This is on a completely irrelevant subject, skip if you want to.

So, yesterday I accidentally deleted all my downloaded songs, and now I'm telling myself that I need to learn to cope with life without these songs. I can't go back and re-download them, because the app I used can only stream online because of some copyright issues. I am now depending on online streaming.

Does anyone have any recommendation on where to download (free) mp3 version songs? PM me.

I'm currently mourning over my lost songs. Lol, I don't know why, but I just feel so sad...

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In the last chapter, a guy named Michael was mentioned. I've changed his name to Sean because I want to stick to the original series as much as possible so I'm going to use as many names of the original characters as possible.

Thank you for all the reviews! I loved them all! I'm so glad that everyone's enjoying it and this is by far my most popular story, and I was so giddy when I saw the review count rising after each update. You're doing the right thing by reviewing!

:-)

Enjoy and review~

FIFTH HOUR

"Yes."

Silence followed.

Anastasia didn't dare to turn around. She placed her e-cigaret back into the pocket of her denim shorts hooking it around one of the belt loops.

Breathing out the last bit of visible smoke in her, she closed her eyes and hung her head, waiting for the berating that she was sure she'd be getting sooner or later. She knew she had pushed him too far.

"I'm sorry, Christian." She said in the same defeated voice that she used when she replied to his question earlier. If he wasn't going to speak, she thought she should. "I know it's a word that's way overused for me tonight." She then added. Her breath hitched when she felt him standing next to her in the same position that she was in.

His eyes were focused on the skyline of Seattle before him and far ahead. Millions of thoughts were running through his head yet none of them were even closed to punishing her the way he would do to a submissive. The thought was no longer appealing to him where Anastasia was concerned.

"Do you want me to get out of your house?" She asked quietly, not even daring to gauge his mood at the moment when he had said nothing and indicated nothing since walking in on her with a vapor.

"No." Was all he said, it was a short answer without much emotion but she still turned around for the door, thinking that he would want some time to himself to clear his head.

She didn't even took a step away from the railing to the door, his arm came around her mid-section and hauled her back. She felt her back hitting the railing and his other arm around her waste resting on her lower back. He had pinned her against the railing within seconds, and before she could get a coherent word out of her mouth after having all of the air hit out of her lung…

His mouth was on her and his body was pushed against hers.

The kiss was desperate and full of unexplainable emotions.

It ended just as quick as it started.

She didn't even know if she had kissed back or not, but at the moment, she knew she was in no position to speak or make smart-ass remarks.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked, and she shook her head. "Good," he said but he didn't release her, instead, he pulled her into a hug, with his chin resting on her shoulder and later buried his face in the crook of her neck. "We're going to discuss this later." He told her and all she could do was nod in agreement. They had enough secret sharing for one night.

"How did the things at work go?" She asked in a tiny voice, almost uncertain that if she was given permission to talk.

"Not now, Anastasia." He shook his head and that was enough indication for her to know that it went far from well.

Hesitantly lifting her arms up and looping them around his neck, she pulled him closer to her in an attempt to absorb some of the stress that he was feeling at the moment. She knew she had contributed to at least half of them.

"Do you know what Ros told me earlier on the phone?" He mumbled with his chin rested on her shoulder.

"What," she asked, turning her face slightly so she could kiss his hair lightly, offering the smallest support she could.

"She said we looked good together as a couple." He chuckled as if he thought his colleague sounded ridiculous. Anastasia frowned and doubt ran through her body. "Funny that I agreed." He pulled away slightly, and she could see him beaming at her, the previous worries completely wiped away from his face.

"I think she's very observant." She agreed.

"She also said that the look in my eyes reflected my true feelings for you, and that she had never seen me look at anyone the way I look at you."

"I know, I can see it." She whispered, her fingers playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. Surprisingly for him, he found it soothing and comforting.

"Did you know that she and Andrea both took pictures of us when we were waiting at the elevator?" He asked, his tone suggested that he was far from annoyed by the thought.

