"The world needs less goodbyes and more good mornings."

Amber

"Favorite movie? And please let it be good," Derrik said, putting another French fry in his mouth.

I considered it for a while. There were so many good movies to choose from. The advantage of having a home theatre in your house with an endless supply of movies – both forbidden and allowed. "There's this one called Eat Pray Love," I finally told him.

"Really? I saw that a couple years ago when it came out. My cousin dragged me there. It was terrible." He even scrunched up his nose as if he was truly that disgusted.

I shook my head. "Oh, the remake was terrible. No, you have to see the original."

He raised his eyebrows. "The original?" I nodded and slurped up another spoonful of soup. "I wasn't aware there was an original version. Now I'm intrigued."

"Oh, yeah. I probably watched it three times a week back when I first found it in our library," I admitted and pushed my bowl of soup away from me. "There is this other one. It's called One Day. Completely wrecked my life when I watched it for the first time. My mom actually had to hide the DVD and the book so I'd stop crying over them."

"You do not strike me as the type of girl to cry over a book," he said, leaning forward on his elbows.

I shrugged and looked at him coyly. "Give me the right book or movie and I'll sob," I challenged.

He smiled handsomely at me, taking my breath away for a few moments. "Deal." He checked his watch. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded and slid off my stool to put my jacket on. Since he never wore coats he picked up my backpack for me and waited before handing it to me. We walked in a comfortable silence back to my apartment so I could drop off my backpack and chance into more suitable party clothes. I was just sliding on a pair of patent leather heels when Derrik asked, "Are you sure you want to go? You don't look all that excited."

"I don't know. I have to admit, staying in and spending the night with you sounds much more appealing." I did my best to give him a seductive smile even though we had never done anything more than hold hands. The only kiss he'd ever given me was when he was a bit drunk and it was on my cheek.

It had been a few weeks since I had first met Derrik and we had started to spend virtually all of our time together. We were still asking each other random questions to get to know each other but now most of our time was just comfortable conversation. The thought of talking to him all night trumped the idea of getting wasted every time we made plans to go party. In fact, of the nights we planned on going to a party, we only actually went twice. The other times we never made it out of my apartment, staying up half the night talking or listening to music until we crashed on the couch. He usually took me back to my room but some nights he stayed with me on the couch until I woke up in the morning, tucked softly in his arms.

Derrik smiled and put his walled down on the counter. "Sounds like a plan to me. Do you have any of those macarons left from last weekend?" he asked, just opening my fridge to look for them.

"Yeah, they're in there. A bit stale though," I told him, going back to my room to change into my pajamas.

"Doesn't matter. Macarons are macarons. I can't believe I had never tried these before I met you. That's really why I'm in this relationship," he said sarcastically.

I nodded and went back out to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee for him and start a teakettle for myself. Then I knelt down to my wine fridge and pulled out two different bottles. "Rodney Strong or Angeles Royal Winery: pick your poison."

"Rodney Strong, every time. I love your family's private vineyard line but my first glass of wine was Rodney Strong and I've been in love since."

I smiled at this new bit of information and tucked it back into the recesses of my mind to remember on a later day. I poured us both glasses to drink while our hot beverages were being made. "So, I've been meaning to ask you and I know it's short notice, but would you like to come with me to my brother's ballet?"

"Your twin, Shalom?" I nodded. "How short notice?"

"It's tomorrow," I whispered. He choked on a swig of wine in shock. "It's just, my parents will be there with my little sister and I would love to have a friend there with me. It'd be a great time for you to meet them."

He laughed uneasily and leaned against the counter. "Of all of the advice my mother gave me for girls, I don't think she ever told me how to handle when you meet the king and queen."

"Is that a yes?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I guess. Although I'll have to go home tonight then to pack," he warned me.

I smiled at him. I couldn't seem to stop smiling whenever I spent time with Derrik. "That's fine."

I sat up on the counter and he rested one of his hands on my thigh as we waited in my kitchen for the coffee and tea to be ready. "So, tell me about your family."

"Surely you know all about my family," I told him.

