Surprise! Updating a couple of hours early. As compensation, maybe... this is one of the longest times I've made you all wait.

I sincerely hope I didn't miss you when I send out the teasers! But, if I did, please do tell me. Also, there was a small typo in the teaser, and I apologize for it!

jebv1949: thank you! Don't worry, I'm not ending this story any time soon, since I'm still not finished writing it. I'm so happy that you think my story is unique and the couple is different from the other versions.

Sonia: it is a happy ending, but they're still paving their path towards it. It's going to be a long journey. They're going to meet bumps here and there. The 2/3 years in the future will probably be in the outtakes if I get to do them in the very end.

Guest: thank you so much! Yes, I'm serious about weekly updates, hahahah! I really would've update daily if I spend all day writing but you know I can't afford to do that. That's actually not a bad idea for Elena, the only thing is, not many people know about the direct link between Elena and Ana, because they don't have one, it's through Christian. Her friends won't straight up understand why Ana got shot by Elena. Still, Sawyer could've shot her somewhere else and leave her to die slowly.

Guest: yas! Finally someone changed their mind about Ana! Yes, loads of ass kissing coming her way, and also Christian's. It has proven that Christian only has so many solid allies in his corners. It's not as many as people assumed.

Guest: I'm not abandoning it, if that's what you're worried about. My new update schedule is announced at the bottom of this chapter.

Jatzygirl: girl, ya know? You coulda asked for a teaser, that might help with your stamping foot moment, hahahah Imma joking! I always loved your reactions and also the fact that you'd come after my ass every once in a while to remind me that I gotta update.

Just to clarify "..." usually indicates a time jump, only sometimes it's not.

In a Bubble

"Christian, my drip!" Anastasia stressed, this time shaking Christian's shoulder a little rougher. His neck was still in a cast and his voice was still restrained, but he was in far better condition than she was; since she was still in bed and all.

He jumped up from his seat and ran out of the room nearly running over a nurse who was just about to push open the door to enter.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "Her drip's finished," he informed her unnecessarily as he closed the door behind her and followed her to Anastasia's bed side. He resumed his seat as he waited for the needle to be removed. He still shivered when he saw that thin, pointy metallic pulled out of her flesh.

"Why do you have to wake me when you've clearly gotten everything under control," he whined in his whispery tone that became his usual voice nowadays, referring to the call button that she had pressed to summon the nurse.

"Because you were having a nightmare."

"I wasn't having a nightmare," he protested weakly. In his defense, nothing would categorize as a nightmare unless it woke him up all sweaty and scared.

"I can see it on your face that you were clearly uncomfortable and fearful of whatever your vision was in that nap."

He pursed his lips but didn't deny the claim. She could still read him like an open book.

"You were recollecting things aren't you? You were remembering that night," that was more of a statement. "I told you to not think about it! Didn't I?" She slammed her fist down to her side showing her frustration. "Forget about it; forget about everything because we are only going to revisit those when we are fully recovered and right now, none of us are even close to that stage."

"Stop moving so much," he lamented, holding her little fist hostage in his large hand.

"It's been four weeks, and I'm only shot in the chest, why can't I get out of bed a walk?" She complained, she was getting whinier by the day and he could feel her frustration. "My muscles are disappearing!"

"That wound," Christian reminded, "is very close to your heart, literally. So, your ass better stay in this bed until the soft tissue deep inside are healed."

"When is your cast coming off? I hated that thing, it always hits my head when I sleep." Since she was the one in bed all day and not yet discharged, she thought she was allowed to be a little petulant. Besides, everyone around her was spoiling her, especially Christian who was always coddling her.

"Today."

"Really?"

"If that bothers you that much."

"Christian," Anastasia was about to launch into another lecture about how she didn't want him to take it off early only because it was affecting her each time he cuddled or slept with her. The frequency of them sharing the same bed had been giving every nurse headaches but there was nothing they could do, because the head nurse had already turned a blind eye to it.

"I was cleared a few days ago, but they told me I could choose to wear it another week as a placebo."

"Are you feeling better though? Like confident enough to take it off?"

"I mean, the scans all showed that they're mostly healed, so yeah. I just don't want my neck to go stiff. I've worn it for almost a month now."

