Chapter 3 - Drunk Nights
Ana's POV
Christian was supposed to pick me up this morning because I left my car at school. I decided I was definitely inviting him to the party tonight. Maybe he won't be so scared to make a move on me since we wouldn't be at his house with his family there.
I got ready for school and went downstairs for breakfast. Out of laziness, I poured myself a bowl of cereal with almond milk.
I got a text from Christian a few minutes later.
Christian: Hey. I'm waiting outside.
Ana: I'll be down in a minute
I grabbed my backpack and took the elevator downstairs.
Christian's POV
Because I needed to pick up Ana, I had to wake up a little earlier than usual. I was rushing out of the house, afraid I'd be late to pick her up.
All night I had an internal struggle with myself. I was really into Ana, but I didn't want to get her involved with my dark shit. But I really really liked her.
My head was telling me to stay as far away from her as I could, but my heart was telling me to take a chance and go for it.
If I was going to go after her, I was going to do it right. I was going to go all out with the romance and hearts and flowers. A girl like Ana deserved that.
On the drive to Ana's apartment, I internally decided that I was going to ask her out on a date. A real date, not a "study session" at my house. I had the perfect date planned in my mind.
My parents weren't going to be home this weekend. My dad had to go on a business trip to New York City, and my mom was going with him.
Since Ana seemed to love the boathouse so much, I was going to enlist Mia's help to set up a romantic candlelit dinner for Ana and me. Mia loved to cook, so it shouldn't be a problem.
When I got to Ana's apartment, I texted her to let her know I'd arrived.
When I saw her, my heart pounded in my chest. She truly was beautiful, inside and out. I immediately got out of the car to open her door, and right on cue, she rolled her eyes at me.
"Hey Christian," she greeted me cheerfully.
"Hey Ana," I replied.
I waited for her to get in the car and closed the door for her as well.
I got back in the driver's seat and headed for school. Shit?! How was I going to ask her on the date? Fuck, you had the date planned but didn't plan how to ask her. Fuck. Come up with something Grey.
Ana's voice caught my attention, "Oh, I forgot to mention that there's a party tonight. You're invited. You should definitely come."
Fuck, a party?! No doubt there's going to be drinking. I swore I would stop drinking, so I don't know if I want to go and be around drunk teenagers.
I replied, unsure what to say, "Umm, sure. What time?"
"Ten," she answered, "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I just thought you might be interested." she rambled nervously.
I cut her off, "I'll be there," and gave her a warm smile.
"Great," she responded, "I'll text you the address after school. It's at a football player's house. I'm not sure if you know him, but his name is Colton."
Colton? That name didn't ring a bell, but whatever, if Ana would be there, so would I.
Crap! I just realized I was supposed to ask her on a date. And she just invited me to this party. Oh well, I guess there's always next week.
Ana's POV
After school, I had cheer practice. I went to the girl's locker room to change, and the whole team was already in there.
I spotted Kate and ran up to her.
"Hey Banana," she greeted me.
I laughed at the nickname and said, "Christian's coming to the party tonight."
She squealed and said, "Yay, Ana. That's great. You need to look extra hot tonight then. I'm coming over after practice so we can get you looking like sex on legs."
I giggled at her comments and replied sarcastically, "Okay Kate."
Christian's POV
After school, I had to pick up Mia from her school because our parents were out of town.
"Chrissy!" she greeted me. She loved teasing me like that.
"Hey Mia," I replied as she got in the car. "Will you be okay staying at home alone tonight?" I asked her.
"Ooooh, where are you going?" she asked.
"None of your business," I quipped back.
"Do you have a date?" she giggled.
"No, actually," I replied, although I wish I did.
"Okay, whatever. I'll be fine," she finally said, "Go have fun with your non-existent date."
I rolled my eyes at her and drove home in silence.
Ana's POV
"Damn, Ana. Your butt in that dress is off the charts," Kate shouted.
I giggled and checked myself out in the mirror. Damn, she was right. This Herve Leger black bandage dress was doing wonders for my ass.
