"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,
a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring,
all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
With a few quick swipes of the back of my hands, I wiped the remaining tears away. My eyes were stinging as I started running through the compound. Not really knowing what to search for nor particularly wanting to go back to Zeke's apartment, I just ran around hoping to find some clues as to where Eric had gone.
When I passed the accommodation for the second time, I decided to go inside and grab a sweater. The first one I could grab was Eric's of course. It had been lying on my bed, waiting for my return. Casting a quick glance in the mirror in the bathroom, I could see the damage done to me. My lower lip was split, and a bruise was clearly forming on my cheek. I winced at the sight before tearing myself away.
I was biting into the already damaged lip when I turned away, running back the way I came, back towards the pit. I hadn't even gotten halfway there when I overheard someone talking about a fight in the pit. My chest constricted in anticipation, and I ran directly there. It had to be Eric because it sounded different than the usual sparring.
I was met with the sight of a lot of onlookers, watching one fight in the middle of the pit. It wasn't hard to distinguish the two figures, it was Eric and Gabriel. Fists were flying as they tumbled around on the floor, Eric managing to hit his opponent more than Gabriel managed to hit him. It was a dangerous dance and nothing like the sparring I had witnessed earlier, this was real fighting between two dauntless.
I sprang into action when Eric threw another punch at Gabriel, sending him directly into the ground. I was certain I heard the impact of Gabriel's head against the stone underneath. Eric then threw himself down onto his knees and crawled over him, taking half a crouch, half a kneeling position over Gabriel's limp body. Then he grabbed him by the neck of his shirt before raising his chest off of the floor. Gabriel no longer had any strength left to fight back.
I pushed with everything I had, slipping through the crowd of onlookers directly towards Eric and Gabriel. No one dared stop the two, they were only silently watching as they tore each other apart, though Eric had the upper hand right now. I could easily see that Gabriel wouldn't last much longer if no one stepped in.
"Eric!" I screamed, gaining his attention almost immediately. He lowered the hand he had already raised, ready to strike again. "Stop it." I pleaded but Eric's expression only hardened at those words, and he raised his hand again, executing the punch he had started before I had interrupted him.
Gabriel was no longer fighting back, hanging limply from Eric's tight grasp on the hem of his shirt. "Eric—enough!" I screamed his name again before throwing my entire body at him, tackling him and forcing him off of Gabriel. Somehow, I manage to land on top of Eric, but he quickly had us flipped around, pinning me beneath him instead and against the floor as he rests on all four above me.
Eric's hands had both wrapped around my wrists and his knees rest on either side of my hips. "What the fuck are you doing, he deserves it. He doesn't deserve your kindness. Let me teach him this lesson so he won't dare put a finger on you again." Eric screamed back at me as the crowd suddenly dispersed. I buckled against him but he didn't release me, not until I managed to lift my knee up between his legs.
"Let me go, or I will do it." I said warningly as my knee rested against his crotch. Eric narrowed his eyes at me but doesn't release me, challenging my threat as Valentine and Abby emerged from the depth of the crowd. Abby was at Eric's side almost instantly, and Valentine knelt beside Gabriel, making sure he was still breathing.
"Eric, what the hell is going through your mind?" Abby hissed before she turned to the people still gathered. "I will reprimand each and every one of you who lingers, now scram!" Abby snapped at the crowd who doesn't hesitate to disperse. "Eric—let her go." Abby's voice is much kinder as she grab Eric's shoulder a bit tighter. He winced but moved off of me, but kept his hands around my wrists until I'm in an upright seated position.
"Eric?" I try carefully, stretching my hand out to touch his arm. His entire body tenses, a barely perceivable action rolling from his arm through his entire body. But I had noticed. Not even the slight throbbing in the back of my head could tear my eyes away from Eric's trembling silhouette.
I had apparently managed to hit my head on the stone floor when Eric flipped me around. "Why would you do this?" I asked in a low whisper while following his gaze. Eric had been looking at Gabriel, whose lifeless silhouette still laid on the ground, and whom Valentine was still tending to, making sure he continued breathing.
Eric twitched, a muscle in his jaw feathering and when he shifted forwards onto his knees, I noticed the silver chain dangling from his right hand. He had taken back the necklace from Gabriel. My hand instinctively wrapped around the one holding the necklace. "I did it because he deserved it." Eric said through clenched teeth as I rose up to my own knees. My arms then wrapped around his neck. I embraced him without thinking of the consequences because I felt he needed the reassurance. "He's a coward." Eric growls as he force me to let go of him again. "Octavia, this is not—" But Eric never get to finish his sentence.