"No, I don't. I know what the rest of the country knows about them. If I am going to meet most of the royal family tomorrow, I'd like to know as much as possible."

I sighed and finished my glass of wine, needing all of the alcohol I could get to explain my family. "Well, obviously you know how my parents met." He nodded affirmatively. "They're still very much in love. Very much in love. I know a lot more about their relationship than I would care to know."

"And, well, they do have five kids."

I shrugged. "That's true. But starting from the bottom, Annie is the youngest. She's very much the baby of the family. We all kind of take care of her in our own ways. I was eight around the time she was born and don't remember much but I do know that she was premature. Like, way premature. I think that's most of the reason why my parents spoil her so much. My mom almost died giving birth to her. Luckily there haven't been any permanent consequences from that."

He nodded. "That is good. I know sometimes stuff like that can mess with brain development and certain aspects of physical development."

"Yeah. Then there's Khalil who's probably the coolest person I know, even though he's only fifteen. He looks up to Shalom but he's a lot closer to me. Unfortunately, he is kind of the rebel in the family so his relationship with Dad is a bit tense but it's never too bad. At the end of the day, Dad just wants what's best for him," I said, thinking about how every time Dad fought with Khalil he would lock himself in his office for a few hours with Mom and cry. I only knew that because I had overheard them talking about it once. I understood though, especially after Dad explained to me why he had the lashing scars on his back.

"And Win is kind of the black sheep of the family. She's quiet and reserved, a perfect angel. She and Mom are really close even though Mom is nothing like her. I think she just reminds my mom a lot of her little sister. She's following in Shay's footsteps though and she'll probably be joining the ballet company in the next year or two."

Derrik leaned back against the opposite counter as he took all of this in. "And you've told me all about Shalom," he said after a bit.

I nodded. "Yeah. Shalom is a pretty great brother."

"I just can't imagine what it was like growing up with four siblings," he mused. Derrik was an only child, raised by a single mother after his father had died in a car accident when he was young. He was only at college because he got a scholarship. His mother wasn't that bad off financially but a good college like the one we were going to was still beyond their reach. If there was anything I wanted to do as queen, it would be to make college more affordable. One way or another, I would make that happen.

"And the whole heir thing…that's still up in the air?" he asked reluctantly.

I laughed. "Seeing as Shalom is living in Kent and I am living in Whites and neither of us is necessarily studying international diplomacy, I'd say it is still very much up in the air."

"There's no chance that any of your younger siblings could be king or queen?"

"No. The decision is definitely between me and Shalom," I said, tapping my fingers nervously against my glass of wine. This subject always made me uneasy, mostly because of the follow-up question I knew that Derrik was about to ask just like everyone else.

"Do you want to be queen?" And there it was. The question that I had been asked for over ten years but was still no closer to answering.

But this was Derrik. We had already told each other so much and for once I didn't feel like I had to give him a definitive answer. "I know that if I were queen, there are a lot of changes I would like to make, all for the betterment of the country. But, at the same time, I see how much my parents give up by being monarchs and I'm not sure that's me. They've lost all anonymity and half the country doesn't even like them. And I know they tried but we didn't really have a normal upbringing. I would look at my cousins and see how they were raised and sometimes I'd be jealous. And, of course, I don't want to condemn my brother to that life."

Derrik mulled this over, his eyebrows pulling together in concentration. "I think you'd get bored as a normal person. Your vision and wisdom are something to be desired for a queen. And your tenacity…well, other countries would think twice before messing with you."

I smiled at him, appreciating his honesty. "So that's my life, I guess."

"For what it's worth, I can't wait to meet your family," he told me. "Well, I guess just your parents and little sister. What time is our flight tomorrow?"

"Time? What are you talking about?"

He frowned in confusion. "Don't we have plane tickets?"

"Plane tickets?" I repeated. "You're funny. When we're packed and ready to go, I'll just call the pilot and we'll go to the airport."

"Do you mean that you have a private plane?"

I hesitated. "Multiple, actually. The smaller one is here to use at my own disposable."

"Multiple private planes?"

"My parents are monarchs," I reminded him cheekily as my coffee maker beeped.

