I hadn't slept very well, I was too upset. Why had he had to mention Kriss last night? I would've been fine, I just really didn't want to think about them being together. I wished I'd stayed with him through the night, I think that I needed him and he needed me. I got up out of bed and walked over to the door and knocked twice.
"Maxon?" I called but there was no answer. I opened the door but couldn't see him, the room was completely empty. I closed the door again and got dressed in a green day dress. I then headed down the corridor towards my family's rooms. Today was their last day in the palace they headed back to their house on the outskirts of the palace grounds, so I needed to spend some more time with them before they left.
"Morning guys!" called as I knocked and entered my mother's room, where May and Gerad were sat on the bed, talking while my mother packed odd bits and pieces into a bag.
"Morning." The three of them chimed back.
"Do we really have to leave the palace? It's so beautiful here, our house cannot be as pretty as yours!" May complained.
"May, you're welcome back any time but there's rigorous safety checks every time I leave, and if you live in your house then you can leave anytime you want to sell your artwork, paint, go to school, see people. You can do anything from there. Plus, I know that it is a very beautiful house that Maxon picked out himself." I sat down beside her on the bed.
"Ok then. As long as I can speak to you anytime I want to. I would like to be able to speak to the Queen whenever I wish." I laughed at shook my head at her.
"Fine, you can have the number to my direct line, May." I pretended to complain but we both knew that she would have it anyway. "I just came down to say that breakfast will be about ten, fifteen minutes, if you want to come down to the dining room." And with that I left them. I figured Maxon would probably be down for breakfast, unless it was an especially important meeting.
I wandered down to the dining room and sat myself to the left of the head of the table. I sat there, alone, for about ten minutes before my mother, brother, sisters, and James came in. I smiled at them all in greeting as my mother sat across from me.
"What's wrong?" She mouthed but I just shook my head, I didn't really want to talk or think about it all right now.
I sat quietly through breakfast as May chattered on to everyone about pretty much everything. I kept feeling my mother's eyes watching me so I tried to smile and look as if I was listening to May's stories. But I knew that she could tell something was wrong.
After breakfast I waved my family off from the steps outside the palace, I had hoped that Maxon would be here to say goodbye, but he must just be busy. I walked back upstairs to my study, planning on doing some more work on the wedding. I got out my notepad and started trying to design a menu but I gave up and was soon just doodling pictures of wedding dresses and cakes until I heard voices in the corridor outside. I couldn't understand what was being said but I recognised one of the voices as Maxon's so I decided to poke my head out and see if I could talk to him.
"I'm sure it'll all be fine Maxon." He was with Kriss, I tried not to let my upset get the best of me and thought that they were probably just talking, I didn't want to make the same mistake as last night.
"I know, I just wish that I could understand why she's so upset with me." Kriss put an arm on his shoulder, it really did upset me the way she went on with him, even after the Selection was over.
"You know that I would never be like that with you." I couldn't take them discussing me like that and decided to step outside, maybe if they saw me then I could actually talk to Maxon, rather than just be talked about to him. But that's when it happened.
It happened in slow-motion, but I couldn't move. First she put her hands around him and stood on her toes so she was the right size, and then she kissed him. I was momentarily stunned before I turned on my heels and went back into my office.
I slammed the door behind me, I didn't know what to do for the best now. All I knew was that I needed to talk to someone. I called for my maids, praying that Marlee might come too.
"America?" I heard Maxon call from the hall. I ran into my bathroom and locked the door, I needed to speak to my maids before I made a mistake and ruined everything with Maxon, again. "America?" He was in my room now. "I know you're in there, America. I'm sorry. She's gone…and I need to talk to you." I stayed silent.
"Oh, King Maxon." Lucy had arrived. "Is Lady America in here, she called for us?" I heard Maxon sigh.
"I think she's hiding in the bathroom. She's upset, I'm sure she'll tell you why. Just please, please tell her I love her, I'm sorry and I need her. Please." I heard the door click shut and Maxon's footsteps moving away down the hall.
