A/N: i would be lying if i said that i was building suspense for this chapter. i wasn't. i have extremely busy for the past few weeks with school. my updates will probably be slow like this for a few more weeks or until i get into a good rhythm between school and work. than you for being patient with me!

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Please enjoy this chapter!

*CONTENT IS RATED M FOR MATURE, DO NOT READ IF YOU MIGHT BE SENSITIVE*

*America's Pov*

I awoke abruptly to the ding of the seatbelt light dinging, announcing that it was coming on, and aching pain in my stomach. I wasn't sure what time it was, how long I had been out, or how much longer we had till we were home. At this point I didn't care about any of that or my stomach, I was just worried about what was happening for the seatbelt light to come on. I popped up hastily. Worry lining my voice, "What's happening?"

"Just some turbulence. We're okay. Come're, Darling."

So, I do. He has a way of comforting me and reassuring me, and that's all I need right now. I stand up and quickly go to sit next to him. My seatbelt is buckled the second I sit down completely. I lean into him and he puts his arm over my shoulders, holding me close to him. It calms the still slightly panicked side of me without any problems. Before I knew it, I was relaxed in his arms.

"How much longer till we land?"

"About 3 hours or so."

I nod. Mary notices that I am awake and decides to come over very quickly after I get situated with Maxon.

She curtsies, "Would you like something to drink or eat, Your Majesties?"

"I'll have water. Do you want anything, America?"

"I'll have some water and a granola bar. Thank you, Mary."

She nods and goes off to get the food and drinks we requested.

"So… you wanna know what my mom was whispering about back at the house?"

He shrugs. "I'm curious, but I don't want to force you to do anything. You know?"

"Aw, you're too cute." I kiss his cheek, "I'm okay, trust me. She asked me if we did anything. I shook my head but she saw right through it. She asked me if I liked it. I nodded because I don't just like it, I love it. She asked your size, that's when I started to shake my head a lot. She guessed a few numbers. I shook my head to all of them, not because any of them were inaccurate but because she doesn't need to know how big you are. That is for me and you, and me and you only. She asked me if it hurt, and I shook my head and told her that it only hurt the first time, an-"

"I hate to interrupt, but you didn't tell me that it hurt. I would have stopped if I had known. Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because I wanted it so much, and you were already in and I didn't want to stop you and stop the moment. Plus, after a second it started to feel so good." I cleared my throat, "Anyways, then she asked me if I knew you were staring and I nodded and explained that we both do that often. She asked if you actually always sleep shirtless, and I told her yes. Then she asked me again if we slept together. I guess it was just to see if I would actually tell her the truth instead of lying through my teeth. I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. I was so over it, so I cut her off as she started to ask again."

"Ah. She's just concerned. She cares about you, you know?"

"I know. She just doesn't need to know all the details of what we do. You know? Like, the stuff we do behind closed doors doesn't need to be publicized by my mother of all people."

He nods. Mary returns with the water and granola bars for me. "Thank you, Mary!"

"Anything for you two, Your Majesties." She curtsies and stammers away back to Officer Ryan. I dig into the chocolate chip granola bar. It's not as good as strawberry tarts, but it's pretty good considering that it's airplane food. Maxon watches me as I devour the chocolatey treat. I finish it relatively quickly and look at him as he shakes his head. He swallows the water he was drinking from the plastic bottle. A smile spreads across his face easily.

"What? Is something funny to you?"

"You are just something else, America."

"And what are you implying about me?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. You are just something else."

"How so, my dearest Maxon?"

"You…" He laughed for a moment, "You moaned like six times while eating the one granola bar."

"I'm hungry! Let me eat in peace!"

He laughs, "I'm just saying it seems awfully similar to eating a strawberry tart…"

I laugh along with him, "Okay, well, the strawberry tarts are amazing! I'm allowed to make whatever noises I want whenever I want to."

"Careful with that power, Darling. You know what you do to me..." He warns jokingly.

I shake my head and kiss his cheek. "I would never make you hurt, baby. Not in public at least."

He sighs in relief for my words. I sigh in response but then call Mary over.

"What can I do for you, Your Majesty?"

"I was curious if there were any books I could read or anything I could work on."