Derrik shook his head and smiled at me, waving at me to move out of the way so he could make up his own mug of coffee. "I guess it just still astounds me that you really are a princess. You act nothing like a snobby trust-fund girl."

I blushed and turned my stove off for my teakettle. I passed a spoon over to Derrik and got one out for myself, stirring the same cream he had just used in his coffee for my tea. "That's because my trust-fund consists of a country. I thought you drink your coffee black?"

"Eh, it varies. I'm not really in any need of super caffeine." He walked me over to my couch and we sat down side-by-side, our knees just barely touching. "I am actually looking forward to this weekend now, though. I can't wait to meet your parents."

I rolled my eyes and tucked a leg beneath me. "They're really not that special. Totally normal people, just with the responsibility of maintaining world peace."

"I should probably warn you now though that I had the biggest crush on your mom when I was a kid," he admitted, leaning closer to me just ever so slightly.

I moved closer to him as well, something between us pulling us together so that our lips were just a few inches apart. "Well, as long as you're over it now."

He smiled and just barely touched his lips to mine and then pulled back again. "Oh, I am definitely over it now. Now I think I've found the next best thing."

America

"She's bringing a boy?" Maxon asked as he laid out his shirt and tie for the night. I flipped through my style magazine a bit more, folding down the corner of the page to save a sweater that I thought May would like for Christmas.

I sighed, thankful that I had waited until the plane ride to Kent to tell my husband that Amber had met someone. "She said he's really sweet. Max, I think she really likes this boy."

Maxon raked a hand through his hair. "Doesn't matter. I haven't met him yet. We have no way of knowing what he's really like, who his family is, whether or not he's a threat. What happened to those background checks I sent with her?"

"For God's sake, Maxon, give up on the background checks," I snapped. "She's a normal college student. I don't think she should have to give all of her new friends background checks."

"Ames, we know nothing about this boy. He could be a rebel for all we know. Amber doesn't know what they're like and I don't want her falling into a trap."

I shook my head and sat up all the way so I could face him. "I know you're worried about her. I am too. I just want her to have a positive college experience and giving her some independence is part of that. There comes a time where we just have to trust her to take her life into her own hands and to make wise decisions."

"And if she doesn't?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. "What if, one day, she makes a mistake that we can't fix? What if we can't undo it?"

I smiled sadly at him. Part of him was clearly upset with this whole concept but deep down I could hear the desperation and worry in his voice. "Then we keep loving her, like we have since the day she was born. She's our daughter and no matter what she does, no matter how bad it seems that she's messed up, we keep loving her unconditionally and take care of her because as her parents, that's what we need to do." I patted his cheek comfortingly. "Now finish getting dressed so we're not late to meet them."

Forty minutes later we were pulling up to the front of the theatre for the Angeles Royal Ballet. As per the usual, people lined the sidewalks of the entire block, craning their necks in the hope of just getting a glimpse of us. It seemed ridiculous that these people were taking pictures of the car we were in with no hope of actually getting a picture of us thanks to the blackened windows. At least, unlike other celebrities, we had security make a clear path for us while movie stars and pop stars had to fight their way through their throng of fans.

Aspen emerged from the car first, opening the door for Maxon and I. Maxon held my hand tightly in his, knowing that sometimes the number of people screaming at us could unnerve me. It unnerved us both since the time he almost lost his life thanks to a hidden gunman in a large crowd. We both stopped to sign a few autographs and take a couple pictures until Aspen pushed us all into the theatre.

The lobby was already packed with other prestigious people like judges and philanthropists, the same people typically invited to parties hosted at the palace. We were being bored by a neuroscientist when we heard the crowd in front of the theatre erupt, which left two possibilities for who had just arrived.

My brother's face was beaming when he strolled through the door, casually undoing the buttons on his suit jacket. "Ames," he welcomed, not bothering to curtsy or even acknowledge that he was in public with the king and queen. He shook Maxon's hand and took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. "Those fans were awfully enthusiastic," he commented. "I can't go anywhere in public anymore."

"You're just too famous," Maxon joked, throwing an arm over Gerad's shoulders.

