Until Death Do Us Apart ➪ 𝔼𝕣𝕚𝕔 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕣

Chapter 7: Falling Apart

I got back to Dauntless and immediately walked into the dormitory, collapsing face-first onto my bed.

"Where were you?" I heard a familiar voice.

"Erudite," I mumbled, my face still buried in the pillow.

"Huh?" Will and Christina sat down beside me, looking confused.

"I was at Erudite," I repeated, sitting up.

"Why were you there?" Will asked, his brow furrowed.

"I needed to talk to my brother," I answered.

"About what?" Christina's voice was filled with concern.

"About all of this... Dauntless is hard, and I don't think I'll be able to move forward. I—" I was cut off.

Seriously, people need to stop cutting me off.

"Jordan, don't think like that. You're amazing. One of the best, actually," Christina reassured me.

"Yeah, you are. You were even amazing with your time in the fear test," Will added.

I smiled. "Thanks, guys," I said, pulling them both into a hug. "We're gonna go to the cafeteria for something to eat if you wanna come."

"I'll meet you there in a little bit," I said, watching them walk off. I sat there, debating whether I really wanted to go. But then I remembered I hadn't eaten in a while, so I stood up and made my way down the hall.

The hallway was eerily quiet. Too quiet. Suddenly, I heard a bang and stopped in my tracks. I looked around, but there was nothing. Just when I was about to keep walking, someone covered my mouth.

Four masked figures grabbed me, dragging me down the hallway. I struggled, but they were too strong.

They brought me to the chasm, standing me on my feet and trying to push me off. I resisted, holding on for dear life.

"Dude, let go of her!" I heard a familiar voice hiss.

I yanked the mask off one of them and saw Al's face. "Al!" I cried, tears welling in my eyes.

But before I could make my move, they grabbed my wrist and punched me in the face. I stumbled but quickly recovered, kicking one of them in the gut. I tried to strike again, but one of them hit me in the face, knocking me down.

They dragged me closer to the edge, and just as I thought I couldn't take it anymore, one of them was yanked off me.

Eric.

He fought with them, knocking them out one by one. He rushed over to me, his expression softening. "Hey," he said gently, placing two fingers under my chin to lift my head so I was looking at him. "You alright?"

I nodded, tears streaming down my face as he helped me to my feet.

"Come on. Let's go," he said softly.

I followed him to his apartment, and he motioned to the couch. "Take a seat," he said, offering me a blanket. I wrapped it around my shoulders, feeling numb.

"Thanks," I whispered, settling into the couch.

Eric sat across from me, gently examining the bruises on my knuckles before moving his focus to the cuts on my face. He grabbed a wet washcloth and dabbed it gently on my skin. I winced in pain and pulled back, but he soothed me.

"It's okay. I'm just cleaning them so they don't get infected."

I nodded, letting him finish. When he was done, he placed the washcloth away. "You take the bed," he said. "I'll take the couch."

"Goodnight, Eric," I whispered, my eyes closing.

"Goodnight, stiff," he said with a chuckle.

I woke up to sunlight streaming through the window. I sat up, looking over at the couch, but Eric was gone. Moments later, I heard his voice.

"Hey, I got you breakfast." He tossed me a muffin, and I caught it, laughing. "Thanks."

"How you feeling?" he asked, shoving a mouthful of food in.

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you know it's not polite to talk with food in your mouth?"

He shrugged, grinning. "As if I care."

I smiled, shaking my head. "I'm better. Thanks to you."

He came over and sat next to me, placing a hand on mine. "They'll be punished. I promise."

I tensed a little, but I let him hold my hand. "Thank you," I whispered.

"You're welcome," he said, his mouth still full of food.

I smirked at his childishness, but it was a small comfort.

He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, following him out of the apartment and into the cafeteria.

We went our separate ways, and I sat down with Christina, who was eating with Will.

"Hey, what happened yesterday?" Christina asked, her voice full of concern.

"I slept at Eric's apartment last night," I said, casually.

Christina choked on her food, and Will's mouth dropped open. "Explain everything," Will said, his tone serious.

"I can't believe Al would do something like that," Christina murmured as we all sat on the bed, talking about everything that had happened.

Suddenly, we heard commotion coming from outside. We rushed out to see a body being pulled from the chasm.

"They said he just jumped."

"Jumped?" I asked, confused.

"Why would someone jump?"

When I saw the body, my heart stopped. It was Al.

Without thinking, I bolted down the hallway, past a few Dauntless members.

"Jordan!" Eric shouted from behind me.

I didn't stop. I couldn't. My chest was tight, and my head was spinning.

"Al's... he's dead," I gasped, barely able to speak.

Eric caught up to me, pulling me into a hug. "Look at me, Jordan. It's not your fault. He made that choice."

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. "He was never going to make it to the finals."

"That's not your fault," Eric said firmly. "He chose his path."

I pulled away, running my hands through my hair, the weight of everything crashing down on me. "Yeah, well... neither am I."

"Why do you say that?" he asked, concerned.

I hesitated, still unsure whether I could trust him completely.

"You can tell me," he reassured me.

I took a deep breath, still shaken. "I'm Divergent.