#older!amity is trying not to strangle her every time they’re in the same room | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rohad93 · 4 years ago

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Moonlit Masquerade: Jokers Wild Pt 1

This is rated T for Violence and Blood

Luz is sitting at her desk, working on her homework from her plant track class.

She has a pretty easy time in plants, it’s a lot like gardening most of the time, though the plants have a lot more eyes… or teeth...but she digresses. She has Willow too, who is at the top of the track and is always willing to repeat spells for her so she can try to glean glyphs from them. She’s managed a couple, she’s still working on perfecting them so it always does what she wants, the part that makes plant magic so hard is plants are living things, and the ones on the Isles sometimes have wills of their own if you don’t exert the right kind of control. She’s had a few go haywire and nearly strangled herself with vines last week trying to get them to form a net.

That one still needed work…

All part of living in the Isles though. With every week that goes by in the Boiling Isles, she finds herself more and more acclimated to it, sometimes it feels like she's lived here all her life.

Her bedroom, which once was just a spare room where she slept on the floor in a sleeping bag, now looks like she's been there for years.

All of Eda's junk is gone, replaced with a bed and a desk, covered in framed photos of Gus, Willow, King, and Eda; even Lilith. Her photo of her and her mom sits on the bedside table, close by, along with the photo of her and Amity she took on their first date and a new one of all of them on the beach at Amity’s birthday a couple of weeks ago.

A dresser sits in the corner, filled with new clothes because she could only keep wearing the same ones she brought for 'summer camp' for so long, especially now that fall is here. She's pretty sure she's having a growth spurt too. She realized last week she now has no problem reaching the cabinets in the kitchen, unlike almost five months ago when she first arrived.

For the foreseeable future, she is a permanent denizen of the Isles, so it only makes sense to pick up on her home's history too.

She’s started taking extra lessons with Lilith about the general history and culture of the Isles while they all learn glyph magic together. Lilith will lecture about the history of things and Luz is enthralled by it, which is probably the only reason Eda only rolls her eyes and lets her go on. Though she does throw in her own brand of commentary often. Usually saying why something Lilith is saying is dumb or outdated, much to the older’s annoyance, but they very rarely get into anything truly heated so it's become a kind of Sunday night routine at the owl house. King usually joins them too. Adding in his own two snails whenever he sees fit.

Much to her delight, when she can, Amity has started to join them. She's started practicing some of Luz's glyphs; the portals are especially useful.

Things are still very tense between her and Lilith, who keeps trying, and Amity mildly accepts the efforts, she's still very terse and short with the older witch much of the time, which makes Luz frown, but she keeps it to herself.

She and Amity have had this talk. Amity will try, but by no means has forgiveness been given, which Lilith seems to understand and accept.

They had a private talk after Amity's birthday weekend, she doesn't ask Amity about it, much as she wants to, and Amity doesn't offer an explanation.

Sometimes she wants to talk, and sometimes she doesn't, that's fine. She and Amity have come to that understanding well over the last two and a half months they've been dating.

They know the other is there and will come if they need them.

It's weird to Luz sometimes, having someone she knows is always in her corner, that she can come to without question.

Before she came to the Isles, she had her mom, even though she never really understood her and was gone a lot, and now she has Eda, but that's different. She knows Eda will always back her up, protect her, but it's different from Amity. She looks up to Eda, and while it's not that she doesn't admire Amity, she does, it’s just in a different way.

She would try to protect Eda just as much as she does for her, but it's just a different dynamic, she's not sure how to put it into words other then Eda is like her mom, while she and Amity are equals, they depend on each other, Eda, as much as she loves her, doesn't depend on Luz.

She has Gus and Willow too, and that’s a lot closer but still different. She can’t really explain why. Eda says it’s because she doesn’t make out with her other friends, which makes her make a face. While that’s true, she’s pretty sure that’s not it either. As much as she trusts Gus and Willow, which is a lot, sometimes she just doesn’t feel comfortable sharing some things with them, or anyone, except her girlfriend.

Something she’ll have to puzzle out another day.

“Hey Luz, Amity’s here!” Eda yells up the stairs and Luz grins, jumping up.

“Coming!” she yells back as she pulls on her shoes and grabs her new Hexside hoodie off the hanger on the back of the door before she runs out. Her jeans make loud scratching noises as she runs down the stairs, not that her loud thumping wasn’t going to alert everyone in the house she was coming already.

She hops over the last few steps to land on the floor and smiles at Amity who is standing in the living room with her arms crossed but smiling at her in black pants and a matching black hoodie with a bright purple pentagram on the front surrounded by runes.

“Hey, cutie.” She grins, trotting over to kiss Amity hello before she pulls her hoodie on.

“Ready to go?” she asks, her blush at the complement tempered by watching Luz struggle to put her head through the right hole. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the hem, helping right the blue hoodie till Luz’s head popped out with a grin.

“Yup!”

“You two have fun, don’t do anything I would do, and if ya do, don’t get caught!” Eda smirked and the two grin.

“Bye, Mom.” she only pauses slightly when the word comes out of her mouth but Eda just smiles and gives them a little two-finger wave from the couch.

“See ya later, Kids.”

They leave the owl house, walking away quickly before Hooty can really get going about the squirrel he ate that morning.

Luz takes hold of one of Amity’s hands and shoves the other in her hoodie pocket, it’s chilly today and the leaves are falling from the trees more and more every day.

“So…, do you want to talk about that?” Amity asks after a few seconds, that’s the first time she’s seen Luz make that slip in person, though she knows it's happened several other times. Luz just shrugs. She still feels selfish for it, thinking of Eda as a parent, for never wanting to go back to the world of her birth, regardless of whether or not it's actually possible at the moment, but she's working more and more every day to come to terms with her feelings about never wanting to leave the Isles; about considering this her real home.

“I mean, I still feel a little bad when I do it, but it’s been happening more and more lately… and I dunno, I guess I’m just starting to get used to it? Seeing Eda like an adopted mom. She is a lot like my mom… I mean, you know, kinda,” she laughs.

“Your personality would make more sense if Eda was your mom.” Amity smirks.

“And what does that mean?” Luz grins, nudging her playfully.

“Your general disregard for rules and danger are very ‘Eda’," she says matter of factly with a grin.

"I don't know what you're referring to," she says with mock haughtiness, sticking her nose in the air.

"Oh? I have a list prepared then." Amity clears her throat dramatically and holds up her free hand and begins counting off on her fingers.

"You broke into the conformatorium to steal a paper crown when we first met you snuck into Hexside pretending to be an abomination…"

"You're the one who almost got me dissected that day, otherwise it would have been fine." Luz cocked a brow at her. Amity pursed her lips.

"Okay, I'll give you a by on that one, but then you animated the entire owl house and took it on a joyride, you tried to fight Odabin as 'Luzura'." She smirked, glancing at her out of the side of her eye, and Luz pinked. "You tried to steal from the Emperor, then fought him and Lilith, challenged Boscha to a grudgby match when you didn't even know how to play the game, you stole…"

"Borrowed!" Luz corrected.

"...my training wand and shot a Slitherbeast with a fire spell…," Amity continued as though she hadn't been interrupted. "Speaking of Slitherbeasts, you almost got yourself eaten picking thornberries for my birthday cake!"

Luz chuckled, guess she was still mad about that one.

"Then you deliberately put yourself in danger by taking my place as grom queen…"

"You let me!" Luz accused.

"I didn't want everyone to see my worst fear was getting rejected by you and know I had a crush on you!" she argued while Luz just grinned at her.

"Aw, you had a crush on me."

