Every Little Part of Me

Chapter 1

I do everything he tells me to do... well, I try to at least. I try my very best to keep that small smile that he told me to keep. I try my very best to keep the tears in my eyes from falling onto my cheeks even as he begins to go down on one knee. But he isn't in front of me. He is in front of her.

Pain sears through my entire body. I recognize it. I felt it before The Selection. It's heartbreak. And it's awful.

Just before his knee hits the ground, the ceremony is paused,

"STOP!" Queen Amberly shouts, jumping out of her seat. Everyone in the room is quiet and still as we stand in shock of what the queen just did. She walks over to Prince Maxon and whispers something in his ear.

He rolls his eyes at that before turning to the people. "I would like to ask of everyone to please report to the dining room for some refreshments I take care of a very pressing matter."

I look up at Clarkson and see fire in his eyes as he stares daggers into his son. Queen Amberly makes her way over to me and whispers in my ear now. "The three of us need to talk." She says.

As everyone filters out of the room my little sister catches my eye. She looks upset. It's okay, my eyes tell her. She takes my mother's hand and follows the crowd out of the room.

"Kriss, my dear, please go with everyone else. I will come find you in just a few minutes." I hear Maxon explain to her.

Amberly motions for Maxon and I to follow her out into a side hallway. Maxon walks slowly, not really wanting to listen to his mother. As soon as the door shuts behind Queen Amberly and me, the tears fall. I didn't want to cry in front of the queen but it is way better then crying in front of the whole country. I felt a hug surround me.

"Shh, I know America, we will figure everything out. I really want to to win." She says soothingly

The door opens and I look up to see him.

"Maxon Calix Schreave. What the hell are you thinking? You were just about to make the worst decision of your entire life!" She took a deep breath, "Now, I'm going to step inside, I want you both to talk about whatever you two are fighting about and Maxon, so help you god, I want you to rethink your choice. And if it doesn't change, you better have a damn good explanation." She opens the door then shuts it behind her

He didn't say anything so I broke the silence "Maxon, please let me explain."

He crossed his arms "That's what we are out here for, is it not?" His voice was cold and he sounded bored already,

"Aspen... I mean Officer Leger, was my ex-boyfriend back in Carolina. He broke my heart and I was crushed. But Maxon, you repaired it. When he showed up it was strange at first. Every time I would see you with another girl my heart would break again. And he was just there. He was familiar. He was safe. And right now I regret every second I spent with him instead of you. I was trying to explain to him that he needed to let me go and stop holding onto any possibility of us being together because you were going to propose to me." I sat on a bench and he sat next to me but kept his distance. "I don't love him like that anymore. I can't love him anymore, because of you."

"I font understand why you didn't just tell me when he first showed up, America."

"I'm not finished. I swear, I would've told you sooner but then everything happened with Marlee and I was scared, Maxon. He really needs this job. He has four younger siblings at home, his father died and his mother is falling sick. He sends his entire paycheck home to support them. He can't lose this." I explained, "Maxon, it's you. In the back of my mind it has been you since the night you kissed me. I want to be yours. I want to get married to you. I want everything with you, Maxon. I want the holidays and the birthdays, the busy season and lazy weekends. I want to see the peanut butter fingertips on your desk. I want inside jokes and fights and everything. I want a life with you. You and only you." I wiped a tear and tried to compose myself, "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to guilt you into forgiving and proposing to me. It's your choice. I just want to tell you that you're my-" he cut me off with a kiss. He wrapped me in his arms and I melted into him.

"It's you. It's always been you." He said against my lips and then he continued to kiss me. He pulled me into an embrace that conveyed so many more words than we could speak

"My work here is complete." Queen Amberly said when she saw us, "Let's go Maxon. Get in there and choose your wife." She said. We stoop up and kept our distance to not cause any suspicion and we walked back inside. Amberly took her seat at her throne as everyone was entering the room. Kriss was already up on the raised platform, she shot me a glare. Everyone quieted down and Maxon winked at me before he walked up to Kriss and spoke to her so only she could hear,

"Kriss, I've loved getting to know you, I really have. I wish you luck with everything, but you are not for me. You are going home." She kept a face of stone as Maxon moved over to me and bent down one one knee. The was a gasp from the crowed in front of us.

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