"Can I see them?"

"I didn't ask for them." He replied regrettably. "You can ask them for it if you want to see them." He suggested, although secretly debating if he should use one of those as a wallpaper for his phone.

"Can I ask you something? Two, actually." She looked at him, waiting for his response. "It's nothing bad." She added the same time he nodded his head. "Why did you call the school telling them that I'd be back a week late?" She asked, deciding to let the part where he payed for her tuition go because… what's done is done.

"Your second question?"

"Are you flying me straight to my school after taking me away for my birthday?"

"Yes," he answered the second question.

"Then why did you excuse me for a whole week?" She repeated her first question to him.

"A man can hope." He smiled shyly and she found it adorable. The thought made a giggle escape her throat.

She looked away to stop her from giggling but whenever she looked back up at him, she felt like giggling again.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she replied still giggling at his confusion.

"Ana." He warned playfully.

"Really, I'm just happy." She gave him a huge grin as she snuggled closer to him, bringing her lips to the bottom of his neck, gently grazing over the skin.

"I am, too." He sighed blissfully, hugging her tighter. It never occurred to him that he would want to hold someone as much as he wanted to hold this person in his arms.

"Like I said, Christian, you're not cut out for this lifestyle, this is only an escape for you. I know that because I've seen you interact with your brother, interact with me when you're not in the Dom mode. That mode is only a façade for you to escape from the real life, the cruel reality and demons that you don't want to face. I only signed your contract because I wanted something to do for the summer, and also I wanted to try this lifestyle. I've been researching about it for the past four years of my college life, but I've never tried it before. While you may think that you need control, I believe this lifestyle is restricting you. You can't possibly believe that you can be fucking pale-skinned brunette girls for your entire life. I'm not saying you should settle down, because I don't want to settle down either so I get you, but this really isn't a way of life. It can bring you outlet short-term but you can't escape from whatever you're escaping from forever, you'll have to face them sooner or later. When you are in Dom mode, you act in a way the Dominants are expected to behave, and that is not you because you're acting. Can't you see it? When you're being a Dom with a sub at your feet, you feel powerful because people can't judge you or make any comments about your decisions. You're in control because in this game setup, the sub is supposed to act in certain ways and the Dom is expected of something else, so in a way, you're only putting on an act so you can feel powerful and in control, but in the end, you will have to come back to reality, you can't live in the alternative universe because there's no human in this world that's willing to act submissive their entire life on their own terms."

He didn't say anything but also didn't gave her any reaction or indication that he was going to say something. His silence was creeping her out a little, making her think that she had once again made a fool of herself and pushed the right button to anger him. After tonight, the last thing in her mind was to act deviously to disappoint him any further.

They stood there in each other's embrace in quiet peace.

Listening to the noises of the city of Seattle beneath their feet.

"You are a very talented singer, Ana." He commented randomly.

"That's actually my hidden talent," she said shyly. "I am good at making impression of other singers but I don't really like to show it off. I don't want to be a singer and I don't really like to sing unless I feel like singing."

"Do you feel like recording an album for me?" He joked.

"Hmm… that depends."

"You promised," he reminded her.

"Fuck you for bringing that up. Way to ruin the mood, Grey."

"That's twice you wanted to fuck me, I'll keep count of the times you said that so you can make good promise of your words later." He smirked at her when she pulled away from him just to glare at him. "I know you want to jump my bones, Anastasia."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," she muttered knowing she was a lost cause when his eyes darkened and his fingers danced along her skin south.

"I'm not and I won't." He replied in triumph. "Can we go make that album, now, please? It'll be just for us even though I really really want to play it for a record company." He added the last part just to rile her up.

"You wouldn't dare, Christian." She squeezed him, while looking into his eyes and saw the mirth dancing in them. She wanted to say 'fuck you' but she knew he'd be teasing her even more if she did. "Knowing you, you'd be too jealous to share." It was now her turn to smirk.

