Death Wish

Part 16

Ferris Pov

I jumped in surprise at the sudden voice and quickly recognized it to be Eric's before turning to look at him. He wore a charcoal grey button down shirt and had his blonde hair slicked back neatly. He cleaned up well.

His hard eyes lingered on my outfit for an extra second and it didn't go unnoticed.

"No. Why do you ask?" I replied evenly, willing myself to not say anything stupid due to the alcohol.

He shrugged. "I just wanted to give the clean up crew a heads up so they could get your body out of there before tomorrow morning," He claimed, not missing a beat.

I grinned unintentionally just as flashbacks of our fight came to mind.

"Don't worry, I'm not feeling all that suicidal tonight," I told him before turning to look back at the water.

He walked up beside me with his hands in his pockets. My heartbeat promptly decided to speed up.

"You should stay from Xanthus," He advised with a tone I couldn't quite place.

"You saw that?" I asked, feeling some embarrassment creep up my neck.

"Was hard to miss," Eric replied.

I kept my eyes focused on the frothing water below.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

"What did he say to you?" Eric asked with mild curiosity.

"He tried to recruit me into his secret witch coven."

"...That's different," Eric noted. I snorted quietly.

"Just joking," I assured, mentally kicking myself for always resorting to stupid sarcasm when I was nervous. "But he wanted me to come back to his apartment."

Eric expected nothing less.

"Why'd you say no?"

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "Not to sound prude but going home with strange men doesn't appeal to me," I told him. Not to mention that I was an initiate and it was probably illegal.

I briefly wondered how many women Eric took home.

"Nothing prude about that," Eric affirmed. "Getting him with your drink was a nice touch."

"I should've smashed it against his face," I said, glancing at him from the side.

His blonde brows furrowed. "Why didn't you?" He asked.

"I didn't want to get into more trouble with Max," I conceded.

"He would've understood. Plus there were witnesses," Eric shrugged.

I hummed thoughtfully. "Shoot, your're right. Quick! Let's go back and get em'!" I said excitedly, feigning an attempt to make a beeline back to the party.

Eric grinned, actually smiling, at my antics.

"You're a real comedian, huh?" He asked.

"Occasionally," I said with a half grin and a shrug before flipping my plait onto my shoulder sassily, making his grin widen. "Four shots and a gin and tonic help too."

I suddenly feeling as though I were talking to an old friend rather than a leader of Dauntless that I may or may not if had a foolish crush on. It would have been lying to say I didn't like talking to him though. Whether it was the alcohol or Eric, I found him easy to speak with.

"And here I was thinking you were Ms.Serious," Eric pointed out and I snorted softly.

"That's only during training and.... well, fine. I guess I am more quiet most the time," I conceded, the alcohol slurring my words just a little.

It became quiet as we both gazed down at the dark river that would never relent. I began to feel anxious at the silence between us, which was unusual because I normally cherished quiet moments.

My hand found itself on the underside of my jaw where faded bruises lingered.

I cleared my throat. "Why did you stop?" I asked and Eric gave me a puzzled look.

"Last week, during th- our fight," I reiterated and he quickly understood. "Why did you stop?"

His gaze focused on the rocky ledges across the chasm. His expression suddenly far away. I kept my eyes on his face, not interested in turning away. I noticed he had a faint scar just below his eye.

"It just didn't feel right," He said, still not meeting my gaze.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He exhaled loudly through his nose before turning to look down at me. The distance between us was no more than a few inches.

"I guess I just wasn't interested in beating a defenseless girl," He said.

I could feel his warm breath on my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around my torso from the cold.

"Defenseless?" I asked, eyeing the still visible bruise on his cheek that I'd delivered.

He scoffed. "I had you pinned to the floor and you could barely breathe. I'd say you were defenseless," He countered and I couldn't argue against that.

"At least you got your point across," I said, rubbing the underside of my jaw gently.

Eric's piercing blue eyes followed my hand before he reached out with his own hand to get a better look at the barely visible bruises. His touch was feather soft, surprising considering that I had felt first hand the power behind them. Goosebumps appeared on my skin and I had a feeling it wasn't only because of the chill from the Chasm.

Unlike Xanthus's touch, I didn't feel the impulse to pull away.

Before I realized what I was doing, I'd brought up my own hand to tilt his head down so that I could better see the bruise I'd given him. I wondered if he could hear my heart racing in my chest as my cheeks flushed pink.

He pulled away and cleared his throat and I instinctively took a small step back. Whatever moment we had just shared disappeared into thin air.

"I should get going," I offered and he nodded.

"Be ready for the fights tomorrow Candor," Eric advised just before I turned to leave.

"Are you ever going to call me by my name?" I asked with a faint grin.

"Maybe once you become Dauntless," He offered.

I had a quick reply ready to counter him back when I suddenly remembered my aptitude results.

'Divergent'.

What even was a Divergent? Did that mean I could never truly be Dauntless? I mean I had succeeded so far at being Dauntless, who's to say I couldn't go all the way?

I brushed it off for now.

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

(AN: Look, I know this is out of charter for Eric but I am getting sick of all these abusive and toxic Eric romances because they shouldn't be glorified. I know it is technically "more in character" and I also understand it's a guilty pleasure, but I'm not going to add to it. Cute, soft Eric for the win!)