"Miss?" Amy's voice travelled through the door. I unlocked the door and opened it. Like I hoped, Marlee was in front of the door and I completely fell into her, crying.
"She kissed him, Marlee. Kriss kissed him." The four of them stared at me in shock.
"What-what are you going to do?" Marlee asked, almost scared to hear the answer.
"Not invite the bitch to my wedding!" There was a small amount of relief on her face.
"So, what are you going to do about you and Maxon?" Lucy asked in a quiet voice.
"I love him. I just need to know what happened and I needed to speak to you guys before I got too upset and ruined it all." I paused to look at my friends. "Am I doing the right thing?" Lucy and Marlee nodded enthusiastically but Mary and Amy didn't look so sure.
"Yes, definitely. I mean, you love him. It probably wasn't even really him. From what I saw of him, he looked pretty worried that you were really cross with him." Marlee told me.
"But, I mean you definitely need to talk to Maxon about this so that you can find out exactly what happened, and don't forget, it's ok to be angry."
"Amy, last time I was angry I almost started a rebellion. I don't think that's the way to go." I smiled a little at the memory of that night.
"Go talk to him, now. Sooner rather than later. Get it sorted and then come back here and we'll see what we need to do next. Go on." Marlee almost pushed me out the door, where I saw Maxon sat at the end of the corridor, his head in his hands.
"Maxon?" I called, about to burst into tears again. He looked up and almost ran towards me.
"America. I'm so-" He started but I reached up and kissed him before he could finish. "Come on, we really need to talk about it." He led me through his bedroom and onto the balcony. "We need to talk about what happened with Kriss, but we also need to talk about you and Officer Ledger. I've been putting it off, but I think we really do need to talk about everything.
"Me and Kriss. In the corridor, it was her. She kissed me and I sent her away and told her not to come to the Wedding." He paused and looked at me. "If the Wedding's still on?"
"If you'll still have me after everything I've done to you." He grabbed my hand and smiled. I breathed out quickly. "Aspen and I were secretly together for about two years before the selection when he broke up with me and I was brought to the palace. Then he was drafted and appeared at the palace not that long after. We started seeing each other a bit, but I ended it the moment I realised things between you and I were real. When you saw us I was purely explaining to him that we didn't sleep together, you know. I wanted to tell you about us, but I've made so many mistakes between us that I didn't want to screw it up anymore. Then I did and then I did, again, then I did a few more times, and then we're back to now." I looked up at him and smiled weakly.
"Nothing at all happened between me and Kriss last week, she was just trying to keep me sane during it all. I love you America, there's no one I'd rather be with. I don't care about you and Aspen, just as long as you're only mine."
"Hah, I don't think that there's much that would tear him away from Lucy anyway. I am totally 100% yours, but I don't think that Kriss should come to the wedding or to the palace in general." I leaned over to him and kissed him lightly.
"So, we're all ok?" I nodded "Good." He smiled mischievously and grabbed me so that I was sat on his lap.
"Where were you this morning?" I asked, putting my arms around his neck.
"Early meetings that went on for what felt like hours. I was wondering if you'd like to join me in some of them sometime soon?" I looked at him, confused slightly. "I mean, you don't have to, but I thought that you could have a say in decisions too, since you're hardly going to want to be a silent Queen." He chuckled slightly.
"I'd really love that. Though I have no idea what to do." Maxon shrugged his shoulders.
"Just say what you think about the issue and try to be slightly polite."
"Sure, it sounds great, just as long as I can have some time off to do planning for events. You, know like the big one in a few weeks." He nodded and smiled at me.
"Now, I'm fairly sure you have four girls in your room sitting with their ears against the door, wanting to know what happened. Go talk to them for a bit and then join me for a walk around the garden?" I nodded, kissed him lightly and stood to leave, Maxon kept hold of my hand until the last moment as I walked back through the glass doors to his room and then through the joining room to mine, where the four girls stared up at me, their eyes wide and worried.
"It's all good guys, don't worry. We're completely and utterly fine." I picked up my notebook that I'd been doodling in before being interrupted. "Now, come on. We've got a wedding to plan."