DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIVERGENT, THAT BELONGS TO THE VERY TALENTED VERONICA ROTH.
I wake up to light streaming through a window and strong arms wrapped around my waist. I smile a little and turn in his arms to see Eric sleeping next to me. He looks younger, more relaxed and more carefree.
"Morning beautiful." He says softly in a deep raspy voice keeping his eyes closed.
"Good morning." I whisper and lean up to kiss his cheek. I pull away from him and start to stand but he pulls me back and wraps his arms tighter around me.
"Where do you think you're going?" He says still in his gruff morning voice as he nuzzles his face my neck. I laugh a little and wiggle my way out of his strong grasp.
"I'm going to make you some breakfast." I state through a chuckle and he peaks one of his eyes open and smiles up at me. I turn shaking my head softly and make my way downstairs and into his kitchen. I rummage through his cabinets until I find the ingredients for muffins and turn the oven on. I mix the batter quickly, pour them into a muffin tin and pop them in the oven. As I bend over to put them in I feel a familiar pair of arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer to them. I close the door and stand before setting the timer, refusing to acknowledge that he had pulled me flush against him.
"Have I mentioned how good you look in my clothes?" He whispers in the crook of my neck his breath tickling my skin.
"No, I don't believe you did." I say turning to face him and rest my hands on his chest with a small smirk.
"Well, you look amazing in them." He smirks then presses a kiss to my nose.
"Thank you." I smile and go on my toes to kiss him before pulling back and walking to the sink to clean the dishes I used.
"Nope, you are not cooking and cleaning." Eric shakes his head and picks me up dragging me away from the sink.
"Eric put me down! It's the least I could do." I giggle as he sets me on the couch and leans over me holding my hands down.
"No, I forbid it." He says and leans down to kiss me slowly but passionately. I smile into it and pull back as I try to stand, only to be pulled back down and tickled. I start kicking and laughing which causes Eric to chuckle as well. "Oh, looks like someone's ticklish." He laughs continuing to torture me.
"Please, Eric stop." I gasp as my eyes start to water. Thankfully the timer goes off and he lets me stand to pull the muffins out of the oven. I take them out, turn off the oven and grab two before walking back to Eric, who now sits on the couch where I just laid. I hand him one with a smile and sit next to him, a few inches away.
"Thank you beautiful." He says and a blush floods my cheeks as I look at the muffin in my hands. He chuckles softly and I look over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" I ask.
"Oh, nothing." He says still chuckling.
"No, tell me." I smile.
"You're cute when you blush." He says and kisses my burning cheeks. He pulls back and pops a piece of muffin in his mouth and smiles. "Where did you learn to bake?" He asks and I smile back at him.
"My mother and I would bake for The Factionless, and when my dad wasn't around we would share some of whatever we had made." I look away and a large grin coats my face.
"You look like her you know." He says softly and I look at him with a curious look. "I saw her with you yesterday." He clarifies and I nod.
"Can I tell you something honestly?" I ask my smile fading a little.
"Of course." He says scanning my face and I look down.
"I never expected you to act like this." I say softly, barely above a whisper.
"Like what?" He asks tilting his head slightly.
"So caring I guess. I mean, I knew you cared, I just didn't expect you to show it so easily." I continue looking down at my lap and I can feel my cheeks getting hot.
"Well what did you expect?" He chuckles a little.
"I don't know, I just wasn't expecting this. No one's ever treated me like this. You're caring, yet care free at the same time, if that makes sense." I whisper with a hint of a smile.
"Well you deserve to be treated like this. I've never met anyone like you before, so I'm not going to treat you like I treat everyone else. I'm going to treat you specially, like you deserve to be treated." He leans in so that his lips are just barely brushing mine. "You're different, that's what makes you special." I close the little space between us and throw my arms around his neck nearly knocking him back. He pulls me into his lap and rests his hands on my hips before there's a knock on the door. I pull back and he groans as I crawl off his lap and he stands up walking to the door still in his boxers. He unlocks the door and yanks it open.
"What?" He growls at the person on the other side.
"Where is she Coulter?" The person asks. I know that voice anywhere. It's Tobias.
"Who are you looking for Eaton?" Eric hissed.
"You know exactly who I'm looking for! Where the hell is my sister!" Tobias shouts.
"You have no right to call her that anymore." Eric steps forward but Tobias pushes past him, into the apartment. His eyes land on me and scan my body before he turns back to Eric.
"You're seriously screwing my sister!?" He yells and starts chuckling pointing to me.
"You are no family to me, Four." I hiss with clenched fists walking up to him. "You're turning into the monster you feared your entire life." I yell and he flinches slightly before he recomposes himself and his anger returns.
"Fine! Trust him." He says walking towards me. "Once he finds out who you are, you're bound to be in The Chasm by morning." He whispers to me and in this moment all I see before me is Marcus.
"He already knows." I spit at him.