"So, do you want it off?"

He nodded.

"Then, do it!" She trusted that he wouldn't make a decision about his own wellbeing based on her opinion, so she encouraged.

"Maybe after they change your dressing."

"They haven't done it? I thought they'd be doing this early in the morning when I'm still asleep."

"You know how they hated when they see us sharing the same bed."

"Yeah, but some of them just ignores you and changes my dressing. At least I remembered that they've done it."

"You must be dreaming, Anastasia," Christian chuckled from the side of the bed. He had got out when he had to use the bathroom in the morning and never bothered climbing back in.

"What? It's true."

"No, they've never done that. You think they've done it because I got out. I didn't want to wake you up so I got out so they could change your dressing before climbing back in."

"And, I never know that you've moved?"

"Nope, you're like a pig," he jested.

"Oh my god, just go get that thing off of your neck," she groaned, making the act of shoving him away. "If I'd known you'd be so annoying I'd never have woken you up."

Christian laughed as he stood up.

"Just go find your doctor to get the approval or something. I don't care but don't come back until it's gone," she waved her arms around. She was fussy lately because there was nothing she could do unless she was getting out of bed for the bathroom, which she still needed help with.

"Just because you're on pain meds, Ana, it doesn't mean that you get to move like that." Christian scolded, grabbing both of her arms and pinning it to her sides. He lowered his head so their foreheads touched. "I'll let you move however you like once you're discharged but since I'm no doctor, and you're still in the hospital, you're not moving your limbs."

"Just get lost," she pouted petulantly, averting his gaze purposely.

"Love you," he pecked her protruding lips and left the room before she got a chance to protest.

"Bastard," she murmured to herself as she laid back against her bed. She picked up her phone and started to reread the email sent from Denmark about the patent, it was all she had been doing lately just to pass time. Simply because it was easily her highest accomplishment before she put her career on-hold and she would like to be kept up-to-date with it.

"Ana," Kate sang and Malcolm followed. Anastasia frowned but then decided to not let her grumpy mood show so she relaxed her brows, and kept her attitude in check. She usually came by herself, and she was always in New York even though she had been transferred over.

"Hey guys," she greeted, putting her phone down.

"Malcolm said he wanted to stop by, and see Christian but I told him that he practically lives with you."

"Uh, yeah… I mean he hasn't gone back since he was discharged. It wasn't like Escala is anything like a home anymore. The police had taped it up and everything. Then, there was this search warrant that they obtained from months ago…" Anastasia rambled off because it was only recently told to her and she hadn't spoken to anyone else about it since then, so it had been bottling up inside her.

"So, where is all his stuff?" Kate inquired, taking a seat next to her bed.

"In his parents house apparently." Her stuff was moved to Ethan's apartment since there wasn't much left in Escala and she wasn't exactly on the best terms with the Greys.

"Has Ethan stopped by?"

"Yes, he has. He's doing better than you," Anastasia teased. "He comes by every night after he gets off work."

"And your man hasn't said anything?"

"Who, Christian? Nah, not really. At least I didn't hear him complaining."

"Oh, well, I'll tell you what. I've got great news!" Kate announced excitedly, she was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Okay?"

Kate glanced at Malcolm who gave her an encouraging nod. "Malcolm moved to Seattle."

"And?"

"Which means, I'll be paying more visits."

"I'm being discharged this week."

Kate's face fell a little.

"Where are you going to stay then?"

"Maybe with Ethan temporarily?"

"Aren't you going to stay with Christian?"

"At his parents' place? No, thanks."

"You guys can go to a hotel or rent a place, it's not like he doesn't have money."

"He doesn't."

"Steele, what have you been looking at on your phone all these days? Have you not been reading the news?"

"Not really, why? It's not like I'm going out to face the world any time soon, why should I be concerned about what goes on there?"

"Because," Kate stressed with extra emphasis, "GEH has been making headlines every single day."

"It has been since the beginning of this year," Anastasia deadpanned and Malcolm stifled a laugh, unsuccessfully, earning a glare from Kate.

"No, they're about GEH's growth."

"Okay, so?"

"I swear you've used up all of your IQ saving Christian's company. Are you sure Adam didn't do anything to your head?"

