Divergent One Shots (Eric & Tris)

Ninety-One-A Camping Adventure 26.7

Tris

I turn around at the knock to the door and open it. I sigh in relief at seeing Eric standing there. I reach out and hug him tightly.
"Did you miss me?" he teases but he's holding just as firmly burying his face in my hair.
"You have no idea," I mutter.
"Next time, I should bring you back to change," he jokes.
"You would've run into Four and I'm sure things wouldn't have gone so well," I admit releasing him.
"He showed up here?" he questions disbelievingly raising an eyebrow.
I make a face of contempt and nod my head.
He grunts a response but does not sound pleased.
"Are you about ready?" he asks.
"Yeah," I say grabbing my bag. "Let's go."
Eric takes my bag from me and holds my hand leading me to his truck, opening the door for me and helping me in. I kiss his cheek before he shuts the door. He smirks at me. He puts my bag in the trunk and climbs in. As he starts to drive off, he can't help but ask me about what happened.
"He just showed up here," I shrug. "Apparently nobody would tell him anything."
Eric actually chuckles at that. "Yeah, it's Amity. They'll lie to keep the peace. Some guy shows up here asking about you. They know you're here, out, and dating a Dauntless leader. I bet they said nothing," he grins.
"I hope you're right," I agree looking out the window.
"How'd he get here anyway?" he mumbles.
"Probably the train to the fence, then the bus from Amity to the campground," I suppose. "He's not an early riser on Sundays."
"How did you come to that deduction?" he inquires.
"He's too busy on Saturday nights getting exceedingly drunk with Zeke to join me at church on Sundays," I mumble.
He guffaws.
A beat passes of silence. I know he wants to ask me something.
"What happened between you two anyway?" he questions.
"I don't know. He just wasn't the one for me," I say. "He was always irritable, somewhat harsh with me. He put me down a lot and criticized me. He never spent time with me. He ignored me a lot. He wanted the physical relationship between us to progress when we were together. I wasn't comfortable with that. It was my first experience of a relationship and I don't think I could even call it that. He never went to church. He wasn't happy about my job... There were tons of reasons why it just didn't work. I got tired of being the only one who tried. As soon as I ended it, he'd been kind of... obsessive toward me. After a while, I just needed to get away."
He purses his lips and nods turning down the road to take us to his cottage.
"Have you told him this constant pestering is wearing on you and unwelcome?" he asks me.
"I probably should," I reply halfheartedly.
"Or..." he says getting my attention. I look at him. "When he sees us together, he could explode and make a scene."
I wince at that.
"I'll text him," I decide.
He parks and we go inside. I sit on his couch and he joins me. I start writing the hardest thing I've ever said to another person before. I take my time but I know it's going to crush him.

Four,

I ended things between us over a month ago. I don't understand why you keep texting me, calling me, visiting me at work, knocking on my door, and now invading my space on vacation. I honestly needed this time away from you. This is not because of my work or my schedule or my friends.  I needed a vacation from you.  I've told you before I'm no longer interested.  Please understand this.  I'm serious when I say this.  I don't want to date you.  I don't want you as my boyfriend.  And I want you to stop calling, texting, and visiting me.  I realize we have some of the same friends—which is why I made the offer to still be friends—but if you can't stop forcing yourself upon me, we will no longer be friends.  I've tried being nice but you just don't listen.  I'm interested in another man and he doesn't appreciate your continued insistence on being a part of my life, yet I've felt this way about you before we'd even got together.  I'm not trying to hurt you.  I want to live my life and I think you need to live yours apart from me. 

