Eric
"I've got you," I tell Tris soothingly when she hesitates in the water.
She meets my eyes and I lead her out walking backwards with her further into the water. I take her other hand in mine. She's fine until she's waist deep. I pause and let her adjust to the temperature for a moment before we continue moving toward deeper water. She's shivering now. I know the water is warm so I don't mention it to her. She's very brave. The water gets to her shoulders and splashes her face. She gasps and stops.
"This is fine," I tell her calmly. "We don't have to go any deeper."
She nods still shivering but doesn't speak.
"You're pretty brave, Stiff," I say teasingly.
She laughs through her nerves and looks to me.
"Do you want me to take you further?" I ask. She wavers. "I'll hold onto you."
She winces.
"Am I really that scary?" I joke.
She smiles.
"You wouldn't be the first pretty little blonde I've taught to swim," I tell her seriously.
She blushes at my words.
"Who's the other?" she inquires.
"My baby sister, though she was about your size last I saw her on my Choosing Day," I tell her.
"You taught your sister to swim?" she asks surprised.
I nod.
"Alright," she agrees. "How old was she anyway?" she asks.
"My sister was five, I was ten. Before then, she mostly just splashed in the shallows. She was afraid to go any further," I explain as I slowly lead her into deeper water. She wraps her arms around my shoulders on her own. I smirk at that... but remember she's with Four. Why am I doing this to myself? This is a foolish thing to do—become infatuated with someone else's girl, my adversary at that. I sigh and do what I promised, regardless of how attracted to her I am. I tell myself her hold is merely platonic. We're only friends... and she's afraid. She draws herself closer to me with a gasp as the water laps against her face.
"I've got you," I tell her soothingly putting an arm around her. I sigh in euphoria. This is nice holding her. Her grip is like that of the ride in except it's currently out of fear of drowning rather than falling to the ground. She presently has her arms folded around my neck. This is incredible. I'm deep enough now that I'm treading water.
"We're not going any further?" she asks shakily.
"This is fine. I can't touch here," I tell her.
"Are you serious?" she questions gripping me tighter.
"I can swim, Stiff. No worries," I say teasingly.
She nuzzles me and I smirk. I tread water for a while and she's shaking less.
"What do you think? Not so bad, huh?" I say to her.
"Yeah, but you're swimming for me," she replies.
"I am," I respond. "Are you calm enough to learn?"
She releases me slightly and meets my eyes. We're inches apart.
"Okay," she whispers.
"Why don't we go where you can touch then?" I suggest since that worked best for Lizzy—my sister. I swim up to the shallows and I stand up. She laughs as she's still clinging to me.
"Sorry," she apologizes flushing and slowly releasing me.
"I don't mind, Stiff," I insist.
She pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear in discomfort. "You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" she questions awkwardly.
"No, why do you ask?" I inquire.
"Okay, good. I don't want some other Dauntless girl looking to kill me," she laughs lightly.
I chuckle at that. "Nope, no she-devils coming after you," I joke.
She guffaws in response.
"What about you? Am I going to have Four picking fights with me?" I ask playfully.
"Probably," she laughs lightly. "I could care less what he thinks. He likes to tell everyone we're together when we're not."
I raise my eyebrows in surprise but I'm not complaining. So, she's not with Four? This is good news. I'm completely content hearing this.
"So, what do I do?" she asks me standing in front of me.
I demonstrate how to float calling it the Starfish because Lizzy thought Dead Man's Float was too scary. She observes and nods that she'll try. I rise and help her to lay back. She laughs uncomfortably at first but I get her into position. She's clearly uneasy but she relaxes eventually as I hold her. I slowly release her and she floats.
"This is crazy. I thought I'd sink," she mentions. "If I go through my fear landscape again, I could just do this."
"If you're not really afraid, it'll be gone," I tell her.
"I think it's still there," she admits.
I take her closer to the dock and have her hold on to practice kicking. She's smiling and we're talking. She's very sarcastic and funny. I never would've expected this. After she's more comfortable with kicking, I take her out and teach her how to tread water at the end of the dock. She holds on and observes me first, then I hold onto her as she tries to kick her legs in a scissor-like motion and flutter her arms around her body to stay afloat. I hold onto her with one arm, the other on the dock as she practices. When she looks good, I slowly release her without her noticing. I watch her for a moment and swim beside her.
"You're swimming on your own, Stiff," I tell her.
"What?" she asks shocked. She sees where I am and laughs. She stops and sputters a bit of water but she starts up again.
"You're doing fine. You want to take a break?" I offer.
"Sure," she nods.
