I really wanna love somebody
I really wanna dance the night away
I know we're only half way there
But you can take me all the way

"Oh, Ana! You're back!" Kate pounded on me the second I stepped into our apartment, looking, and I hoped feeling, much better than when I left her a few hours ago. Her complexion looked better and she had taken a shower, thankfully. She had also taken off yesterday's clothes and was now donning her pink pajamas with cute little bunnies all over them, reserved only for bad break-ups and sick days.

"I was starting to worry," she said, trailing me as I head to my room. "You took much longer than I was expecting."

I nodded sheepishly as I toed my shoes off and then started on my clothes. I can't stand to be in anything but sweats when I'm home. "Yeah, I guess the interview ran a little over …"

Kate plopped down on my bed, a sly grin on her face. "Yeah, I bet the interview 'ran a little over', Ana," she said, making air quotation marks and winking at me. "Give me the deets! Tell me everything that happened! What did you guys talk about?"

I rolled my eyes at her, though I can feel my face beginning to blaze. I sank into my bed beside her and found the recorder from my purse, tossing it at her. "It's all in here, Kate. The entire conversation, basically."

"Okay, a) thanks for this. I owe you big-time, Steele. And B) you mean to tell me that there was nothing – nothing - that you two talked about that's not on here?" She said, waving the recorder in the air.

"Well there is one thing …" I started, hesitant, for some reason to tell Kate. Instinctively, I just know that she'll make this out to be a bigger deal than it actually is. But at the same time …. It is a big deal, isn't it? I mean, how often do you get asked out by a gorgeous, charitable, kind, amazing billionaire – even after you've turned him down the first time?

"Christian asked me out to dinner. Tonight." I blurted out, and watched as Kate nearly exploded to pieces right in front of me.

"What? When? Where? How? What will you wear? Oh, I know just the dress…" and she went on, her words becoming more excited with each passing breath.

And with each word, I felt my panic rising, my head becoming dizzy. I had to stop her now before I lost my wits completely.

"Kate, stop!" I nearly screeched, and watched as she froze completely mid-sentence, her expression confused. "I … I don't know if I should do this, though. I don't know if I can …"

Her eyes nearly bulged out at my admission, but I could already see her wheels starting to turn, one of the brilliant pep-talks Kate was famous for headed my way. I almost sighed in relief at the thought.

"Stop all this right here, Steele. Of course you can do this, and you will. It's just a date – you've been on one of these before—"

"Not in like two years, though. I mean, I've completely forgotten how this works. What do I say, what do I do, I mean …" I let out a sigh. The last date I had been on was in sophomore year of college, and it had ended terribly. As had most others. I was no good at this; maybe it was better to not go on this date with Christian tonight so I could always recall the memory of him and his utter beauty fondly, before I mar it with all the embarrassment I'm sure to face tonight.

Kate snapped me out of my thoughts. "You didn't know what to do today, either, but you managed it! In fact, it must have gone really well for him to have asked you out again. Just let things happen naturally, Ana. Don't think about it too much, and definitely don't stress about it. Okay?"

I took in Kate's words and repeated them in my head. Don't think about it, don't stress about it. The words went against everything that I instinctively was, but I knew it was what I had to believe if I had any hope of getting through this.

I turned to Kate and sucked in a shaky breath. "Okay, okay …. I can do this," I said, mostly to myself. I looked back to up to Kate, realizing just how lost I would be without her. "Will you help me get ready?"

She looked at me like I'd grown a third head. "God, Steele. It's almost as if you don't know me at all. Of course I'll help you – I've already got the outfit planned out!"

And before I could tell her not to put me in something too scandalous or inappropriate or, basically, anything that she would wear on a first date, Kate was already racing out my room and into her own, yelling at me from down the hall to follow her.

By the time Kate was finished with me, I had to admit, she'd outdone herself. Last night, she had managed to transform my plain-jane face into something spectacular, just as she had this morning – but this … this woman standing in front of me, she was somehow even more better.

