Truly Elected (Book Two of The Next Selection Series)

Chapter 27

The knock on my door at midnight raised chills all over my body. I had been unable to sleep since I came back to my room. No one had been allowed in, not even my maids; I still wore my black funeral dress.

I heard the door creak open and Matthew called out my name. My breath caught, but I didn't roll over to face him. My cheeks were still damp from the freshest set of tears I had shed. 

Shane was right, and I knew it too. From the beginning it had always been Matthew. My guilt for stringing Daniel along gnawed at me, and my fear of rejection by Matthew made my gut clench. He rejected me today for Tressa, maybe he finally moved on with his threat and fell for someone else. 

Matthew called me name again, this time a little louder, and I felt him grab my forearm and give a shake. Sitting up, I finally looked at him. 

"Matthew," I sniffled, my mouth molding into a wobbly frown. A new round of tears welled in my tear ducts, and I glanced away. I heard a choked sound escape his lips and he grabbed my hands. 

"Sol, what's the matter?" he begged. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm so lost," I said finally. "Why would you leave me for Tressa, and then ask me if it was okay?" I started to feel anger, the moment replaying in my mind. 

"Because I had been planning to see you," he said matter-of-factly. "And  couldn't just say no."

"Why not?" I stammered, my voice growing louder.

"Because she cares about me," he shook his head. "And I her."

I fell silent, pulling my hands away. "So that's it then," I said flatly, looking away. "Tressa's won, she has your heart. It's over for me."

"Sol, that's not--"

"You've been pulling away for some time, " I sighed sadly, a lone tear racing down my cheek. "It was only a matter of time. And now I'm too late."

Matthew was silent for awhile, only moving to cup my cheek and bring my face to look at his. 

"Sol," he swallowed. "Tressa is an amazing woman, okay, there is no denying that. She's smart, she's funny, she's gorgeous, but, the one thing she isn't is you."

His thumb grazed my flushed cheek.

"You're right, my feelings for her are there," he sighed and shook his head. "And if you weren't here and didn't exist, maybe she would be my pick, the girl on top. But you do exist, and you're here, and if I knew you were here for me--"

"Matthew I love you!" I blurted out and my eyes widened. Whatever  he was going to say fell silent in the wake of my revelation and he started at me without blinking or breathing.

"I love you, okay," I now began sobbing. "I have for a long time, and it took me until  very recently to hone in that feeling. I love Daniel too, but in a different way, because to me, he isn't you. But now I am too late, and I am a fool for wasting all that time."

Matthew remained silent, tears now falling down his face.

"Say it again," he whispered, kneeling at my bedside. 

"What?" I hiccuped and he ran his fingers through my hair, moving closer to me.

"What you just said, I need to hear it again," his eyes bore into mine. "Just so I know this isn't all part of my imagination."

Swallowing my fear, I pressed my head against his, closing my eyes.

"Matthew, I love you. I love you so much, and I now know I cannot live without you. I need you, and only you. I choose you, and I hope you choose me too."

He silenced me with a kiss. It was passionate and longing, and somehow filled with relief too. It felt like the tension around us melted away.

"I've been waiting for so long to hear you say that," Matthew breathed as he pulled away from me, enveloping me in a hug. "It makes my choices so much easier, because it means there are no other choices. It's you, I want only you."

I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck.

"I love you too, Sol."

We stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, for what felt like hours. It was Matthew who pulled away, reaching into his pocket.

"I left with Tressa today to give her a fair chance," he started, having my full attention. "To again test that relationship. But in reality, before she asked for my time, I was coming to see you, to give something to you. The same something I wanted to give you on stage at the funeral, when Daniel interrupted me as I was about to call you up. Everything I said then, I meant it, and I mean it now; you're the one for me."

Matthew pulled out a small square box and popped the lid open, revealing a moonstone, oval-shaped jewel set in a sterling silver ring. I gasped and pulled my hands to my mouth. 

"Is that an engagement ring?"

"Heavens no," he chuckled and reached for my right hand. "It's a promise ring. I am promising myself to you, ensuring you I am here for you and will be here and wanting and loving you until we can get engaged at an official engagement ceremony at the end of the Selection."

I let him pull my hand to him and he slipped the jewelry onto my middle finger. 

"To remind you that I love you when you're in doubt."

I smiled softly, pulling my hand back to look at the ring glimmer on my finger. "Why would I be in doubt? This is beautiful, Matthew."

He sighed, and I looked at him again. "Unfortunately, appearances must be kept up until an official engagement can be announced."

My smile faltered. "Meaning?"

"I still have to spend time with the other girls, including Tressa."

I was silent for a moment, contemplating what to say.

"And I still have to spend time with Daniel, should he ask."

It was more of a question than the way I phrased it, but Matthew's frown deepened as he nodded.

"As much as I'd prefer if you didn't, yes. He is my twin brother, and I love him, as I know you do too. I suppose just let him down easy, ease your way out. I know he feels for you as I do."

"Wouldn't it be wrong of me to do this then," I said. "Isn't that leading him on?"

He shrugged sadly. "This is the royal life," he sighed. "My advice would be to address it from a friendly angle and try to become friends. It's how I am going to try and handle my relation ship with Tressa and the others."

I nodded and glanced out my balcony doors. The clouds moved away from the moon, revealing the shining silver orb in all its brilliance. I could do this, I could make things right and get through this hard period of time to live out my ultimate happiness. Matthew was my happiness, and now I was going to prove to him and the world that I was his one.