It's finally here. Thanks for being patient!
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"How?" he said.
We had just awoken from our limited hours of sleep. I lay there with my eyes closed, facing him. He knew I was awake though.
"Huh?" I questioned him, opening my eyes to find his eyes on me, floating from my face to my bare body that lay under the sheets, then back to my face. I raised my eyebrow curiously. "What is it?" I asked again.
"You're so fucking hot" he mumbled, gazing at me tiredly.
"I know" I replied, getting all cocky. He chuckled, showing his pearly whites.
He eventually wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him as we both lay on our sides, facing each other.
He continued. "You know what?"
"What?" I answered, grinning.
"I am the luckiest guy in the world" he almost whispered back.
I smiled at him sweetly, then grabbed his chin lightly with my hand and kissed him softly, nestling my head back into his chest afterwards. We lay there for a while. He drew shapes and lines with his fingertips on my hip. I simply, shut my eyes and enjoyed the peace. We didn't say a word...
"It's gonna take some time before I get used to that new piercing of yours" Eric suddenly spoke up, staying still.
"What do you mean?" I begun, pulling away from him a little bit, so I could see his face. "I thought you loved it?"
"Oh I do but I'm not gonna love it when more and more guys start eyeing you off" he looked down at me, raising his eyebrows as if to say 'you should have made a better decision'.
I laughed. "Oh my gosh Eric! No guys are eyeing me off. You're just overreacting" I said as I turned around and checked what the time was on the bedside table. It was around ten o'clock in the morning. I rolled back over.
"Trust me Eliza. I see them looking. And I just... I just wanna" he responded, punching the air fiercely at the end of his sentence, symbolising what he wanted to do to these supposed 'guys' that 'eyed' me off.
I just laughed back. He was truly adorable. Even under all of that, cold, harsh exterior.
We stayed there, lying still for a while. Eric had his head resting on his hand, propped up on his elbow. It wasn't like that awkward kind of silence. It was the nice kind of silence. Eventually I started putting on my underwear. I also put one of Eric's t-shirts on, to cover myself up.
"So you're divergent..." Eric exhaled, his voice shaking a little bit, making a gesture with his free hand. "Diverg- No! Let's check again! Maybe it read you wrong" he continued, getting up from bed, quickly slipping on a pair of boxers. He sounded so hopeful, trying to convince himself that maybe the device had read me wrong. He was almost out of the bedroom door when I called out to him...
"Eric" I loudly sighed. He spun around slowly, knowing what I was about to say. "It didn't read me wrong. I really am divergent".
He walked back towards the bed and slumped down on it, groaning. I felt bad. I had added a whole new sort of pressure to his life.
"Eric, I'm sorry" I pleaded. "I really am".
He sighed again.
"I hate the fact that I've made your life even harder" I ached.
He could see I was in pain. He moved over to me on the bed. "Eliza it's ok. I will be able to handle this. I mean... Your my motivation. I will never let anyone find out about you and I will always protect you" he said with strength. He paused. "I love you".
"Ditto" I replied.
We were getting ready for breakfast, planning to go down to the Hall. We were ready and about to leave the apartment.
"Thanks for not killing me" I said. I didn't really know what had happened. I had thought about saying it but I kept telling myself not to, not knowing whether it would hurt his feelings or anger him. But it just came out.
"Don't bring that up" he said sternly, yet I could tell he tried to hide that factor.
Was he ashamed because of the fact that he actually thought of killing me or was he always going to be angry about the fact that I was divergent?
We slipped out of the door, leaving that short and detached conversation behind.
We had just finished breakfast and now we were just sitting around and chatting. We were with Beast, Gunner and Jack. Everyone else was either at work or having a good sleep in.
*beep beep beep* went Eric's jeans' pocket.
It was Jeanine.
After talking with her for a short while Eric turned to me. "We've got to round up the others. Jeanine has something to say to all of us, about our first mission".
We stood up and contacted Zachariah, Titus and Ashley as we made our way to the Convening Rooms.
"What's this all about?" Titus asked, seeming confused. He was the last one of us to arrive.
Eric didn't say anything to him, so I decided to fill him in on what I knew. I really needed to up my game and show the others that I really was one of them. I needed to show them that I was brave, smart and not afraid to speak up, even if it be in insignificant situations.
"Jeanine contacted Eric, letting him know she had something for us to do" I answered on Eric's behalf. as I sat down at the table.
I was wondering where Jeanine was. She was the one that was calling this meeting and she wasn't even here... But then her face appeared right before my eyes. I have to admit; it startled me.
Ashley seemed to notice me jump a little, she was sitting next to me. She chuckled. "Don't worry, it always gets me as well".
Jeanine wasn't going to be attending the meeting in person, she was going to speak to us through the 'magic' of technology.
"Jeanine" Eric greeted solemnly with a nod of his head.
"Ok, let's get to business" she said as if she was preoccupied, looking at some sort of report. She had completely skipped the introductions, making Eric annoyed. He had greeted her and in return he got nothing. He had told me how it irritated him when Jeanine acted as if she was the better leader. "Eric, I need you to round up teams of soldiers. Make sure you have enough machinery and make sure your trucks are ready to go" she informed, still seeming preoccupied.
We all sat there glumly. She had organised this meeting, gathered all of us together and she wasn't even directly speaking to any of us. Bit rude. I thought.
"Oooh! Also make sure you bring along those new devices I sent you. You will definitely need them" Jeanine added, finally looking up at us, her eyes bright and fiery, filled with evil.
"So, what exactly did you need to tell us?" Ashley asked.
"You will all be going on a little journey" she began mysteriously. "You're going to go to Amity, test everyone there with those devices and lock away all divergents".
She was smiling triumphantly.
"Where are we locking away the people we capture?" I asked.
"We'll lock them away in the UnderCroft" Eric answered plainly.
"The UnderCroft?" I questioned again.
"It's a secret prison compound we have here" Ashley answered knowledgeably. "Jeanine is now planning on exterminating all of the divergents in one whole mass murder".
Ashley then looked to Jeanine for conformation.
"That's exactly right" she confirmed.
I felt relieved after the meeting. Because of the fact that the captured divergent's would have some sort of time to spare, in the secret area known as the 'UnderCroft'. The UnderCroft was apparently some sort of prison underneath Dauntless, where Dauntless would keep the worst of the worst locked up, away from the rest of us. Although I'm sure the UnderCroft would not be pleasant for the divergent's that would be seized; but surely it would be better than being killed almost as instantly as their secret was let 'out'.
As the warriors of our society and as Jeanine's beastly 'pets' we were to raid each faction and test every single person in that faction...
Starting with Amity.