Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Thank you so much for all the positive reviews I've received! Your words really touch my heart; please continue to write about your thought and inspiration for future chapters. I've been wanting to use this plot in a chapter for a while, so I hope you like it...

The next morning, I woke up and yawned, a fresh pit of grief settling in my stomach as I recalled the previous day's events. Maxon was stirring beside me, barely awake. He had a tough night, so I was glad he was taking the opportunity to sleep in as much as possible. After a few minutes, he jerked up, causing me to stifle a yelp. He threw off our covers and ran out of the room in his T-shirt and shorts without even saying good-morning to me.

Confused, I followed him slowly, seeing the door to the Queen's suite slightly ajar. I opened it to find Maxon standing in the middle of Amberly's bedroom, his face etched with despair as he struggled with the truth.

"America, they're gone," he said quietly.

"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered, puzzled by his behavior and not knowing what else to say. I walked up to Maxon and wrapped my arms arms around him. The scent of his cologne drifted around us.

"I'm sorry I left you alone just now," he apologized sheepishly. "I had to make sure they were really gone."

"Don't worry about me," I said, my voice muffled by his shirt. "I understand." We held each other for a few moments, calming each other down. "Maxon, you have the day of today, don't you?"

"I do," he confirmed. "We both do."

"Why don't we do a sort of workout today?" I proposed. "I haven't really worked out since the middle of the Selection, and being active will help dissipate the grief for the time being."

"That's a nice idea," Maxon agreed. I knew that he was at his peak for being in physical shape, but I was starting to feel my calves burn just from walking from the first to the third floor of the palace. I would have to get into some kind of workout pattern, and there would be no better time than the present, especially since we both had the day off.

"Let's go change and head down to the gym," I said, excited about exercising since it had been a while.

"Okay," Maxon nodded absentmindedly. I knew he was still thinking about his parents, but I hoped some time in the gym would make him use his anguish as motivation.

We walked back to our rooms in silence. I quickly changed into leggings and a sports bra with a sporty tank top, delighted to be able to wear comfy clothing for the day. Maxon changed into basketball shorts and a tight-fitting shirt. I had to drag my eyes from his sculpted chest when he came into the room, ready to workout. He caught me looking and his eyes softened.

"C'mere," he whispered and I ran up to him for a squeeze. "I'm sorry to be so distant. My mind's just taking me to places I don't want to go."

"I know, Maxon. It's going to be okay. Hopefully being active will make us think about something else for a while."

"Thanks, Ames. Let's go," he said with a smile.

The gym was completely empty. Guards usually trained up here but clearly they were somewhere else at the moment. First, we decided to work on running. We each set up a treadmill, which I had never used before. Apparently the ground moved as you ran! I chose to aim for two miles while Maxon went for eight.

"Do you want to listen to music?" Maxon offered. "I can play some through the whole room or I can get you a headset and listen to your own."

"Let's play some music through the whole room. Not too loud though; I still want to be able to talk," I decided.

"Okay," Maxon consented and connected his phone to the speakers in the room. Fun pop music started playing, and I grinned, feeling pumped. We started the treadmills and I relaxed into a rhythmic run. I ran seven miles an hour without an incline, while Maxon had boosted his incline four percent and was running nine miles an hour. He quickly finished his first mile in 6:50 minutes while I finished mine in 8:30 minutes.

"Darn it, Maxon. Do you secretly win marathons in your free time?" I joked, panting slightly after finishing my first mile. He smirked and shook his head, not even breathing heavily yet.

"One can't help being born into perfection," he laughed. "I work out a lot because I used to prepare for the day I'd be able to take on my father. I had to be strong enough."

I nodded and focused on the half mile I had left.

Finally, I hit two miles. I turned the machine off and stretched my arms above my head, gasping for breath. Maxon was halfway through his third mile, sweat starting to seep through his grey shirt.

"Go, Maxon!" I cheered, doing jumping jacks to pass the time. "Woo-hoo!"

Maxon quickly swiped a hand across his wet forehead, grinning. He looked gorgeous.

Finally, after ten more minutes, my fiancé was finished with his eight miles. He turned off the treadmill and walked over to slink an arm down my back.

"What next?" he asked me.

"Let's do abs," I determined.

"Okay." Maxon led me over to a bucket of rolled-up mats. We each grabbed one and lined them up together. "Twenty sit-ups, twenty push-ups, twenty burpies, twenty crunches, and plank for three minutes with thirty seconds to rest in between each?"

I tried to keep my eyes from widening. Though the combo seemed daunting, I was not going to let Maxon see me back out of anything. There was only one way to get fit again.

"Let's repeat that three times," I said confidently.

