"Sometimes the wrong choices bring you to the right place."
The days weren't going as quickly as they used to. We had been given much more free time than we had in the first stage of training. Not that I complained much, it was nice having a few minutes to yourself occasionally. Luke and Roxy had disappeared after dinner, not giving a clear answer as to where they were going, luckily the twins had approached me.
"Up for another party?" Ly wriggled her eyebrows. It was not unlike the twins, even Tadeo who seemed to follow them everywhere. I had not been able to say no, leaving them only to get another shirt on. A blouse, hugging my figure tightly. It was showing off my petite form and my tattoos on my forearms, seeing as the sleeves only reached to my elbows. I no longer had any baby fat on my body, the rigorous training Four had put us through had put an end to that.
Even before we reached the party, I knew it was Zeke once again. The guy held way to many parties and was apparently notorious for it. The wide grin he sent us all when opening the door, made me feel even more of a crime rider than last time. There were a lot of people this time. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I retracted to the kitchen area. It provided me with a bit more quiet compared to the living room.
I hadn't been in the kitchen for a long time before someone approached me. Surprisingly it was Gabriel. "Octavia, how are you?" He smiled brightly to me before pulling me into a surprise hug. It was executed rather awkwardly from my side because I hadn't been prepared for it at all. I didn't feel like I knew him well enough to be hugging yet, but he had properly had a few drinks, so I shrugged it off.
"Gabriel—Hello." I chuckled awkwardly, brining my arms up to my chest, crossing them and leaning against the counter behind me. "I'm great, what about you?" I asked. The standard reply to that question because it was all I could manage.
"A bit tired, thanks for asking." Gabriel resumed the same stance as me, though his hip was leaned against the counter instead, leaving him turned towards me. "It's been a few long couple of weeks. I've been taking extra hours in the control room now that Four is training you guys." Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck before catching my eyes.
"Oh yeah, I remember Four saying something about that. He told us he usually worked in the control room." I smiled, still feeling a bit awkward beside Gabriel. The few times I had been speaking to him, hadn't been entirely pleasant because he had threatened to tell on me once, and then been after his sisters. "It sounds exhausting." I said, genuinely worried.
"Luckily, its only temporarily. Once Four is done training you guys, he'll be back to help cover the shifts again." Gabriel covered a yawn with the back of his hand as I shifted upright, intending to leave him. I wasn't much for this conversation. Gabriel was rather hard to figure out.
"That's a good thing." I smiled to him, already having taken the first step to leave him. But when he wouldn't let me go, I wasn't surprised at all.
"Octavia—" Gabriel spoke my name rather quickly and I returned my attention to him. "—I've heard that Eric's been one for sore eyes lately. What happened at that time in the dining hall?" He asked, genuinely sounding interested but it was also said to keep me there and make conversation. I wasn't stupid. Gabriel had to have something against Eric like his sisters had. I had only learnt bits and pieces, but knew the twins resented him.
"There's been this feud between some of the initiates, and when we began throwing food at each other Eric saw it fit to give us a punishment." I explained as short as I could, not really wanting to linger. "It wasn't bad. We only had to run back to the compound, until Samuel opened his mouth." I chuckled and Gabriel pushed himself away from the counter.
"Eric wanted us to clean the entire dining hall, but Samuel saw it fit to challenge Eric, and therefore Eric gave him a secondary challenge. He didn't succeed so he had to clean the dining hall by himself." I chuckled. Gabriel joined in, then he ran a hand through his hair, pushing some of the golden curls away from his face. His hair was a bit darker than mine, and had tighter curls, if not much shorter as well. It only reached below his ears.
Then Gabriel's eyes landed on the necklace still around my neck. I had forgotten to take it off and despite it being a gift from Eric, I still found it pretty. "Where did you get that?" Gabriel rasped, his demeanor changing completely as he reached a hand out towards it but stopping himself to look me directly into the eyes. There was clear pain in his and a certain dread settled in my gut. This necklace had not been Eric's to give. I feared it had something to do with Georgiana—and I was unfortunately right.