Last night and this morning, the change had felt like it was on the surface. It wasn't me – it was someone else who resembled me but wore far more make-up than I ever had and outfits that I had always envied on others but never once dreamt of wearing it myself in fear of making a fool of myself. But tonight … tonight, I was me. I was Ana Steele. But, I was still transformed, still better.

Kate had ushered me into the shower not long after we'd decided on an outfit, and instead of twisting my hair that way or curling it this way, she had just blow-dried it dry and let it hang loose over my shoulders. According to Kate, the look for tonight was "less is more" and I, for one, I was happy with that. My make-up was just the way I liked it – light and barely noticeable. And my dress – or, rather, Kate's dress that we had somehow managed to uncover from the dark depths of her closet – was the real prize. It was a dark plum colored dress that, once again, managed to make my rather unshapely body look curvy in all the right places the way it clung so tightly. I made a mental note to start shopping for dresses more often. It was clear as day that the jeans and sweat-shirt look I had stuck to since the beginning of my college days was not doing me any favors.

Just as I bent down to cut the tags off my still-unused suede nude pumps Kate had bought me for my birthday almost two years, my phone rang. I picked it up, shoes in one hand and scissors in the other, and stared at the number. I didn't have it saved, nor could I recall it from anywhere else and answered into the speaker as I stuck the phone in the crook of my neck.

"Hello."

"Anastasia," I froze at the voice I instantly recognized and my shoes slipped from my fingers, the edge of the heels just narrowly missing my feet. "It's Christian."

"Oh! Christian … uh, hi! How are you?" God, I sounded like such a spaz. I hastily picked up my shoes from the floor and plopped onto my bed, suddenly incapable of even the simplest of tasks such as standing.

He chuckled, probably at my breathless and unnerved voice. He was probably re-thinking this whole date thing this very moment. Heck, he might even be calling to call the whole thing off. I almost felt myself sigh in relief at the thought, though a sharper pang of an emotion I couldn't exactly describe clouded the relief almost instantaneously. As much as I hated to admit it to myself, I really hoped he wasn't calling to make excuses. In just two short meetings, I was already more drawn to Christian Grey than I'd like to admit.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Good."

"Good." He replied, "I was just calling to inform you that I'll be outside your building in ten minutes, so long as you haven't changed your mind about tonight."

"No!" I said, and winced right after, the word almost too loud. "I mean, no, I haven't. Have you?"

He was silent for a moment, and I braced myself for some sort of rejection.

"No, Ana. I, too, have not changed my mind …" he said, and then paused, his voice softened ever so slightly. "I don't think I could, if I tried Anastasia."

Before I could dissect just what that meant, Christian cleared his voice, his tone back to normal. "I will see you soon."

And then, before I could ask how he knew where I lived, or how the heck he got a hold of my phone number without me giving it to him, Christian clicked off, leaving me to wonder.

As soon as I stepped out of my room to answer the buzzing intercom which I assumed was Christian, my heels clacking on our apartment's wooden floors, I heard Kate whistle at me from behind.

"Holy-freaking-shit, Steele. I cannot believe you've been hiding that banging ass body from me this whole time! I mean … whoa. You look freaking fantastic."

I rolled my eyes at her as I stuffed my keys into my clutch, along with my phone and a pack of mints. "I don't really …" I started, readying my 'usual self-deprecating crap' as Kate liked to put it, before she cut me off, holding my by my shoulders.

"No, shut up, Ana. You look amazing. Like, really freaking amazing. Stop putting yourself down and just own it for once."

I sighed, knowing that arguing with Kate would be useless right now. When you looked like Kate, it was easy to own and love how you looked. Looking like me, it just wasn't as easy. But she would never understand that.

Instead, I hugged her goodbye and started down the hall, my nerves coiling in the pit of my stomach as I pushed the elevator button. The elevator dinged, notifying me of its presence and I numbly walked towards it, only to be stopped by a breathless Kate grasping my shoulders, a few small foil packets in her fingers.

