Love, Lies, Secrets and Manipulation (Divergent/Eric OC)

64. Three Of Us

(Natalie's POV)

He stares at me like I've just set a five minute timer on a bomb, all the while remaining dead silent. Maybe he doesn't know what to say. Maybe he doesn't know how to react.

I sniffle, wiping my tears away with the soft strokes of my knuckles. "Please say something," I whisper with pleading eyes. Say something that lets me know we'll be okay. Say something that reassures me this changes everything. It has to.

"How long?" is his response. He's not asking how far along I am. He's asking how long I've known and been keeping this a secret from him. He is upset now. He is mad.

A sudden loud knock on the door disrupts us, but Eric doesn't tear his eyes away from me. He wants an answer. "You... You should answer it," I say, hoping his thoughts will shift in a different direction for a moment. It looks like he's about ten seconds away from yelling at me. "It might be important."

"I asked you a question," he calmly replies, but somehow his tone is threatening, and it scares me. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, my throat becoming hard and dry.

Please be okay with this.

The door then creaks open, letting me feel a split second of relief, and Brian invites himself in out of nowhere. That finally gains Eric's attention.

"Hey, I'm gonna need that extra set of keys you took," Brian says. "The ones for the truck."

"My door was shut for a reason," Eric coldly replies, making it obvious that he's interrupting something.

"Well, you left it unlocked," Brian responds, as if that makes his intrusion okay.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," Eric says to me, deciding to completely ignore Brian's presence. He stares at me with intense eyes, looking more rigid than I've seen him look all day. He is pissed. "How long?"

I look to Brian, waiting for him to leave, but it is clear that he has no intentions of walking out of here anytime soon. He stands there with his hands behind his back, waiting for a response from Eric, wearing a bored expression on his face.

"Since Christmas," I reply with my head down. When I get the courage to look back up at him, all I see is the look of betrayal on his face.

"Christmas?" he repeats. He then gives me a repulsed I-don't-fucking-believe-you look, lightly shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," I shamefully apologize. My heart hurts just to look at him. I even feel pain traveling up my spine and arms. It's the guilt that's killing me. He has every right to look at me that way.

"That was three fucking months ago," he angrily points out.

I let out a small, shaky breath, trying not to let myself tear up any more than I already have. Technically, it was only two and a half months ago, but that doesn't change anything. I've still gone ten weeks keeping this from him. "I know," I say softly. "But... with everything going on, I just... I didn't know how to tell you."

He scoffs lightly, shaking his head once again. The truth is I've had many chances to tell him. I was just afraid. Afraid of many things. "You know what's sad?" he says. It looks and sounds as if he's about to say something hurtful to me. The expression on his face tells me I'm no more special to him than an insubordinate in this moment. The Eric who I mean the world to is no longer in this room. I've lost him. I've lost his trust. "I don't even recognize you anymore."

A cruel pang fills my chest as he reaches for the spare keys to the truck that are in his top desk drawer, but before I can say anything he is already walking out of the office, tossing the keys to Brian on his way out. "Eric," I call.