"A date with you?" I laugh so hard I have a hard time breathing. My laughter even brought me to slapping my knees. I look at Christian and I realize how serious he was when he burrowed his brows. "Oh. You're serious?"

"Yes, Ana. I am indeed serious. Why would I joke about that?"

"Your manipulation skills are right on point, Mr. Grey." I poke on his arm.

"What manipulation skills?" He asks, confused.

"Never mind. And I don't know about that. I don't think I'm ready to date just yet."

"I need you Ana. Before I met you, I was in a far worse state than I am now. You distracted me from everything. I may be very fucked up...but you make me want to become a better person," he confesses.

We barely know each other yet his feelings for me are so strong. I have never heard anyone say something like that to me. I shake the thought. I can't believe any of this.

"Christian, let's be friends for now... I can't jump to a serious relationship after what happened between Tanner and I. You'll have me, but as a sister. A best friend...I'm afraid of getting hurt.." I feel tears fall down my cheeks and I wipe them with the back of my hand. Christian reaches for my face and wipes my tears with his thumb as he looked deep into my eyes.

"I want you in any way that I can have you. Whether it be just a friend. Shhh...I understand what he has done to you. And I'm sorry."

I burry my head on his chest and he stiffens, but he pulls me in anyway. We sit there for quite some time. He hugs me and sometimes I feel his hand on my hair, smoothing it to comfort me. He lets me cry it out. I realized I haven't actually talked to anyone about my feelings. I had kept it bottled in because I thought it was a lame thing to cry about a boy who didn't deserve any of my time and effort.

"You're being a better best friend than Kate right now," I tell him to break the silence. "I think she would get mad if she found out that you know more than she does."

"I'm glad," He pulls away and looks at my face but he is still hugging me, "Are you okay?"

I nod and I feel his body vibrate. It must have been his phone.

"I think someone is looking for me." He says as he pulls out the device.

I pull away and smile at him, "Thank you."

"It's nothing Ana. We'll take it slow. We'll start as friends. We'll hang out." He assures me.

"Yes. That sounds good" I smile but his face drops when he sees the text. He looks worried about something, "Is everything alright?" I ask.

"Someone is just looking for me. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, I'll help you up. Come on, best friend." I nudge at him and notice that he winces from pain. "Oh, I'm sorry..."

He laughs, "It's nothing Ana, just a bruised rib."

"I'm sorry, again. How are you gonna get home? Do you need a ride?"

"No, someone is picking me up."

"I'll help you walk down to the parking lot. We don't want whoever is looking for you to turn into a troll." I smile at him.

We walk together without feeling awkward this time. He points to a shiny black Mercedes and right away I notice the woman. The same woman that I saw at the boutique with him a long time ago.

"Is that your mom?" I ask, "She's really pretty."

"No, she's my mom's friend."

We get to the car and the woman glares at me like it was wrong to have been interacting with Christian.

"Get in the car and sit. I'll buckle you up" the woman says to Christian in an ordering way.

Just like that, Christian sits, ignoring the fact that he is in crutches.

Christian doesn't say anything, he doesn't even look her in the eyes.

"Bye, I'll see you tomorrow," he says.

When the Mercedes left, I feel the worry for Christian again.

When I got home, I do my homework and start on dinner. Ray still wasn't home so I had the house all to myself. I felt the need to relax and take a bath. With all that has been going on, I needed time for myself.

I go to my bathroom and start a bath. I light up some candles and inhale the lavender scent. I strip down and step into the tub. A few minutes later after having a blank mind, I notice that I am crying.

Tanner has been very good to me up until a few days ago when we were watching a movie in the living room and things got too far. We were making out just like any other teenage couple. We moved to my bedroom, stripping each other but I just couldn't do it. I didn't want to give into him. He was okay with stopping. I thought he understood. He stepped out of my room to go in the bathroom to take care of his situation when his phone lit up showing he received a text message. I looked at it and read the preview of the message:

*hey babe, I miss your hands all over me xoxo Amber*

I knew Amber. Everyone knew Amber. Every guy knew Amber, probably all too well.

