A Different Divergent Tale (Eric and Tris)

Chapter 13 (Eric's POV)

I ride the elevator down to meet Ryan at a bar. I insisted on a particular one because I'm not in the mood for a rowdy crowd. If today is anything like my introduction, than I'm sure dinner worked them up into a frenzy. It was fun, I just was surprised how long it lasted. The Fighting League is definitely the most rowdy bunch in all of Dauntless. I've never heard of them being singled out. I'm sure they're looking forward to her future with us.
I cross the Pit through an already rambunctious crowd and I'm actually glad she went home. She was looking exhausted and I'm sure she needs a good nights rest. I'm missing her already though.
I step into the karaoke bar and it's already getting pretty full. I see Ryan seated up at the bar and I remember who the bartender is. I take a seat next to Ryan.
"There you are," he laughs. "Did you get a goodnight kiss?"
I wave the comment away. David looks busy. He's mixing several drinks and a waitress is taking them, leaving another list. He starts to mix those as well. He steps away for a moment and grabs a couple bottles from the shelf. I realize how much my father does resemble him—how much I resemble him.
A hand waves in front of my face and I look to Ryan in question. "You looked really out of it. Is something on your mind?" he asks slurring his words a little.
"Just seeing the family resemblance," I nod to David.
"Oh yeah, that's right," he replies. He sounds kind of out of it as well.
David approaches me and takes my order. "The usual," I state. He grabs me a beer and pulls the cap off sliding it down. "Thanks, David." I take a large drink from it.
"You should call him Uncle Dave," Ryan slurs.
"How many of those have you had?" I ask.
"Two," he shrugs showing me three fingers.
"Five," David corrects.
"Great. I guess I'm dragging his butt home in a minute," I sigh. I take another big drink since I'm sure he's already close to passing out.
I look up to see David staring at me. "Is he an honest drunk or a ridiculous drunk?" he asks.
"Honest according to Jude and Max. We were talking about something and they brought up my dad. They just didn't realize who my dad was," I explain.
"You look just like him, though," he says. "Looked just like you at that age. I think you were a bun in Janice's oven last time I saw them."
I smile at the thought of my parents as a young married couple. "Your mom was beautiful. It's funny how I can't say the same for her identical twin."
"Yeah," I agree taking another drink of my beer and sighing. "I never could understand it either. I think Jeanine just has an evil aura around her. I always thought of her as the wicked witch from the stories."
He chuckles, "Yeah, that's her."
He gets called over for an order. I take another swig of my beer as I watch him mixing a few more beverages, pouring some beers before coming back over.
"I think he's about done," he says motioning to Ryan.
I look over to see him passed out. "I guess my night out is over," I say. I pull out my point card and pay for both of our drinks and leave David a tip. I down the rest of my bottle.
"Come back some time when we're not so busy and we can swap stories," he offers.
"That'd be nice," I say. "Next time, cut him off at four."
"Will do," David agrees easily.
I grab Ryan by the arm and pull him around my shoulder. "Where're we goin'?" he slurs waking up.
"Home. Say goodnight," I tell him.
"Goodnight!" he shouts raising his beer bottle in a toast to everyone. Surprisingly several people toast with him. He goes to tip the bottle back and realizes it's empty. "Let's get another round," he says.
"Let's go," I insist putting the bottle down and helping him home.
I half walk, half drag him through the crowd. This isn't the first time but at least he's conscious for this one and helping. We get several looks but mostly everyone is too focused into their own fun times tonight to notice. I'm grateful for that.
I sigh in relief when we're out of the Pit. I jam my finger into the button and lean him up against the wall to take a breather while we ascend. The elevator doors open once more and I pull his arm over me quickly. I don't want to have the doors close on us like last time.
I step out and pull his feet out just before the doors close. I sigh in relief. We step down the hallway and I hear a door opening. I see Four step out of Tris's apartment and he slams the door. He sees me and gives me a nasty look as he rushes by us down the hall.
"Hey, it's Four!" Ryan slurs. "Did you know Eric likes your ex?" he laughs.
I hear the door to the stairwell slam even harder than the first one. The sound actually echoes through the hallway.
"Okay, where are your keys?" I ask fumbling through Ryan's vest pockets.
I hear another door open and I look over my shoulder. "Need some help?" Hale asks.
"Yeah," I say. "Can you hold him so I can find his keys. He never puts them in the same spot twice."
"I've got him," he tells me holding Ryan up. "So what's with all the noise?"
"Four got dumped!" Ryan laughs.
Hale looks to me in question raising an eyebrow. I sigh. The desire for gossip in this place is ridiculous. "Four and Tris had a very brief thing going on. She realized he's a jerk that treated her badly and she sent him packing," I explain. I find them in a random pocket and unlock the door.
"What's that got to do with the noise?" he asks.
