Disclaimer: I don't own The Selection, sadly. Instead, all works belong to Kiera Cass.
This is my take on the ending of The One; slightly modified in content and expanded as well. I hope you enjoy.

"I'm not him, America. I have no intentions of giving up on you." Those words were ringing through my head as I curled up into a ball on top of the silk bed sheets. Everything had finally just fallen into place, but just like that, in a blink of an eye, all was wrong once again. The feelings of giddy euphoria were dying down and in their place, a cold numbing pain was taking over. I guess this is what you would call heart break; this pain, this horror. I feel as if Maxon had taken a dagger and plunged it into my heart.

The memories of the previous night were eating away at me. He was going to choose me. We were going to get married! All was suppose to be well; that was supposed to be my happy ending, my happily ever after. I truly loved Maxon and if I had any doubts prior, I know now that he most definitely will always be the only one for me. The holidays and the birthdays, the busy seasons and lazy weekends, everything that was supposed to happen with Maxon, all these possibilities were now all gone.

One stupid mistake – no, one stupid misunderstanding; that was all it took for Maxon to lose faith in me. I thought that after everything we had been through, he would have known me better by now. He should have let me explain myself after. Instead he was just furious with me, and although rightly so, I wish that things would have ended differently.

"Have your maids do their best. You should go out in style." His last remark hung in the air. The dead look in his eyes, it will forever haunt me. The very core of my body felt like it was about to crack from the pain. I cried, hoping to get this ache out of my body before the ceremony began but I know, deep down, this was a fruitless attempt. Nothing could every numb the feelings coursing through my body.

Looking at the clock to see how much time I had, I saw the thick envelope that Maxon had given me last night. This was the last piece of him that I would ever get to have and with my heart shattered into a million pieces, I opened the seal, desperately seeking for something, anything to help deal with the torment.

The letters he left behind did nothing to help with my tears. Instead of helping to keep the waterworks at bay, the floodgates were broken. With my vision blurred, I decided that the only thing I could do now was pen him a letter myself. To let him know how I truly felt. I need to share with Maxon, my side of the story, even if he were to choose Kriss. I wouldn't be able to live with myself otherwise.

Dear Maxon,

I know now that, to say I have missed you more than you could ever imagine, would be meaningless to you; but I must tell you regardless. As soon as I left the gates of the palace, even with my Father's death, you were always on my mind as well. I love you Maxon, and it's as simple as that. Going away has confirmed and solidified my feelings for you and I swear I was going to talk to you about Aspen before the ceremony took place. I just didn't know how to bring myself to talk to you about it. I didn't want to lose you Maxon, truly I didn't but I guess it's too late for those worries now.

Over the course of the Selection, you have been absolutely incredible to me, and we have come a long way from me yelling at you and kneeing you in the groin. From our two first kisses to being able to laugh and converse with you freely, I've fallen hard for you. You may always think that my love for you was all a lie but I swear on my life that it truly wasn't. Please Maxon. I know that nothing I say will ever be able to mend your trust in me, and I know that I have cut you deeply, but I promise you that I honestly do love you; I swear that on my life.

You wrote to me that I am the laughter that breaks through sadness. Well, you are the sunshine at the end of a storm. You are the rain at the end of a drought. You are hope in the midst of despair. I know it took a lot for you to take that leap of faith, and I am so sorry that you had to find out about Aspen that way. Just know that I have always been ready, waiting for you on the other side of that canyon. I still am, Maxon.

Even though I may have lost you, I'm glad that you will have Kriss there by your side as queen and although it is not in my place to say so, I do wish you two happiness together. I'm glad that as everything comes to a close, you will still be able to have someone that truly loves you by your side.

Nothing can turn back time, and as much as I wished for such a thing to happen, it won't. Having said that, if I could turn back time, know that I would have told you a lot sooner Maxon. This will forever be one of the greatest regrets I would ever have. The love we shared was pure and true, and I destroyed that. I know I must now live with the consequences of a broken heart but I do wish that one day, you would be able to find it in your heart to forgive me. You will be a great king, Maxon. Thank you for everything and I'm sorry I let you down but please, know this; I love you, forever and always.

America.

I rung for my maids and they rushed in, seeing my tear-stained face, they could tell what was inevitably going to happen. As they helped me prepare for the ceremony, I clutched my letter to Maxon to my heart before passing the letter along to Lucy with instructions for her to give it to Maxon after my dismissal.

The great room was packed and I tried to seem happy as I looked around the room; Gavril was in a corner, speaking into a camera, narrating the events as they happened and Maxon spent the entire time speaking to Kriss. My eyes soon found their way over to Queen Amberly, speaking with her sister Adele. She was the epitome of beauty and poise; she looked absolutely radiant. I know that she had been waiting for this day for so long; to finally be able to have a daughter call her Mom. She would love Kriss like her own and for that, I was jealous.

I turned and scanned the faces of the Selected. My eyes landed on Celeste and in her eyes, I saw a clear question: What are you so worried about? The worry etched onto my face must be obvious but I could do nothing to hide it. I gave her a minuscule shake of my head indicating that I had lost and in return she sent me a thin smile and mouthed the words it'll be okay. I tried to believe her but I could sense that something wasn't right. I couldn't help but think that we were on the brink of something significant.

I saw Aspen in the crowd looking distracted; it was clear that something was bothering him. It was as if he was trying to solve a puzzle in his head and I wished that he would look my way, maybe try to explain his worries wordlessly, but he didn't.

