Her Secret

The Fight

Over the next few weeks, Tris comes to Jeanine's office twice a week for simple tasks. A few times, other imitates are there to prove themselves too. 

One day, Tris comes five minutes late. Joanna is running out of Jeanine's office, clearly in tears. "Hey, what's wrong?" Tris asks, catching her arm. The abnegation in her wanted to make the girl feel better.  "I can be late. Jeanine will understand."

Joanna looks at Tris. "No. Please. You can't tell her," she begs.

Tris raises an eyebrow. "Why not?" She asks carefully.

"Because. You- I got in a fight with her. Jeanine's my godmother, you see. She thinks everything in my life is her business because of that," Joanna mutters, taking off her glasses and drying them with her sleeve. 

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you fight about?" Tris asks as they walk down the hallway.

Joanna sighs. "She hates my girlfriend. And I'm pretty sure it's the fact that Elise is a girl and not for... other reasons." 

Tris awkwardly offers her a hug. "I'm sure she doesn't think that," she says sympathetically.     

"That's why she directly told me such," Joanna mutters sarcastically. Tris awkwardly tries to comfort Joanna until she stops crying. "Thanks for helping, Tris," she says, forcing an unconvincing smile. "You've helped a lot," she whispers.

Tris knows that she is lying, but lets it go anyways. "You're welcome, Joanna. If you ever want to talk to me about anything, I'm free. I'll be here," she says with a small smile. Joanna thanks her again before excusing herself. 

"That was weird," Tris mumbles to herself. She then heads back to Jeanine's office after having walked Joanna back to her dorm. When she gets there, a different voice tells her to come in. Tris frowns before proceeding.

"Tris... Jeanine is out. She told me to tell you that you're free to leave," a man says.

"Who are you?" Tris stammers out.

"I'm Eric. I stopped by to pick some things up," the man says casually. Tris nods and eyes him. The man is clearly dauntless based on his clothing and his large amounts of tattoos and piercings.

"Thank you, Eric," Tris says kindly. "May I ask where I could find her?"

Eric hesitates. "The same place she always goes when she's upset," he says with a sigh before walking out of the office. Tris watches him go before heading over to Jeanine's desk. She wanted to do a bit of snooping before mindlessly wandering to find Jeanine. She sees a journal sitting on the desk. Could it really be that easy? Tris reluctantly slips the journal into her bag and exits the office, not waiting around with the potential to get caught. She felt extremely bad about it, but she knew it would help her find the erudite leader. Tris couldn't explain it, but she desperately wanted to find Jeanine and make sure she was okay too. Tris slips into her dorm, and flips through it, reading a few pages every now and then. She sighs to herself. "Great. She's partially an alcoholic," she says out loud. She was grateful Audrey wasn't around as she quickly slips out, heading to the shopping area. She knew of only one restaurant that served drinks in erudite, so that told her where to go. As expected, Tris found Jeanine. She could easily tell that the woman was wasted, but goes and sits next to her anyways.

"Hey, Trissy," Jeanine says with a grin, looking over at the girl. Tris cringes, meeting her gaze. 

"Are you with her?" A bartender asks.

Tris opens her mouth to say no, but Jeanine places an arm around her shoulders. "Yep! Trissy's with me!"

"Good. Take her home," the man mutters before walking off. Tris sighs.

"Come with me, Jeanine. Please," she mumbles.

Jeanine shakes her head. "No. I wanna drink some more!" She slurs.

Tris shakes her head and awkwardly forces Jeanine up. "Nope, you're coming with me." It soon becomes quite clear that Jeanine is too drunk to walk, and Tris forces Jeanine to lean against her as she walks her to her apartment. On the way there, Jeanine trips, taking both of them down at the same time. Jeanine is unaware of the position she's in as she's laying on top of the girl. Tris looks slightly uncomfortable. "You're cute up close," Jeanine says with a goofy grin. Tris stares at her for a minute, disbelief etched across her face. Jeanine returns her gaze before sloppily pressing her lips to Tris'. Tris looks slightly surprised. She was secretly annoyed that she hadn't made the first move. Tris hesitates for a few seconds before pushing Jeanine off of her. Jeanine pouts slightly. "Was I too much?" She asks.

"Let's just get you home, Ms. Matthews," she whispers. Tris reluctantly helps her up before letting Jeanine walk on her own. She sighs as she sees her leaning against the wall for support. Tris picks Jeanine up with some newfound strength. Jeanine giggles at her as she loosely wraps an arm around her neck. "You are sadly very drunk," Tris mutters. When Jeanine had fallen, the key to her apartment fell out of her pocket and Tris had grabbed it, figuring she would need to use it later. She gets Jeanine to her apartment and silently looks around. The apartment was a lot smaller than what Tris had envisioned. The walls were lined with bookshelves, but what surprised her was that the remaining wall space was used for art. She immediately decided that they were pieces Cara and Joanna had made for her based on the names signed on them. The only furniture in the living room was a hanging egg chair, which made Tris chuckle slightly. Tris decided that Jeanine wasn't one for much furniture because from where she was standing, the only other seating was a stool at the kitchen counter. Tris looks over at Jeanine, whom had collapsed in her egg chair. "I'm going to leave now, ma'am," Tris says quietly.

Jeanine looks over at her. "Please stay," she whispers quietly.

"I don't think I ca-"

"At least help me get to bed," she slurs.

Tris reluctantly agrees and helps Jeanine to her bedroom.

Jeanine flops onto the bed. "My pajamas are in the top drawer of my dresser," she mumbles, trying to undo the buttons on her blazer. She lets out a small groan of frustration as she struggles slightly. "Fine. I'm not just a little drunk. I'm super drunk," Jeanine mumbles.

Tris sighs. "Would you like help with that too?" She asks.

Jeanine nods and sits still, letting Tris help her undress. Tris knew modest ways of changing in public but averts her eyes anyways. Jeanine eventually lays back and Tris tucks her in.

Jeanine looks up at her. Her face is wet with tears.  "What's wrong?" Tris whispers.

"I got in a fight and now I feel really bad about it," Jeanine mumbles, staring at her hands. Tris stares at her before gently pressing her lips to Jeanine's. Jeanine returns the kiss, but this time it's not sloppy like the one she gave earlier. It was salty from her tears but pleasant enough to almost convince her that a Jeanine wasn't drunk. Tris pulls away.

"I'm sorry, Jeanine. I shouldn't. You're drunk. You won't remember it tomorrow. And if you do, you'll probably regret it." Tris them stands up and heads for the door.

"Please. Stay. Just for tonight," Jeanine whispers. "I do have a full-size bed," she adds, her frown now turning into a smirk.

Tris sighs. "Only until you fall asleep," she whispers, laying on the very opposite edge of the bed. Jeanine moves closer to her, and Tris clears her throat. Jeanine doesn't appear to notice, but the younger blonde was well aware. Tris falls asleep first that night, and Jeanine falls into a deep sleep soon after.