"Keep these, just in case." She said, opening my clutch and securing the packets into a pocket.

"Condoms?! Kate, don't you think you're being a bit presumptuous," I shrieked, my face blushing furiously. Kate knew how difficult it was for me to be intimate with anyone, let alone a man I'd met just twenty-four hours ago. "I mean, this is our first date …"

"Ana, looking the way you do right now, I don't think I'm being anything. Besides, better to be safe than sorry. "

I groaned, but she cut off any protests I might have made and pushed me into the elevator, jabbing the large 'L' button for me.

"Okay, have fun. Be safe. And, if things get a little …uh, hot and heavy, feel free to come back to the apartment. I'll be out till late with Ethan." She said, and then the doors closed, leaving me in the elevator with just my thoughts and my rapid heartbeats.

Clad in a crisp white shirt, dark jeans and a navy blue jacket, Christian was leaning against a sleek, black Audi as I made my way through my largely empty lobby. He had his blackberry in his hand, a look of complete concentration masking his face as his fingers typed away furiously. His hair was tousled, like he'd just woken and did nothing to it but run his fingers through it and he looked downright amazing. I was momentarily stunned that this God of a man was here, in front of my building, waiting for me so he could take me on a date. I felt like I had entered an alternate universe of some sort.

His eyes snapped up to me as I neared, his cloudy grey orbs clearing almost instantly as he stowed his phone into his front pocket and blinked a few times, taking in my appearance. His eyes darkened a bit as he continued his un-abashed stare and he smiled a slow, sexy smile as he kicked off the car, towards me. I could already feel myself squirming, nervous from his intimidating and beautiful presence. Being around him wasn't getting any easier over time on me. In fact, it almost felt like it was getting more difficult. But I didn't care. It was even more difficult to keep myself away.

He walked over to meet me and leaned down briefly to kiss my cheek, his lips lingering on my skin. He pulled back, but only enough so that his lips were at my ear, and murmured, "You look stunning, Ana."

I flushed, his breathe sending shivers from my ear down to the rest of my body. He smelled delicious, and an unbidden image of me straddling Christian's lap in his shiny black car entered my head, awakening my libido. I could feel my face starting to blush – Jeez! Who even was I? I'd spent the better half of my life not feeling a thing for anyone, and suddenly, just looking at this man was making me feel all types of lustful.

I barely mumbled out a 'thanks' before Christian was already leading me towards the car, his hand gently leading me by the elbow. As ever, I could feel the light thrumming of electricity where our skin met and I wondered again if he could feel it as well. It couldn't be just me, could it?

He opened the door of his car and helped me in, automatically reminding me of all the guys Kate had complained about who had failed in doing this simple gesture. It was 'modern romance,' Kate had always complained. Completely devoid of any chivalry. But, again, Christian continued to shower me with the perfection that he seemed to be.

In seconds, he was settling in beside me, and fastening his seatbelt. His very presence was intoxicating, and I found myself fumbling idiotically as I tried to buckle my own belt and missed embarrassingly. I heard him chuckle from beside me and suddenly he leant over me, his chest brushing lightly against mine as he took the metal buckle from my weak grasp and clicked it with ease.

"That nervous, huh?" He smirked, but it wasn't mean or condescending. Instead, he looked amused, like he was in on a joke that only the two of us knew.

I tried to smile, willing all my nerves to disappear so I could stop overanalyzing and start enjoying. "Just a little bit."

He covered my hand that was resting on my lap with his own and gave it a small squeeze. "Don't be."

That's all he said – it was almost like a command. And then he sat back in his seat and started up his car. It purred to life, quietly and gracefully much unlike Wanda, my old VW Beetle, who needs a bit of gentle coaxing each time I need to go anywhere.