He opened his mouth to respond when he suddenly stopped and focused on something across the room. "Hmm, you said I could borrow that royal suite in the hotel down the road tonight if I needed it, right?" he asked me.

"I mean, Maxon and I were planning on flying back tonight so I guess you could use it if you want. As long as you have your ID," I told him, not really sure why he was asking.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," he said, nodding. "Now, I've found my next conquest so if you excuse me." He patted Maxon's shoulder and pushed past me. "Oh, and don't wait up for me," he added as he walked away.

I shook my head as Maxon chuckled and took another swig from his champagne glass. "Oh, to be young and a star football player with a slew of female admirers throwing themselves at your feet."

"Yes, it must have been so difficult being the crown prince with thirty-five of the country's most desirable women at your disposal," I jabbed. While it did bother me to know that my children were doing drugs and partying, my brother's promiscuousness didn't faze me. Part of it was understanding that it came with the territory of being one of the best soccer player's in the country. The other part was just me knowing that I had no right to criticize his activities with women.

"Oh I can't begin to tell you how difficult it was," he said sarcastically.

Maxon craned his head to look at the door, drinking again nervously. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, she's coming. Why don't we go up to our box and wait for them there?"

"I wasn't looking for Amber. I was looking for Win," he lied unconvincingly.

I smiled at him and looped my arm through his, politely smiling dismissively at a multi-millionaire who had been making his way to us. We slowly made our way upstairs, being stopped along the way by different people. By the time we were there Win had caught up to us, coming from the backstage area and visiting her brother.

We barely had time to say hello to her before Amber entered with a tall man behind her. That was really the first thing I noticed about this person she had brought to meet us. He wasn't a boy at all; he was a man. She hadn't mentioned that he was older than her. I didn't know why this pricked at me the way it did. After all, Maxon was two years older than me. Maxon stopped his question for Win when he saw them come in.

"Hi," Amber greeted bashfully, looking so much like Maxon whenever he got embarrassed.

One peek at Maxon showed that he was already sizing up Amber's guest even though he towered over my husband. "Hey, sweetie," I said to her and I hoped to diffuse some tension. Win ducked into her big sister's arms and they embraced for a few moments before Amber stepped up to Maxon and I.

"Mom, Dad, this is Derrick," she introduced, laying a hand on Derrick's chest possessively as she introduced him. There was something strangely intimate and mature with the way she did it. It was something I did to Maxon all the time. Was it possible that they were already at a point in their relationship where she felt that comfortable with him?

Derrick smiled and looked at us awestruck. "You just called the king and queen 'Mom' and 'Dad,'" he said to Amber quietly. I laughed out loud at that, understanding how it felt to be meeting the king and queen in such a way. Part of me ached for Amberley at the memory.

"Well you are more than welcome to call us Mr. and Mrs. Schreave," I assured him, reaching a hand out to his to shake it.

"You can call me Sir, actually," Maxon cut in, making me roll my eyes. "I hear you've been keeping an eye on my daughter these past few weeks?"

Derrick blushed and looked at Amber for help but she merely nodded at him to continued. "Yes, Sir, I have. She's not an easy one to rein in though."

"You're telling me. I'm sure she never told you about the time she glued all of the drawers in my desk shut," Maxon said with a smile.

Amber's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Not even five minutes and he's already telling embarrassing childhood stories," she said to me.

"I'm sure you had good intentions." Derrick smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulders

"Oh no. She did it to punish me for not giving her a pony for her birthday," Maxon told him.

Derrick laughed out loud at that and Amber just blushed more deeply, bowing her head. The lights dimmed in the theatre, signaling that it was time for us to take our seats. Maxon and I took our seats in the front row as the kids sat behind us. He leaned into me to whisper, "I don't like not being able to see them."

I rolled my eyes at him as Aspen slid into the seat on his other side. "For Pete's sake Maxon, it's not like they're going to be making out when they're two feet behind us." A solid kick to the back of my chair signaled that our daughter heard me. I lowered my voice. "Besides, it's not like we've never ducked out of a performance early before."

"We were married," Maxon reminded me.

