"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Here are the final rankings."
The leaderboard lit up with names of the various Dauntless initiates who had survived training and were now officially members of Dauntless, as well as those below the red line who would now become Factionless. But what Annabelle found most shocking was finding her name in the number one spot of the leaderboard. Damien had come in second and Izzy finished in sixth. But herself in first? Annabelle could hardly believe. It she was still staring at her ranking in shock when Izzy threw her arms around Anna in excitement, jumping up and down against Anna's frozen form.
"We did it! Annabelle, we made it! We're Dauntless now!"
Annabelle smiled down at her friend softly then turned to Damien who had placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The pair smiled at one another, grateful for the help they had provided to one another that allowed them to make it to this moment. Eventually, people slowly started filing out of the mess hall and into the Pit where the real party was about to begin. The Pit was filled with loud music, dancing, drinking, and of course, sparring. Annabelle and her friends were having the time of their lives until Annabelle's attention was drawn away to the sight of her brother just a few groups over in the Pit. Noticing one another at the same time, Annabelle and Tobias made their way to one another and met in a large embrace.
"Congratulations, Dauntless. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, T. Thank you for the special help near the end. I'm sure I'd be dead without it."
"Stop. Don't talk like that. But you remember what I said, you can't tell anyone, including--"
"Including Eric. I know, I know."
"You're really go to stay with him?"
"I am. It's not a question for me, Tobias. I love him."
"Alright. Well, you better not keep him waiting any longer then."
With a slight nudge of his head, Annabelle followed her gaze to behind her where she spotted Eric just a ways off watching her and Tobias intently. She kept a close eye as she noticed Eric's hand moving at his side, focusing as he spelled out a word with his fingers.
'Hallway'.
Annabelle nodded in understanding, at which point Eric walked out of the Pit and towards the doors leading into the halls. Once out of his sight, Annabelle turned back towards Tobias who held a look of disdain on his face. Anna's held one of mock disappointment to which Tobias rolled his eyes in response.
"Go. Be careful please."
"I'll be fine. You should recognize by now that I can take care of myself. I'm top of my class."
"Yeah, yeah. Just go."
Annabelle smiled wide at her brother before placing a grateful kiss to his cheek and jogging excitedly towards the north hall. The moment she stepped through the door's threshold, she was immediately grabbed by her wrist on her right and pulled into a tall and muscular body. Annabelle's own smile was met with Eric's as he pulled her into a deep kiss. Annabelle easily melted into the kiss, the both of them completely at ease now that they no longer needed to hide their relationship. When the need for air finally arose, Eric pulled away and allowed himself to lean back against the wall while Anna wrapped her arms loosely around his torso and rested her chin comfortably against his chest, looking up at him with all of the love she could muster. Neither of them spoke, instead choosing to just revel in the feeling of being close to one another again. After earning enough shocked looks from Dauntless of all types, Eric finally pushed himself off the wall and placed a quick kiss to Annabelle's head before grabbing her hand in his and pulling her down the hallway to an unfamiliar portion of the compound.
After taking more twists and turns throughout the compound than Anna could even begin to remember, the pair finally found themselves in a long hallway with multiple doors lining each side of the aisle. Eric stopped in front of one of the doors in the center and held a key out to Anna.
"Welcome home."
Annabelle smiled wide and quickly unlocked the door before bolting inside, immediately in awe of the large and open space that surrounded them.
"This whole place is mine?!"
"Maybe. If you accept my next offer."
Annabelle turned to face Eric with a mischievous grin on her face. She slowly walked back towards Eric who watched her with a cocky grin of his own as she came to a stop just in front of his person.
"And what offer would that be?"
"These living quarters are for leadership. You finished top of your class. As such, you get offered first. So, what do you say?"
"I don't know, Eric. Do you think I'd be any good at it?"
"It's not as hard of a job as it seems. Mainly it's just weekly meetings, we help place everyone else in their jobs, and each leader manages a different portion of Dauntless life. I think you'd be perfect for the job."
Annabelle blushed slightly at the comment, but Eric would have none of her bashfulness.
"Hey. I mean it. You deserve the spot. You've earned it. Take the job, baby girl, please."
Annabelle's posture sagged a bit as she contemplated saying yes. Part of her really wanted to take the position. Even she couldn't deny that after everything she had been through to get to this point, she did deserve the position. Sensing her hesitation though, Eric wrapped his arms around her waist and moved in close to place his lips to Annabelle's neck, causing the woman to lose her train of thought.
"Eric..."
"If it's any incentive, my room is just two doors down."
Annabelle chuckled lightly as Eric continued to work on her neck, her own arms wrapping around his neck to keep him close while still trying to think logically about the job offer. But as Eric's hands began to trail lower and lower down her backside, she found all sense of logic completely leaving her mind.
"Alright. You win. I'll take the job."
Annabelle felt Eric smile against her neck as he pulled her body even tighter against his before suddenly lifting her off the ground and spinning her around the room excitedly, causing Annabelle to let out a squeal of surprise which was like music to Eric's ears. It almost scared Eric how much he loved Annabelle, and he didn't realize just how different, just how complete, he felt with her now compared to the last year without her. He never wanted to feel so empty ever again.
"Okay! Okay, Eric let me down before I throw up all over you."
Eric chuckled at Annabelle's dramatics but didn't feel like risking it anyways. Upon returning Annabelle to the ground, the woman continued to wander throughout her new apartment again, admiring all of the space that was now completely hers. After walking throughout the house a few times over, a frown found its way to Anna's face which did not go unnoticed by Eric.
"What's wrong, baby?"
