A/N: Are we all happy that Christian is finally seeing the bad things about Elena and that he's finally getting rid of her? I know I am!
APOV:
Today is the day! I'm graduating from college with a degree in Literature! I've worked so hard at this, and it's all paying off! All of my family is coming in for this joyous occasion, including my Mom, who wasn't coming, but was suddenly able to afford it! This is such a happy time! Christian will be there too, which I'm really looking forward to! It'll be weird when my parents see and meet Christian. I put my cap and gown on and there's a knock on my door.
"Come in!" I turn around a there's Kate in her cap and gown too.
"Are you ready?!" She says excitedly.
"Yep! I've been ready for so long!" I smooth out my gown. "Can you believe this is the last week in this apartment, and then it's off to Seattle!"
"It's sad but awesome! We've had a lot of fun in this place huh?" We both look around.
"On to broader horizons!" I hug Kate. There's another knock on the door. When I go to answer it, I'm so happy to see who's on the other side of the door.
"Daddy!" I jump and hug my Dad.
"Hey Annie! How's my graduate feeling today?" Dad asks while kissing my forehead.
"Anxious and excited!"
"I bet!" He smiles at me. "Hey Katie, what's new!" He hugs Kate.
"Oh nothing big… just GRADUATING!" she screams. Ray gets hugged by both of us and blushes.
"Alright girls, let's get a move on and get you both graduated!" My Dad holds the door open.
When we arrive at the university, it's a sea of people. I don't get to find my Mom yet because school officials are ushering us graduates to our seats to get started. I don't get to sit with Kate because she's the valedictorian, so she sits on the stage with the other presenters and important people. I look around for Christian, but I don't see him. I turn to look at the stage and there he is, sitting next to Kate on the stage. What is he doing up there?
After the speeches, the dean of the school introduces Christian as the university's biggest benefactor for the arts and farming divisions. He doesn't make a speech, but quickly just stands up and waves to everyone. He will be handing out the degrees to the graduates.
As I make my way across the stage, our eyes lock. I just wanna run up to him and kiss him, but I know to keep a professional attitude. When he hands me my degree and shakes my hand, there was the jolt. I felt it too because his eyes widened.
"Congratulations Miss Steele" he smiled at me as kissed my hand. I immediately blushed because he hadn't done that to any other student. I mouthed "Thank you" to him and left the stage. I can't believe he did that. Now I had many eyes on me. They were probably wondering who I was that had THE Christian Grey kissing my hand. I took my seat until the ceremony was over.
I walked through the crowd until I found my Mom and Dad standing by a tree. I run up to them and give them both a big hug.
"Congrats baby girl!" My Mom screamed while hugging me.
"Thanks Mom! I'm so happy you could make it!" I smiled big with tears in my eyes.
"I had some luck I guess because I get an envelope from FedEx the other morning and when I open it, it's a first class plane ticket to Portland. The note read something like "Please accept this gift to see your daughter graduate. No repayment necessary."
"Wow! You have a secret admirer then!" I tease my Mom.
"If you needed help getting out here, I would have paid for it, Carla, you know that" My Dad looked hurt. He's still over the moon about my Mom; even after all they went through. Now that she and Bob were divorced, he's thinking there's a chance for them again.
"I didn't want to impose, Ray "She smiles at him. In a way, I think she still loves him too. I can't help but wonder who sent her the tickets. My Mom's eyes open wide at someone behind me. I turn to see who she's looking at when I see my handsome Christian walking over. I run up to him and hug him tight. He picks me and spins me around. When he puts me down, I take his hand and walk over to my parents.
"Mom, Dad, this is Christian Grey. Christian, this is my Dad Ray Steele and my Mom Carla Adams." I introduce everyone.
"Mr. Steele, nice to meet you Sir" He gives my dad a strong handshake. "Ms. Adams, I trust you had a nice flight from Savannah?" She shakes her hand. I just look at him. He was the one who sent the tickets!
"Mr. Grey, it was you?" My Mom says with a grateful smile.
"Guilty as charged… I just knew Anastasia missed you and was sad you couldn't make it, so I handled it. She didn't know anything as I wanted it to be a surprise" Christian smiled big and proud.
"Son, that was a great gesture, please, can we pay you back?" My Dad cut in.
"Sir, that won't be necessary" he touched by Dad's arm. My Dad is just looking at him, analyzing him as he does everyone who comes into my life.
"Anastasia, I need to be going to a benefactor's dinner, so I'm going to excuse myself. Congratulations." He kisses my cheek and turns to my parents. "It was a pleasure meeting you both and I hope to see you again soon."
"Nice meeting you Christian" both parents say in unison. I giggle. He just smiles at them, and then winks at me. As he walks away I know I'm about to face my parent's inquisition.
"Baby girl, where on Earth did you find him?" My Mom said while grabbing my hand. "He's so handsome and debonair!"
"He is, isn't he?" I blush. "Mom, he's a great guy and I really am smitten with him." I look at my Dad and he's got a straight face.
"Daddy, don't worry. He treats me so good. If you get the chance to know him, you'd find you really like him" I touch his arm.
"It's not that I don't like him honey, it's just you're my baby and no one will ever be good enough for my little girl. He seems like a fine gentleman Annie" He smiles at me and I give him a hug. "But if he hurts one hair on your head, he's a dead man!"
My Mom and I both laugh. I'm not telling them yet that I'm in love with him. They'll jump to so many conclusions. But I do, I do love that man!