A furious Max was storming directly toward us, Eric in particular, who barely made it to his feet before Max had grabbed him in an iron grasp. Eric was pushed backwards toward the edge of the pit. He got pushed up against the wall, but does nothing to fight off Max as he receives an earful. Eric knows what he did was wrong, and this was the consequences.
I had shifted forwards when it happened, but Abby placed a hand on my shoulder, keeping me back while Max continued to yell at Eric. The small shake of her head made me understand this was not my battle. Once Max is finished, Abby released my shoulder and I was allowed to get up onto my feet. But the second he released Eric, he had already dashed towards the nearest hallway, disappearing into its darkness and running away from us.
Abby sighed and I brushed a few specks of dirt of my pants. I turned to her with a small smile. "I'll get him." I said determined to Abby. She returned my smile and nodded, looking just a tiny bit grateful. With one last glance at Gabriel, I make sure his chest is still rising before I jump into a run, or more a sprint, blindly following Eric.
When I make it to the training room, I was for a moment sure I had lost him but the open door in the end of the room made me realize where exactly he was going. Setting a more appropriate pace I headed directly towards the only place I could think off, the building I had shown him a few days ago.
It was already pitch dark outside, but my feet knew exactly where to place themselves, even when I reached the building I had sought after, I knew what to do in the dark. But I was still moving a little slower, carefully scaling the building, only having the moonlight and faint lights of the city center to guide me as I climbed.
When I reached the erosion where he had caught me for the second time, I quickly hoisted myself up, moving inside the building to the staircase. Knowing every step, I quickly ascended the stairs, pushing all my body weight against the door at the top, only to be let out onto the rooftop while stumbling a little.
I exhaled deeply when the tall silhouette of Eric came into view. He was standing exactly where we had been standing a few days ago. "Eric—" I placed a hand on his shoulder. Once again, his entire body tensed and he jolted away from my touch but relaxed into it mere seconds after. It was then I pressed my entire hand against him, and stepped around him to gain his attention.
"I shouldn't have done it—my anger got the best of me. He's been on my nerves for quite a while." Eric sighed, giving into the attention I sought. When his eyes shifted to my face, I allowed my hand to travel over his shoulder, down to the exposed part of skin on his arm. He was ice cold and had to be freezing. My hand grabbed his arm even tighter as my other hand joined in, trying to provide him with some warmth.
"You're ice cold." I shuttered while moving to take off his sweatshirt I was wearing. I knew I didn't have much clothes on underneath either, but he needed it more than I did right now. Eric was quick to stop me by moving his arms underneath the sweatshirt instead and also yanking me forwards. A yelp of surprise escaped me when our chests made impact, making Eric laugh as he pulled me into a tight embrace. "What are you doing?" I exclaimed, my voice a bit high.
"Gaining some warmth—just let me." Eric groaned when resting his jaw against my shoulder. I remained frozen while just listening to him breathe, his cold arms were slowly warming up, but I knew it wouldn't be enough, we had to get back to the compound soon.
"Then you can tell me about Georgiana." I whispered. Already prepared for his reaction, I had wrapped my arms around his neck, keeping him where he was as he tensed at the name. "You owe me that much at least." I groaned at him. This was something I would never have done on my own accord, but I figured Eric needed a friend just as much as everyone else.
I would have had no problem embracing Roxy, or Luke, even Elijah but this was something else entirely. Eric groaned before he relaxed even further into my embrace. "I suppose you deserve to know now that I've dragged you into this." Eric sighed. "But it's a long story." He added when a tremble whacked through him. The sudden tremble made me worry and I tried to release him, but he wouldn't budge.
"As long as I'm speaking this will be my condition." Eric growled before suddenly sinking to his knees, bringing me down with him. The embrace deepened and Eric rested his head against my shoulder. "I transferred here last summer. She was a part of the dauntless born initiates. I was drawn to her, to her kindness, bright smile and fiery attitude."