"He wasn't even in Seattle when I was in surgery," Anastasia rolled her eyes. "And, I've got a trusted anesthesiologist, so no, nothing happened to my brain. I've still got the same stupid mind inside this skull."

"Your man is rich, I tell you. Like, on his way to reclaiming his multi-millionaire rich. People are crawling back to him, begging on their hands and knees, grovelling at him to take them back."

Anastasia raised her brows at her exaggeration.

"I'm serious. Just call whoever you have to call to find out. I'm sure you've got all the necessary connections. Or better yet, just ask Christian. By the way, where is he?"

"He's gone to get his cast off," she replied, glancing at the empty side. "How much of it got into the news?"

"Everything," Kate sighed. "This can hardly be concealed from the press. People saw the ambulance and the police car all racing toward Escala, and some of the night owls swore they saw a helicopter flying out of Escala."

"Yeah, that was me. They were airlifting me out," she told her to clear up the confusion. Apparently no one knew what was going on with the chopper and no one knew who was in the ambulance. Though, it shouldn't be that hard to deduce since Elena had been reported to be dead with a shot in through the head.

"What really happened? You still haven't told me that."

"I'm not going to until I'm out of this place."

"Have you two talked?" Kate asked, indicating the incident.

"Nope, there's no point. We should be focusing on our recovery."

"Is Christian okay? I mean, he did try to hang himself."

"What exactly is said in the news?" Anastasia frowned when she realized that Kate didn't know half of the truth.

"Mostly what the police and FBI dished out. Elena's dead, there's a noose cut loose from the carabiner from the ceiling grid in his playroom. A stool. A pool of blood and a gun."

Anastasia groaned. There could be millions of interpretation of the scene. Everything was so out of context for the readers. She could only imagine how everything looked like to everybody around the world.

"Fine, I'll give you a watery run-down of everything. I don't know what happened before I arrived, obviously. So, you can probably record this and correct the public"

Kate nodded and took out her notepad and pen that she would never leave behind, just like her lipstick and a bunch of other cosmetics, no wonder her purse was always huge.

"Christian didn't hang himself because he's suffering from depression but because Elena threatened him with a gun. Taylor was the one that cut the rope loose, and I was the one shot with the gun. She was then shot by Sawyer."

"Wait… what?" Kate stopped writing mid-sentence when Anastasia clammed her mouth shut so she wouldn't splutter out about the letters.

"What?" Anastasia parroted.

"Never mind…" the reporter muttered to herself and finished the sentence on her notebook.

"You can publish it."

"I'll be Kaetlyn one last time, then."

"I knew it!" A soft whisper came from the doorway. It really appeared like Christian had been eavesdropping and that was supposed to be a whisper to himself.

"He can't use his full voice so he can only whisper for the time being," Anastasia explained when both Malcolm and Kate darted their eyes back and forth between the man at the door and the woman in bed.

"You're Kaetlyn," Christian pointed a finger at Kate as if his voice wouldn't be loud enough to be heard.

"I am, yes?" Kate nodded. She had apparently forgot that no one knew about this other than Anastasia and Malcolm.

"You published all the articles about my childhood."

Anastasia blanched at that reminder. She turned to Kate and they shared a look that somewhat resembled panic.

"Who told you those stories?" Christian inquired, he had yet to acknowledge Malcolm and Anastasia was tempted to remind him of another presence.

Kate looked at her best friend. The brunette then turned to Christian to gauge his reaction as she confirmed his suspicion.

"Thank you, baby," he leaned forward and kissed the corner of her lips.

"You're not mad?" She whispered quietly.

He shook his head.

"I kind of made them up…" she admitted, drawing in her bottom lip and chewing on them nervously.

"Oh, I know you did. I've read them. It's quite dramatic, everything." Christian snorted, breaking their bubble and their eye contact, forcing Anastasia to turn back to the two visitors.

"At least we got the point across," Kate shrugged. "Ana was right," Anastasia stared at her as if she had lost her mind, "a little white lie won't do any harm. The press had already spread too many lies to the public, a few from Ana wouldn't make a difference. It really doesn't matter what the public beliefs but more about how you turn the tides and clear your name."

Anastasia continued to stare at Kate.

