Unloved (Eric x OC Divergent)

Part XXVII: The Introductions

-Florence-

When noon breaks, Max accompanies us to our car, leaving us with last minute instructions about our assignment. He also, smugly, tells us that he pulled a few strings and got Johanna to lend us a cabin to stay in for the duration of our stay. A small pang of worry finds it's way into my thoughts, I find myself hoping the cabin will be one of the isolated ones and not one near the other housing facilities, when I look at Eric I see he's probably thinking the same. 
We get into the car after loading in our luggage and Max sends us off with a hearty "Good luck guys!" He taps the roof of the car twice to signal the driver to take off. Eric's arm is quickly around me, holding me close, the tension he's undoubtedly experiencing is hard to miss. 
I lean my head on his shoulder and look out of the window to see the city flash by, however much tension I feel, I can always appreciate a good view. 

The car picks up pace after we leave the city behind, the thought of Amity coming closer unsettles me, but feeling Eric's protective arm around me keeps me calm. "You ok?" He kisses my cheek before his eyes lock on mine. "I'm fine as long as you're with me." I kiss his lips and feel him pull me closer in response. 
It's not long until I see trees and grass appear on the horizon, the thought of having to cross through the Amity fields before we reach the fence isn't my favorite thing in the world, but getting to see so much nature again definitely makes it easier. When we reach the gates, we identify ourselves and are let through, able to continue our path towards the fence. 

I tense up when I notice the car is taking the route that runs near the housing facilities. I don't want to see any of them. "What's wrong?" Eric's voice is worried. "The car is going to take us past the housing facilities." I whisper softly, fixing my eyes on the seat in front of me to avoid looking around me, and maybe recognizing people. He pulls me on his lap, my back towards the window and pushes my head towards his chest. "Just close your eyes, I'll tell you when we're past it."
His tactics work, being this close to him, having his arms around me like a protective cage, it calms me down again. I close my eyes and focus on his heartbeat, waiting for him to tell me when I can open my eyes again. 
It takes quite a few minutes before he tells me to open my eyes again, we're driving through the fields now, the housing facilities are behind us. "Good thing the cabin isn't right along there." His voice sounds relieved, he has probably been worrying about that the whole way here. I just nod against him, still resting my head on his chest.

The ride goes on for a while, taking us comfortably far away from the rest of the faction, until it stops in front of a completely isolated cabin. It's located in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees and shrubbery, a small walkway leads up to the old wooden front door. By the looks of it, Max was right to be smug about arranging this, it's perfect. 
I can feel Eric is excited about this development too, as he squeezes my hand softly, grinning at the sight of the cabin. We take our luggage out of the car and walk towards the cabin, the door is unlocked, much to my dismay, but we're still in Amity, so I guess I should have seen that one coming. 

When we walk in, I'm taken aback by how pretty everything is. There's a small livingroom with a white couch and a fireplace, it's decorated with all kinds of pretty plants and flowers, rugs on the floor make it quite cozy. We continue to discover a small kitchen, equipped with the important thing to us, a coffee machine, Eric laughs at the sight of it. We follow the hallway to find our bedroom for the next two weeks, it's spacious and equally as cozy as the living room, with plants everywhere, a large bed is sat in the middle with white sheets and more pillows than I care to use while sleeping. Attached to the bedroom is a surprisingly modern shower with dark tiles and brass fixtures, the big shower in the middle is large enough to fit the both of us easily, I can't suppress a small grin, thinking of the fun we could have in there. 

We unpack our luggage and hang out on the couch a bit before going out to the fence to meet the Dauntless we will be training the next few weeks. The walk to the fence is just 10 minutes and carries on through the forest, which is nothing short of magical. When we arrive at the fence we are quickly separated, the look in Eric's eyes is enough for me to know he doesn't like this. I nod reassuringly, hoping he knows I won't be far away. I take the field medics to one of the barracks to introduce myself and get to know who I'll be training. 
There's just three of them and they don't seem overly enthusiastic about my being here. The first one to introduce himself is probably their leader. His name is Travis, he's tanned and tall, with black hair and dark eyes, his voice is raspy and I feel his hand is calloused as he shakes mine. The next medic is Jamie, he's in all ways the complete opposite of Travis. He's very lean, with pale skin and red hair. He speaks softly, as if he wouldn't want to get noticed, he smiles shyly as he shakes my hand. 
The last one to introduce himself is undoubtedly the one that is the least happy to have me here, his eyes speak for him on that matter, flints of anger rush through them as he grudgingly introduces himself as Nick. He's as tall as Travis, but much more muscular, he must be one of the few people that still to training here. His eyes are green like mine, something I don't come across very often, but they look tired and angry, probably instigated by my coming here.