𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝟎𝟏𝟐

"𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚,
𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮.
𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙄'𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮.
𝙄'𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮."

𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 - 𝘜𝘕𝘚𝘌𝘊𝘙𝘌𝘛

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Eric burst into Four's office a quarter past midnight, tablet open in his hands and lips curled into a cruel sneer; giving away just how livid he was. Neither of them flinched when the heavy steel door slammed against the opposite wall, making the air rattle. It wasn't the first time someone barged into the room and it definitely wouldn't be the last. Especially not until the end of the summer when everything finally went back to normal.

"We need to talk," he said, pretending Four didn't roll his eyes as he stood from his chair.

Four's office was just as tidy as one would expect. Bare even. Almost like he wanted to be ready to pick up and leave at a moment's notice. He thought he was being inconspicuous about it, but Eric knew better. Eric always knew better, even when he didn't.

"About?" Four quirked an eyebrow. Usually, when he needed to get a point across, he didn't hesitate to lash out at the most inopportune moments. Why now, hidden away from everyone else?

Eric gestured angrily at the tablet. It was open to a list of names containing every single initiate of the incoming class. Except for yours. "Why don't you have (Y/N) on the shuttle to the wall tomorrow?"

The wall trip was a tradition. He and Four had gone on it once upon a time two summers ago and so had the group before them. It was supposed to be a source of inspiration; to motivate the initiates who were beginning to doubt themselves. But everyone who had already gone through their training knew that there was no special meaning hiding behind it. 

Even so, you deserved to be on that shuttle just as much as the rest of them. 

Four didn't bat an eye, pleased in knowing that everything he suspected about your effect on Eric was true in one sense or another. "She's sparring with Edward in two days. She doesn't need any more distractions from her training."

He said 'more distractions' with that knowing look in his eye, like he just knew that Eric had something to do with it. And if he wasn't fuming before, he certainly was now.

"Edward?" he parroted. He'd personally seen over the majority of Edward's training. Max seemed to think he had some great potential in the Dauntless ranks, which only made him the slightest bit envious. It wasn't too long ago that he was on the track to becoming the faction's golden boy.

"Edward is in the top five. (Y/N) just hit thirteenth. You want him to kill her?"

Because if there was one thing that everyone understood about Edward, it was that he would.

Four leaned over his monitor, knuckles digging into the desktop. "She needs to learn that kindness isn't always the answer."

A beat passed between them and for the very first time since the start of initiation, Eric had nothing left to say. It was no secret that you made an effort to talk to everyone in your class – dropping anything you were doing to help others while unwilling to admit that you needed that same help in return.

You resolved arguments between Peter and Tris before any of your leaders had the chance to get between them. It was an energy that neither of them had ever seen in Dauntless. And it was an energy that Eric was afraid would get knocked out of you before too long.

He stood there for a minute longer, anger slowly melting away into nothing. He heard you talking with your friends in passing. You'd been looking forward to this little field trip all week long and he knew you would be heartbroken if he took you off of the roster just to hang back and train for a fight that you couldn't possibly be prepared for either way.

"I'll get her ready for the fight."

Four squinted. "You? What about the Dauntlessborns?"

Shit. He completely forgot that he was supposed to be observing the Dauntlessborns until the end of phase one. "Lauren has them covered," he supplied. It was too late to go back now. "You just make sure she's on that goddamn train."

Four scoffed and shook his head just as Eric spun around to leave. His eyes narrowed as he glared across at his fellow leader. "What was that, Eaton?"

"I said I didn't expect you to get so attached." Four pushed himself away from the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "You of all people should know just how quickly things can change around here."

Eric's jaw tightened as he threw open the heavy door. "Watch yourself, Four. I outrank you."

A look was exchanged between them, saying more than would ever be passed through words. Four dipped his head, fighting a private chuckle before fixing his gaze back onto the monitor in front of him.

"For now."

(A/N: Ok once again I have not read the books. I know that Edward is like a real character and that he isn't 100% evil but I'm using him as my villain in this story because I'm lazy. This chapter isn't even 1,000 words but it was fun to write! Took a mental health day and this kept my brain occupied! If anyone has any other fanfic recs for divergent I would love to hear them! I can't find any that were written after 2014 lmao. SECOND A/N: I actually hate this. Take a shot every time I write Eric's name).