"I said that?"

"Yes, dummy. You did, Malcolm can vouch for me, right?" Kate threw her head back locating Malcolm who had been keeping a distance.

"Malcolm?" Christian finally looked up and acknowledged the other man in the room. "I didn't see you there, man. I'm sorry," he showed no signs of recognizing the man.

"No worries," Malcolm waved it off. Then, an awkward silence ensued.

"Christian, he said he knows Elena."

"A lot of people do," Christian frowned at Anastasia's statement.

"No, I mean, he's Kate's Dom."

"You're a sub?" Christian spluttered out, his eyes immediately landed on the blonde. "Wait, so you know about… me."

Kate nodded sheepishly. "I tried to get Ana to admit it but she won't. Though, it is kind of obvious. Still, Ana insists that she's a BDSM virgin."

"I am! Goddammit, Kate!" Anastasia cried out in frustration.

"Easy, tiger," Christian patted her right shoulder with a chuckle, which was furthest from her injury. When he felt her glare, he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on the collarbone over the thin fabric that was the hospital gown.

"Yeah, whatever," Kate brushed her off. "Anyway, Malcolm said that all the photos had Elena written all over it."

"I thought you said we shouldn't be talking about what happened?" Christian poked Anastasia on the side lightly and jokingly.

"I wasn't the one talking. Did you hear those words from my mouth, huh?"

"Ana, what happened to you? You're so grumpy these days."

"I'm cranky because I'm not let out of this bed. I have to be carried to the bathroom for god's sake! I only got shot on the chest. That's only one wound! And, now I'm treated like I'm some girl with a whole bunch of disabilities."

Kate studied her best friend with concerned eyes, all the while the two guys laughed in silence with their hand over their mouth in vain attempt to cover it up.

The door opened again. In walked Adam and Addie, a nurse and another doctor that she was told was her surgeon.

"Are you here to hand me the discharge papers?" Anastasia asked the moment all of them were inside the room with the door closed behind them.

"I thought I told you when you're going to be discharged," Adam glared at her.

"Can't you push it a few days early?"

"No," Adam said sternly but Anastasia knew he couldn't keep that straight face for more than a mere five minutes.

"You're not my doctor anyway," she pouted. "If you don't let me out of here, or at least allow me to get off bed so I can move on my own, my attitude is only going to get worse." With that tone used, she should be crossing her arms in front of her chest, but with her injury she wasn't allowed to do that.

"You're right, he's not and I am," the doctor that had been stood by the side taking in the exchange in silence said. "So, I'm going to tell you again. You're getting those papers at the end of this week and don't even think about going to the nurse station to steal them. I know you have access to everything but still, no."

Anastasia only huffed but she knew that was no use. She tried.

"Do you have any good news, then?"

"Yes," the good doctor replied. "You're going to jump up in glee after you got your dressing changed, though."

"Fine, you have my word."

The doctor glanced at Christian, who also gave him an assuring nod. Anastasia rolled her eyes. It was a well-established hidden rule that Christian was the only person who could get her to behave and listen. They found out that she had a huge soft-spot for him and would do anything to please him.

"You're off bed-rest; but," he raised a finger to stop her. Anastasia was by far his favorite patient. Not only because she was a doctor working in this hospital but also because she was funny when she put up an attitude or a fight about everything. Since she couldn't move too much, her mouth had been doing all the exercise nonstop, and it was a breath of fresh air because she was the only patient that had a ball of energy every time he checked in on her. If only all of his patients were like her, his job would've been so much easier.

"What?" She whined loudly and pretentiously.

"Take it easy."

Anastasia scoffed. "Oh, trust me, with Christian here, I'd hardly be doing any walking." She jabbed her thumb in his direction nearly poking him in the eye forgetting that he had been resting his head on her shoulder.

"That's good to hear," the doctor chirped before leaving them.

"I don't call the shots, see?" That was Adam, sounding all smug and victorious.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got you something, but clearly you don't want it."

"Oh! I know what you have!" Anastasia suddenly perked up causing Christian to jerk his head up, almost breaking his recently healed neck. "My plaque!"

Adam laughed loudly but said nothing as he took out a rectangular item from his handbag. It was wrapped in those plastic bubbly wrappers. He smiled a mysterious smile when he handed it to her but she didn't see it as she snatched it from him like a little child.

