{ themanbehindthem0nster }
Of course he had noticed her. Everyone noticed her. It was the price of being the first jumper. He was just as surprised as the rest of the faction that not only had a girl jumped first, but a transfer from Abnegation.
When training started, he watched her. He tried not to pay more attention to her than to the rest of the initiates, but he was certain he failed at that. He saw her struggle physically, but excel with knives. She could make it, she just needed to be pushed. So he pushed.
But he thought he had pushed her too hard. Pushed her away. He pushed her until she saw him for what he really was, a monster.
So he kept his distance. Interacted with her for training purposes. He tried not to let his hands linger on her when he positioned her correctly or his eyes to lock with her’s when he caught her doing something right. But again, he failed.
And it was by the early morning light that she slipped into his bed, completely catching him of guard. But he didn’t show her how surprised he was, or how his heart beat increased by her presence.
"Tris." It wasn’t a question. It was a warning; a warning that if she stayed, he wouldn’t be responsible for what he said or did.
She didn't know what she was doing, or why she had snuck into his room so late, or well, early. Ever since going through her fear landscape with him, she's been like this. She hasn't been able to sleep, and all she really wanted was that. To sleep, and to feel better than she currently was. So here she was, in his room, not caring if she lost points or whatever for sneaking around. She simply didn't care. She laid down in his bed, laying on her back before taking a deep breath and rolling over on her side, facing him. "No. I need to sleep, Eric. And right now you're the only one I feel safe around. So I'm going to sleep, and you're going to hold me and let me sleep." She didn't care if it was direct or firm, she needed to be held, to fall asleep and not have images of her drowning over and over again flood her mind. She didn't want to kill her parents or feel so weak and helpless or feel like she wasn't doing anything with her life if she died tomorrow. She wanted to be more than that. And he owed her that, especially for forcing her to truly look into herself and experience her fears.