Chapter 5

Christian blinked his eyes quickly. He looked at his parents, who now weren't his parents. Their faces showed sadness. He looked back at his sister, who was now his mother. They could tell he was in shock. "You all lied to me." Ella tried to grab his hand, but he pulled it away.

Cary stood up, "Son? There's more to it. We wouldn't lie. Everything was to protect you." He wanted to protect Ella, she was his 1st born and his family was the reason for this big mess.

Christian backed away, "Protect me? Sounds like all of you were protecting yourselves. You don't care about me." That hurt them all. Christian ran from the house and they couldn't stop him. They went next door for some help. Ana stood on the steps and listened. She heard everything. She couldn't believe Christian was Ella's son.

Elena sighed, "Does he know you were raped?" Ana fell on the steps and hugged the banister. Ella explained she didn't get the chance. "Let me get Ana. She probably knows where he is."

Ella stopped her looking at the time. "No, it's so late. I'm so worried. He doesn't even have any shoes on." Ana knew where he was, but she couldn't just walk out of the front door. She never got into trouble, but for Christian she would do anything. She knew what to do.

She saw a pair of Ethan's Crocs sitting in the hallway, so she grabbed them. She went into Kate's room and shut the door quietly. She knew Kate was at a party with Elliot and would end up in his bed after. Kate was their sneaky child. She grabbed the emergency ladder under her bed. She placed it on the windowsill and checked it. She saw Kate do it before. She snuck in and out a lot with Elliot in high school. College gave them much more freedom now.

Ana threw the shoes down, climbed out, and looked down grasping the ladder hard. "How the hell does Kate do this?" She climbed down carefully. When she got to the last two rungs she remembered there was a trick. The ladder didn't go all the way down, but Elliot was always there to catch Kate. Ana had to jump.

She climbed down and held the second to last step with both hands. Then she grabbed the bottom one and held it like she was on the monkey bars. She tested where her feet hung and looked down. She felt herself losing her grip, so she gripped harder. She felt a sharp pain in her hand and let go. She hit the ground pretty hard and landed on her side. She had a cut on her hand from the bar.

She walked through a wooded area that led to a trail. The trail was nice and safe. It was well lit at night and led to the dock. Their neighborhood bordered a lake and that's where their family's yacht was. Christian loved "The Grace".

She stood on the dock, "Christian Grey!" He appeared with his messy hair, shirtless, and baggy basketball shorts. Ana gulped, she knew he was shoeless, but shirtless made her mouth dry and another place wet. He asked her what she was doing there. "I came for you. Everyone is at the house worried about you." Christian looked sad after taking a deep breath. "I know Christian. I was listening to them talk, but they don't know I'm here." She explained what she heard minus the rape part. "I couldn't give away your hiding spot."

Christian helped her on the boat, "Ana! Your hand!" He pulled her to the seat and used a towel to wrap it up. He knew she needed his mom and that made him remember Grace was his grandmother now. "You need to go back and let Grace check it. I guess I have to face my slut of a mother."

Ana was shocked and mad, "Don't you dare do that Christian Grey! Don't you call her Grace like she's not your mom. Like she didn't take care of you. And Ella is not a slut! Don't you dare call her that! She loves you the most and if you can't see that, you're blind. Show some fucking respect. At least you have a mom. You have two and they both love you!"

Ana covered her face and started crying. Christian felt like shit. He was acting like a spoiled brat. Here Ana was without her whole family and Christian had more love than ever. He hugged her, "I'm sorry. Don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry." Ana let him hug her, she liked the way it felt. "Hey, let's go back together okay?" He tried to pull her up, but she resisted. "What's wrong? I said I was sorry."

Ana looked down, "Christian, there's more to the story." Christian sat next to her. Ana didn't think it was her place to tell, but he had been caught off guard enough, plus something was really bothering her. "Christian, I heard them talking." Christian nodded with a little smirk, because she told him that already. "Ella didn't just sleep around and have you." Christian was 15 and Ella was even younger when she gave birth to him. She had to grow fast and make adult choices to try and give him the life he deserved. "Christian, she was raped."

Christian's heart sank. The name he just called her, the awful things he thought about her and his parents. "She tried to protect me. They all did." He looked at Ana feeling defeated. "What else did you hear?"

Ana told the truth. They all went over the story while they talked about Christian. "Ella went to Michigan for the summer when she was 14. She did that every summer after they moved. A man named Jack Hyde raped her after grooming her like he was a basketball coach." Christian knew basketball was her passion. They shared that, but he hadn't played in a while.

Ana knew more but judged his reaction to see how much he could take. "Did they catch him? Is in jail for hurting her?" Ana shook her head, they had no idea where he was. "Ana, she was 14, why did she even have me?" Ana smiled, it was clear it was love. "I can't believe they all knew and didn't say anything."

He stood up and looked at the water, "Christian your 15. When were they supposed to tell you all this? It is way more complicated than just hey, you're adopted." Christian turned around and looked at her. She had a point but it was all a lot.

