Closer

Chapter 12

I groaned as Four helped me off the mat. I had lost my third and final fight against Logan. Logan was one of Seth's degenerate friends that had transferred over from Candor with him. They looked quite similar, so much so that they could be brothers. I was winning for most of the fight until Seth distracted me with a snide comment that he had made. I lost focus and my attention shifted from Logan to Seth. With that unconsciousness came soon after as Logan laid me out on the mat with one powerful punch to temple.

"Dammit," I mumbled. Four wrapped an arm around my waist to balance me. The room still hadn't stabilized yet so the added support was greatly appreciated.

"I'll take her," I heard a voice come up behind us. Eric appeared next to me and I sent my brother a pleading look, begging him not to leave me in the hands of Eric. Eric never took initiates to the infirmary, he always left that task to Four. The look Four sent back told me that he didn't have a place to argue with the leader and that he had no choice. Even after our moment during our capture the flag game, I still wanted to keep my distance from Eric.

Four's arm was replaced with Eric's and I was forced to lean against him for support. It was my turn to reluctantly rely on him for support. I tried to push him away and stand on my own, but failed as my head began to spin. Eric's arm tightened around my waist and I sucked in a sharp breath.

I frowned in my brother's direction as Eric began to lead me out of the training room and to the infirmary. The tension was thick and awkward as silence fell between us. As we reached the half way point of our trek, Eric finally broke the silence. "What happened out there?" I was glad to hear that he had left his harsh, cold tone in the training room. It was softer now, but still authoritative.

"I just... I got distracted," I admitted. The funny thing was, I couldn't even remember what it was that Seth said to grab my attention. Maybe it was just the fact that he had opened his mouth that pissed me off.

"You can't let that Candor kid get in your head. He's just pissed because you knocked his ass out," Eric smirked. Something about him seemed different, he seemed less guarded.

"Eh," I shrugged. That might be part of it, but it wasn't all of it. Seth had it out for me, I knew he did. Whether it was insulting me every chance he got or trying to trip me in the dinning hall, he always put in the extra work to fuck my day up. Or at least tried to. I tried not to let it bother me.

"Don't try to act like I didn't notice by the way," I sent a confused look his way. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Was he still talking about Seth?

"Notice what?" I raised my eyebrow in curiosity. What was he talking about?

"The way you won your fight against him," Eric's smirk made yet another appearance as we rounded a corner. He was referring to the choke hold that I had used against Seth. The same one that Eric had used on me during our fight.

"Oh," I looked down at my boots as I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I didn't think he would notice, nonetheless mention it. "I couldn't think of anything else to do. He was bigger, stronger... It was the only way I was going to win," I didn't really know how to explain it to him.

"Well, at least something positive came out of me knocking you on your ass," Eric teased. I rolled my eyes as I chuckled. It was strange though, I, for once, was having an actual conversation with Eric. No arguing or taking jabs at one another, it was kind of nice.

"Hey now, I busted your lip. That's pretty good for my first fight, especially from a girl from Abnegation," I said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, whatever," This time it was Eric who rolled his eyes. "You caught me off guard, that's all," he shook his head and chuckled, looking over at me. Our eyes connected and my breath caught in my throat. All coldness from his features were gone. He didn't look like a cruel Dauntless leader right then and there. He looked like a normal boy who I might have gone to school with. A Dauntless boy that I could have been friends with.