I found out everything. Everything they knew. I finally found out the reason as to why Eric had been so tense and stressed.
But it was so overwhelming, I wasn't sure if I wanted this anymore.
The meeting had just finished and Titus, Zachariah and Ashley had left the convening rooms, leaving just Eric and I.
The two of us sat at the table, opposite each other. I was dumbfounded and Eric could most definitely tell.
There was a rebellion coming. People were preparing for some sort of war. I had come to the senses that this was because of Erudite. Jeanine wanted to over take Abnegation, in the process, killing everyone who belonged to that faction. She simply wanted power and by the looks of it, she was going to get it. Erudite had asked Dauntless to side with them, being their warriors. And, of course, Max, Eric, Titus, Zachariah and Ashley had accepted. Candor wanted no part in it and Amity were apparently siding with Abnegation. But they were not going to fight, for they would stand no chance. But they were going to simply hope that the sense of speech would pull them through safely. Yet still, they didn't stand a chance.
I was more than dumbfounded now, I was angry... Fuming.
"So that's it?!" I raised my voice in hopelessness.
"What's it?" Eric questioned, knowing where this was going.
"You are just going to let Jeanine make the plans. Because you do know, if this whole rebellion is successful, it won't be Dauntless coming out on top. It will be Erudite" I explained furiously.
"And we will deal with that when it comes to it" Eric casually replied.
I looked at him in shock, my mouth wide open. How could he be so stupid?!
"Ok, well then just let me get this straight... You are going to kill a whole faction for basically nothing? We're going to do all of this for absolutely no reward?" I questioned in utter confusion.
"Two things;" Eric stated, seeming a little pissed off with my attitude, "We are going to help because we also think it would be best to get rid of Abnegation and put someone else in charge, someone with actual brains. And if Jeanine thinks the way to go is to kill everyone in that faction... so be it".
I went to say more, to cut him off and prove him and Jeanine wrong, but he wouldn't let me. He went on to say more...
"Secondly; we are doing a lot more in this process. We're killing more than just an entire faction" he revealed.
I looked at him in horror.
"This will also be the time where we get rid of every single divergent" he said. My mind whirled into a thunderstorm of worry.
I took a deep breath. "And how are we going to do that?"
I thought if I added in the 'we' bit he wouldn't be suspicious. At this moment in time, I needed to show everyone how 'on board' I was with this whole mission. Even if I didn't like the sound of it.
"Well, actually..." he began, leaning closer to me, hands held together, "Jeanine and her 'crew of experts' have been working on some sort of device, where by using it, you can tell if someone is divergent or not. Or something along those lines".
"Oh wow" I said, acting as if it was 'cool'. I paused, knowing I did not want to say the next bit... But I had to, I didn't want Eric thinking he made a bad choice as to who would be the fifth leader. "That sounds really awesome. I mean, just as you've said, divergent's are a threat and we need to get rid of them".
Eric seemed pleased. He just looked at me as if I had made him proud. Just like that day when he asked me to be his girlfriend, when I told Four I didn't mind being a threat to someone.
But then I couldn't help but think that maybe that's all that Eric liked... My cruel side, my sassy side.
We sat there in silence. I was thinking hard about this whole plan of Jeanine and Eric's. Eric sat opposite me, as if he knew I would have something to say. He was just waiting to reply.
"I say, we don't kill everyone in Abnegation. Sure, if you guys truly want to, go ahead and kill as many divergent's as you like; but killing a whole, entire faction? To me that's just way too harsh" I stated honestly and boldly.
"Lize, getting rid of Abnegation as a whole isn't just so we can run the government... This is our idea of revenge" he replied, trying to get it into my head.
"Revenge for what?" I question, having a strong feeling that this so called 'revenge' would be insignificant. That maybe Jeanine, Eric and Max were just sore losers.
"Look I don't wanna talk about it right now" he said with a big sigh. I understood though. He was in the middle of all of this and it must've been stressful.
"Well, is there any way that you guys could change your minds about killing everyone in Abnegation?" I questioned, cringing a little. Not knowing whether Eric would explode.
"Well, you can bring that up in the meeting tomorrow. Jeanine is coming and we are going to talk about a few things" he explained, almost casually. Like he didn't mind at all. Maybe he also believed it was unfair to kill everyone from Abnegation. But maybe Jeanine had something on him. To do with her and Max's agreements?
"Really?" I questioned in surprise, still forgetting the fact that I was a leader. "Would I seriously be allowed to do that?"
"Yes, of course. You're a leader now. You almost have as much power as me" he said, chuckling a little.
Yet again, we sat there in silence. Staring into each others eyes. The blue and grey of his eyes always sent shivers down my spine. They weren't the colour of a clear, blue sky and they weren't the colour of the ocean, but they were more like the blue and grey of a dead body. This used to scare me, but now it intrigued me. Right in this moment, I didn't care whether Eric had killed people before. I didn't care that he was dangerous. I didn't care that there was a possibility he might kill me. I cared about losing him though.
Next, I noticed his mouth. He was smiling at me. Genuinely.
He then noticed me noticing him and looked away, completely wiping the smile off of his face.
"What were you thinking just then?" I asked him teasingly, as if making fun of his past smiling face.
"Ahhh, let's go down to the Hall to get something to eat" he brushed my question away, standing up and walking towards the door.
I stopped him in his tracks though, putting myself between the door and him.
"No, tell me" I pushed.
Silence. Eric staring at his feet. Huffing and puffing.
"Oh c'mon Eric" I egged on immaturely.
"I was just thinking about how beautiful you are! Alright!" he said angrily. But I wasn't surprised because I knew, it was hard for Eric to get emotional.
I just smirked at him. Beautiful was a big word for him to use. He usually just used 'hot' or 'pretty'. So I admired him for that. My heart felt warm and it was pumping quickly. Compliments always flattered me.
"Fuck, I'm sorry Lize" he began, as if I looked hurt. "I just..."
"Don't worry, I know" I replied sweetly, before I turned around and walked towards the door.
"Wait Eliza" he urged as he grabbed a hold of my hand, spinning me around.
"Yeah?" I responded in a chirp.
"I just... I just need to know that you will be on my side no matter what" he questioned in a deep tone.
I looked at him in confusion.
"I mean, we are a power couple but if we work together and help each other we could be invincible" he continued.
"Eric," I assured, "you already know that I will stick by you".
"Yeah, but... with all that is going on, I may do some bad things..."
"I'm not stupid Eric, I know that" I affirmed. Already knowing shit would go down that I wouldn't be happy about.
"Well then, through all of it, you will side with me? Right?" he asked again, desperately this time.
I knew I would side with him. I mean I was almost sure I loved the man. But something deep inside me was making me worry. Something was telling me, 'But will he side with you?'.
"So? Will you?" he pressed on.
"Of course" I replied, earning a hug and a kiss on the top of my head.
But still, I continued to wander whether this worried feeling was right...
Would Eric side with me?