I have her hold onto me and I swim us back toward shore. I rise in the shallows and she carefully disengages from me. I take her hand and walk her to the shore. I grab my towel and dry off a bit. She follows.
"You want a drink?" I ask.
"Um... sure," she shrugs.
I list off the options I have—milk, beer, water. There are a couple fizzy drinks I stuck in the fridge.
"I'll try one of those," she requests intrigued.
I go inside and grab a grape variety. They were always Lizzy's favorite... well, that and strawberry. I pour half into a cup and bring them back out. I let her take her pick and she chooses the cup.
"This is interesting," she says sipping it.
"You and my sister would get along well," I grin.
She asks about her so I tell her all about Lizzy. She smiles as I speak about her, telling fond memories of my sister and our youth together.
She tells me about her family. I grin at her as she talks. Andrew does seem like a nice guy—not what was written a while back.
"I know your brother and father," I tell her.
"You know Caleb?" she asks surprised.
"He works for Jeanine. I think she's grooming him to be her successor," I explain.
She frowns at that. So, I decide to change the subject.
"What happened with you and Four?" I ask attempting to be nonchalant about it but she clearly sees right through me.
"You two don't get along, do you?" she asks me.
"Not really," I admit.
"Yeah," she sighs. "I don't know. He was interested at first. He got angry at my job selection initially but he got used to it. Then when I got a promotion, I chose my career over him," she shrugs. "About a week later, he apologized. I wasn't interested anymore, although he'd have everyone believe I'm his property and he claimed me first."
I chuckle at that. "He is a bit obsessive," I nod. "So... he lied to me in my office," I deduce.
She glances at me.
"Yeah," she says softly.
"Was he messing around with you during initiation?" I inquire.
"Playing with my head, yeah. I had no idea what a relationship could be like. He obliterated any hopes for it. I had parents as an example, then Edward and Myra. My parents are together and they already broke up," she divulges. "Then Four... that is not what I want a relationship to look like. I was miserable—high highs immediately shot down and mostly low lows."
"How do you know about Edward?" I ask confused.
"Patrols," she responds. "He's kind of lost his mind."
I hum a reply.
"So... you're not interested in Four?" I press.
"Not anymore," she shrugs.
I look to her and she meets my eyes. She smiles at me.
"I think I see why you don't like him so much," she tells me.
I nod. He is hard to get along with. Always pushing boundaries and picking a fight.
*****
Tris
Eric teaches me all sorts of techniques for swimming. I'm catching on fast and I honestly can't believe I'm swimming on my own this quickly. I'd say we could be good friends. I like him and I'm so grateful that he offered... that I ran into him. He's so different than what I'd expected—more real... and open, friendly even. I'm swimming all by myself and he's smiling at me and playing around.
"Are you getting hungry?" he asks.
"I could eat," I nod but in actuality, I'm starving. I've never worked up such an appetite since initiation.
"Do you want to stay over for dinner?" he offers.
"Alright," I smile.
"I'll get a fire started," he says. "You can shower in the bathroom upstairs if you want. Use anything you find. My sister's products are all sweet and flowery," he teases and I grin at that. "She's got clothes, too, if you want. They're in the drawers in there. Help yourself."
"Okay," I agree.
I dry off and keep the towel wrapped around me as I climb the stairs. I look through her drawers and find some clothes that'll fit. He said she hasn't been here in years and probably couldn't fit into these anymore. I select some navy undergarments and a hooded sweatshirt. I grab my black clothes from earlier and walk to the bathroom. This is so much nicer than the campgrounds. It was nice—just the communal thing has me a little on edge. It kind of reminds me of initiation. I didn't care for sharing rooms with males.
I find some products—shampoo, conditioner, body wash... etcetera and take a quick shower. This is so relaxing compared to the other that I'd have to share with several cabins. I finish quickly and grab my wet things. I slip my flip flops back on and step downstairs. I walk outside to hear a loud, periodic hammering-type noise. I look over to the side of the garage to see Eric chopping wood. He's shirtless and incredibly built.
"Finished?" he asks.
I nod in reply.
"You can hang your wet clothes and towels over here," he tells me.
"Thanks," I say seeing a line strung up. He has his towel already there drying in the sun. I use some clips to hold my clothes onto the line and drape the two towels over.
"I've got the fire started but it'll take a while for it to be ready to cook on. I'll make us some burgers after I shower. You can take a peek in the kitchen and pick out whatever you want to go with it," he tells me.
"Alright," I nod.
He goes back to chopping and I examine the fire he started. I'm impressed that he's going to cook on it and that he can even build a fire so easily in the first place. I've never actually seen either done before. Even in Dauntless, they use a flattop in the cafeteria. I glance back at him and realize, Eric is very different from what I expected... incredibly attractive, also. I'd never noticed before. Four was telling me he was former Erudite on my first day and my mind instantaneously put a wall up there. Then I got to know some other former Erudite and realized I don't think it matters anymore where we came from.
