The Distance Between Us | Eric Coulter

six

I'm awoken the next morning by an obnoxious clanking and I let out a groan in annoyance. It felt as if I'd just drifted off and now I'm going to have to face the day running on just less than an hour's worth of rest.

Sleep hadn't come easily last night- and by sleep I mean tossing and turning on that metal frame from hell I was left with before I finally gave in and slept on the damn floor. But hey, at least I had a pillow and a blanket. Thank god for small mercies.

Tossing my blanket off of my body and onto my bare bed frame, I stand before bending to pick my pillow from the floor and threw it down next to the blanket with more force than probably necessary.

Yes, I was in a mood. But can you really blame me?

I lift my eyes to meet Four's from across the room and he raises a brow at me looking mighty amused. Not in the mood for any of this today, I shoot him the finger with a sarcastic smile and I swear, he snickers slightly.

"I want everyone in the Pit," He announces, "Two minutes."

Stretching my arms over my head, I work out the kinks in my neck and hurried to get dressed.

Eric's already hell-bent on making my life here as miserable as possible. I didn't need to give him any extra reasons to do so by being late.

I hurry out the door as I pull my hair up into a messy bun, quickly making my way through the empty hallway.

The Pit is already bristling with people when I make it there and I make my way towards Four and Eric when I spot them waiting in the centre.

"Initiate," Eric greets coldly as I saunter past him, "Sleep well?" He smirks at the question, sounding too smug for my liking and I smile at him over my shoulder.

"Like a fucking baby," I answer saccharinely.

Four snickers from beside Eric, earning himself a deadly glare that only makes me smile wider.

"How about you, Eric?" I ask in return, "Did you manage to get a good night's sleep?" I pause thoughtfully, "Wait, do devils need sleep?"

I stop in front of him, turning to face him with my chin raised in defiance.

"Alright, gather around!" Four yells as the other initiates start to filter in. "There are two stages to training," He continues once everyone is present, "First, physical. Second, mental. You'll face your worst fears and conquer them...unless they get you first." Four points to the group of Dauntless-borns hanging out on the other side, "You'll be trained separately from the Dauntless-borns but you'll be ranked together. After initiation, rankings will determine what jobs you move into; leadership, guarding the fence. Or keeping the factionless from killing each other."

"Rankings will also determine who gets cut," Eric adds.

"Cut?" The petite Candor girl with short hair asks from behind me.

"At the end of each stage of training, the lowest-ranking initiates will be leaving us," Eric elaborates.

"To do what?" Another voice joins in. Though I'm not sure who it is with my eyes trained on Eric and he stares right back at me as if we're engaged in some weird stare-off.

"There's no going home to your families, so you'll love factionless." He states, sounding like he was merely discussing the weather.

Will shifts uncomfortably beside me, "Why didn't we know that?"

"It's a new rule," Eric replies as nonchalant as ever.

"A new rule? Somebody should've told us that-"

"Why? Would you have chosen differently? Out of fear?" Eric cuts the Candor girl off, "I mean, if that's the case, you might as well get out now. If you're really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. You chose us, now we get to choose you."

He takes another step closer to me until he's towering over me and I crane my neck to meet his eyes.

"Hear that, initiate?" He drops his voice in a taunt, "I get to decide who stays and who goes."

"Oh?" I paste on a wide grin, "Must be fun with that inflated ego of yours. Speaking of which- do you ever get tired?"

Eric scowls but doesn't entertain my question- probably knowing what comes next.

"Of what?" Four asks instead, clearly struggling to maintain his serious facade.

"Isn't it obvious?" I chirp, "Of constantly having to haul said absurdly large ego around everywhere he goes."

Eric glares at me, "Alright, everybody out!"

The crowd scatters at Eric's stern voice and Eric closes in on me once again.

Taking another step toward me until we're standing so close that his chest brushes against mine and I can feel his breath on my lips as he leans down.

To be fair to him, I get the feeling he was betting on me backing away as soon as he got too close for comfort- a power move on his part, I'm sure. Unfortunately for him, I'm set on torturing him as much as he does me.

"Yes, Eric?" I ask sweetly.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Aw, Eric." I reach up to pat him on the chest, cursing myself for even noticing how toned it feels under my touch. "Can't take what you dish out?"

"I don't think you understand how this works," He grits out, "I'm in charge here. If you want to stay in Dauntless, you better get in line, Aurora."

I raise my chin at him haughtily, swallowing at how close it brings our lips.

So not the time to be thinking about his lips. I chastise myself, shaking the thought from my head.

"If you're going to kick me out, just do it already, Eric." I challenge, "What the fuck are you waiting for?"

His eyes search mine and I swear I see his lips twitch a little at the corners as if he's trying to fight a smile. For a moment, it reminds me of the old Eric- the one who taught me how to stick up for myself, the one who would also probably be proud when he sees how I refuse to give in.

My breath hitches when Eric leans in even further, putting our lips just a hair width apart. This time, I do take an involuntary step back when he takes another step into my space and he smirks.

"Last chance, Rory."

I grin, raising on my toes and press a kiss to the corner of his lips.

By the way he jerks back at the touch, the move has effectively thrown him off and it only makes me smile wider...that and it has been a little bit of a fantasy of mine since I was five.

Not the point. The point is to assert dominance...kind of.

Before he gets the chance to recover from it, I bring my lips to his ear and whisper, "Go fuck yourself, Eric."