "Aww, missing her already?" she teases.
I stare at her with a blank look on my face, trying not to show her how much I actually do miss Hosanna.  If it were up to me, I'd be in her bed every night but she hasn't invited me in. 
Lydia stops laughing and answers me seriously.  "No, she didn't say where she was going.  She did leave with her cousin Ellen and Four though.  I think those Amity friends of hers went with them, too," she says.
"Oh," I respond.  That doesn't help.  I have no idea where she would have gone.  That's such an odd array of friends to go out with.  I doubt she went shopping with Four and Jonah.  I sit picking at my breakfast, pining for my girl.  I end up dumping most of it in the trash, not really feeling up to eating.  I miss my girl, I miss her smile, I miss her touch, and I miss her scent. 
I cross the Pit heading home, not really sure what to do with myself today.  I'm tempted to go to the control room to see where she is but that'd be a little much.  If she wanted me with her, she would have asked.  I walk back to my apartment, knocking on her door again just to make sure she's not home.  No answer.
I drag my feet across the hallway to my door and enter, tossing my keys aside.  I slump down onto my sofa and rub my face with my hands. 
I open my eyes to see the book she was reading yesterday on my coffee table.  I reach forward to pick it up and study it.  I never noticed what it actually was she was reading yesterday.  Is this one of my books?  It's leather bound, very nice actually, and very old looking.  I open it to see the title page says that it's the Bible.  I look up to my bookshelf.  There's an empty space near the top so it must be mine.  I flip through to see several pages are marked.  Some are my bookmarks, others have ribbons marking pages or even folded pieces of paper. 
I look for the bookmark Hosanna inserted yesterday, curious as to what she's been reading.  I open up to a page in 1 Corinthians 13.  It reads:

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

I finish reading this.  I've never noticed this book on my shelf before but it feels like the most powerful work I own, the most important words I've ever read.  I continue throughout the morning reading what she has been reading, replacing the bookmarks as I finish.  I never knew how this was organized.  I had only heard about this book before, I never actually held it in my hands and flipped through its pages.  I see how she is so wise, caring, and compassionate, if this is what she believes. 
I find myself reading the whole chapter of Matthew and enjoying the story, learning more about the details of what she believes. Some of the words and places I'm not familiar with.  It's in a language I understand but yet some things are confusing and the metaphors used I'm completely baffled by.  She believes that man who died is God, or the Son of God... I'm not completely sure.  He seems wise though, admirable.  I focus on what I did understand though.  I even saw her name in there. I never really thought about a meaning behind it before, I just thought it was a beautiful name.  I feel like getting this glimpse into her soul is helping me to understand her more.  I also feel like I have been probably pushing her in a way that she's not completely comfortable with—even without meaning to.  I was just thinking about how I want to be in her bed with her this morning...  I don't want her to feel uncomfortable with me or tempt her into doing what she believes is wrong.  I can wait for her, she is worth it to me.  I know I want her every way I can have her but I'll respect her wishes and beliefs and try not to overstep on them.  I'll love her, wait for her, and try not to pressure her into anything. 
I flip to the front and start reading Genesis.  I must have dozed off somewhere when I'm woken by Hosanna pulling the book off my chest.  She's crouching down between the sofa and coffee table.  She looks absolutely beautiful today.  She grabs a new bookmark and places the book back on the coffee table.  "I didn't mean to wake you," she whispers.
"No, it's okay.  I was just waiting for you to come home," I admit.
She smiles at me.  "Where were you today?" I ask after a moment.
She furrows her brows at me.  "I asked you yesterday on the train back to the compound if you wanted to come.  You didn't answer so I didn't force the issue," she says.
I think about yesterday and remember her talking to Ellen and the two Amities.  That's who she was with today.  I don't remember her saying anything to me.  Then I look to her hand resting atop the Bible on my coffee table.  That's what had me so distracted.  I had my mind elsewhere.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't hear you," I respond.
"It's okay.  Would you want to come next week?" she asks looking down at the book I was reading.
"Where'd you go?" I inquire.
"It's Sunday.  We all went to church," she explains. 
Oh.  I don't know how I feel about that.  Jeanine always had nothing pleasant to say about them.  But... I guess I didn't mind reading her Bible.  It really wasn't so bad.  Jeanine has been wrong about a vast many things so maybe it would be okay.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to.  I just thought I'd offer.  You're always welcome to join us," she tells me.  "And next time, I'll make sure I have your attention before I ask you something."
She really is amazing and I don't know if I could go another Sunday morning without her.  "Sure, I'll go next time," I agree.
She smiles and hugs me.  "Do you want to head down to lunch?" she asks.
"I could eat," I say, hiding the fact that I'm starving because I was pouting all morning from missing her.