I head inside and peek through his refrigerator. He's got a lot of bread in there. I see the burgers, though, along with hamburger and hotdog buns. He's got a variety of meats in here and other things like some produce and dairy. I open the freezer to find lots more bread. He's got some frozen French fries and a few other options. I close the fridge and look through his cupboards to find dishes. He's got to have some dry goods. I see a door open off to the side with shelving. I look in there to find several boxed and dry foods. I go through them and discover some boxes of macaroni and cheese. I hear the front door open.
"Mac & cheese or fries?" I ask Eric.
"Whatever you want, Stiff," he grins before going upstairs.
I hear the shower turn on. I think I'll do the fries since it'll take a while for the oven to heat up. I turn his oven on and find a sheet pan. While it comes up to temperature, I look around through the living room. There's a few bookcases and a desk. I look through the books and discover a handwritten cookbook. I open it up to see the cover page. This book belongs to Ruth Adams-Matthews. I blink at the last name. I flip through it to find several bread recipes. These sound incredible. I continue on with sauce recipes—spaghetti, cream, cheese... etcetera. There are roasted meats with herbs, various vegetable and noodle salads, homemade macaroni and cheese, potato dishes, breakfast recipes... the list goes on.
"You found my grandma's cookbook," Eric comments.
"Yeah," I nod.
"You can use it if you want. I'm honestly not much of a cook. I can make a few things, though," he says.
"Her last name is Matthews," I point out gently.
He looks me over. "My mother was Jeanine's twin," he tells me.
"Oh," I say surprised because I don't know what else to say. I hadn't realized he's actually related to her.
I hear the oven chime and I step in the kitchen to get the fries ready. He grabs the meat out of the fridge.
"You want a salad for dinner?" he offers.
"Sure," I nod. I saw a pre-made bag in there and some dressings.
He steps outside with the meat, a plate, and a spatula. I dump the fries onto the tray and set the timer. I sigh. I see why Four was always leery of Eric. I wonder if he even knows. He never told me this. How does that change how I feel about him? Does it? I don't know. He's been so nice to me today.
I decide to go join him outside... to see if this knowledge affects anything. He drops a grate over the fire and I see sparks fly away. It's starting to get dark out. I've stayed most of the day with him. He puts the burgers on the fire and it flares a little. He wipes his hands on a wet towel and looks up to me.
"You probably want to sit on this side so the smoke doesn't get in your face," he advises.
I nod and sit beside him. He is really sweet. How did I not know this before? Perhaps I've just never taken the time to look.
We chat a bit about lighthearted things. He tells me he's got something in the pantry for dessert. I grin at that since I do like desserts on occasion, though the incredibly sweet ones can be a little much for me still. This is nice... and the food smells incredible. He flips the burgers and I hear the chime go off in the kitchen. I walk away to take them out. I use the hot pads and set the tray on the stovetop. I turn the oven off and Eric walks in with the platter. I get the salad, condiments, and buns out of the fridge while Eric sets the table. I smile at that. It's almost like an unspoken thing between us.
We sit down to eat together. And I thank him again for the invite.
"Anytime, Stiff," he smirks.
"So... are you a big fan of bread?" I ask.
He chuckles. "Not exactly," he replies. He explains that Amity puts peace serum in their bread and all of his is from Dauntless.
"Oh," I respond completely surprised. "I thought it tasted funny today."
"You could taste it?" he questions baffled.
I nod.
"I never really noticed much until Jude said something. I thought it tasted a little off but not enough to deter me until I found out what that was," he mentions.
"So, you used to eat that stuff all the time?" I inquire.
"I guess so," he shrugs. "It's kind of disheartening knowing Amity drugs their population and anyone visiting."
"Yeah, that's strange," I agree. "It's a shame. I love bread... but that was kind of nasty."
"Feel free to join me anytime," he offers.
I smile and thank him again as we eat. He gives me his number to call him whenever I want. I smile and get my phone out of my pocket. I dismiss the texts and missed calls from Four to enter his number in.
"Four still bothering you?" he asks.
"Always. I'm thinking of blocking him," I mumble.
"Maybe you should," he tells me. I'm not sure if he's joking or serious. It could go either way with him.
I enter his number. I decide this is fine. I like Eric. He doesn't seem to hide things from me... at least not intentionally.
We finish dinner and I help him pick up and wash his dishes. He dries and puts them away. Then he leads me outside and teaches me the fine art of roasting marshmallows. They're incredible and I feel like I've easily eaten ten of them.
