Her once true love defects to Dauntless, abandoning her.
Penelope finds herself lonesome two years later. She has everything she could ask for, but nothing is fulfilling. That's until she comes across Charlie again. Old feelings are lost but somethi...
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EVERYONE knew. Word had gotten out about the tragedy that happened to Penelope and Eric. Whispers ran throughout the halls in Dauntless, across the tables in the dining hall, reaching every single person living there. It was barely 48 hours after the terrible events, that all of Chicago heard of what had happened. There was an outpour of sympathy cards sent to Penelope immediately, mostly from important people from each faction, but out of all of them, she read only one. There was nothing setting it apart from the others but she was drawn to it as she sifted through the multiple cards on her lap.
With a runny nose and bloodshot eyes, Penelope opened the card with trembling hands. She broke out into a silent cry after reading through the first three sentences, using a tissue she'd been clutching in one hand to dry her tears. The person had clearly poured their heart into that card, every word written so close together so that more could fit than intended. Every single thing in that card made Penelope's broken heart clench tightly, fresh tears running down her face every few seconds. It almost became unbearable for her but she read every last word, reaching the scribbled name at the end.
"Chelsea Irene. ."
There wasn't much time for Penelope to react. Lily, the nurse that had helped Penelope the night before, walked in, Marisol right on her heels. They both smiled at Penelope, their smiles vanishing the second they took notice of Penelope's demeanor. Marisol instantly rushed to her side, a worried look on her lightly freckled face. Penelope lazily waved the card for Marisol to glance at, a grave look on her flushed face. Her dry lips parted for a fleeting moment, only to close again as she hesitated.
"It—It's from his mom, Marisol," Penelope finally whispered. "It's from Eric's mom and he's still not here to see it. .any of this."
"They shouldn't have given you these," Marisol mumbled, shaking her head as she picked up every card. "Lily, tell one of the boys to take these to the apartment. Now."
Penelope swung her legs off the bed, desperately trying to stop Marisol, but she'd already handed them to Lily. All but the one Penelope clutched to her heaving chest. There was little she could do with one hand to her chest and the other holding a semi-damp tissue. She simply watched as Lily sprinted out of there, clearly determined to help out as much as possible.
"Why?"
Marisol turned to Penelope, the fingertips of her right hand pressed against her forehead and her left hand on her hip. She was feeling weighed down by so many things, and as much as she wished to make Penelope and Eric a priority, she couldn't. Marisol had other patients, not a lot, but enough that she'd barely slept for five hours. She was lucky to have gotten that many hours of sleep.
"Penelope, you don't need to let yourself fall under so much stress. I'm not blaming you for anything, but it may be that a shitload of stress is what brought you here. How the fuck do you think that makes me feel?!" Marisol demanded.
