Second Chances (Eric and Tris)

Awkwardness Averted: Part 14

As much as Eric did not want to stop the fun, he had to remind himself that this was way too fast. It was only yesterday that Tris had broken up with Four. He did not want to be the rebound guy. But at the same time his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. Her kiss told him all he needed to know. She seemed to feel the same way about him that he felt about her. Her touch had been just as frantic and searing as his. But the logical side of his brain took over. He gently pulled her away from him and brushed her hair away from her face. Not wanting things to get awkward, he decided to go with his fallback, his cocky approach. "Nice." He was rewarded with Tris's rich laugh as she rolled her eyes. He took this opportunity to lift her off his lap. He shifted so that he was facing her. Her laughter died down as she looked at him, knowing that something serious was coming. "Tris, we need to talk about that." Tris shook her head.

"No, do not go and say that it was a mistake. Please I don't think that could handle that." She said looking away. She missed Eric's smile.

"Don't worry. Calling that a mistake would be the farthest thing from the truth. I have wanted to do that for almost a year." Tris's head snapped back up to stare wide eyed at Eric's admission. Eric's stomach felt like a pit had just opened up. He had not meant to tell her that just yet. "Whoops. Well that cat was out of the bag. No taking that back. Smooth move, Genius" Eric scolded himself. Eric closed his eyes for a brief second to gather his thoughts. "Get it together Fucktard. It's just Tris, but keep acting like this and you will scare her off." Letting out the breath that he had been holding Eric glanced back up at Tris who had not taken her eyes off him. He could not read her expression. "Look Tris, I do not regret what just happened. However I think that it was a bit sudden. With you just calling it off with Four yesterday and whatnot, I don't want to be some rebound." Eric raised his hand to cut off Tris as she went to say something. "Wait. just let me get this out. I think what happened out with the factionless shook us both up and brought some stuff to the surface that maybe we both need to face or at least consider. But I think we need to do it in a logical way unless we both want to end up getting hurt."

"Are you going to look at me now?" Tris said. Eric looked down from where he was staring at Tris's hairline.

"Sorry." A slight blush hit Eric's cheeks. Tris thought it was adorable how during his rant he was not able to look her directly in the eye. He came close, she was certain he was staring at her eyebrows, but still. The look of vulnerability in Eric's eyes was something that she was sure he had no idea was there. He had opened himself up and now he had no idea how to build that wall back up, and it was scaring the shit out of him.

"If it helps, I think you are right. I don't regret it either. And I think that seeing how close you came to being shot really scared me. I realized how much I have come to rely on you in such a short time. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I didn't come home to you every night. Seeing that bruise on your chest just showed me how close I came to losing you. It terrified me. I realized that we both probably got a bit out of hand, but I don't regret it. I am glad that it finally happened. I just don't want anything to get awkward."

"Awkward? Eh, I won't let things get awkward." Tris raised her eyebrows.

"Just how do you plan to keep that from happening?"

"Food! That makes everything better! Though, I might have to send you the pit to grab what I need and boss you around in the kitchen as I don't think I am physically going to be up to cooking, but I am more than capable of dictating..." Tris laughed.

"Sounds perfect. I am starving now that you mention it." Her stomach rumbled as if on cue. "So what is for dinner, oh masterful chef?"

"I was thinking something comforting, like stew. My mother used to make it in the winter or when one of us needed cheering up. Comfort food. Hand me paper and I will make a list of what we need."

Tris ran to the store to grab the ingredients for the beef stew that Eric wanted to make. She had never had such a thing. Living with him was certainly opening up her culinary palate. Hoping that she was getting the correct things she was standing in line to check out when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning she saw Four. Closing her eyes, she prayed for patience. "Yes Four?"

"I heard what happened today with the factionless. Is Eric alright?"

"He is fine. He got hit, but thankfully he had riot gear on so he is only bruised. However we are all wondering how the factionless got a hold of the weapons."

"Do you know what kind of weapons they were?"

"No, I don't. I haven't seen the ones they brought in or spoken to the prisoners." Fours eyes got slightly larger at this.

"You mean they recovered some of the weapons and they caught some of the men? Where are they being held? What do they plan to do with them? Are they being killed? When?" Tris drew her eyebrows together and held up a hand to stop his questions.

"Hold up Four. That information is for leadership only. I have already told you more than I should have. You can go talk to Max, but I doubt that he will tell you any more than I have. I have to go now." With that Tris turned to pay for her goods, turning her back on Four, not noticing him narrowing his eyes at her back while forming a plan in his mind. He quickly turned on his heal and left.

Back up at the apartment, Tris and Eric started to prepare dinner. True to his word, Eric was very good at dictating what she should do. He sat at the bar with a glass of wine tell her how to cut the meat, how to hold the knife. At the point where he was telling her how much fat to leave on each piece of beef Tris held up the knife and pointed it at him, "Tell me again what to do and I will make sure that that bruise on your shoulder is the least of your concerns." Eric held up his hands in mock surrender and kept his mouth shut. Well for a whole 2 minutes until Tris started to put in the ingredients into the pan in the wrong order. It was at that point that she chased him out the kitchen completely, making him go and sit on the couch until she was finished. As she finished putting the veggies into the pan she gave one last stir and put the lid on and set the timer. Pouring herself a glass of wine she leaned against the counter. She watched Eric reading on the couch. She smiled to herself. He had done just what he said he would. He had kept the awkwardness out of the situation. Every time Tris started to fumble or get weird, he would start to boss her around. She could see that now. That was when she had chased him out. Giving a light laugh, she took her wine and went to the living room. She grabbed her book and sat next to Eric. He glanced up quickly and checked out her hand. "What?" Tris said.

"Just making sure you came in unarmed is all." Eric replied. Tris rolled her eyes, grabbed a small pillow from the floor and smacked Eric.

"Asshole." She was rewarded with his trademark smirk.