"I think you have some papers that you asked me to bring that you can work on. Mostly for the party and then service acts."

"I'll take the service act forms. Thank you."

She brought them, and I got to work. While Maxon was working hard to remove the caste, starting with Marlee and Carter, I was going to work on improving what students are exposed to in schools. I don't know much about education, but I do know that most students, especially those of higher caste, are not exposed to the arts and jobs of the lower caste. I also know that students in lower caste are not exposed to the professions of the higher caste. My goal is to let everyone that goes to school know that there are options. This should work perfectly with Maxon's plans for removing the caste system and working to a unified nation without any divides.

I was thinking of the different ways we could expose the kids to all of their choices. I could film a video that would be played in classrooms around the nation. That would be nice to see someone who came from little showing students that they have so many options. This would also allow Maxon or Marlee or Carter or maids to be in it to help me. I could have a set speech or something that gets aired on The Report that introduces the ideas and then send out government regulated plans for lessons on the many jobs students could have without the caste system. This could allow for a career day type of situation where students are able to talk to people from multiple professions to determine what they want to do with their life after schooling. We could even have speeches in the provinces for educators of all types. That would allow me to speak personally to them, which would be nice since I want the Royals to be more than just figures on TV. I want us to seem real to the public.

The whole time while I worked I would have moments of shooting pain in my lower abdomen, but it quickly subsided. It was nothing really to worry about. My body always had something to protest, it felt like. By the time I had an idea, a plan, and was writing out the ideas and scripts, we were landing back home. I can't believe it took me 3 hours to figure out a plan for this education project. Nonetheless, I was so excited to be home and stop working.

Captain Dare came out from the cockpit before letting us leave the plane, "Thank you so much for flying with me today. I hope your flight was enjoyable."

He bows and walks to thank my family. I watch as he leaves, heading back to the cockpit. Then, my family files out. Kota leaves first. He looks so happy to be in Angeles, but I know he won't stay. He is already searching to find a place outside of the city, away from me and my family. Kenna, James, and Astra are next and they all look tired. Astra is knocked out in her daddy's arms. My mom comes out next. She is smiling weakly. I know it's hard for her to be alone without my dad, and now she's going to be here alone without him. May and Gerad are both walking zombies with how tired they are. They both probably slept the entire trip and only got up because they had to. I sigh and begin to exit. Maxon grabs onto me to walk with me. I smile. He goes down the stairs so that way I can hold his hand going down. My family waits at the bottom. I hug them each, and I thank them for staying and being a part of my wedding.

I wave goodbye as Maxon and I turn to walk away from their cars. We walk arm in arm to the palace, my home. I lean against him the whole time, a sluggish or lethargic feeling spreading through my veins instantly. The guard at the front opens the door for us. Maxon thanks him in passing. Once the door closes, Maxon stops us.

"What's wron-"

He kisses my lips to get me to stop talking, and it's very effective. I melt into his touch. He pulls away and slides down to scoop me up. I giggle and squeal a little bit as my legs are brought up by his arms. My arms are wrapped around his neck as he supports my whole body and begins to carry my bridal style to the stairs.

"What is this for?" I ask him as he begins to trek up the many stairs.

"You seemed tired after working and you deserve a break."

I kiss his cheek, "You are the sweetest man I have ever met. I'm so glad I married you."

His cheeks flush slightly. I kiss them even more, trying to absorb the warmth that fills them. He laughs and it only makes me fall in love with him more. I stare at him as he continues up. There are only a few more steps until the very top, and I kind of don't want my special treatment to end. This is nice. His footsteps stop as we walk about 4 feet away from the stairs. He kisses me lightly, it's short lived and sweet, but still nice. He puts me down on the second floor.

"Thank you."

"Anything for you." He kisses my cheek.

I pull him into me so he can't walk away while I talk, "I want to try something."

"Oh?"

"I want you to get on my back so I can see if I can carry you."

"America…" He pulls away to express his distaste for the idea.

"Maxon, trust me." I try convincing him, already slipping off my heels to make it easier to walk with him on my back. I already don't have the best balance in these shoes, let alone while carrying another person.