"Trying to arrange a time to meet later so you could finally be with the one you truly love?" Maxon seethed bitterly. I whipped my head towards him.

"No, of course not Maxon! You know that's not true. Please, I only love-"

"I don't want to hear you spout anymore lies. It doesn't matter anymore anyways. Kriss's family will be here this after for a small celebration and yours will be here to take you home. They don't like for the last loser to be alone, she tends to make a scene.

He was so cold towards me, his tone sending chills down my spine. I have never seen Maxon like this. It was as if this wasn't even him anymore.

"You can keep the house if you want. It's already been paid for. I have no use for it anymore and I wouldn't want to keep anything that would remind me of you and all your lies anyways. The letters I would like back however"

"I read them," I whispered back to him. "I loved them."

He scoffed. "I don't know what I was thinking. I was a complete fool for even writing those letters in the first place."

My face was crumpling. The tears were threatening to spill out. "Please don't do this. Please. I love you"

"Don't. You. Dare." He ordered through gritted teeth. "Put on a smile and wear it until the very last second. I blinked away my tears and gave him a weak smile.

"That'll do. Don't let that smile slip until you leave this room. Do I make myself clear?" He looked into my eyes with hatred burning in his. "I'll be glad when you're gone." My heart broke even more.

After he spat out those last words, his smile returned as he faced Kriss again. I stared down at my clasped hands on my lap, slowing down my breathing, trying to put on a brave face. When I looked up again, I didn't dare look directly at anyone. I didn't think I could honor Maxon's last wish if I did.

I focused, instead, on the walls of the room. It was because of this that I noticed when most of the guards stepped away from them at some signal I had failed to see. They pulled pieces of red fabric out of their pockets and tied them across their foreheads.

I watched in confusion as one of those marked guards stepped behind Anne and put a bullet through the back of her head.

The screaming and gunfire simultaneously exploded at once. Shout of agony filled the room only adding to the cacophony of chairs screeching, and bodies slamming into the floor. I watched, stunned, frozen in place as the men fired. I saw death more times in a handful of seconds than ought to be possible.

I searched for the king and queen but they were gone. I couldn't be sure whether they were captured or if they had been able to escape. Beside me, Maxon was trying to calm Kriss. "Get down on the floor," he told her. "We're going to be alright."

I searched desperately around for Aspen and saw him on one knee, taking aim, firing deliberately into the crowd. He seemed to be very sure of himself and at that moment I was in awe. It was also at that moment when I realized that these were rebel guards.

Kriss, letting out another cry, had brought me back to reality. I realized that I should run, that Maxon and Kriss would run if they were going to survive this ordeal. My heart was pounding and my brain was panicking telling me to run but I was frozen to the spot.

I looked at the menacing figure raise his gun, directing it at Maxon. I turned towards him and I wished that I had the time to speak; to tell him everything in my heart. He turned to look at me. The next few seconds felt like forever as the man pulled the trigger.

I didn't even think to scream. Instead, everything seemed blurred as I leaped out towards Maxon. At that very moment, all that I could think of was saving my one true love's life for I had known, deep down, that a life without Maxon, was not a life I wanted to live at all.

The pain I felt was excruciating as the bullet hit my chest; I barely registered the impact of my body hitting and sliding on the floor. I had never felt something so agonizing before. I heard people shouting in the background and saw Aspen crawling over towards me.

"Are you alright? Mer? Can you hear me?" I tried to nod my head in acknowledgement but the pain was too great. "Don't worry, it'll be alright. You'll be okay soon. I promise."

As much as I wanted to believe Aspen, I knew better than that.

Maxon who stood frozen in shock but quickly regained his bearings.

"America!" he cried. "How could you do this to me? I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me here. I'm begging you. America, I love you!"

He took off his jacket, using it to apply pressure to the wound as Aspen left to aid the others. I felt a cold tear on my face as he sobbed over me.

Very slowly, I painfully reached out to touch his face. "I'm so sorry Maxon." My voice was hoarse as my throat was dry and scratchy.

"No, I'm sorry. I was about to ruin both our lives." The regret in his eyes was evident. I looked away from his eyes. I just couldn't bear to see the emotion in them.

"Maxon, I –"

"No, America. Don't talk, just look at me." His voice was thick with emotion. I pulled my gaze up to his eyes. "Break my heart. Break my heart as many times as you want, into as many pieces as you want. I couldn't possibly fool myself into thinking that I could ever give my heart away to someone else."

I smiled at him through the pain.

"America, my heart was only ever yours and it will forever be yours."

"Maxon," I gasped for air. "My heart will only ever beat for you; every beat of my heart is yours and I'll love you until my very last breath. I don't want to die without you knowing this."

"Please don't do this," he choked.

I took my hand off his and laced it though his hair. The pressure was light but it was enough for him to understand what I wanted.

The kiss that took place was filled with emotion; all the uncertainty and all the hope. Through that very kiss, I felt the love he had for me.

"Don't give up America. I love you. Please don't," he sobbed.

I tried to respond but I couldn't. Instead, all I could feel was the slick wetness growing on my chest as my breathing became more labored.

I lost track of everything that happened afterwards. My grasp on reality was slowly leaving me and as I drifted out of consciousness and into the darkness, the only thing on my mind was: Maxon, I love you.