Chapter One-Homecoming

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" I yell as I walk through the door, my luggage in tow behind me.

My mother comes bouncing out of the kitchen, her arms wide open and a beaming grin on her face as she comes towards me. Wrapping me in her arms she says, "Oh, my baby boy is finally home! We've missed you so much!" She pulls back and clasps my face in her hands as she presses multiple kisses on my cheek.

I grimace and pull away. "Jeez, Mother, I'm Twenty-one not twelve enough with the kisses already," I mumble.

She gives me a stern look. "You could be a fifty year old man and that still wouldn't stop me from giving my precious boy kisses."

I roll my eyes and begin pulling my luggage through the foyer and into the kitchen.

"Christian!" Mia screams when she sees me. I brace myself as she throws herself against me and squeezes me tight. "How was England? Oh my God I bet it was wonderful! Did you meet a lot of new people? Did you meet a girl? Ooo, can I see your diploma?"

She's bouncing up and down, her eager eyes focused on me. "Jesus, Mia, would you calm down? Let the guy get settled in first." I look behind me and see Elliot making a face at Mia, then turns at grins at me. "Hey, baby bro! How was England? Find some babe to finally pop your cherry?"

"Elliot Grey!" my mom gasps, earning a laugh and an eye roll from her eldest son.

I turn back to Elliot, a smirk on my face. "England was good. And I did meet a girl, or a few." I chuckle when I see curiosity light up his face. "But don't expect me to tell you anything about it."

"You're laammee," he calls out, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a beer. I only laugh.

"Where's dad?" I ask my mom after glancing around the kitchen and noticing his absence.

"Oh he's over at the Steele's. I guess he needed to discuss something with Ray" she explains, pulling things out of the fridge and preparing dinner I assume. "They'll be over soon."

I was beginning to take my stuff up to my room, but her comment stops me in my tracks. "They'll?" I ask.

She glances up at me. "Oh, Ana and Ray will be over for dinner. Your father invited them over to celebrate your homecoming."

I groan and roll my eyes as I sag against the wall. "Does that spawn of Satan really have to come with him?"

My mother glares at me. "Anastasia is a sweet young girl, Christian. I don't know why you have such an issue with her."

"Because he's in loovvee with her," Mia announces making googly eye at me. I glare at her.

"I am not in love with Anastasia Steele. She's a pain in the ass with an attitude problem and a smart mouth," I say haughtily, then grab the handle to my suitcase and drag it behind me as I tread up the stairs to my room.

I close the door behind me, roll my suitcase in front of my closet doors and then fall limply onto my bed with a heavy sigh. I stare up at the poster of Kim Basinger I taped to my ceiling when I was fourteen. I wish my life was as simple as it was when I was fourteen. All I wanted to do was have fun. I had no responsibilities and disappointment wasn't something I was overly familiar with. But that's all that my life seems to be about now. That and secrets.

My parents sent me away to go to college in England at Oxford University when I was eighteen. They said they would have been fine with me going to any Ivy League here in the U.S, but I was adamant about going overseas and getting perspective I wouldn't necessarily get while on home soil. I did get perspective, a lot of actually, but I'm sure if I told my parents what type of perspective that was, I would be strung up by my balls.

You see, I never wanted to go to college, I thought it was a waste of time. My parents, name say, my father, wanted me to get an education before I was thrust into the professional world. The big problem there was that I believed that I didn't need to be educated on something I already knew, and I definitely wasn't going to let some old bald dudes lecture to me about something that comes natural to me.

So after a semester of resentment, I decided to tell my parents that I was applying to a program offered at Oxford that would allow me to graduate in half the time. They surprisingly bought it. While my parents thought I was working extra hard to get my degree in Politics and Economics, I was actually interning at a company called Schwartz & Billingsley for two years, a highly successful company in London that dealt with Mergers and Acquisitions. I learned things there I knew I would never learn in a classroom, things that would stay with me for life.

Unfortunately the internship ended two weeks ago. I was handed my last check of fifteen hundred dollars and sent on my way. I had no choice but to come back home, but I wasn't ready to give up my independence just yet. So with the little money I had from the monthly allowances my parents had been sending me I went to various clubs, took a few women to different hotels and just lived a little before I went back home to mommy and daddy. With the leftover money I flew back home, jobless, diploma-less, and still no closer to being where I want to be. I saved all of the money I was paid from my internship, but that still left me about thirty thousand short of the one hundred thousand I need to start my business.

Needless to say I'm feeling a little bummed, but that feeling is going to be intensified to the thousandth degree when I'm forced to tell my parents what I've really been doing in England and why I don't have my diploma.

