Pleuvoir | Eric Coulter

Labing-anim

K a r o l i i n a

It has been two hours since Eric fell asleep.

I sit stiffly beside his sleeping figure, concentrating on the view of my abandoned half-peeled apple. The fruit is getting a bit brown on its exposed flesh, much like me, actually. I am exposed to the whole Dauntless faction, sitting beside their infamous Bad Boy. I am glad that almost nobody is here in the mess hall, or else I will have to experience the pain of enduring their judgmental stares. 

Clink

I keep still in my seat, looking at the fork on the ground which created the noise. It's a threat, I'm hoping to leave the mess hall whilst Eric is still asleep.

Who am I kidding. I don't have the guts to leave him, not after what he said before he fell asleep.

I bite my lip as Eric stirs beside me, and I watch as his eyes flutter open. My hands tighten its grip on my knees, feeling scared of what's to happen. Eric slowly sits up, eyes wandering around like he's confused as to why he's sleeping in the mess hall, but then they land on me, and I see the unreadable expression on his face when it clicks.

I swallow nervously, shifting under his gaze. His eyes seem distant, and I flinch away when he abruptly stands up from his seat, walking out of the mess hall in fast strides. I can only watch his retreating figure disappear as he walks away from me.

I sigh, looking down on my uneaten apple. I have a feeling that he and I aren't on such good terms.

∞

I've been awake for four hours now.

Twisting and turning in bed isn't a nice feeling, especially when your bunkmates tell you to 'Stop fucking wriggling and disturbing my sleep.' I'm just staring up at the ceiling, mind flashing with events that make a blush appear on my cheeks.

Maybe if I close my eyes, I will soon fall asleep?

No.

I'm not fooling anyone, not even myself. I know I am going to stay awake the whole night, without even a wink of sleep.

Biting my lip, I slowly sit up on my bed, pulling the covers off my body. My feet hit the cold cement floor silently, and I carefully wear my boots and tie them up as fast as I can. If this night will be a sleepless one, I may as well spend it on a place with a great view.

I leave the initiate's dorm and quickly make my way to the Pit, which will lead to the starry night outside. The rooftop is the perfect place for a night like this.

The Pit is silent, except for the few older Dauntless who stay in the bar and drink their heart out. But when my eyes stray to the people in the bar, I stop suddenly, eyebrows furrowing when I see a familiar mop of hair amongst the small crowd. Was that Eric? My movements stop all together, feet frozen as I stare at the leader sitting on the counter, holding a bottle of beer. What was he doing, drinking at eleven in the evening?

Against my better judgement, I start to move towards Eric's direction. My heart thuds nervously in my chest, and I suddenly realise that what I am doing is... not me. I skid into a halt, halfway to Eric's place. I've never approached someone in Abnegation willingly, nor did I care if they did something that I thought was bad. I minded my own business. I didn't care.

But I guess that all changed.

I'm in Dauntless now. I'm not a traitor for getting Dauntless as my Aptitude, nor am I a failure at being selfless.

With that thought in mind, I walk up to Eric's side.

"Eric," I say softly, taking the bottle of beer in his left hand. His eyes are droopy as he looks over to me, and he doesn't try to resist when I take the dozens of bottles scattered on the counter before him. He was entirely out of it. He was so drunk.

"She... she died," Eric slurs, making me halt my movements, "Today."

I furrow my brows, setting the bottle of beer down on the counter. I want to ask who was he talking about. I want to ask if 'she' was the reason he's drinking. I want to ask a million questions.

But Eric slumps on the bar counter, and I'm unable to speak my thoughts again.

∞

I huff out a breath as Four and I carefully place Eric in his bed. I rub my arms as I look at him, not knowing what to say to the instructor beside me.

"T-Thank you for helping me bring him back to his place," I say hesitantly, looking away as I speak.

Four clears his throat, and it is obvious that he is finding this situation as awkward as I do, "You can't possibly carry a man that's twice your size."

I duck my head, feeling a blush forming on my cheeks. Four had seen me trying to carry Eric to his loft, blindly asking any Dauntless member if they knew where his apartment was. I was lucky he saw me, or else I would be in one of the halls right now, Eric passed out next to me.

"He's a notorious drinker," Four continues, and my ears perk up, "He drinks too much. He drowns himself in liquor whenever he's down."

"He drank a dozen beer because he lost Capture the Flag?" I ask, and my voice is high with incredulity.

"No," Four crosses his arms, "He's grieving."

"Grieving?" I echo, "Dauntless do really take their traditions to the next level, huh?"

"His sister died today."

∞

"Four, please help me--"

"I already helped you in bringing him here. Change him yourself."

"But he's sick and--"

"Do I look like I care?" Four deadpans, and I wonder if calling your instructor an asshole is a crime, "No, I don't."

Then he walks away, slamming the door as he walks out of Eric's apartment.

I sigh, looking back at the thermometer in my hand. The numbers were shining brightly in Eric's dark room, and I can feel myself get filled with guilt when I think of leaving the sick man and going back to my dorm.

39 C°

Gritting my teeth, I look up to the ceiling. I'm going to regret this. I just know it.

I walk to Eric's bathroom, getting a basin from the cabinet and filling it with water. I see a towel on a chair, so I grab it and place it into the basin, wetting it. I tentatively take a step towards Eric's sleeping form, my hands raising up the towel to place it onto his hot forehead.

Almost immediately Eric gives off a reaction, and his furrowed eyebrows relax when the towel meets his forehead.

I bite my lip. This is going to be a long night.