Erudite was unforgiving, so was the cell you were forced to stay in. Eric had tried to come see you on multiple occasions, but you never talked to him- it was too painful to look at him. You could only think about that day, the day when he found you back in the Dauntless compound. All of the leaders had moved to Erudite, so you got in the back way, jumped off the building and when to raid for supplies. But you didn’t expect him.
The kitchen was still stocked with supplies, it would be a good place to come back to when you needed more. The food supplies you had ran out days ago, so you were weakened from the lack of it. Compared to the life that the compound used to hold, this was so dead, so cold. You stuffed your pack full and then left the kitchen, making sure to grab a few bottles of water as well. It was unfortunate that you couldn’t stay long, but you had one more spot to go before you left.
The many stairs were a climb, the hallways winding together until you reached the top floor. Just two months ago you were happily climbing these steps to get to him, to enjoy him and relish in him. He made you feel so safe and secure, you only wished for that again, but how could it ever happen if he wouldn’t stop raiding factions? You rested your back against the wall while you caught your breath, your fingers curling and trying to dig into the hard stone. He would have been so happy to see you, greeted you with a big hug and a spin. You ached for that so badly, your whole body shook at the thought of being back in bed with him.
The apartment was more disheveled than when you had left those many months ago. Broken bottles of beer and scotch were scattered in one corner near the wall, blankets thrown back to expose the sheets on the bed. You smiled lightly and dropped the bag, snuggling down into the mattress and pulling the blankets up over you, curling your legs into your chest. “What are you doing here?” Before you pushed the blanket back, you grabbed the gun from inside your boot and pointed it in the direction of the voice.
He was here.
You took in a sharp breath and tossed the gun to the side, running to meet him when he opened his arms wide. The distance closed quickly, his strong arms closed around you and you jumped, legs wrapping around his hips to hold yourself in place. His scent was intoxicating, everything about him was enticing, and now he was here with you. One hand ran up your spine to hold the back of your head, the other moving down to your butt to help hold you up. He chuckled and then began whispering in your ear. “If I had a dollar for every time I wanted to see you in that bed again.” You grinned and dropped your legs, kissing him. He moaned a bit, turned and pushed you against the wall, kissing you feverishly, lips moving in sync. The passion was building faster and faster, Eric’s mouth moving down to your ear and then grazing his teeth against the skin on your neck, kissing a wet trail down to your collarbone. His hands moved to your waist and turned you around, pressing your front against the cold stone while he pulled your shirt off your shoulder, a hand pulling your arms behind your back, the other gripping your hair to tip your head back. “I’m sorry, kitten.”
Before you could even open your eyes, a pair of cold cuffs were slipped onto your wrists, and Eric’s men filed in to flank you. “What the fuck, Eric?” He wouldn’t look at you, he wasn’t even sure if he could. Eric hated to do this to you, but the alternative to this was horrifying for him. “What ever happened to loving me?”
“I still do, I’m just following orders.”
“This isn’t love, Eric.”
The door to your cell opened and he stepped in. You didn’t have to look to know it was Eric, he was the only one that visited you. He sat on the edge of your bed, his hand resting on your shoulder. You flinched, but part of you loved that he still touched you, still wanted to offer you comfort. “I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I still love you, Y/N.” No response. “Jeanine won’t do any tests on you, I made sure of that.”
Finally, you sat up in the bed and faced him. “I’m not Divergent, why would you test me?”
“You’re a sympathizer.”
“What do you want? A gold star for the effort?” He reached out to take your hands, but you pulled them away and got off the bed. “Get out.”
“Y/N-”
“I said get out!” You screamed.
Eric nodded and stood, walking slowly to the door. “I love you.” His stature filled the door frame. “And I’m going to help you. Even if it’s the last thing I do.”
Every day he came, until eventually you trusted him again. You could now leave the cell as long as you had Eric with you, or someone escorting you to Eric’s room. Jeanine had been hovering around your cell, but Eric always managed to scare her off. He protected you from out there, you knew that now, and he told you about the choice that he had to make before he saw you in his apartment. Jeanine had told him that he didn’t find you and bring you in, she would have people hunting you, and they would bring you in dead.
The day was brand new when your cell door opened. You finished pulling on the blue tank top and jeans, and turned to face whoever it was. The blonde woman exuded power and cunning, her clipboard seemed glued to her chest and her knuckles were white from her grip. You chuckled a bit and motioned to her tense state. “What do you think I’m going to do to you in here? Relax a little before you have to be a cunt.”
