I awoke on a hard cot, somewhere downstairs in the palace. I could tell because it was dark, and cold. The small room was lit with a single fired torch. I sat up, rubbing my eyes. What just happened? I looked around the room, and to my utter surprise I saw Maxon and Aspen on either side of me, laying on similar beds, still unconscious. I don't know what drove me to do it, but I ran over to Aspen first to wake him up. It got me a bit worried. Did this mean I truly still had feelings for him? I shook my head. No, I established so long ago that Maxon was the one for me.

Still, I shook Aspen's shoulders to wake him up. His eyes slowly opened from slits to a wide-eyed face. As soon as he noticed where he was, he immediately sprang up from the bed and clung to me, his arms wrapped tightly around my body. I let out a breath of relief that he had woken up so fast. I clutched him back, giving him a tight squeeze. "Thank goodness you're okay Aspen." I said, tears welling up in my eyes. After a few moments of silence I let him go, eagerly looking around. "Do you know where we are?" I breathed. I still felt a bit dizzy from whatever had knocked us out, and I could tell Aspen was, too. He grimaced coming off the bed, intaking a sharp breath. He doubled over and collapsed on the ground. I ran over to him screaming.

"Aspen! Aspen! What's going on?" I yelled as i took his head in my arms. He just looked confused as he looked back up at me. He didn't say anything audible but I could hear him muttering something under his breath over and over. I looked over at Maxon, who was still unconscious. I needed to wake him up. "Aspen, don't move." I instructed him as I gently place a pillow behind his head. I walked over to Maxon, trying my best to stay calm.

I shook him in panic. He woke with a start gripping my wrists. I pulled away from his grasp and ran over to Aspen who was still on the floor attempting to stand up, but collapsing every time. Maxon ran over quickly, obviously not feeling the side effects of what knocked us out. He crouched down by Aspen, pushing on his chest. "Don't try to get up Ledger. It'll only make it worse." Aspen sighed in defeat and collapsed again on the pillow.

"I don't know what's going on. Nothing hurts. It's like something is draining all of my energy and I can't… I can't move." Aspen shuddered.

Maxon shook his head surveying the room. "We're in the Palace. I'm not sure where. My father must have used some gas to knock us out in the back seat. Some people just have worse side effects than others. It should wear off soon. I would say get you on the bed, but it doesn't look much more comfortable than the ground." His face twisted in worry. He turned to me, "America, are you okay?"

"Honestly? I'm terrified. I don't know where we are. Maxon, your father was so mad! And if he's the one doing this, I don't want him to hurt you…"

"America, I cannot believe you!" He said with a smile. Aspen shook his head with a smile. Confused, I asked, "What?" I looked between both of them. What was so funny? I was being completely serious.

"After all of this, you don't even care about yourself. All you care about is the safety of others." Aspen said. I sighed. It was completely true though. Not once down here had I thought about the safety of myself. A small grin slipped out of my lips. I grabbed Aspen's hand in my right and Maxon's on my left. "It's because I care about you. Both of you. And you have given me enough. It's time for me to start giving back." I felt a squeeze in both my hands.

Silence overcame us. It wasn't a bad silence. If anything, it was a long needed thinking silence. I wasn't sure what Maxon or Aspen were thinking about. Maxon's eyes were wandering about, surely trying to figure out where we were. Aspen's eyes were closed, which meant he was either sleeping or in deep thought.

But my mind wandered around my memories. It touched the day when I cut my hand climbing out my window to go see Aspen in the treehouse. That was when we shared our first kiss. He had wrapped it up and one thing led to the next. My thoughts wandered over to Maxon and I and our first kiss. No, not the real kiss. The first one. The one I tried to erase. Maxon went in first, as I knew he would. Yet, I still pushed him away at first, not fully sure if this is where I wanted things to go. A small tear trickled down my thoughtful face, jumping me back to the present as I felt a gentle hand quickly swipe it away.

"What's wrong, my dear?" I couldn't tell him. Not now. So I playfully shoved his shoulder and giggled, "You won't stop calling me your dear, that's what's wrong!" He let out a small laugh. I looked over at Aspen, who was obviously sound asleep. I slid my hand out of his and propped the pillow under his head a bit better. As I pulled away, I secretly let my hand slide gently across his face. He was so strong. So brave. He was exactly what I needed.

But, he wasn't what I wanted. Love is strange that way. It seems to take away what you know you need, and leave you with everything you want. I looked back at Maxon. His was giving my a small smile and as soon as I smiled back, he slowly reached his hand up and tugged his ear. Silently giggling, I nodded, reached my hand up to feel my own ear, and gave it a small pull. It was so strange that something so silly could become something so meaningful.

Maxon leaned over and cupped my cheeks in his strong hands. He touched his lips on mine and gave me the sweetest most confident kiss I've ever had. I pulled him in, knowing that no matter how close we were, we would never be close enough. My fingers raked through his perfect messy hair. I'd felt this before. I'd felt it with Aspen. I knew the feelings were still there for him and it terrified me.

But, in the moment, I knew all I wanted was to be Maxon's. We sat there, kissing, for a few seconds. I leaned in to tell him I loved him. This was it. He had told me, and now it was my turn. As my body leaned forward, and unknown force grabbed my hair and pulled me back, sending a shock of pain through my head. I yelled aloud.

A large hand covered my mouth, making it extremely difficult to breath. My vision became blurry and the last thing I saw was Maxon's terrified face as my unknown enemy forced me into darkness.

I awoke, strapped in a hard, steel chair bolted firmly to the floor. My arms were bound behind me, and my mouth held a small rag, forcing me not to scream as I saw what was before me. On my left, Maxon was standing there, his face in utter worry. His arms were chained and a long metal chain connected each arm to the wall, suspending both his arms on either side of him. And to my horror, Aspen was in a similar condition on my right, but his body was limp and he seemed lifeless. The side effects must have not worn out yet. They didn't know he couldn't move.

Clarkson stood in the middle of them, an evil grin slapped across his ugly face. His left arm rested beside him as his right held a small stick with a threatening whip at the end. "My sweet. Can you just not decide? Both are charming. One's a prince, the other's a guard. One can give you the world," he gave a disgusted look at Aspen, "one can give you nothing but pennies."