"Well then you're as good as dead." He starts walking to the door but stops. "Just wait till Max finds outs you about you two." He smirks at Eric and pulls the door open.
"You'd really risk her being cut?" Eric growls.
"As she said, we are no longer family." He says and walks out slamming the door. My heart hammers in my chest and my breath hitches. Eric punches the wall and runs his hand through his hair frustratedly, but I can't stop staring at the door my brother just left through. I stare for minutes until I turn on my heels and walk back up to Eric's room to gather my clothes and change back into my skirt and flannel. As I'm finishing the buttons on my shirt Eric walks up the stairs.
"I should go." I whisper not looking up from the buttons. I hear him walk closer to me and feel his arms wrap around my waist.
"Please don't let him ruin this, I'll figure something out. I promise." He whispers into my neck sending a chill through me. I slowly nod closing my eyes and leaning into him before I pull away putting on my boots and grabbing the rest of my clothes. "Are you still going to leave?" He asks and I nod again.
"My friends will start worrying. I'll see you when rankings are announced tonight." I say softly and kiss his cheek before walking out.
We have the day off today because it's the end of stage one and rankings are due to be announced tonight, though I'm not worried. I've won all of my fights, I've done fairly well in shooting, thanks to Eric, as well as knife throwing, and I won capture the flag. I just hope Four doesn't take anything that has happened recently out on my ranks. I reach the dorm and walk in to see it empty, so I quickly grab some clothes and head to take a shower. I wash up and put on some leggings and an off the shoulder crop top along with my combat boots. I brush and french braid my hair before deciding to head out and find my friends. I wander the compound for a while before I find them by The Chasm messing around as usual. I turn to start heading over there and Uri looks up and smiles widely at me.
"Tris! Where were you?" He yells running up to me and wrapping his arms around me in a tight bear hug.
"I woke up early and walked to The Net." I lie, praying they were nowhere near there. I notice Chris narrow her eyes slightly as I catch her eye and she mouths 'Eric.' I give her a small nod and she smiles. "So, what are we up to today?" I ask Uri ruffling his short hair.
"Well Zeke and I have a little surprise for you transfers, a bit of a Dauntless tradition." He glows excitement flattening his hair as smiles spread over the other Dauntless born's faces.
"Well let's get this started." Chris cheers, the other, including myself, nodding in agreement. Zeke and Uri start leading us through different corridors until we reach a back stairwell. They push on a door that leads outside and I shield my eyes from the bright sun. The wind blows and I take in the daylight for the first time in maybe a week, letting the light soak into my skin. I follow as the others walk up the track platform and wait for the next train to come. After a while I hop onto the tracks and start walking on the rails, balancing on the edge.
"Tris be careful, we wouldn't want you to fall." Al says and I look next to me at the ground maybe twenty feet below.
"If I start to fall I trust one of you to grab me." I shrug and continue tipping with my arms out. Al jumps down onto the tracks and starts walking over to me.
"And what if we were to push you?" He laughs and pretending to push me which startles me causing me to grab onto him for balance.
"Now would you actually do that Al?" I chuckle and he shakes his head with a smile. I laugh and look up at him as he looks down at me before he starts to lean in. Just before his lips brush mine I turn my head and his lips land on my cheek. "I'm sorry Al, I don't like you as more than a friend." I say. He looks down and nods slowly.
"I get it, I'm sorry." He whispers blushing a deep red. I open my mouth to speak but I'm quickly cut off by a train horn. I grab Al and pull him out of the tracks just in time and start running beside the train and jump in after him. Just as my feet land inside, the train takes a sharp turn and I'm launched forward, face first into the opposite wall. I steady myself and clutch my nose with a groan as the others laugh their asses off.
"Yeah, yeah, let's all laugh at Tris' pain." I mutter and they laugh harder as I groan and sink to the train floor glaring at each of them. "I'm fine by the way." I growl before they calm down and start to talk amongst themselves.
I stay seated watching my childish friends joke around and shove each other back and forth. After a while Chris separates herself from the others and comes to join me sitting on the floor as well.
"So, where were you really last night?" She asks and I shrug slightly.
"After Four and I had our argument I didn't want to go back to the dorms, so Eric let me stay at his place." I say like it's an everyday thing.
"Oh my god!" she hisses quietly. "Did you guys do it?" She whispers and I stare at her in shock.
"No! It wasn't like that. He wasn't like that." I whisper smiling at some of the things he had said to me.
"OOO, someone's daydreaming about her knight in shining armor." Chris laughs nudging me. I join in her laughter and don't bother fighting the grin that spreads over my face. "He can't be that great though, I mean it's Eric after all." She says shaking her head absentmindedly.
"You don't get it. He was so sweet and caring. He even acted flirty and childish." I clarify and she looks at me as if I grew two heads.
"Are we talking about the same guy?" She asks raising an eyebrow.
"I know, he's nothing like I expected, but the way he acted this morning just made me fall for him even harder." I sigh and she laughs at me.
