A/N: i warned you all that there was going to be two updates today. this chapter is still really long even though I to break things up (it's maybe 20 words short from hitting 5,000 words total and is the longest chapter so far).

also, please review and give me feedback. i love seeing suggestions for later chapters and I might even put them in ;)

anyway, hope you enjoy this really long chapter!

*WARNING THIS IS RATED M FOR MATURE OR GRAPHIC CONTENT. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF SENSITIVE*

Knocking is an unpleasant way to wake up. Correction, it is the most unpleasant way to wake up. It always has been, and always will be. I have to say, it is much worse when all you wanna do is cuddle back up with your sleeping husband and drift back into wonderful, blissful sleep. I tried to tune out the knocking from the person standing behind one of Maxon's doors, but I couldn't. I buried my head into the pillow next to Maxon. I silently hoped that they would just go away or that Maxon would get up and answer the door. I even hummed to try to tune them out and fall back asleep. Through my attempts, I couldn't go back to sleep. The knocking was beyond persistent, so it didn't end. After turning in the bed about 600 times in attempts to drown out the knocking, without much success, I couldn't take it anymore. I looked over at my sleeping husband, so peaceful. Maxon was sleeping on his chest, arms cradling his pillow above his head and his face was looking at me through his sleep. Too bad I had to disrupt his sleep so I could sleep again. I traced up his spine lightly in effort to wake up. He didn't budge. I rubbed my hand from the nape of his neck to the waistband of his shorts sitting low on his hips. He didn't even flinch a little. This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I was going to have to kick it up a notch.

I shoved Maxon's shoulder lightly. "Maxon," I cooed, "Maxon… Maxon, get the door. Maxon, get the door because you're more decent than I am right now."

He huffs lightly. I kiss the tip of his nose lightly and whisper back, "I know you're awake. Can you get the door?"

His eyes pop open to look at me. He huffs again, "Fine. You owe me."

I roll my eyes at him, "The only thing I owe you is my love, which you already have."

My snarky comment makes him laugh lightly. I watch as he slides out of bed and walks over to the door carefully. The door opens and Maxon talks to whomever is there for a moment before coming back to me. He doesn't get in the bed, just stands awkwardly beside it. His fingers drum on the nightstand.

"Your mother has requested your presence in her room on the second floor."

"Why didn't they go to the Queen's Suite to get the Queen?"

"Does the Queen sleep in the Queen's Suite or does she sleep in here with the King in the King's Suite?"

"Interesting proposition that you bring up. You see, the Queen that you speak of so fondly could sleep over there. She doesn't have to sleep over her with the King…" I slide out of bed to sit in front of him. My hands grab his without thought.

"She never would. The Queen told me herself that she can't go 10 minutes away from the King."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Use my words against me. Where are your shorts, so I can go down there at least sort of decent?"

"Bottom drawer of the dresser over here." He points to the same place where he pulled out my shirt earlier.

My body moves and gets away from him. I pull out a pair of dark gray shorts that will mostly match with the black shirt he gave me last night and slip them on. They just about fall off of my hips, so I roll them so they at least kinda stay up. It doesn't really work, but I don't care. I take his navy robe and slip my bare feet into his cozy slippers by the door, "I'll be back soon. I'll probably have to get ready, so I'll be next door if I don't come back."

"See you at breakfast if you don't come back."

I walk out and make my way down to my mother on the second floor. Thankfully, I don't run into any maids, butlers, or guards on my way down from the third floor. Her room is in the front of the hall, so it's not a terrible walk like it is to my old room. When I get to her door, I knock lightly.

She answers the door hastily, almost like she was waiting right beside the door for even the hint of someone on the outside of it. "America, oh, thank goodness it's you. I thought you might have gotten lost on the way from the third floor. I was starting to get worried-" she cuts herself off, finally looking at me clearly, "What in the world are you wearing?"

"Maxon's clothes because I was sleeping in his room." I walk in and she closes the door behind me. I yawn as she sits down on her bed. I lean against the desk, trying to refrain myself from falling asleep while she talks to me.

"Why were you sleeping in there when you have your own- you know what, never mind that I even asked. What should I wear today?"

"Mom, I hate to be mean about this, but that is a question for your lovely maid. Not a 'wake up the Queen…at…" I yawn and look at the clock on her wall, "... at 7:30' question."

"Well? What should I wear?"