"America, I can carry you without problems. If you were even to attempt to carry me, you'd hurt yourself."

I shrug, "I don't care. You always are doing things for me. I never get to do anything for you."

"I'm 185 pounds, almost 190 pounds, maybe more and you're- what? 140 pounds?- at most. You do know that, right?"

"Maxon, I'll be fine. I'm strong just give me a chan-"

"America... I just… I- I- I don't want to see you get hurt… or be the reason that you are hurt..."

"I won't and you won't be. If I can't do it because you're hurting me or for whatever reason, I'll tell you to get off me. Don't worry, I will speak up. That is something that you can always expect and count on from me."

He sighs, "Alright, but only because I can't tell you no."

I jump around and clap excitedly with my shoes in hand. It makes him laugh nervously and anxiously. I stop jumping around when I realize that I am probably about seven or eight inches shorter than him without heels. He's about a full head taller than me, which is only problematic because he has to get on my back. "How tall are you by the way?"

"6'2", 6'3" maybe."

"Alright. You might have to stand on something to get on my back." I began to scan the second floor hallway where we stopped to see if there was a bend or chair or something that he could stand on.

"I can jump up."

I roll my eyes and shrug, "Alright."

I hand him my shoes, so he can take them while I lift and carry him. I stand in front of him and bend my knees slightly so he can jump on. I take a deep breath. I can hear him preparing to jump up because of his shoes. "On three?" I confirm with him.

"On three."

Our voices sync together as they did earlier today, "One… two… three!"

Maxon jumps up and his legs wrap around my body. His feet latch around on my legs, supporting himself. His arms are around my neck, pulling me back slightly. My arms pull from under his legs, pulling him forward some and also supporting some of that weight. I lift him up a couple of times to adjust him and myself.

Unfortunately, my adjusting doesn't get him off my hair, so I yelp out: "Ow! Hair, hair, hair, hair!"

"Sorry!" He pulls away to help yank my hair out from under his weight.

I lift him a few more times to adjust him on my hips and begin to walk. He doesn't bother to protest my actions because he knows that he will just get a dirty look from me. I begin to make the walk up the stairs that lay in front of us. The first few steps are good, but unfortunately there are more than 3 three steps that I have to travel before hitting the third floor. I already have a gut feeling that I will only make it about halfway up before I will have to put him down, but I'm not giving up. I go faster, in an effort to not drop him on the stairs and send him tumbling down. I can tell he's worried about me just by the way he is holding onto me.

"It's okay to tap out, America."

"No." I grumble out as I reach the two thirds mark of the stairs. He doesn't say another thing the rest of the time. I think he doesn't want me to use all my energy on talking to him. That's more than perfectly fine for me. Instead of input, he just allows me to grunt and grumble incoherently.

Finally, I take the final step onto the third floor. I turn quickly and tell him tightly, "Off."

He slides down. I sigh in relief. My body collapses down onto itself. I breathe heavily, hunched over with a hand on my chest. Maxon's hand meets my back, rubbing soft circles on my back.

"You okay, my dear?"

"Don't call me that, but- yes- I am okay. I'm just fine. Just a lot of effort to carry you." I stand up, pushing him off of me with the motion. He chuckles lightly at me, which causes me to shove his arm playfully. We both settle down from our play fighting within a minute or two. I take my shoes back from him and carry them the rest of the way. They are much lighter than Maxon was. We walk side by side, his hands in his pockets and mine awkwardly holding my shoes. We would bump arms, but act like it was nothing. I can say first hand that it was something because I felt a shock of electricity and a wave of butterflies in my stomach every time we 'accidentally' bumped into each other. I know he feels it too.

"You know, it's almost like you don't regularly lift weights that are almost 200 pounds or more."

I roll my eyes, "It's almost like you have been since you were- what?- 14?"

He laughs, "That's about right, not to shabby with the guess, Darling. But I didn't walk into the gym when I was 14 and start deadlifting and curling 200 pounds right off the bat. I started lower than that and did weight training to get more muscle mass and then move up and then I added weights."

"Yea, okay. I'm convinced young Maxon was about this tall and same stature and he just walked into the gym in the palace and started to deadlift at 450 and just kept going up from there. So right about now you should be deadlifting around 800 pounds."