"You do know me better than I think you do." He said admitting defeat.

"Of course I do."

"I just wish I know you just as well."

"You still have approximately nineteen hours to rectify that situation."

…

"Come on, Grey. Sit." She patted the spot next to her behind the keyboard enthusiastically.

He immediately went over and sat down next to her. She was evidently in a surprisingly better mood since entering the media room. The heaviness hanging between them long forgotten by her.

"You have no idea just how good a set you have here, Christian." She gushed, touching each and every device within reach. "You play the piano right? Don't deny it, I know you do." She talked in a speed that was almost too fast for him to process the words coming out of her mouth.

He didn't even get the chance to reply before she moved to the next topic. "You play them at night, they sounded really really sad. I woke up a few times wanting to get water but didn't want to disturb you at the same time." She answered the unasked question. All the time, her eyes were on the screen in front of her.

After a round of clicking, a piano sheet was displayed in front of them on the lit screen. She shifted to the side a little bit more on the bench and turned to look at him for the first time in a long while.

"Mind playing the soundtrack for me?" She asked sweetly. When he looked at her, he could see that she looked so young and innocent at that moment, which made him compare it to the other moments and realized that she really wasn't as innocent as he thought she was and she was much more mature than her age let on. He appreciated and felt honored that she was showing him a deeper side of her.

"I'll be honored, Miss Steele." He replied earnestly, moving more toward the middle.

"Why don't we start with the song I sang?"

"I thought you've already recorded that."

"Yeah, and this is the score that I wrote." She said, pointing to the piano sheet in front of them on the screen. "I just thought you might want to play for me since this is the only score sheet that I've got for the songs." She explained, suddenly feeling self-conscious and insecure about her decisions.

"I do want to." He quickly replied to assure her. "Now, come on, prepare your voice and ready to sing."

"Don't you need to practice?"

"It seems like you don't know me as well as you say you do then," he smirked before turning to the keyboard. She pressed the record button right before he started to play the prelude.

She started to sing when she was cued, and just then, she realized that she didn't include the lyrics on the piano score and the moment she really thought about the next line her flow was interrupted and she couldn't think of the next line.

"Shit," she murmured when she couldn't find the word for that line and missed it completely. "I forgot." She laughed as he turned to stare at her in amusement.

"No shit, Sherlock. Even though I've only heard it twice, I know that there are no swear words in this song that you gave me."

"You just have to be a smart-ass don't you?" She glared at him before pushing him out of the way and went up to pull up the lyrics so it was next to the piano score.

"Ready?" He asked and she nodded. He pressed down when something started to vibrate violently in his pocket.

"DEFCON?" She voiced the minute she heard the sound.

"How'd you know?"

"Doesn't matter. Just answer your phone."

"You owe me." He said before putting the phone beside his ear. "Grey." Then, he rolled his eyes at his brother's greeting over the phone. His eyes darted to Anastasia when he heard the next part. "It's for you, girl."

"What did you just call me?" She was beyond shock at his word choice and couldn't help but laugh at his demeanor at the moment. "It's El isn't it?" He just shrugged.

"Yo bitch," she took the phone from him, "what do you want?" She said after he greeted her back. "Oh shit. Why didn't you fucking remind me when you were here crashing the party?" She accused, "you ass." She pouted. "I did not lie, Elliot. I didn't know your brother's so clingy. I thought I would be back in Berkeley tonight… he called in sick for me, for the entire fucking week… yeah, I know I'm missing it out. He better makes the week worth staying. Okay, yeah get her on the phone." She sighed, "fuck you," then she visibly blushed, "I can't respond to that, he's staring at me right now." She said, glancing up at Christian who was now looking at her more intently. "I don't owe you jack shit, get the fuck over it." She exclaimed exasperatedly. "You wouldn't dare, Elliot Trevelyan-Grey. If you do, I'll tell him about the time you tried to blackmail me."

