A/N: I do not own or have the rights to The Selection series. That all belongs to Kiera Cass. I am simply having some fun with her characters.
This is my first story, and I am not sure how often I will be able to update as I am looking for work at the moment. If anyone would like to be a beta for my story please contact me.
Hope you enjoy.
-H
I sighed, as I looked out over the gardens. My conversation with America had not gone well yesterday. Sure it had started off fine, until I realized how frustrated she was with this philanthropy project. I had wanted her to understand how critical this project was to the next elimination; my father has been pressuring me for weeks now to let one of the girls go and he was not quiet about his discontent for America. I sighed again as I thought of how I felt like I was backing her into a corner, giving her an ultimatum on whether or not she wanted to be here. What was even more frustrating was that she had pushed me away…. Instead of fighting for me, us, she sat there closing herself off from even more. I had been so sure that she was the one for me, we had been getting closer to one another and as we did so I noticed that she smiled and laughed more... Halloween. A plan of mine to show her the privileges that came with being a One, instead it had been the spring board for every unspoken thought, every moment of discomfort within our relationship; something that was falling apart in front me, leaving me feeling helpless and lost on how to put back together what we had once had.
This train of thought was making me restless. I needed out of this room, I needed out of my head, most of all I needed a distraction. At least I had a date with Celeste tonight. Speaking of which I needed to get going or I was going to be late. "A prince is always on time Maxon". Great, now my father's advice was running through my mind. As I made my way down the stairs to the second floor, I had the sudden urge to go to America's room. There was no doubt in my mind that I was drawn to her, but a promise is a promise, and Celeste and I had plans. Perhaps we could watch a movie; something light – a comedy perhaps- to take my mind off my duties as prince, and America.
I knocked on the door to Celeste's room and a maid opened the door, eyes down, and invited me into the room. Everything about this room bothered me, from the colouring to the choice of fabrics; all of it meant to give an air of seduction. It had quite the opposite affect on me, leaving me wanting the comfort that I now found in the simplicity of blues and whites. I sighed again, chiding myself to stop thinking of America, I was spending time with another woman; one that I may add was taking forever. At that very moment Celeste walked out of her bathroom, wearing what had to be her most daring dress choice yet. I couldn't help but notice that Celeste was not afraid of showing off her figure, but the whole thing felt fake and over the top.
As we walked down to the theatre room, I tried to keep up a conversation, but I wasn't in the mood. At least Celeste had been receptive to the idea of watching a movie. I felt on edge for majority of the movie I could feel Celeste's eyes on me, watching my every move, making me feel anxious and frustrated that she couldn't leave me be. Suddenly, I felt her hand on my thigh. Of course she would want something physical tonight, it felt like that was all she knew. Dress, act, and be sexual…. I noticed that the movie had ended and I desperately wanted out of here, the movie had not been enough of a distraction.
As I turned to Celeste, to make up some excuse about being tired and calling an end to the night, the way she looked at me sparked a reaction in the part of my brain that disabled any ability to think clearly. We leaned into one another as I placed a kiss upon her lips. As the intensity of our kisses increased, both of us realized how uncomfortable it was to have the armrest between the two of us. This felt like a good time to call and end to the night. I stood, wordlessly, took her hand and pulled her out of the theatre. About halfway down the hallway, my good intentions flew out the window as Celeste pinned me to the wall and began to kiss up and down my neck.
As we continued to kiss, I let everything go, focusing all of my attention into the one moment. We began to whisper things to one another, when she mentioned how the possibility of a guard walking by seeing us like this made it that much more thrilling. At that she giggled and resumed her kisses, something Celeste clearly had plenty of experience with. I sighed as I thought of the sweet, gentle kisses I preferred to these harsh almost punishing ones. STOP, thinking of her, I chided myself. You wanted a distraction and you have one. I closed my eyes and let myself feel. Moments later I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching us.
As I opened my eyes, I noticed a figure at the other end of the hall. As my eyes focused on that person I felt my stomach drop, begging for my eyes to be tricking me. Of all the people to walk down this hall at this time of night it had to be her. My body had stopped moving, I was in shock, and my mind was trying to catch up to what had just happened. Celeste was clearly oblivious as she continued to kiss up and down my neck. I stood there staring at her, watching and knowing that the hurt, pain, and sorrow within her gaze had been caused by me. She backed away from me slowly, leaving me. As she disappeared around the corner, I couldn't help but feel like I had lost the best thing in my life; my dear, my darling, my America.