dauntless : divergent eric

sixteen

Chapter 16

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I wake up to Eric unwrapping his arms from around me and getting up. I decide to tell him that I want to go to his fear landscape.

"Eric." I say groggily rubbing my eyes. He smiles and kisses my forehead.

"Good morning beautiful." he says his deep voice waking me up. 'Beautiful'. I like that.

"Can I go to your fear landscape

today." I ask him. His eyes widen but he smiles.

"Yeah but later. Today the initiates are going through their own and I really want to see. I also am kind of required to watch them anyways. But when Im done I promise." he says to me. I love this side of him. But he seems so, different. I wonder if today he will be happy. Probably not because of Troy, Mark, Amber, and the other girl who I learned her name was Zoe. He goes into the bathroom and I hear the shower go on. I really need one. When he gets done he comes out dressed and kisses my cheek this time.

"I have to go. Bye." he says. I soon realize why he doesnt kiss me on the lips. I think its because hes letting me decide when that happens. I smile at myself for this.

"I love you." I say. He stops before he opens the door. He turns around.

"I love you too." he says. This time he leaves and I get up. My limp isnt as bad and I can walk pretty good now. I go into the shower and take off my clothes. The water feels nice and warm and welcoming. I stay in there for a while. I realize that I have no clothes here so I sneak back to the dormitory. I grab my clothes out of the dresser and head back to Erics apartment. Thats when I realize, Im still in my towel. I get dressed and over my shirt I take one of Erics jackets. He wont mind.

I leave the apartment and go to the Chasm. I lean over the rail and listen to the roar of the river beneath me. I think of the time Eric tried to comfort me on visiting day. It must've been awkard for him to be nice to someone. Was he starting to get feelings for me then, or did he just realize that he loved me when he was talking to me when I was pretending to be asleep?

Love or anything close to that must be wierd for a person like him. I mean considering that he's usually kind of vicious. I wonder what he was like when he was an initiate. I decide to go back to the dormitory. I climb on my top bunk and sit there, remembering the first day I got here. It was scary having to do all those daredevil jumps. I remember landing in the net. It was fun and bouncy. I wish my bed was like that. I spend most of the day here, just thinking about everything and anything. Its nice to have a day to myself. Just like back in Amity. When I look at the clock on the wall, theres only a few minutes left of training. I hastily jump down and rush to the apartment. I fall down on the bed and bury my face in one of his pillows. I hear the door open and Eric appears.

"Hey." he says.

"Hi." I say looking up at him.

"What do you want from the cafeteria?" he asks.

"Not much. Just a little bit of whatever they got." I say.

"Ok." he smiles and goes to the cafeteria.

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Eric comes back with a tray of food for me and a tray of food for him. I examine what he got me. Half a chicken breast and a piece of cake with some water. Its kind of exactly what I wanted.

I take my time eating. For some reason I dont have much appetite and give some of my cake to Eric.

"Whats wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing. Lately I just havent been hungry." I say to him. He shrugs and takes a bite of my cake.

"Are we still going to your fear landscape?" I ask. He nods his head and chews.

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We reach the room where we are going to do the simulation. It looks like the aptitude test. I shiver. I almost forgot that I'm Divergent. I sit down in the chair and he sits next to me.

"Are you ready? I'll go in with you. These are all my fears." he says to me nervously. I nod. He injects me with the serum and then himself. He takes my hand in his. I squeeze it and then the serum takes control.