"I bought it in one of the shops." I blurted out, lying to the best of my abilities so not to arouse to much suspicion while catching the pendant between my fingers. "It's pretty right?" I asked turning it, however, it was something I shouldn't have done. Gabriel's hand dashed forward, grabbing the pendant from my fingers before he had it turned around and raised to reflect the light. It reflected it and showed what was engraved on the back.
"Two triangles." Gabriel whispered, his eyes wide before releasing it again. "Where did you get that? I thought it was lost when Georgiana died." The amount of pain in Gabriel's voice made goosebumps appear over my entire body. He had known her as well, Eric hadn't told me that. "Eric must've had it! He had no right giving that to you—he had no right!" Gabriel then repeated while
suddenly reaching for the pendant again. His entire demeanor shifted and he grew hostile.
When he changed and reached for the pendant for the second time, I instantly recoiled, moving out of his reach. "It's not yours either." I snapped when Gabriel tried again. Those words switched something in him, and he grabbed onto my clothes instead, more specifically the hem of my shirt before pulling me back to him.
A small yelp of surprise left me when he lowered his head to mine. "It's not yours either—it belonged to my Georgiana. I had those triangles engraved there. Eric had no right, no right to pass it on to you. No matter how much you look like her." Gabriel sneered and tightened his hold on my clothes as every fiber in my body screamed to get away.
Acting accordingly, I stomped my heel directly down onto the top of his foot. Gabriel released me with a painful yelp but only to grab both my arms above the elbows and force me against the wall, pinning me in place. The tight grip he held onto my arms were sure to bruise, I could feel the stinging pain emerge as he allowed his anger to control him. "Get—your—hands—off—me." I warned, slowly emphasizing each word.
"Where you really that much of a temptation to him? You might look like her, but you will never become her." Gabriel inched closer, pressing his body against mine. "No, you will never be her." He inhaled, his nose inches from my hair.
I felt nothing but disgust in that moment while resisting the urge to gag as he pressed himself harder against me. Then a hand moved to my jaw, pinning it between a thumb and another finger before forcing me to look up at him. "Go tell Eric—I will be waiting." Gabriel smirked before lips were pressed against mine. Totally stunned, I could do little to fight back. I had never been kissed before. If you could even call that a proper kiss.
When Gabriel retracted from me, I felt the small snap of a chain when he pulled the necklace with him. Gabriel had reclaimed because I had been to stunned to act. The kiss he had given me had been tender, almost sweet, had I not known it was him, I could have enjoyed it, but he still stole my first kiss.
Anger boiled up in me, making me act before Gabriel could understand what I was doing. I swung my hand at him, tightly clenched into a ball at him, hitting him square across the cheek. It forced him backwards before he retaliated and returned the favor. His hit only much harder.
The retaliation hit me hard. He hadn't punched me, no, he had slapped me. I tasted iron a moment after, well knowing the force had probably split my lip. I slowly turned back to Gabriel just as Zeke came running. "What the fuck is going on between you two!" Zeke practically screamed at us. I lowered my head so not to let him see the angry tears swelling in my eyes.
Gabriel was still smiling when he held the necklace up for Zeke to see. He held it by its chain, letting Zeke see it. "Georgiana." Zeke muttered looking to me. I had taken the moment to lift my head again. I also took a step forth ready to make a try for the necklace again, but Zeke held a hand out to stop me. I glared at him but a warning glance was sent back my way. Why would he take Gabriel's side?
Of course, Zeke knew, he was Gabriel's best friend. "Go tell Eric." Gabriel repeated with a dangerously sweet smirk. I bit into my already damaged lip before dashing forwards. My fingers brushed against the necklace before Gabriel could pull it out of my reach. I hadn't been able to do more because Zeke held an arm out, forcing me to stop.
