Bending the Rules
By: BrendaBites
Christian awoke the next day in a jolt.
It took him a few minutes to piece together everything that had happened, and pull apart the reality from his dreams.
He had kissed Ana. Ana had kissed him. That was real. They had ate together, laughed together, they had kissed. After everything, he had driven her home and they kissed again.
She had pressed herself closer to him, said she didn't want to say goodbye, said she wanted to keep kissing him.
Christian nearly groaned, he couldn't go to work, he couldn't see Ana and pretend nothing was happening. The single thought of seeing Ana again made him get up though, quicker than he ever had.
He quickly got dressed, picking out his favorite tie and spending more time than he cared to admit in front of the mirror.
As far as Elliot knew, Christian had taken out the girl he set him up with, though he didn't know she was his student. He didn't plan on telling him yet, but he did want to call him as soon as he was able to.
Christian needed to get out of teaching, he just had to, and Elliot was someone he could partner up with.
He looked at himself in the mirror, nodding almost to himself as he decided.
…
Ana could still feel Christians lips against hers, it was a wonder she was even able to sleep last night.
Now, she looked at herself in the mirror, not seeing any of the usual dark circles under her eyes.
She could feel the butterflies in her stomach, and she realized despite everything, Ana was happy.
Ana brought her fingers to her lips, feeling the tingle they had since Christian pressed his lips against hers, and smiled. She remembered when he dropped her off, she always thought she'd be above throwing herself at a guy, but with Christian it felt different. He made her feel good about herself, she didn't stop to think about what was wrong or what was good. She knew what she liked and she went for it.
It was great to be herself for once.
With one last smile, Ana quickly fixed her hair and hurried to join Ray for breakfast.
…
Christian was on his way to school when he stopped for breakfast. In the parking lot of the coffee shop, he smiled when he remembered he now had Ana's number.
He opened up his messages and began to write. It took him a few tries, Christian had never felt so nervous at sending a message before, but now everything he wrote seemed silly.
'Let's have breakfast together,' seemed too forward. What if she didn't want to have breakfast with him? '
'Meet me at school before classes start,' sounded too demanding.
He scolded himself for acting like such a teenager, and finally wrote what he thought was a casual enough message. He quickly sent the message before he could find something wrong with it.
'Breakfast?' his message read. Staring back it made his stomach churn. God, was he not capable of typing down a full sentence?
"Idiot," he muttered to himself, putting his phone back in his pocket as he got out of his car and into the coffee shop.
It wasn't long before his phone buzzed. The speed of which he reached for his phone was downright embarrassing.
'Believe it or not, I'm actually having breakfast now. Seems your constant nagging has finally showed some results.'
Christian smiled slightly, it was nice to know she wasn't skipping meals, but it lessened his happy mood to know he probably wouldn't be seeing her as soon as he thought he would.
Before he had the chance to reply, another message came in.
'But you know, I might need someone to berate me for lunch.'
'I live to scold your eating habits Ms. Steele.' he wrote, and then added, 'I can't wait to see you again, come see me whenever you can xx'
'Ray is dropping me off after breakfast, but it might be a while. I'll see you during lunch? I also can't wait to see you again ;)'
Christian never imagined ever getting so excited over a text message, but now he understood why his little sister never seemed to be able to put her phone down.
…
It became an almost daily routine where Ana would spend her lunch hour with Christian. They would talk endlessly, sometimes so much, he forgot to tell her to eat.
Weeks passed, and Ana realized all they would ever do is talk. Christian usually kept his distance, not bothering to even kiss her.
It wasn't that Christian didn't want to kiss her, it was only that he wanted to kiss her so much, he didn't think he'd be able to stop.
Ana hadn't done anything about it, not until Kate mentioned something in class.
"So I told Elliot we're not exclusive and I could date Jack if I wanted to."
"Jack? You want to date Jack? I thought you hated him," Ana murmured.
"Gross, I don't want to date Jack, but Elliot doesn't know that," Kate shrugged. "Guys are weird Ana. You have to keep them at bay if you really like them, or they'll lose interest."
"So… you're just going to tell him you're dating Jack? To make him jealous?"
"I know it sounds stupid, but he hasn't made any further moves towards me, and you know what that means."
Ana tilted her head, "What does that mean?"
"It means he's bored with me. I just need to see if he really likes me. If I say I'll date Jack, and Elliot doesn't care, then it's time to move on. If he gets jealous, then I can make a move on him without feeling like a complete idiot because I'll know he still likes me.
Ana blinked at her logic. "Can't you just ask him? I mean wouldn't he tell you if he lost interest?"
Kate didn't answer, but the look she gave Ana made her feel like it was suppose to be very obvious that Elliot wouldn't tell her something like that.
That day, Ana followed Kate to lunch instead of going to meet Christian.
"Ana," Jose smiled, "Haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah," she smiled tightly, "I've been sorta busy."
