Divergent One Shots (Eric & Tris)

Sixteen-Initiation Offers 5.3

Tris

I stride over to my typical table in the cafeteria to see Marlene and Uriah already there along with a few initiates.  I sit beside Marlene. 
"Hey, how's it going?" I ask. 
"Good.  We're just getting the infirmary ready for the influx we're expecting," she grins. 
"Hey, Uri!  Are you looking forward to training?" I question. 
"You have no idea.  I haven't heard of a group this size in forever, not since... what?" he says to Marlene.
"I think we were four or five," she nods.  "It's been a while."
I smile in response and twirl my pasta with my fork. 
"Why were you holding hands with Eric?" Four whispers harshly in my ear. 
I sit back to see he's beside me now.  I meet his eyes with mine.  "Let me just get things straight between us," I say pausing for emphasis.  I honestly can't believe the audacity of his comment.  "Just so you're completely sure... I ended things with you close to a year ago.  You are not my boyfriend and you have no right to ask me questions like that.  But I'll tell you this one time.  I was holding Eric's hand... because I like him.  Honestly, I'll probably date him.  He's already asked me out and I told him I'd think about it.  So... beyond training and friendship, there's nothing more going on between you and me.  This will be the last time I explain myself to you like this."  I rise when I finish speaking and move to Uriah's other side—further away from him.  Christina arrives at the table and sits beside me with Will across from her. 
"What the heck was that about?" Uriah whispers to me.  "He knows you're not interested."
"Does he?" I laugh still in disbelief.  I'm actually pretty upset.  "He seems to think I'm his property.  I hope I set him straight this time.  Oh, by the way, I'm not sure how things for initiation will go down but I will not be training in the same group with him.  If he belittles leadership or another trainer, you may want to step in.  He did that last year."
"Yeah, definitely.  We work for them and we're supposed to be a team," he nods. 
"That's what I think, too," I agree. 
I twirl my pasta on my fork again and take a bite.  It's so good.  I love their cream sauce—it's comforting and making me feel better, more calm.  I feel my phone buzz and I pick it up.  I see ten missed calls from Four, countless texts from him... and one message from Eric.  I open Eric's message up to see what he said. 

'Is everything okay?'

I decide to respond. 

'Yeah, he saw us and got territorial again.  I set him straight... I hope.'

'My offer still stands.'

'And I'm still thinking about it.'

I look up to the leadership table to see him reading my message and he's smirking.  He shows it to Ryan.  I laugh.  I better get used to that—they're best friends.  Ryan looks to me and gives me a thumbs up. 
"Are you talking to the leaders?" Christina questions. 
"Yeah," I nod. 
"So... what are you talking about?" she inquires nosily.  I show her my phone.  "What did Eric offer?"
"He asked me out?" I say like a question. 
"Girl!?  Are you serious?" she shouts. 
The whole cafeteria stops and stares at us.  I laugh uncomfortably.  We don't say anything and everyone goes back to their business but I see Eric at the leadership table smirking and leaning back in his seat watching us with a smug expression on his face. 
"He asked you out?" she whispers in my ear. 
"He did," I nod. 
"What'd you say?" she questions. 
"That I'd think about it," I tell her. 
She nods.  I feel my phone buzz again and I check it.  Eric sent another message. 

'Can I see you after dinner?'

"What are you going to say?" Christina asks shoving me repeatedly. 
I laugh at her behavior.  She's more excited about this than me. 

'Okay.'

