A/N: Hellooo my dears! Happy Thanksgiving y'all! I know I don't really have any excuses, but I really HAVE been busy. Also, I've been running into a bit of a writer's block.. Hopefully it will be over soon :)

Frankfish: Thank you lovely :)
sparklysparkle: Thanks babe ;)
GloryToTheWind: Same for me, fanfiction is the only way I deal with waiting for the One!
Belle453: No problemo girl :)
S: Awh, I love you for always reading no matter what!
EAM777: Noo you're the best! xx
TheEpicDuck123: Awww omg that review made my day! You're too sweet!
Karen: Thank youuu!
Selectionfan: I'm thinking about it... Maybe soon :)
Arieshae19: Thanks for reading!
WeirdFantasyGirl: Awww thanks! :D
prnamber3909: Haha your reviews are hilarious! Thanks so much for reading!
xo-Katerina-ox: Well now that you said bacon... Then I must ;)
Guest: Why thank you my dear!

Well, until next time, beauties! (hopefully quicker than last time)
xoxo, Lily

I woke up blinking in the bright sunlight that poured in through the huge windows on the other side of the room. I wondered briefly why America kept her curtains open, the sun always woke me up in the morning. But she stayed asleep, her head resting on my shoulder, breathing softly. I smiled to myself, taking my time to memorize every part of her face: Her nose, the freckles dotting her cheeks, her soft lips, and her long eyelashes that rested on her cheekbones. Her long, fiery hair spilled out behind her, and her face looked so much more peaceful in sleep than it did when she was awake. I looked at the clock. Five thirty. I refrained from groaning as I slipped out of her arms and into the cold morning air. She stirred, but didn't wake. I found some paper and scribbled a note, folded it, and set it next to her. I kissed her forehead very gently, and slipped out the door begrudgingly.

God, did I love her.

The next morning I rolled over, expecting to face Maxon, but only finding a note in his place.

Princely duties call. Meetings all day. Tugging my ear at 7?

- Maxon

I smiled at the note. Soon enough, my maids entered and I expected the usual interrogation about Maxon to begin. But instead I was greeted with a less enthusiastic welcome than I thought. They smiled, but it didn't quite reach their eyes. Lucy's eyes kept flickering nervously around the room. Mary looked down at her shoes. And Anne lips were pressed shut.

"Good morning, ladies," I smiled, trying to break the awkward tension in the room.

"Good morning, Lady America," the three said in unison, almost robotically. I cleared my throat.

"Uh, should I get ready to go down to breakfast..?" I raised an eyebrow, confused.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, miss. You might want to dine in your room this morning," Anne murmured. I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated.

"Alright, I know you three well enough to know that something's up. What's wrong?"

My maids looked extremely uncomfortable as Mary stepped forward cautiously.

"Miss, there's rumors around the palace… There seems to be a photo circulating of you and Maxon. It has spread like a wildfire."

I sat back on my bed. How could I have forgotten? Maxon seems to have a way of making me forget all the bad things. I sighed, pushed my hair out of my eyes, and walked over to the bathroom.

"I'm not going to hide, ladies. I'm going to breakfast." They looked at each other with incredulous expressions, but set to work right away.

This was going to be interesting.

I leaned my head on the palm of my hand, my eyelids finding it hard to have the motivation to stay open. I shook my head, and sat back in my chair. It was only eight in the morning and I hadn't had breakfast. No one could blame me for practically falling asleep at one of my foreign relations meetings.

"Maxon." My father's voice barked at me through my haze. I shot up, irritating the wounds on my back from the previous night. I covered my wince and sat up straight.

"Sorry, Father, I've had a rather long night." The advisors chuckled, but one hard glance from my father and they all shut up.

"Mr. Kingsley just asked you what your opinion was on sending more troops into New Asia," he said, and then muttered so only I could hear, "Not that it really matters."

I thought for a second, even though it was clear nothing I said was going to be considered. "I don't believe we should send any more soldiers to the area. We've been going at this for long enough to know that sending in more numbers won't do anything." The whole room was silent, in shock. Clearly, this was not what my father had suggested. I glanced down at a statistics sheet and flipped through. "These numbers actually prove that when we double our forces, we've just been hit back harder."

"He does have a point, Your Majesty," one nervous advisor said meekly. There seemed to be a communal noise of agreement. Father's face was quickly turning purple with rage.