"Thank you," she chirped and started to claw at the wrappers.

There was a brown cardboard box inside. She didn't hesitate to get rid of that container, but the way her face ashen and fell as she took the first peak inside made everyone in the room chuckle. She knew she had become some sort of entertainer in the past couple of weeks that she had been conscious and sober in this hospital, and she didn't mind that she was making people laugh, but the gift that was shipped over from Copenhagen was seriously depression and disappointing.

"What the fuck?" She mumbled in utter astonishment as she tipped the box over and dumped the entire content in her lap.

It was a certificate.

Her eyes darted up to Adam who was now doubling over with laughter and Addie with a cameraphone pointed at her.

"What the hell is this?" She shrieked. She could feel Christian hiding his face in the crook of her neck while he laughed his ass off. "I was told that I'd be getting a plaque. A porcelain one! They wrote this in the email!"

Adam held up a hand telling her to wait because he still hadn't finished laughing at her. Kate giggled uncontrollably and fell into Malcolm's side to steady herself, and although he had a smile on his face, he was the most clueless person in this room. Granted, Christian didn't know what was going on either since he didn't know the Hall siblings but he'd laugh at whatever made her laugh.

"I- I need…" Adam couldn't stop laughing as he held the end of the bed. "Wait," he took a deep breath and looked up at her only to start giggling again.

"You have it don't you?" Anastasia narrowed her eyes. "It was shipped over half a month ago, it should be here. Don't tell me you've broke it and made me this make-shift wannabe plaque last minute." She picked up her certificate and examined it closely, it was an official certificate from the
Danish Council for Independent Research, which was the organization the US government worked with. "At least this is a legit one," she muttered.

Adam finally recovered and reached inside his bag again. This time, he pulled out a porcelain plate. It had no wrapping, no protection, nada.

She took it with both of her hands afraid that she'd drop it and break it. Her eyes darted back and forth before Adam and the real plaque. She was only connecting the dots now—Adam had removed the wrapping from this plate to wrap it around the paper certificate just to fool her.

"Asshole," she wanted to sound annoyed but nothing could block her beaming smile. "Ahh!" She squealed. "I'm officially a patented doctor!"

"Ana, your stitches!" Christian warned from the side but she wasn't listening.

"Thank you, Adam!" She blew him a kiss before returning to admiring the porcelain with her name and accomplishment printed in the center. "Look at it, Christian. It's beautiful."

Christian grinned, he could feel the happiness radiating off of her.

She did it!

"I want a hug," Anastasia demanded, opening both of her arms waiting for Adam. He walked over gingerly and wrapped his arms around her careful with her injury.

"I'm so proud of you, kid."

"Thank you so much!"

He pulled away from the embrace after whispering something in her ear that Christian couldn't make out, but Anastasia was laughing as he winked at her before disappearing through the door. Addie followed after offering her congratulations.

"Congratulations, Steele!" Kate was the first to jump over. "We should celebrate with some champaign but you can't drink right now."

"We can do the celebration along with my birthday!"

"Congrats, Ana," Malcolm stood closer.

"Thank you," Anastasia peered up at him sweetly, and Christian just wanted to pull her into his lap and cuddle. She looked so adorable and giddy. "We should all hangout some time after I'm outta this place," she suggested in her moment of happiness.

The couple agreed.

…

"Oh, finally!" Anastasia sniffed around when Gail entered. She had been bugging Christian about lunch ever since he climbed back next to her after all the visitors left. He got his cuddles and he could still feel her vibrance resonating through her body. "I'm starving," she exclaimed.

"I thought you said I'm feeding you too much like I'm trying to fatten you up."

"Yeah!" She said half heartedly as she tried to lean over but felt herself being restrained back.

"You're on pain med, so you have to be conscious of your stitches," Christian warned her next to her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulling her back.

"Do you feel the meat accumulating on my waist?" She swatted at his hands. "It's all you. I swear, you're trying to fatten me up so you can cut my flesh off like I'm some pig."

"You're too thin."

"Do you not feel those fat? You've been feeling me up every second of the day and I know you're lying when you said that I've not gained weight."