"We are literally dating…" Amity gives her a deadpan look and holds up their intertwined hands.

"Yeah, but still…!" she laughed as Amity rolled her eyes, but she's smiling too.

"So, yes, you have a tendency to ignore danger and rules, just like Eda."

"Well, I guess I picked the right teacher and adoptive mom then." She grins. Amity just shakes her head as they walk through the woods toward town.

"Where’s Ed and Em?" She asks as they get closer to town.

"They said they'd meet us there." She shrugs. She tries not to worry about all the trouble her siblings have a tendency to get into when left to their own devices.

When they're just outside of town Amity reluctantly pulls her hand out of Luz's and misses the warmth immediately. Luz pouts and shoves her hand into her pocket with the other.

They meet Ed and Em just outside town on the main road.

"Hey, Luz," the twins call in unison as they approach and Luz grins sticking up a hand to high five both of them.

The twins view Luz like another little sister, she’s good to Amity and means a lot to her, which means she means a lot to them.

They also like to privately tease Amity that they may as well start now since she's gonna be their sister-in-law someday. They delight at how impossibly red she turns when they say it, but say nothing about how happy the idea seems to make her simultaneously even as she yells at them that they haven’t even been dating a year yet.

It's a chilly Saturday as they follow along behind the twins through the market. It's not their first choice, their first choice would be of course, to be able to go anywhere they want and be an obvious couple, impossible as that is right now, but they wanted to go to the market, and they'd been to town alone together several times this week already and the twins needed some stuff anyway, so it makes a good cover.

They decide to stop and eat lunch at the Redstone bakery, which also sells a variety of sandwiches. Luz still doesn't know what's in it exactly, but she's had it several times and knows she can eat it, and it's tasty; so it really doesn't matter to her. Amity still stands by, watching her carefully anytime she tries something new in case she has some kind of reaction, which really, has only happened three times but it is a possibility, and Amity is nothing if not prepared, and one has to be extra prepared when it comes to Luz.

Both Clawthorne sisters think she might grow more tolerant the longer she lives here and her body grows accustomed to it.

She hopes so, for all the weird foods, there are just as many tasty looking ones she wants to try. It's not like she didn't have allergies in the human world, being lactose intolerant.

They eat and talk, Ed and Em talking animatedly about a prank they played on two other upperclassmen earlier in the week.

Apparently they embarrassed them in front of the entire illusion track during a presentation that had them running from the room to the entire classes laughter.

Amity rolls her eyes at that and Luz nods along, half-listening, distracted by her food and her girlfriend, who's holding her hand under the table, slowly running her thumb back and forth across her knuckles.

Luz is stuffed by the time her sandwich is gone, as well as the second half of Amity's, she'd slid to her when she was done. Where Luz ate like a horse, Amity did not, but she still has the thornberry muffin sitting in front of her, and as much as she wants to eat it, she might pop if she does. It won't go to waste though.

She slides it across the table to Amity, who looks at it before smiling at her and takes it. They must be looking at each other in what Eda calls 'that gross gooey way' because Emira pipes up.

"You two need more couple friends," she says, rolling her eyes at them.

Amity frowns at her.

"Ignoring the fact that we literally can't tell people we're a couple, why do we need more couple friends?" she looks at her sister skeptically. Before she can say anything Edric jumps in with a witty remark, or at least what he thinks is witty.

"Because you're on a double date with us," he teased.

Amity scowls at that and Luz smirks. Normally, she stays clear of these back and forths between the Blight siblings, she's not as quick-witted as the twins or Amity, but today she can't help herself.

"Well, if this is a double date, you're the only one here on a date with their sister," she shoots back.

Edric's face drops, while Amity and Emira burst into peals of laughter.

They laugh at him for a solid minute before they can even speak.

"Oh, that was a good one. You walked right into that," Emira cackled, wiping at a tear. Edric crossed his arms and pouts.

Amity is still snickering when she glances back at Luz, who winks and Amity's hand squeezes hers under the table.

"Anyway, I was going to say, so Ed and I don't have to watch you two be so sickeningly romantic, but now I think I just need to meet someone so I don't have to be Ed's date," she snickers and Ed scowls at her.

When lunch is finished they wander back out into the market. It's crowded the way it usually is on Saturday.

Just as they cross a street Edric stops and smirks, looking at something across the street.

“See those guys over there?” He points across the market at two guys standing at a stall looking at something. One is tall and blonde, the other a little shorter but he has a bright green mohawk that Luz doesn’t know how she missed, but then again, this is the Boiling Isles. Just ten minutes ago she saw a guy with wings and a briefcase shopping for pet demons, so…

“What about them?” Amity asks.

“Those are the guys we embarrassed Friday,” Emira laughs.

“Oh boys!” Edric yells waving and the two look up and see them. The twins just grin and wave as the other two scowl darkly at them and walk off into the crowded market. The twins snicker and Amity shakes her head. Someday her brother and sister are going to give themselves problems with their tricks and mean pranks.

They continue browsing for a while, looking over the different wares offered at the stalls, there are a lot of regular merchants in the same spots every day but there are always a bunch of new ones too, selling all manner of weird and exotic things that some days Luz can’t even guess at. It's become a game for her and Amity to wander around and Luz to guess at the uses for things and Amity to affirm or correct her. Just something fun they like to do together at the market.

Some large guy with horns and two mouths is shouting across the market, advertising his wares for something that makes light with no magic.

“Pfft, I have glyphs for that.”

“That’s still magic, Luz.” Amity glances at her.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t take energy like when you cast spells. I can make glyphs all day long so long as I have paper.” She goes to emphasize this by pulling out her pad, but as she pats her pockets, she realizes she doesn’t have it.

“What’s wrong?

“I guess I left my glyphs and pad at home, didn’t think I’d need them for our date,” she says with a shrug and then grins. “I know you’d protect me.” She nudges Amity who rolls her eyes even as she smiles and nudges back as the four walk along the street.

There are few people in this section of the market, so they don’t have to whisper to each other.

“I thought you were MY fearless champion?” she teases, and then snorts as Luz stops suddenly to pose, one fist on her chest and the other on her hip, chest puffed out.

“Amity Blight, I will always be your fearless champion!” she declares and Amity giggles at her even as her heart flutters in her chest.

“I guess we’ll just have to protect each other.” She smiles adoringly at her and Luz grins back.

“Congratulations,” Edric says suddenly, crossing his arms. “You two are officially, that couple.”

“What couple?” Luz looks at Ed over her shoulder.

“That nauseatingly, romantic couple who are always doing cute things,” Emira explained, hand on her hip.

“At least I have a girlfriend…,” Amity huffed at them, arms crossed and nose in the air. Luz stuck her tongue out at them.

The twins frowned before smirking and simultaneously twirled their fingers.

Both their hoods suddenly pulled down over their heads, drawstrings pulling tightly closed, making Luz yelp and Amity snarl as the twins laughed.

Amity yanked the hood off and glared at the two as Luz’s head popped out of her hood.

“We’re going to the bookstore…," she growled, grabbing Luz’s arm and turning them in the right direction before having to drop it again.

“We’ll meet you there in a little bit!” Edric called after them, still grinning.

Amity grumbled to herself, fixing her hair before looking at Luz, whose dark brown locks had been mussed as well.

They were nearly alone now, and she reached up and carefully smoothed it out, making Luz grin as Amity fussed over her. She was fine if it was a little messy, but it was easier to just let Amity do her thing. Besides, she very much liked the feeling of her fingers running through her hair, and the warm affection it made tingle across her skin when Amity fretted over her.

She wanted so badly to take her hand but held back.

