The Reunion-- The Selection Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Friendship

"So how exactly is this friendship thing going to work?" I asked, as Maxon took my hand, walking us through the garden. His gentle yet firm grasp around my arm sent shivers up my entire body, but I pushed the butterflies down, ignoring them.

"I don't know, how do friendships work outside the cage?" He teased.

"Well, I don't know. I hardly think you want to be talking about my dating life, which is all my girlfriends back home want to hear about."

He paled. "No, not really what I had in mind, but if you need to talk–"

"No," I interrupted him. "There's nothing to talk about, anyway. I don't date much, I decided to focus on my son and my music."

"Well you've done a great job with your son. He seems to be my daughter's favorite." He commended.

I shrugged. "Between you and me, they seem to be largely platonic. I'm not entirely sure what direction that is going to go in, but he seems genuinely happy, and that's all that matters. And hey, I'm glad my obsession with your chef won him a date."

He smiled. "You know that's not all he won, right?" He was leading onto something I didn't quite understand.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"He won you an extended stay here. Until he gets sent home."

My heart stopped dead in my chest. The world sort of faded away from me. I was going to be staying here even longer. Much longer, if the kids were getting along the way they seemed to be.

I didn't know how I felt about that. As great as it was spending time with Maxon, my heart ached every time I remembered he wasn't mine. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

"Are you serious?" was all I could muster. He nodded and continued on, not registering my hesitation over this. But my mind was racing. Elias was certainly not going home anytime soon–which meant, apparently, neither was I.

"I know, I was surprised to hear he made that bet. Something to do with wanting to look after you, and not wanting you alone, but if I'm being honest I think he just missed his mother." He teased. I sighed. Of course, even in the midst of The Selection, Elias was worrying about me. It was true I'd never lived alone. But that wasn't his responsibility.

"Well I for one am happy to have my friend here a little longer. Of course Kriss isn't thrilled..."

That snapped me back into focus. "Maxon," I started gently. "Does Kriss know we're friends?"

The way he hung his head in shame, his crown would've fallen off his head if he were wearing it. "Well... not exactly"

I rolled my eyes, walking away from him. "Goodbye Maxon."

"Wait wait!" He chased after me, grabbing my arm. "Please, it's not like that. It's just... she wouldn't understand our friendship."

I scoffed. "I wonder why that might be, Maxon."

"Look, I can't live my life without you. I tried. I tried for 20 years. I miss my best friend. I need my best friend."

I stared down at the ground, watching my gown sweep over my shoes. "Maxon, maybe Kriss is right–"

"Please. We were friends before. Why can't we be friends again." He pleaded. I sighed. I couldn't do this. Kriss was never truly a friend to me, but she had never wronged me. I couldn't do this to her. And I couldn't do this to myself either. It was all too much, seeing him every day. Teasing myself with what could have been.

But then he looked at me. He looked at me with those big brown eyes, pleading with me, and I was hopeless. "Fine," I agreed, giving in. "Fine, we can try being friends."