"She goes to the library like every day," Kate nodded, placing her bag in the seat she wanted. "Jose has been asking about you like crazy," she whispered to Ana before telling the group, "I'm going to get lunch, you guys want anything?"
"Something to drink?" Ana asked.
"Sure, I'll be right back.
With that, Ana sat down across from Jose. "So, how have you been?"
Instead of answering, Jose scowled at something behind her, "Oh God, don't look now but Hyde is coming over." He looked down at his food and pretended not to notice when Jack approached the group with a loud greeting.
"Ana," he smiled, sliding in beside her.
"Hey Jack," she said warily.
"Did you do that homework for Mr. Grey?" he asked casually, while Jose rolled his eyes. "I mean because if you didn't, I did."
"Oh, I actually did do it," Ana answered, "It took me a while though."
"How can you guys stand being in that fuckers class?" Jose asked, shaking his head
"You know what's weird?" Jack frowned, wrapping an arm over Ana's shoulders, "Mr. Grey has not been a total ass lately."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Ana mumbled, trying to subtly pull away from Jack's hold.
"I would have thought you'd notice first," Jack smirked, "He was picking on you so much just a few weeks ago."
"Yeah, well I guess but…" she wasn't sure what else to say. "I don't think he meant anything by it."
Jack's smirk began to unnerve her, he looked at her with lowered eyes, "Oh Ana. You're so innocent."
Jose eyed them both, "What are you up to Hyde?" he asked suspiciously.
Hyde laughed, "What do you mean? I'm just talking to her, you don't have to get jealous."
"Alright, I got you an orange juice, hope that's okay," Kate's voice rang out beside Ana. She took her seat and scowled at Jack. "I thought we finally got rid of him."
"Nope," Jose sighed, "He's back."
"So close," Kate muttered, then shrugged. She handed Ana her juice and began to eat. "But hey Ana, did you get my message last night?"
"I haven't really checked my phone," she lied, still squirming under Jack's gaze.
"Look at it," she smiled excitedly, waiting expectantly until Ana warily pulled out her phone. "I sent you the number of a friend of Elliot's. I know it didn't work out with his brother but he said this guy-"
Ana had stopped listening. She saw she had messages from Christian.
I have some good news today.
She cursed out loud, he was really expecting her. She bit her lip as she opened the other messages.
Are you coming for lunch?
Ana, are you okay?
"Who's Christian?" Jack asked loudly, he had still been looking at her.
"Christian?" Kate raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that Elliot's brother?"
"It's another Christian," Ana said too quickly, putting her phone away. "I- He's a friend."
"Oh I know that tone," Jack winked. "Friend."
"Seriously," Ana insisted, taking her orange juice. "He's just a friend."
"Does he go here?" Jose asked curiously.
"Uh, no," Ana could feel her cheeks turning red already. She was such a terrible liar.
"Then why did he want to meet for lunch?" Jack challenged with a smirk.
"I- I-" Ana blinked.
"Oh come on," Kate sighed, "Leave her alone. She doesn't need to tell you guys anything." She smiled at Ana, "Save it for our girl talk."
Though Ana knew she definitely did not want to talk about it, she was glad Kate shut Jose and Jack up.
Jack pulled Ana closer to him, "Okay, so if this Christian, is just a friend, that means you can still come to dinner with me tonight right?"
Ana smiled apologetically, "Sorry Jack, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Wait," Kate nearly shouted, "I would never ever say anything like this, but Ana, you should go!"
"What?" the three of them said nearly simultaneously.
"This Christian guy and you are just friends? Show him what being friends means, you can -"
"No," Ana interrupted, "I'm not like that Kate-"
"Come on, it's perfect!"
"Yes, come on Ana," Jack snickered. "Date me to make another man jealous, it's perfect!"
The rest of lunch was spend with Jack and Kate explaining why it was such a good idea, and Ana and Jose wondering why they were still friends with them.
It wasn't until the bell rang, that Ana shot up from her seat with the excitement to get away.
"Sweetie," Jack mocked, "Wait for me. We can walk to class together." He came beside her and held her by the waist. "Do you see Christian around? If you see him, let me know, I can kiss you to make him extra jealous."
"Knock it off Jack," Jose groaned. "It's not funny anymore. She already said he doesn't go here."
"She was lying, it's so obvious," Jack laughed. "Aren't we just so cute together Kate?"
"I should have never said anything," she sighed, "Sorry Ana."
…
Christian busied himself with grading papers all during lunch, convincing himself that he only kept the phone beside him in case Elliot had something to add to their deal and decided to call. He kept telling himself that he only kept checking his phone to see the time, so he would be ready when class began.
When the bell rang, he sighed and tried to push away the feeling of hurt. He went to open the door, forcing a smile on his face.
Everything was okay. He couldn't expect Ana to come every day, and reply as quickly as she usually did. She had a life of her own, and she should be able to live it with ease, beside, she had his class next. He would see her again and he could tell her the news after school.
As students began to fill the class, Christian began to feel better.
Until he saw Hyde all over Ana.