"Th-the st-statistics pr-prove it Sir," one said weakly. I pointed out the numbers on a sheet. He threw me a glare, but begrudgingly looked it over. His eyebrows raised slightly, and he gave a grunt.

"Fine. We will withhold troops for now." His complexion was almost normal as he muttered. "You make a valid point." I couldn't help the sense of accomplishment that coursed through me. I excused myself for a moment and stepped into the hall. Nothing could keep the stupid grin off my face.

When I entered the dining hall, I was greeted with glares and stares from Celeste, Kriss, and Elise. Though it was uncomfortable, no one could really say anything about the matter because of the amount of witnesses standing by. Secret make-out outside the palace doors or not, no one was anywhere close to risking their reputation to torment me.

However, as I entered the Women's room, that was entirely different. I groaned internally at the fact that Silvia had insisted at breakfast that I make an appearance there today.

I hesitantly sat down in an empty chair next to Elise. Kriss sat across from us on the couch, and Celeste flipped through some of the recent magazines.

"Hi.." I said lamely. Kriss looked up from some sewing she was doing with hurt in her eyes, but no contempt. It was clear she had been crying. Elise raised a delicate hand in greeting, but no words passed her lips.

"Hello, America. Have a nice time at the ball?" Celeste plucked a magazine off the rack and tossed it onto the table, where it slid to face me. The photo of Maxon and I shone accusingly from the glossy cover. "Prince Maxon: Has he found the One?" the headline read. I pressed my lips together. I averted my eyes, even though in the picture we were about a foot apart and just barely touching.

Eventually I broke the silence. "What do you want me to say, Celeste?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…" She began to walk past me but leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Slut."

I slammed my fists down on the armrests, startling Kriss and Elise. Celeste seemed slightly surprised but remained indifferent.

"What? So now you're going to pretend like you're so innocent? Yeah, I kissed the prince." I held up the offending magazine. "But you expect me to believe that you haven't?" She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. I walked up right to her, even though she towered over me by about a foot.

"Don't forget what I've seen, Celeste. You don't want me to let slip anything-" I paused for a moment, and then whispered "-slutty to anyone, would you?" For a moment Celeste actually looked nervous, and I smirked. "That's what I thought." I spun around to face Kriss, who wore a look of utter shock on her face, and Elise, who looked actually amused, if that was even possible considering her usually emotionless manner. As I passed Elise, she reached out and squeezed my hand. I grinned, and strode out of the Women's room.

Celeste had finally gotten a taste of her own medicine. And damn, did it feel good.

A quarter to seven, I heard a knock at my door. I stepped away from the mirror and my maids, and opened the door to meet Maxon. Instead, I came face to face with Aspen. I glanced back at my maids, who were looking confused.

"I'm sorry, ladies, but I must have a word in private with Lady America about some new… security procedures."

"Of course, Officer," They curtsied, giggling, and Lucy wiggled her eyebrows at me comically. It was clear they all found him attractive. I rolled my eyes, and crossed my arms and stared at Aspen when they closed the door.

"Do tell me about these new security procedures. I really am quite curious." I said in a flat voice.

"What were you thinking Mer?! I saw him leave this morning, don't try to deny what you were doing last night." His bright green eyes were hard and cold.

"You don't know anything about what I did last night, Aspen Leger. Don't pretend like you do." I glared at him, and he scoffed.

"Oh, come on Mer. If you're going be with him like that, then stop leading me on."

I smacked his shoulder. "Could you listen to me for one second? You have no idea what happened last night. So can you look past your jealousy for one second and realize that the situation was actually a lot more complicated than you think it is?" I glared at him. He looked down. I felt a tug at my heart.

"Look Aspen, I'm sorry, but I have a lot going on right now. I don't have time for this."

"So you mean you don't have time for me." I bit my lip, not saying anything. "I can't compete with that, Mer. How can I win you over if you don't have 'time' for me? Just tell me to go, and I'll go. I won't bother you again. I promise."

I looked at his face, the face I'd thought I would wake up to every day someday. Could I forget the past two years, and all of the feelings I'd had for him? I remember every moment we shard, and I almost wish I could transport back in time and relive it all; running my hands through his soft black hair, laughing with him in our little treehouse. I couldn't stand the thought of not having him in my life anymore, but I couldn't continue to have this with Aspen now that I was sure of my feelings for Maxon.