My heart sinks when I hear my mother call me down to help set the table. I groan as I sit up in bed. I decide I'm going to take a shower and redress before I go back down and present myself to family and whoever else my mother invited to share what I know will turn out to be a disappointing evening.

Half an hour later, I smell like masculinity personified and look like I've just walked out of a Vogue magazine. I roll my eyes at my navy blazer and trouser pants, paired with a crisp, clean button-up. Mia sent this to me for my birthday last year, claiming it was an outfit she just couldn't turn away from.

When I get downstairs I'm immediately assaulted by the enticing scent of buttermilk fried chicken. My mother makes the best fired chicken known to mankind.

When I walk into the kitchen my mother glares at me. "I told you to be down here to set the table almost an hour ago, Christian. Now you'll have to help wash dishes."

I huff out an annoyed breath. We have a perfectly functioning dishwasher but my mother still insists that dishes be hand washed. I guess to teach us some type of bullshit or something like that.

"Yes, Mother," I grumble.

"Now help me carry these dishes to the dining table. Your father called and said they'll be over in ten minutes. That was five minutes ago."

I groan. Just what I needed. A family meal with the She-Devil. I believe my mom when she says that Ana is a sweet young girl, but that's just it. She is a sweet young girl. To everyone but me. She aggravates and irritates me like no one else can, and I swear the little spawn of Satan goads me just to rile me up. She gets some type of sick pleasure form it.

My and Ana's relationship wasn't always so tension-filled. When we were younger we used to be really close, then when our teen years hit, I don't know we just grew apart. She started hanging out with more of her girlfriends, while I spent my time talking to other girls and hanging with my friends. The last time I remember getting along with her is when both of our families took a road trip to Colorado and that was when we were twelve or eleven.

And then when I was a freshman in high school and she was still in the eighth grade, things just really fell apart between us. I would say hi to her if we ever saw each other outside in our backyards, but the little brat just rolled her eyes at me and flicked me off. I remember being a little taken aback at first because I had no idea what I did to make her act such a way towards me, but when I confronted her about it she made some rude, snide comment. I made one back, of course, and I guess that's when our dislike for each other started.

Now every time we see each other it's just comes naturally to constantly insult and belittle the other. Which is why I'd rather her not be here when I'm forced to tell my parents about my lack of a degree. The little witch will take full advantage of that vulnerability and repeatedly throw it in my face. I don't need to be kicked when I'm already on the ground, and if I know Anastasia I think it's safe to say that's her favorite activity.

"They're here!" I hear Mia yell as she runs past me and around the corner to the foyer.

Knowing my mother will berate me for not greeting our guests properly, I slowly follow Mia's trail and stand on the sidelines as my family greets the Steele's.

My dad and Mr. Steele are talking to Elliot while my mom and Mia are chatting away with Ana. I haven't seen Ana since I left for school, which was a little over two years ago and I'm quietly curious to see how much she's changed. Unfortunately I can't see her since my mother and Mia are blocking my view. I'm pulled away from the wall when Ray calls me over.

"You've gotten tall, son. It's been what? Almost three years since I last saw you?"

I smile and shake Ray's hand. "Just about," I say.

His blue eyes sparkle with curiosity as he asks, "So how did Oxford treat you? Your father here tells me you've graduated already? I didn't hear about the graduation."

I shift uncomfortable on my feet. "Oh, no, Christian said he'd rather celebrate graduating college back home than in England, right, Christian?" my dad asks, a proud smile on his face.

I give him a tight smile and a sharp incline of my head. Shit, I feel like a total ass. My dad is so proud of me, and I'm just going to shatter that illusion with a few words I know will probably change a lot. I stare at him, wondering if I'd rather get it over now rather than later.

"Dad," I begin, "can I talk to yo-"

I'm cut off when I hear Ana's voice behind me. "Well, well, well. Look what the rats dragged in," she teases.

I roll my eyes and turn around, about to give her a piece of my mind, but when my eyes meet hers the words die in my throat. My mouth hangs open as my eyes bulge out. The girl in front of me looks nothing like the Ana I used to know. No, this is a woman, with perky breasts, a slim waist, and curvy hips. What the hell? How the fuck did she change so much in just two years? My eyes settle on her face. I feel myself gulp. My God, she's beautiful. I mean, she's always been beautiful, but now she's just . . . she's gorgeous. Her eyebrows are shaped perfectly, high, defined cheekbones, plump lips and brilliant blue eyes highlighted by light makeup. There is no way this woman is the brat that made me want to rip out my hair.

