(Okay so apparently I'm an idiot. I am just now realizing that the bonus book to The Selection is called "Happily Ever After"! I completely forgot about it. Now I feel like I have to rename it...does anyone have any suggestions?)

I walk up to my rooms with a big smile on my face. Today has been amazing.

As soon as I walk into the door, Mary and Azalea jump up and start moving around. Azalea runs to the bathroom and I hear the bath water turn on. Mary runs over to me and starts undoing my braid, while dragging me towards the bathroom.

"Whoa, calm down guys. What's going on?"

"Sorry Miss, we have to hurry. We didn't expect you to be out so late and the King is expecting you in two hours."

"What's the rush? Two hours is plenty of time!"

"Not for this occasion."

They strip me down and stick me in the bath before I can ask anything else. As soon as I am scrubbed and clean, I am out, into a robe and told to sit down at my vanity table.

Azalea rushes to open the door when someone knocks, and two more maids are let in.

The curtsy when they enter as Azalea introduces them.

"Your Majesty, this is Margret , an older lady with grayish-black hair curtsies a second time. And this is Insa, a younger girl with light brown hair and bright green eyes does the same.

"Um, hello." I say cautiously.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Your Majesty." Margret says as she walks over to me.

"You too, but what are you doing here."

"We are going to temporarily dye your hair into either a black or dark brown, whichever way it comes out. And Insa and myself are very good at making it look real."

"What!? Why? Why are you dyeing my hair?"

"Maxon didn't tell you?" Mary asks.

"Tell me what?"

"Well, I don't want to ruin the surprise than! Trust me. Just let us do our thing, and don't worry about anything, okay?"

"...Okay..."

"Great!" She turns to the others, "We don't have much time so let's get going."

I stand shocked, looking in the mirror. I don't look like me at all. My almost black hair is pulled into a high ponytail, with a few pieces curled and framed around my face. My makeup is done in a way I have never seen before, making me look much older. I'm dressed in a cream, halter-top dress, with tall brown boots that go up just below my knees. I look like a different person. A two.

"Wow."

"I know right! You look amazing!"

I turn my face in the mirror, my cheekbones have a sharp edge to them, giving me a beautiful jaw line.

"Wow."

Azalea and Mary laugh.

Someone knocks on my door and I know it must me Maxon.

Mary starts towards the door, but I stop her.

"I'll get it."

I open the door and realize I've made a mistake. This isn't Maxon. And then I squint a little. Oh my gosh! It is Maxon!

"Oh my gosh! I almost didn't recognize you!"

"I could say the same about you!" He retorts. "I guess that means it works though."

Maxon's hair is also very dark, but it's his skin tone that is shocking. It's so much darker.

"How did you do that?"

"I'm honestly not sure, but I don't look like me, so I'm fine with it."

I usher him inside and turn to face him again.

"What in the world are we doing tonight? Why do we look like this?"

"We are going out!"

"What do you mean?"

"There's a big party tonight in town to celebrate our upcoming wedding. I thought we could go and enjoy a night out. There will be music and dancing." I raise my eyebrows at that. I can't dance. "Un-Choreographed dancing." I can't help but smile.

"Oh Maxon! That sounds like so much fun!"

"I thought so. But of course we can't go being who we are, so I got a little creative. Or more like my mom got a little creative. It was her idea to disguise ourselves."

"Oh wow! Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

I quickly say goodbye to all my maids and take Maxon's hand as he leads us out the door and down the hallway.

"I can't believe this! We get to leave the palace! I've never see Angeles! Well, besides the palace."

"I know, that's why I thought you would love this."

"I do!"

Before we reach the guards that are waiting for us by the door, I come to a halt and pull Maxon to me.

"Thank you." I wrap my arms around him and push my lips to his. "Thank you."

He chuckles. "Anything for you."

And then we continue walking.

The guards are dressed similar to Maxon, so they can blend in, but be ready if anything were to happen.

We take one of the older cars, to be less inconspicuous.

The drive into town is mostly Maxon pointing out different things to me. He's basically my personal tour guide.

