AN: Slept in, missed both of my morning lectures so figured that I may as well update my little story before I head off for lunch and my afternoon exam. :) Hope that all you wonderful readers will stick through this story for two more chapters. I know I've been slacking on updating. You've all done such a wonderful job of reviewing regardless of that fact, though. I'd really love to finish this story strong with all of your comments and support. Thank you for breaking the 500 limit, I never thought I would see that many reviews in just 28 chapters. This chapter will finally put to rest all of your questions about whether or not America is alive so get ready (with chocolate and tissues)!


Maxon's POV

My rest didn't last long but I was glad to wake up and find myself alone. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate everything Kriss was trying to do, I just knew that nothing would make me feel better now that America was gone. There was a throbbing in my shoulder and I bit my lip to keep from crying out in pain. I realized now that I was no longer in the hospital wing but in my own room. I couldn't have been more grateful for whoever decided to move me. Peace and solace would be my only escape now—at least until it was time to get back to work. I didn't know what I was going to tell Illéa now that my engagement was over and Kriss would be moving on with her life with Scott. I didn't really care all that much though. I wouldn't be introducing America as the new princess as I had originally planned. I looked over at the wall, where I had kept a photo of her tacked since the night that we kissed in the gardens. How I would always love her. My heart shattered even more at the fact that I knew I'd never be able to move on with my life or be happy again.

"Maxon?" A voice whispered from outside my bedroom. A gentle knock followed it and I wanted to pretend that I was sleeping, pretend that I hadn't heard my mother calling for me. But after the last rebel attack had taken my father away from her, I knew that she had a right to come in and see how I was doing.

"Come in mother," I replied quietly. I didn't want a bunch of people rushing into my room. "But before you do could you tell a maid to get me some more pain medication?" There was a pause in our conversation before she walked into the room.

Her hand slowly went up to her mouth as she tried to cover her shock. I knew that she was going to be scared at what the bullet had done to me. But I didn't want her to freak out either. I was going to live, regardless of all my wishing. I reached out to her lightly and she sat down next to my bed, clutching my hand. "Oh my baby," she whispered, reaching her hand up to brush away the hairs on my forehead.

"It's alright, mom," I replied, trying to calm away her fears. "I'm going to be just fine." I whispered, trying to ignore the whimper of pain that wanted to break through my lips. My shoulder still felt the bullet shooting through but I knew that I should just wait for the medication to come.

"I knew you always loved America, Maxon." She replied. I wasn't expecting her to pull up that conversation but let her continue regardless. Had it been anyone else, I probably would have sent them out of the room—or even out of the palace for that matter. But she was my mother and I had to respect whatever she was going to say to me. She looked up at the ceiling then over her shoulder at the picture hanging on my wall. "I never understood why you picked Kriss that morning. I do now, she told me the story as she waited for Officer Alexander to get out of surgery. I just never pinned you for being so unforgiving. I must have let you pick that habit up from your father."

"It wasn't your fault," I whispered back, trying to stop her from blaming herself for everything that had gone wrong in my life. "I was too prideful, I should have stopped and listened to her. After all, I had been dating three other girls when our relationship really started to get serious. She had every right to feel like she needed to have a fallback plan. I just wish that I had realized way before her father had passed that I couldn't live without her. Maybe then we would have been able to put all of this behind us. Maybe then we could have had the start of some life together before she…she." I trailed off. I couldn't the words. I couldn't admit out loud that America had left the world. "How is Scott doing? How many casualties were there?"

"Scott will recover, with lots of rest. Kriss is with him now, but he has hardly been awake since he got out of surgery. And there weren't nearly as many as there were the night that your father died. The Northern Rebels and Aspen did a really good job leading teams to take down the threat before they could do much damage. I can't believe that DeLisle would turn on the crown like that. What could have possibly been going through his mind is far beyond anything that I'll ever comprehend."

I picked up a folder from inside my desk drawer and handed it to her. It occurred to me that very few people knew about my plans to end the Castes. Her hand went up to her mouth once again, trying to delay the shock as she read all the words on the pages, including the documents from the New Asia treaty meeting. She put her hand back on mine and smiled softly at me. "I've never been more proud of you Maxon. This must have taken a good deal of faith and courage in order to try and pass this through. Was it all for her?"

I nodded, tears in my eyes as I tried to form the words. "I'll always love her, mother. Even if she's, even if she's—"I trailed off once again, still too weak to let the words flow out of my mouth.

"Maxon, there's something you should know," my mother replied, wiping away a stray tear that found its way down my cheek. "There's no good way for me to tell you this. I always liked her too."