I hear her throat being cleared, and when I focus on her she has a brow raised. "You done staring now?" she sneers.

Oh yeah, this is definitely Ana. Only she can grind on my nerves with just a few words. "Oh excuse me, I was just trying to figure out what the hell I was looking at."

She narrows her eyes. "You're one to talk. You actually looked decent before you left, now you look like you crawled out of the sewer . . . ugh, smell like it too. What, you didn't know how to shower without mommy there to help you?"

"Why are you such a little bitch?" I growl at her.

"Hey, okay now that's enough," my mother says. "We just can't have a nice family gathering without you two biting each other's heads off, can we?"

"She started it," I mutter.

"Yeah, well now I'm ending it. Let's all go settle-"

My mother's cut off when the front door opens. "We're here!" my Grandpa Grey aka Papa says. I didn't know he was even coming. "Look who we found outside." Behind him are his wife, and then my mother's parents. I didn't know they were coming either.

Everyone hugs and greets each other and then my mother guides us all into the dining room. We take our seats and I glance up only to find that Ana is directly across from me. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing. I decide it's bad when I find myself taking glances at her, my mind still not accepting that the beautiful woman in front of my is the same clumsy girl with lanky limbs and a smart mouth.

We've just settled down, the conversation flowing as well as the wine, when my father starts in.

"So, Christian how does it feel to be a college grad? I remember when I graduated from Harvard, I felt so liberated and so empowered, it's such a good feeling to feel you've accomplished something so big."

My mother laughs. "Carrick, you also said that when you turned twenty-one and you did you're first keg." Everyone laughs, but I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. I'm slowly losing my appetite and I'm tempted to ask to be excused.

When everyone calms down Papa looks at me. "So tell me, son, how many job offers have you've gotten so far? A degree from Oxford must open up some tightly locked doors."

"Um . . ." I stutter shifting in my seat, I feel like everyone's staring at me. I begin to sweat.

"I remember when I graduated from Yale I had five job offers in my back pocket and I hadn't even been out of school a week yet," my Grandpa Theo aka Gramps says before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

"Did you take the offer that put you were you are now, Gramps?" Mia asks.

He grins at her. "No, actually. The job I picked I was only at for a year. It was the job I took after that that got me to Trevelyan, Brines and Sykes at Law, which at the time was just called Sykes at Law." He smiles proudly when he's finished.

"Well since we're all talking about graduating, did Ana tell you guys that she's graduating from WSUV this year?" Mia cheers.

Everyone turns to Ana, including me, thankful the attention is off of me for now. I smirk as she wilts under everyone's stares. She's never been one to take to being the center of attention well.

"It's nothing," she says. "I was talking to my advisor and she told me I was able to graduate early since I've taken more credits than required each semester." She looks down at her food as a blush stains her cheeks. I stare at her in delight. I've always thought it was adorable when she blushed when embarrassed.

Everyone congratulates her and pats her on the back. She dismisses all of it, but I can see in her eyes that she loves it. I'm gazing at her unashamed when she happens to glance up at me. We stare at each other, unmoving for a moment until my dad ruins our staring game.

"Christian, you still didn't answer us," he reminds me.

I clear my throat and nervously run my hand through my hair. "Uh, what was the question again?"

Mia butts in. "Ooo! Can we see your diploma now?"

"No," I grunt.

"Why not?" she persists with a pout.

"Because."

She looks at me, a frown on her face. But my Grandpa Grey speaks up before she can ask anything else. "Don't be so modest, son. C'mon, let your family celebrate this momentous occasion with you."

I shift in my seat again. My hearts beating fast and my palms are sweating. "I can't."

"Why not?" my dad asks.

"Because I don't have it, okay?" I shout, my fists clenched on the table and my gaze focused on my father's.

"What do you mean? They didn't give it to you yet?" my mom asks.

I stare down at my plate. "No. I don't have it because I didn't graduate."

I hear nothing but crickets.

I have already finished writing this. There will be sixteen chapters, not including the epilogue, and each chapter will be about two thousand words.

If you chose to review, please make sure that you are respectful. I don't mind constructive criticism, but I do not appreciate disrespectful, hurtful reviews. This is a bully-free zone, so if you're feeling the need to throw a bitch fit, I suggest you get a psychiatrist and complain to them. I don't have the time or patience for bullshit. And for those who seem to not understand the concept, I'll make it simple: if you don't like something don't read it.

I'll update about three times a week, unless I'm too busy.

Thanks for reading.

SS&G xoxo