It was like a punch to the gut to see his arms around her waist but he said nothing. Hyde was a pushy guy and Ana had probably already asked him to back away. Once they were closer, Christian would tell Hyde to stop, it wasn't appropriate to do that in school. It was technically PDA right?
…
"Oh, look you're blushing again," Jack laughed, but Ana was trying to move his arms.
"Okay, seriously, stop," she whispered, not daring to look up.
"Is he around?" Jack looked around with a smirk. "Should I kiss you?"
"No!" she said too loudly.
"Hurtful," he teased. He looked down at her with the same intense look he had at lunch and spoke louder as he pulled away, "Alright, no more fooling around Ana. It's time for class. We can do more of that kissing after school." He winked and walked into class without her.
She began to walk after him but stopped when she looked up and saw Christian. He had seen them, and by the look of his face, he was not only confused, but not amused.
"He-" Ana began, then stopped. "I- He's only joking," she said weakly, wishing she could say more.
His jaw tightened, "Yeah, Hyde is a real joker."
She checked if anyone was in hearing distance before saying, "I'll tell you about it after school, just don't look so angry, it was nothing."
Christian nodded, and surprisingly, he didn't act irrationally during class.
The entire period passed by smoothly, and Ana practiced what she was going to tell him once the bell rang.
Jack had tried waiting for Ana once class was over, but she said she wanted to talk to Mr. Grey about her grade.
Once the rest of the class cleared out, Christian raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'm not suppose to pick favorites or anything, but I'm really starting to hate that boy."
She smiled warily at him. "Sorry, but okay.. this is all going to sound so childish, but it kinda started with Kate talking about not wanting to coming off as too available with a guy you like." Ana ignored the odd look he gave her, and told him what happened at lunch.
He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head in disapprovement. "Ana," he began, then paused to really choose his words carefully. "You don't have to go through these immature games if you want something out of our… relationship."
Ana looked away.
"We never really sat down to talk about what's going on between us did we?"
Ana shook her head.
"I think we need to," he said, taking her hand. "It doesn't have to be a heavy conversation, don't look so scared. We just have to clear a few things up, you can tell me what you expect from me, I'll do the same."
"Okay.. What do you expect from me?" she asked nervously, she was standing in front of him, while he stood against his desk.
"Well, I don't think I like Hyde, or any boy for that matter, to be all over you, or saying that he kissed you," he said warily.
She scrunched up her nose, "I didn't like that either."
"You should probably go to a teacher about that," he smiled.
"I will when I find one who's at least a little competent in solving problems, and who isn't a complete rule breaker."
"Ms. Steele, you wound me. I always abide by the rules." She laughed at him and he smiled. Christian tucked a strand of her hair away from her face and asked, "Now tell me what you expect from me."
She bit her lip and looked at him, daring herself to say it. "I - I liked kissing you."
"I liked kissing you too," he ran his thumb over her cheek, "But that isn't telling me what you expect from me."
She gave him a pointed look.
"Ana, if you can't bring yourself to tell me what you want, I won't know what it is," he told her with a gentle smile.
She nearly rolled her eyes, but said the words that she'd been itching to tell him. "All we do is talk, and sometimes I think.. I just want to kiss you a bit more, I know we can't be a normal couple or anything, but I like you and I just.. I wish we were a real couple. I wish we didn't have to hide."
Christian's smile grew. "Remember that news I was suppose to tell you?"
"Yes?"
"I wrote my letter of resignation the other day," he whispered, leaning in closer to her.
"Really?" she whispered back.
"I'll be here until they find a permanent replacement, but I wanted to ask you something too."
"O-okay."
"Elliot is going to start an architecture business, I have the money to really help him out. We're going to partner up, but I'm going out of state this weekend to meet up with a potential client."
"Oh, that's great."
Christian could see how her face fell the slightest bit. "I wanted to see if you'd like to come with."
A/N; I always feel like I'm moving too quickly with their relationship but I also feel like should move it along before I completely give up on this story. This story isn't close to being done, but I update so slowly, with such short chapters, I think I need to stop worrying over the pace of their relationship.
Since Valentines is coming up, I was thinking about writing a one shot with Ana and Christian, since I doubt it'll fit in the story right now, but you guys let me know what you think.
Many thanks to everyone who has messaged me, favorited, reviewed, and made awesome suggestions. You guys keep me going, and who knows, maybe you'll actually motivate me to actually finish a story for once. You guys are the best, thank you.
Also, who's excited for the movie finally coming out? Who's going to go watch it? I have to admit, I wasn't too excited about the actor who plays Christian Grey, but I just saw he's the guy from the show The Fall, and holy crap, he's great for this show is insane. I had always imagined Christian Bale as Christian Grey, since he was amazing in American Psycho, but now I see the appeal to having the actor they actually casted!
Tell me your thoughts about it, and if you watched the movie, let me know if it was as good as they're making it seem!
Thank you for reading!
**********This is the end of the Original Story*************