“I heard the bookstore got the newest Azura book in just yesterday,” Amity says after a minute and Luz brightens.

“I’ll race you there!” Luz suddenly shouts, taking off down the sidewalk, laughing. Amity grins, taking off after her. Luz turned the corner up ahead and Amity pushed herself to go faster but when she turned the corner her girlfriend was nowhere in sight. She stops, looking around.

Luz is fast, she knows, but not that fast.

“Luz?” She walks a few more feet, passing an alley as she looks around.

Suddenly a hand on her shoulder drags her roughly into the alley and she yelps.

Amity grimaces as she falls to the ground on her backside. She looks up and finds herself staring back at the snarling face of the upperclassmen with the green mohawk her brother had pointed out earlier.

“Amity!”

She turns toward the call and her face pales.

Luz is pressed back against the alley's stone wall, while the other student, the blonde, holds her there, a hand fisted into the front of her hoodie, but Luz is looking at her.

She looks like she starts to move over toward her but the blonde, draws a spell circle with his free hand and flames erupts from it, which he shoves next to her face, making Luz flinch back against the stone.

“Don’t even try,” he snaps, and Luz glares defiantly at him.

“Luz!” She jumps up but stops short of dashing over when Mohawk steps right in front of her, blocking her view of Luz and the blonde witch.

“If it isn’t the twin's precious baby sister and her little human friend, what a coincidence," he hissed, quite literally as a serpentine tongue flicked out between his lips.

Amity glared right back. Her arm starts to shoot up, index finger extended but stops short as she catches sight of Luz, back up against the wall, helpless against the other student without her glyphs as he teasingly shoves the fire closer to her face. Slowly, she lowered her arm and swallowed; If she fought back Luz would pay for it. She clenched her fists.

“What do you two want?” she growled.

“To get back at your rotten shit siblings!” he snarled, stalking closer to Amity, who takes a step back for each of his, till they've stalked past Luz and the blonde toward the back of the alley until she had no place left to go.

"It's not enough they're top of the class, they have to harp on the rest of us all the damn time too with their stupid jokes and pranks!"

His arm shot out and he grabbed Amity's wrist, tight, and she cried out in pain as he yanked her forward and she slammed to the hard ground, it bit into her palms as she tried to cushion the fall. Her knees still knocked hard against it and Amity glared up at him.

"They think they're so funny and clever?" he spat, standing over her. He spins a finger and a dark blue spell circle appears before fire crackles in his palm. "We'll see how clever they are when we send their little sister home fried!" He kicks her for good measure making her yelp.

"Amity!" Luz jerks forward but the fire crackling near her face is shoved closer and she can feel the heat licking at her cheeks and swallows thickly.

"Don't even try human, or I'll cook you!" The guy barks. She stiffens, but she’s focussed on Amity, lying on the ground. They've both turned to look back at her and blondie, and Amity's pained expression turns scared as she stares back at her, and it's like ice water running down Luz’s spine when she realizes that Amity isn't scared for herself, she's scared for her. Scared to fight back because Luz might get hurt; she knows Luz doesn’t have her glyphs.

Her fists clench, white knuckled.

Maybe she doesn't have her magic right now, but if they think she's going to stand by and let them beat up her girlfriend, she's going to introduce them to the good 'ol human version of a ‘witch’s duel’. She takes a deep breath and too fast for blondie to react, her fist flies upward and she connects, fist cracking against the underside of his jaw.

Blondie reels backward, stunned, the fire in his hand dissipating but Luz doesn’t wait for an invitation, and jolts forward, swinging again, ignoring the pain in her hand and nails him in the nose.

“Argghh!” She must have gotten Mohawks attention again because despite her heart pounding in her ears she hears Amity’s voice somewhere behind her,

“Abomination rise!”

She wants to go to her, but Luz knows damn well that so long as she has her magic, Amity can defend herself; and she has her own hands full already.

The guy looks up at her, eyes filled with rage and suddenly Luz’s world is awash in pain as his fist connects with her face and she stumbles backward. She rights herself quick enough to see him coming, but not to stop the next punch that topples her to the ground, and then he's on top of her, a hand fisted into the front of her shirt.

Adrenaline is coursing through her veins and Luz kicks him in the gut.

He doubles over and she kicks him again, sending him sprawling to the ground before she turns toward Amity, who has an abomination shielding her from the fire spells the other upperclassman is firing at her while she rapidly draws spell circles, flinging back spikes of ice.

She runs forward but only gets two steps before she's yanked back roughly by her hood.

Blondie swings her by the hood into the alley's stone wall. Her face and hands scrape against the stone, but she manages to cushion most of the blow with her arms. His hand grabs the back of her head and grinds her face into the wall and Luz winces under the pressure, crying out.

“Get away from her!”

A spear of ice fires down the alley out toward the street, and Blondie lets her go, jumping out of the way before he's impaled. Luz has to capitalize on the opening.

She turns and flings herself at him, toppling them to the ground, and she just starts swinging, he raises his arms to fend off the wild, rapid punches. She knows she needs to keep his hands busy because she isn't going to be any match for his spells without her glyphs, though in a fistfight she can, apparently, hold her own.

A few of her hits connect, but then he hits back, getting in another punch that sends Luz reeling and her head spinning as he throws her off and she thumps to the ground.

She only just managed to scramble to her feet, still a little dazed, her face is throbbing and she can taste blood. He grabs the front of her shirt in both hands and lifts her off the ground, feet dangling.

“You shoulda just kept quiet you stupid, little bit-”

Anything he was going to say is cut off as Luz flings one of her legs up, hard as she can, nailing him where the sun doesn't shine and he groans, dropping her instantly and falling to his knees. He’s curled up in the fetal position, cursing.

She spins around, looking down the alley where Amity is still fending off the upperclassman, but he’s backed her into a corner. The sleeve of her hoodie is burned away and she’s favoring her left arm; she’s hurt.

With a strangled scream of rage and fueled by adrenaline, Luz sprints down the alley and throws herself onto his back.

“Leave her alone!” She wraps her arms around his neck and he chokes staggering backward.

“Luz!” Amity yells as he thrashes around, clawing at her, trying to get a hold of the human as she squeezed her arms tightly around his windpipe. He finally gets hold of her hood and hauls her over his shoulder, back smacking the ground with a sickening smack. She groans, rolling into her side.

Blondie is back, his face is covered in bruises and blood is dripping from a bloody nose and a gash over his eyebrow as he runs toward them, but before he can get there a blast of magic shoots him in the back sending him to the ground, followed by several more as Edric and Emira appear in the alley’s entrance, scowling and drawing spell circles furiously.

The twins heard Amity’s yell as they were passing by on their way to meet them at the bookstore. The twins move down the alley against the wall, firing spells so as to maneuver themselves between the two younger teens and their classmates. The two battered witches turn tail and run, outnumbered. The twins give chase.

Amity lets her abomination fall as the twins continue to fire off spells at their attackers retreating backs as they race toward the alley's exit, and quickly turns, looking wildly at her girlfriend.

"Luz!" She shouts the second her eyes land on her.

Luz groaned, blood is coming from somewhere, she's not sure where, but she's watching it drop to the ground, in blotches on the dirt, staining it crimson beneath her as she tries to right herself, stumbling to her shaky feet. The adrenaline has begun to fade and the pain in her entire body makes itself known in throbs, in sync with the quick beat of her heart, but especially her face.

Amity races over to her, eyes wide with fear, hands raised in the air but she's still lost in an adrenaline-filled haze that makes it hard to think straight, and she doesn't even know where to start with Luz's injuries as she looks at her.