He laughed the entire way to my room. We stopped outside my door like we did just last night. "I'll be over soon."

"I know you will. You can't go ten minutes away from me. Remember?"

I kiss his cheek, "I do remember."

He pulls me back into him. His lips meet mine and he kisses my passionately. I am tempted to not pull away, but I know I need to change for bed so I can sleep. So, against my wants, I pull away from him. I kiss his cheek one last time before slipping into my room quickly so he can't pull back to him. I closed the door and got straight to stripping down so I could slide myself into my pjs. My shoes were dropped by my door the second I heard the latch closing. My cardigan was off my shoulders and thrown onto my never touched bed. My dress was next, slipping down my body and being tossed away from me instantly. My undergarments left next, only leaving underwear. I shuffled my way into the walk in closet to find the shirt that I stole from Maxon. I slip on the oversized shirt and then throw on a pair of spandex to sleep in for tonight. My hair is hastily threw my hair into a messy bun and I wash my face while I'm in the bathroom. I look at myself to make sure that I don't look completely terrible. I sigh in relief when I see an okay looking America in the mirror.

Finally, I make my way back to our room. I knock lightly on the door before pushing it open. He sits on the bed, half under the covers with a navy nightshirt on since I stole both his gray and black one. He looks at me with kind eyes. Maxon is reading a book with the light on his bedside table on. He smiles at me the sweetest of smiles.

"Whatcha reading?" I ask him as I begin to walk over to our bed and crawl in.

"It's a book about the politics of the past. I wanted to know how other countries do political things and how they failed so our country doesn't fail or go into a revolution against us."

I sigh. I cuddle into him breathing in his scent, "Why are you working right now?"

He laughs a hearty laugh, "Darling, it's because I played hooky all day with you and your family and didn't do anything. I have to catch myself up."

"But it's…" I look at the clock on his bedside table, peering over him slightly, "midnight and we've had a long day."

He kisses my head, "Only a few more pages, just to finish this chapter."

I sit up and cross my arms over my chest, "I have a rule I would like to put in place."

"Under what authority?" He asks. It's sort of joking sort of serious. Almost like genuine curiosity mixed with the idea that this is a total mystery to him and I could be just messing with him. He closes the book on his thumb to save his spot.

"Under the authority that I am your wife and under the authority that I am your only priority in this room." I raise my eyebrows at him, only implying the worst of the worst with that last part. "As Queen, I'm almost certain that's all of the authority that I need to put a rule in place for our private life."

He sighs, "That's valid. Alright, what is this rule you'd like to put in place, My Authoritative Queen?"

"I would like this rule to state that there will be no royal work in the room. Ever."

"On what grounds?" He closes that stupid book all the way, and sets it on his nightstand. His arms get crossed over each other almost as if it's to prove his power over me in the most masculine way ever. That thought just makes me want to roll my eyes, but I refrain from doing so.

"On the grounds, one: I am your wife. Two: this is our bedroom and not your office. And three: that fact that because this is our bedroom, if I want to sleep in your arms, or hang out with you and goof off, have sex with you, or give head or recive head then I don't want to be put off because of your work. We don't get to see each other too much during the day, so let's treasure every moment we can during the night time."

He sighs, "Fine. But this applies to you, too."

"It's only fair. Which means that it applies to the Queen's Suite and the King's Suite. No work in either of our private quarters. Do we have an agreement?"

"We are in agreement." He holds out his hand for me and I shake it.

"Good. Now, let's sleep. Please."

I slide myself down into the warmth of our bed again. He waits for me before adjusting under the covers, as well. Once we are both remotely situated, he leans over and turns off the light. His arms wrap around me like they do every night. I gladly allow him to hold me close to him. My hand lands on his chest, feeling the light thud of his heart under my warm hand. It's a constant reminder of what I could have lost, so I hold it close to me so I never forget.

I yawn, "Goodnight, my love. I'll see you in the morning for taste testing?"

"Sounds good to me. Good night, my America. Sweet dreams." He kisses my head.

I yawn again. I feel my breathing begin to slow. I allow my body to fall into a sense of peacefulness and drift off into the comfort of sleep.