Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

six

    I stared down at my feet dangling off the side of the examination bed in the infirmary, swinging them back and forth.

Thankfully, no stitches were needed like Eric had suspected. There are loads of bandages though.

Without any warning, the privacy curtains were ripped open and Eric saunters in, tossing a set of clothes down beside me.

"Here," He grumbles, "Now, hurry up and get changed."

I blink at him when he makes no move to leave. Instead, he leans against the bed I was settled on like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"What are you waiting for? Do I look like I have time to waste?" He snaps.

"The curtains are wide open," I point out.

Eric grunts, pushing himself up and pulling the curtains closed...with him on the wrong side of it.

I frown at him and he shoots me a glare, "What now?"

"You're still here," I state, raising my brows at him.

"Is that a problem?" He asks infuriatingly as if the answer wasn't glaringly obvious. "Is this one of those Abnegation things?"

"Are girls normally okay with you watching them change?"

The corner of his lip kicks up into a barely-there smirk, "I don't think you'd want to know the answer to that question."

A flush starts to work its way across my cheeks. Still, I refuse to give in on this.

As if sensing that I wasn't going to budge, Eric lets out a sigh and turns so that his back is facing me.

I'm well aware that this is probably the best compromise I'm going to get from him, I quickly pull the hospital gown over my head and slip into the clothes that Eric had procured for me.

Smoothing down the ridiculously oversized sweater that looks like a dress on me, I can't help but notice the piling of lint on it as if it's been washed and worn multiple times before. A stark contrast to the brand new pair of pants that were still wrapped in plastic when it was handed to me.

"All done," I announced before asking out of curiosity, "Did they run out of shirts?"

Eric grunts a reply that I guess was meant to be a 'yes'.

"How'd you manage to dig this one up?"

Turning around to face me once again, Eric's icy-blue gaze finds mine as he replies, "It's mine."

"Oh," I say, struggling to put together a reply to that shocking revelation. "I'll wash it before returning it to you-"

"Don't bother," He dismisses my offer with a wave of a hand, "Feel free to toss it after, I have plenty." He tucks his hands behind his back, his demeanour all serious and leader-like as he appraises me with impassive eyes. "You're expected to head back to your dormitory straight away. No more chances, initiate."

Somehow, after the recent events, Eric doesn't seem as daunting- no pun intended- as he first seemed.

Perhaps it's foolish to let my guard down so easily and this was just some kind of strategy in a grand scheme to get rid of me, much like a predator drawing its prey into a false sense of security before it pounces. But for now, I decide to throw caution to the wind and save my judgements for later.

"I do have a name, you know," I say, folding the blanket the nurse had brought me when I was settling in neatly at the foot of the bed.

"And I'm supposed to care?" He shoots back.

I hummed thoughtfully, "Well, thanks for the help today. I really appreciate it."

Eric's expression remains as stoic as ever, giving away nothing as he turns to leave.

Already halfway out the door, he surprises me when he calls over his shoulder, "Get the hell out of here, Nessa."

✧

I returned to the dormitory as soon as I left the infirmary just as Eric had asked. Thankfully, it wasn't all that hard to find my way with the help of a few helpful Dauntless members.

As soon as I step foot into the room, I notice how startling quiet it is and looked up only to find it empty...Well, it would've been empty if my brother wasn't standing right smack in the middle of it.

"Where the hell have you been?" Tobias demands.

"Didn't realise you still cared," I retort.

Tobias narrows his eyes at me, taking in my clothes- namely, the gigantic sweater that hung loosely around my body- before his gaze lands on the bandages around my hands.

His jaw ticks and he looks as if he's gritting his teeth so hard I worry he'll chip a tooth. Which would be a shame considering how having good teeth might be the only thing going for him now. Judging by his newfound shitty attitude, that was a huge no-go.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, V." He takes a step closer and unlike the first time around, I stand my ground. "Where. Were. You?"

"Save the intimidation technique for someone else, Tobias. It's not working."

Tobias sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as if I was the problem here. Last I checked, I wasn't the one acting like a total jackass towards my own sister.

"What happened to your hands?" He continues doling out the third degree.

There's a vein throbbing in his temple that has a habit of making its appearance only when he's severely pissed off.

"Calm down, you look like you're about to have an aneurysm."

"If I do, it's on your head, V." Tobias snaps, "Answer the damn question."

"I fell," I grimaced. Straying off was a dumb move on my part in hindsight. Not that I'll ever admit that to Tobias. "Eric found me and helped me to the infirmary."

I thought the explanation would help cool him down, especially since I had help along the way. Boy, was I wrong.

Within seconds, Tobias's face had transformed into a scarily bright shade of red that made him look like Sebastian from The Little Mermaid. Under normal circumstances, I would've told him that and had a good laugh out of it, but he looked royally pissed off and so I think it's safe to say now's not a good time.

"V," Tobias starts, his voice eerily calm. "Stay away from Eric. He's not someone you want to be caught up with." He warns, "Just you being here is a big enough mistake."

Hurt flashed through my chest at his words, but I quickly stuff them down, raising my chin and glaring at him.

"And why's that?"

Tobias runs a hand through his hair in frustration, "Just trust me on this, V."

"Here's the thing, I'm finding it really hard to do that right now." I scoffed, "It's like I don't even recognise you. How do you expect me to trust you when you're acting like an entirely different person?"

With a defeated sigh, Tobias's shoulders seem to slump over slightly as if all that anger he was harbouring just moments before had dissipated from his body.

"You've made a mistake, V."

"So you keep telling me," I cross my arms over my chest. "Being able to get away from Marcus- no matter the circumstance- is not a mistake. It's a blessing. A damn miracle if you will. And I refuse to ever regret leaving that asshole. You of all people should understand that."