I got up and dressed. When Tanner got back into my room I showed him his phone.

"Looking for this?" I asked.

"Yeah..why do you have my phone?" He asks, looking a little worried.

"Amber texted. She said she misses your touch." I snap at him.

"I can explain." He reaches up to me and I throw his clothes out of my room.

"Get out." I tried to yell at him but I was so upset I couldn't bring myself to raise my voice, "I don't want to see you or talk to you. I don't need any explanation. You and Amber are perfect for each other. Go have fun with her."

I push him out and I cry in the living room. I call Kate and she is caught up at a banquet. She said she would come as soon as she can but I told her it was fine. That I'll just talk to her tomorrow.

Now here I am, three days later, still crying about the damn bastard that Tanner is.

I get out of the bath and fall asleep naked, too exhausted to get dressed.

I am aware that it is Friday morning, the last day of school before winter break and that I should get ready for school but I just laid down on my bed, thinking about everything that have happened this past few days.

Tanner and I have broken up. I am free and heartbroken but oddly enough, I also felt relieved. Christian risked his life just to prove to Tanner that I am worth fighting for. I don't know how to feel about that. Kate has been distant because of all the school activities that she is affiliated with. My other friends don't really know much apart from the fact that I am single. I am exhausted. But I can't let a boy be the reason for my downfall.

I get up to get dressed. All I had left in my closet was the outfit Kate had given me to wear for the first day of school. A gray v-neck that showed way too much of my boobs than I am comfortable with. Kate told me not to wear a tank top with the shirt because my boobs should be accentuated, not hidden. I find my black pants and my brown leather boots. I get a braided leather belt and put it on. I look in the mirror and see that I really should be wearing nice things like these and not just a plain t-shirt and blue jeans with chucks. I put my hair down, happy that it is wavy. I put on some tinted moisturizer, mascara, lip gloss and puckered my lips. Hm, I actually liked my appearance for once.

I go downstairs and say bye to Ray while he ate his breakfast.

"You're not gonna eat?!" He yells as I stepped out the door.

As I drove to school, I blasted my music and had a little fun. I am in need of fun. When I arrived, the parking lot was still empty with a couple of cars that obviously did not belong to students.

I walk in the building to see Christian coming out of the office with two adults, a man and a woman. They don't look like him but it's obvious that they are his parents by the way they were all talking to each other. The man seems upset. The woman has a hand on her temple and massages it like she's got a headache. Christian looks up and sees me. They are walking in my direction so I wave at him and the man who seems to be his father smiles at me as well. While the woman just keep looking down as she shook her head slowly.

"Mom, dad, this is Ana." Christian says.

"Oh so this is the famous Ana..." His dad says, reaching for my hand. "Hello, I'm Carrick, Christian's father. How are you?"

"I'm good, Mr. Grey. Thank you." I reply, feeling quite intimidated by the formality.

"Hello Ana, I'm Grace." She smiles warmly at me.

"Hello Mrs. Grey." I smile back.

"Well, I'll leave you kids alone," Mr. Grey gestures toward us, "And Christian, please stay away from trouble. You already have a broken leg," Mr. Grey looks at Christian's cast. "Ana, if you can, please keep him out of trouble."

"I'll try, Mr. Grey." I had to laugh a little and Christian laughs with me.

"How are you getting home, Christian?" Mrs. Grey asks.

"Will Elliot home?" He asks.

Who is Elliot?

"He won't be home until tomorrow. His winter break doesn't start until after today," she pauses for a moment to think, "..do you want Elena to pick you up?"

Christian shakes his head abruptly and says, "I'll have Ana drive me home." He obviously does not want to be picked up by whoever Elena is.

"Is that okay, Ana?" Mrs. Grey asks me.

"Oh yes, of course. I don't mind."

"Let's go Grace, I don't want to be late." Mr. Grey pulls Mrs. Grey away.

