PREVIOUSLY...

"Aspen, what did he tell you Maxon!"

"well there was a story about when you were 10 and had your first solo show and you were so nervous you-" I cut him off pushing him in the chest as I spoke, "I swear to you Maxon Shreave if you ever even so much as consider saying that story to anyone, ever, I will hunt you down and make you pay."

He chuckled at my spurt of anger, "Oh dearest, I have many more where that came from." Then he kissed me, and we were lost into each other for the rest of the night.

America's POV

The night had passed us quickly as Maxon and I sat up talking about life, particularly my life before coming to the palace, our wants, desires for the future and of course all the little I love yous in between. We had pulled off the main blankets and pillows from my bed and made a little love nest on my balcony as we spoke.

We were leaning up against the wall looking out into the gardens, me with my head comfortably resting on his shoulder as we watched the sky turn from darkness to lighter blue, purple, pink, red and yellow as the sun rose indicating a new day ahead. Both of us knew that soon our peace would be broken as my maids would be coming to ready me for a new day. I sighed onto Maxon's shoulder trying not to let the much needed sleep catch up with me, far too stubborn to miss one minute that I had with him. Maxon however seemed to have other plans; He lifted me into his lap before swiftly standing, cradling me in his arms as he walked me over to my bed, laying me down gently before stepping away to retrieve my duvet.

He returned wrapped inside my blanket as he flopped down into the bed with it all wrapped around him, completely cocooned. I pouted at him and he chuckled before raising his arm and the blanket along with it, giving me excess to the warmth it provided as I lay me head over Maxon's chest, the sound of his heartbeat giving a steady rhythm was sending me over the edge as I tried so hard to keep my eyes awake at that point, the weight of my eyelids feeling like they weighed 100lbs. All too soon sleep got the better of me as I drifted off in Maxon's arms and felt his heart slow as he followed after me into a restful sleep.

I woke several hours later to the sun shining bright in my face. I was slightly disappointed to find that Maxon was no longer beside me, sighing I stretched and prepared to get up and face the day. I looked over at the clock seeing it was already 10:30am and I had long since missed breakfast and lunch would be ready in and only 2 hours. I sat up in bed, looking over at the space that Maxon had filled only hours before and how even after only being awake for less than 5 minutes I was already missing his company. That's when I saw the flower; it was unlike any other I had seen in the gardens here in the palace. It was the most breathtaking rose I had ever seen, it was small and had a soft velvet feel to it but that wasn't even the best part, the flower was rainbow colored. I lifted the rose to my nose and took a deep breath of its scent, smiling. Beneath the flower was a note in Maxon's handwriting.

America,

You have no idea how hard it is to wake by your side and leave you, my angel. I wish I could have stayed in bed all day with you, unfortunately the day would not be so kind to me, and I had some work to do in order to spend the rest of my day with you. I have informed your maids to allow you to sleep until you call upon them.

On your desk you will find some strawberry tarts, other pastries you like and some fresh squeezed orange please eat my darling.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Xo,

Yours,

Prince Maxon.

Ps. I love you

When I was done the letter I was smiling from ear to ear. I was so glad that he thought of me being hungry I hopped out of my bed and when I was in front of my desk I smiled at the arrangement in front of me. Chocolate covered croissants, danishes, tarts, fruit and orange juice. I picked up the tray of food and walked back to my bed, climbing back into the covers to enjoy my breakfast.

I called for my maids so I could get ready to go down to the hall for lunch and had just finished eating when they arrived with a light knock to my door before entering. They were all blushing at me as they entered and I was wondering what was going on in those heads of theirs. "Good morning my lady," they all said in unison curtsying and I refrained from rolling my eyes at them. Shaking my head I had them rise and reminded them of my name, and how much I hated when they curtsied to me. They made quick work of starting up a bath for me. When I was all done in the washroom they sat me in my chair and went to work.

They left my hair in as much a natural state as possible only taking the pieces at the front of my hair and French braiding it around my head as it twisted to the back before being pinned and cascading down my back. They had added in some pearls and jewels to my hair, making it look like a crown on my head. Then I was put into a crochet knit dress that had a teal under slip that would shine through the cream colored crochet making it look like I had jewels all through my dress. I thanked them for their help and amazing work that they create.

