Tris
Eric and I part after breakfast. I throw my apron on once again to wash my hands before getting back to work. I see a few people in cooking but there are a few standing around. It looks like everyone has everything going right now so I figure I'll start on the breads for lunch. I peek my head out to see a couple people outside doing nothing. One guy is smoking.
"You guys want to help me get started on lunch?" I ask.
"Sure," a girl shrugs.
They come in and wash their hands. We start on the dough for today. I help the girl with the bread while the other makes the pitas. The guy who was smoking helps the the other girl.
As we measure the ingredients, the girl I'm working with asks me, "What's going on with you and Eric? I thought Four was your boyfriend."
"I found out Four was cheating on me, so I ended things," I shrug.
"What about Eric?" she inquires.
"He noticed on Monday that I was so distraught about what Four did that I forgot to eat," I admit. "I guess I'd missed several meals and didn't really notice."
"How many meals did you miss?" she asks surprised.
"I'd been missing a lot of them lately with the break schedule so I hadn't realized I went an entire weekend without eating. Eric said I looked one meal away from death," I divulge.
"Are you serious?" she questions. "That's why leadership got involved with your breaks?"
I nod. She looks to the others.
"Who's Four with now?" she asks.
"Some pretty girl named Mellissa," I frown.
"Really? I never would've thought he'd go for that type," she replies.
"Yeah," I respond sadly. "Oh well. I guess I'll be careful who I choose next."
She smiles sadly at me. We make the bread together and talk with the other two. They all seem friendly and I kind of wish I'd noticed what a nice team I have. Maybe they've felt left out... or work better with direction.
We prepare lunch together and I help Ralph—the lunch manager—with direction of the staff. We make hummus, chop vegetables, make pita chips, and yogurt cups. We prepare grilled meat and vegetables, then assemble them for panini sandwiches.
I see Eric at the counter waving to me.
"You better go eat," Juliette nudges me—my new partner at bread making.
"Yeah," I laugh lightly. I wave to her and join Eric.
"Hi, Stiff," Eric grins hugging me. "How're you feeling?"
"Okay, but I'm looking forward to finishing today," I admit.
"You look happier," he says.
"I am," I reply.
We grab our lunch together before he has to part from me. He kisses my cheek again and I smile and wave at him. I kind of wish I could spend more time with him but maybe I'll see him tonight.
Four leaves me alone and every time he even approaches me, my friends shoo him away.
I help the staff by working together to prep for dinner. We assemble the pies in advance and start the chicken roasting. It's time for me to leave and I decide to take a nap before dinner. I lay down on my sofa and I'm shaken awake.
"You must be exhausted," Eric says. "I brought you dinner."
"Thanks," I smile yawning and stretching. I sit up and he joins me.
"I missed you," he says.
I grin and admit the same.
He smiles at me and caresses my cheek. I honestly hope he's feeling for me what I'm feeling for him. "Are you hungry?" he asks.
"I am," I reply.
"Let's eat, then," he says.
He passes me a plate of roasted chicken, mac and cheese, and vegetables.
"Did you get dessert?" I ask him eating a bite of mac and cheese.
"I got one of each," he grins.
"Which one do you want?" I inquire.
"Whichever one you don't," he responds.
I smile and close my eyes at him. Four always took what he wanted. Eric is really sweet. I feel a kiss to my cheek and I open my eyes to Eric still there. I kiss his cheek as well. He sets my plate aside and holds me for a moment. He takes a deep breath and sighs. He kisses my head again before giving me back my plate.
"So... how'd the rest of today go?" he asks.
"Better," I tell him. I explain my day and then ask about his—what he's allowed to tell me. We talk a bit while we eat. We actually share our dessert. I give him bites of mine and he gives me bites if his. I can't help but want this—what we have between us. As we sit together on the sofa, I incline over and kiss his cheek. I'm surprised when he holds me there... and leans in capturing my lips with his. I shudder at the sensation, so incredibly overcome. I respond to the kiss and love how intense and strong his is. It's so different from what I'm used to. I'm floored when he deepens the kiss. I respond never feeling this kind of passion before—his tongue caressing mine. He pecks my lips several times after.
"Will you be my girl?" he whispers to me.