Her left eye and the skin around it is starting to turn a deep, ugly purple as it starts to swell shut. Her bottom lip is split open and blood is running freely from her nose.

Luz's legs begin to tremble as the fight induced adrenaline leaves her and she lets them give, dropping back to her knees in a heap. Amity's hands shoot out to grab her arms, trying to slow the fall as she kneels next to her. She shakily digs through her pocket and pulls out a handkerchief and starts gently wiping at the blood still coming out of Luz's nose, but it just keeps coming and soon the thin white material is stained crimson.

The twins run over once they're sure the other witches are gone.

"What happened?!" Emira shouts.

"Why were they attacking you?!" Edric looks wildly between the two.

Anger flares up in Amity like demon fire as she turns to glare at her siblings, lips pulled back in a snarl.

"They were attacking us for what you two did to them at school!" Amity practically screams at them. "They were after me and they were trying to use Luz so I couldn't fight back!" She spits and the twins' recoil, complete surprise, and horror are painted across their faces. Amity wants to yell at them more but she has more important things to do. 'Take care of Luz.' is her prevailing thought.

She turns back to Luz who seems to finally be responsive after hearing Amity scream at the twins.

She reaches up to grab the hand dabbing at her face, her one still open eye on her. Amity glimpses the bloody knuckles as she does.

"I'm okay…," she says, squeezing it.

"You are not okay, Luz, you're hurt!" She chokes as the rest of her emotions start catching up to her, drowning out her anger with a sea of fear and Pain.

Fear for herself and for Luz, and pain, in her arm and in her chest as she looks at her beaten bloody girlfriend.

"I know… but I'll be okay. Are you okay?" Her one open eye roams over Amity and lands on the burn on her arm. The skin is red and looks raw with dried blood and soot around the edges from where the left sleeve of her hoodie had been burned away to create the injury when a fire spell had struck home.

"Forget about, me! You're bleeding everywhere!" She holds the crimson handkerchief to Luz's nose and pinches it shut. Luz winces.

"We need to get her home…," Edric says quietly as he walks up and kneels down to help pick up Luz but Amity snarls and shoves him away. He falls back, looking at her with wide, surprised eyes.

"Don't touch her! This is your fault, both of you!" Tears are dripping down her angry face.

"Amity…" she hears Emira's pained voice.

Luz grabs her hands, forcing her attention back to her.

"Shhh, mi amor…," she soothes, which only makes Amity cry harder as Luz tries to comfort her with blood still running down her lips and angry purple bruises blooming across her face.

"Please, Amity, we need to get Luz home, and you're hurt too." Emira's voice is tight, sounding on the verge of tears as she kneels next to her sister.

Edric bites his lip turning over onto his knees.

"Please, Amity…," he begs.

The hands wrapped around hers squeeze and Amity looks at Luz who nods tiredly.

"Let them help."

Amity jerks a nod and Luz let's go as Edric wraps an arm around her back and holds her arm over his shoulder to help her stand.

Emira moves to help Amity but she flinches away from the touch and stands on her own. That stabs at Emira's chest.

Luz winces with every step. It's a long thirty-minute walk to the owl house, made all the worse by the intense stifling quiet, as no one says anything.

Amity's burnt arm hurts, badly, but it's overshadowed by her intense worry, watching Luz wince. It looks like her nose has stopped bleeding but her face is a bloody, black, and blue mess and though she makes no sound, tears are still dripping down her face. Emira trails behind her, watching her carefully but says nothing.

When they finally arrive Hooty sees them coming and stretches quickly around the house, sticking his head in one of the windows for a minute before pulling back and a few seconds later the door slams open and Eda and Lilith come running out.

"What happened!?" Lilith yells first.

Eda meets them in the yard, but other than the panicked expression on her face, says nothing as she takes Luz from Edric, gathering the beaten girl in her arms and hurrying back into the house. Lillith takes one look and Amity and ushers her toward the house as well.

The twins move to follow but Amity stops.

"Go home," she sniffles, barely looking at them over her shoulder.

Ed and Em just stand there, they say nothing, just looking at their sister sadly as Lilith looks between Amity and the twins, before turning to them.

"I will tend to her injuries," she says, before continuing to lead Amity into the house. The door shuts on the twins still standing in the yard.

Luz is sitting on the couch when they walk in just as Eda hurries up the stairs, still not saying anything. Lilith leads Amity to sit next to her and looks over her burnt arm and the bruise forming around her wrist in a distinct hand-print shape before she also hurries to the kitchen, leaving the two teenagers alone in the living room.

The front of Luz's new hoodie is spattered with blood, the hood is ripped and theirs some small tears in other places, as well as on her jeans, while Amity's is singed, the whole left arm burned away to reveal her burnt arm. Ash and soot cling to the skin around it and the front left side is blackened.

They don't say anything, and soon enough both sisters return and Eda, face tight with anger and worry, begins gently cleaning Luz's face.

Lilith helps Amity gently pull off the ruined hoodie and starts cleaning her arm, making her tears start anew as she wipes at the tender and raw, burnt skin.

Luz's hand finds hers on the couch and holds it. Amity sniffles and runs her thumb over bruised knuckles.

When they're finally cleaned up and bandaged Eda leans back and lets out a long, tense sigh.

"Someone tell us what happened, now." She finally speaks, looking between the two teens.

They spend the next fifteen minutes explaining the events of the afternoon to the sisters. Eda looking, angrier and angrier with every word as Lilith's frown deepens and her brows pull together between her eyes.

"Those stupid little…!" Eda growls

"Edalyn" Lilith stops her with a word, drawing her sister's angry gaze but she's looking at Luz and Amity. "Why don't you two go upstairs and we'll call you when dinner is ready?" They nod and head for the stairs, the sisters watching them go.

Luz plops on her bed tiredly, back against the headboard. Her whole body hurts, but not nearly as much as her head, she's got a headache.

Amity sits next to her, leaning her head on her shoulder and they sit there quietly for a while.

Luz never could stand the quiet.

"Aren't you glad now I have that general disregard for danger?" Luz smiles weakly, trying to lighten the oppressively, heavy mood. Amity looks at her sadly, glassy eyes roaming over her face. Her left eye has finished swelling shut and it's an ugly black color. Her split lip has stopped bleeding but it's swollen too, closed with dark, dried blood. She has a rash of scrapes on the right side of her face from being slammed into the wall and several dark bruises dot her face, and Amity's lip trembles.

"I'm sorry…," she mumbles thickly, tucking her face into Luz's neck.

"Hey, it's okay. This wasn't your fault," she says, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tight.

At that Amity's anger returns stronger than ever, and she pulls away, scowling.

"No… it was my stupid brother and sisters fault!" she spat through fresh tears, looking away.

Luz wants to argue with that, she really does, but can't, because it's true. If the twins hadn't needlessly pranked and then provoked those two upperclassmen in the market, this wouldn't have happened.

"They didn't mean to," she tries weakly, but it sounds feeble even to her own ears.

"That doesn't make it any less their fault, them and their stupid pranks!" she rages. "They're always provoking someone, and now you're hurt because of it!"

"So are you," Luz reminds, her one eye flickering to the bandage wrapped around Amity's left arm from wrist to elbow.

"That doesn't matt-"

"It matters to me," Luz cuts her off sharply. "I'm supposed to be your fearless champion… and you still got hurt… you had to save me," she mumbled, looking down. She hears Amity sigh, and the bed shifts and Amity's head tucks back into her neck, arm around her tightening.

"You were my fearless champion," she mumbles, snuggling into her and Luz squeezes back, burying her nose in mint hair.

"And you were mine."