"I'm just trying to reassure you that there will be no fornication between those two tonight."

He made a face. "I'd really rather not think about my daughter and fornication at all."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "You brought it up. Aren't you supposed to be the tough father, anyway? What happened to you being so skeptical about this guy? I thought it would at least be intermission before you started regaling him with embarrassing stories."

"The way I see it is that I have two choices here: to be the tough father or the cool father. I chose the latter," he explained.

"Really? You were being the cool dad just now?" I asked.

"I probably would have been better off as the tough father."

I nodded. "Probably." I squeezed his hand though as the orchestra started playing, just to tell him that he hadn't done a bad job. After that I stopped thinking about Amber in favor of watching her twin perform on the stage. Shalom's talent in dancing always amazed me, especially with my dancing being as dismal as it was.

As soon as intermission began, Maxon pulled Amber away to talk to her about something. "A king's job is never really done," I said to Derrick as he watched them both step out in the hallway.

"Does she help a lot?" he asked. "She doesn't really talk about it."

"That's because she shouldn't," I reminded him. "But really, she hardly does anything. We understand that college can be difficult as it is; helping run a country doesn't need to be added to that pressure. He really just likes to catch her up on stuff whenever he sees her."

Derrick nodded pensively. "Mrs. Schreave, I know it isn't my place to be asking, but is she going to be queen someday?"

"Of course it's your place. You should know what you're getting into when you date a Schreave, especially the eldest child. She's the rightful heir but she and Shalom both know that the choice is up to them. If and when they feel so bold they can tell us that they're ready to be sovereign," I explained.

"It's her choice?"

"Oh sure. Maxon and I made that decision after they were born." I frowned then, starting to get the impression that I had said too much. "Did she not tell you?" I asked nervously.

He shook his head. "No, she didn't," he said in a terse voice.

"Derrick, please don't be upset with her about this. You have to understand that Amber has been very ambivalent about it all. She never talks about it unless directly asked and most of the time even then she just tells people what they want to hear so she can change the subject. Surely you know that side of her by now."

"I do but I never thought it would be directed at me."

I patted his knee. "She's a complicated one, Derrick."

"You're telling me," he mumbled.

Maxon and Amber came back in and Maxon clasped Derrick's shoulder. "Would you like a drink?"

Derrick nodded numbly. "Very much, sir." He seemed unable to get out of his chair fast enough, following Maxon outside to go to the bar with Aspen in tow.

Amber picked up on Derrick's icy mood and looked at me. "What did you say to him?" she demanded, brown eyes flashing with anger.

"What did I say? What did you say to him? The boy thinks that your father and I are the ones choosing who is and isn't heir!"

Win cracked her gum as she flipped through her program. "I thought that was the situation too, in her defense," she chimed in.

"Sorry I didn't want to tell him right away that I had to decide eventually. Having a girlfriend that is more than likely going to be queen some day is a little daunting," Amber fired at me. "Or have you forgotten? After all, you're the one that has always said how much you didn't want to be queen when you dated Dad."

"At least I knew what I was getting myself into," I told her. "I went into the Selection with my eyes open. That boy thought that you're at our mercy."

"Mom, you don't get it. We had a really good thing going there and now you've ruined it."

I sighed, mentally kicking myself for opening my big mouth. "Honey, I'm sorry, but if that boy doesn't want to date you just because you may be queen someday, he isn't the one."

"For Pete's sake, I'm eighteen years old. I don't need to be worrying about whether or not I've found the one!"

"I don't get what the big deal is," Win said. "So you're going to be queen someday? So what?"

Amber rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't get it since you're third in line," she growled.

Win snapped her program shut and looked at Amber with stony eyes. "You know what? I think I'm gonna go find Dad and Derrick and make sure they make it back in time for the Act Two. Not that it'll be any more entertaining than watching you two duke it out." She practically ran from the booth, leaving Amber and I alone.

"I'm not apologizing," she snapped, crossing her arms.

"You're not acting like a lady either." She slouched down even further as if to spite me further. "You wouldn't be having this issue if you didn't lie to him in the first place."

"We've been over this Mom," she sighed.