"You sound like a lovesick preteen." She teases and I smile because she's kinda right.
"I know, but I'm serious."
"I get it, your loverboy is great, yeah yeah." She waves me off and I hit her playfully.
"What about you? Smartypants make a move yet?" I ask nudging her as she did me.
"First of all did you just call him smartypants?" She raises an eyebrow and laughs while I roll my eyes at her. "Second, he may or may not have kissed me last night." She says smiling looking out the door, avoiding my eyes.
"No way!" I yell and the others look over at us. "Return to your nonsense. This is girl talk." I say waving them off with a chuckle and turn back to her. "So are you guys a thing now?" I ask giddily.
"OMG Tris, you're actually acting like a girl. Who knew?" She says covering her mouth and dramatically gasping.
"Well I am a girl." I say and she laughs.
"Really?" She mocks shock and I laugh.
"If not, explain to me the boobs and lack of testicles." I say through my laughter and her laugh grows, soon losing our conversation in our outburst.
"We're here." Zeke yells and he train dips down to the ground allowing us to jump off. I stand and do just that landing on my feet and look around to see we're in a demolished section of the city.
"What are we doing here?" I ask Uri.
"If I told you that would ruin the surprise." Uri says still walking without even glancing at me.
"Please tell me Uri." I whine pouting.
"Nope Trissy, not happening." He says avoiding my puppy dog face.
"But I don't like surprises." I huff and jump on his back.
"Trust me, you'll like this." He says with a smirk holding onto my legs without question. We continue walking, or being carried in my case, until we reach The Hancock building, the second tallest in the city next to The Hub. The glass to the windows and doors are all shattered making large holes over majority of the ground floor. We don't even bother opening the door, we just climb through the broken glass into the lobby.
"Please don't tell me we have to climb all those stairs." Will groans looking up the staircase off to the side of the room.
"Oh god no, Zeke turned on the power." Shauna says pushing the button to the elevator and leaning against the wall.
"How did you know where we were going?" I quietly ask Will.
"We're Dauntless, why else would we be in one of the tallest buildings in the city?" He says it in a proud, know it all voice.
"See, Smartypants." I whisper to Chris as we all pile into the elevator and she starts to laugh.
"To the top floor." Uri yells pointing up while Mar pushes the button closing the doors. The elevator jerks up and were soon unloading on the hundredth floor.
As soon as the doors open I felt the wind on my face and looked up to see a large hole in the ceiling with a ladder leading to the roof. Uriah nearly runs up the ladder, almost knocking it over in the process. The rest of us follow him up, not nearly as urgently. I pull myself up onto the roof and to my feet and notice a wire attached to the roof descending down, along with a pile of harnesses.
"Who's up first?" Zeke asks and Uri's hand shoots up in the air.
"Me! Me! Me!" He yelled right next to me causing me to cringe away from the sudden sound.
"Uri I kinda like my hearing!" I yell back and he laughs.
"Oops." He grins and starts slipping on his harness.
"Is this a zipline?" Will asks. "I've heard of them before, but I've never seen one." He walks closer to the edge to get a good look.
"Well now you're going to use one." Mar giggles skipping over to him. I watch as Zeke hooks Uri up to the wire, pulls him back and pushes him off far into the sky.
"Will my man, get yourself ready." Zeke announces and Will quickly obeyed soon being pushes off himself.
"Lynn." Zeke announced and the process continued until it was my turn.
"Trissy, let's do this." Zeke says helping me onto the zipline. He slowly started pushing me and I looked down to the ground far beneath me before he pulled me back and pushed me off into the cool, strong air. A small scream escaped my lips as the wind pulled at my hair and clothes violently. I felt as if I was flying, I was truly and completely free. Absentmindedly I spread my arms out on either side of me and looked out at the skyline around me. I could nearly see the entire city from up here. It was beautiful. The wire suddenly got steeper and picked up speed descending downward towards the cracked, broken city streets. I spead through the buildings and over the pavement of the part of the city not even The Factionless use. There was something magnificent in it's destruction. I the fact that they found use in something that has been discarded and disposed of. While lost in thoughts the zipline began to level with the ground slowing the speed and ultimately bringing me to a stop at the end of its path. I looked down at my friends on the ground and let out a scream of joy which they gladly returned. They got into an oval shape and reached across to grab a random hand forming a human net beneath me.
"Unhook yourself." Shauna instructed and I reach behind myself to undo the latch causing myself to fall into the hard pile of limbs. They lowered me to the ground and onto my feet and I shake out my limbs.
"So what'd you think?" Uri asks slinging his arm over my shoulder.
"When can I go again?" I ask and the others laugh.
AN: I'm so sorry this update is latter than normal. I was sick over the weekend and wanted to give you guys a good chapter, which I wouldn' have accomplished if I were to have rushed to post it yesterday. Any ways thank you to those who have stuck with me on this. I'm so thankful for all my reader and especially love when y'all comment. Anyways as every week please comment and vote, thank you, and until next week.