#Moonlit Masquerade #lumity #luz noceda #Amity Blight #edric blight #emira blight #Eda clawthorne #Lilith clawthorne #violence #fighting

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beautifulramblingbrains · 8 years ago

Text

Crush - Chapter 12. A Bit Of Blood

Pairing: Eric/OC *Abbey* Fandom: Divergent Rating: M

A memory from Eric’s past plays tricks on him. And it’s all about the girl, Abbey Ainsworth.

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading. I was meant to upload yesterday and got a little distracted. Enjoy!

Tags: @iammarylastar @badassbaker @pathybo@mimigemrose@frecklefaceb @beltz2016 @ariwolff14 @lauraaan182 @kenzieam @tigpooh67@elaacreditava@equalstrashflavoredtrash@murmelinchen @feminamortem

Eric is a colossal motion of built rage. The Dauntless closest back away, eyes wide, the breath hitching in their throats as they throw themselves to the side as he walks along with Max in tow. And so they should. Eric had rightfully earned his place and Leadership among Dauntless. He was known for his brutality, quick mind and fierce appearance - the attitude to match.

"I leave Lauren with one task!" Eric growls to Max. "And she's missing! An Amity…" he says disbelievingly.

There is a slight hesitancy on Max's behalf as he had already fully suspected this would be Eric's reaction, "She was trying to leave, I had to stop her. Then when Lauren went to check, she slipped out." There was also no real explanation and no further information to repeat to Eric. The redundancy of this situation infuriated him, so he keeps himself guarded under Eric's ferocity by creating a small distance between them.

"She slipped out, just like that… Where's Lauren? I'm going to strangle her myself." He pushes the security door open and Four throws his head back to look at him. The earpiece is pressed with his hand against his ear and he nods at Eric.

"The trucks patrolling the roads to Amity have reported seeing no one." Then Four mumbles back into the piece.

Max clears his throat. "Lauren has taken a group to the train but Abbey had a good fifteen, twenty minutes on us." He watches as Eric leans up against one of the monitors and dares to move closer. "What exactly happened?"

"I didn't touch her if that's what you're thinking... We argued. She… kept something from me and I couldn't see through my anger, as per fucking usual!" he slaps a palm onto the side. "Fuck! Anyone care to explain how she left through the check-point? Did she hand them flowers? Maybe she took them hostage… I can't make my mind up with what one sounds more believable."

Max hums, "Well, that's to be questioned, and I'm going to see to that myself. But I wasn't going to until I spoke to you first… Where would she go if not Amity? The factionless will be all over this."

"Yeah, I know…" He drags a hand down his face, suddenly stopping. "That's a good question… a fucking good one. Of course…" Eric peers off in thought. "Luka, call Noah. You two are coming with me."

The truck hisses as it comes to a stop and Eric jumps out, peering up at the war-torn buildings, checking the roofs first and any potential danger from above and adjacent windows. They were stupid as kids, stupid little teenagers who didn't think of the consequences of bunking off school. But now he knew. Now he habitually checked every open space before allowing himself to venture further.

The tree is still there.

Still standing in the squared off dirt, it looks smaller than he remembered, but the branches and chipped bark are just as haunting.

"Why are we here?" Luka shouts from the cab and flicking a cigarette towards the crumpled curb.

"Shut up." He still peers up to the highest branches, their names will still be up there, weathered, but etched for as long as the tree stood. He's mainly here because he needs time to think, to put himself in Abbey's mind and think about where she would go. "Where are you?" he says in barely a whisper. Her whereabouts would be very limited and he couldn't imagine she'd be stupid enough to hitch a ride back to Amity.

In his mind, he runs down all events he's ever come across with her, that smile, the eyes, the laugh, ghostly playing out in his head as vivid images.

Only one time she never turned up to school. One time she hid and didn't tell him.

He turns back to the truck to Noah's and Luka's confused stares.

"I know where she is."

Erudite is pristine. It's much more glamorous than Dauntless and stands higher than any other building, dressed from top to bottom in gleaming windows that seemingly baked in the unusual and thirsty weather. Dauntless couldn't be overlooked with its impressive intimidation of military presence and its sheer width, but Erudite is a step beyond that with the tippled edge of upper class shoved in your face by the way the towering building beckoned to be admired. They deemed their knowledge on par with their construction abilities.

The pathways are even etched and signs say 'Do not step on the grass'. It's more the glances and hushed whispers that still gripe him though, even to this day. - But the sudden urge to kick tufts of the green stuff and dance on the lawns was slightly tempting.

Erudite were snobs, and when they set eyes upon the Dauntless here, their noses were immediately turned upwards. It was funny how they abandoned the signs warnings and stepped onto the plush greenery to escape Eric's direct stride…

He's waved through immediately by the Dauntless guard and several Erudite. He knows exactly where he is going.

Floor 50, Apartment 205.

They are not stopped by the front desk; the woman appallingly hides with a small squeak and a flutter of papers in surprise.

Even in the lifts, Erudite refuse to get in with them, especially while they're armed. And when it chimes on their floor with the luscious pronunciation from a woman's computerized voice, he knows the corridor like the back of his hand, peeling around various corners and unbothered to count his way to the intended apartment. The gleaming silver numbers of 205 sit on the white glossed door in front of him, still as new.

He raps once, then places his hands in front of him, waiting patiently.

The man who answers is completely bald on top with hair shaved around the sides. His Erudite blue cottoned sweater was neatly worn with the white collar of his shirt poking out from underneath, looking exactly how Eric remembered him. His brown eyes drop down Eric and up, then he smiles. "Eric… I would say I was surprised, but I'm not."

"Mr. Ainsworth," he nods in greeting. "I'm looking for Abbey." He watches attentively as the older man glances behind him, then his wife appears. Her green eyes are darker than Abbey's, and the hair color is not as vibrant, but just from a glance, the similarities were there. "Mrs. Ainsworth."

"Please, it's Debby and Ben. You know that" she rolls her eyes. Her attitude, in a way, was also similar. Eric lifts his cheeks for their wellbeing and clears his throat. "And yes she is here. But she doesn't want to see you."

"I'm sorry, but she's under orders now."

"Orders, smorders…" Debby throws her hand up. "When have you ever listened to orders? When have either one of you two listened to anyone?"

"Look…" He glances at Noah briefly who still appears utterly confused and too involved in this conversation for his liking. Eric steps closer as if it would stop him from overhearing somehow. "I just need to see her." He still can't manage to pull rank on Abbey's parents. Old habits die hard. "… Things have been left inappropriately and I need to fix it. I don't know how much you know-"

"We know everything," Debby says crossing her arms. "A Mother and Daughter bond is very strong and we take pride in it. Don't we, Ben?" Ben just nods habitually to please her.

"Then you know why I must see her."

Ben looks at Debby and nods, "Fine, but raised voices are not permitted. And that…" he points to his gun, "Is not permitted here, either."

"As you wish." He gives his weapon to Noah and silently they understand to wait outside.

Ben doesn't move from the door as Eric passes, and waves him through instead. Immediately he's hit by familiarity. Everything is still the same and even has the particular soap essence floating in the air he remembered. But Eric had changed. Be it the pounds of muscle and the intimidating height that only enhanced his persona, he crippled the apartment with his mass and tainted the white walls with the blackness of his clear-cut uniform.

Her parents' guide him to her bedroom door and he feels a little uncomfortable as they slightly smother him, hovering just behind him as the handle clicks. It was like they were waiting for him to be bitten by the caged animal they held behind closed doors.

But the first thing he should've done is protect his face… He's smacked in the head with a pillow and he merely exhales through his nose.

