After Christian had calmed down enough, we walked back inside where he got me a beer. I made a face as I took my first swig and he laughed, taking it from me.

"It's so bitter," I said.

He took a few sips and shrugged. "I quite like it."

Determined not to chicken out, I snatched it back and took another sip. He laughed even harder. Eventually, both of us finished it and I was feeling a little buzz. Christian helped himself to another; one hand firmly around my waist at all times.

We found a quiet place at the top of the stairs and shared the second beer together. The more I drank, the more I realised that it tasted quite alright.

"I shouldn't have left you," Christian said, looking down at me and placing a curl behind my ear. "You're too pretty and boys are fucking shit."

Hearing Christian curse was for all intents and purposes, quite sexy. He didn't do it very often, but he always did so when he was being protective of me.

"It's alright," I said. "You can't be my bodyguard 24/7."

"Try me," he retorted.

I shoved him and he laughed.

Just then, Adam appeared behind us. He was buttoning his jeans back up and kissing Millie, completely unaware of our presence. When he made his way downstairs, he jumped at the sight of us sat there. Christian smirked at him.

"Enjoying yourself?" He asked.

Millie went red but Adam gave Christian a grin.

"The rooms free if you want it," he gestured with his head to an open bedroom door on the left.

Christian coughed and took a sip of beer, his turn to be embarrassed.

"Hi Ana," Millie smiles, fixing her top.

"Hi," I laughed.

She pulled Adam and they disappeared downstairs together.

Christian and I had an awkward moment before I decided to break it.

"Did you...um...do you want to go in there?" I asked him.

I thought about what Dan had said and couldn't help wonder if it was true. Definitely not with him, but with Christian sometimes. Was I a cock tease?

"Do you?" He asked, surprised.

I shrugged. I knew for a fact I wanted Christian to touch me more and vice versa, but I didn't want it to be reactionary to something some douchebag had just said. Also, the romantic in me had hoped for something more sensual than the spare bedroom at Brody's house party.

Christian moved closer to me and took my hand.

"You know I'll do whatever you wanted," he said.

A little thrill ran through me at those words. I felt pretty and wanted and loved.

"I know," I whispered, leaning into kiss him. I pulled back and ran my fingers through his hair. "But...this isn't very romantic is it?" I asked, gesturing behind me.

He laughed and kissed me again. "You and your romantic-ness."

I manoeuvred my way onto his lap, desperately wanting to get closer.

"I like your room. Your bed," I said against his lips. And then blushed and what I'd just implied.

His hand tightened on my waist.

"Is that where you want me to make love to you then?" he asked, now kissing under my ear and I gasped a little. At both his words and the feeling of him kissing me there.

We'd never talked about sex before. Not really. Not since we'd started dating. I had a feeling that the beer was perhaps loosening his tongue.

"You want...to make love to me?" I asked.

He brought his gaze back up to mine, resting his forehead against my own.

"Of course I do. But only when you're ready."

I flushed at the way he was looking at me. A few years ago, the idea of sex seemed strange and painful and entirely unappealing. These days...with the way Christian made me feel, I didn't quite imagine it that way anymore. However, I still didn't feel that I was fully ready for sex. I told Christian that and he smiled at me, still kissing me gently.

"You're worth the wait," he said, and my stomach did a little belly flop.

"That doesn't mean..." I knew what I wanted to say but the words got caught in my throat. "I still want to...touch you. I still want you to touch me. You know, there...someday. Not now."

I averted my eyes downcast and he laughed. I guessed the beer was loosening my tongue too.

"You want me to finger you?" He smirked.

I flushed scarlet. I'd never actually expected him to say it.

"How do you know about that?" I asked.

He chuckled again. "I uh…I did my research," he said, wearing a flush of his own. How could he be so cute and yet so sexy at the same time?

"What research?" I asked curiously.

"Have you finished with that beer?" He asked, diverting the conversation.

I giggled and he squeezed my hip. I leaned further away backwards and he took the opportunity to kiss my exposed neck. I shivered in response.

"You like that," he mused, more to himself than me.

I leaned forward, wrapping my arms tight around my neck and kissed him with wild abandonment.

Maybe house parties weren't so bad after all.

On Monday at school, we found out that Brody had gotten his wish. Everyone was muttering about how good the party was and he'd officially now cemented himself as a cool kid. By association, I guess we were as well.

Throughout the week, people kept saying hi to us and Michael, the senior who gave us the lift, waved at me first by my locker and then in the cafeteria. I didn't see Dan again, thank god. He hadn't said anything to anyone about Christian. My guess was that he didn't want to admit being punched by a freshman.

Kate still wasn't quite herself. She seemed quiet and subdued, hardly ever eating her food. I asked her if she was okay on Friday when I got a moment alone with her as I followed her to the bathroom.

"Yeah I'm fine," she said, forcing a cheery voice and brushing her hair.

"You're not," I said, taking her arm gently.

She hadn't been herself ever since she started dating Ryan. She turned fifteen this week and didn't even celebrate. It was completely unlike her.

"Stop it Ana," she said angrily, pulling away from me.

But I wouldn't budge. She was my friend and I wasn't going to see her suffer.

"Tell me," I insisted.

She finally turned around, her eyes blazing with emotion.

"Why?" She hissed venomously. "So you can rub it in? So you can say I told you so and show off with your perfect boyfriend? Your boyfriend who doesn't tell you what clothes you can and can't wear! Who doesn't stop you from seeing me!"

She shook then, anger turning to tears. They fell down her face and she wiped them away in frustration. "I can't do anything right," she cried. "He calls me a slut all the time for having boys as friends. He says that I'm bad at sex and that I'm chubby."