"Yes!" Christina shouts pulling her arm down in excitement.  She grabs everyone's attention again but I see Ryan messing with Eric about the same with the shoving.  I chuckle at them.  He meets my eyes biting his lip.  Yeah... he likes me.  And... I think I like him, too. 
I continue to eat my pasta, chicken, and steamed vegetables talking with my friends at the table. The initiates seem to be excited. I see all of the transfers from earlier now dressed in black. Some of them have new haircuts and some dyed. I'm surprised at a few of the drastic changes. Freddy looks similar, just in black. In many ways, he reminds me of Four—not in a negative sort of way, just that they've made little changes. I guess I have made few changes as well, nothing extreme except a few tattoos. I see a few transfers get up when they're done but Zeke is on it telling them to sit back down and wait a minute. I smile at how he takes care of them so they don't miss out. I see leadership mount the stairs and stride up to the railing overhead. I realize that I will be one of them next year. Eric meets my eyes winking at me. I smile at him.
"He definitely has it bad for you. I can't believe I never noticed it before," Christina whispers.
"Neither can I," I admit... but he knew Four was always putting his arms around me or trying to kiss me but I moved or shoved him. Maybe he looked away every time because it hurt his feelings. I meet his eyes once more and he's watching me.
"Initiates, stand!" Max announces.
The initiates rise from their seats. The transfers look around confused.
"You have decided to join with the warriors. We welcome you to Dauntless!" Max shouts.
Everyone stomps, shouts, and pounds their cups. We all rise and lift up the the initiates, passing them through the room. I hear several laughing and cheering along. I see their smiles and I know they're glad to be here, that they're having the time of their life.
When everything calms, I see Eric descend the stairs. I meet him by the door and unconsciously reach for his hand. He takes mine in his and laces our fingers together as we leave the cafeteria.
"Your place or mine?" he asks as we step out of the cafeteria.
"We can go to mine if you want," I shrug.
"Lead the way," he smirks.
My phone buzzes and I read that Christina says she left some laundry out but she's going to Will's apartment to give us privacy. I smile and pocket it.
We arrive to my apartment and I open the door for us. "Yeah, she left laundry out," I laugh in embarrassment. "That is not mine."
Eric comes in and chuckles shutting the door. Christina has her undergarments and stockings hanging on a laundry line throughout our living room.
"Yeah, we should've gone to your place," I apologize taking down the dry line of laundry.
"Why don't you hang it outside?" Eric asks.
"It's too windy. It's blown away before," I admit awkwardly.
Eric laughs in response.
"I'll be right back," I tell him setting everything on her bed and joining him on the sofa.
"So you and Christina?" he asks.
"Yeah," I nod.
"What did he say?" he inquires.
"He saw us holding hands," I admit with a shrug.
"Did he back off?" he questions.
"He seems to have," I nod. "Uriah even asked what his problem was since he knew we weren't together."
He reaches for my hand and I smile at the gesture. "How'd you like working for Jax?" he asks. I explain about my job and how I enjoyed it. I tell him how much I've learned over the last year and how I've improved physically but I'm sure he knows about the training we have to do to maintain. 
"I'm going to miss seeing you in uniform... but I think I'll like you even better in a vest and tattoos," he says stroking my neck.
I laugh lightly in response.
"How long is the training?" I ask.
"It depends," he replies. "You're probably close to there with your fighting skills, at least last time I'd seen you practice you impressed me. You've got leadership paperwork and faction visitations to do. I don't know. I guess we'll have to see if you're a speed reader," he teases.
"I am," I admit.
"Oh. Well, it took me six months but you might be faster. I had to do my physical training at the same time. We'll probably do some. Maybe we could go through you fear landscape again," he says.
"Yeah, that won't be awkward," I laugh.
"Why's that?" he questions. "Oh, the intimacy?"
I nod.
"Why was Four in there with you anyway?" he asks.
I flush in embarrassment and shrug.
"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he says.
I sigh. "I don't know. I guess I'd never seen people even holding hands or kissing in public before. I was on the train with Four and that thought crossed my mind. I guess it kind of stuck in there after that," I admit.
He nods. "Which time on the train?" he asks confused.
"Four took me out of the compound during initiation," I divulge.
"Why?" he questions.
"To talk mostly," I say.
"The relationship stared before you finished," he deduces. I frown and nod. "When?" he asks.
So, I tell him.
"Did you know it wasn't allowed?" he asks me.
"Not until I read the training information this year," I tell him.
He purses his lips and nods. "I'll make the announcement to everyone tomorrow before we split up. I will go over everything since who knows if Four did what I told him today."
He looks to me.
"It would appear that you got the brunt of harm because he fell short with his training duties. Let's make sure that never happens to anyone again," he says earnestly.