"You get that arm, I'll get this one," I say.
He nods and throws his right arm over his shoulder and I take the left. I enter the door first, they follow. We take him to his room and lay him on the bed. I pull his shoes off and toss them aside. We go to walk out and I lock the door dropping the keys into the slot in his door.
I turn to face Hale now that Ryan's out of the way. "Four came up to talk to Tris because he still thought he had a chance after she ended things. It must've not gone well. He slammed her door when he left. Then Ryan said something to piss him off, so he slammed the door to the stairwell," I explain.
"It's easy to get under Four's skin. You just have to look at him and he's in a bad mood. He was throwing a tantrum at lunch, too," he says.
"He'll get over it," I say shrugging. "Thanks for the help."
He nods and walks off.
I'm really wanting to go see if Tris is okay. I remember that she's not a fan of beer though and decide to brush my teeth first. I don't want her cringing at my breath. I step in my door and walk back to the bathroom. I brush quickly and rinse with mouthwash before I walk over. I sigh hoping she's still up. I knock gently.
I hear the lock turn a moment later and I sigh in relief that I get to see her.
"Hi," she says softly, peeking out of the door.
"Are you okay?" I ask. She looks confused. "I was just bringing Ryan home and Four passed through the hallway."
She sighs harshly. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay."
"Need some company?" I offer.
"Sure," she says opening the door completely. I grin widely. I step in her place and I wasn't expecting it to be this nice. She completely transformed it. I smell lemons and remember she said that was floor cleaner. She shuts the door gently and walks in. "I'd offer you refreshment but I only have tap water," she says.
"I'm good, thanks," I say. She smiles sadly at me.
"Would you like to sit down?" she offers.
"Sure," I accept. I follow her over to the sofa and she takes the same spot as earlier at my place. I decide to sit in the same as well. I take a seat resting my arms across the top of the sofa. I notice she's hugging a pillow to her chest. It looks kind of like she needs comfort.
"You feeling okay?" I ask again.
"Not really anymore," she says frowning.
"Is there anything I can do?" I question.
She begins to sob. I pull her to me and embrace her frowning. Was he really that bad? She drops the pillow and wraps her arms around me. I hold her tightly rubbing her back.
She takes a little while to calm down. When she does, she pulls back from me partway. She wipes her eyes and stares at the tears. "What's wrong with me? I never cry. I can only think of one other time and that was after my first fear," she says.
"I think it's the shot," I say. She nods in a daze. "You cried in my office, though," I point out.
"Oh, that was fake," she says. "I'm talking about real tears."
"Fake?" I state confused.
"Four was looking at me like this," she says motioning her fingers over her face distraught in body gestures but her eyes are serious—focused. "It was like he was telling me, Have I taught you nothing? Then I remember the last thing he told me after the Chasm incident. He said to feign weakness. He wanted me to pretend to be helpless so my friends would protect me. Anyway, the first thing I could come up with was crying. I would always pinch my leg really hard to make my eyes water and pretend to cry when I got in trouble as a kid. So I pinched my leg. He's the one who made up the story," she tells me.
"Maybe he shouldn't be teaching our initiates," I say in surprise. "It doesn't sound like he's teaching them what he ought to—our values.  According to Christina, he was badmouthing me to you from the moment you first saw me."
She nods staring then meets my eyes. "He was still trying to do that in here," she admits.
"How so?" I ask furrowing my brows.
"He doesn't want me around you," she states.
I snort, "I'm your trainer."
"Yeah," she nods. "Let's see... he doesn't want you touching me. He doesn't want me touching you. He doesn't want us sharing food. He doesn't want me to sit with you. He also wants me to stay away from Ryan and sit with the others," she says.
"Why Ryan?" I ask. That's such a random thought.
Her cheeks flush. "He's been listening to gossip about the two of you," she admits.
"Which ones? They never stop talking about me. Sometimes it actually makes me laugh, the kinds of stuff I hear. It's like that telephone game," I say.
She laughs a little but looks serious. "I don't want to say it," she pouts.
I smile and can't help but run my fingers over her lips playfully. "Cut it out," she slaps at my hand and I laugh.
"So are you going to tell me?" I ask. Her cheeks flush more. "Is it that bad?"
She sighs and nods. I wait expectantly.
She stares at me but I really want to know now what he's saying. "God forgive me," she whispers. "He called you..." she sighs harshly. "...a man-whore."
My jaw tightens and I can't believe that's the kind of gossip he's listening to. I feel a soft caress against my jaw and I instantly relax it. I look to her to see she's reaching out and touching my face. "I don't believe that. I told him so. I even mentioned the thing with that girl, Lena, today. He thought is was more fuel for his opinion. I told him everything was slander," she explains.