"Is there any chance I can do some redecorating? It's a little more grey than I care for."
Eric eyed Annabelle carefully after finishing her statement, looking for any sign of real discontent or anxiety. He saw a little, but the small, reassuring smile that she gave him when she noticed his own concern on his face told him that she was doing everything she could to get through it. It was her own way of telling him that she'd be okay, eventually. Eric smiled back, letting her know that he wouldn't push the issue unless it became a problem at a later date, and finally responded to her earlier question.
"The room is all yours. You can change it however you'd like, Belle."
Annabelle gave a grateful smile in Eric's direction while he continued to admire the joy on Anna's face at finally having a place of her own. But soon enough, her mischievous smirk made its way onto her face again as she looked at Eric pleadingly.
"Any chance I can see your room?"
Eric rolled his eyes at the childishness of Anna's request, but knew that if he denied her request, she'd only beg more. So, somewhat reluctantly, Eric held his hand out for Anna to take which she immediately ran to grab before the two exited her room and made their way just a couple of doors down to Eric's quarters. Eric opened the door slowly and allowed space for Annabelle to enter first. She did so excitedly and eagerly walked throughout the space that was almost identical to her own. Eric had always been a simple guy with very simple tastes. The apartment was well organized and clean with just a few clothing items strewn about here and there. There was no excessive decoration in the space, just a couple of wall clocks and a few pictures of a slightly younger Eric during his own Dauntless initiation.
Annabelle stopped short in front of a closed door at the far end of the apartment. She looked back at Eric before entering and he gave a slow nod letting her know it was okay for her to enter his private space. Annabelle did so, slowly turning the knob and walking into the bright white space. Eric's bed was neatly made at the center along with the rest of the large space. Annabelle walked past the open bathroom and was immediately overcome with the scent of Eric's cologne. It was a scent that she wouldn't mind waking up to now and again, but that was a conversation for another time. She was about to walk back towards the door where Eric still stood silently, but something caught her eye on the edge of Eric's nightstand.
Eric watched carefully for Anna's reaction as she grabbed the picture frame from off of his nightstand and stared at it intently in her hands. He tensed slightly when he noticed her eyes starting to gloss over with tears, but waited to say anything until her could tell if they were good tears or bad. After what felt like an eternity to Eric, Annabelle turned to look at him, tears still threatening to leave her eyes.
"You kept this?"
Eric looked at the picture of himself and Annabelle from when they were kids. The two had snuck out of their homes late one night after a particularly bad beating session between Marcus and Tobias. After putting Tobias into his bed for the night, Annabelle had still been particularly worked up about the whole ordeal, so Eric took her out to explore the city center in the dead of night. The pair had snuck onto the roof of the Erudite compound where Eric pointed out all of the various hot spots of Chicago. Despite living there her entire life, Annabelle had never been allowed to explore outside of Abnegation and was far more sheltered than even she had ever realized. But Eric had been patient with her and taught her everything he could in the quiet hours they had spent together. At the end of the night, he had brought up his camera after discovering that Annabelle had never had a picture taken, or even seen one for that matter, and proceeded to take multiple pictures of her throughout the night. At one point, he had taken a picture of the two of them together, Eric kissing her cheek as Annabelle smiled wide with a bright pink blush covering her cheeks. It was the picture she held in her hand now almost two years later.
"I meant it when I said I never stopped loving you. Choosing Dauntless didn't change anything for me, Belle. I know that I hurt you and I know that you hated me for a while but loving you has always been the one constant in my life. The one thing I am entirely sure of. That picture was the only thing that kept me going some days. Knowing that one day I'd get to see you again and hold you again. And now that day is finally here."
A few tears finally left Annabelle's eyes at Eric's confession. It was true, Annabelle had hated his guts after he left her to join Dauntless. But she often wondered what Eric was like during his time at Dauntless without her. Did he date other people? Did he ever think about her? Did he miss her? And now she finally did know for certain. Anna wasn't completely blind. She recognized that Eric had changed in many ways during his time at Dauntless. He wasn't nearly as open as he used to be and didn't have quite the same sense of humor or recklessness that she had come to love so much, but at his core, the most basic parts of him were exactly the same. He was still her sweet, protective, and loving Eric.
Annabelle walked straight up to Eric and pulled him into a searing kiss, one that threw him off balance slightly before he composed himself and pulled Anna in close to his body. The feeling of their lips interlocking was the most natural thing in the world to them both. The desire for one another grew more and more intense the longer the kiss was prolonged, and Annabelle suddenly found herself being lifted from the ground, Eric's strong arms wrapping her thighs and pulling them to rest around his waist. Eric walked the pair of them back towards the bed where he sat on the edge, Anna now resting comfortably atop his lap, their lips not breaking apart even once. The feeling of Eric's hands sliding further and further up her legs pulled Anna from her bliss for a moment as she finally separated herself from him just the slightest bit. Eric's lips chased after hers for a moment before realizing that she was only pulling further and further away from him. Eric was then quick to pull away himself, realizing the situation.
"Sorry. I'm sorry, Belle. We can slow down. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"No. No, you're not making me uncomfortable. I want to, believe me, I do. But, I do want to make sure that we are smart about this, so we probably should take it slow for a little bit. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, of course. I've waited over a year for you, Belle. I can wait a little longer."
Annabelle smiled gratefully at Eric before leaning in for a few more quick kisses which Eric eagerly reciprocated.
"Thank you. I love you, Eric."
"I love you too, Belle."
Annabelle smiled wide in response, knowing for the first time in a long time that Eric truly meant those words.