She smiled a bit, her clipboard dropping to her side. “Eric is quite fond of you.”
“What does that matter to you?”
“I cannot have him softened by you. The fight is going well, and I need him to be the best he can be.” You didn’t say anything. What were you supposed to say? You couldn’t change her mind about Divergents, you couldn’t get her to stop testing people, so there was no reason for her to be here. “Can I ask you for an interview? I want to know why you pity them.”
“You can ask, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to provide.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I can force you.”
“And you think Eric will fight for you if you hurt me?”
Jeanine shrugged. “I don’t use Eric for his brains. If he’s too braindead to take care of you, that will solve that. And as for you? I promise, you won’t see many more peaceful days in this cell, I will track your mind 24/7 if that is what it takes. I will run you until you die.” She turned on her heel and began walking to the door.
“Is that a threat?” You asked her, your heart was pounding in your chest.
“That’s a promise.”
Eric’s face fell when you told him about Jeanine’s visit. Your hands were twined with his, your eyes were watching for any sign of realization, but his were trained on the floor. “No, no she told me she wouldn’t.”
“Eric, promises like that don’t mean anything coming from her.” He dropped your hands and stepped back from you. “Eric, you have to get me out of here as soon as possible. She will kill me.” Eric didn’t respond, he kept backing up until he hit the door, and then he knocked on it so that the security guard would let him out. “No, Eric help me, please.” You ran to take his hand. “Eric come with me, we can have a life together, like we wanted.” The door opened and Eric rushed out, taking one last look at you through the glass before he ran down the hall.
It was only a few days later when three men came to take you out of your cell, Jeanine with them. She grinned when she saw you. “So you told him about our little visit. Did you think he would believe you?”
“He won’t let this go very far.”
“Eric is currently… indisposed.” You looked at the ground, unable to do anything else. You couldn’t fight three guys, not of their stature. They surrounded you, cuffed you, and began leading you out of the cell. The halls of Erudite were crisp white, unforgiving, just like the walls of Dauntless. You so wanted those days back, when you would laugh and run through those halls again.
You lost count of how many turns you took, but the hope that Eric would find you was diminishing quickly. All the walls looked the same, how did they even remember where to go? You tried not to think about what she would do to you, tried to remember all the good things that had happened to you so far, good memories with Eric, even if he didn’t want to believe you about this one thing. Jeanine stopped suddenly, you crashed into her back, making her stumble. “Eric, what the hell are you doing?”
“You said nothing would happen to her.”
“Who let you out?” Before you could even think about what was happening, you heard bone collide with bone behind you, and then Eric threw Jeanine into the wall. You reacted, swinging your arms back into one of the guards faces and then spun, putting your hands around his neck, the chain linking the cuffs pressing into his skin, up and holding pressure there until his struggling body went limp and he feel against you. You went through his pockets to find the keys to the cuffs while Eric and Peter held the other guards attention. When you didn’t find them, you went to Peter, who was being pushed against the wall and punched repeatedly. You drove your hands into his stomach, curled into fists. He groaned and doubled over, giving you the opportunity to hold onto his back and push your knee into his groin. Peter finished it off by throwing his foot into his nose. Eric finished off the last guy just as Jeanine got up, you searched his pockets and unlocked the cuffs, letting them drop onto the ground. Eric had his fists raised to hold off Jeanine, he hesitated to punch her. “You won’t hit me, Eric.”
“I will.” You ran at her and heard the crack of the nose, and then you held the nape of her neck, slamming her forehead into the wall a few times. Eric grabbed your hand and led you through the winding hallways until you reached the common area. He pushed people down the stairs as you ran, and then finally you went through the doors. “Where are we going?”
He stopped and looked around the city, finally pointing to the train tracks above you. “We go there. Come on.” You began the climb up the metal poles to catch the train that was going by, and when you reached the top, you began to run. Eric was much better at this than you, and immediately jumped on board, opening the door to a train car. He reached out and grabbed your hand as soon as he could, pulling you up to him and falling against the back of the train.
After you caught your breath, you looked up and smiled. “We did it, we’re out.” Eric leaned down and kissed you, pulling your body close to his. “Where are we going to go?”
He kissed you again, long and slow, slipping his tongue onto your bottom lip. “I don’t know. Somewhere, we’ll find a home.”
