The One (A Selection Fan Fiction)

Chapter Twenty-One

Note: (For those who have read Chapter Nine before the past two weeks)

I changed the words from "Pugna Pro Libertas Luminis" to "Pugna Enim Libero". I'm sorry, but I'm no good for this stuff. I was aiming for "Fight for Freedom's Light" but Google is such a wuss so I just settled with a new one. And "Pugna Enim Libero" is the final product after those frustrating translating.

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Chapter Twenty-One

I WAS SUDDENLY PUSHED DOWN onto the bed, both Maxon and Aspen's faces only inches from mine.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aspen's jaw was clenched, and I knew he was holding me down with my arms above my head.

I had almost forgotten he was in the room. But I didn't think he minded Maxon and I's (very intimate) conversation.

"No! No, no, no." Maxon kept on repeating the word as he shook his head, his eyes not leaving mine once our gazes locked. "I can't let you."

He can't let me?

I pushed Aspen off of me with all my might. I sat up with the heels of my hands behind on my bed, holding me up. My brows furrowed as I looked at Maxon. "What?"

"I said -"

"I heard you the first time!" I cut him off as I stood back up again, pushing Aspen out of my way. I paced the floor, my fists clenched on my sides. Then I stopped and looked again at the prince. With the sight of him, I snickered. "You can't let me?" I repeated, shaking my head. "You must have forgotten, then."

Maxon was looking at me like I was going crazy. Well, both men were looking at me.

"Maxon," I started as calmly as possible. "You said there is no point in keeping someone here against their will."

Maxon stood up, and I just noticed that he had stopped crying. Good. We have to be calm and rational on this. He approached me with his jaw clenched and his hands intertwined in front of him. He knew I was right.

"You're right. But you must have forgotten, too."

My face turned blank as I stared at him, confused of what he was talking about.

Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he said, "You promised to stay because you said you'll fight for me."

My face fell. He was right. I had forgotten.

"I believed in you. But you're letting go. I've been trying to hold on, America." His voice cracked as he said the words, but I was frozen where I was, still absorbing and processing his words.

Was I letting go already?

"What's the point of my struggling to hold onto you if you're doing nothing but letting go and giving up?"

My breathing was becoming fast and short. I didn't know what to do; what to say. I could feel my heart pounding and pounding, breaking into a million pieces because of the pressure I was under.

I had promised to fight; but I'd forgotten and broke it.

I had promised to stay; but I was asking of going.

I was a breaker of promises - not to be trusted in any way because I will just neglect it. Maybe the king was right; I was not going to win the Selection. I would never have the chance to take back my place as the favorite.

I didn't know what to say. But Aspen did.

"You promised?" The guard looked at me. He shook his head. "So maybe that's why you had to keep yourself away from me."