Christian's POV
Given what Ana told me yesterday on the walk to the hospital, it was clear that she doesn't get out much, but I don't think I fully grasped the extent until she started listing the things she's never done. All that with fact that she seems to only tell people what they need to know, leaves me with a sickening feeling in my gut telling that her childhood was far from normal, I know I may be jumping to conclusions but I just don't see any other way for her to have missed out on so many 'normal' childhood experiences. Just that thought alone leaves me with more questions like what kind of parents Ana grew up with, either they had to be too poor to be able to afford such things but given where Ana now lives I find that unlikely that if someone in her family had that kind of money why didn't they step in so she didn't miss out. The only other option I can think of is that her parents simply didn't care enough to give her those experiences and I don't see how that could be possible, I mean all you need to do is be around her and you care about her, I know I do. Just the way she looks at you with such warmth and the way she blushes at almost anything remotely intimate, makes you smile. I know that the only way to find out for sure is to ask but if I've learned anything about Ana in the last day and a half, it's that she tends to keep things close to her vest and will only reveal them when and if she's ready.
A part of me knows that I shouldn't be thinking this hard about a girl I just met but there's just something about her that just pulls me in and I find myself wishing it would pull me just a little further so I could get a better glimpse. As I sit here in the back of a cab over-thinking the last thirty hours, the rest of my group is all laughing and joking about, they keep ribbing me about the fact that I'm daydreaming. I don't really care though because all I can really bring myself to think about is seeing Ana, which is ridiculous because we pretty much just met yesterday, yet she is all I can think about. Thankfully before I know it, the cab has pulled up to Ana's and we all bundle out, I buzz her apartment and she lets us into the building, waving at the same security guard from last night figuring it would be rude to ignore him. Keying the code into the elevator panel, it starts to ascend to the top floor.
"How comes after everything we talked about last night you didn't think to tell me that Ana lives here!" Elliot practically hisses at me across the elevator.
"It slipped my mind. Sorry." I say back with what I hope is an apologetic smile even though I don't really care that much last night because it wasn't about him, so it slipped my mind.
"Fuck off, Elliot. Not everything is about you. I know you wish it was, but it can't be, or the world would implode for sheer boredom." Kate says just push Elliot's buttons.
"Ha ha ha ha ha." Elliot responds his voice dripping with sarcasm and disdain.
When I finally look over at them, I catch Gail rolling her eyes and give Kate an exasperated sigh, which makes me think there might be more to their exchange than normal. But I know that if I try and push Gail for anything on Kate she won't budge until Kate says she can. So, I let it go, at least for the time being. Once we are out onto Ana's floor Elliot begins fangirl, I drown him out and knock on Ana's door, Elliot pushes past us all when she gives us the go-ahead to step inside. Ben comes wandering over and looks up at me expectantly, so I reach down and pet his head which he pushes into fully soaking up all the attention while we all say our hellos.
"Please excuse my brother I forgot to mention that he is a complete architecture nerd and that he has a weird nerd boner thing for this building specifically."
"It's ok." Ana giggles. "I mean it's a little weird to me but then again I live here so I guess I don't really see it as being that special it's just home to me at this point."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Just let me know if you want him to calm down a little and ill sic Kate on him." I chuckle back.
"Ana, I love these." Kate says from where she's looking at the picture on the wall. "Did you take them?"
"Uh no, they're uh… not photos." Ana stammers sounding almost scared, but I can't figure out why she's so caught off guard by Kate.
"Holy fuck. You're right, they're paintings." Kate says pushing her face almost up against the wall to get a closer look.
"No way." I say pulling away from Ben and going over to look at the pictures to get a closer look, they look so detailed a realistic it's kind of hard to believe they aren't photos. It's only once you get up close enough to see the brushstroke that it's clear they are paintings not a photographic image.
"These are amazing Ana; do you know the artist that did these?" Kates asks from where she's studying the various landscapes covering the wall.