As they were leaving me alone again Anne came up to me and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to me, before I could ask her who it was from she was gone.

When I was alone I opened the letter and beamed when I recognized the writing.

America,

If you are reading this then it means that you are up and ready well before lunch is to be served. I sent this letter with your maids since I am stuck working at the moment. I unfortunately can't seem to get anything done this morning as you are the only thoughts that fill my head. I have been replaying last night with you over and over in my head all day. I feel that I need to see you to help my little concentration problem. I have sent a guard to escort you to my office.

Hope to see you soon,

Xo, Maxon

I was slightly confused by the end of the letter, but that confusion wasn't going to overpower my curiosity. I went quickly to my door and when it opened I saw a guard standing, waiting for me. He nodded his head in my direction before speaking, "lady America, I have been asked to have you follow me, please."

I smiled at him and followed him through the palace until we came to two ornate wooden doors. The guard knocked three times fast and then opened the door for me. The room was all dark wood and there was several candles going to illuminate it, the curtains had been drawn shut and the walls were lined with bookshelves. I walked right up to them without taking in the rest of the room yet, and looked at all the hundreds of books, from literature to atlas' it was all here. That's when I remembered where I was, I turned around and was met with the warm chocolate eyes I adored.

Maxon was leaning onto the front of his desk, his hair was a mess just the way I like it, his tie was removed and the first few buttons of his dress shirt were undone. As I took him in my heart rate sped up, he was incredibly handsome as everyone knew but, this version of Maxon, where he looks normal, like just any other guy who has a mountain of work in front of him, he was mine. I smiled broadly as I made my way over to him. He grabbed my hand as I was going to take a seat and pulled me into his arms taking a deep cleansing breath as soon as I was in them.

"Good morning, Dearest," he said as he hugged me tightly to his chest. I had a grin on my face that was not going away and as he hugged me I took in his warm vanilla and spice smell.

"Good morning, my prince." I lifted my face to his and kissed him. "I missed you this morning when I woke up."

"You have no idea how hard it was to leave you this morning, I wish I could have that with you every day." He lightly stroked my cheek as he spoke.

"Me too," I kissed him again.

"Is it bad that I want to dump all this work off my desk, pretend it's not here and just escape away with you for the day?"

"Hmmm, I wish we could."

"Well you know, I am the prince, I could make it happen," he said it with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

I threw my head back laughing at him, and to prove his point he moved around his desk and threw all the papers off and I stood there with my mouth open. Maxon started to circle around his desk towards me again and I mirrored him moving around to the side he had come from, if he wanted to play I would gladly oblige him.

His eyes gleamed as he realized the hunt was on. We circled around the desk a few times switching directions and mirroring each other's movements. Then I broke out into a run as I ran across the room circling around the sofas and chairs.

Maxon took me by surprise when he hopped over the sofa and tried to grab hold of me. I just escaped his grasp as I swirled around another sofa waiting for him to stand again. When he did his eyes held a new glow of energy and he took off instantly in my direction, catching me in his arms. He spun me around in his arms, my back to his chest and placed me back down in front of him then kissed my neck lightly.

That kiss scent a bolt of electricity down my spine and I shivered in his embrace, leaning back slightly grinding my back into him, enjoying the feel of him around me.

He took that as a cue to continue, he kissed me lower down my neck, as my head lulled to the opposite side, granting him fuller access to my neck and collar. He moved across my bare shoulder and then switched to the other side. His hands trailed up and down my arms lightly as he went, goose bumps raising up on my skin as my chest started to heave at the desire coursing through me.

I spun myself around so I could be face to face with him, and I kissed him, hard. He lifted me up and moved us again onto the sofa, flopping down and bringing me down with him. I landed with my legs around each side of his lap trying so hard not to move my hips and grind into him again, instead I leaned in and kissed him again. He slowly trailed his hands up and down my back, pressing me closer into his chest. I moaned into his mouth and he held me tighter, kissing me more fervently. His hands trailed back down my back and came to a rest on my hips. I could feel him beneath me as he pushed his hips up into my lap, I could feel how eager he was to continue and the passion in the room encircled us in the heat of the moment. We kissed and moved together on the sofa trying to get all the extra friction we could. We were panting and full of desire as I sat up and looked down into his eyes.