I nod in agreement. I love how he's not being harsh with me. He's being sweet and understanding. He's making a point—that anything unusual that happened to me won't be repeated in the future. I unconsciously reach for him and he threads his fingers through my hair. I meet his lips with mine and he sighs. It's gentle and sweet. His lips are so incredibly soft and addictive. He deepens the kiss and I let him. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and he pulls me closer to him. He swipes my lips with his tongue and I jolt in surprise, never having a kiss like that before. He enters my mouth with his tongue and meets mine with his. I respond in kind. His kisses are incredibly intoxicating and surprising.
I hear a knock on my front door and we separate slightly as Christina comes in. "Shoot, I thought I'd beat you here. Pretend I didn't interrupt," she says waving her hand at us and walking back out.
"Christina!" I shout.
"Yeah," she grins coming back in.
"You already interrupted," I point out.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just remembered my unmentionables are what I left out and I thought it'd be awkward," she shrugs.
"This is much less awkward," Eric teases.
Christina and I both laugh at that.
"Is Will out in the hallway?" I ask.
"Yes," Will responds but it sounds muffled from the door.
"You guys can come in. We can play a game or something," I say.
"If you insist," Christina says walking right in. She goes back to her bedroom for a moment.
"You know she did this on purpose, right?" Will tells me.
"Yes, I do. Do you think I don't know my own roommate?" I question jokingly.
He shrugs it off and sits down.
"Sorry about that. I tried to talk her out of it. So... are you two a thing now?" he questions.
I look to Eric and he's waiting on me. "Yes," I nod.
He smiles at that.
Christina joins us and we play cards for a little while.  Eric is exceptional at poker and he wins frequently.  I've never been very good but he whispers tips to me and I'm definitely improving.  As it gets late, Christina walks Will to the door.  They kiss and he leaves. 
"I promise I won't interrupt this time," she tells us raising her hands in surrender going back to her bedroom. 
I step outside the door with him. 
"So, we're definitely official?" he grins. 
"Real only.  This is not fake for me," I tell him. 
"It would've never been fake for me either," he whispers as he kisses me.  He backs me up against the wall.  "I've wanted you for so long," he says softly against my skin as he kisses my cheek, my neck, my collarbone.  I feel a gentle peck against each bird and I smile at that.  "Would it be too soon if I told you I love you?" he says seriously meeting my eyes. 
"Yes," I chuckle lightly. 
"Then, forget I said that," he insists.
I smile at him and never knew how funny he was and loving and incredible.  "Where've you been?" I ask. 
"Biding my time," he admits searching my eyes.  I can tell he's absolutely serious but it may take me some time until I know for sure.  But I do care for him.  He kisses me again and I hear someone whistling down the hall at us. 
We both chuckle. 
"Oh man, is that Eric?" a guy shouts. 
Eric looks over his shoulder at him. 
"Go get her, man!" he says in passing. 
We both chuckle again. 
"We're going to be the talk of Dauntless tomorrow," Eric confides. 
"Who was that?" I ask.  I didn't see. 
"That was Reese," Eric tells me caressing my cheek. 
"The guy from the guard-shack in the garage?" I question. 
He nods. 
"Oh man.  Even my parents are going to know tomorrow.  Jeanine will hear about it," I continue.
We both chuckle. 
"I don't care.  He can tell everyone," Eric whispers kissing me again.  I melt into him, our arms wrapped around each other.  "I don't want to leave," he admits. 
"I need sleep," I tell him. 
"I don't think I'll be able to after this," he says. 
"You can dream of me," I tease. 
"I'm afraid I'll go to sleep and this'll be exactly that," he confides. 
"Don't worry, Reese and all of Dauntless will remind you," I tell him jokingly. 
He laughs at that.  "There's always that," he nods. 
He kisses me gently again.  "I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yeah," I nod. 
"Are you waking the initiates?" he asks. 
"I probably should.  Four's wake up calls are terrible," I say. 
"What does he do?" he questions with furrowed brows. 
"He beats the railing with a metal pipe," I divulge. 
He actually laughs at that.  I've never seen him laugh so hard.  "Oh, man.  I may have to join him for that.  I didn't know that.  No wonder he always volunteers to wake both up.  He's done it the last two years," he tells me. 
I purse my lips.  "Was your trainer that bad?" I question. 
"No.  He was cool.  I miss him," he says. 
"Yeah?  Why doesn't he teach?" I question. 
"He died," he tells me sadly. 
I frown at that and he pecks my lips once more. 
"I better go.  I'll see you at breakfast?" he questions. 
"Yeah," I nod.  I kiss him once more and we release each other. 
"Go Eric!" someone else shouts down the hall. 
I laugh as I walk in my room. 
Christina backs away from the door. 
"Were you listening?" I question. 
"No," she denies guilty. 
"You should've stayed in Candor, liar," I accuse walking in past her. 
"So... he's in love with you?" she questions. 
"I thought you weren't listening," I point out. 
"Whatever," she waves it away dismissively. 
"I guess so," I shrug.  "He... thought Four and I were together all this time.  He's mostly only seen me from a distance.  I'm wondering if Four tried to make us look like we were together to keep Eric or other guys away from me."
"Truthfully, that sounds like him," Christina says. 
"Oh well.  What's done is done.  I'm moving on in my life with Eric," I shrug. 
We both get ready for bed together.  I brush my teeth and change into my pajamas.  I set my alarm clock for my usual time for work thinking that I'd like to be the first one in to wake them.  I drift off to sleep easily thinking about how great today has ended up.