For the next few minutes, she fended off Kate's inquisition and promised her that she'd call her tomorrow. Christian could see clearly she wasn't in the mood for a girl's talk, and rather talk with Elliot.

"What did you and my brother talk about?" He asked when she handed the phone back to him.

"I'll give you the filtered version." She decided, sitting down on the bench close to him, she didn't wait for him to say anything as she continued. "He first told me that Kate has been calling me nonstop but went straight to voicemail, because I haven't checked my phone since I was about to leave a few hours ago." She shrugged. "Then he made a comment about me forgetting about my hoe now that I've got a dick, so I called him an ass." He didn't know whether to laugh at that comment or frown but he let her continue. "He said I lied to Kate when I said I needed to run some errands before returning to her place like I promised, so I told them that I didn't know you'd be asking for more from me, and I wasn't expecting to stay at your place after that performance and I told him I really did plan on going back to Cali today just like I told him and Kate a few days ago." He listened to her intently, recalling every answer she'd given. He wondered if she was going to confirm the fact that it was him that she was referring to when she lamented about missing something out because of his twenty-four hour request.

"I told him to get the phone to Kate since she was itching to talk to me." She paused, looking hesitant. "I'm not sure I should disclose the rest of our conversation."

"Well, I will decide it for you. So, just spit it out." He raised an eyebrow challenging her.

"Fine, you asked for it." She grumbled. "It was about vapor though." She added, watching the changes in his expression carefully.

"Keep talking."

"He said that I better tell him about what's going between us before he out me to you about me teaching him how to blow out smoke rings."

"You fucking did what, Anastasia?"

"I told you so." She sighed, looking away. "I warned you."

"You didn't tell me that you hooked my brother into taking this shit."

"He's not hooked, and neither am I!" She protested, though the attempt seemed to have fell on deaf ears. Rubbing her face with her hands in frustration, she finished the rest of the recount of the conversation, knowing he'd just get more and more upset by the time she finished so it would be better if she just get it out at once. "I said 'fuck you', and he said 'anytime'. Usually, I'd say I don't do cheating, and he said whoever it is doesn't have to know, and I'd usually just play along, but since you were staring at me and listening to everything I said… I can't say what I usually say. Then, he reminded me again that I owed him an explanation about our relationship." She said, gesturing between him and her. "So, I told him I don't owe that to him, then he said he'll tell you about my vapor and my shooting because he told me that you don't like it. I should've just said to go ahead so he wouldn't get suspicious when his threat worked every time."

"What about the blackmail?"

"I once told him that I rejected all the Ivy Leagues I've applied to because I'd rather stay in California so that I wouldn't be missing out all the beach parties and fun shit. In a heat of the moment, I may or may not have told him to look me up." She squeaked out the very last part.

"What blackmail material does he have then?"

"Photos."

"What kind of photos? Nude? And they're on the internet?" He fired questions at her and she was frozen in her place. "Anastasia," he tried again. "Tell me."

"It's a story for another time."

"Are they on the internet?"

"The blackmail materials aren't." She said quietly.

"He has nude pics of you?" He yelled, and all she could do was stare at him. "Tell me, Anastasia." He towered over her, almost spitting into her face with the shouting he had been doing. "Did he take them himself? Was he cheating on Kate with you? Were you cheating on me?"

"No! No, none of us cheated. As much as we like to fool around, we've never kissed and never fucked." She screamed, hurt yet felt deserving of the accusations. "He got the pictures from my phone because he has a fingerprint on my phone."

"Why would he have a fingerprint on your phone? Does he have one on Kates?"

"No, he doesn't. Kate won't let him look at her phone. I have one on his phone. We were just fooling around like always."

"When did that happen?"

"When we were in his house."

"Kate was drunk."