"Maxon, I...we..."He sat up quickly and looked at me shaking his head and cupping my cheeks in his hands before giving me a quick kiss. I moved off of his lap and we sat beside each other on the sofa catching our breath and then he stood offering me his hand. I looked up at him as I took his hand and he pulled me up.

"Come, I wanted to show you something anyway before lunch. It's kind of why I called you down here." he said blushing at what we had been doing before and gave me a sideways smile recalling the memory.

I looked at him with an excited and confused expression as he led me out the door. We walked down endless hallways to an area of the palace I've never been to before, I could tell we were getting closer when Maxon's pace accelerated.

We reached our destination ironically in front of a full size picture of Maxon. I laughed at him as he found the secret button that moved the wall granting us access to an old stone staircase. "This is one of the old sections of the palace, I found it years ago. There used to be another image on the wall but I always got lost trying to find this place so eventually I just put a picture of myself there to make it easier. I know it's silly but this is a place that only I know about, and well, now you do too."

We got to the top of the stairs and he opened a small old wooden door, inside was an extremely large room, it had light blue walls that were faded with age, some kind of sticker stars stuck to the ceiling. Around the room were toys that I had never heard of or seen before, some old arcade games, a funny looking sofa that looked like a balloon and chairs that were large bean like sacks. The rug on the floor was of city streets and buildings from an aerial view. There was a big screen TV on one of the walls with a couple big reclining chairs facing it. I spun around the room in awe of all the gadgets and toys before looking back at Maxon, "What is this place?" As I spun back around tracing my hand over a couple old toys waiting for his reply.

"This is where I spent most of my free time as a kid, after I found this room I would play with the toys and just be a normal kid. With all the pressures my dad kept me under learning and studying all the time, this was my one place that I knew was just for me. When he would hit me I would come and spend hours up here, even since all the girls got here, when I just needed a minute to myself I would come here. This Ame's is my sanctuary."

My heart was breaking and falling at the same time from his words. I walked back to over to him and looked into his eyes, this place was his place of solitude, a place he could just be himself, relax and be free. The fact that he was showing me this was huge all on its own. "Thank you Maxon, the fact that you're showing this to me is proof how much you trust me." I got up on my tip toes and kissed him softly on the cheek, "I love you, you know."

"And I love you, America."

We stayed up in his secret room for about half an hour playing a board game called 'Battleship'. All of his years of war training gave him an advantage, and I told him I wanted a rematch, and soon.

Now though it was almost time for lunch. We walked to the dining hall in silence, just content with having each other's company. Before we reached the door he stopped me and brought me back into his arms for one more kiss before we were in a hall full of people.

When we entered the room everyone was already there, well everyone but King Clarkson. Maxon escorted me to the open seat in between Celeste and Elise before making his way to the seat at the head of the table. I tried not to be jealous that he was seated beside Kriss, but she promptly started a conversation with him taking all his attention away. I pursed my lips at the situation and Celeste looked at me with a sad smile.

"I tried to get Kriss to sit between us," she gestured to my seat, "but she was adamant that she was going to sit over beside Maxon. She said you had all last night and this morning with him, and now it was her turn. By the way we need to talk about that." and she winked at me.

It was with that I realized that we hadn't spoken about the events for this afternoon. I looked down at my plate and ate the remainder of my lunch in silence. When I looked up at the end of my meal I couldn't help but have my eyes stray onto Maxon. He and Kriss were still talking intimately amongst themselves and I tried to turn away but my eyes seemed frozen on them.

That's when he noticed me staring. His eyes locked on mine and he tugged his ear. That unfroze me as I smiled and tugged mine back. Lunch was done and I was leaving the hall when Celeste took my hand and dragged me down the hall to my room with Elise following slightly behind us.

Once the door was shut Celeste actually jumped up and down. "You spent the night with Maxon?!"

I blushed and nodded my head. That caused both Celeste and Elise to jump up and down. "DETAILS, Now!" Elise was using her demanding voice.

I shook my head at them first, before they both grabbed a hold of me dragging me to my bed and pushing me onto it before hopping on themselves and bouncing slightly in excitement. They were so excited to hear what we had done I had to tell them just a little bit so they would leave me alone. "It was incredible, we talked for hours, watched the sun rise on my balcony, and I fell asleep in his arms. Then when I woke up he was gone, but he left me a rose and a note requesting to see me when I was awake before lunch. Then, well I went to see him and the rest is kind of private."