Tris: hey everybody today my brother pushed me so I’m starting a kick-starter to put him down *shows a photo of caleb titled “die please”*benefits of killing him would be i would get pushed way less
Tris: how do you know what’s good for me?
Tobias: THATS MY OPINION
Eric and Four:*exist*
Fandom: *singing* two brossss chilling in a hot tub five feet apart cause they’re not gay
Tobias *to tris*: why the fuck you lying? why you always lyinggggg OH MY GOD STOP FUCKING LYING
Tris: *pours cereal*
Caleb: do you know what’s in those? having enough of those will probably kill you
Fandom:Divergent Pairing: Eric Coulter x Fem! Reader Summary: Y/N is a Dauntless transfer from Erudite, and she has a drive, an ambition that sets her apart–it always has, even back in Erudite. She brings her perseverance (and need to prove others wrong) to Dauntless when she transfers, and she uses her mind to make her way through the initiation process. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies, and she finds herself comfortable around the man most people in Dauntless avoid at all costs: Eric Coulter. A/N: So idk if I am really happy with this chapter; I think it is one of the less entertaining ones I have written so far, but it’s setting some stuff up that I need so oh well I guess. School is pretty busy (should have done work this morning but gave this a final reworking instead) and I am sorry for how long updates are taking. Please let me know what you think! <3
You finished eating and sat at the table, waiting for Eric to return, but the minutes ticked by, and there was no sign of him. In fact, the silence of his apartment was almost eerie. Eventually, you moved to the couch, unsure if you were actually allowed to sit there but deciding to do it anyway, pulled out Mental Conditioning: Getting Your Mind and Body On the Same Page to distract yourself, deciding that you could probably finish it before Eric got back, seeing as all that was left to read was the conclusion. You lost track of time as you got lost in the final pages of the book, and just as your eyes reached the last paragraph, the door slammed open, revealing an especially angry-looking Eric.
“Get out,” he said, deadly calm. You frowned and stood, leaning over to put the book in your bag–you’d finish it later–but he stopped you. “Now, initiate! Leave the damn book, just get the hell out!” Scowling, you pushed the feelings of hurt down and put the book down on the coffee table a little more harshly than you normally would, slung your bag over your shoulder, and left without a word and without looking back, confusion, hurt, and anger brewing under the surface as the door closed harshly behind you. Your light footfalls echoed throughout the compound as you wandered about, thinking you’d eventually make your way back to the dormitory but choosing to clear your head first. Scowling, you muttered to yourself “I can’t believe he made me leave the book with only one paragraph left.” You knew your anger wasn’t solely because of the book, though that played a large role, but it was easier to focus on that than the emotional whiplash Eric had just put you through–the emotional whiplash of the last few days as a whole. As you wandered the corridors, you saw a training room with the lights on, and you moved towards it cautiously, curious as to who might be training at this hour. You poked your head into the training room and saw Selene, one of your fellow initiates standing in front of the targets, knife in hand. She aimed, and after a moment, she threw the knife towards the target, where it embedded itself a few inches below the center.
Warnings: fear landscape, angst and violence, talk about the difficult childhood of the reader that might be uncomfortable for some readers, oh yea and smut ;)
A/N: A new part? In 2022? More likely than you think! Some of you might have noticed that I have rewritten all previous parts, adding a few thousand words of content in sum. So if you have read the first 6 parts at one point in the past, you might want to revisit them ;) anyways, here have part 7! insane to think that i started this story 6 years ago, but here we are.
The first thing you did after you had left the room with the machine behind, after your first successful run through the fear landscape, was to look for Ven. You could not wait to tell her about your experience, how you had managed to overcome your fears, how you had made it thanks to her. Without your friend, this would not have been possible, you knew that well enough.
It was a very new feeling for you.. having friends. Having people around you that helped you when you needed them, that you could rely on and that supported you. People with whom you could actually talk about personal stuff, and what was going on inside of you. You had closed yourself off to everyone back in Erudite, only the therapist that your parents made you talk to had known some of the things that were going on inside your mind. But she.. well, in your opinion she had never really truly understood your feelings, how you felt trapped and angry, like a caged animal. How you felt detached from everyone around you.
Now, on the other hand, here in Dauntless, you didn’t feel like the outsider anymore. You felt understood, even if Ven, Orion, Calder and even Eric did not share the same experiences as you. Still, it was like you were the same, you had gone through similar enough things to understand each other.