Afterward, we sit around the fire together and talk a bit more. He's constantly making me laugh and smile. I'm truly enjoying his company. I realize I'm getting tired, though. I try to hold in the yawn but fail miserably.
"Tired?" he asks nudging my leg with his.
"A little," I admit.
"Swimming all day will wear you out," he nods. "I'll drive you back."
"Alright," I reply appreciatively.
He goes inside and grabs his keys. I saw them on the console by the door, two sets of them—one massive pocketful and another with what I'm assuming is the keys to his truck. I grab my bathing suit and notice it's dry. I carry it back to the fire. Eric comes out a moment later and approaches me.
"I guess the responsible thing to do would be to put out the fire," he mumbles. I watch as he takes a piece of wood and separates the fire. There's a metal ring around it and sand but he moves the burning logs apart. There are just a few embers left burning and I observe as most of them start to go out.
"Come on. It's getting darker," he mentions. He takes my hand and leads me to his truck. I know I'm blushing that he's holding my hand. He opens the passenger door for me and it's incredibly sweet and respectful. I appreciate it. He closes the door and walks around climbing in. I've driven before but the leaders' vehicles are really nice—different from the armored trucks we usually operate in security.
He starts the vehicle up and the ride is really smooth. He takes me back on the main road and I can see the lights of the city in the distance past the fence. It's an incredible sight—one I've never viewed before. As we continue on, I notice how much more comfortable the ride is with Eric driving, rather than the bus. He turns toward the camp and he slows substantially for good reason—kids are running around everywhere in the dark. There are a few lampposts lighting the way but he's being cautious.
"Why don't I just park here and walk you back?" he suggests and does so before I even respond.
I smile at that.
We climb out and he escorts me to my cabin. We pass several more fires roaring. I see lots of Amity and even Candor now. Some of the few Erudite who were on the bus with me are present, too. We pass them all up playing games, singing, telling stories and whatnot. There are a few roasting marshmallows and some have hotdogs. That sounds good.
"This row," I motion to my area of cabins.
I realize now that Eric has his hand around my waist and I'd have to admit it's not unpleasant. It's actually sweet. I asked Christina once what that gesture meant—she said it's a polite, chivalrous kind of gesture. I don't mind at all.
We arrive at my cabin and I tell him this is it.
"Call me if you want to do something," he shrugs putting his hands in his pockets. The action is so casual and at ease. I like that.
"Alright," I smile.
There's laughing coming from within my cabin.
"Sounds like you've got some Amity in there," he teases.
"Maybe," I grin.
"See you later, Stiff," he says reaching out and hugging me. It's unexpected but I hug him back. This is nice, casual, friendly. I'm not scared this time but my heart is racing.
"Goodnight, Eric," I reply softly.
He responds the same before releasing me.
I wave to him as he goes. I step into my cabin. There are two Amity inside and I'm regretting walking in on them messing around a bit.
"Oh, hello," the girl says.
"Hi," I reply.
"I'm Angel and this is Troy," she tells me.
"It's nice to meet you," I smile. "I'm Tris."
I grab my clothes as they laugh and continue. I set my bathing suit down and grasp my entire toiletry bag. I head out to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I actually see Eric's truck driving away in the distance. What a change today has brought about—definitely more perspective.
I brush my teeth and switch into my sleep clothes. I realize I'm still wearing the navy hoodie. I wonder if anyone noticed. It's the first time I've ever worn blue. I actually like it.
I step back into the room to see an Erudite girl across the aisle from me in bed. She's wearing glasses and reading a book. It looks like she has Petri dishes and a microscope set up along the window ledge beside her.
She glances up at me and I introduce myself. Her name is Jana. She offers me some ear plugs. I laugh confused.
"I didn't realize we'd be sharing with two Amity lovebirds. I'm glad I brought them," she says.
I blink in surprise.
"Oh, and the rest in here are Candor—all male. I'm not looking forward to being around them again," she continues.
I nod and thank her for the information. I climb into bed.
"I've got a flashlight if you want the light off," she tells me.
I thank her and flip the switch. I lay down and the bed reminds me of the dorm beds in initiation. I see Jana is still reading with her flashlight but I drift off quickly, exhausted from a day of swimming.
I'm woken in the night by those Candor boys coming into the room in what I assume to be a drunken stupor. One tries to lay on the bed beside me and falls on the floor. They're laughing and calling him names picking on his intelligence. I fall asleep again and I'm awoken once more by the two Amity in the night. I'm regretting not taking Jana up on the earplugs as they whisper and giggle. I decide that I'll happily accept them tomorrow as I roll over and cover my ears with my pillow.