"You really haven't."

"I haven't weigh myself in years."

"I carry you around on a daily basis, Anastasia," Christian reasoned, or more like argued back as Gail set up the table next to them. "You weight like nothing."

"You've been saying that since we met."

"Because it's true! You know you eat a lot and waste the majority of them."

"Well, now that I'm not doing any exercise, they shouldn't go anywhere."

"Uh huh… you really haven't gain a single pound. Your arms and legs are still bony, and then there's your tiny waist."

Anastasia pursed her lips and ignored him.

"I'm going to eat by myself," she announced petulantly. "Just to prevent you from stuffing extra food down my throat in the name of providing sufficient nutrition," she glared at him and took the bowl from Gail with a sweet thank you.

"You don't want me to feed you?" He asked her amused. She loved it when he took care of her even though she'd never admit it, but she secretly enjoyed it when he fed her.

"You've never fed me." She murmured with a spoonful in her mouth hoping that no one heard her.

Christian laughed, and he knew that she was just embarrassed that she still needed feeding when she was totally capable of doing that herself. He still remembered her warning him to pretend that she was feeding herself if someone walked into the room when he was holding the fork to her mouth.

"You're never living this down," he leaned over and whispered in her ear. Anastasia scowled but continued to devour food.

"Thank you, Gail! Take care of Taco!" Anastasia yelled when she hurried out of the room saying that she had to go back before Taco destroyed the kitchen in the staff quarters. The main house had been blocked by the police and marked as a crime scene for investigation, where in reality, Elena's house should be the focus.

"You tell me I'm feeding you too much, and look at what you're doing here," he teased when she reached over to steal a spoon of his portion when she almost finished wolfing down hers.

"Fuck off," she muttered with a mouthful so it really didn't come out like a curse.

He had very little trouble swallowing food now but he could still feel the scar when he swallowed, so he had been eating rather slowly, which would sometimes end up with his food being stolen fork by fork by his girl. Not that he minded because he had told Gail to secretly put extra in his portion, knowing that he wouldn't be the only one eating from his plate.

"Do you know Malcolm?" Anastasia set her empty bowl down in between their laps on the bed, and extended her hand asking for a piece of tissue. He obediently handed it over and resumed his eating.

"No," he shook his head. "Why?"

"He knows you and he said both of you are highly sought after Doms," she shuddered, still bothered at the mental image formed from that statement. "He said your subs fall for you easily."

"I'm not sure about the easily part, but I do know that they've fell for me before," he admitted emotionlessly and detachedly.

"So, do you know him?"

"Maybe, but we aren't close even if I do know him. Why?"

"No, just curious."

"You do know that curiosity kills cats right?" He teased, taking in another forkful.

"I'm a kitten, not a cat," she grinned cheekily and jested back.

…

Anastasia was over the moon today, because she got her discharge papers.

She would never admit this to anyone but if it wasn't for the pain medications prescribed to her by dear friend and colleague Addie, she wouldn't be constantly in an upbeat mood with loads of energy to burn. She wouldn't be yapping everyone, especially Christian's ears off every second of the day.

Deep down, she was grateful for Addie's intervention because that meant she had received special treatment from the hospital. She had seen patients with those normal meds, and they were grumpy as hell because the dosage wasn't enough or whatever. Still, she had an unwavering support system starting with her doctors, so she was very thankful for her life.

And now, she couldn't be more thankful for it because she was now packing up her shit so she could high tail out of this place.

Anastasia hopped down the bed and bounced on her two feet lightly. It was good to be standing on her own again. She had only been doing that for less than a week, since Christian and her parents both believed that she was too fragile to actually walk on her own. So, all she did was stand next to the bed in between Christian's legs, and wasn't allowed to do anything else.

Everyone was all too protective of her. Especially the three above-mentioned.

She made her way to the bathroom with her change of clothes. She wanted to take a shower but she knew if she voiced that thought, Christian would insist on following her.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before, but she still didn't want to be that intimate so soon after they had been separated for years.

"I'll call you when I'm done, yeah? You can just wait outside the door. It's not soundproof so you can hear everything. I promise, I'll holler if anything happened."

"Tell me when you're done or need help. Don't challenge your body."

