The Reunion-- The Selection Fanfiction

Chapter 2

If I were anxious before, it was nothing compared to how I felt after dinner. I tried to remind myself I was here for my son. He should be my focus. I had never gone more than a few days without him, and my heart had ached every night he spent here at the palace without me.

But seeing Maxon here like this was a whole new heartache.

I shook my head. I needed to pull myself together. "So, Elias, tell me. How's it going with the princess?" I wriggled my eyebrows, and he turned about as red as his hair.

"Mom!" He shouted, dropping my arm and gawking at me in horror.

"What?" I pressed. "You have to tell me how it's going! What's she like? Do you like her?" I leaned in closer. "Have you kissed her yet?"

" Mom! " He exclaimed. I just laughed.

"Come on, I'm your mother."

"Exactly! I'm not talking about this with my mother!" He looked mortified, so I decided to ease up on him– at least, just a little.

"Okay fine. But you do need to tell me something. Do you like her? What's she like?"

We finally made it to my room, and he came inside and sat on the bed with me. He looked nervous, but happy.

"She's great. She's kind and sweet. She made a point to get to know all of us. And support anyone who left, and even supported their friends they left behind. She's so smart it's intimidating. She's read practically every book in the palace and she remembers it all. I never had friends like her growing up in Carolina. I feel like I can tell her anything, and she'll always be there.

I smiled, but suddenly the specifics of his words hit me. "Friend?" I questioned.

He blushed again. "I didn't mean... she's not... I don't know." He stammered.

"Elias, what is it?"

He sighed. "I can't tell if I like her. I mean, I really like her. But I don't know if I like her like that ."

Oh . "So you're friends?"

"Kinda. It's weird. We seem to be closer than even some of the other guys. We spend a lot of time together, but they're rarely formal dates. And it's never really romantic. But I've still never felt so connected to anyone before. And she feels the exact same way."

I smiled. "But you're happy?"

He nodded. "I'm definitely happy". I leaned over and wrapped him in a hug, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

"Then that's all that matters." I couldn't help but smile. Before I knew it, I was laughing. Elias looked at me confused.

"Mom, what's so funny?"

I sighed, trying to compose myself. "Nothing. It's just... we're a lot more alike than you think."

"You were just friends?" He asked, hopefully.

*I shook my head. "No, no we were... we weren't just friends. It's just..." I stopped myself for a moment before continuing. "Okay, I'm going to tell you a story. About how I first met the prince. And how absolutely unromantic it was and how absolutely unorthodox our relationship was."

He sat up straight, clearly interested.

"The King and I started out as just friends. When I joined the Selection, I did it to save my family. You know I grew up poor. And the selection paid well, not to mention it gave my family one less mouth to feed. But I wasn't ready to date.

"So I told him . I said that he clearly was going to need a friend through all this. That choosing a wife out of 35 people was certainly intimidating, and being a prince was impossibly lonely. And he agreed. He kept me here as a friend."

"But you said you weren't friends. What changed?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, really. We had chemistry, and suddenly friendship became something else. I caught myself getting jealous of the other girls, and found myself thinking about him a little too much."

"Did he kiss you?" He asked.

I laughed. "Yes, actually. I was his first kiss, believe it or not."

Elias sighed. "She still hasn't kissed me. She said she doesn't like the idea of feeling like she's cheating. But she's kissed Chad before. So that can't be the real reason."

I touched his shoulder sympathetically. "She probably cares about you more and doesn't want to ruin anything."

He shrugged. "I guess. I don't know, it's all so complicated."

"Tell me about it!" I agreed. He laughed. "Look, I promise, true love has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expected.

"Like dad?" He asked. His blue eyes were staring up at me.

"Yeah, like your dad." But why did it feel like I was lying. Why when I thought of love, was Elias's father not the face that came to mind.

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The second Elias left, I was a nervous wreck all over again. What did it mean that Maxon had tugged his ear? And why did I care so much?

I couldn't take being cooped up in here anymore. I needed out. And I knew exactly where to go.

Walking around the garden, I was hit with wave after wave of memories. The foliage was different, the flowers swapped for different types and colors, the bushes trimmed differently, but it was still the same garden.

I sat on a bench, trying to catch my breath. This was all too much. I was happy to see Elias doing well, but hearing him talk, being here, seeing him. It was all too much.

I buried my head in my hands trying to steady myself. This was pathetic. It was a man I met 20 years ago. A husband and a child ago. Why was I reduced to such a mess? Suddenly that claustrophobia from my time in The Selection made more sense again.

"We have to stop meeting like this."

I opened my eyes to find none other than the crowned King of Illea standing in front of me.