"Abbey, please…" Debby tries her best to sound unhappy with her daughter's fierce behavior, but they all knew what she was like. She then whispers to Eric, "She's a little annoyed…" before squeezing his shoulder. "Good luck, sweetheart."

Eric steps inside the door and closes it. Abbey immediately throws a golden award at him, which he dodges and it bounces off the wall somewhere. Her room is still the way it was, her parents having no doubt kept it for the memories, a little like his own folks. The awards along the shelf, the plush bedding and pillows, pictures up on every viewable surface. - It was not far off her hovel at Amity.

"There's the little flyaway." He grins cockily at how right he was and how well he knew her. "I'm taking you back to Dauntless." He steps a little closer and she seems to be rummaging through a drawer.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! And especially not back to Dauntless! You made yourself very clear earlier." She pulls her dress off in front of him and his knuckles whiten.

"It's not safe for you to be here… and put your fucking clothes on…"

"I'm not safe with you either," she says while throwing a pale vest over her head. "Why are you even here? To put a barrel of a gun to my head? To name the many ways in which I'm an abomination? To take me to Jeanine? Which is it?"

"I'm here for you." He steps even closer and she throws her hand out.

"No! Do not come near me. Don't try and convince me with lies and promises. I'm tired of hearing them!"

"What I said, I said when I was angry. It shouldn't be taken into account. And you can't stay here." He knocks something other on the chest of drawers to his right as he passes and her eyes fixate on him now. Stuff like that annoyed her. "There's been a problem at Amity. All of Dauntless has been pulled out. Johanna is dying… Your friends are at Dauntless."

"Clem? Sandra? Are they okay?"

"Clem got a nasty hit to the nose, but she's in the infirmary… Abbey listen, when I was there-"

"No, Eric," she whines, closing her eyes. "Stop… please."

"I thought of you when I was there and it stopped me from making a huge mistake." Her ferocity has depleted and he brings himself closer, running a hand down her arm. "It made me realize I'm making another." She trails after his hand then looks up at him. "I've made another… however you want to fucking see it."

"I want to stop crying over you." She bites her lip and eyes brim with unshed tears. "Stop making me cry over you!" she thumps him then winces over her left hand. He grabs at her body and pulls her closer till her head rests under his chin before she can shut off from him again. "You loved me and hated me all in one day. How could you… how can you do that, after everything?"

"I never hated you. I can't. I was just pissed… I'm not exactly the sensitive type when it comes to surprises and omissions." He scoffs a little, "But that's quite an achievement. You should be proud."

"Stop being an idiot," she mumbles against his jacket.

"Come back with me. I'm not leaving until you do."

"What about-" she pulls her head up to look at him.

"What about it? You don't belong here, that I know."

Abbey smiles a little unsurely. "I'm scared," he hears her say softly when she pushes herself back into his jacket.

The door creaks behind them and Eric turns, Abbey's still clutched in his arms and he takes in her parent's dubious faces as if they had caught them in the act. Abbey pushes from him and her head drops a little, probably out of embarrassment.

"We hoped you could stay for dinner?" Debby announces, her eyes still lingering between the two.

Abominations seem to run in this family.

Eric pulls at the neck of his shirt. Abbey sits in front of him and smiles sheepishly, and only the clanking of cutlery is audible through the uncomfortable silence. He takes another bite of the roasted potatoes, not taking his eyes off of her and the way she tries to avoid him.

"You've come far at Dauntless, Eric, but what's with the tattoos?" Debby finally speaks, lifting a glass of white wine to her lips.

Was this some sort of parental interrogation again that he'd already sat through all those years ago? Most probably… But times were different now, he was far more confident than he was before.

"They're the leadership tattoos. I opted for the clear representation of them so they can't be questioned."

Debby nods, impressed. His eyes fall back to Abbey and she's smiling to herself while chewing quietly, her hair fanned over each shoulder and cardigan loosely pulled up her arms. He can't help but leer audaciously at her and her cheeks flush somewhat when she kicks him under the table.

Ben, who was once far too consumed by the meat on his plate, wipes his mouth with a napkin, "Are you able to commit to my daughter's safety while she is with you?"

"Most certainly." He gives him a flashing acknowledgment but is straight back to Abbey when she looks up at him and he smirks while the words tumble from his mouth, "But I fear for my own when in your daughter's company. She has quite the formidable temper." Abbey stops chewing and her fork hits the side of the plate.

"That's true…" Ben shrugs.

"Are you two together?" Debby suddenly asks.

"Mom!"

The four peer between each other and Eric's eyes are stonewashed as he does not once take his eyes off Abbey. "I believe so." Her cheeks are on fire under his gaze and it pushes him on, the sudden urge to put everything in the open is almost unbearable. He kicks his feet out leisurely, tilts his head back and gleefully says, "My future goals are to marry Abbey once the factionless cease to exist." Eric smiles wickedly. In a way, he was getting her back for the uncomfortable and nerve-wracking dinner they had when they were younger, ten-fold.

Should the awkward silence make him feel this good? Or was he just one sick and twisted son of a bitch?

"Eric?" Abbey questions, her little face scrunched up, and he just nods at her then smirks one-sidedly, waiting.

Debby purses her lips. "Well, I can't say that was unpredicted really… And you have been eyeballing each other for the past half an hour."

"Mom!" "Debby!"

"What? … It's true."

Eric bites his lip when Abbey blatantly tries to avoid him. Claiming what was rightfully his was leading straight to his groin.

He pulls himself up and swigs the water in front of him, trying to distract himself. "Thanks for the dinner but we really ought to get going. Ready, Ab's?" he says almost cockily.

"It was lovely to see you again," Debby says. "But next time I find my daughter turning up on my doorstep crying… I'll medically remove your nuts…"

"Message loud and clear."

Luka drives while Abbey is perched on Eric's lap, her hands somewhere to the back of his neck and shoulders.

Eric strokes a piece of hair away from her face as the lights of Dauntless would flash upon her. She turns slightly towards him, speaking so quietly he has trouble hearing it himself. "Did you mean what you said?"

"Yes."

"But what about-"

"It doesn't matter, it really fucking doesn't… I'm in two minds in what to call you." She crumples her face up at him. "Stubborn bitch from hell, Lost child, Pain in the ass, or Dick…" She elbows him. "Come on, you have to admit the first one is kind of appealing."

"Says chicken shit."

"I don't think that disgraceful nickname can apply to me any longer. Plus, it's getting a little old..." he whispers into her ear and she giggles softly at him while one of his hands run up her side.

Noah clears his throat. "Err, we're, um, … we're almost there."

Abbey kicks him a little with her foot, "What one did you prefer?"

"He went with, Pain in the ass… That there is just a joke. Out of all the others!" she moans. It's late at Dauntless and they make their way back to the apartment. A few hours' rest wouldn't hurt under the eventful day it's been.

"Well, at least he didn't go for mine – Stubborn bitch from hell… That was a good two seconds of thought lost…" He throws his door open and walks in, hearing her following behind. He turns to her and she's half-way through a yawn. "You tired?"

"It's been a long day…" She cautiously watches as he approaches, her eyes flicking up and down as he begins taking her cardigan off. She lifts her arms as he pulls at her vest and peers up at him. One hand begins stroking the side of her face. "What happened at Amity?" she sighs slightly as his thumb brushes over her bottom lip.

"They've elected Mark. Threw out anyone involved with Dauntless." Eric's own jacket is shrugged off, his tone impassive while he talks. "Johanna's in the infirmary having a transfusion as we speak. They're trying to flush whatever serum was in her body because I believe she may have answers. But I don't think she's going to make it. We need some kind of miracle to… heal… her…" His eyes flash up to Abbey who is strictly in thought. "No, Abbey."