"Whatever your maid puts you in, Mom. I don't know anything about fashion. The only reason I ever look good is because of Mary, my head maid. Your maid is smart and knows what you need to wear and such to get through today. Trust her, especially since it is Anne. I assigned Anne to you because she is one of the best maids and because she does excellent work every time. She was my head maid all throughout the Selection, so I trust her and you should too! Don't worry too much about clothing around here."

"Alright…"

"Make sure that you have the rest of your stuff packed up before breakfast. You won't have much time to finish packing afterwards, and the plane waits for no one." I tell her, referencing her very messy sleeping quarters, "Can I go back to bed?"

She nods and shoes me off. I leave her room. My feet shuffle in Maxon's slippers as I go back to him. I didn't even really bother picking up my feet until I was on the stairs. I didn't realize I was so tired. I don't knock as I enter Maxon's room. I close the door and fall back into the door.

"What did she want?" He calls out to me from his bathroom.

I sigh, slipping off his slippers and going into the bathroom to talk to him face to face, "She wanted to ask me what to wear… I gave her Anne for a maid, Anne of all maids, but she insisted on waking me up to ask me what she should wear."

He stifles his laughter, "Well, at least she cares about how she looks and doesn't want to embarrass you."

I lean against the door frame and watch him as he glides the blades against his skin to shave.

"True. Alright," I yawn again, "Well, since I'm up, I'm gonna go change for breakfast. Wait for me to go down?"

"Always."

I walk over and kiss his shaving cream covered cheek and leave quickly from his bathroom. The walk is short to my room. Mary was already waiting for me to return from Maxon's room. I was rubbing my lips clean of shaving creams I entered, "Good morning, Mary. How are you doing on this fine morning?"

"I'm doing well. How are you, Your Majesty?"

"I am doing pretty okay myself. I'm a little tired because we had a wake up call. I guess that is what it would be called. My mother had someone come to my door to wake me and ask me what to wear. I made sure that when she came to visit, that Anne was her maid. And yet she asked me what to wear."

"She didn't want to embarrass you, Your Majesty. You can't blame her for that."

"You're right. Speaking of what to wear, I want to be comfortable, but Maxon will throw a fit if I wear jeans even though we are going to be on a plane for the majority of the day."

"So, are you thinking about a dress or skirt for today?"

"Could we do a flowy dress similar to what I wore yesterday?"

She walks over to my closet and pulls out a matted blue-gray and white striped knee length dress that has a rather flowy skirt and that has a sewn triangle hole into it. I quickly noticed the straight cut neckline. It was exactly what I pictured for today.

"This is beautiful and perfect."

"Alright, Your Majesty, Let's get you out of these clothes. How did you even end up in his clothes?"

I drop the robe and pull off the shirt. She hands me a bralette and matching cheeky underwear as I begin to speak, "Well, we, uhm, I... "

She giggles, "That's alright, Your Majesty. It's quite alright with me."

I stepped out of his shorts and set all of his clothes aside, "I can say that we had a fun night and he gave me his shirt, then I asked for shorts when I went to see my mom and I also took his robe. I think that explains it for the most part. Will you set these in my closet away from my other clothes for me?"

She nods and walks off as I slide into the lace halter bralette and start to unbraid my hair. I love the waves that form my sleeping in a braid.

She comes back shortly after I get it all undone and just finger comb it back so it's out of my face, "It looks lovely, Your Majesty."

"Thank you."

We work together to get the dress on without ripping any of it. I start looking down my outfit from top to bottom. The bralette straps showing are tasteful, and not too much. I didn't notice it earlier, but it has short bell sleeves. I threw on a cream colored cardigan just to be safe so I don't get too cold. I slip on some tan beachy wedges real quick before we do makeup. She does a natural and light makeup look on me. Before I leave she makes sure that I am wearing a tiara since I am going to Carolina. I thank her as I leave to go back to Maxon.

He sits on the edge of the bed, ready to jump up and do something important. He smiles when he sees me. I smile back. He is wearing tan dress pants with a dark navy blue polo. He put on brown dress shoes and a gold watch that matches nicely with his gold crown.

"You look stunning as ever."

I curtsy and smile, "Thank you. You look rather sharp yourself."

He stands up to join me, "Shall we go to breakfast?"

I grab his arm, "We have a little bit of time. Do you wanna walk around the gardens to kill time or do you want to hangout with me as I write music before breakfast?"

"I'm okay with anything. I'd love to hear you play again."

