More. || Eric Coulter

Seven.

#2 Freyr (DB)

#1 Vinnie

We all started to cheer and I observed everyone around me in disbelief until my eyes locked with Eric's. We smiled at each other for a moment until Freyr interrupted and gave me another bear hug and a kiss that didn't last long enough. We kept hugging each other and once I opened my eyes, I saw Eric again but his smile vanished and he gave a rather stiff applause. What was that all about?

The mood among all of us was incredible and we ended up jumping up and down in unison while chanting 'dauntless' over and over again making me forget about Eric's sudden change.

Soon, all the initiates were crowd surfing while the group as a whole moved to the dining hall where food was already served at the tables, a festive energy coursing through everyone.

Someone was whistling loudly once we were let back down again and we immediately turned our attention to where the sound was coming from.

It was Max on a type of balcony again and he gave us a speech that ultimately rounded off the evening.

Realization hit me once again when the speech was over. I was ultimately a part of Dauntless! I was one of the best ones even and most importantly... I. Was. Dauntless!

"Frank? Freyr?" I said once we were standing up from the table. They both turned with proud smiles on their faces which made me want to cry. Out of happiness of course! "I owe you a huge 'thank you' for your help! Of course a simple 'thank you' doesn't even closely give justice to how fucking grateful I am for your commitment and..." I was desperately searching for any words to say while a wave of happiness washed over me again and tears threatened to spill. Both my brother and then my boyfriend gave me hugs muttering 'it's okay's over and over again.

It seemed like someone always wanted to disrupt moments of happiness because while Freyr and I were hugging, an important man approached us and gave a smile.

"Congratulations you two!" Max said in an unusually cheerful voice. Or at least it was unusual for his standards. But he came straight to the point which was typical for him. "You did great and that's why I would like to talk to both of you. In my office if that's possible."

Max still looked cheerful yet neither I nor my brother or Freyr could tell if that was good or bad. Especially Frank and I were getting distressed while we exchanged looks. Was he suspecting something? I didn't think about my aptitude test results up until now because I thought they weren't relevant for the physical part. Yet somehow I kept thinking that Max suspected something.

"No need to be stressed out. You did nothing wrong but I'd still like to talk to you. It is rather important for your future at Dauntless."

Even though that was supposed to relax me, I still couldn't shake of some nervousness though I couldn't refuse because Freyr was already pulling me with him.

Once we arrived, Max ordered Freyr to wait outside for his turn. Max made sure to close the office door and offered me to sit down in front of his desk while he sat on his chair.

"Vinnie." He started. "I want to congratulate you again for your extraordinary score. It is very rare that we have such a talented initiate but I'm curious. To be honest, I've been observing you for a couple of months now but I'm still not getting smarter. How did you go through both initiation phases with that score?"

I couldn't tell what his intentions were and it made me furious somehow. In Erudite, I read a book on body language yet somehow I couldn't apply anything to this situation let alone remember a single thing I read.

Was he implying that I was divergent? Did he know? I was sure that I went through the simulations just the way a true Dauntless would and even Frank reassured me that so many times yet somehow I wasn't so sure anymore.

Hoping that Max couldn't read my mind or my body language I tried to gather any rational thought and give him an answer that matched the truth yet didn't give anything away.

"The trick is to find the most effective way to get out of frightening situations. Fears are irrational when it comes to being a member of Dauntless and depending on what fear, we should be able to get through real life situations without being affected by them. That's what my brother taught me and I believe that my history in Erudite helped me with finding quick solutions."

Max nodded and I saw that he approved of the answer. Still I couldn't shake of the fear of being caught but I kept going.

"Of course physical training is key to get a good result in the fights and to be honest, my brother, my boyfriend and I spent every free hour on training moves and improving my strength as well as agility, velocity and everything else. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be anywhere near to where I am now."

"So it's true. You and Freyr are the ones who willingly put their own body under more fatigue and that at night! People think you're crazy!" Max laughed and I joined in, figuring that he really didn't suspect anything.

"They can say whatever they want. If it wasn't for those extra training sessions then how else would I have gotten better?"

"Of course. Vinnie, we're obviously not here to only talk about the training. As I said, I wanted to talk to you about your future at Dauntless. Your brother might have told you about what happens to the best ones."

Surprised by not having heard about whatever he was about to tell me, I shook my head.

"Even better. Because we don't want to let the best performances go unnoticed, Dauntless' leadership has special offers for the best initiates. Now, you know that there are different paths after initiation but not all of them are available to everyone. The path of leadership, for example, or training initiates is only available to the top three with a certain certificate."

Having trouble processing all of that, I asked a question that must've made me look very stupid. "What does that mean?"

Thankfully, Max just laughed it off and answered the question. "That means, Vinnie, that your way to climbing to the top is free from any obstacles. You can choose to do whatever you want and whatever you choose, the leadership will be by your side and provide any help you might need."

"That's..." I tried searching for words to tell him how happy and thankful I was but yet again my mind just blanked and I sat there closing and opening my mouth like some fish gasping for air. "Does that... Is it... How..."

"You don't have to say anything. I understand if you are overwhelmed right now so that's why you can sleep over it and tell us about what you think tomorrow."

He gave me a folder that I was supposed to go through until tomorrow evening.

I carefully took the folder as if it might explode at any second and made my way outside where Freyr and Hamilton were waiting for their turn.

Soon I was in my bed and I wanted to read through all the papers in the folder but exhaustion and sleep washed over me from the previous sleepless night and the exhausting day.

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Is there a reason why Wattpad can't play gifs? The picture for this chapter is a gif but it doesn't work and it's so annoying because (I think) they used to work in the past; correct me if it wasn't. (edit: figured it out guys)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one even if it was only some kind of filler.