I sigh moving on. "Did you still want to tell me about what happened yesterday and today with him?" I ask. I kind of want to know what he did wrong so I don't make the same mistakes.
Her eyes meet mine again. "I don't want to make you upset," she admits.
"You're helping to keep me calm," I say motioning to her hand still caressing my cheek.
"This is what kept me calm through the whole confrontation earlier," she tells me. I see her rubbing the fabric on her pillow.
I reach out and touch it. "It reminds me of my hair," I say.
"Really?" she laughs. She reaches out hesitantly and touches my hair on top. "It is kind of soft," she nods.
"Not there. Here," I say moving her hand to the sides.
She laughs in surprise. "I think I like the texture of your hair better than my pillows," she tells me rubbing her hand through the back of my hair.
My breath catches at the movement and I can't believe how incredible it feels to have her hand in my hair, massaging my head.
"I think that is the most relaxing sensation I've ever encountered," I say.
I turn slightly to see her grinning at me. "Good, because I'm not stopping," she tells me.
I sigh and shift a little getting comfortable. She slides over facing me more closely. She's leaning against me slightly and I sigh again completely at ease with this position. I've never been so comfortable before.
"So... let's see. Well, yesterday he told me he'd meet me at the party," she starts. She explains how he was nowhere to be found after I brought her back to her friends. He didn't show up for over an hour and asked to talk. They went to the balcony I found her on and he was being overly critical with her. Criticizing her and just being rude. He started getting mean, insulting her, calling her names. Then he began to mock her and intimidate her, like how I did with Peter. He left her after that and I found her.
"By the way, how did you find me?" she asks.
"I had security look for you. I was up in the control room viewing those recordings of Peter and you. I made copies for his file just in case he stayed. I had them figure out where you were so I could talk to you about leadership's decision. They're better at finding people in real time. I know where some cameras are but not all of them and it'd take me forever," I explain.
"Oh," she nods. "Can you hear what's said on that balcony?"
"No," I shake my head. She stops massaging my head and I put her hand back. She laughs and continues the soothing motion. "The camera out there was outside on a different building in the distance. They followed from where I left you, fast forwarded and saw that you went out past the spa."
"Okay," she nods. She continues on explaining how she talked to Christina for advice. She mentions that she talked about me a little with a smile on her face. She also came to a decision about leadership. I smile at that. Then the morning came and she was feeling great. Four found her in the cafeteria and they went out to talk again. He apologized for his tone, not his words.
"Wait. He called you stupid," I point out.
"That's what I said," she tells me. "His response was, Is this what it's always going to be like with us?"
I stare at her dumbfounded.  "Is he an idiot or something?" I ask. 
"I don't know.  I feel like he can't communicate at all.  I never understand what he's talking about.  I always have to ask for clarification.  I have to use small words and always explain the same thing six different ways so he can understand.  He wants me to do what he wants.  He never considers what I want.  He gives me lists of acceptable behaviors, acceptable jobs.  Christina thinks that he's trying to force his opinions on me and now I totally agree.  I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt after that first night.  You mentioned that you thought you had too much to drink.  He said he saw you with me and it sounded like he was jealous. I thought he may have been drinking because of it or something.  I assumed that no sober person would treat someone they care about like that.  But it doesn't matter whether he was drunk or not because he treats me the exact same way when he's sober."
"So it's definitely over?" I ask. 
"I think he needs counseling.  I'm never going back to that.  He has control issues and he's cruel.  I think maybe his father warped him or something, which it's not his fault if that's the case but he needs help.  I offered to be friends still but I honestly think he's too immature for that.  I'll be civil in public but I'd rather not be around him altogether if he's not right in the head," she states. 
"How do you feel about the break up?" I ask. 
"Do you mean is my heart broken?  Things like that?" she clarifies.  I nod.  "It's kind of funny.  You know how I'm not used to physical contact?" she says and rubs my head in a different direction.  "Or at least I still wasn't at the time."
"Yeah," I say.  I'm glad she seems more comfortable with me. 
"I'm sorry.  My hand is getting tired," she says moving it away. 
I grab it before she sets it down and kiss the back of it.  "Thank you.  I've never been so relaxed," I say and she's smiling at me. I don't ever think I've seen one so big on her that her teeth are showing like this.
"You're welcome," she says.  "Anyway, he had you know, touched my abdomen—I think it was the first day of training—telling me to keep tension there.  It was a strange sensation having someone touching me.  I wasn't used to it.  Touch is powerful—at least that's what they taught us in Abnegation.  He caught me from falling off the Ferris Wheel."
"Wait.  You actually climbed that rusty prehistoric thing?" I ask concerned. 