As he turned out of his parking spot and onto the empty street, Christian pushed a button on his glossy gray console, filling the car with the soft, crooning voice of Michael Buble, and we were off, his hand still holding mine gently,

We pulled up to our destination after a short fifteen minute drive, and as Christian put the car in park at the valet before coming around to open my door, I couldn't help but stare at the sight in front of me, mesmerized. The Columbia Tower, impressive during the day, looked even more incredible at night. It stood tall and confident, all dark glass and steel, the focal point of the downtown Seattle skyline. It glittered in the sky, the Pacific Ocean its backdrop.

I looked to Christian as he handed his key off and slipped a small card in his front pocket.

"Where are we going?"

"One of my clubs," he said, pulling my hand in his and flashing me a panty-busting, heart-exploding smile. "I really am very pleased you agreed to go on this date with me, Anastasia. You look absolutely ravishing. That color suits you well."

I blushed, and mumbled a 'thanks' at the compliment – my awkward but usual go-to response to them. And then I focused on the first half of his response, "Your club? As in..?"

"As in I own it," he said, pulling me into what looked like a private elevator.

"Oh." I said, my only response. Of course, the man not only ran an unimaginably large empire, but he also owned clubs. When did he sleep? OR have time for anything that wasn't work related?

The thoughts, however, flew out of my head as the elevator began whisking us up, further and further, giving me the most fantastical view of Seattle imaginable. The digitial numbers at the top of the elevator soared higher and higher, passing by at an alarming speed, indicating the stories we were passing. Finally, as we reached the 76th floor, the elevator doors slid open, revealing a hostess' table, the words Mile High Club emblazoned in sharp, grey lettering atop. As we stepped forward, the hostess' head snapped up towards us in attention, her green eyes nearly bulging out as she took Christian in. She rounded the table quickly, but gracefully, her eyes sultry as she approached us. Or rather, just him, as I was nearly positive that she had yet to notice me. Her focus was solely on Christian, and I hated to admit that it bothered me a bit.

"Mr. Grey, it's an honor –"

Christian held up his palm, effectively cutting the blonde hostess off before she could get any further with her introductions. She seemed taken aback, and I couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit smug about that.

"Private booth by the windows," he said, his voice confident and authoritative, the tone letting the hostess know he wasn't interested in any small talk.

She nodded her head and quickly led us down a small corridor that led to a much bigger venue. The club was crowded, but we walked towards the far end, away from the groups of people huddled together, chatting and laughing over drinks and food, and into a small alcove, hidden by a black and white printed curtain. She pushed the dark material of cloth aside, revealing a small black circular table surrounded by a plush, white L-shaped sofa. The skyline of Seattle was behind us, visible through the floor to ceiling windows.

Christian helped me in first before taking a seat next to me, close enough that his trouser-clad thighs were touching my bare ones.

The blonde set menus in front of us, but I'm the only one to pick it up. Once again, before the hostess, for whom I was starting to feel just a tiny bit sympathetic for, could get in a word in in front of intimidating and clearly domineering boss, Christian began again, ordering without even glancing at the menu. Although, since the place was his, I supposed he didn't really need to.

He turns to me slightly, his legs rubbing against mine, "Shirazi Barossa okay with you?"

Suddenly, I'm thankful for Kate and the fact that she only recently forced me to go on a wine-tasting trip with her and her family in California after we had graduated. Although I'm not sure if it was one of the ones I liked or not, the name of the wine he just mentioned does ring a bell so I nod my head. "That's fine, Christian."

Then, as I skim the menu quickly, he tells the blonde the rest of his order; a sirloin steak with bordelaise sauce and fries. I quickly decide on the first thing I see – smoked salmon. I smile at the blonde once I've ordered, but she doesn't seem to notice … or care.

Once she's gone, Christian turns to me, his cool and arrogant persona softened now that it's just the two of us.

He drapes an arm over the couch, behind me, and his fingertips rest softly on my shoulder that's away from him.

