Burning With the Fire (Eric Divergent Fanfic)

Watch Him Mourn

***Arielle's POV***

The truck I am sitting in with Elizabeth, Aria, and a bunch of other Dauntless pulls up at the Candor headquarters building. I hold Jen close to me, despite her happy mood. She has been babbling the entire ride here, making everyone smile; even some of the most stoic-looking Dauntless in the truck cracked a grin.

I get out, careful to not bump Jen into anyone, and I look behind the truck, watching for any sign of the other vehicle, where Uriah, Eric, Tobias and Angelina, Eric's mother, should be.

Angelina insisted we go without her, because she wanted the four of us to get to safety as soon as possible. As we drove away, I saw her running for the next truck, which was just arriving.

Elizabeth and Aria join me, and they coo over Jenevieve. I still have yet to announce her middle names.

After a few minutes, I feel someone come up behind us, and I am met with Tris' smiling face. I instantly hug her, careful not to crush Jenevieve. When Tris sees the baby, her jaw drops and I already know that my baby has Tris wrapped around her tiny little fingers.

"So this is her? Oh my god, Arielle, she's beautiful. What's her name?" Tris asks excitedly, and I gently hand her to Tris. Jen begins to babble again, making Tris chuckle.

"Jenevieve Elizabeth Aria Coulter." I announce, and Eric's sisters squeal in delight. Tris looks up and smiles at them. "These are Eric's sisters, Elizabeth and Aria." I introduce Tris, and she smirks knowingly.

"The inspirations for Eve's middle names?" Tris asks, and I nod, smiling at Tris' nickname for my daughter.

No sooner have we finished introductions has the last truck pulled up. Dauntless begin to pour out, and I see Uriah, Eric, and Tobias come out next to last. But, oddly, there is no Angelina. I saw her getting on the truck, what happened?

When Eric gets closer, the look on his ashen face says it all.

Angelina is gone.

Eric's haunted eyes meet Elizabeth and Aria's, and he takes the girls away from us to talk to them. Tris and I watch the interaction, and within seconds, both girls are breaking down in Eric's arms. I feel another person come up behind me, and I turn to see Uriah. I hug him tightly, thanking everyone above that him, Eric, and Tobias are okay. I look around for Tobias, and I see him walking inside with Tori and another man. They are all in a deep discussion, serious tones set on their faces.

I face Eric again, and it takes everything in me not to run for him. He looks so hurt and lost. But not a single tear escapes.

"He didn't move or talk the entire ride Arielle. He didn't even realize the truck stopped until I snapped him out of it. He was crying, Ari." Uriah tells me, whispering the last part so only I could hear. My heart completely shatters. The most stoic man I know, the strongest person ever, was crying, and I wasn't there to help him. I feel so terrible, my whole body aches with the thought of Eric crying.

"I should have been there..." I whisper, watching Eric be brave and hold his sobbing sisters.

"He wanted you out of there. There was nothing you could have done, Arielle." Tris speaks up, rocking my baby gently in her arms. I didn't even realize Jen was asleep. "C'mon, let's get you and Eve to the dormitories." Tris suggests, and Uriah and I follow her. I want to be there for Eric, but him and his sisters need their own time right now. Angelina was their mother, and they need to mourn her as a family.

***

Uriah and I managed to snag a few bunks at the very end of the dormitory, for us to have some privacy, and also so I wake up as few people as possible when Jen is hungry in the middle of the night. Most people have gone to dinner, including Uriah and Tris, but I refuse to go. I want to be here in case Eric or his sisters come looking for me. Jen is asleep in her cot next to my bunk, and I am sitting on a window sill, watching out across the city. Another perk of being at the end of the dormitory is that the window is right next to the bunk, so I don't feel closed in.

I hear a single set of footsteps entering the dormitory, and my eyes find Eric's empty, depressed ones. He looks like he is about to break, and I make it to him before he is halfway across the room. Eric's arms hold on so tightly, and if I didn't know any better, I would think he were trying to squeeze me to death. My poor Eric...

"Talk to me baby." I whisper in his ear, and when he lets me go, he hides his eyes, pulling me towards the bunk where Jen is sleeping. He carefully takes her sleeping form out of the cot, and cradles her in his arms.

Right now, at this very moment, I can tell our baby is the only thing holding Eric together, keeping him from snapping.

"Someone shot her, and I found her... she told me to take care of all four of you, and then..." Eric's voice cracks, which makes me instantly engulf him in a side hug. I lean my forehead on his temple, and he leans into me as well. "She didn't deserve it. She was so kind. Mum shouldn't have died, and it was my fault." Eric speaks angrily, but he is careful to keep his movements gentle, for Jenevieve's sake.

"Your mother never deserved to die. She raised the three most wonderful people in the world, and she got to meet her first grandchild before she left us. But she's still here baby, she'll never be gone, ever." I tell him, giving his body a squeeze.

His broken eyes meet mine, and he leans his forehead on mine.

"I love you, Arielle, so fucking much."

I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts seems like a really good song right now... :(