Once An Eaton, Always An Eaton

Chapter 1 🔪 Dates

A/N: The first chapter is here! I did promise it would be up soon. :) Hopefully it was soon enough for you all!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Three months later...

"Oh my god, Rowan!"

I shove my boyfriend in the shoulder, hard, my lips twitching upwards against their will. To my annoyance, the push doesn't move him nearly as much as he deserves. Damn him and his sturdy stature.

"That was the worst joke I've ever heard."

"Wait, I've got a better one." Rowan leans forward, his nose only a few inches from mine. "Why didn't the skeleton climb the mountain?"

I'm going to regret this. I sigh. "Why?"

"Because it didn't have the guts."

I can't help it. I groan.

Rowan, clearly, is taking joy in my pain. He laughs at me, leaning back on the soft maroon blanket that we've spread over the rock. Beside us, the Chasm roars, the fierce sound a stark contrast to the lightness of this conversation.

"Why did I agree to date you?" I mutter under my breath, turning my head away from him. But my voice betrays me - even I can hear the amusement in my tone.

"Admit it, Cammi." Even though I'm not looking at him, I can practically see the glee on his face. "You loooove my jokes."

"No, I really don't."

Rowan proceeds to ignore me. "I think Kian or Chloe have a few joke books lying around - I can restock on my supply of jokes to tell as soon as I borrow it."

"I am going to throw you into the Chasm if I have to hear one more of your jokes."

"Rude!" Rowan theatrically brings a hand to his forehead, pretending to feel faint. I think my brother might be rubbing off on him. "How could you ever do that to me?"

"Because you'd deserve it, for spoiling the name of jokes everywhere."

"Oh, I see how it is." He crosses his arms over his chest, pouting exaggeratedly.

That's the last straw; dropping the mostly-feigned annoyance, I burst out laughing. Rowan manages to valiantly uphold his forlorn expression for all of two seconds before he doubles over, too.

I'm not sure exactly how we got here, sitting on the large rock in the Chasm, laughing over corny jokes. It's certainly not how I imagined this date would go, but I'm definitely not complaining.

When our laughter finally dies down, the silence following it is comfortable. A lot of things have changed in the year we've been dating, but I'm glad this isn't one of them. It's really nice to be able to enjoy each other's presence without exchanging any words. The Dauntless don't believe in silence, so moments like these are rare things.

Shifting on the blanket, I reposition myself so I'm sitting right next to Rowan, and lay my head on his shoulder. Almost immediately, he lifts his right arm and brings it around me in a half-embrace.

This is one of the things that has changed; a year of being around supportive, tactile people has made me a lot more open to physical affection. I may never be fully comfortable with it, but I'm getting somewhere, and that's all I can ask for.

I can tell it makes Rowan happy, too - although he always respects my boundaries, he lights up every time I allow him to hold my hand in public, or something like that. Touch is Rowan's way of giving or showing affection, and I'm glad that I'm able to give that to him.