"Thank you, Ana." She gives me a hug. She sighs and looks at Christian, "Stay. Out. Of. Trouble. Okay, Christian?"

"Pfft, okay." He mutters.

Mr.&Mrs. Grey walk away and I giggle.

"What are you laughing about, Ms. Steele?" Christians smirks at me.

"Nothing, Mr. Grey." I smile at him.

We walk together towards my locker in silence although I had a smile plastered on my face.

"You look really beautiful today, Ana." He breaks the silence.

"Thank you...but Christian, don't say that. Friends, remember?" I raise my brows at him.

"Can't a friend compliment his friend?"

"Not like that...you give it a different meaning."

From a distance I hear my name,

"ANA!" I know that voice from a mile away, it's Kate.

I turn around and see her walking down the halls with her runway strut. Christian and I stop to wait for her.

"So, what's going on with you two? Why are you both here so early? Huh?" Kate raises her eyebrows at me as if she's my mom.

"Nice to see you too, Kate!" I greet her since she didn't even bother to say hi.

"Oh c'mon Ana, I thought I was your best friend! Why didn't you tell me you two were goin out!" She places her hand on her hips.

"We're not going out." I keep walking and Christian tries to keep up.

"Mhhhhhm, we'll see." She says with a smirk.

The day goes on with me walking with Christian and helping him with whatever he needed. Well, except for the bathroom. That would be weird. When the last bell rand, we walked to my car and I asked him where he lived.

We pull up on his driveway and I am taken aback by how beautiful his house is.

I help him out of my car and hold him as we walked up to his house.

"Do you want to come in?" he asks.

"Just friends?" I make sure.

"Yes. Just friends." He assures me.

We walk in the house and a girl that seems to be a tad bit younger than me walks by. When she realized that she didn't know who I was or that Christian was with someone, she walks backwards to look again.

"Uh...who are you?" She asks.

"Mia, Ana. Ana, Mia." Christian says, "Ignore Mia and you should be fine."

Mia slaps Christians arm and gives him a smirk. She looks at me for a second and hugs me. "You're so pretty, Ana!" I look down, feeling my cheeks blush.

She turns to look back at Christian and studies me for a moment, "Oh my god, Christian. Do you finally have a girlfriend?" She asks him excitedly.

I am quick to say, "Oh no.. Just a friend." I assured her.

"Mia, you're scaring her off."

"Fine, I'll leave. Nice to meet you Ana!" She hugs me again.

When she is out of sight, I ask Christian, "...so who's Mia?"

"My annoying sister who I can see is spying on us."

From the other room, I hear Mia yell, "UGH CHRISTIAN, I AM NOT."

I laugh at them.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Christian asks as we head to the kitchen.

"I'm good thanks." I look around the kitchen and notice how beautiful it is, "You've got a great kitchen. I love the granite countertops. It'd be a dream to cook in here."

"I'm hungry, Ana. You should cook for me." He grins.

"I'm not gonna play little housewife with you and make you a sandwich."

"Hey, I was just gonna make your dreams come true." He laughs and takes a sip of his iced water. "But really, you can cook if you want. I am actually kind of hungry." He sits down on the breakfast bar and watches me.

"Ok fine. Let's see what you have..." I open their fridge and find a whole grocery store. "How about a grilled cheese?"

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist," He grins, "Sure, I'll eat whatever."

I start a simple grilled cheese and put it in the panini maker.

"I love your kitchen." I say as I walk around and touch the modern kitchen with the tips of my finger.

"I'm glad you like my kitchen?" He laughs, "What am I supposed to say when people compliment our panini maker?"

"Oh shoot. The paninis oh my god." I run back to the counter and lift the handle. "Ok phew! It's perfect." I smile up at him.

We eat our sandwiches and talk about school and life. It's like we've known each other since we were little.

"This is really good," he smiles and takes another bite, "I wouldn't mind eating this for the rest of my life."

"It's a grilled cheese, Christian."

We laugh at each other and before I know it, we are kissing.