A Different Divergent Tale (Eric and Tris)

Chapter 12

I walk with Eric and Christina out of the home store. Eric is helping us to carry our many bags of purchases and I can't stop thinking about how much I've enjoyed his company today. Hannah is wonderful and pretty much decorated my whole apartment. I picked out a sofa and she asked me what my favorite colors were for the rest. I'm looking forward to having everything delivered tonight but I have to clean first.
"Anything else you need?" Christina asks. "I need laundry detergent but there were other cleaners and stuff in my cupboards."
I wince stopping abruptly. "Shoot. I forgot the washing machine," I say dejectedly. "It was first on my list, too."
"It's all taken care of," Eric says from beside me.
"What do you mean?" I ask him confused.
He shrugs bashfully in response and it occurs to me that he asked for my key, the layout of my apartment was already on Hannah's computer, and there was a washer in the picture. I had to tell her that the beds were still there and she was already familiar with the sizes.  I told her about the barstools, too.
"Thank you," I say appreciatively. My heart clenches in thought at the kind gift he gave me.
"You're welcome," he says softly. "It should probably be installed by now."
I smile at him.
"So, what's going on?" Christina asks.
"Eric's a big softy," I mumble quietly as I start to walk again. I look over to Christina to see her eyes are on Eric. She's smiling at him.
"I need cleaners and detergent, too. But I think that's it," I agree.
"Then, let's go," Christina insists.
We grab all the essentials easily and walk Christina back to her place. "I'd invite you guys in but it sounds like you better hurry up and clean before they get there with everything," she says.
"It's okay. I'll see you later. Maybe we'll make plans after dinner," I shrug.
Eric hands her some bags he was carrying for her. "Thanks Eric," she beams.
He nods. "Oh, make sure you're not late to dinner," he says.
"Why?" she asks with furrowed brows.
"Security has a shift change. They'll be in from the fence for dinner. If you thought lunch was fun, dinner will be even more impressive," he explains.
Her eyebrows shoot up and her expression looks intrigued. "I won't be late. That sounds fun," she grins.
"See you tonight," I attempt to wave but barely lift my armful of bags.
She chuckles and shakes her armful of bags back at me. "See you at dinner, Miss Fancy Pants Leader!"
I chuckle. As I turn around in her hallway, I realize there's a few people walking through the halls. They're all stopped and staring. "Hi," I say to them.
"Congratulations!" and "Welcome to Dauntless!" are their responses.
"Thank you," I smile. They all smile back.
Eric and I continue down the hallway and enter the Pit. I notice many people look in my direction. I grin at them and they smile back. We cross the expanse fairly quickly and I'm grateful Christina isn't too far away. She does live in a lively section of the compound though so I hope it's not too noisy for her.
We take the elevator up again and Eric walks me to my door. I set an armful of bags down and pull out my key. As we enter the apartment, I can instantly see the washing machine he bought me is already straight down the hall. My heart clenches again at the thoughtfulness of that gift. I'm sure I still have plenty of points left after the overwhelmingly generous bonus they gave me but it was just a sweet gesture on his part to make sure it was ready for me.
"What are you doing first?" Eric asks setting my bags down near the kitchen island.
"Probably a load of towels, then the floors as quickly as I can," I say.
"Do you want some help?" he offers.
"Maybe setting up the machine first. I was never a manual reader," I say.
He snorts. "Neither was I ," he agrees.
I grab the detergent out of a bag and search around for the towels. It looks like they'll be two loads so I divide them up with what I'll need tonight. We walk back there and he shows me the settings he uses. I lean against his arm attempting to view the controls as he explains each button's function. He stops mid-sentence and smiles down at me before continuing.
I start up the load quickly and head back toward my piles of bags with cleaners.
"Do you want some help?" he offers.
"No," I smile. "I've got this."
He smiles sadly. "Okay," he nods. "Which ones are for your master bedroom?" he asks pulling out the bag with my sheet sets.
"This one," I point out.
"I'll start this up for you at my place," he says.
I close my eyes and smile sadly. I set everything in my arms down and walk around the mess over to him. I realize how tall he is and I'd never reach. I call him to my level with the pull of a finger. He bends down confused. I kiss his cheek and wrap my arms around him. "Thank you for everything," I say softly.
I feel his arms slip around me and he sighs softly, leaning his face into my hair. "Anytime," he whispers near my ear and I shudder at his deep voice. I feel an unfamiliar wave of emotion radiate through my body as he holds me. I grasp him tighter and he responds in kind. The sensation in my body increases. I sigh and break away first.
"I'll come get you for dinner," he says to me. There's an expression in his eyes that's different.
"Okay. I'll see you then," I smile.
He leaves and I sigh in contentment. I've never felt like this before. I take a deep, shaky breath and release it again. I better get going on this place.