"Uh yeah." Something about her tone is off so I look over at her and see her rubbing the back of her neck the way people do when they are nervous and uncomfortable. For a moment I think it's because we are all in her space, but she didn't look like that when Elliot was looking around like a crackhead searching for his stash. It has to be the paintings, but I can't put my finger on why maybe it's that they are all personal to her but given she's never left the state it can't be that they are all really personal to her. If that's the case, why display them in such a public way why not put them somewhere more private like your bedroom?
"Can I get the name of the artist because I'd love something think in my room?" Kate asks her gaze still firmly fixed on the paintings.
"Erm… I don't think they are doing… commissions anymore but I'll uh… ask and see but I think it would be very unlikely." Ana says diverting her eyes to look out the window like she can't look us in the eye, but I can't figure out why you'd need to lie about something like this.
"Ana, can I look around some more, pretty please?" Elliot asks giving her puppy dog eyes which relaxes Ana somewhat, his child antics do have a tendency to do that, but her body is still tense.
"Uh yeah… just stay out of that room." She says pointing the room next to her bedroom. "It's a mess." If I didn't know any better from yesterday, I would have assumed Ana was trying to keep him out of her bedroom, but I know that isn't her room, well at least I think I do.
"Thanks, you're amazing." Elliot says kissing her head before rushing off to look around, like a kid in a candy store, whose mom has just given him permission to get a bag of sweets. It's less than a minute later that he comes running back into the room bouncing on his feet with excitement. "You have a garden? Can we go out there?"
"Sure, if you want its nothing special." Ana chuckles before wandering off the way Elliot came; I follow curious to see what has Elliot so distracted.
The rooftop garden is spectacular, rows of potted plants line the edges, filled with everything from simple bushes to beautifully colored plants. All the pots are either silver or a shiny black, I assume to fit the theme of the roof, which has a grey wooden flooring and shiny silver handrails, with darkened glass all around the edges to give some privacy. Although Ana said it was nothing special someone has clearly put a lot of time and effort into this space.
"Do you spend a lot of time out here?" I ask startling her slightly from where she's looking out over the city.
"Uh yeah, it's nice to relax out here and get some fresh air sometimes."
"Yeah, I can only imagine, we have a rooftop garden, but its only really big enough to fit a table, chairs and a barbeque. It's nowhere near as nice as this."
"Thanks. That means a lot, I put a lot of work into this place." She says with a smile that's so genuine it warms my heart.
"How did you end up living here? I tried to get my parents to buy this place, but they couldn't because the penthouse wasn't for sale, or even rent?"
"I uh… know the owner."
"No fair." Elliot whines.
"Sorry." Ana shrugs. "But I didn't even know him when the building was built, I've only known home for a little under four years, so don't blame me."
"Okay, I won't blame you but still no fair." Elliot says tugging Ana into his side giving her a quick squeeze before letting go.
"Elliot are you done fangirling?" Taylor asks making us all jump a little because we didn't hear him coming.
"Do I have to be?"
"Yeah, I'm bored, no offense Ana." Taylor says smiling at Ana. "I wanna go bowling and drink, then I'm going to need food." He rubs his belly like he didn't stuff a sandwich down his throat before we left, I swear that man never stops eating.
"You're not bored you just want to go win. But I am done fangirling so we can go and you're right we do need food soon."
"Oh my god, you had a snack before we left you cannot be hungry." Gail says joining us.
"I'm a growing boy I need food at regular intervals."
"Growing boy my ass, you're lucky you can eat like you do and not get fat." She says rolling her eye and heading back inside, we all follow. Once we are back inside, we find Gail trying to pull Kate away from where she is still standing starring at the paintings.
"Seriously tell the artist I'll pay whatever for them to come do something like this in my room." Kate says with pleading eyes and Ana says.
"I'll ask and I get them to take it under consideration, but this isn't something they do normally it was a one-off for me."
"Aww ok. Thanks for asking I appreciate it." Kate says but I can tell that her enthusiasm has dipped.
"Alright, we ready to go?" I ask knowing that we should get going it we want to make our reservation.
"Yeah, just let me put my sling on," Ana says.
