After: a Maxerica Story

Part 2

Maxon runs across the room, towards Amberly and Logan, who are hiding in the corner, trying to get away from the flames. Gerad and Gwen are nowhere to be seen, though I can hear shouts and shrieks from somewhere else in the palace.

"Maxon!" I scream, my voice hoarse and my sobs echoing through the large room. All around me, parts of the walls crumble away, fire eating away at them.

Despite my begging for him to come back, he still runs farther and farther away from me, leaving me alone to die. He'll save our children but he's leaving me to burn.

"Maxon, please come back," I beg, desperate.

"I have to-" He's cut off by a plank of wood falling between us. "I have to save the kids!"

"Save me!" I cry. "Save me instead!"

The look he gives me is a look I've only seen on him once.

The look he gave me when he found me with Aspen.

The look that says, "I thought I knew you."

And without another word, without an, "I love you," or, "I'll always remember you," he runs out of the room with Logan and Amberly to safety.

The hem of my dress catches on fire, and it spreads quickly up my legs, up my stomach, swallowing me up whole-

I bolt upright in bed, gasping for air. My hands reach for my neck where I can still feel the fire burning my skin.

"My dear, are you okay?" Maxon murmurs, moving forward so he's sitting right next to me.

I don't respond; I'm still in shock by the dream.

Not the fire part. That's just something that happens in a typical nightmare.

It's the part where I told Maxon to save me instead. Not only should I have been able to save myself, but I wanted Maxon to leave our children to die instead of me.

My eyes are still wide and sweat soaks my back. Nevertheless, Maxon wraps his strong arms around me and whispers in my ear, "It was a bad dream, wasn't it."

Taking a deep breath, I reply, "Yes."

"Would it help to talk about it?"

"No... No, I..."

"It's okay, darling. It was just a bad dream. You're here now, with me."

"Am I a bad mother?" I say, turning towards him slowly.

"America, why on Earth would you think that? You're an amazing mother, and you know that." His eyes glisten with worry.

I shake my head. "I-I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about." He kisses my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," I murmur. As an instinct, I lean in to kiss him. He doesn't resist me.

Without an instant of hesitation, I position myself on top of him and push him back down onto the bed. He smiles up at me, but I don't smile back. I need a distraction.

I pull his shirt over his head and toss it casually onto the floor beside us. He doesn't question it- he rarely has a shirt on when we're alone in our room.

Then I proceed to unbutton my nightshirt, leaving me in just a bra. When my shirt is also lying next to his on the floor, I lean back down to kiss him. We stay in this position for a while, kissing, until he flips us over so he's on top.

"America." His tone is hushed.

"Yes?" I say, trying to appear like I don't know why he's stopping me.

"Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?" I pause, shrugging. "We just haven't done this kind of thing in a while."

"I'm going to pretend I don't know that you're just distracting yourself from whatever dream you were having." He grins. "Because I'm quite enjoying myself."

With that, we don't say another word for the rest of the night.

-

"Rachael, come on over here! You haven't seen Queen America in a while, have you?"

"No," I say, grinning at the child as she walks over. She looks about Gerad's age, maybe a little younger. "It's been a long time. The last time I saw you was when you were a little baby."

Rachael blushes and curtsies. "It's an honor to meet you, Queen America."

"Oh, no, dear," I reply with a soft laugh. "You can just call me America. Your mother and I are great friends, so we can be more informal with each other."

"Very well," Rachael says.

"You can go with Logan now if you want." As Rachael rushes away to where Logan waits, Marlee turns to me. "America, how have you been?" she exclaims, embracing me in a tight hug.

"We've been wonderful here. Gerad had his Selection, and now has a wife." I grin. "She wasn't even part of the Selection, but we made an exception because of the circumstances." Her eyes plead me to say more. "Alright. How about we talk over some tea?"

"I would love that!" she agrees.

We travel to the sun room with Marlee talking about her experiences with Carter and their child.

They were married and had Rachael while still living in the palace. After she was born, though, they soon moved out to one of the outer provinces. It broke my heart for her to go so far away, but the young couple wanted to lead an ordinary life.

And so they did. They've lived in Waverly all these years. She promised she would visit, but we didn't realize that our schedules would make that so difficult. Marlee picked up a job as a seamstress and Carter worked as a landscaper. Their jobs gave them limited time to travel, and when they did have time to, there was an event happening at the palace.

And finally, we get to see each other for the first time since she left.

"So tell me more about why Gwendolyn was selected though she wasn't in the actually Selection!" Marlee exclaims as a maid pours our tea.

"Well, it's actually a very sad story in many ways. First, Breanne, a very lovely girl whom Gerad fell in love with, died while at the palace. She was who he was going to propose to. And at that point, there were only three girls left.

"The two girls were named Brooke and Sadie. He liked them both and cared about them, but he just wasn't in love with them. It felt forced with them. But, suddenly rebels started attacking the British palace with more force than ever. So the king and queen of England sent their two daughters, Gwendolyn and Ashlyn, to our palace so they would be safe.

"While the girls were here, Gerad fell in love with Gwendolyn. It felt real with her, unlike Brooke and Sadie. I, for one, disapproved of Gwen at first. She seemed a little too honest and shallow. But oh, how I was wrong. She's truly an amazing girl. Now they're married and Gwen is pregnant with their first child."

Marlee claps her hands. "That's amazing. I can't wait to meet her."

"Yes, definitely. I'm sure they'll love to meet you."

"America, I can't explain in words how happy I am to see you again and be here for a month. It's going to be hard to leave again. Carter wanted to see Maxon again, too, because he did serve him for many years. Rachael wanted to meet all your children- especially Amberly, since they're much alike." She sighs. "I hope they don't get to attached."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine in the end."

-

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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If you're a fan of Teen Wolf or think you might watch it, please go check out the fanfiction I just started. It's called Unbreakable: A Teen Wolf Story and has three parts up at the moment. I'd appreciate it lots if you checked it out and gave suggestions on how to make it better!

-Eve