Tris

"What do you think?" I ask Eric passing him my phone to read.
He reads it over and he's grinning.  But then he frowns. 
"I'm not going to get a message like this someday, right?" he asks. 
Now, I frown.  "If... things didn't work out between us, I don't think you'd be this overly persistent," I tell him gently. 
"You know, I'm never letting you go, right?" he tells me earnestly.  "I love you, Tris."
My heart aches hearing those words and I reach out for him.  I kiss him passionately and he deepens the kiss.  I hear my phone drop but I don't care. 
When we finally break for air, I can't keep the silly grin off of my face.  He loves me. 
"I love you, too," I tell him softly meeting his eyes.  My arms are still wrapped around his shoulders. 
He kisses me again and I respond getting lost in the moment for what feels like an eternity.  I hear my phone buzzing but I ignore it dancing across his coffee table. 
"You love me," he chuckles grinning as he parts from me pecking my lips a few more times. 
I can tell he's just as overjoyed as I am.  I sigh contently in his arms.  I stroke the tattoos on his forearms as my phone continues to buzz across the table, eventually falling on the rug.  I wave a dismissive hand at it.  A thought occurs to me, though. 
"You know, I never loved Four," I tell him gently. 
There's silence between us. 
"Really?" he questions surprised. 
"Maybe I thought that... him showing me interest was attraction.  I was small, easily ignored and he payed attention to me initially.  It made me feel better about myself.  As soon as I got closer to him, I realized I didn't like how he made me feel afterward.  It wasn't worth it in my opinion.  There were too many low lows.  The sparse highs didn't carry me," I admit. 
"What about me?" he questions nudging me with his face. 
I chuckle at how he's cuddling with me like a puppy under my chin and along my jaw, my neck. 
"You?" I start mulling it over.  "Being with you is nothing but high highs."
I can feel the smirk across my skin. 
"What about when we go back?" he asks still cuddling me. 
"Are you going to ignore me?" I ask hesitantly. 
"Never," he whispers. 
I grin at that. 
"I may be stuck in meetings or working late but I'll want to see you every day," I tells me genuinely. 
"Me, too," I smile. 
I peck his lips gently and I believe he is different.
We spend the rest of the day playfully in each other's arms.  We lounge around on his couch, at the beach, in the kitchen, around the campfire.  It's incredible how at ease I feel with him.  Even with Four showing up, I'm still at peace.  I feel like what I have with Eric is real—genuine.  I'm happy with him.  And I know he's happy with me.  I can see it.  This relationship is different—more real and complete.  It reminds me of what my parents have—lasting with mutual respect and kindness.  This is honestly what I've always wanted.  I sigh contently in his arms around the fire. 
"Are you getting tired?" Eric whispers along my temple. 
"A little," I admit. 
"Why don't I take you back?" he suggests. 
He kisses my temple twice before releasing me.  We both rise and I help him to break apart the fire.  He grabs my bag set just inside the door along with his keys.  He drives me back and kisses me at my door. 
"I love you," he whispers as we part. 
I smile and tell him the same. 
The days sort of blur together after that—not from boredom but from complete bliss at spending my time with the man I love.  He's invited me to come every weekend with him if we both have it off.  I usually do and so does he so I accepted.  We hike around the pond and do some nature walks.  He shows me some interesting things in the woods but mostly we stay at the campground or his cottage.  We swim, paddle around, lay at the beach and just genuinely enjoy each other's company.  Daisy's family left midweek and I've been mostly alone for the remainder of my time here... but I've had Eric during the days.  My time here has been nice. 
Upon checkout, I leave my key with the front desk and tell them I enjoyed my stay.  Eric drives me to church that morning.  We meet Daisy and her family for service.  It's almost as if nothing's changed.  We have lunch together in the dome and spend much of Sunday swimming or at the beach.  We head out hours before the sunset.  He drives me back to Dauntless.  The gate protocol is not quite the same for a Dauntless leader as it is for everyone else... but I won't report them.  It's not like it would matter anyway.  We're let through the gate and barely inspected.  We're on our way before long and he's pulling into the parking garage. 
"So... what's your plans for tonight?" he turns to me in the truck. 
"I hadn't made any," I shrug. 
"If we eat in the cafeteria, I have to sit with the leaders," he tells me. 
I nod in understanding. 
"We could go out to eat?" he offers.  "Or take out at your place... or mine?"
I grin at that.  More alone time would be nice. 
"Yours or mine?" he asks. 
"I doubt we'll be bothered at yours," I point out. 
"Is he still calling you?" he questions. 
I purse my lips and nod. 
He sighs at that and climbs out.  Before I can even grab the handle he's opened my door. 
"Thank you," I grin as he lifts me down to the ground.  I peck his cheek in reply. 
I hear whistling and sigh.  The rumors are already going to spread.  That's Private Reese.  He's the biggest gossip and he's staring at us. 
Eric carries both of our bags and drops his keys off at the guard shack. 
"Congratulations," he says in reply. 
I nod not really knowing how to respond.  Eric ignores him and we're off down the hallway inside the compound.  He has one arm around my waist and the other carrying both bags.
"Do you want to drop your things off at home first?" Eric offers. 
"Sure.  I'll start up a load of laundry," I nod. 