"Yes, she was, but nothing happened. We are just really close friends. I've got nothing to hide, he's got nothing to hide, so we just registered our fingerprints on the other's phone after knowing the password. He and Kate are the only two who has fingerprint on my phone, Sean didn't even have one." She didn't know why she said it because it certainly wasn't going to make him feel better and it didn't.

"You've got nothing to hide, Anastasia." He seethed, "then where did he get your nude photos from?"

"I forgot I have them." She confessed.

"Look, I know that you're open and an extrovert and has lots of friends and shit, but you…" he didn't even know what to say to her anymore. "I felt disrespected, Ana." His voice was barely audible, and it made her heartbreak remembering that insecurity was one of the main obstacle that stopped him from opening up to people.

"I'm…"

"Don't say you're sorry, because that's an overrated word for you right now."

"It is."

"Anastasia, as much as I don't want to admit it, but in the three months that we've been together, I have realized that I am in love with you. I did fell for you despite everything, and I know for a fact that I can never find it in my heart to truly let you go. But, you really are pushing me right now. You have always been a challenge to me, and now you're just proving how big of a challenge you really are to me." It was the most shocking confession she'd ever heard from anyone. She had heard tons of confessions of all kinds but this was by far the most shocking for her. "Believe me, Anastasia, I'd be kicking you out if I learned about just one-third of the shit you've done, but I can't because no matter what, it doesn't change how I feel about you."

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her propped up palm, trying to process all the information that he had dumped on her just like she did to him earlier over dinner.

"I told you that I don't want to put a label on my feelings for you just yet, but I can't deny it anymore. I've been trying to stay in my character for the better part of the past three months trying to think of ways to get you out of my system. Nothing works, and believe me, part of me doesn't want anything to work because I want to keep you."

"I truly regret pushing every one of your buttons, your rules and your boundaries." She sounded like she was crying when she really was just silently berating herself for every reckless behavior that she had.

"I believe that you do, but I'm also sure that you're not going to change now that there are no rules for you to follow, or broken in your case."

Rules are meant to be broken, right? She thought bitterly at the reckless motto that she once lived by up until very recently.

"You're right, I probably won't change, but I will stop vaping and partying, I won't carry when I'm with you and I will live up to my promises." She looked into his eyes and said those words in a determined tone.

"I can't stop you, Anastasia. You will be in Berkeley next week and you will be doing everything you've been doing since you moved to LA. You're going to be in the environment that you're so familiar and comfortable in, you will be forgetting your promises to me as fast as you promised me." It was the first time that he had told anyone that much about what he was truly feeling outside of a therapy session. He felt comfortable enough to tell her and he thought it was necessary for her to understand what he was feeling if he wanted a long-shot with her.

"Christian, I never thought there'd be a relationship between us other than the sex with an expiration date. It was meant to be a summer fling because I just wanted to do something that I've never done before since graduating UCLA and before starting at UCB. I'm going back to California next week, and if I say yes to you at the end of the twenty-four hours tomorrow, and we start to date, what are we going to do once the weekend is over?"

"Long-distance."

"Christian," she started, carefully thinking through the proposition she was going to make to him. "I can't stop you from returning to your old lifestyle just like you can't stop me from returning to mine, and if we want this relationship to work, we need to be able to trust each other. Right now, while we think we trust one another, the trust we have for one another obviously isn't enough because what we are talking about right now are our insecurities."

"Then what are you getting at?"

"Let's make a pact." She proposed.

"A pact?"

"A deal if you will."

"I know what that is."

"But we have to trust each other that we will be honoring our side of the deal. It only works if we trust each other enough to honor what we agreed on."

He nodded. "What do you have in mind?"

"We are promising each other that we're not going to return to our old lifestyle when we're at different states." She announced, "I'm swear I'll stop vaping, partying and not carry when I'm with you. I promise I won't get too close to any men other than Elliot. I will only go out with Sean if I'm with you because we tend to get wasted whenever we're out and do shit that you would't approve of."

"That Sean fucker is a bad influence." He grumbled.