I shook my head. "Honey, take it from me, honesty and trust are two of the most important things in a relationship. If you can't trust him, then something is wrong." Her eyes softened and there was the slightest bit of fear in them as if she was just realizing that she could lose him and that it would kill her if she did. She didn't get a chance to respond since the boys came back in then, laughing as Aspen shared a story from his old days of training to be a guard. He and Derrick started talking about the best barbecue places in Whites to go to with Derrick updating Aspen on which ones were still there.

Maxon sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. He immediately sensed the tension. "What's wrong?" he mouthed to me.

I just shook my head, tapping my wrist to tell him Later. We sat close to each other for the remainder of the ballet, occasionally sharing conspiratorial glances when we would hear Win whisper a critique from behind us. She was also too talented in dancing to be considered part Singer, her eyes picking up on mistakes that I would have never noticed if she didn't point it out.

Finally the time came for us to say goodbye to Amber and Derrick. Amber kissed me on the cheek coolly, refusing to hug me and Derrick seemed to be almost apologetic as he said goodbye to us. We rode back to the airport in silence and I didn't explain anything until Maxon and I were safely in the privacy of our bedroom on the plane.

He listened patiently as I explained but his frown grew deeper as I went. "This is my fault," he whispered.

I stopped talking abruptly. "What?"

"If we had just made her the heir from the beginning she wouldn't be having this problem," he reasoned.

"She also wouldn't be at college right now which means she wouldn't have ever met Derrick."

He shook his head. "So?"

"So…you can't tell me you didn't notice the way they acted around each other tonight. They're in love. They may not know it yet but he's the one for her," I told him, thinking of all the little gestures I'd seen get passed between them throughout the night. "This one small thing isn't going to break them up."

"I wouldn't mind having him as a son-in-law at all," Maxon finally admitted. "Did you know he's pre-law?"

"She briefly mentioned it when I talked to her last week. You know who he reminds me of?"

"Who?"

I smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "You."

He turned his head to kiss me more passionately, his hand slowly making its way up my skirt. Twenty years hadn't done anything to dilute this fervor we felt for each other every time we touched. If anything it was even stronger than ever. "I'm still going to need him to do that background check."

Yay, another update! I'm still trying to figure out the length for the split between Amber and America. I'll talk about this stuff more on Tumblr so you can head over there and check me out (my blog is called gingertags). Thanks for the reviews guys!

Someone the World Forgot: Since you've been so loyal thus far, I guess I can let you slide. :)

Weatherbug02: America found out she was pregnant with Khalil back in Chapter 42!

winterprincess: they'll calm down a little further down the road, i promise! and you learned a bit more about Derrick in this chapter!

Renna: Remember, even though Amber and Shalom are 18 now, Win and Khalil are still teens and Annie is only 10. you'll get plenty of teenage Schreave angst soon! There's also always the possibility of some one-shots later down the road where i can revisit the twins as teens.

Ana: I have no plans for phasing out Maxerica in favor of Damber! It was one thing I really put a lot of thought into. Amber has a really interesting story and I couldn't tell it from America's POV but there is still so much going on with America and Maxon at this point; their children are growing up and becoming adults, they're making plans for handing the throne down to their children, and there is still some drama in America's family that you'll hear more about later. I'm going to keep doing these dual POVs for the remainder of the Fic.

booklion4: Amber definitely has some similarities to America but she's also her own person. It's been fun to discover her.

Sci-FiGenius: glad it lived up to your expectations!

LeftByTheGalaxy: eeee me too!

keegs16: there's a really sweet moment between Maxon and Amber in the next chapter!

prnamber3909: thanks!

Mac: i couldn't give Shalom and Shel a part in this chapter but there will be more of them in the future. and i'm glad you've given Damber a chance!

valmarieliz: thanks!

Joy: i know it was probably really sudden and kind of bad with all of the references to drugs but I did want to make it a bit more authentic. I mean, it doesn't matter that they were raised by the perfect little cupcakes, they're still royal kids and they've created their own ways to misbehave. they're still kids and it's easier to hide getting high than getting drunk.