I lead him to my apartment in the Gamma District.  It's just off the elevator on the top floor.  I pull my keys out of my satchel and unlock the door letting him in.  It's a spacious studio apartment with lots of windows and light but we're standing in the bedroom/living room/kitchen. 
"This is nice," he mentions. 
"It's alright," I shrug setting my book and phone cord along with a few other miscellaneous things from my satchel on my nightstand that I usually don't carry in here.  I take my bag from him and dump the entire contents except for my toiletry bag into the washer/dryer combination unit and run it.  It'll be done by bedtime.  I set my toiletries onto my bathroom countertop. I'll have to refill the travel bottles for my gym bag since they're fairly sparse but I'll do it tonight or in the morning.
"So... what do you want for dinner?" I ask stepping back into the main room. He's examining my meager collection of books. Many of them are romance or cookbooks, although I haven't cooked all that much with them.
"You, sweetheart," he teases kissing me. 
I chuckle into the kiss.  He must've seen one of my romance novels.
"I'm serious," I grin slapping his chest playfully. 
"Are you even hungry?  It's still early," he mentions. 
"Not really. Just making plans," I grin pecking his lips. "You want to start your laundry?" I suggest with a shrug.  "Then we can walk the wild path of the Pit and figure out what we want to do for dinner."
He smirks at that and agrees.  He leads me up to his apartment.  It's nice but not what I was expecting—not overly large, very organized and clean.  Although, I examine his enormous book collection as he starts his laundry. His selection is overwhelming as well as the quality of his books far surpassing even what's at the store.
He takes me by the hand and locks up as we leave.  We ride the elevator down to the Pit and begin crossing the expanse through the busy weekend crowd.  As we approach the very center of the largest part of the Pit, Eric stops in the middle of the bustling multitude.  He pulls me to him and kisses me in front of everyone.  I smile into the kiss and respond.  He wants everyone to know.  They're all cheering for us. I love that we're not hidden, though the crowd watching us make out is a tad unnerving.  He pecks my lips once more before he leads me off.  I honestly can't keep the grin off of my face as we pass a half-confused, half-enthusiastic crowd of Dauntless. 
We walk around throughout the Pit—an area I once believed was endless, yet walking through it reveals that it does in fact end. It's just massive and filled with shopping, housing, and restaurants.  We walk the entire area hand in hand.  I realize I get several stares... from every person we pass. 
"Does everyone always watch you so?" I whisper to Eric. 
"Yes.  Does it bother you?" he questions. 
"I just... never noticed," I reply. 
"Only since leadership.  Before then, I was ignored for the most part," he says dismissively. 
"Why?" I question. 
"Most people here follow power, I guess," he shrugs.  "They're aware of what I can do.  They respect leadership and I believe they also think of us like family.  Whatever happens in one of our lives, it's public knowledge."
"Oh," I say surprised.  I didn't know that... but I did notice he often had the whole room's attention during training—when he'd walk into a room or through the hallways now that I think about it. 
"You know, everyone will be talking about you," he points out.
"Why?" I question laughing almost disbelievingly. 
"Because they're happy for us... or maybe surprised, I guess," he grins.  I feel a caress down the palm of my hand from his thumb.  I shiver inadvertently.  I look to him and he stops and runs his fingers through my hair at the nape of my neck as he kisses me gently, sweetly.  I bite my lip as he separates from me.  I don't mind.  If this is what it's like to be with him, I think it's worth it.  I'm already kind of getting used to the stares.  I got them just after membership, too—for being number one.  It's nice that they think of him as family—as a head of the faction, a leader, and maybe a father-figure or older brother.  I'm kind of in awe of this relationship between him and the faction.  I see it as admirable. 
As the night draws on, he gives me the option to eat out at a restaurant or eat at his place. I decide to be bold and we eat out. He actually seems surprised. I figure... this is his life and mine now, too. I enjoy being with Eric. I like how he's not shying away from me in his public persona and he's including me. He's not ashamed of me and I know where I stand with him. I'm willing to share him with everyone and I'll do my best to get accustomed to being with him in public. 
I have him choose the restaurant since I have no idea what half of them are.  He grins at me and asks if we've had tacos in the cafeteria recently.  I shake my head thinking that doesn't sound familiar. We go to a place that smells incredible—everything seasoned with spices I've clearly never had before. I look over the menu and choose some sort of shredded beef meal that's surrounded in a wrap, deep fried, and covered in melted cheese. There's an assortment of vegetables, rice, beans... I'm just in awe of this meal. Eric gets something different from mine with lots of grilled peppers and onions along with steak, I think. His looks good, though. Mine is absolutely delicious and I grab a take out menu as we leave. He puts his arm around my waist as he leads me to his apartment. We sit on his sofa and talk. I get to examine his book collection a little more extensively. I stay until I should be getting home and ready for bed. Eric insists on walking me back and I don't protest. He kisses me goodnight at my door before leaving with some neighbors cheering us on. I go to bed with a smile.