"Want me to put Ben's jacket on?" I ask.
"Uh yeah thanks, you sure it's ok he comes with us? I don't want to cause any issues."
"Yeah, its fine I called and checked the said it wouldn't be an issue as long as he wasn't loud which I assured them he wasn't."
"Thanks that means a lot."
Once Ana and Ben are ready, we all pile on to the elevator and go down a few floors to get her protection detail for the night. Once we get Sawyer Ana introduces him to the group and we all set off for the bowling alley.
It takes us about twenty minutes to reach the bowling alley but when we arrive, I know it was worth the drive. The bowling alley isn't like any others I've been to before it's been designed to be an exact replica of a seventies bowling alley. The lanes are all old-style wooden ones, with red gutters and muted army green lane end designs. But the flooring alley is my favorite part, it has a purply blue background with planets and pins all over that kind of look like shooting stars from a distance. There are also retro bucket seats all around, the whole place screams seventies, with neon light strips all around the edges all across, hell even the ceiling is lit up.
"Whoa, where did you find this place?" Elliot gasps looking around.
"Just looked online for cool bowling places." I shrug not wanting to admit how much effort I put into finding a nice bowling alley for Ana.
"Tell me this place serve alcohol." Kate says already heading towards the bar.
"What do you take me for? Of course, they serve alcohol." I say with a chuckle knowing it may have actually cost me my life if I promised a night out and I didn't pick somewhere with booze.
Once we all have our drinks, we go to the lanes we've got for the next two hours, I made sure to get two because I figured we wouldn't want to wait for five people in between each turn. So, this way we can all have several games, especially because I hired the lanes with unlimited games so we can go as many times as we want. Plus, it will give Ana a chance to practice and not worry about taking too long.
It takes us a while to get the lanes set up with all out names, Kate, Gail and Taylor take one lane and Elliot, Ana and I take the other. It's harder than I thought for Ana to bowl with hand in a sling so after about the third attempt that ends up in the gutter, she decides to take it off, and with it off she does much better. Ana still struggles with her balance because one arm is heavier than the other so being the gentleman, I am I offer to help, I use the opportunity to get up close with her. But sadly, by the time, we start the second game she seems to have it down pat and scores her first strike and I find myself missing the contact. By the fourth game, I can see that being out of the sling is starting to take its toll, because whenever she bowls, she winces, its subtle with just a slight crinkle of her eyes but it's there.
"Do you wanna take a break?" I ask trying not to let on as to why because she is trying to make it look like she is okay when she isn't, she probably doesn't want to be brought up on it.
"No, I'm good."
"I could I need more booze." Kate says wandering off towards the bar. I'm not sure if it's just because she wants more booze or if she sees what I do but when she returns with a bag of ice and hands it to Ana, I know it's the latter.
"I'm fine honestly." Ana says trying to refuse, but Kate is having none of it.
"No, you're not, your fingers are twice the size they were when we started. So put some ice on it and it will help reduce the swelling." Kate says with force showing Ana that she isn't budging on the issue, I can see it in Ana's eyes that she wants to fight against it, but she backs down when Gail steps up as well.
"Here's some acetaminophen take two it will help with the swelling and the pain. You can't take any form of ibuprofen with a break so this will have to do for now."
"Alright I'll take some and rest it a bit, but I don't want to stop you guys from enjoying yourselves so don't stop on my account." Ana says taking the pills from Gail but when she goes to take them, I realize there isn't enough drink left so I pop to the bar to get her a refill.
Once she has taken the pills and put the ice on her wrist, we all decide to play one last game as a group so Ana will have more time between bowls to rest. By the time the game is over, our time is up anyway, and we all decide it's time for dinner anyway, so we head across the street to a gourmet burger bar for dinner because Kate is jonesing for fries.
We spend the rest of the evening just hanging out in the burger bar drinking and laughing until they kick us out at closing and we all head home.
So, there it is, hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.
Please leave a review if you feel so inclined.
As always excuse any typos, I edited this myself.
Fearfully Brave.