"Yes," she rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face.

When looked in the full length mirror at her nude reflection, she pinched her side and scowled slightly.

"Christian," she called out mindlessly as she fondled with her fat.

He swung the door open and closed it right after him as he took in her naked form.

"I thought you don't want me gawking at you when you shower. You said it's too intimate, and now what am I seeing?"

"Oh," she blushed as she realized what she had just done. "Old habits die hard, I guess," she sighed, referring to the time when they were dating where she would call him and tell him about the most random observation she had made. That was their unique open communication that no one understood.

"Glad to hear it, but aren't you going to shower?"

"You said I didn't gain weight, but look at this…" she pinched the small bit of fat and played with it to demonstrate just to bring the point home. "I didn't have this before coming in."

"Well, it's good that you've got some meat on you now."

"I didn't have extra fat! You got them for me!"

"I did? How?"

"You fed me too much and now I'm like a pig."

Christian laughed.

"Just get into the shower, my little piglet." He pulled her in for a quick kiss before releasing her for the shower.

"Why are you always kissing me?" She didn't head that way, nor did she have the intention to do so when he surprised her with that move and kiss.

"Is that inappropriate?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?"

"Friends don't kiss." She really sounded like a five year-old right now, and she was fully aware of that.

"Maybe we can be more than friends," he suggested half seriously.

Anastasia didn't speak. She continued to inspect her 'fat' that had taken residence on her cheeks. Christian had had enough. He spun her around by the shoulders and pinched her cheeks before cupping them.

"Stop staring at them. They're where they supposed to be." He told her firmly, more like ordered her.

"I didn't have them a few months ago."

"Then I can only imagine how thin you are a few months ago. You had them when we first met."

"No, I didn't. Now I look chubby."

"You're adorable, courageous and mine, remember that."

"Yours? Since when?"

"Since July 2012," he lifted an eyebrow at her. "Now, go take that shower, baby. If you don't step in there soon, I'm going to take a shit."

At that, Anastasia quickly scrambled behind the curtain and turned on the water. It wasn't lost on her that he dutifully swatted her ass like he normally would.

"Get out," Anastasia's voice came from behind the curtains and the mirror was now steaming up quickly.

"I wasn't lying when I said I need to take a shit," Christian chuckled as he lowered himself onto the toilet seat. He laughed even harder when he heard her groan.

"I need to use extra shampoo and shower gel. Wait! Where are mine?" She exclaimed. "Ugh, whatever, I'll just finish yours." She said to herself, and he could hear her squirting the almost empty shampoo bottle, and the familiar scent subsequently rushed out covering the smell of the odor of his waste.

"Now you get to smell like me, which I'm sure is what you've been dreaming of."

"Cocky bastard," she mumbled. "I thought you want me to smell like me, cause you like sniffing me."

"Now who's assuming."

"I'm not! You do love to sniff me like you're Taco."

"I've never peed on you, if that's what you're suggesting."

When Anastasia switched off the tap, for some reason she was under the impression that he was no longer in the room since she heard the door open and close.

"Did you finish all of my shower gel, too?" He laughed when he heard her gasp in surprise.

"Yes, I needed that to cover up the stinky smell."

"Okay, come out then. I've got your fluffy towel."

"Is it still soft?"

"Yes," Christian rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Now, come on."

She stepped out and walked into the awaiting towel. She was soon wrapped in the huge towel that she had surely missed. He took this chance to wrap his arms around her tightly in an embrace.

"You're wetting my shirt."

"Then, dry my hair," she mumbled, rubbing her face against his chest.

He reached behind her and grabbed a smaller towel and started to fuss with her hair.

"You're making me dry you off and you're still skeptical of who you belong to?"

She didn't say anything. Her eyes were closed and she just enjoyed the feeling of being taken care of.

…

Once she was all done, Christian sat down next to her and she knew the inevitable was coming.

"Now, on to the serious topic," Christian tugged her back by the elbow.

Her stitches were now dried and her suture had closed up pretty decently by the looks of it, but upon closer examination, it wasn't.

"Who are you staying with?"

I'll update on the weekends, so Friday through Sunday, whichever day I get the time. So, look out for it and spread the link if you want to!

Teaser?

X