Prompt from AllAboutThatTratie. College AU. Not in Chicago or the City, but in the regular world. Tris and Eric end up as roommates in an off campus apartment, but don't get along initially.

Rated M for language and adult situations. I hope I did it justice.

xoxoxox

Eric looked around the apartment with a scowl, muttering to himself as he picked up what was amounting to a small load of laundry from the living room.

It was complete bullshit that he should have to clean up after his roommate just to make the place presentable for company.

The cozy little flat had been clean when he'd seen it for the first time a week ago. The girl who rented the place, a cute little freshman who had introduced herself as Tris, had seemed responsible and driven, just as he was. Eric had thought it would work out nicely. She was continuously proving him wrong with every passing day.

It can't be worth it, he thought, bending down to pick up a scrap of clothing that had no business being in the living room.

That wasn't the extent of the mess however, and Eric found himself relieved that he and Zeke had other plans for the evening. He wasn't looking forward to scouring dishes or sorting the huge pile of mail on the table, though he was curious about how long the electric bill had been sitting there.

He should have never moved in. She was messy. Constantly in and out. And she had a habit of cranking up her playlist when studying, so loud that it rattled the walls.

Once, he had said something about this particular habit of hers.

"Don't you think the neighbors will complain about the volume?"

"No way, Mary loves the Doors!"

And so he bit his tongue, because what could he say? If the ninety year old woman next door didn't complain about the music, how could he?

For at least the tenth time today, Eric wished he had never moved in as he stuffed Tris' collected items of clothing in her basket in the laundry room.

His gaze then fell over the living room, less than pleased with its current state. Though free of clothes, it was scattered with various personal objects, all of which belonged to Tris. Her laptop sat open on the coffee table, though at least she had remembered to turn it off. There was a gym bag on one end of the couch, unzipped, with the contents overflowing onto the cushion.

Tris acted as if she still lived alone, Eric mused. She certainly didn't have any respect for Eric's presence in the apartment.

He heard a key turning in the lock and sighed to himself.

He had been hoping to be gone with Zeke before Tris returned, but it appeared luck was not on his side.

The door opened to reveal a small girl, arms laden with a stack of textbooks for the new semester. So slight, she was almost hidden from view by her burden, Eric was impressed that she'd managed to get the door open without dropping anything.

"Hey, you," she greeted him cheerfully, kicking the door closed with her foot. She was cute, he admitted to himself. Today she wore her usual attire of jeans and a form fitting tank top, with her sunny blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, gray eyes alight with life. Almost cute enough that he could look past her many faults, but not quite.

Eric cringed as she dropped her pile of books on the coffee table with a loud bang.

"You wouldn't believe what this lot cost me," she sighed, eyeing the stack of texts with disdain. "I'm going to be eating ramen noodles for a month." He watched as Tris pushed escaped wisps of hair away from her face and looked around the room curiously.

Eric shuffled uncomfortably as she turned to him.

"You picked up my clothes?" She asked, confusion evident in her tone.

"Well, I have a guest picking me up here in about an hour…" He began to explain, unsure of himself suddenly. It had seemed alright to touch her things while he was doing it, he was simply cleaning. Now, that the small girl was looking up at him with her wide gray eyes, he wasn't so sure.

"Sorry. It's just the place isn't exactly suited for company at the moment, is it?"

"It isn't?" asked Tris, indignantly.

"Tris, I picked up one of your bras from the floor by the couch." Her tone ignited his own frustration and the words just slipped out.

"It-it must have fallen out of my gym bag," she replied weakly.

"Yeah, that's another thing. No one wants to sit on the couch by your sweaty gym clothes."

Rather than reply, she crossed the room to snatch the bag up.

"Any other complaints I should be aware of?" The coldness in her voice surprised him. He hadn't heard that particular tone before and it made him pause for a moment. She was getting upset, he could tell by the red blush on her cheeks.

"I only have an hour before I leave, hardly enough time to address my complaints." He spoke casually, but it didn't take the sting out of the words.

She stared at him, arms crossed over her chest and lips pursed.

"You should really take the time to discuss it, I know I'm dying to know how to make your life better." Unlike Eric, she kept the sass evident in her tone and even rolled her eyes to drive the sarcasm home.

"You could start by cleaning up after yourself," he said with false awe, temper getting the best of him. "I'm not going to continue to live in these conditions!"

"These conditions? You make it sound as if the place is a dump!"

She muttered something under hear breath that Eric didn't quite catch, but sounded like it could have been 'asshole'.

"I can't even have company over because your stuff is all over the place. The dorm at school would have been better than this."

"It's not too late, I'll even help you pack," she snapped back without missing a beat.

For a moment he only glared, not wanting to mention that he couldn't afford to live in the dorms even if he'd wanted to.

"When and if I decide to move, you'll be the first to know," he told her, though without his previous bravado.

"For your sake, I hope it doesn't take too long. I can only imagine how you're suffering."

She just didn't quit, Eric thought, shaking his head.

Looking at her now, eyes alight with anger, Eric guessed she was trying her best to be intimidating and it made him want to laugh.

He crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring the girl's stance.

She was comically smaller than him, but it didn't make her back down at all. She stood her ground, even when he took a step forward to subdue her fiery temper.

It was attractive. She was attractive, he admitted begrudgingly. Never had he seen her look so alive as she did in that moment. Her hair was slightly messy from her earlier struggle with the textbooks, her cheeks were flushed with temper and her eyes were positively on fire as she stared him down, refusing to give in.

He shuffled, realizing his body was reacting to her display in a very surprising way.

The shock must have shown on his face and he cursed himself as Tris smirked.

Damn his traitorous body, reacting like he was a pubescent boy again. He was always in control of himself, always.

She didn't even have tits, Eric told himself, letting his eyes trail over her body, just once.

In all honesty, he didn't care much for big tits at the moment. Not when she was looking at him with those stormy gray eyes and that cute little scowl on her face.

"Don't look so proud of yourself. You're still a slob," he told her, just to watch the smile slip off her face.

"Control freak," she shot back and damn, but if it didn't make his cock twitch.

She was positively livid at this point and Eric found it to be as good a reason as any to back away and duck into his bedroom.

"Where are you going?" She called after him and Eric sighed from behind the safety of his door.

He thought about answering her, but decided it would make her angrier if he simply ignored her. Well, that and the fact that he couldn't think of anything to say with his blood rushing to his lower regions.

He breathed deeply, leaning on his door and trying to regain his composure.

He was in disbelief that some scrawny little freshman could have such an effect on him. Losing his temper was one thing, but losing control of his body? It hadn't happened in years.

Eric heard her out on the living room, throwing things around and cursing, and he bit back a moan.

She certainly was something else when she was angry. He would just have to remember not to piss her off again.