"Then, let's go to the Women's Room. Hopefully, I can at least start the end of 'It Was Only Ever Yours'."

We leave our room and begin the walk down, "I can't wait to hear it."

"Thank you."

The rest of the walk is quiet. We stop outside the door for a moment. Then, I open the door to the private room to find Marlee. She is hunched over a table, cleaning up something that must have spilled.

"Marlee? What are you doing?" We creep in, but not too close.

She pops up and curtsies hastily, "Oh, Your Majesties, I thought you all would still be in bed. I was just cleaning up the mess that I made. Spilled my coffee on this table and magasin."

I rush over, leaving Maxon at the door. "Do you need help cleaning any of it up?"

"Thank you, Queen America. I've got it, though. What are you doing with him here? Aren't you two leaving for Carolina today?"

"We are. We have a little bit of time before breakfast, so I wanted to come write music and Maxon wanted to join me."

"Alright. I'll get out of your way. Enjoy making music," she comes over and grabs my shoulder lightly to bring my ear down to her lips, "Don't be too loud or you'll concern the maids… I know from personal experience."

It takes me a second or so to realize what she means by 'you'll concern the maids' and the 'I know from personal experience'. She pulls away from me to a look that is supposed to tell all, and it works.

"Marlee!" I pull away even more to look her in the eyes. "You didn't!"

She keeps her voice low, "It was one time with Carter… it was… loud… but fun. We got caught as we were wrapping things up. It was fun, until that point. Let me know how that goes for you if you decide to make music like that." She starts to leave the room, brushing past Maxon, "Have fun and be safe, you two!"

She closes the door and I look down at my toes. If one thing is certain, he is going to ask about that conversation and then I will have to explain to him that Marlee and Carter- "What was that about, Darling?"

"Oh, uhm…" I make circles with my shoes on the floor, trying to distract myself, "Well, you see, Marlee was telling me a, uhm, rather… interesting story about how, uhm, she and Carter… might have, maybe, uh-"

"Darling, you're rambling"

I sigh in efforts to compose myself, "Would you be completely upset if I kept that conversation with Marlee private?"

He shakes his head, "If it is making the bold and fearless America I fell in love with this… embarrassed, then no. I'm never going to be upset over something stupid like that."

I look up from my feet to meet his eyes. His arms enclose me and a melt into his embrace. "Thanks, Maxon. I feel like what she told me is something that I shouldn't repeat. Maybe later, like when I'm stuck on a plane with you."

I feel his laugh rumble in his chest against my body. His lips pepper a few kisses to my head, "That sounds good to me. I'm not going to force you to tell me if you don't want to."

"Thank you." I pull away, "Time to get something done. I should probably make the orders to make sure the flowers and fabric get here so I can decorate for the Italian's party."

"I can do that so you can write your music."

"Do you know how to?"

He shakes his head, "No, but I can learn."

I kiss his cheek, "I'll handle it after breakfast. Thank you, though. I really appreciate it."

He throws his hands up in surrender. I pull the music off the stand and lean over the piano to start composing. I was having trouble figuring out where I wanted the piece to go, so I spent the majority of my time trying to figure it out. I decided to go with some major long chords on the lower end and then play a single note that fits into the chords nicely. So then I spend some time playing it out and hearing kind of how it sounds. After the third or fourth attempt I finally figured out a few chords and a note that fits and sounds nicely into both. I set the tempo for it, and play from that point forward.

Maxon joins me at the piano, "Darling, it's 8:25 and breakfast is at 8:30."

"Okay." I stand up and set my music down on the music stand. I grab his hand and let him lead me out of the Women's Room.

We bump into Kota on our way. He hastily bows, "Your Majesties, mind if I join you guys the rest of the way?"

I shake my head, despite what I actually want. I don't want him to walk with me and Maxon, but I knew it would look bad if I said that I actually really did mind if he walked with us to breakfast. I just hope and pray that we can walk the next 60 feet without conflict. Maxon spoke up for us, "Not at all."

He shoves his hands in his pockets and walks awkwardly on the other side of Maxon. "So, what have you two been up to this fine morning?"

"Well, I went to work on some music and Maxon wanted to come with me."

"What were you working on?" His curiosity peaks.

I clear my throat, "Composing a song for Maxon. He got to hear some of it last night on our date, but it still isn't finished."

He nods, "That's cool, America. What do you think of my little sister's talent in music?"

