AN: Just a little one-shot about Maxon's POV after the Rebels shot him and a few things between that and his proposal to America. I hope you enjoy and feel free to go check out my other The One one-shots and my The One story.

Go and be happy, those were the last words she would here from me. I had allowed my eyes to close, floating off into images and memories of my beautiful America. We had both made so many mistakes in our relationship and I had almost made the biggest one of all. At least, if I were to die, it wouldn't be engaged to Kriss. As sweet and kind as she had always been to me there was no one I wanted to spend my life with the way that I did America Singer. Last night had been so wonderful—the greatest moments of my entire life. Silent tears slipped out of my eyes, I could feel them rushing down my cheeks while the blood spread out all around me. Finishing last night had been robbed from me. Being the man to love and adore her body had been torn from me! The thought rocked my body with rage but it did me no good. I was still here, bleeding out and slowly dying all alone.

I thought of a future that I might have been able to die with America at my side, never leaving as I took my final breaths. But that was not the way I was going to die nor was it the way she was going to live. She would marry her guard after I was dead. Even if she truly did love me like she claimed and continued to say even as I was ready to send her out of my life forever, I was going to die here and I wouldn't be able to give her a future. At least he would. She would be able to have children and raise them to be just as strong and independent as she was. They would be beautiful if they looked anything like their mother. More tears spilled out of me.

I had to be thankful I had been shot though. It broke my stubbornness. Well, watching the gun be aimed at her broke it, anyway. In those moments, my heart rate had increased and my blood boiled in anger that someone would threaten her that way. I had to protect her. I thought I was going to be too late as I heard the gunshot as the bullet escaped from the Rebel's gun. I wanted to scream her name but a moan of pain was all that could escape my lips. I realized I had done it, I had protected my beautiful America from being shot. I had Officer Aspen Leger carry Kriss and then America to safety. I wished them both the best in their futures. I hoped that they would find love and happiness.

I felt horrible for the loss of the Newsome family. Even though Celeste had never been my favorite, I couldn't imagine the pain of losing my child and I hated that it was because of me she was now dead. Part of me wished I could get up off the floor, go to her and give her a soft hug or maybe a kiss on the forehead, apologize to her for the early grave I had sentenced her to. I could have ended the Selection a long time ago. I could have called it off and taken my father's offer. All four of my remaining Elite could have gone on to live peaceful lives somewhere else. I hoped that Elise had found somewhere to be hidden away safely. I wouldn't want to deaths on my head. No one would actually blame me but in these final moments of mine there was nothing else I could do but think about this.

I heard America's laugh flood in from my memories and I wished I could keep hearing it for years. I wish I would have proposed to her at Halloween. It would have saved Marlee and Carter their fate. It would have meant Celeste would still be alive. It would have meant so many different things. I could have proposed to her that day we danced in the rain, too. So many beautiful, private opportunities I would have had to make her mine. She would have told me yes, I'm sure of that. I don't know what she was doing with that guard this morning but I had to trust it wasn't as intimate as it looked. I saw the heartbreak in her eyes as I continued to push her away so I could just propose to Kriss. It was the same fear I had felt in those moments as I finally confronted her. Maybe if I would have just told her my suspicions she would have told me the truth. Maybe if I hadn't been offering time to the others she wouldn't have felt like she needed a Plan B. I understood her actions, finally. But I also finally knew that I had won her heart the way she had mine.

My mind drifts from the Selection and the girls to my parents. How terrible I felt for leaving my mother behind. I, her only child, was going to die. I didn't know if she would be able to cope with that. She had kept herself away from the girls until I narrowed them down to the Elite and even then she didn't want to get attached to the idea of having a daughter. I felt so bad for her. All of what should have been my siblings had failed and now it was my turn, my turn for my life to end. I wanted to apologize to her for not being able to live and give her grandchildren. I loved my mother and held her in the upmost respect that I would have given just about anything to turn my fate around. To fill the palace with the laughter of many children and hope that it would help fill the emptiness she had always felt. I don't know if it would have completely healed her from all of her loss but at least I would have been able to help. At least I wouldn't be adding to her hurt.

I don't know how my father will respond but part of me hopes that no one tells him I died protecting America. I know his fury and his temper and I didn't want him to lash out at her for the death of his only heir. Surely, being the intelligent man that he is, he would find a way to come up with another before he passed away. I thought of the few moments in my early childhood where I felt that he truly loved me the way my mother did. How much I had wanted to impress him my entire life but always managed to come up short. The scars on my back proved that I hadn't been enough. I wished I could have shown him otherwise. Or maybe I would have been able to accept that I would never have his approval and move on from it. I would have been able to see the real value of my triumphs as king and not the failures of my plans and suggestions that he thought was the most important things to point out.

I felt all of my thoughts begin to get jumbled and confused. This must be it. I must have finally lost enough blood to die. I feel my body start to relax as if it is finally ready to fall asleep but I know that this won't be like any other sleep I've had before. But I'm ready for this. So long as America's alive, I don't mind dying for her.

My body feels like it is floating. I didn't think dying would feel like this but I guess it's not something that could be taught. I feel my shoulders get shook. I hear a voice yelling but I can't make out the words. All I can tell is, from the pitch at least, this is a male. Perhaps one of the guards has found me. Too late, I want to whisper to them so they can get sent along to the next person who might have a better chance of survival than I do.