"So, I told you quite a lot about myself this morning. I think it's only fair you get the same chance now."

Oh, God. I hated this part of first dates – the talking about yourself part. I wasn't extra-ordinary by any measure, and telling Christian, the business mogul/sex God that he was, would only bore him to sleep.

But, before I could rake my brain with something interesting about myself to say, Christian starts his own line of questioning, and I almost feel like we're back in his office with the tape-recorder, only this time, reversed.

"Do you have siblings, Ana?"

I sighed a breath of relief. We're starting off easy. "Nope," I said, taking a sip of the wine that a blonde – a one from the hostess – has just poured into our glasses. Hmm, this is crisp and delicious. "I'm an only child, unfortunately."

He nods, "Maybe it's not such an unfortunate thing. I can name a good handful of times I've wished that I was. Tell me about your parents."

I giggle, and his fingers one my arm fall a little further down my shoulder when I do. "Yes, but I'm sure you can think of a few hundred handful of times that you've been grateful for them. I always wanted a sibling – you know, someone who'll be your best friend or your confidante that you can trust implicitly. Although I suppose Jose and Kate are that for me now. But, as for my parents – my father died when I was an infant. And my mother re-married … and then re-married. And then re-married."

His eyes narrowed at that, his fingers now lazily moving back and forth on my skin, sending shivers down my body. "Did that bother you? Your mother re-marrying and you having to completely change your life because of it?"

I shrugged, "Not really. When my mom divorced Ray, her second husband, I moved in with him."

His expression was confused at that, "You chose to live with your step-father?"

"Yeah, I mean, I love my mom, but she's flighty and spontaneous and everything that I'm not. Ray took me in, gave me the stability I needed. He's my dad."

When he said nothing after that, I tried to focus the questioning back on him. "What about you? What's your family like?"

He smiled, a slow, sexy, sly smile and shook his head. "Not so quick, Miss. Steele. We're not done with your questions yet." And then he thought for a second, "Do you like to travel?"

I snorted, feeling significantly plain-Jane. People like Chrisitian and Kate were wordly, had travelled all around, and experienced new cultures first-hand. Meanwhile, I had spent my life depending on books and other people's experiences in order to live vicariously through them. "No, I've never even travelled outside the continental United States."

Christian tucked a lose strand of hair behind my ear, his finger lingering there, and I realized he'd been quite touchy-feely all night. But, instead of freaking me out, the touch was inviting … alluring. I wanted to touch him back, but didn't know how. My fingers were itching to brush his shoulder, or rest on his thigh.

I refrained, though, paying extra-hard attention to his words as he spoke. "A girl like you deserves to see all the riches the world has to offer, Anastasia."

Huh? What did that even mean? Why 'a girl like me'?

"Where would you like to go most?"

This was easy. "England."

His eyebrow arched a shadow of a smile on his lips. "Out of all the places in this world, you would c hose to go to England? A smaller version of America, just with more cattle and, admittedly, nicer accents?"

I shrugged, smiling back shyly. "It's home to all the greats, though. Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare …"

He nodded, "Do you enjoy writing as much as you do reading?"

Oh. I wasn't expecting this question. "No – I, I don't write …"

His eyebrows knit in confusion. "Why not?"

I didn't have an answer to this. Well, I had many. I was grossly under confident, I hadn't lived or experienced enough to write about it, I hadn't done anything worthy of documenting … the list was long. And none of it did I want to share.

Before I could think of a decent answer, though, the waitress returned with our food, distracting us both and putting the question to rest.

I rested my fork on my plate as I took the last and final bite of salmon that I could swallow without exploding. Luckily, the questioning had stopped shortly after our food arrived, and the conversation veered off down memory lane. He told me a few stories about his family, which left me in tears more than once from laughing too hard. Most of them were about Elliot, whom I seemed to like. I suddenly hoped Kate and him would actually connect again – how cool would it be if we dated brothers?