"She inspires me to be better at my own craft of photography everyday. She is phenomenal and so talented. It is truly amazing what she can do."

I bite my lip. Instinctively, I nuzzle my head into Maxon's arm. He is so sweet and I love him so much. "Thank you, Maxon." I murmured into his polo sleeve.

He chuckled lightly and lightly kissed my head, "Your welcome, Darling."

I peered up from his arm to see him looking down at me with such love-sick puppy dog eyes.

"You actually think that about her?" Kota asked stupidly.

Our walking halts abruptly. I was pulled back slightly because the stop was so sudden. We were right outside the dining hall. So much for hoping to get to breakfast without conflicts between my two hot heads. We were both so close to not completely attacking Kota. So close, but he had to ask a stupid question to Maxon. My face falls as I see Maxon's eyes change from compassion to rage within milliseconds. His head snaps to Kota who walks on the other side of Maxon. My grip on Maxon's hand tightens to remind him to control himself. He doesn't explode in rage often, but he will if something or someone attacks me in any way. He squeezes my hand back. I can't tell if it is to tell me that he's going to handle this with anger or that he is going to heed my subtle warning and stop while he's remotely ahead. I pray that it is the latter, but Kota made a stupid choice by trying to attack something about me that Maxon loves.

"Pardon?" Maxon's voice is tight and I can tell he is doing all that he can to hold back his aggression over what Kota insinuated about me and him. I squeeze his hand harder, pulling on his arm slightly. His eyes shift to mine, but I can't get him to hold my gaze for more than a second or two at a time.

"I was just curious to see if you were being genuine about my little sister and her talent."

Maxon shakes me off of him and he stands up to Kota without fear. I try pulling on his shoulder, but he won't even budge toward me. I think quickly of ways that this could end. I can safely say that there is really only one favorable option, and it still involves them being mad. The only problem is that this option requires whatever happens next to be more negative than positive. This is going to go poorly anyway I try to do this peacefully. I hope that whatever happens next is more positive than the previous conversation.

"Why wouldn't I be genuine about my amazing wife's amazing talent?" Maxon's voice is hard and rigid. Of course it doesn't work out like the delusional movie in my head. I am genuinely afraid for both Kota and Maxon, so I have to break this up.

I break in between them, "Enough, boys! Enough!"

They both look at me like I'm ridiculous, but I know that it's because of their ever present tempers and massive egos that are currently clouding their vision otherwise normal vision. I turn to address Kota first, "Kota, I don't care who the hell you think you are, but you need to stop. I don't feel as if you need to be reminded of this often, but I guess you do. This is not your palace, meaning that you do not have a title and you sure as hell do not have any right to say anything to the King of Illea or the Queen of Illea. You might have the title of 'sir' and you might be a One now, but it doesn't give you any right to talk to Maxon the way you did. You don't act like you hold any title, as far as I can see. And another thing, the Queen of Illea should not be responsible for reprimanding you because you don't know your place and then reminding you of where your place is. You are below the King. You are below the Queen. You are below the non existent children that will be princes and princesses of Illea. You are below Mom and Kenna and James and Astra and May and Gerad. You are the bottle of the food chain as a One. You better learn that order quick, you ignorant asshole, or we will have many problems in our future. Do I make myself clear, Sir Kota?"

He nods and staunters off, very clearly offended by my comments of him. I sigh before I need to address the fuming man behind me. Just as I predicted, Maxon is still pissed when I face him. I see why, but he needs to calm down or we are going to have problems, too. I try not to sound angry at him. He was only trying to defend me, but he stepped out of line too. I can already tell my voice is going to be tight and low, "Maxon, control your anger for a second and just listen to m-"

"I can handle myself, America!" He defends rather quickly.

"Can you?" I pause to watch his face falter. "Because not even a minute ago you were definitely going to punch my brother and if it weren't for me stopping the fight before it happened, you would have. Calm down for a moment, please. You don't need to get worked up about this."

"He was attacking you, America! He was attacking your image, and how I view you as a musician and as my wife! How am I supposed to just let that go!? How am I supposed to not get worked up about it when I am your husband!?"

"The same way I did when I was younger and he started to get an opinion about everything my family did." I put my hands on his chest, "I appreciate you standing up for me. I really do. Just let that go, it's okay."