"Now we need to find shoes," I told her.
"I'm on it," Kate replied while darting to my shoe closet, no doubt making a huge mess looking for the perfect pair.
She came back moments later with the perfect pair of black Louboutins.
"These are perfect Kate," I gushed.
"I know," she replied.
I grabbed my black Chanel wallet on a chain to complete the look.
"Now it's your turn," I told Kate.
She glanced at me and said, "I'm not the one who's trying to impress a boy."
Teasingly, I elbowed her, and we both started laughing.
Kate and I ate dinner at Canlis before the party. You can't drink on an empty stomach, right? Haha!
I wasn't a big drinker. It never really appealed to me to get blackout drunk. Kate, on the other hand, was a wild one. She wasn't an alcoholic, but she loved to let loose every now and then. And by every now and then, I meant every weekend.
Kate and I went back to my place after dinner. The party started at 9 and no one wanted to show up early. That's why I told Christian the party was at 10. Kate and I were planning to go a little earlier than 10, but we were going for the casually late vibe.
Around 9:30, Kate and I Ubered to Colton's house for the party.
Anyone who wasn't blind would have said that Colton was a good-looking guy. He was blonde, blue-eyed, and had a muscular build. He was the quarterback and captain of the football team. What a typical high school cliche.
He asked me out about 10 different times last year. Truth be told, I just wasn't interested. He was dumb as a board, and not at all my type. I guess it only made sense for him to ask me out – the head cheerleader and the quarterback.
Eventually, Colton got tired of the rejection and stopped asking me out, which I was so thankful for. We had a ton of mutual friends, so we were always friendly with each other, but we were never close.
When we arrived at Colton's house, we could hear the loud music immediately. The door was unlocked, so we walked into an already packed house of semi-drunk kids.
Colton appeared in the foyer and greeted both of us with a hug.
"Hey guys," he said, "Glad you could make it. Can I get you any drinks?"
"Yes please," we both replied.
He came back moments later with two red solo cups and handed them to Kate and me. I had no idea what was in it but drank it anyway.
"I'm going to go see if Christian's here," I told Kate and left her with Colton.
I walked around the downstairs of the house but didn't see him anywhere. Hmm, it's not 10 quite yet, so he'll probably be here soon.
10:30
Okay, so Christian still wasn't here. Colton kept supplying me drinks. I've had about 3 so far. I would say that I was a bit tipsy.
Kate and I were socializing with some of the girls on the cheer team along with some of the boys on the football team.
I couldn't completely focus on the conversation because I kept looking at the door to see if Christian would arrive.
11:00
I checked my phone for the time, and it was already 11. I kind of resigned myself to the fact that Christian probably wouldn't show up. Even though this wasn't a date, I felt like he stood me up. I was disappointed, to say the least.
I kept drinking and drinking. I thought I was getting a little too drunk, but I was helpless to stop myself. I was feeling a little disoriented and dizzy, but no one seemed to notice anything was off.
"Hey Ana, do you want another drink?" Colton asked me.
"Sssure," I slurred out.
Christian's POV
When I got home from school, I went to take a nap. I was utterly exhausted and had no idea why.
When I woke up, I checked the time. Fuck, it was already 11 pm?! How the hell did I sleep for almost 7 hours!
Ana said the party started at 10, so that meant I was already late. Ana was expecting me! God Grey, that's how you get girls interested in you – show up late to places!
Well, she might not even care that I wasn't there. Let's be honest, that girl seemed to have friends for days. She probably wasn't even missing me at all.
At this point, I was debating whether or not I should still go or not, but something in me told me to go anyways.
I quickly got dressed and headed for the garage. I would go, but I definitely wouldn't be drinking. A drunk Christian was an angry Christian, and Ana didn't need to see me like that.
I entered the address Ana texted me into Google Maps. It was going to take about 20 minutes to get there, so I was probably going to be there around 11:30.
When I arrived, it was 11:30 on the dot. There were a ton of cars parked around the house, and I could hear the loud music from inside my car, so I knew I was at the right place.