Eric had been a transfer, something I had never guessed but he was full of surprises, so it didn't surprise me all that much. Then Eric drew in a deep breath. "She was the only one who saw beneath my walls, tearing them apart before showing me what it was really like being a part of dauntless." Eric shifted me even tighter to him as a hand shifts a little to low. It cups my rump as he pulls me closer.
"Eric—" I warned and he laughed. His hand then shifted away again and I sighed. "She sounds like and amazing person." I whispered and rested my chin against his shoulder. Eric nod before taking in a deep breath. It made me tighten my hold on him, secretly enjoying this side to him. And especially the embrace.
"She was." Eric agreed before tightening his own hold on me. "Gabriel was there as well. But he turned her against me like he had done with so many of the others and when she announced their relationship, I snapped. It led to an argument, that meant we didn't speak for a long while and I retracted. One day she came to return the necklace that I had given her because she didn't feel right to have it. She was yelling at me while she forced it upon me because I refused to take it back." Eric's fingers dug into my skin as he wrapped his arms even tighter around me.
"I had retracted so much, concentrating only on the tasks that was ahead of me, becoming a member of the faction I had chosen." Eric's demeanor changed as he slowly released me. "Like you, I was attacked by cowards. Trying to end my life by pushing me into the chasm. Georgiana was there by accident that day and couldn't stand idly by—she fought the attackers with me, but fate had it that she would not make it alive from that fight."
Eric found my eyes again, a hand traveled to my cheek, cupping it as he sat back down onto his heels. It was first then I was allowed to take in the full extent of the injuries Gabriel had managed to inflict on him. "Georgiana stood in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she lost her life to the chasm that night." Eric explained while I reached up to place my hand on his.
With a gentle squeeze I removed the hand from my cheek, lowering it to my lap but kept a hold onto it. His fingers even wrapped around my own. "That's why you acted so strongly when they tried to push me over." The words sounded stupid as I had said them, but it was the only thing I could blurt out in that moment.
Eric chuckled, his lips maintaining a smile as he placed his hand over the one of mine around his hand. I could see the split lip he had gained and something in me took over. My hand acted on its own. Like he had done to me, I lifted my hand to his lips, my thumb slowly tracing his lower lip and the injury. He winched, recoiling from my touch. "We match." I laugh, pointing to my own lip.
Even though that was the stupidest thing I could've said in that moment, Eric still laughed at me. It released a bit of the tension in the air before he lowered his head to mine. He was close enough that our foreheads could touch. "Is it okay if I undo what Gabriel did?" He whispered but the words had barely left his lips before I closed the distance between us, claiming his lips before I could stop myself.
Eric was a much better kisser than Gabriel. It was soft and gentle and then a hand traveled to the back of my head, bringing me even closer to him while his tongue pecked for entrance. I allowed him, letting him wash away all the memory of Gabriel from my lips.
We broke apart only by the necessity to breathe. Eric chuckled before resting his forehead against mine. "That was not appropriate either but fuck I could care less." Eric groaned, then he reclaimed my lips. I raised higher up onto my knees and swung my arms around his neck as his hands traveled to my rump. He raised me up enough to wrap my legs around him.
I allowed him to kiss me, while also exploring my body before he raised up himself onto his knees, and an arm wrapped around my waist to bring my body closer to his. Never had I experienced something like this, nor would have thought that kissing could bring so many sparks flying through my body, stirring parts I didn't know could be stirred.
When Eric released me, I felt his arms go around my waist one more time. Still woozy and unsure of what had just aspired between us, I rested my weight against him breathing just a little harder while I tried to still my frenzied heart. "We should return to the compound, I think I have someone waiting for me there." Eric laughed and retracted just a little.
I arched a brow at him in confusion while finding my own knees. Eric's brow furrowed before he grinned at me. "Abby." He quickly indulged with a laugh when he got onto his feet again. I joined in on the laugh when he reached a hand down to me, one I grabbed without hesitation. Eric pulled me to my feet but before I could take the first step, he had stopped me again.
Eric reached into his pocket before bringing out a necklace I recognized. "The chain's broken but it's nothing that can't be fixed." Eric smiled when he passed it to me. I took the necklace and pocketed it in my own pants instead. It was like a heavy burden but one I was happy to bear.
When Eric turned back to the door, still tightly holding onto my hand, I turned my wrist upwards, the small display on my watch showed it was almost 02:00 am in the morning. Suppressing the need to yawn, I turned to look at the moon one last time before being pulled back into the building by Eric.