My mother stood up from her seat and started to head towards the door without another sound. I figured it was going to be far too difficult for her to tell me that America had died. Perhaps one of the doctor's would be able to give me the details. No one else would be able to, I decided. Everyone adored her but no one as much as I had. She placed her hand on the door and opened it. I saw her pause and look down at someone but my view was blocked. I figured it must be the maid bringing me my requested pain medication. But when my mother turned her head back to look at me, I had a clear view of red, fiery hair look at me from over my mother's shoulder.

"Ames!" I whispered, crying out in pain, agony, and longing.

All the tears that had once threatened to fall from my eyes out of grief now had turned to joy. There was no holding any of them back at this point. My mother stepped aside and watched as America rushed over to the open side of my bed, before shutting the door behind her. I wrapped my uninjured arm tightly around her waist, clinging to her body against mine. "Oh America, oh my dear, I thought they had killed you. I thought you were gone," I cried, pressing my lips hard against hers. She returned the kiss for a moment, before pulling away to look down at me.

"I thought they were going to kill me. Emmett had a gun to my temple, ready to pull. But when I heard the gunshot and felt no pain, I knew that something was off. Then, I started to get untied and realized that Celeste had found me before they could do anything to me." She replied, placing her hand on my cheek as she pulled me into another kiss. "I was so worried about you Maxon. I tried to find you to come warn you but we got chased by a few Southern Rebels. We ended up using a Safe Room that was very off the map so no one found us for hours after the raid was over. Daniele was furious over how much worry we had caused him. But all I could think about was getting back to you."

"We'll never have to be apart again, my dear. Kriss and Scott have been in love for years and they are happy to move onto a life where they can finally be together. There aren't any hurt feelings. We can be free to just be us."

A light laugh escaped her lips. "I thought I told you never to call me your dear?"

"Given the scare that you gave me, Ames, I think you owe me a few days at least of being able to call you whatever I want," I teased back, the tears in my eyes finally dying down as I looked up at my future. "I don't know what we are going to tell the kingdom, but somehow they'll be able to accept that I'm in love with you and not with Kriss." I finished, wanting to keep all the conversation at a minimum for now. I reached up and kissed her once again, my whole body feeling as if it were on fire. How wonderful it would be to be able to kiss her every day for the rest of my life. How good she felt pressed against my body, leaning into my every touch. I don't know how I ever had myself convinced that she would just be a memory. She was too perfect for that, too special to be replaced by someone else.

Carefully, she slipped me my pain medication. I started to fade into the darkness, but asked her if she would stay by my side through the night. She smiled as she tucked her into my uninjured shoulder, her silent yes giving me more than words could ever dream of. I kissed her forehead and started to drift off, knowing that nightmares wouldn't be able to claim me with her in my arms.

America's POV

"And tonight will be the Report where the King will apologize for his indecencies with you," Sylvia replied, looking through her check list for the day. "And Kriss will be there on the stage with him, announcing that she shouldn't have agreed to his proposal because she knew she belonged with someone else. Really, you all just made a big mess out of everything," her voice was chastising, but I couldn't care less. Her eyes rolled the pages, making sure that nothing else had been missed from her agenda. "We just have to hope that the people are accepting of things that have gone wrong because of the way the country is run. Luckily, Maxon is in favor with most since his announcement to end the Caste System."

We nodded before we were sent on our separate ways from the Women's Room. Kriss had been moved out of the Princess Suite even though Maxon hadn't been allowed to propose to me yet. She was now in the adjoining room to Scott's and I knew it wouldn't be long until they were engaged. I was a bit jealous, I didn't know how long it would take until Maxon would be allowed to pop the question to me. After all, I was currently being seen as the savior for those in the lower Castes and as the woman who had split up the Royal Couple by countless others of the populace. Even though I felt as if I had done a good job of standing my ground and keeping my morals, I still had a lot to do with the fact that Maxon wasn't going to be marrying Kriss in a month. Our only hope could be that the people accepted that Kriss was in love with someone else and the fact that she would be the one calling off their wedding. I knew she wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but the whole idea gave her a sense of pride. If it were me in her position, I wouldn't blame her for getting a little satisfaction for ending a relationship that she had been cheated on in.

"Hey America," a voice called, from the other end of the hallway. I hadn't realized that Kriss had been following me and I slowed down so that she could catch up to me. "I really don't have any hard feelings towards you. I just want you to know that before I end up saying something cruel or rude on the Report."