"Why not? It's worth a shot."

"I promised to keep you safe and I will."

"Nothing will happen, it's just a bit of blood," she shrugs.

"A bit of blood... They will need more than you think. You'll have to be in the infirmary for the day."

"But if it saves Johanna's life? How can we refuse? Maybe they won't need as much as we think, I've never done it before. We can do it in stages."

"I won't risk it. There are two things at stake, you, and exposure." Eric tries to leave the conversation there by hitting the bathroom, shoving a toothbrush aggressively around his mouth and he peers up to her joining him with her own.

"But… if that were me… lying there… not Johanna," she says through brushing.

"No." Eric spits the paste out, dabbing his mouth quickly. He splashes his face and opens up his vanity cupboard above the sink, then peers exasperatedly down at her. "You organized my cupboard?"

"I told you I was going to go through it." She's standing in just her underwear and he can't help but roam over her. "What?"

"You have too much skin covered." His reply has her break a smile, one he wished he could capture and keep. He gently picks her up and she holds onto him tightly, embracing him. "No more running," he tells her. "But I have to know how you managed to slip the check-point?" Eric's removing her underwear as he speaks then places her on the bed.

"Oh, you know… I just said if they didn't let me go they would have you to answer to."

Eric can't work out whether she was telling the truth or not, but he knew Abbey had hidden capabilities when it came to evasion, he had witnessed it first hand on many occasions.

She lightly sighs while his hands scour her skin. Eventually, he watches her as she falls asleep but he falls into a pit of thought, listening to her slight breaths.

The eclipse that was foreshadowing him, was gone.

"Abbey!" Clem shrieks in the dining room. She clambers up from the bench and briskly closes the distance, throwing her arms around her. Her nose is covered by gauze and the glasses still not replaced.

"I heard what happened. I'm so sorry," Abbey speaks into her hair from a ferocious embrace but then pulls back. "The clothes are awful, aren't they?"

Clem laughs. "There was no time to get anything. Sandra's here…" she points to the table and Sandra looks up, her face softening and she jumps from the bench. She's a little plumper in her Dauntless clothes. When she reaches them, she throws her arms over both without a care.

"Thank god you're safe."

"I just went home to see my parents," Abbey says nonchalantly, then stops when Max appears behind Clem. "Hi… Max."

"I apologize for my behavior. I hope you can see how it was justified. But no more outings…"

"I'm sorry about Johanna."

"She's still fighting, but we don't know how long she has left. Her husband is with her." Max peers down to his boots and Abbey can feel his heartbreak as if it were her own.

"Ab's," Eric says quietly behind, having not moved or said anything and given them time for their short reunion. He didn't like the way this conversation was going and opted to avoid. He motions with his head towards one of the tables.

"Sit with me," Abbey says while grasping Clem's and Sandra's hands, and stubbornly she pulls them to one of the tables.

"Poor Johanna," Clem sighs. "I wish there was something we could do."

Eric nudges Abbey with his knee, glaring at her in warning. "There is," Abbey says while looking at him. "Clem and Sandra already know."

"Doesn't mean it will work and you could get in trouble…" Clem speaks quietly. "…They could call you Divergent."

"I'm not Divergent. It's a medical condition," Abbey says confidently.

"Care to explain?" Eric mocks.

"It's not just serum, it's everything I have problems with, so, I'm not Divergent. Simple."

"Oh, to live a day in the mind of Abbey…" Eric sighs but stops when she grabs his wrist.

"You want proof and answers, we need Johanna. It's an all-around win-win situation." He tries to retaliate and she grips him harder, "We're running out of time."

Eric watches the nurse lay Abbey on the bed, inserting a needle into the crook of her arm and slowly filling a bag of blood. He bites the inside of his cheek lost in thought just outside the door when Clem steps up next to him.

"She'll be fine." Then she drops her head a little. "You really care for her, don't you? I mean, I thought you did, but then I didn't know how much…" she rambles somewhat nasally from her injury.

Eric's over two heads taller than the little freak and arrogantly peers down at her. "Me and you aren't going to be the best of friends just because your buddies with Abbey…" Her face whitens a little. "But I'm glad you're trustworthy enough. And of course, I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"You're a lucky guy."

"So I've been told."

"Do you think if you weren't friends before, then you would be with Abbey now?" Clem is imagining him as Abbey's guard dog, waiting patiently outside of her room and glaring at the littlest of movements going on around them from time to time.

Eric thinks about it for a long second. "She plagued me from a young age, so the thought is unimaginable."

"Good answer," Clem nods, peering back into the room. Abbey waves to them, then lets her head fall back on the bed as the bag fills. "The nurse?"

"Won't say anything if she knows what's good for her," his jaw is tense as he speaks. And if almost by chance, the nurse steps out into the hallway, pulling the door to a little.

"If what you say is true, this will be a miracle, a cure to all simulations and more… But, I'm also afraid there may be consequences."

"I'm not taking her-" Eric rushes.

"No… that's not what I'm saying. Of course, there would be consequences if anyone found out, it's a heavily impressive quality she has. In my eyes, a little wasted…" She holds a hand out in oath, "But you have my word, I won't tell a soul… However, I'm talking on more of a personal level, one that may bring complications into the future."

"What are you talking about?" Eric snaps.

"If everything works to plan, her blood is entirely unique, a gift to some, but also possibly a curse. In all my personal experiences, to which I'm taking a medical guess on because I feel you won't let me study her further…" she squints a little in annoyance. "Without some type of tests and medical intervention, bearing children is next to impossible as her body will confuse it with a foreign obj-"

"Stop talking…" Eric gnaws on his bottom lip.

"It's a very likely theory, Eric. One that shouldn't be ignored." The little nurse watches as Eric pulls the door shut, then leans down to her level.

"Get rid of your theories. Don't you even think about mentioning this to her, do you understand?" Clem wipes at her face and Eric guesses she's crying or something Amity, while the nurse's lip trembles a little. "That's an order."

Eric didn't mean it in a hidden shame, he meant it to prolong Abbey’s happiness and not have to be burdened with it. To him, it only seemed Clem was on the same page as him. "Eric’s right, now's not the time to tell her."

"So slap that smile back on your face, or I'll do it for you…"

He pushes the nurse through the door and Abbey unknowingly watches, chirpily saying, "I think it's almost full."

"Johanna's getting better," Eric tells Abbey who's still laid out on one of the infirmary cots.

"Yay…" Her voice is unenthusiastic though, her face pale. They've been here for quite a while now. "I did a good thing." She sounds high, her eyes rolling a little. They took as much blood as they could without damage, but the effects were exhausting.

"You're never doing this again."

"Agreed, I feel used…"

"C'mon, let's get you back." He pulls her up slowly and gently sets her down from the bed. "You okay?"

"I'm good. But I want to see…" she pushes him a little towards the corridor. "For peace of mind."

Instead of arguing, he takes her to the room where Johanna is, and peers through the crack in the door. Johanna is not withering anymore, she's sat up with her husband drinking from a plastic cup of water. The smile on Abbey's face is weak, regardless of the amount she's eaten or drank to keep her energy up.

"Okay, I believe you. Now let's go home." She stumbles as if she was drunk. "I need to sleep for a week."

And Abbey wasn't lying. She slept all night and Eric left her asleep this morning - after checking her profusely before he did.

The nurse's eyes follow him as he retraces his steps from last night and straight into Johanna's room. He's unsurprised to find Max here and Johanna clad back in her normal Amity clothes. He brings himself to a haughty stop with his hands behind his back.

