Maxon's POV

I straightened my tie and brushed back stray hairs on my head. I had to look extra-presentable today, my father's family was coming to town, the Royal Family of Scotland. His little sister was married into their family when she turned 19, Aunt Alison. She was married to the prince, Gerry. They now were the King and Queen of Scotland with four children: Killian the oldest, Jessie; Killian's twin sister, Andrew; third oldest, and Sean; the youngest. Killian and I were almost the same age, him a year older the me and Jessie was a stuck-up brat, even at age 20. The little boys were really nice but were really young, 7 years younger than Killian and Jessie.

I walked out of my room and down to the great hall, where the elite and my family were to wait for my relative's arrival. "Maxon darling, come stand next to me." my mother said to me. I started walking to her when my father put a hand on my chest roughly and said, "You are late. Even the elite arrived faster than you did and they take hours to get ready."

"I was finishing the draft you needed me to have to you by lunch. I apologize but I am here now." I walked past his hand and stood by my mother. She squeezed my hand and then held them in front of her elegantly. I always looked up to my mother, she always knew what to do and what to say. The doors opened up and my cousin Killian walked in confidently towards me. He held his arms out and said, "Maxon," I embraced him a large hug and he pulled back smiling then kissed my mother's hand and bowed to my father. He then walked back to me as the rest of his family visited with my parents and said, "Look at all those beautiful ladies. They are all fighting for you? Wow. I wish I had a selection. I just marry who my parents tell me to. Like my sister, she is engaged to the Prince Of Spain as of now."

"Really?"
"Yeah." he said with a smug face. Even though his sister could be rude and stuck-up, they were always really close being twins and all. I know it would be tough when they had to leave each other. "But seriously, who's your favorite right now? I got to say, red head is gorgeous. Seriously if you don't pick her I'm taking her home!" he joked. But I didn't laugh. "Whoa. You really do like her, eh Maxon? Well if she has a horrible personality at least she's pretty. Really pretty-"

"Stop. This is my selection. I won't have you hitting on any of my girls and for your information she has a lovely personality." I said sharply.

"Oh yeah? Lovely personality? Well the fact that she yelled at you the first time you met and and then she kneed you in the groin? Doesn't sound like she has a lovely personality. She sounds like a spitfire. I like that-"
"I said stop! How do you even know that?" I asked.

"It was on the report. We have it broad casted to our castle so we can keep up with you guys." he said simply. I looked at him and smiled before saying, "Sorry. I am really stressed out and father is always telling me who to go for and who to eliminate and I am sick of it to be honest. It's my competition, no one else should make the decisions but me."

Killian put a strong hand on my shoulder and said, "It's alright mate. I get it." I knew he didn't but it was nice to see he cared. "Now I know this is your selection but would you mind introducing me to the beautiful ladies before I live with them for the next month?" I laughed a little and nodded, leading him over to the elite.

POV SWITCH TO AMERIIIIICA!

I stood patiently alongside the elite as Maxon and his extremely attractive cousin talked. He had jet black hair and dark brown eyes the same shade as Maxon's. He was so tall, at least 6'4'' and was on the muscular side. He looked at me and winked, making me blush furiously. I was here for Maxon I reminded myself. Not for some hot, Scottish, muscular, hot... STOP! I am here for Maxon.

But I couldn't help but stand up a little straighter when they walked over to us. I was at the end of the line of the elite and they started with Elise. He merely shook her hand as well as Kriss and even Celeste. When he reached me he bent down and kissed my hand, never leaving eye contact with me. I could see Celeste fuming out of the corner of my eye and couldn't help but smile a little. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lady..."

"Just America." I said softly, a little dazzled by his looks. He grinned widely and said, "Well then, just America, it was a pleasure to meet you. Your hair is... beautiful."

"Thank you, your highness." I nearly whispered. I smiled at him and curtsied like all the other girls. "Just call me Killian, America." When I rose he was smiling, not letting go of my eyes. Maxon tugged his ear at me with a stern face. I tugged back, with concern and he pulled Killian away from me. Killian smiled as he was pulled away and winked again at me. I blushed and looked at my feet, immediately regretting it. I heard a laugh, it was almost like a scoff but when I looked up he was already turned away.

THE NEXT DAY

I woke to the curtains being drawn back by Mary and a light shake to my shoulders. I shot out of bed and said, "I have to look extra pretty today, you guys hear me?" I sat down in the chair and said, "Quick there isn't much time!" They all rushed to me, excited I wanted to look nice. They curled my hair loosely and made it look like it was natural. They pinned back a few strands with pearl pins and did my make up again naturally. I had on light brown liner and sparkly brown eye shadow. The mascara was minimal as well as the amount of powder on my face. I had nude lip gloss on and a creme colored dress. It was skin tight and ended a little above my knee and was strapless. It was plain, nothing on it and I also had on some creme peep toe heels. I hadn't dressed this nice for breakfast in a long time. Lately, it seemed like Maxon couldn't care less about me. After tugging his ear last night he didn't even come to see me. It was nice to see that even our special thing didn't mean anything anymore. Well if I wasn't winning Maxon's heart, I might as well try and win someone else's. I am at the age where I should be getting married any day now.