He takes a few deep breaths. His face visibly relaxes as he places his forehead against mine. "I'm sorry. I just… I can't stand that he was attacking what you work hard on and then if I actually meant what I said. It just… it burns me up, America…"

"I know, Baby, I know. You will learn to let it go like I did when he started voice his opinion when I was younger." I pull my face away from him, just to kiss his cheek lightly, "It was kinda hot to see you all angry on my behalf."

"Oh?" His hands wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him, "Is that so?"

I nod, biting my lip. His lips attacked my jaw and down my neck. I stifle my moan. "Maxon… breakfast…"

"You, my queen, are a full five-course meal…"

I laugh as he continues. I live into his kisses for a second longer. I moan out lightly, "Strawberry tarts…"

He pulls away, giving me the strangest look, "Really?"

"It worked." My shoulders shrug and I laugh at him. I grabbed his hand and led him into breakfast. We were both laughing slightly as we walked in. I saw May sigh and almost collapse into her pancakes. Kota was still pissy, and he wasn't even attempting to hide it. When I looked at my mom I could tell she was going to ask what made us both so chipper this fine morning and I knew I would have to explain that Maxon and I were being extra flirty after I ripped Kota a new asshole for stepping out of line once. Maxon walked me to my seat, and pulled out the chair for me. He kissed my head and he nudged the chair closer to the table. He then sat down next to me, at the head of the table, and started to serve both me and him with strawberry tarts, pancakes, and bacon. That man wouldn't let me get a cup of coffee or pick up a banana from the middle of the table without insisting on doing it for me. I appreciated the gesture, but I don't need him to coddle me just because someone even slightly offended him over me.

"Well, you two are in a good mood this morning." My mom mused.

I nod to her, "We are in a good mood. It turns out that having your spouse defend you is very… attractive."

"Oh, is that so?"

"It is. I know from personal experience."

"One time, early in our marriage, your father was upset about something that someone had said at one of my gigs and he almost beat the living daylights out of them. Trust me, America, I know what that can do to a woman."

"Okay… we are done talking about this." I huff and look down, trying to hide my embarrassment, "How are you this morning, Mom?"

"Good. Very good. I got to see my daughter in clothes that weren't hers very early this morning, which was quite the treat."

"I bet." I say sarcastically. Maxon snickers. I glare at him.

"How are you, King Maxon?"

He swallows the coffee that he just took a sip of, "I'm doing well, now. I needed to calm down. I have a question, if you don't mind me asking. How did you deal with people critiquing your husband's art work or even your work and your talent?"

"Well, it took a lot of time. Shalom wasn't normally the hot-headed one in our relationship or when it came to our work. He was very early on, but he calmed himself and relaxed. He learned to take criticism and then took it well. He took what he thought would actually help him create his next masterpiece and discard the rest. When it came to people attacking his work, I had to learn that if it wasn't mine, I couldn't let it bug me. I would forget that he could handle it himself. That's one of the many good qualities America got from her father, she knows how to handle things herself. I, on the other hand, had a hard time learning to take what people said with a grain of salt. It took effort to learn my worth as a performer and then tune out the comments to focus on what I was doing or working on." She clears her throat, "King Maxon, My advice to you is that you just relax. America, despite being a little hot-headed herself, does know how to take criticism especially from idiots like her brother. I know she appreciates your willingness to defend her work, but she's got it. Just be there to reassure her that she's good at what she does and she'll handle the rest.

"Thank you, Mrs. Singer." He nods and continues to eat.

The rest of breakfast goes as normal. Kota just about doesn't eat because of his lingering anger. Whenever I even look at Maxon, May audibly sighs. It makes me laugh to think that she loves that I love him. It is a good thought. At the very end of breakfast, I stand up with Maxon to address my family.

"Alright, so we are leaving for Carolina in…"

"15 minutes." Maxon fills in for me.

"Yes. So, you need to go back to your rooms to make sure you have your belongings packed. Maxon has palace staff delivering them to the new house where Mom, May, and Gerad will be living. Bring them to the foyer when you come to board the plan. Palace staff will be taking them from there. James, Kenna, and Kota, you will have to pick your bags up at the new house. I will see you all in 15 minutes at the front of the palace."

We walk out confidently, wrapped arm in arm. My first stop is to my office to get my request forms in for the Italian party. I need to make sure that fabric and flowers are here before the party and that our food testing for tomorrow will be ready. My last stop is Maxon's room so that way I can just hold him without judgement for the rest of the time before we have to leave for my home province.