That was Kriss for you. Even if she was still deeply in love with Maxon instead of with Scott, she would have been polite about the situation. She was much better of a person than I could ever dream of being. I hoped that I would be able to pick up the ground work she had laid out in being Princess. It was the only way that the people would ever truly accepted me and allow me to marry Maxon without causing riots. "Would you like to come in and talk for a little while?"

She followed me into my room that had since been redone with blue walls with purple decorations pinned to them. My first big project had been to make the Princess Room my own. I was shocked that Kriss hadn't ever tried to add her own flairs to the room. Perhaps by the time she got around to it, she had realized her heart was never really with Maxon. Whatever the reason, it was nice not having to come in and destroy everything that she had done to it. I tried to keep my room simple, with only a few pictures of my family, Maxon, and Celeste, Marlee, and I put up around the room. I didn't need much, I had everything that I could have ever wanted with the people that I now held so dear to me. If Maxon were free to propose, then it would be the first time in my life that everything was perfect.

"How are things with Scott?"

"Going rather well. He wants to go home and meet my family after Maxon and I make our announcement. It probably wouldn't be for a while though. And I'm not sure I want to mention him on the Report like Sylvia suggested. One cheater in the Royal Couple relationship should be enough for the people to handle," she replied, a teasing tone in her voice as she gave me a light smile.

"I just want you to know that I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn't mean to steal Maxon away from you and I certainly never meant to get in the way of you and Scott. If I would've known there was history there I would have never gotten involved with him. It must look pretty bad to you that I had both the men in your life chasing after me for a while."

She shrugged, sitting down on the sofa across from my chair. "You were just trying to move on with your life after Maxon picked me. As far as he goes, all those decision he made were his. I don't blame you for him trying to chase after you. I know that you weren't trying to take him away from me, he's told me as much over and over again."

"Did you ever love him, Kriss?"

She paused and I wondered if I had crossed a line. It wasn't like with Marlee and Celeste where I could get them to tell me almost anything without there being any borders between us. I wasn't as close to Kriss and I had no right to pry into her personal feelings. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if I hadn't ever kissed Maxon back if there would have been a happy marriage to the King in her future.

"I did, I do believe he was my first love." Kriss replied. "After all, Scott could only be a crush and a friend before the last few weeks happened. I really came to the palace thinking that I was free to be with Prince if that was what he wanted. I thought it could be what I wanted too. He was good looking and kind. When I told Maxon I didn't want to wait to kiss him, I meant it. When I felt him kiss me, it felt good, warm, and a little magically. But there was a few sparks missing. Or at least I guessed there were from how everyone else talked about their interactions with him." She smiled at me. "I could have had a very happy marriage to him, but it wouldn't have been complete for either one of us. He's all yours America, no hard feelings."

I smiled and got up to hug her. "Best go and get ready for the Report." She nodded as she hugged me back. "I hope that we can learn to be really good friends, Kriss. I know that things will always be awkward in our history but we really can put that behind us. If you're willing to, that is."

She smiled back at me and nodded. "Regardless of how the Report goes or how awful I make you out to be—unintentionally of course—I really hope you understand that I don't hold any grudges against you." She smiled as she turned out the door. "I think we will learn to be really great friends America. I really hope that someday you can talk to me the way you do Marlee and Celeste."

"I really hope for that too." I shut the door behind her as she left, and felt a pair of arms wrapping their way around my waist. I smiled. I hadn't heard Maxon come through the adjoining door but it was always nice to have him to myself in moments like these.

"That went well, my dearest," he replied, trailing a pathway of sweet kisses down my neck. I let him, leaning into his warmth. He turned me around to kiss me properly, holding me securely in his arms for a moment. "Are you worried about tonight?"

I nodded, hating to admit that I was scared. If the people were going to riot at the idea of me becoming their Princess and future Queen, it meant that Maxon and I would never get to be together. Everything came down to the broadcast on the Report and the reviews that were to follow. Hopefully, everyone was secretly romantics and would allow for this error in judgment to be forgiven. And if they did, I knew that Maxon and I had a long road ahead of us getting the Caste System abolished and anything else that might follow.

"Don't be worried, America. They're going to love you like they did before. But not nearly as much as I'll always love you." He kissed me softly, looking down at me as if I were the most beautiful and precious thing in the world. I would always treasure the way he smiled at me, the way he treated me. Even if he weren't the King, I knew in another life that I would always be his Princess.

"I love you, Maxon Schreave."

"And I'll always love you, America Singer. Endlessly."


See that wasn't so bad now was it? Totally and completely worth the wait, or at least I'd say so. I promise that you all will really enjoy the Epilogue and that it will make up for a lot of things that happened earlier on in the story.