And then I caught myself. Dated!? Christian and I were on our first date. We weren't dating. Jeez.

I shared some stories of my own, too, although I'm sure the amount of wine I had consumed had all to do with that. Some were about Kate and some about Jose, and just a few about myself - about our early days as confused freshman in college, trying to figure our way out and screwing up more often than not, and then the later days of being arrogant seniors and acting like we knew everything when honestly, we still knew close to nothing.

The smiles I got from him in return nearly stopped my heart more than once, and the laughter had me melting. This man was far, far too perfect. Superior, already, to any other man I had even bothered speaking to before. He was in a league of his own, and he was sitting here, talking to me, laughing with me – it baffled my mind.

As the waitress came back once more, this time to clear our dishes, my heart sank. The night was over, and more likely than not, he wouldn't ask me out for a second date. Despite the laughs and the smiles, he had probably realized by now that I wasn't up to par for what he was used to. I was un-cultured, and from a completely different social-class. I hadn't grown up going to different countries every Christmas, and even now, I barely made in one year what he probably made in one day. We were from to different worlds.

I picked up my clutch from where I'd left it to my side, assuming we were about to leave. As I turned, though, I found Christian leaning closer to me than before, his eyes dark with something I couldn't quite place.

He reached forward and traced his finger along my jaw, his other arm drawing me near around the shoulders.

His voice was suddenly husky, his breath in my ear. "That Jose you spoke of earlier … is he your boyfriend?"

I felt like a deer caught in headlights. My breathing was coming out in short, rapid spurts, my pulse racing uncontrollably just from his close proximity.

I shook my head. "N-no, why do you ask?"

He leaned closer, and suddenly I knew what I saw in his eyes. It was clear – desire. Desire … for me? I couldn't fathom it. But in this moment, I also couldn't care.

"Because, I want to kiss you. And I want to make sure it's what you want, and that you're not taken already by some other fucker."

Whoa. "I'm not—"

The rest of my words cut off as his mouth swoops down on mine. He kissed me, and it was slow, and perfect and sensual. I moaned softly as he licked his way into my mouth, his tongue dancing with mine. He gripped me tighter, one hand on my back, the other holding my face to his. I felt my own hands slide from his shoulders to his hair, tugging him closer, closer, closer until there was no room left.

And then suddenly, the kiss wasn't slow anymore. It was violent. It was white-hot. I felt his teeth scrape my lips, his tongue battling mine fiercely and it was all so damn sexy.

He pulled my leg across his lap, and suddenly, something within me awoke. I felt more alive, more bold in that moment than ever before. Glancing quickly at the curtain to make sure it was shut, I climbed on to Christian's lap, straddling him, my lips still melting on his.

His fingers were sliding upwards from the thighs, his fingers lightly prodding at the hem of my dress.

"God, you're amazing, Ana." He mumbled into my lips, only adding to my ecstasy.

I pulled away, nearly fainting at the sight in front of me. Christian Grey, with his hair unruly from my fingers running through it, his eyes smoldering with lust, his breaths shallow and short as he visibly tried to control his erratic heartbeat … all because of me – from kissing me, from touching me. I could die.

I let my fingers linger on his face and leaned into him, "Can we get out of here?"

He looked shocked momentarily, and then nodded. He lifted me off of him easily, and then fixed his shirt as I straightened my dress before weaving his fingers with mine and racing out of the club at break-neck speed … literally.

But if I fall for you, i'll never recover
If I fall for you, i'll never be the same

A/N: So, I have no real excuses for why it took me so ridiculously long to write this chapter other than I was on vacation for a while and I had terrible, terrible writers block. I really don't intend on taking this long to have chapters up again, I promise. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this and are bracing yourselves for a bit of a wild ride with Christian and Ana very soon ... ;) Reviews, as always, are appreciated. Thank you, guys!

Song: Love Somebody, Maroon 5 (also known as the best band to have ever existed ... just saying.)