She nods.  "It was my idea.  In hindsight now, it was pretty careless.  One of the rungs broke off and I was hanging by one arm.  He grabbed me by my waist and pulled me closer.  His hand touched my bare side and I couldn't get over the feeling.  I'd never been touched like that.  It was weird and strange but kind of a little nice.  Then later on, he walks me back to the dorm after my first fear.  I'm still kind of feeling the beaks stabbing me and freaked out a little.  I was pretty emotional, you know, the only time I'd ever really cried.  He was close to me leaning up against the wall by the dorm.  He actually gave me some decent advice.  I had calmed down.  I asked if it looked like I'd been crying and he said no.  That I looked tough as nails or something like that.  But he got really close to my face and I thought he was going to kiss me or something."
I take a sharp breath in and realize maybe he did want her from the start.  Maybe he just likes her.  I feel the same so I can understand that. 
"Then I got attacked and he saved me.  I woke up in his bed," she says and I tense.  "He slept on the floor.  It was weird being in this man's apartment.  Anyway, he mentioned all that about feigning weakness then.  Then Al killed himself because I wouldn't forgive him..."
"I'm sure it was from the guilt of what he'd done.  He betrayed a friend," I say. 
She's staring out unfocused.  "He also had a crush on me, I think.  Then he helped Peter and held me down while he felt up my shirt," she says robotically. 
I move my arm from behind her on the cushion to around her shoulder fully.  I pull her closer to me and she wraps her arm around my waist.  We're in the same position as the cafe today except we're both conscious and it's intentional.  "I saw," I admit.  "It was on the recording."
"Anyway, after the funeral.  I felt nothing.  Four was talking to me and he kind of boxed me in with his arms against the wall.  He talked to me.  Gave me some advice and then kissed my forehead.  I've seen brothers do that to their little sisters so I tried not to think much on it.  It was still physical contact though that I wasn't used to," she says.  "Then he took me into his Fear Landscape."
"What?" I ask.  "I thought he told you about his father."
"He's not very articulate," she states.  "I saw everything and found out who he was.  In one of them we were squished together in a box—so, full body contact.  I was uncomfortable but not, you know.  He took me down to the bottom of the Chasm afterward." 
I nod.  "That's how they usually get down there to haul out the bodies," I tell her. 
She winces, "We sat down there and he told me he liked me."
"Romantic," I mock. 
"It seemed nice at first if you don't think about all the dead people that had been floating in there," she nods.  "Then he kissed me.  I'd never experienced anything like that.  I feel like just that one kiss and him saying he liked me kind of drew me in.  He'd constantly stick his foot in his mouth, though.  He'd make me feel special complimenting me, then ignoring me.  He'd yell at me and tell me I make bad choices.  He was always being so critical of everything I did.  It completely outweighed any of the good feelings I had.  I guess an attractive man liked me.  He touched me and made me associate the new feeling as if it was an attraction in return.  I mean I do think he's mildly attractive..." she says.  She sits back and looks up at me.  "...and for a girl who had never been told she was beautiful by anyone before, it made me feel special.  I felt like I should take who I can get because I didn't feel like I had anything to offer."
She sighs and looks away before meeting my eyes.  "Did he break my heart?  No.  Did he hurt my feelings?  Yes.  Is what I felt for him attraction?  I'm not sure.  I'm leaning toward no.  I feel like he was interested, he got closer with flattery—well, sort of.  I don't care for his personality.  I'm not looking for a master.  I'm looking for a companion.  Is he a companion for me?  Absolutely not.  I'm grateful for one thing, though."
"What's that?" I whisper completely intrigued. 
"He showed me the difference between what I want and what I don't," she says. 
Her eyes flick down to my lips and I realize it's me she wants.  I reach out threading my fingers through her soft hair and lean forward capturing her lips with mine.  The feeling is indescribable. As our lips meet, I feel a deeper connection to her.  I move mine in a rhythm, timid and delicate at first then with a firm desire.  I feel her arms slide around my shoulders and I lean us back slightly.  I move my lips roughly against hers opening her mouth with mine and slipping my tongue inside.  She makes a noise of surprise but joins hers with mine.  I grin into the kiss.  Yeah, she wants me.  I slow down again meeting just our lips once more and back away attempting to catch my breath.  Her eyes are closed inches away from mine.  I draw back a little seeing that she's smiling.  I smile too and peck her nose.  She giggles.  Her eyes open and she looks to me.  I see her cheeks are flushed, her pupils dilated.  I sigh shakily that I can cause that kind of reaction in her. 
She meets my eyes biting her cheek.  "What is it?" I ask. 
"That was different," she says softly.  The tone of her voice is delicate and full of meaning. 
"How was that different?" I ask smiling. 
"Before... I felt nothing.  With you," she says threading her hands back through my hair.  "I feel something new."
"What is it?" I ask. 
Her eyes flick down to my lips again before meeting my eyes once more.  "It's love, I think."
I laugh in surprise and bring my lips to hers once more.