"My phone already says so," I grin.
"So does mine," he divulges.
I chuckle at that.
"Hopeful thinking?" I tease.
"Just staking my claim," he admits.
"Yes," I whisper kissing him again. He lays me down on the sofa and I put a hand to his chest. "I... I'm not ready for that," I admit.
"Sorry, I just got carried away," he apologizes. "It's just that... I've been waiting so long for you."
I frown. Perhaps he's had feelings for me for a while. He helps me back up but he kisses me again. This one, more gentle and soft. I sigh happily.
I talk to him about Four and what really occurred in our relationship. I explain that things hadn't been so good between us for a really long time and he was pressuring me into something I didn't want. I'm honest with him about waiting until marriage for that kind of commitment.
"So... what you're saying is you wouldn't mind getting married," he teases.
I chuckle, "Maybe we should try this out first."
"I know," he nods. "I wasn't trying to pressure you into either. I don't want to make the same mistakes as him. I just was carried away in the moment... but in the near future, I'd definitely consider it."
I smile at his honesty, that he'd actually consider marrying me. "Are you sure you're not part Candor?" I joke.
He chuckles. "No, definitely not me."
He kisses me again and we hold each other talking throughout the evening. When it gets late, he kisses me at my door and I wish him a goodnight. I sigh and lean up against the door. I run to my bed and squeal in excitement at Eric being my boyfriend. I grab my phone to text Christina. I see a missed call, a voicemail, and a text from Eric. I read the text.
'I'm sure you're tired, so I'll just bring dinner up.'
The voicemail is about the same. He's so sweet. I text Christina to tell her that Eric and I are together. She calls me immediately and I chuckle having to tell her every single detail before I go to bed.
I wake and get ready with Eric walking me down to breakfast. He takes me through his typical morning with me joining his workout. He makes it simpler since it's been a while for me to go to the gym. We stay only part of the morning and then he leads me up to the office. I remain with him as he goes through a few of his typical duties. I sit in on a meeting about the faction budget. During lunch—for which I'm sitting up with him and Four looks enraged—he offers to take me on a trip to another faction. I'm a little worried but he assures me everything will be alright. We drive to Erudite and I'm bouncing my leg in nervousness and nibbling on my nails in anxiety.
"It'll be fine," he insists putting a hand on my leg. I look over to him as he drives us there. It'll be an hour there and an hour back... so technically, we could possibly stay for three hours and make it back with plenty of time for dinner.
We arrive and I'm internally freaking out about being here. Eric grabs my hand and laces our fingers together as we walk in.
"Why are we here again?" I ask.
"Inter-faction relations," he tells me softly. I feel a caress to the palm of my hand. He knows I'm nervous.
We arrive at a desk in the headquarters and he asks for Jeanine. The receptionist calls her and we're allowed up. We take the elevator up with no escort.
"Eric?" I ask him when the doors close.
"We're just here to talk," he says soothingly, squeezing my hand gently. "That's all. I think you should meet her." I feel a calm caress from his words and it relaxes me somewhat.
We arrive to the top floor and step out of the elevator. A secretary escorts us to Jeanine's office. We walk in to see Jeanine there and... my brother. Jeanine notices us and laughs lightly.
"I see you have your Prior protégé and I have mine," Jeanine grins. "Tea for everyone, Darlene."
"Yes, ma'am," her secretary replies, nodding and leaving the room.
Jeanine rises from her desk and Caleb from the chair across from her. He smiles at me. "You look good—thin but good," he says.
"Thanks," I respond.
Eric leads me to the sofa and has me sit on one side, him right beside me. He keeps holding my hand.
Caleb sits in the chair closest to me and Jeanine is in a matching wing chair directly across the coffee table from him closer to Eric. Darlene comes back in with a tray. There's a teapot, four sets of cups, spoons, sugar, lemon, and milk. Darlene pours a cup for Jeanine and hands it to her before excusing herself. Eric pours a cup and knocks my knee.
"Milk or lemon?" he asks.
"I don't know," I respond. I've actually never really had hot tea before.
"Milk," he decides and pours some adding sugar.
"Thank you," I say.
"Caleb?" Eric asks.
"Oh, um... lemon please," he responds.