"You're going to challenge me, huh?" Maxon said, raising his eyebrows playfully.

"Oh, yeah!" I turned on a timer that would beep every thirty seconds, letting us know when to switch out of our positions. "Let's do this." He pulled me in for a quick kiss before smiling and settling down on the mat.

The timer started and I began to do my sit-ups. It felt easy, because as a Five, I was used to running around and playing outside, roughing it. I finished my twenty a few seconds after Maxon, and the timer beeped, telling us that our thirty seconds of rest had started. I stretched a bit and then got into a push-up position. The timer beeped again, which meant our rest time was up and we had thirty seconds to do our push-ups.

I finished quickly again, though Maxon was done way before me. It was hard to focus on the task when all I saw were his powerful muscles. After thirty minutes of resting, the timer beeped and it was time for burpies. These were by far my least favorite. I jumped up and then tucked down into a push-up position, repeating this motion again and again. By my twelfth burpie, my core was aching and beads of sweat were tickling my forehead. I slowed down a bit and managed to get eight more in, though I was feeling tired already.

I finished twenty burpies just a little after the time beeped for thirty seconds. Maxon finished right on the dot, and he wasn't even really panting yet. I pushed up into a bridge on the mat, breathing into my muscles and stretching my core. Far too soon, the timer beeped and I had to lay on my back again. I knocked out fifteen crunches quickly, and then pushed past the discomfort to finish just before the time was up. My eyes locked with Maxon's, supportive and warm.

"You're doing amazing, Ames," he marveled after catching his breath. "I've never met a woman who could keep up with me in my workout."

I snorted, though I was pleased to see him impressed. "This isn't even close to over yet," I said, shaking my head. As if to prove my point, the timer rang and we had to get into plank. I quickly relaxed into it, but by my second minute, I was starting to get antsy. I had to clench and unclench my hands to keep from going crazy. Finally, three minutes were up. And...we had to go through this process twice more.

The second cycle of our abs workout was a lot harder than the first. I was finishing ten seconds after the timer beeped, so I only had twenty seconds to catch my breath. I could even see Maxon lagging a bit, finishing five seconds late or barely making it in time. I started to cramp during the burpies, which made breathing during the crunches exceptionally hard. I had to stop on and off to breathe into the cramp, which gave me ten seconds of actual rest.

I was actually feeling better during the plank because there wasn't much action involved and I could catch my breath a bit.

We gave ourselves two minutes of rest until going for the third cycle of the workout. I took off my tank-top for this, leaving just my sports bra on. I could feel Maxon's eyes staring in awe at my stomach. I already had abs from being a Five my whole life, and I was still thin from starving at times during my childhood. He reached forward to touch my muscles but I swatted him away with a mischievous glimmer in my eye.

"Focus, mister!" I reprimanded him and Maxon laughed.

"You are beautiful," he said.

I shook my head and launched into the third cycle with renewed energy, having cooled down a bit and wanting to get the abs portion of our workout done.

The last section of the plan was actually easier than the second. I was exhausted, but I had already woken up old muscles that were making it easier and balancing my movements. I sighed as the timer finally beeped and we were finished with plank.

"We're done!" I said brightly, feeling triumphant that I had pushed through my discomfort.

"You are amazing," Maxon said, making me feel dizzy with pride. "Honestly, I was having a hard time pushing through. That was not easy," he chuckled.

"I'm going to go row to finish this workout off," I told Maxon. "Anything else you want to do?"

"Just one thing," he said, smiling devilishly. I raised my eyebrows as he walked over to the weights. He pulled out some free weights out of a huge pile of barbells. I saw they were fifty pounds each. He pulled them up and down methodically, his breath never hitching from its even pattern. Maxon's biceps and triceps flexed, and I couldn't stop thinking about how I wanted those strong arms to wrap around me.

"Oh, stop teasing me," I complained and barreled into him. He dropped the free weights and picked me up, spinning me around as I laughed. Despite the sweat dripping down his back, Maxon smelled temptingly of his usual cologne.

"I love you, America," Maxon promised.

"I love you, Maxon."

"Ames, you're the strongest and most beautiful woman I've ever met. Don't ever think otherwise, okay?"

I smiled and tears pooled in my eyes at the thought of how loved I was. Maxon drew lines on my bare back, tickling my warm skin. He reached for my neck and pulled my face close to his, searching for any sign of self-doubt in my eyes. His soft lips crashed on to mine, and I forgot about the feeling of discomfort I'd been feeling earlier. Nothing mattered but our kiss, delicate but strong.

"Thank you," I mumbled against his lips, and hugged Maxon even tighter.