Ana's POV
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I jumped on the table and started dancing.
"Take it off," people started screaming at me.
Haha, take off what? What did they mean?
"Take off your dress," one person screamed at me.
Haha, that was a funny idea. I should do that.
I ungracefully unzipped my dress and let it pool at my feet. I was wearing very skimpy black lace lingerie. Everyone was getting quite an eyeful.
I took another shot and screamed out again, "WHOOOOOOOOOOH!"
My memory was fuzzy after that, but I'm pretty sure someone picked me up off the table and brought me back down.
The next thing I knew, I was being dragged to the corner of a room. Haha, who was this? My head was spinning, and my vision was a little blurry. Was this Colton?! I thought so.
I started giggling uncontrollably for no reason.
"Shhhhh," he said while backing me more into the corner.
I continued to giggle, not knowing what was going on.
He put his hand on my waist and pushed me back hard against the wall.
I tried to get out of his grip, but I couldn't. "Let me go," I protested.
He didn't respond and moved his hand from my waist to my ass. This, I was not okay with.
"Colton, stop," I commanded.
"Come on Ana, I know you want it," he replied while attempting to remove my panties.
I freaked out and tried to shove his hands away from my waist. "Colton, please stop," I pleaded.
He kept his tight grip on me and tried to kiss me. I darted my head out of the way just in time, and his lips met with my cheek instead of my lips.
"Let me go," I insisted, "I don't want this."
He still didn't listen to me. I felt trapped and suffocated.
I let out a loud shriek and screamed, "SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!"
He whispered into my ear, "No one can hear you."
I panicked even more and tried to kick his groin, but he was way stronger than I was. I practically couldn't move my body.
The last thing I remember was him trying to remove my bra before everything went black.
Christian's POV
When I walked through the door, there were drunk kids all over the place. I scanned the main room for Ana, but I didn't see her anywhere. I saw Kate and walked over to ask her where Ana was.
She was way too drunk and had no idea where Ana was.
I was getting nervous when I didn't see Ana anywhere downstairs. At least Kate was good for something and told me she and Ana came together.
Fuck, where could she be?!
I heard what sounded like a scream coming from upstairs. Instinctively, I went upstairs to investigate.
I then heard Ana's voice, "SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!"
I threw open the door where I heard the screams coming from, and I saw red.
Some blonde fucker was trying to force himself on Ana. What kind of man does that? She was screaming for help and struggling to get out of his grip.
There wasn't any time to feel sorry for Ana, what I needed to do was stop this fucker from getting any further.
I grabbed this idiot's collar and ripped him off of Ana. My blood was boiling, my anger levels were rising, and I sucker-punched this asshole as hard as I could. He immediately fell to the ground. I would've kept beating the shit out of this kid if it weren't for Ana.
She was lying unconscious on the floor, and as much as I wanted to pummel this guy, I needed to tend to Ana.
It was then I noticed Ana was only in her bra and panties. I looked around the room for her clothes but couldn't find them anywhere. I took off my leather jacket and wrapped it around her rather small frame for her modesty's sake.
I picked her up bridal style and carried her to my car. It was then I noticed that her head was resting against my chest, which is usually a no-go area for me. The usual burning sensation wasn't there. The fear wasn't there.
Nonetheless, I shrugged it off. It was probably because she was unconscious. There's no way someone could touch me, advertently or inadvertently, and not have a burning sensation running throughout my whole body, bringing back memories of the pimp.
I buckled her into the front seat of my car, so I could keep a close eye on her.
I was debating whether to take her back to her place or mine. I didn't want to take the chance of leaving her alone, so I decided to go with the latter.
When we got to my house, I carried Ana's sleeping body to my room and laid her on my bed. I really needed to find her some comfy clothes!
I rummaged through my drawers and found a suitable plain white t-shirt and a pair of Free City sweats. The clothes would be way too big for her, but they would do.
I removed my leather jacket that I wrapped around her and dressed her in the more comfy clothes. It was quite weird to be doing this for a woman, and even more bizarre that she wasn't responsive.