I look up to see Jeanine watching Eric and smiling. It's not a creepy smile or sinister—it appears authentic. I try a sip of my beverage and I'm pleasantly surprised at it. It's good.
"So, how long has this been going on?" Jeanine asks motioning to us.
"Since yesterday," he shrugs dismissively.
"Pardon?" Caleb inquires.
"It would appear that my nephew and your sister are sweethearts," Jeanine says sipping her tea.
I look to Eric surprised. I did not know that. He meets my eyes and rubs my back affectionately. I glance to Caleb. He looks shocked. I force a smile at him.
"Well... congratulations," he responds.
"Thank you," I tell my brother earnestly.
Jeanine talks a bit to Eric about testing and I'm not exactly following. Caleb adds some details to the conversation. Then Jeanine asks about my potential application to leadership. Eric tells her that this is a trial.
"A trial?" Jeanine questions. "Like yours?"
"No," Eric responds shaking his head. "It's her trial for us. She has already been offered the position. She's considering it currently."
Eric speaks about how I almost singlehandedly run my current department and how I'm successfully delegating duties to subordinates. I look fondly at him. I'm just in awe of how he describes me. I'm a lowly cafeteria worker and he speaks about me as if I have exceptional skills in leadership.
"I definitely see it," Jeanine grins. "So... you haven't decided yet?" she asks me.
"I'm currently contemplating the position. I'm just curious to see whether it would be a good fit for me," I explain.
"It is a demanding position, that's for sure. Dauntless leadership takes on far too many responsibilities for my taste. I usually delegate them out to my subordinates, too. I hope you do choose to lead. I think you'd be an excellent fit. I'm gearing your sibling to take over for me in the distant future," Jeanine says.
I look to Caleb and he smiles and glances at me. We speak a bit more and Jeanine gives Eric a floor and room number before we leave. He thanks her and we go down in the elevator to that level.
"Where are we going?" I ask clutching onto his hand.
"I wanted you to meet her," he says softly leading me through a level with labs. "She's here."
We stop at a door and he walks in hesitantly. He looks around at the Erudite currently testing various chemical reactions. There are beakers and flames, contents in flasks and vials. Most everyone is wearing goggles and lab coats.
"Elizabeth?" Eric calls out.
A pretty blonde stops what she's doing and looks at him. She gasps and sets down what's in her hands. She strides over and hugs Eric. I can tell by her appearance that they must be related—she's like a pretty, feminine version of Eric... but very much like Jeanine, too.
They separate and Eric looks to me.
"Tris, this is my sister," he introduces.
My eyes soften at that. I smile at her.
"Lizzy, this is my girlfriend, Tris," he tells her.
She smiles and glances back to him before reaching out to hug me. I laugh lightly in surprise but hug her back. We talk with her a bit and Eric says he'll try to visit more often. My heart melts at him wanting to see her. We have to leave though, and she nods in understanding. She hugs her brother once more and then me again before we leave. Eric holds my hand as we exit Erudite headquarters and I'm surprised that it wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. We get back to Eric's truck and he opens the door for me. He steps around and climbs in before we're off.
"I'm sorry for not telling you why we were going. I just really wanted you to meet my sister and I used speaking to Jeanine about something as my opportunity to bring you," he says.
"That's fine," I reply.
"I know why you were nervous," he tells me.
My eyes snap to his.
"Did you understand what she was talking about in the beginning... her testing?" he questions.
I shake my head, "No."
"They were deliberately speaking so you couldn't follow because what they're doing is illegal. It's best that you didn't know," he says.
"Why?" I inquire.
"She's testing on Divergents," he tells me.
I pale at that.
"She never would've hurt you with me there," he says soothingly. "She wasn't looking to start an inter-faction war. She also doesn't know about you. If she did and she tried anything, nothing would stop me from coming after her."
"What?" I ask confused but my heart rate has accelerated dramatically.
"It was obvious to me during your training. I know what you are," he says and I move uncomfortably in my seat. "There's nothing to fear from me, sweetheart," he says gently. He grazes my cheek with his hand.
"You're okay with all of this?" I ask confused.
"All of what?" he questions.
"You say that you know what I am, but you were just talking about testing on people?" I inquire in shock.