I squeezed my eyes shut and choked out, "It's over, Aspen." I brushed past him without looking back, bumping my head right into Maxon's elbow.

"Oh!" I pressed a hand to my head, Maxon immediately steadied me, his face full of concern.

"Are you all right?" I looked up at him, taking a deep breath.

"Yes. I'm fine." Not really.

Maxon gave me a weird look. "Was that Officer Leger in your room?"

I gulped. "Uh, yes. He was just telling me about some safety procedure thing."

"Are you sure you're okay? You look pale." I shook off the numb feeling Aspen had left me and nudged Maxon in the side.

"I told you, I'm fine," I assured him with a smile. He looked suspicious but held out his arm anyway. I took it, relieved.

"How was your day?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Pretty good, actually. For once my opinion was actually taken under consideration in my meeting this morning," he replied, shrugging.

"Maxon, that's great!" I grip his arm, pulling him to look at me. One side of his mouth tugs into a grin.

"Yeah, well. It's a start," he adds. He's always so modest, not wanting to talk about himself. Suddenly, I find myself not knowing where we are in the castle.

"Where are we going?" I look around. He grins.

"You'll see." We make our way to a door that he pulls open and formally gestures for me to go inside. "After you, Lady America." I curtsy jokingly, knowing that we're never going to be the formal people we're expected to be. "Why thank you, Your Majesty."

I don't know what I expected, but I certaintly didn't expect to be in Maxon's room. I stepped inside cautiously, feeling intrusive. The walls were painted dark blue, and everything else was a dark wood. At one end of the room there was a desk cluttered with paperwork. At the other sat a simple bed, the covers neatly made. Hanging up on the walls were photographs that Maxon had clearly taken. When I got closer, I could see how clear and beautiful they were. He was really, really talented. I noticed some of his parents, some of the gardens, and then found one of myself, looking surprised. My hair was whipping around my head and I was in the middle of saying something. I turned around to say something to Maxon, but I was met by a flash.

"Hey!" I complained, grabbing at the camera. He grinned sheepishly, putting it down.

"Sorry, but you're too beautiful to not be captured in a picture." And then his hands were on my waist and his lips were on mine. It was a soft kiss, not a passionate one, but one that left me feeling adored from head to toe. Too quickly, he pulled away.

"I don't suppose you're hungry," he raised his eyebrows.

"Well, the food here is pretty mediocre, but I guess it will suffice," I teased. He led me out onto the balcony and we sat down. All of my favorite foods covered the table.

"I might have to drop out of the Selection to marry this food, sorry," I groaned after a piece of cake. Maxon laughed.

"Well, I guess I'll understand. As long as I'm invited to the wedding."

When we both finished, it was dark and the stars, sprinkled about the sky, glittered above us. Even though I had a cloak on, I shivered in the cold December air.

"Are you cold?" Maxon asked, already shrugging out of his jacket.

"No, no I'm fine really you don't have to –" He placed it around my shoulders. I sighed. "Okay, fine." Outside, the air was beginning to smell like pine and Christmas. Suddenly, an idea came to me.

"Maxon, what does the palace usually do for Christmas?" I asked. He looked startled and confused.

"Usually there's a ball that the Two's attend, and some important Three's. Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking… What if we did something nice for someone else? What if we invited some of the staffs' families to come? I bet they haven't seen them in so long…"

"America, our staff is huge. There's no way we could fit that many people inside the palace." I sighed, leaning my elbow into the railing and putting my chin in my hand. "But I can try." I looked up at him, and he was serious. "You're right, most of the guards haven't seen their families in years. I can't have them stay in the castle, but I may be able to arrange some of them to -"

I hugged him fiercely before he could finish his sentence. He wasn't expecting it, but soon enough his hands traveled down my back and pulled me closer.

"Thank you, Maxon," I whispered excitedly.

"Don't be thanking me, this was your idea." He pulled slightly and looked down at me. "Sometimes I wonder how I got lucky enough to have someone as generous and as kind as you in my life."

I kissed him slowly, my hands knotting in his hair, our breaths visible in the cool night air. I could feel his heart beating fast, his breathing uneven. We stumbled back into his room, backing up into the wall. Every time he touched me I felt a spark of heat, and I pulled him even closer. I pulled back for a second and breathed,

"Same here."

Hope you liked your (late) Thanksgiving present! Love you all :)