Sorry this chapter is so short. Thank you for all the views on this story! I left it at a bit of a cliffhanger... OOPS! :) Thanks again for all ya'lls support! I love you guys! I'm not finished with this story yet, so if you have any suggestions, PLEASE comment them! If I use your idea, I will make sure to put you in my story somehow! Enjoy Chapter 4!

I had mixed feeling about Jay. He was so kind and smart, not to mention handsome. He actually reminded me of Aspen, actually. But I couldn't get over those dark, mysterious eyes he had. Was my gut telling me something was off about this guy? But he seemed so nice! I shook my head. There was definitely more to Jay than meets the eye.

I shook my head and huddled up to Maxon, who gladly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in tightly. He brought his lips to my ears, close enough I could feel them brushing my ear. "Hey, it's gonna be okay, alright?" I looked up and met his eyes.

I nodded as a wet tear crawled silkily down my face. "As long as you're here." He gave me quick delicate kiss and pulled me into a new embrace. Eventually, Jay got exhausted and lay on one of the cots. He quickly fell asleep, and in no time me and Maxon were the only ones awake. We sat next to each other on the other cot that was missing a pillow. The pillow had found itself on the floor under Aspen's resting head.

We sat in silence for a while, until Maxon looked deeply into my eyes. Chills ran down my back as he spoke. "Do you really still love him?"

Even though I knew the question was coming, a small part of me was still hoping it didn't materialize. Now that it did, I was speechless. I knew my answer. I tossed it around my head. I came close to just spilling all of my feelings. If this man was going to be my husband, he should have no reason to doubt my faithfulness to him. He needed to know.

After a few moments, a slow nod was all my body would do. My lips opened, "I'm sorry, Maxon. I thought I did, then I didn't, and, I don't know, I feel like it's all coming back to me again."

My chin trembled as I went on, "I may still love Aspen. But my love for you still runs way deeper."

When I looked back up at him, his gaze had fallen on Aspen's sleeping body, and eventually, mine did too. "How could I ever love you, if you love someone else?" He muttered all of a sudden.

His words pierced through my punctured heart. Sure, my heart had been beaten, bruised, scraped at the surface. But these words tore it right in half. I took a deep breath and shuddered in the process of doing so. Tears fell at a steady stream down my face. Hadn't I cried enough today? A thought hit me like a brick. If Aspen thought I love Maxon, and Maxon thought I love Aspen, do I even have anyone to love? The realization of it broke my heart even more. Would I never fall in love and get married just because my heart couldn't recognize true love? I needed to make a decision. I needed my heart to decide now. It was either now or never.

Only a few seconds had passed. "Maxon, I want you! I love you! I've battled my heart and my mind, trying to understand the feelings I feel around you and Aspen. Which one's are true love, which ones aren't. I needed to just decide. And i've decided now. There's only one that I love, Maxon. You." I doubted my words would be enough.

Maxon turned his head toward me, tears at the brim of his hazel-brown eyes. He reached for my hand, and I grasped it with all the strength I had. With his free hand he brushed my messy hair from my face and placed it behind my ear, all the while gazing into my eyes.

"And you are the only one that I love, America Singer." And at that, he pushed his lips onto mine, into a deep fierce kiss. His hand wrapped around my waist, he pulled me closer to him while his other hand combed through my mess of hair. Instinctively, my hand fell to his waist while my other grasped his perfect, blonde hair.

It felt like nobody else was in the room. Just me and my soulmate. And every kiss we shared was perfect, a reminder of how much I loved Maxon; how much I needed him. Without warning he lay down on the hard cot, forcefully pulling me on top of him. My legs straddled his waist, as I bent down and kissed him again and again. After a few minutes, he flipped me to the bottom and began to lower his kisses onto my ear, then neck. I bit my lip to keep from moaning.

And almost as quickly as he had started kissing me, he stopped. He got off of me, and brushed the wrinkles from off his, now untucked, shirt, which he was now buttoning up a few loose buttons. I looked behind him, and there was Aspen. Fully functional, and fully capable of seeing everything that had just happened.

I don't know what made me so embarrassed. Aspen knew I loved Maxon. He knew that, so why is this a shock to him? Or me? After seeing his confused face, I watched as he took a new step forward, then a step back, unsure of what to do.

My eyes widened as memories of the last few hours rushed into my head. Aspen losing movement, his lung collapsing, his few hours of restless sleep. Forgetting everything that just happened, I ran to him and engulfed him in a huge embrace. I began to cry. Again.

"Aspen, I thought I lost you again." I whimpered into his now soaked shoulder. I heard a small thud behind me, but I didn't turn to look. It didn't matter. I pulled back, staring him straight in the face. His eyes were full of confusion, fear, and sadness. "Aspen, I didn't mean for you to see…" I said awkwardly, "I thought you knew that I loved Maxon."

HIs face was still a graven stone. I gently shook his shoulders, "Aspen? What's wrong?" And he was still silent, nothing changing. Well, nothing except the way he was breathing. He seemed to be breathing a bit quicker than usual, and as I rested my hand on his chest, I could feel his heart beating rapidly. "Aspen? Talk to me!" I was getting frustrated. "Aspen Ledger, if you do not tell me what is going on with you, I swear I will…."

But I didn't get to finish my sentence. Aspen had pulled me into a hard kiss, that I tried to pull away from, but my heart wouldn't let me. His mouth touched my ear, "One, Fourteen, Seventy-Two." I pulled back, breathing fast, confused.

"What?" I was soon to find out. Aspen collapsed again, making me scream. I crouched down next to him, immediately checking his pulse. It was there, but it was weak. I looked up to find Jay, but he was already standing above me and Aspen with a devilish grin across his handsome face and a small cloth dyed a dark blue in his hand.