Our driver drops us off a few blocks away, as the roads are blocked off. As soon as we get out of the car, I am surrounded by noise. Cheerful and fun music, people chattering, singing, laughing, and dishes clanking together as people cheer.

I grab Maxon's hand again and run towards all the noise and lights.

We manage to break through a crowd of people, circling the middle of the plaza. There are hundreds of people standing all around as many dance with their friends and significant others. A band sits on top of a podium, smiling, and playing without the sophistication of the palace. My kind of music.

We join the couples dancing in the middle. Hand in hand, we spin in circles, with little grace, laughing and trying not to fall over. Then the song changes. Something very familiar to me. This is a dance that everyone knows.

All the dancers hold hands, making a huge circle. Then we start to skip around as people let go and move to the inner circle. Then we switch.

We dance to a few more songs, some I know and some I don't, before Maxon pulls me away to the side.

"Want a drink?"

"Yes please."

"Okay I'll be right back."

I watch him walk over to the gazebo with the open bar. I look back around at the people. No one has looked in our direction all night. It's been perfect.

Maxon comes back with two wine glasses.

"Wow, how did you get these?"

"I have my ways." He winks at me and takes a sip of his drink. I do the same. We find a small little table off to the side, to sit and cool down a little before we dance again.

"You know what tomorrow is right?"

"No...what?"

"One week until the wedding!"

Oh my goodness! I completely forgot. "Oh my. It's so soon."

"I hope that's a good 'oh my'" he laughs.

"Of course. It's just nerve racking. But I can't wait to be your wife."

"I like the sound of that. Wife."

"I do too."

I can't help but grin and think about our future. "Wife. Husband. It's all so real."

"Yes, it is. It's crazy to think how far we've come." I point out.

"It truly is. I still sometimes can't believe I won you."

"Technically, I won you." I was the one competing with 34 other girls.

"No, I think I'm the one who won."

"It's up for debate."

"Ha! Okay."

"I honestly can't believe we will be married so soon. The selection just ended!"

"It's crazy, but everything is different now that my father is dead. The nobles and advisers want us coronated as soon as possible, but you can't be until we are married and you are officially royal. So we just had to speed up the process, so I can take over for my mother."

"I'm certainly not complaining. I just have no clue how the staff is getting the wedding prepared in such a short amount of time. It's insane."

"They have always been super fast. Like getting ready for a whole party in one day."

"I wish I could work fast, but I get so distracted!"

"I bet! With all those crazy emotions running around in your head."

"Hey!" I playful smack him.

He laughs. "Come on, let's finish our dance."

I take his hand as he stands up and leads us back to the middle. After a few minutes of fun dancing, it changes to a slow song.

Maxon dramatically bows to me.

"May I have this dance M'Lady."

"You may indeed kind Sir." I say, trying not to laugh too hard.

He pulls me closer and wraps a hand around my waist, and another around my hand. My hand that is not occupied, I put on his shoulder. We slowly sway back and forth as we look into each other's eyes.

The joy I have found in this boy in indescribable. Almost everything about him is perfect. Granted we do argue quite a bit, though it has lessened since we got engaged. Apparently our fights were much less secret than I thought. Kriss and Queen Amberly knew about it...who else? Was it really that obvious?

"What are you thinking about?"

I snap back to attention. "Huh?"

A smile comes to his lips, "I can tell when you are in deep thought. Yet, I can't tell what it is you are thinking about. I would love to get into that mind of yours."

"Both your mother and Kriss said they could tell when we were fighting."

"Oh."

"Are we really that obvious?"

"I think we are both pretty good at hiding our emotions, but when we suddenly stop talking and avoid eye contact, it probably raises a warning flag."

"Ya, you are probably right." I smile. "Do you think we will continue to fight a lot?"

He smiles back, "Darling, I think that is just a part of who we are."

"Ha! I agree!" I lay me head down on his shoulder as he swings me around. "I can't wait to be married to you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Then you can't get rid of me, even if I do something stupid."

We both laugh. "Welp, that ruins all my plans."

"Hey!" I smack him again.

"Joking! Joking!"

We settle down for a minute and then I say, "I love you."

"I love you too America."