"I never said I was okay with the testing. I'm just gathering information," he tells me.
I ask him to clarify what he means.
"I can only discuss confidential information with leadership. Trainees are acceptable, too," he explains.
"Are you a part of all that?" I frown.
"No," he says.
"Then I'm with you," I tell him.
"I'm gathering information to stop her," he admits. "So, you're joining us?" he confirms glancing at me as he continues to drive on.
"I am," I nod.
He laughs lightly and looks back to me. He's smiling.
We talk on the long trip back about leadership—their thoughts on everything. He divulges that Jeanine wants Dauntless to help her take over the city—to depose Abnegation—and exterminate the Divergent. Dauntless leadership is gathering information from Erudite to make a decision on whether they'll support her or not. Jeanine believes Eric supports her and he's trying to convince the rest of leadership but he's actually collecting information for her trial—once he can get her out of her office, of course.
"We can't speak outside of our private residences about this. She's been hacking the surveillance for years. Our plans have to be in private—casual appearing meetings," he explains and I nod.
"What about Caleb?" I question.
"He's in on it now. I think she's completely convinced him—either that, or he's coerced. I'm hoping for that. It may be an out through a trial in Candor if he's not at fault for joining her. But he may have on his own accord," he divulges.
"How could he betray Abnegation?" I whisper to myself.
"Power can do some strange things to people," he says softly. "I'm hoping it was coercion."
We remain quiet for a while. The vehicle approaches the Dauntless parking garage.
"When did you want to join us?" Eric asks me.
"I think this situation is more dire than if dinner is on the table on time," I reply seriously.
"There's a reason Max has been asking for help," he tells me. "He's not sure exactly where to go with this and we need some serious help. Also... Four would never be an option again. His morals are skewed, his life views are warped. He's clearly not of a proper mindset to lead a faction when the issues of morality and immortality are what's at stake. We want to do the right thing. He's no longer doing that in his private life... so why would we want him infecting the faction with his own problems and twisted perspective?"
"So, because he cheated on me and thinks it's still acceptable—trying to twist the situation to sound innocent to onlookers—he's unfit for the job," I deduce.
"Exactly," he nods parking the truck. "In a way, that's what Jeanine is doing."
I look to him confused by this comparison.
"She's attempting to deceive the masses and do as she pleases behind closed doors—except she's torturing and experimenting on innocent people," he tells me.
"How do you plan to stop her?" I ask concerned.
"I don't know," he admits. "We need another perspective."
I nod.
"Currently, we're gathering our information and biding our time until an opportunity presents itself," he explains.
"Yeah," I whisper nodding.
"Hey, there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's eat and get our mind off of it for the moment. That's usually when I come up with something," he encourages.
"Alright," I agree softly.
He steps out of the vehicle and my mind is still reeling on our previous conversation. He opens my door for me. "Hey," he says caressing my cheek. "You need to think of something else. You can't let it weigh you down. You need to move on. We're no good to our faction constantly worrying about something we can't do anything about. Keep moving, keep working, but enjoy life when you have the chance. It'll work out in the end—we'll make sure of it."
I meet his eyes and nod. He assists me down and kisses me gently. We head to dinner and everything seems to be running smoothly in the cafeteria without me working today. We get the roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and steamed vegetables. He encourages me to sit up with him again. I smile and agree.
We make it to the leadership table and Eric tells them all I'm joining them permanently. They all cheer and hug me. I laugh in surprise and actually feel welcome and appreciated. I notice we've got the attention of everyone—even though they don't know what's going on—but it's definitely encouraging.
Eric sits beside me and kisses me gently on the lips. I hear more cheering at that and I laugh lightly. I turn to see Four staring at me with a hard expression on his face. Eric grasps my hand and kisses the back of it. I surrender my attention to him and he's smiling at me—a real smile in front of the whole faction. I grin at him in reply and I don't worry about what the cheater thinks... because in the great scheme of things, his opinion is no longer my concern. I'm not going to let his distorted worldview mess with my decisions anymore. I'm going to open my eyes and see everything for what it really is. I'm not going to live in fear anymore. I'm moving on to better things. I'm needed. I'm wanted. I'm desired. And Eric is willing to wait until I'm ready for what really counts—doing the right thing.