"Gabe, enough!" Zeke yelled at Gabriel while holding me back. "Octavia, don't. You have no idea what this will start if you go to Eric." Zeke looked pleadingly at me, but I only returned his look with clear defiance. Gabriel had already started it. An evil smile emerged on my lips, eyes slowly shifting back to Zeke who had turned to me.
"He already started it." I accused and with those words I took a step back, feeling my entire body tremble. My eyes shifted between the two again. "Maybe I will—Maybe I will go tell Eric, at least he's kind to me." I spoke quietly, so that it was only the two of them hearing me.
"Octavia please—" Zeke pleaded, reaching a hand towards me but I recoiled from his touch, moving just beyond his reach. "This will solve nothing! It will only make it worse." Zeke continued just as Gabriel began laughing.
"Go get your scary boyfriend. Maybe he can fix it for you, like he fixed your ranking." Gabriel called out to me, loud enough for everyone to hear. With those words, and Zeke's endless calls of my name, I turned from them, sprinting out the room faster than they could stop me. I was ready to break down right there and then but refused to show them that weakness. My entire body was trembling with anger and hurt.
I ran through random hallways, taking random turns until I reached the pit, which wasn't empty tonight. It was full of life, people fighting, walking from shop to shop, some were even just seated on the large rocks, others were climbing the massive climbing wall in one end of the pit, and others were just passing through.
My body was still trembling when I moved through the crowd, gently pushing my way through but when I passed one of the small fighting rings, I couldn't help but to notice Eric and the guy named Val, or Valentine as I had learnt later on, was fighting again. I halted my forward motion enough to stop for a second and look at them.
The sparring was unlike anything Four had ever taught us. It was much quicker, like a dance of arms and legs being tossed at the other. When Valentine suddenly overpowered Eric, forcing him to his knees right in front of me, he had an arm securely wrapped around Eric's neck. I noticed the sheer horror on Eric's face when our eyes met. They traveled, taking in the disarray of my clothes and properly the already showing bruise on my cheek before settling on my split lip.
Eric was then quick to tap Valentine's shoulder twice. Val released Eric without having noticed me yet and Eric was on his feet seconds after. He immediately went for me. I recoiled from his touch, clearly noticing the people around us starring. His fingers had brushed against my cheek, dangerously close to my lips. "I'm okay." I whispered before tucking a strand behind my ear. But Eric clearly didn't believe me as he scoffed at me.
"Eric what's the matter?" Valentine's voice cut through the crowd, dispersing the onlookers. Valentine halted next to Eric and looked at me as well. "Oh shit, what happened to you?" Valentine asked without thinking.
It made me wonder how it was I were actually looking. "It's nothing. I'm fine." I repeated with a small smile when Eric raised a hand again, catching my jaw in a tight hold just like Gabriel had done, but this was only to assess the damage. I could not read the expression he carried on his face as he did but when his lips became a thin line afterwards, he had already guessed who had done this.
"You're an initiate right?" Valentine continued and I nodded, taking my jaw out of Eric's hold. "Was this another initiate—" Valentine asked, clearly curious and also trying to uphold his status as a leader.
"No, it was someone else." Eric snapped at him after he had seen the necklace was missing. I had been wearing it ever since he gave it to me, something he had noted on multiple occasions. It wasn't hard to see how his eyes had wandered. Then we were all disrupted by the running steps of someone else running directly towards us. I had seen him before but couldn't quite put a finger on it.
"Eric—oh shit—" The newcomer trailed off when seeing me. "I didn't think you would actually go to him." He spoke to me now and Eric raised an eyebrow, looking rather impatiently at the newcomer. He was a head taller than Eric, golden skinned with the perfect small curls decorating the top of his head.