"Damn it, your Majesty!" he yells. "Wake up, stay with me your Majesty, for Mer."

I know who it is now. There is only one person who ever called America 'Mer' (or at least suggested that name, the night we had been whisked away to meet with the Northern Rebels). Officer Aspen Leger. But why would he be concerned about me waking up for her. Yet, somewhere from inside of me, a little fight starts to kick back against death. Something about staying alive for America has ignited whatever strength I may have had left in order to have the life I had been dreaming of and worried I would never get.

My eyes open and I see him struggling to pick me up. There is blood on him and from the way he is struggling I would guess that some of it is his own. I try to help him with whatever strength I can muster to wrap my right arm around his neck so he can help me stand. I feel his body freeze for a moment as he realizes that I'm still alive and trying to comply with his request. He quickly shakes this off and together we somehow get me to my feet. "The Northern Rebels have the Southern side under control, your Majesty. A few of the doctors have been released from the hiding locations and have requested that guards start bringing them the wounded. Keep awake, your Majesty." He tells me, dragging me along. He's limping and my feet can barely find the strength to walk, so it's a slow but steady pace.

Somehow I see that we've made it to the hospital wing. He helps me onto a bed before sliding back into a chair. He insists that he's fine and tells the doctor to focus on saving me. I see a nurse start to bandage him and my world collapses to darkness.

When I do wake up, I find that I'm no longer in the hospital but in my own private suite. It can't be the Prince's Suite, as I can recognize my own bedroom. It looks like—and that's when it all crashes down on me. Somehow, my father must have been killed in the raid. There was no other explanation why I would have been moved to his room. One of the nurse's assigned to me tells me everything that I need to know. Both my parents had been killed. Someone had seen my mother protecting my father, only for him to be killed moments later. I brush the few tears from my eyes not wanting to break down in front of one of my subjects. I was to be the King now and I wanted my kingdom to know that they could find strength in me even in the hardest of moments. But she had heard nothing of Lady America. That threatened to break my heart into a million pieces.

I slept for what seemed like decades thanks to the medication they had given me. I was only occasionally woken up to sign an announcement that Gavril would read to the public about the attack and the loss of my parents. Other than that, I didn't have very many guests. Someone had finally found that Lady America was safe but had been put into a deep sleep to combat her own shock. Kriss had come to see me and I had offered her my sincerest apologizes. Now that I knew that America was alive, I knew that I wanted to propose to her and pray that she would say yes. And even if she didn't, I didn't want to keep Kriss around as a second place prize any longer. It wasn't fair to her, for as amazing as she was, she deserved to be someone's first place reward.

Days seemed to drag on and I kept hoping I would be alright enough to go and visit America. But the doctors kept telling the nurses to refuse that request so all I could hope for was that she would come and see me. One day, there was a knock on the door that woke me up from my sleep. I hoped more than anything that it would be her. But it wasn't. It was Officer Aspen Leger.

"Your Majesty, I would like to offer my deepest apologizes for the loss of your mother and father," he started, staying at the far end of my room. I looked at him silently, my eyes slightly glaring. I couldn't help but to be jealous of America's first love. He had everything I did not: her first kiss, her first I love you's, the first man to hear her secrets, and so much more. "I am also sorry for going after Am—Lady America when I first got here. She told me from the very beginning that whatever we had been before, we couldn't be that here. I could tell she had started to fall for you and that just made me fight harder for her."

"You were her first love," I replied, coldly. But there wasn't much else that I could say. I wasn't even sure why we were having this conversation. Surely he must think she was going to reject me and return home with him.

"Yes, and she was mine."

Past tense, I recognized. Did this mean that he didn't love her anymore either? He must have read my mind because he continued, "She will always have a place in my heart. But I am no longer in love with her. I have met someone else here in the palace and she is everything Mer wasn't in my life. As happy as she made me when we were together, there were still some things that she could never have fulfilled."

So he didn't love her anymore, at least not enough to want to pull her away. "Congratulations," I responded. He nodded stiffly as if he were unsure how to continue our conversation or how to pull it all together towards the point he was trying to make.

"When we went home, her brother threatened to expose us to you. But I heard her tell him off. It was then I realized how much she loved you. The only reason were together that morning was because I wanted to tell her that I had moved on and I was happy she had too. I just wanted to inform you of that, your Majesty."

I nodded. I appreciated hearing that. At least I knew now how much she really loved me if her former boyfriend would come and in and tell me he was happy for us. "Thank you, Officer Leger," I replied. There was an awkward pause between us before he headed out of the room.

A few hours later, my America came in to see. From the look in her eyes, I could tell that she still believed there wasn't an us anymore. I wanted to pull her into my arms and start kissing her but I wanted to confirm that we would be together after this. I wanted to know that was truly what she wanted.

When she said yes, my world exploded with the upmost happiness. There was nothing more that I wanted. And it was finally falling into place. While there was still a long road in front of us, it would forever be our road. We wouldn't have to go through anything alone anymore. Wherever one was, the other would be. Our happy ending.