The Leader

Epilogue

As my eyes travel around the Pit, a smile plasters itself on my lips. Some people, like me, are sitting at the edge of the room away from the action. If they're like me, it's because they are terrible dancers and are trying not to make fools of themselves. Others are slow dancing to the slow song playing over the speakers.

My eyes spot the happy couple in the middle of the dancers, swaying to the soft music with bright smiles on both of their faces. My two best friends are now married, and I am beyond happy for them. The adoration they have for one another is evident by the love in their eyes.

Only a couple of people have voiced opinions that they shouldn't be getting married so young, but I just ignored the comments. Anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to Finn and Tera can see how they feel for each other. They love each other. Yes, they're only eighteen years old, but they've found the person they want to spent the rest of their life with. They are young, but I don't think they've married too early.

In fact, I was betting on them getting married shortly before the first new group of transfers came. Yet, here we are about to welcome our second group of transfers to Dauntless.

"Hey, beautiful." Eric appears next to me clad in a black tux with a purple tie. In other words, he looks handsome. He holds his right hand out for me, a grin on his face. "Would my gorgeous date care to dance?"

"I have to warn you," I say with a grimace, "I'm a terrible dancer."

"Lucky for you, I'm a great dancer." He smirks as I put my hand in his. He pulls me onto the dance floor twirls me around, which makes me giggle.

This side of Eric has come out more and more each day since we rekindled our relationship after I became a leader. I am loving it. I didn't expect him to display this kind of affection in public on account of his reputation, but Eric is full of surprises. A few people made the mistake of bringing up Eric's newfound softness, and...let's just say they were reminded how tough he is.

"What's on your mind?" Eric's thumb swipes across my cheek and tucks a loose tendril of hair behind my ear.

"You, of course." He smirks at my statement. "I'm just thinking about how far we've come."

"I love you, Rori Joy," he says with a look of pure adoration on his face. "I hope that there isn't a day that goes by that you question how deeply I care for you."

"I love you, Eric Mendel."

***

"I suppose you're all wondering why we called you out here," Eric says. He stands in front of our group with his arms crossed.

The sun is setting and we are currently standing near the train tracks.

Four stands next to him, a smirk on his face. "We're going to play a little game."

Tera nudges my side and leans in close to my ear. "I feel like we've gone back in time and we're initiates again."

"You read my mind," I say with a chuckle.

"Anyone up for a game of Capture the Flag?" Eric says with a grin.

"I'm down," Finn says, "as long as Rori is on my team." That earns him a slap on the shoulder from his wife and his eyes widen. "What? No offense, but I want to win."

She rolls her eyes but doesn't hide the smile on her face.

The roar of the train is heard in the distance and I refocus my eyes on Eric. He says, "All right. For those of you who want to come, let's start jogging."

I jog for a few seconds before the wind from the train whips my hair back. Eric and Four hop in one of the cars toward the front and I jump in shortly after them. The door to their cart slides open and the two of them enter the one I'm in.