Ordinary Acts of Bravery [A Divergent Fanfic]

Chapter 43 - Wordless pain

"It's hard to forget someone, who gave you so much."

I shot off the bed after the hundredth time I had turned around. I was not getting any sleep and decided to get up. 4:06 am. Shit. I pushed my hair out of my face before I cast a glance towards the empty bed when entering my bathroom. It was still as empty as it had been last night. It was a sight I reluctantly got used to as the days slowly passed.

Eric and I hadn't spoken for almost a week now. And still I hadn't gotten used to him not being around. Ezekiel had proven to be an overprotective brother as I had feared. I had seen new sides to the man because he had been around more. He had this week off before he needed to return to the fence.

He trusted his right-hand man Zephyr but not to control the other guards for more than a week. I had laughed at his words when he told me. I got the feeling it was one big family whenever he spoke about the guards at the fence. Luke had become a part of that family and he felt that he needed to make sure Roxy was alright.

She was still in the infirmary but getting stronger for each day that passed. Ezekiel even stuck around her too. I had properly only seen these new sides to him because he had been around more. He was a big goofball underneath the tough exterior, even Tadeo and the twins liked him. They were a bit biased because they knew who he was even before I became friends with him.

His leadership were legendary, like Four he had been scouted for leadership but had turned it down because he wouldn't leave the fence. He wouldn't leave his family. Ezekiel was a very private person, but I had learnt that his parents were no longer in dauntless and that he'd had a sister that died under initiation, but that was it, no one wanted to answer when I asked about it.

The man was eleven years older than me. There had been a lot of accidents throughout the years so it could be any of them. I had no chance of figuring out who she was. So that all meant Ezekiel was on his own. He proved lonelier than what Eric had been. I was glad that he had found us, but I feared he only stuck around because Eric and I wasn't talking. I had only spoken to him a few times before when Eric was with me.

They had seemed like friends, but I figured I had been wrong. But that was only until I caught them in the pit one evening. Ezekiel managed to make Eric smile. I had melted at the sight of the smile and retracted my previous fears. Ezekiel and Eric were friends. Something I hoped they would continue to be even though he kept returning to be around Roxy and me.

I moved through my apartment without thinking of how much noise I made, grabbing the few things I needed before leaving. I made sure to lock my apartment and pocked the keys before pulling the sweatshirt over my head. My hair became a bit tousled when I emerged again, but I only pushed it away from my face when descending the stairs, quickly moving through dauntless.

There were no one in the hallways and when I reached the training room, I heard someone grunt every time they hit something. It was definitely masculine. The voice rough and low pitched. Then a scream, sounding more a frustrated yell. It had me look around the open door, taking in a figure standing in front of a boxing bag, arms resting on top of the object as his shoulders heaved.