The factionless needed to be wiped out. Now. No more distractions or excuses. And his whole demeanor screamed business as he coldly regarded them all.

"There is no killing you, is there?" Eric says snidely.

"And who would be around to annoy you?" Her smile, the one that reminded him of a frog, was back.

"Who did this to you?"

And that's when Max steps towards him. "It was Mark."

"I could've guessed after our last meeting. Funny though, didn't think Fido had it in him. Hey, Johanna, he kept you in the dark…" She glares irritatingly at him. "No doubt he was the one to plant the pictures. But he better hope he's not the one who chased Abbey from her work. I was thinking of giving him a quick demise, but I may draw it out, pleasure in pain and all that…"

"There's more, we did a background check, he's been linked to all the factions. He's had an unnumbered amount of opportunity and associations to all five of us, records, routines, procedures. Amity was the easiest to intercept and I have no doubt he's been pulling strings. My every belief is he is the forefront of the factionless"

"Great, every viable reason to assassinate him without any second thoughts."

Johanna throws her feet off the cot. "What about the people?"

"They will be unharmed," Max says calmly. "They have been manipulated and silenced by radicalism."

"It doesn't mean they won't be punished or made an example with afterward," Eric cuts him off. "I think we can all agree that the other factions should be notified of the recent activity. Various checks and security measures will have to be called. We don't have any idea to what extent his involvement is or what his next movement will be, so at the minute, we are still walking blind..."

"Without you, Johanna, we would still only be guessing, but now we know for certain without calling debates from the other factions."

"Not me, it's Abbey you should be thanking. It was her blood in the transfusion…" she trails off, mortified by Eric's sigh of credulousness and her mouth clamps shut.

"And why would you allow Abbey to commit to such an act, Eric?" Max asks pryingly, his eyes set into an examining frown.

"What does it matter? It worked, didn't it?" he throws out casually.

"One minute, Johanna is on death's door, the next, she's up and chatting. I believe there needs to be some type of explanation."

"Her blood type is unique. And that's where this conversation is going to end," Eric snarls, warning him. "You got that, or shall I make it clearer?"

"For the sake of the plans of the attack on the factionless, I'm going to ignore we even had this conversation. But afterward, I want answers, I'm tired of being left in the dark."

"You'll leave it if you know what's good for you." And with that Eric marches from the room, leaving Max to push and pull air from his lungs in frustration, and also slightly knocked of hierarchy in front of Johanna and her husband. But he also knew that Eric didn't make idle threats. So with a quick nod and turning on his heel, he sets his mind back on the plans for the factionless.

It's like her whole body is burning, every limb tingling. Abbey tries to open her eyes but they are so groggy with sleep she lets them close again. It seems like minutes, but it could be hours until she eventually hears the apartment door quietly open and the distinctive noise of boots approaching her darkened corner.

"Ab's?" She's thankful Eric's tone is airy and whispered. The bed dips and she can feel his hand touching her side through the covers. "You've been sleeping all day."

She wants to say she feels like shit, that there's a burning in her core, and her arms and legs prickle. Instead, she only sighs, "Why?"

"Why what?" the smirk is audible through his voice.

"Why wake me… I'm not ready."

"Well, you need to eat. And I can't go to Amity leaving you like this."

She flips the covers back, pushing herself onto her back. "What? Why are you going back?"

"I'm taking Mark out."

"No, Eric."

"It's my job. And if you hadn't of noticed, I'm pretty good at it." He runs a hand up her thigh. "I'm leaving tonight, and hopefully by tomorrow morning we can begin the reestablishment of Amity and put some of this shit behind us."

A hand flies to her forehead and she closes her eyes. "What if something bad happens?"

"You'll stay here. But nothing bad will happen." She still won't look at him, her mouth opening and closing with whirling thoughts. "Move over." He nudges her, strips his jacket off and discards his boots before climbing in. "It will be fine," he says to her conflicted face while pulling her body towards him. Their noses brush and he kisses her forehead, stroking her lower back.

"Make love to me before you go," Abbey whispers with a sense of emotion behind her tone. He pulls himself up without a word, pulling at his clothes. Climbing back in, she invites him with open arms on top of her, but pauses as she trails a fingertip across the scratchmarks on his face. "I'm sorry I did that to you."

"I shouldn't have shouted at you." He would have said something more if he wasn't situated between her legs.

"Well, if it's any comfort, I already miss your stupid face even if you haven't left yet." She feels him at her entrance, and he slowly begins applying pressure, rocking back and forth a few times until she's adjusted to him. Gleefully, she smiles to herself when a shuddery breath escapes him. His grey eyes dart up in the darkness, serious at first, then he smirks. "You seem to have lost your voice?"

But Eric doesn't answer, and he pushes one her thighs to one side, then bites along her collarbone, her hips rising to meet him each time. But the pace is slow and steady, not messy or impatient. He stops to peer at her, taking the bottom of her jaw in his hand and kissing her as he begins moving again, the groan leaving her lips and into his mouth as her hands tangle in the sheets.

"That was what I wanted to hear…"

Mark peers around the room, happy with the new decoration he's added to the loft office. Johanna's things have been removed, the usually unoccupied chairs littered with his men. Some are smoking and a group further back play cards and argue pettishly amongst themselves.

The man directly in front of him, the same one who helped him at the hospice, waits patiently for an order.

Mark's cheery face lands on him and his smile readjusts for the situation. "I have no doubt Dauntless are preparing to make a move on us." He sits up slightly and clears his throat, his head sweaty from the damp heat the office seems to admit constantly. "It won't be long now."

"The resistance?" The factionless man dressed as Amity questions and Mark knows exactly what he means.

"They wait for my go-ahead." He rolls the chair back and the room falls quiet. "Listen up… Dauntless will be preparing to take Amity back any day now. They've had a cooling off period, a chance to converse with the other factions… only because we have allowed them to. We will let them think they are running this show. We will let them think that we are trapped at Amity without so much as a backup plan. - Let them think that it's Amity we are so interested in." He stops, reveling in this long-awaited moment. "My brother leads a small group of resistance to Dauntless once we are notified of movement. It will be just enough to set the trucks back, a façade if that's what you want to call it. But not before we have already done the damage." He rounds the desk and every eye is on him in awe, the feeling close to the most radical high. "We know we can't take Dauntless with their sheer number and mass, but they are unknowledgeable of our numbers and what exactly we are capable of and I'd like to keep it that way. That's why we have to be smart. That's why we have bided our time."

"What damage?" his most trustworthy henchman asks.

"Eric will be coming for Amity. Max, I'm unsure. The others are of no interest." He pulls a bag up from beside the desk and brings out a black plastic box. Inside sits a simulation gun and multiple vials. "I have a little test for our Leaders of Dauntless." He holds it up, showing the room. "It has a range of 50 feet. Once injected, I can activate it from the Amity database. It has the side-effects of paralyzation at first, but it's so much more than that…" He kisses it and it earns a few barks of laughter. "I can program it so that those who are in the simulation can do my dirty work, gather the numbers, see inside Dauntless… and most importantly, write down every passcode to their knowledge."

"I still think we should just kill them."

"What a waste." Mark stands, brutishly hitting a random guy on the side of his head for his stupid opinion. "Once activated it will be like a time-bomb. They will be like a wolf let loose into a herd of lambs, and the little lambs will be none the wiser. Anyone who stands in their way is as good as dead."

He laughs, the men joining in quietly. "Especially if it's the likes of Eric…"

#crush #chapter 12 #a bit of blood #beautifulramblings #eric and abbey #jai courtney #eric coulter #eric #eric divergent fanfiction #fanfiction #divergent #insurgent

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