"What is it, Ezekiel." Eric groaned and Ezekiel's brown eyes looked between us for a few seconds. But this was not Gabriel's Zeke, this was an older dauntless sharing his name. But Eric was clearly understanding and reading between the lines before he turned to me. "Get back to the accommodation, I'll deal with this." Eric sighed but I was ready to openly protest. "Now Octavia!" Eric's command made me jump, it had been a bit more forcefully executed that it should have been.
I quickly nodded before sidestepping the three people. Ezekiel waited until I was out of hearing range to begin relaying the news he had brought. I was certain it was what had happened at Zeke's party. It was a bit confusing because I was certain Zeke was short for Ezekiel as wel, properly because they shared that name.
"What!" Eric's voice roared through the pit, making me halt in the hallway I was about to go into. I spun back around, eyes settling on the three dauntless I had left. Eric had grabbed Ezekiel by the collar, yanking the taller man closer to him as Valentine tried to make him. Then without warning, Eric turned my way and stormed towards me.
Fearing he was angry because I had been to slow to leave the pit, I hurried down the hallway, but Eric caught up with me and grabbed my arm, pulling me down another hallway away from the prying eyes of the pit. The hold he had on my elbow was tight but not nearly tight enough to hurt as he guided me with him. But still I winced because he touched the tender area from where Gabriel had held onto.
When Eric stopped, I was pulled in front of him and arms went around me. When his arms went around me, the unexpected surprise had made me wrap my arms around him as well. Eric was breathing heavily as he just held me, pressing my body tightly against his. "Eric?" I tried carefully, unsure about what the hell was happening.
Every fiber in his body tensed, making his body go rigid before he released me. "I should never have given you that damn necklace." Eric began as he found one of my arms. I winched when he gently rolled up the sleeve to reveal the already bruised area. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this." Eric raised his eyes to mine again.
Still a bit groggy from the sudden embrace, I had a hard time finding my words, so I just mumbled. "I think—well, I have a feeling I was involved anyway." I rasp, throat dry as Eric also begins to realize his actions. The man takes a step back, recoiling to the other side of the hallway with his head in his hands. Leaving me even more confused than before.
"For fuck's sake!" Eric growled at himself, hands going into his hair and pulling at it before he slammed his back against the opposite wall. "I'm sorry Octavia. I don't know what became of me, that was not appropriate." Eric growled, angrier with himself than with me.
"It's okay—" I begin but Eric cuts me off with a grows. Letting me understand that he's not going to listen to me because there were clear conflict in his eyes when they snapped back to mine.
"The fuck it is. I'm supposed to know better. Gabriel just gets under my skin all the fucking time!" Eric yelled at me, though I know he's not angry with me, the strength of his voice makes me go quiet. "I'm sorry." Eric add when he also notice my reaction. This was the third time he had apologized to me in a very short time.
"I heard what he did." Eric pushed himself away from the wall, closing in on me again before placing hand on my cheek. His thumb brushed the underside of my lip where it had split. I wince and Eric retract his hand almost immediately. "No one should force themselves on others."
The words resonated deeply within me, and I felt my knees go soft, realizing just what had happened. Eric was prepared and before my knees could go entirely soft, he steadied me again. An arm was wrapped around my waist as both my hands grabbed his shirt, tears swelling in my eyes as everything came crashing down.
Eric allowed me to cry, letting me find comfort in him. He remained quiet throughout it all, the only thing that reassured me he was there was the constant pressure of his hand on my hip, squeezing firmly. He even lowered his nose to my hair when he tightened his hold on me. It was a strange embrace but an embrace nonetheless.
When I fond myself again and pushed away from him, he only released me reluctantly before letting me rest against the wall. I quickly wiped the remaining tears away to look up at him. "He took my first kiss." I muttered, more to myself than to Eric but the words reached him anyway.
"Bastard." Eric growled. Then he's already halfway down the corridor. The surprise in his actions made me freeze awkwardly. The only thing able to leave my lips is his name. "Eric!" I screamed after him, but he was already gone. Fuck. This clearly only made it worse just as Zeke had warned me.