"You will swear that you won't go back to your old lifestyle. You won't be having the idea of getting a submissive whenever you're stressed, you won't be going to another woman just to let your steam off or when you're vexed. You will also promise me that you won't act like a Dom to me anymore because I know you'd be like that once I'm not in the same city as you, and you'll worry. And, please, no CPO."

"I can give you my word on everything you say apart from the last one."

"My safety is your concern, yes, I know that, but there are no threats."

"Yet. Anastasia, your safety is my greatest concern and worry. I know you can handle yourself but once people learn just how important you are to me, they will be getting to me through you using any method they can think of."

"I told you I carry."

"So do the people who are desperately trying to harm me."

"I'm not in Detroit or Chicago." She said pointedly even though she didn't know if the two cities had the same meaning to her than to him.

"But you'll be off campus," he looked at her daring for her to argue, ignoring the mention of the place that tainted his childhood.

"Yeah, I will."

"Then at least compromise on a shadow when you're off campus." He negotiated.

"I want his number and I want to meet him before I go." She stated her terms.

"It will be Luke Sawyer. If he's not available, then Belinda Prescott."

She thought for a moment and then nodded at his choices.

"Okay," she conceded, "just one shadow at a time." She emphasized.

"Yes, one at once."

Standing up, she stood in front of him to stop him from pacing.

"Now that we have a deal. Remember your terms and conditions and stick to them." She told him sternly.

"Only if you do the same."

"Kiss on it."

…

For some reason, they kept finding themselves in situations where either one of them would be upset about something the other did in the past.

"Can't we just finish recording at least one song?" Anastasia lamented after pulling away from that kiss which was supposed to be a kiss to seal the promise but turned into a french kiss that left both of them panting and wanting for more.

"We keep getting interrupted. Too bad that we're popular people." Christian shrugged, keeping a straight face when he said his reply. "I mean, my brother dropped by unannounced."

"He was invited by Jason." She interrupted.

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged again, "then, not even two hours after he left, he called again, because someone isn't checking their phone so their best friend is calling to checkup."

"It's not everyday that you get asked out by your ex-Dominant." She argued, but got ignored once more.

"Then, there's your little confession. Quite some experiences and stories you've got there, by the way."

"You asked for it. It's karma."

"Then when I took just a few minutes to take care of something from work, to resolve it once and for all, I step out to find you only to see you smoking."

"I'm not smoking, it'a vaping. They're different."

"And then," he raised his voice slightly as if it could cover up her last sentence. "You implied that Elliot vapes, not to mention also has access to your nude photos. Which, by the way, makes me think, why the fuck do you have nude pics? Did you take them by yourself or did someone else did it using your phone?"

"That's a story for another time, Mister." She looked around waving her hand and said evasively. "I can give you a hint thought," she appeased, "I model for brands."

"When?" His lips was pressed together, forming a thin line, he was severely displeased.

"Since middle school." She shrugged nonchalantly. "It seems like you're the one having second thoughts about asking for this twenty-four hour extension."

"I don't regret ever meeting you but I do regret not seeing through your little submissive act, which as I keep repeating and emphasizing, is horrible."

"Yet you kept me for three months and also asked if I was sure I don't want to extend it."

"Yeah, speaking of which," he was surprised just how easy this girl was able to lead him off track and derail him from the topic their were focusing on. "What is your reason for not wanting an extension to the contract? You never told me."

"Actually, I thought I did." She looked at him, "maybe not as explicit and direct as you wanted, but I thought the song was enough."

"Because you fell in love with me?"

It's getting intense, but I hope you're still enjoying it, because it'll only get more complicated as relationships unveil!

A reminder:
For those of you that use Facebook, there's a group called Top FSOG Facebook Group, there'll be polls every month for completed works and WIP (work in progress).
The point is, my other story Office Fantasy has been nominated in the complete category, so if anyone likes it, please vote for it when the poll comes out later in the month!
Poll ends on February 20! Please vote for me!

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