I moved toward her, wrapping my arms around her gently. She hugged me back fiercely.

"You need to break up with him," I whispered. "He's toxic Kate."

"I know," she cried. "But I'm scared..."

I pulled back to look at her. I wiped away her tears.

"You don't need to be scared. I'm here for you. Always."

She gave me a small smile.

"And your perfect," I continued. "You're not a slut or chubby or anything else he's ever called you. Any boy would be lucky to be with you."

She hugged me again.

"I love you Ana," she whispered.

I hugged her back tight.

Weeks passed by in a blur. I had more homework than I'd ever had, and Christian had once again taken up hours investing time in his business. He had now expanded to customised tags which took significantly more time. But that was okay. I had also found a new interest. I'd been absolutely loving my art classes and had been prompted by my teacher to join art club as one of my electives. She told me I was naturally gifted. It was after school a few days a week and Millie was also there. We sat together, gossiping and painting while Miss Brown surveyed our art and told us stories about her disastrous love life. I loved it.

Christmas was fast approaching as more weeks went past and I wanted to get Christian something special. I went shopping with Kate one weekend and I was happy to see she was completely back to her normal self. She'd finally let go of Ryan and he wasn't too happy about it. She said he'd come knocking on her door, thoroughly surprised to be answered by Ethan, Kate's older brother who was now in college. He threatened him and Kate had not heard a word from him ever since.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, following me around the men's section of a clothing shop.

I shrugged. Why was buying for Christian always so difficult?

"Just get him a new hoodie or something," Kate said but I shook my head.

Whenever I gave presents, I wanted them to be special and meaningful. Especially to Christian.

"You're too fussy," Kate complained. "If I had a boyfriend, I'd buy him a t-shirt."

"You're staying away from boys for a while," I said, throwing her a warning glance.

She smirked. "Yes ma'am."

We'd both decided it was for the best. At least for now.

We walked out of TOPSHOP and into Sephora where I bought some more lip-gloss and Kate bought concealer and lipstick. As I flicked through the eyeshadow pallets, the visions of colour swarming beneath me gave me an instant idea. I grabbed Kate's shoulder and she looked up at me in alarm, dropping an eyeliner in the process.

"I'm gonna paint him a picture," I declared.

"Okay okay," she muttered, pulling away. "Crazy girl."

I laughed, thinking about what I was going to paint.

The painting ended up being us in a meadow under the moon. I wasn't happy with it, but Christian told me it was perfect and stuck it in his bedroom which made me feel like he truly loved me to have a sucky picture on his wall. In return, he'd gifted me a new acrylic paint set. The expensive fancy stuff. I couldn't stop smiling at how perfectly aligned we always were. I got to see grandma Addie over the holidays. She flew in for two weeks and wanted to hear all about my year so far. We spent days Christmas shopping and nights watching movies with hot chocolate.

My birthday followed Christmas and I celebrated being fifteen by star-gazing, drinking beers, and roasting marshmallows over at Kate's with Christian, Adam, Jose, Brody and Millie. It was a really great night and I blew out my chocolate cake wishing that life could always stay this way.

With spring came endless rain and endless homework. My dad got laid off from his job at a construction company and my parents were constantly bickering about money. Needless to say, they couldn't fork out the spare cash for my makeup, clothes, and general necessities of being fifteen anymore. I suffered next to all my rich friends and I hated it. Kate never had to worry about money. In fact, her parents had just shelled out for the spare bedroom to be turned into a walk-in wardrobe. Christian was the same. Between his rich doctor parents and his online business, he didn't lack for anything.

The final straw was my bag finally breaking at school one day. All my stuff tumbled out and I tried and failed to fix it. Christian bent down to help me but the stress of everything had me close to tears.

"It's okay," he said, putting the fallen books into his own bag. "It's just a bag."

"It's not," I snapped, unleashing my inner turmoil. "I told my parents last week it was breaking, and they told me to tape it. Look what happened. They can't afford bills right now, let alone a new bag for me."

In my sudden temper, I'd unloaded my problems on him. I suddenly felt ashamed. He didn't say anything as we put everything away.

We walked to class in a stony silence before he said something.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"It's embarrassing," I said quietly as we sat down at the back of the class.

Nobody else was here yet. We usually came early so we could make out.

"It's not your fault," he said.

I didn't say anything.

"What's going on?" He asked quietly, moving closer toward me.

I sighed and finally proceeded to tell him about my dad and his job.

"I'm sure he'll get another one," he said hopefully.

"Yeah I guess."

He looked at me for a moment. I knew what he was going to say before he even said it.

"Ana, I'll buy you a new bag," he said. "And anything else you want."

I shook my head. "Your money is yours Christian. Not mine."

"Yeah, it is mine. Which means I can do what I want with it," he surmised.

I arched an eyebrow at him. He scooted even closer.

"Let me help you. I'm here to look after you. We look after each other remember? Since day one."

I couldn't help but smile at him. He was so precious to me.

"How about I give you a job," he said then. "A proper one. My official assistant. You can come over tomorrow, it's Saturday."

That didn't sound too bad.

"What kind of boss will you be?" I teased.

"One that gives rewards," he grinned and leaned in to kiss me.

I kissed him back. "I'll think about it," I giggled against his lips.

I texted him the following evening.

What time should I report to your office Mr Grey?

He messaged me back instantly.

You shall arrive at 11am tomorrow morning. I look forward to seeing you Miss Steele.

Hope you guys enjoyed this long chapter. Please review and let me know what you thought, I love hearing your comments. Also let me know if you guys want this story to soon be changed to an M rating – Elizabeth xx