I still loved Maxon, I really did, it just felt like he didn't have time to even see me anymore, let alone have a conversation. I made my way to the dining hall and opened the doors to an empty room. My heels clicked loudly in the empty room as I walked to my seat. "You look stunning today, America." a deep voice said. I turned around and saw Killian standing in the door frame. I smiled and said, "Thank you Killian." I turned back around, forcing myself not to be attracted to him but it was nearly impossible. He took a seat next to me, Kriss's seat. He grinned and said, "You are quite welcome, Mer. Is it okay to call you that?"

I choked a little on my orange juice at the nickname and nodded. "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. Its just, that's what my ex boyfriend used to call me before..." I lost track of my words and shook my head, "Never mind." He shifted a little in his chair towards me and said, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You seem a little upset."

"Leave me alone! I am fine just, get off my case! I met you yesterday and you're already asking me about my previous love life? Look," I put a finger on his chest and leaned in, "I am not here for you. I am here for Maxon. That's all you need to know. Got it?"

He nodded and turned back to his juice. More people came in after that including Maxon who sat down quite stiffly. Kriss walked to her seat only to find Killian enjoying his eggs and bacon in it. She moved to the chair opposite of me and shot me a glare. I put my hands up to say I didn't want him there and returned to my meal. I looked over at Maxon who was violently cutting his sausage. He felt my stare and looked up at me. I tugged my ear and he tugged back with a small smile on his face. He seemed to cut his meat a little more nicely but went back to his savage cutting when Killian leaned in and whispered, "What's that whole ear tugging thing you got going on there?" I dropped my fork rather loudly and gave him a menacing glare before saying, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

I got up from my seat and practically threw my napkin down. I heard another chair screech back and footsteps following. Once the doors closed I ran to my room. I heard large footsteps quicken behind me and I rounded a corner. I hid behind it, the deep steps still fast. Once he rounded the corner I ran at him and knocked us both over, "LEAVE ME ALONE KILLIAN!" I found his face and it wasn't Killian at all, it was Maxon.

"I came to see if you were alright. You looked really upset when you left the table, I was just checking on you. Is everything okay? Why did you think I was Killian?" he asked. I shook my head and stood up. "Sorry, he has been, sort of, um. Sweet on me you could say. I just want him to leave me alone. He asked me about our ear tugging thing. And I got mad. He wasn't supposed to know about that and-"

"Ssh," he soothed. He brushed a stray hair behind my ear and leaned in to kiss me but I put a hand on his chest. He stopped and looked into my eyes, hurt. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" I breathed, "This random guy shows up, hits on me while I'm in the competition for you but it seems like you don't even care about me anymore and I can't help but flirt a little with him because I feel like you don't even like me anymore."

"He's been hitting on you! You are here for me America! Not my cousin-"

"Excuse me! I'm not allowed to even talk to another guy and look a little nice for him because I feel neglected but you can be dating and kissing and loving 4 girls at the same time? How does that make sense to you?"

"This, is a competition America, for me. I understand how you are feeling but this is totally different."

"NO ITS NOT! Don't you get it Maxon. I am falling apart by the second and you don't even see it. I haven't had a real conversation with you in weeks and every time I see you have free time you are with someone else. I hate to be jealous but man, it seems like you have zero time for me anymore. You have gone on 7 dates with Kriss, 5 with Elise, and 4 with Celeste these past three weeks. Not a single one with me." Tears ran down my cheeks and I could feel my heart ache. He stepped towards me but I shook my head. "I know you don't have much free time but man not even a minute of your free time to ask me how I was. You probably didn't even know that my father passed away two weeks ago."

"America-" he whispered. I stepped away and wiped my eyes. I went back to my room and sobbed. I hadn't thought about my father's passing that much because I knew if I did, I would break down, like this. My maids left me, knowing that I would want to be alone. A small knock sounded at my door and it opened slowly. "Go away Maxon," I said softly. I was curled like a baby on my bed, back facing the door. Tears were still flooding my cheeks. "It's not Maxon." a deep voice said. I turned around to see Killian standing there. He sat on my bed and said, "I hear your conversation. I didn't mean to...startle you... or give the impression I was hitting on you. I have a rather, loud personality and I truly didn't mean to offend you. I know you are here for Maxon and I am so sorry about your dad. I'm sure he was a good man." I looked at him, my face drenched in tears. "Thank you." I sat up and sat next to him and asked, "Am I ridiculous? Am I just jealous and stupid, did I sound like that? Cause if that's it I need to apologize." I stood up and then he grabbed my hand.

"No, you don't. He is being an idiot. I know this seems silly because we just met, but it usually works. Do you need a hug?" He said. He stood up as I nodded and let him hold me up. He pressed his hand on my back, bringing me close to him and I locked my hands around his neck and breathed in. He smelled earthy, like pine trees. I pulled back and smiled. "That did help. I haven't had someone properly hug me or, care about me in a really long time."

"Your welcome. You know since you're in this competition and I can't possibly take you out or date you, how about we become friends. I could use someone other than my sister and Maxon to talk to around here for the next month and a half. What do you say?"

I hugged him again and said, "I would love to. Its also been forever since I had a friend."