Christian knew Ana well. He liked her a lot and not just in a friend way. He realized that a year ago when he had his first wet dream about her. "What else? You might as well give it all to me. Let the shock hit me now." Ana squinted. "What tell me?"

Ana sighed, "There's a reason you haven't seen your grandpa Carrick in years." Christian held his hands up. He was smart but this was a puzzle he couldn't piece together. It didn't make sense. "Your grandfather got two women pregnant at the same time." Ana couldn't even believe it. "Christian, Jack Hyde is grandpa Carrick's other son." She explained what she heard and how he hid the secret from everyone. "Ella's rape was like some sick payback for him not choosing him. I think that's why they are protecting you. They don't know where he is or what he's capable of."

Christian fell sitting against the deck floor and Ana sat next to him. "How can they love me when my father is a sick fucking monster. I'm a monster." Ana held him and he cried. It took a good 30 minutes for him to stop. His head was in her lap and she was stroking his hair.

The silence was peaceful, "Christian, are you okay?" Christian sighed and said yes, finally sitting up. "Are you ready to go back or do you want to stay here? I'll stay with you if you want. Christian smiled, he wanted nothing more than to sleep in Ana's arms all night, but then he remembered her hand.

He looked at her and kissed her lips for the first time. Ana was surprised at first but his lips were soft and she liked the way his tongue pushed her lips apart just enough to graze the tip of her tongue. He pulled back and she already missed the feeling that quickly. "Let's go back. I can face anything with you."

She handed him the shoes and he laughed, "I hate Crocs." She shrugged saying that's all she could grab. They walked back hand in hand. Ana saw the ladder was missing. "Shit! Where did the ladder go?"

Christian turned her around, "You jumped from the ladder?" He looked at her. "Are you hurt?" Ana shrugged and showed him her side which now had a nasty bruise forming. "Fuck Ana!" He touched it causing her to wince. "Let's go!" Christian became very dominant and she liked it. He was so subdued normally and just went with the flow. It was a little shocking.

When they rounded the corner they saw police cars at the Grey's. "Christian! We are in so much trouble." They opened the door and all the adults were upset. Ana cleared her throat, "I went to get Christian. We're home." Everyone jumped up and hugged them. Ella stood to the side waiting to see if Christian wanted a hug from her and he did. Ana smiled. Elena hugged Ana tight. "Ouch!"

Christian turned around out of Ella's arms, "She hurt herself on the ladder." Grace ran over to examine Ana's hand and side. She looked over at Christian and saw him smiling.

Grace pulled Ana to the sofa and asked Cary to get her doctor's bag. "It's not deep, but we need to clean it up. She lifted her shirt to check her side. "Baby, I need to touch this." Ana balled up her face, but didn't yell. "That's going to be a nasty bruise, but your ribs seem okay."

Elena warned her, "If you weren't hurt, your butt would be." Christian bit his lip to keep from laughing. Ella nudged him and warned him that he deserved worse. Christian face went straight. Their relationship was awkward and different.

Grace fixed Ana's hand and they all sat down together. Ana told the truth saying she told Christian what she heard. Christian looked around at his family. Even Jose was there by now. "So everyone knew?"

Grace told him Elliot, Kate, and Ethan had no clue. "Elliot was so young. I took Ella away to have you. We didn't want any questions. We didn't think it was fair to Ella." She explained it took a lot of healing and years to talk about what happened. "Christian, we love you. We never wanted to hurt you or for you to feel different."

Christian did feel different. Their protection didn't help that. "So what now? Ella and Jose are my parents. What am I supposed to do? Call her mom and you're my grandparents? Do I live with them and not you?" Christian sighed in frustration, "Why did you even have me? Don't you think I'm like a monster."

Ella knew this was tough, "Christian, you are my child, but they are mom and dad. They raised you not me. I knew this day would come and I wasn't sure how it would work, but I knew I always loved you. You are not a monster. I don't expect you to pick between us. This is your home. Me telling you the truth doesn't change anything."

She remembered that he was teased at school and he felt like he wasn't like her or Elliot because his name didn't even match. "When I found out I was pregnant and I told mom and dad, I knew you would be theirs but I wanted to name you. I liked Christian and I took mom's maiden name. I thought the name was proper because you looked like a little prince."

It was getting late and things were finally calm enough. Cary thought it was best to head to bed. Jose and Ella decided to stay because the kids were there and asleep. It wasn't over but they got a lot out. There was something else though. Ana had a secret and nothing made sense until she heard that Ella was raped. "Christian, there's more. Your eyes are gray." Of all the things going on, Christian looked at Ana completely confused. "Gray eyes aren't that popular. They're kinda 1 in a million type of thing."

Everyone just stopped and stared at her. Christian began to look annoyed. "You and Luke Sawyer have the same eyes." Ella looked up remembering that was the boy he messed with him at school.

Christian squinted his face. He had never really paid attention. On sight looking at Christian most people would say his eyes were blue because they were light. Unless you really looked at him closely you wouldn't know. Christian sat forward, "You've never met Luke. How do you know he has gray eyes? I didn't even know that."