Disclaimer: I don't own The Selection by Kiera Cass.
We lay in bed that night, and a question that I had been dying to ask from the get go, was on the tip of my tongue.
"What happened to Kriss?" I blurted out.
Maxon turned me around so I could face him under the covers in his—our—bed. He stared at me for a few seconds.
"You mean, what happened between the attack and when I proposed," he said, more like a statement than a question. I nodded. "When Aspen came back from hiding you, the attack was over. He held me up and he helped me walk to the hospital wing. We stopped a few feet away from the entrance. He told me how regretful he was that it had turned out like this. That you and he were together before the Selection, and broke up just before you came here. You had time to think, and you let him know that I was the one you wanted."
I stroked his cheek.
"All true," I said.
"He told me that I was being an ass when after I had chosen you, I had then decided to choose Kriss after I showed up. He said that you weren't lying when you said you loved me after I found out." Tears were in my eyes. He wiped them away. "Ssh, ssh, let me finish. He and I stood there for a few moments and I nodded, telling him he was correct, and that when I saw you, if you still wanted me, I'd be yours. He brought me to see the doctor and I was in and out of the room in twenty minutes. You were still probably hiding in the safe room.
"When I came back up here after I was all bandaged up and was told my parents were killed, I called for Kriss. She came in a few minutes later, and I had them close the door. She sat on the edge of the bed and held my hand, telling me everything was going to be okay. That we were going to have a life together…and I hesitated. I told her that while I cared for her deeply, I had made a terrible mistake in thinking that while you had broken my heart again, I was going to marry a girl that I had no intention of marrying in the first place. I told her that it had always been you.
"She called me a lot of names. She said that it wasn't fair, that I was going to propose to her at the party, and you were going home and then I just changed my mind. But, in reality, she was going home first, since I realized that I couldn't live without you, and I told her that. I told her when I found her that she was done, and was going home. She said I was selfish, and maybe I am, but at least she got all of her anger out and said she's coming to the wedding, since she still loves me."
"Oh," I said, staring at his left ear, not meeting his eyes. "So, she's coming to the wedding."
Maxon's eyebrows shot up.
"Do you not want her to come? I thought you two were friends," he said.
"No, no, we are," I agreed, "but I just feel so bad after everything that happened. From you choosing me, to her, to me again."
"You have nothing to feel bad over," Maxon argued, taking my face in his right hand and making my eyes meet his. "You have done nothing wrong." His eyes flew down to the mattress.
"You have nothing to feel bad for, either. You said it was always me, and yes, things changed, for several minutes. Several minutes can't take away either my love for you, or your love for me. She should've known that, being in love with you, herself. But, I should have told you from the start about Aspen. It would have made things much easier."
Maxon nodded.
"Maybe I wouldn't keep replaying that scene in my head, you not believing me when I told you I loved you, and keep breaking my heart over and over again, though I kept breaking yours." I looked down at my ring. "Those few minutes are probably some of the worst of my life. Knowing that I lost you forever."
"You have me now," Maxon said, cradling my head in his chest, playing with the ring on my finger. "You've always had me, and I'm not letting you go again, my Queen."
That's right, I was Queen—or about to be—soon.
"You'll be fine," Maxon said, as though he read my mind. "Silvia and your maids will help. I'll help. You'll be fine."
I let out a laugh.
"Silvia basically hates me from that earlier Report."
"Yeah, well, you're going to be Queen soon, so she'll answer to you, not the other way around."
"You mother and father would be so proud of you. She was gonna let me call her Mom, you know?"
Maxon chuckled at that.
"In time, it'll sink in. She was really going to let you call her Mom?" he asked.
"That day us girls were joking around, I was brushing her hair, and she and I were joking around, and I called her Mom as a joke. And she said that if she was correct in who she thought you would choose, I'd get to call her that."
"Well," Maxon said after a moment, "she'd be correct right now."
Maxon smiled. I snuggled into him more, careful not to hurt his body anymore than it was. I yawned.
"Goodnight, my dear," he said.
"I love you," I said, closing my eyes.
"I love you too, my darling."