They pressed me to give them details of our meeting this morning but I wasn't going to budge. I told them all they needed to know and I wasn't planning on breaking Maxon's trust by telling them his secrets.

Instead I told them that I needed to freshen up and pushed them both out of my door. I cleaned up and changed into a new day dress. I swear my maids were magic fairies who could dream up any outfit they wanted and make it a reality, I could see that they had a color theme going on today.

I zipped up the teal dress admiring their handy work, it was short in the front and longer in the back coming down to just below my knees. The bodice was made to look like a mermaid top covering my chest and showing a decent amount of cleavage; it also left my shoulders and back open. The bottom had many layers of blue colored tulle making it look like it was constantly in motion. I spun around a few times watching the material move in the mirror, touched up my makeup, put on the bracelet Maxon had gotten me on his trip to Asia and headed downstairs and outside to sit in the gardens.

It was a beautiful day outside considering it was almost December and it felt like spring outside, winter weather in Carolina was much colder than this. I was sitting on 'my' bench writing in my journal about all the events of the last day, that's when I saw them, Kriss was crying on Maxon's shoulder as he tried to console her by gently rubbing circles on her back and petting her hair. I felt like I was intruding on an intimate moment between them so I got up off the bench silently and walked back inside, leaving them to their privacy. I walked around aimlessly for a while lost in thoughts and somehow I ended up going up several different stairways, down more long hallways, through a few hidden passages and ended up on the roof in a section I have never been to before.

From up here I could see most of the city of Angeles and the crystal blue ocean beyond that. It was extraordinarily beautiful up here. I found a comfortable space against a stone wall battlement and tried to start writing again, the problem was I couldn't get the images of what I had seen out of my head. To clear my head I did what I used to do back home, I just started to draw. Thankfully I had brought my colored pencils with me.

I don't know how long I had been up on the balcony drawing before a guard found me. He reported finding me into his walkie-talkie and requested I follow him back downstairs to the main floors. I felt that I was in trouble as I walked behind him and down the stairs, I kept my head down, looking at the floor like a chastised child. When we were out of the hidden passage I was greeted by a frustrated, sweaty and wide eyed looking prince. "What on Earth were you doing up on the roof?"

I raised my head and looked at him seeing how panicked he looked and immediately regretted my decision to have gone somewhere so hidden. "Maxon, I'm sorry. I never meant to frighten you, it's just, I was out in the gardens when you I saw you were out there with Kriss," I looked away from his eyes then and continued. "I wanted to give the two of you some privacy, so I came back inside looking for a quiet place to write and draw and this," I gestured around me, "is where I ended up."

"Ame's, I'm just glad you're okay. I thought… I thought something had happened to you." He let out the breath that he must have been holding since he was trying to find me all the anger and fear he was holding in evaporated in that moment and he enveloped me in his arms again letting out a deep sigh of relief.

I didn't know what to say to that, so instead when he let me out of the hug I decided it may be better just to show him so I took out my notebook and opened it to the page I had been drawing on. I signed it quickly and ripped the page out of the book handing him the completed drawing.

He took a step back and looked at my gift to him. His jaw dropped as he saw the detail in my drawing. I had drawn it from my memory of earlier today. It was a picture of Maxon and I curled up together on my balcony watching the sunrise, it captured everything that moment had meant to me. Wordlessly he moved in closer to me and pulled me in for a heated kiss. Beside my signature I had written him a small message, 'I LOVE YOU'

"Thank you America, I will cherish this, always. I hate to break up this moment, and I know we both tugged our ears at lunch but right now there is something else we are supposed to be doing." He offered me his hand and we walked together to whatever place he had in mind for us today.

There you have it, another long chapter, longest one I have written yet. It brought the word count up over 20,000 :)

AUTHORS NOTE: I know I have been writing a lot of Author's notes for this story but I just wanted to ask you guys if you feel like I should continue this story for a while longer, if you would prefer I end it soon or end it and make a new story with a new direction to it. Please let me know what you guys want otherwise I will be wrapping this up in the next few chapters or so. Thanks for reading.

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