Author's Note

Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows and reviews! It means so much to me and I hope you will keep it up!

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review.

Ana POV

I'm finishing up my last shift at Clayton's Hardware store. I'm just checking out the last few customers before closing up the store and then joining the Bon Voyage party in the staff room. I asked Mrs. Clayton earlier if it was okay if Elliot came for the party and he was more than welcome. He is already out back as Mrs. Clayton asked for his help with something. She's been doting on him ever since he came; apparently, I'm not the only one who can't withstand his natural charm and that signature smile of his.

Paul hasn't been here today, so I'm crossing my fingers that he's not coming at all.

The last customer has left, and I'm on my way to the staff room. With the exception of meeting Elliot, my luck is horrible at the moment; I'm intercepted by Paul, who stops me right around the corner from the staff room.

"Ana! So good to see you, it's been a while," he says

"Yeah, I've been busy lately," I say, wanting this conversation to end sooner rather than later.

"You don't say. Anyway, I've actually been considering moving to Seattle as well," he says happily.

"Really?" I say, even I can tell my voice sounds off and strained. I've never been straight up mean to him despite the many advances, but I know from Mr. Clayton, that Paul has always wanted to move to Chicago and that he has gotten a few job offers from there in the last few weeks as he just finished his master's degree from Stanford.

"Yeah, we'll finally live in the same city, and we can go on that date, we've talked about," he suggests, utterly oblivious to my reaction. Thankfully, we're interrupted by Elliot, who immediately pulls me to his side with an arm around my waist.

"There you are, baby! Everyone's waiting for you," Elliot says, giving me a quick kiss, clearly marking his territory. My inner feminist is screaming at me to do something about his action, but I secretly love it.

"Sorry, babe. I got held up by Paul; he is Mr. Clayton's younger brother," I tell him lovingly, completely ignoring Paul.

"I'm Elliot Grey, Ana's boyfriend," Elliot introduces himself, putting his hand out for Paul to shake. Paul looks like he ate something bad, and reluctantly reaches his hand out to shake Elliot's and introduces himself. I looked at Paul while they were shaking hands, as they were holding it longer than necessary and I see Paul lightly flinch and his jaw clenching. Looking at their hands, I could see why; they had another testosterone battle, seeing whose handshake was hardest - Elliot seemed to be the winner, his face wasn't showing any sign of strain. Paul gave in, and I immediately took Elliot's hand in mine and caressed it as we walked into the staff room, leaving Paul behind.

The party is going well, Elliot is talking with Mr. Clayton, they've seemed to really hit it off.

"So where did you find that hunk of a man?" Mrs. Clayton asks me, surprising me as I hadn't even realized she was standing beside me.

"Oh you know, just looked up hunk on the yellow pages," I tell her giggling.

"We met in Seattle when I went with Kate last week," I say, looking over at her when I see her blatantly looking Elliot up and down, just like I was a second ago.

"Hey! Stare at your own man," I giggle, bumping her shoulder.

"You can't blame me, sweetheart. That man is as sexy as they come! You sure know how to pick them."

"Yeah, I got pretty lucky," I tell her. My relationship with Mrs. Clayton has always been great; she's acted as a surrogate aunt towards me, knowing I never really had a female role model. She and Mr. Clayton were never able to have children themselves, so she was always very maternal towards me.

"I'm the lucky one," Elliot interrupts, putting his arms around me and kissing me on the side of my head.

"Hey mister! Did your mom never teach you it's rude to eavesdrop," I joke, kissing his arm.

"It's always the fun stuff that isn't allowed," he jokes, kissing my cheek.

"You better take good care of our girl in Seattle, Elliot. I will hold you responsible," Mrs. Clayton says.

"I promise to take great care of her," Elliot says, pulling me even closer, so I'm now standing flush against him.

The rest of the party went well; I ignored Paul for the rest of the night despite his attempts the few times I was standing by myself. He also glared at Elliot every time he was near me or talking to his brother and his wife. I had an emotional goodbye with Mrs. Clayton, but I promised to stay in touch and come see her once in a while.

Elliot had driven me to work earlier, so we could leave together and didn't have to go in two cars.

"So... Should I be worried about this Paul guy? He kept glaring at us all night, and I heard him mentioning a date just before I came out,"

"No, he's been trying to take me out for a long time; basically every time he is in town he asks me out,"

"Did I hear him say he might move to Seattle?"

"Yeah, although I've never heard him talking about Seattle before, either way, I'll be ignoring him," I tell him honestly.

"I got a bad vibe from the guy," Elliot mumbles, although I'm not sure if he's talking to himself or me.

When we get back to the apartment, Kate has packed up the last of the living room, and I know she's almost done with her room as well. So we only need to finish packing up the last of the kitchen and the last of our rooms Friday, and then we'll be ready for Saturday morning.

It's a very odd feeling; there are boxes everywhere filled with all of our belongings. Kate's door is shut, and it looks like her lights are out, meaning she's gone to bed. She also has to be at the school early tomorrow since she's giving a speech, and she'll want to look her absolute best for this. We head straight to my room, and I go into my bathroom to change into my pajamas, while Elliot puts on his pajama pants in my bedroom. Soon after, we are cuddled up in my bed.

"So are you nervous about tomorrow?" he asks.

"A little, but mostly about tripping over my own feet while I walk across the stage," I giggle.

"Maybe I should warn Christian to be ready to catch you on the stage," he laughs.

"Hey! Be nice!" I exclaim, slapping him on his chest, causing Elliot to laugh even harder.

"My apologies, my lady," he says playfully in a horrible British accent.

"That has got to be the worst British accent, or should I say attempt at a British accent, I have ever heard," I giggle, while he just laughs.

"I forgot to ask you earlier, but did you talk to Ray about what happened with José?"

"Ugh no... But I know, I have to. I don't want to do it tomorrow though; I just want to enjoy that I'm graduating and moving to Seattle."

"Okay, I can understand that. Do you think José might show up at the ceremony?"

"Probably, but I doubt he'll come up to me, or Ray for that matter. He doesn't know whether or not I've told my dad, but he knows how protective Ray is of me."

"He better stay away!" Elliot growls.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, what should I bring to your parents' on Sunday?"

"You don't have to bring anything Ana Banana, just your charming self," he says, nibbling on my ear.

"But I want to. What's your favorite dessert?" I ask breathy.

"Without a doubt, red velvet cake with creme cheese frosting!" he exclaims with a smile and glint in his blue eyes that reminds of a kid on Christmas morning.

"Then how about I make a red velvet cake," I say, kissing him, a kiss he deepens. One of his hands is at the back of my head, keeping me close, our tongues sensually dancing. Our bodies are right up against each other, and I can feel his hard length pressed against my thigh, making me whimper.

"You know, I could really get used to you cooking for me," he says, kissing my neck before sucking and nibbling on my sweet spot.

He pulls away slightly and lays all the way down on the bed, letting me cuddle into his side, resting my head in the crook of his shoulder and resting my hand on top his heart. This has become my favorite sleep position these last days, and I'm already dreading having to sleep alone.

"Sleep Ana Banana, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow," he whispers, giving me a goodnight kiss.

"Sweet dreams E.T.," I whisper, falling asleep quickly, dreaming of ocean blue eyes.