Second Chances (Eric and Tris)

Agreeing to try: Part 6

Tris followed about 20 minutes later. She really wasn't in a particularly interesting part in her book, but she wanted to avoid any awkwardness with Eric by going to bed at the same time. She knew that he was going to ask where he should sleep and by ignoring him after saying goodnight, she silently told him to go back and sleep in her bed. She was glad that he took the hint. At the point now where she could barely keep her eyes open, she put her book aside, got ready for bed in the bathroom and walked into the dark bedroom. She slide under the covers. She could hear Eric's steady, deep breathing telling her he was already asleep. She got comfortable and closed her eyes.

The next morning Tris found herself in the same position as the last morning. Only instead of her just laying on Eric, he had placed his arm around her waist to keep her there. Knowing that his alarm would be going off soon, she closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat for another minute before carefully sliding back to her own side of the bed. As soon as she left Eric's side, he turned towards her, as if seeking out her warmth. But before he could reach her, his blasted alarm went off. Eric groaned out his normal curse of "fuck," before turning the alarm off. Tris watched again as, just like the day before, he turned onto his stomach and tried to get a few last minutes of sleep. Tris used this time to slip out the bed and into the shower. By the time she was done, she could smell coffee. Smiling at the role reversal. She walked out of the bathroom and Eric handed her a cup of coffee. "Morning" he said as he carried his coffee into the bathroom to get ready.

On the way to the office, they stopped at the pit and got muffins. As they were leaving Tris saw Four with some of his friends, watching her. She sighed. "Go on ahead. I will be there in a few minutes." Eric nodded and kept walking while Tris headed over to Four. He stood and met her half way. "Four can we talk tonight? We need to get all this figured out." He nodded.

"I agree. I don't like how things were left yesterday. I am sorry for that. Would you spend the night at my place? We can do dinner and talk? Just like we used to?" Tris hesitated at the mention of spending the night but knew for the sake of her relationship she needed to.

"Alright. I will come by after work. I will need to head home to get some stuff, but I will be there as soon as I can this evening." This seemed to make Four happy. He smiled.

"See you then." With that he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Feeling a bit letdown with that kiss, Tris turned and headed to the office. Before she got started on her work, she needed to talk to Eric. She knocked on his door.

"Come in." She heard.

"Hey. I just wanted to let you know that I am going to stay at Fours tonight. He wants to talk things over. So I won't be home for dinner tonight." Tris said quickly.

"Alright. Hope things work out for the best. I will see you in the office tomorrow." Eric smiled at her.

Tris smile and shut Eric's office door. Guilt pledged him. As much as he wanted to see Tris happy, he hated to see her happy with Four. While he had been honest when giving her advice last night, he was jealous at the prospect of her making things right with Four. He was growing used to their arrangement and didn't want it to come to an end. He knew that it would though if Tris and Four made up. However, he wouldn't do anything to stop it. He would win Tris the right way. By supporting her and being there. Hopefully she would see how much he cared for her. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. He knew that Tris had no idea, but both mornings he had woken before her and watched her sleep on his chest. He was living the life that he had always wanted, in these last two days. He didn't want that to end.