When I finished dressing her, I pulled the duvet over her to keep her warm. I grabbed another throw blanket from my closet and lightly draped it over her.
I went to lie down on the couch adjacent to the bed so I could keep an eye on her in case she woke up in the middle of the night.
Before I knew it, I was sleeping the night away too.
Ana's POV
I woke up with a massive headache. I squinted my eyes to adjust to the light and panicked when I realized I had no idea where I was.
I barely remembered what happened last night. I remembered Christian not showing up and then getting really drunk. I faintly remembered dancing on top of a table. Fuck, I took off my dress. Stupid Ana!
After that things got even fuzzier, but I think I remember Colton dragging me off the table and off to another part of the house.
Oh God, he tried to take off my panties and kiss me. Memories came flooding back, as I remembered struggling against his grip and screaming for help.
I panicked even more. Did he rape me? What the hell happened? I looked down, and I was wearing clothes way too big for me.
I suddenly felt dirty and used. I bolted out of bed when a familiar voice caught my attention.
"Ana," I heard. It was undoubtedly Christian's voice. What the hell happened last night?!
"Christian?" I questioned.
He came over to me and helped me back onto the bed. I was still disoriented and very hungover from last night.
Completely out of nowhere, I started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Shhhhhh," Christian soothed me, "You're alright."
In between sobs, I asked, "What happened last night?"
He recounted, "I got to the party late, and went looking for you. No one knew where you were so I went upstairs to look for you. I heard your screams coming from one of the bedrooms, and some fucker was trying to force himself on you. You were way too drunk and helpless to defend yourself. I knocked him out cold and took you back to my house so I could keep an eye on you."
I sobbed even harder realizing how grateful I needed to be for him. He truly saved me.
"Thank you so much, Christian," I said, eternally grateful for what he did.
"I'm so sorry I didn't get there earlier, Ana. I overslept…" he tried to apologize.
"Don't apologize, Christian, you saved me. I owe you everything," I said while continuing to cry in his arms.
He stroked my hair, and the sobs started to subside.
"Ana," he said, getting my attention.
I focused my eyes on him, and he continued, "If you don't mind me asking, do you remember who that was last night. My dad's an attorney. You could press charges for attempted rape."
I cringed at the thought and immediately shook my head, "No. No charges. I want this whole thing to go away. No one ever needs to know."
"Ana," he tried to reason, "He deserves to be punished for what he tried to do to you."
"No," I said again, "I don't want people to gossip about what happened. The whole thing is a he said, she said situation. I mean, I was practically asking for it while prancing around in my lingerie."
"You weren't asking for it, Ana," he said, "You were too drunk to function, and no man should treat a woman like that."
"Can we drop it for now?" I asked.
He nodded and changed the subject, "Are you hungry?"
"Starving," I replied, and we both went downstairs for breakfast.
Christian's POV
I took Ana downstairs for breakfast, but there was just one little problem. I DID NOT COOK. Fuck, what was I going to do?
I started pacing around the kitchen. I got some eggs and milk out of the fridge and laid them out on the counter. Um, what do I make with this? Please dear God, Martha Stewart, please help me.
I thought about calling Mia in for some reinforcements, but she was probably still getting her Saturday morning beauty sleep.
"You don't cook do you," Ana giggled.
Measly I replied, "Not a clue."
She laughed again and said, "How do pancakes sound?"
20 minutes later, Ana had made the most perfect pancakes and whipped cream to go with it.
We sat down at the breakfast bar together and ate.
"Are your parents home?" Ana questioned.
"No," I replied, "They're on a business trip."
"And Mia?"
"Still sleeping probably," I chuckled.
"Shit, Kate's probably worrying about me," she commented.
"Don't worry," I replied, "I sent her a text last night saying I was going to take care of you."
"These are your clothes, I presume," Ana commented.
"Yeah," I replied, "I couldn't find your clothes last night."
She visibly tensed at my words and the mention of last night, so I changed the subject, "Where'd you learn how to cook like this?"
"Food Network and Gordon Ramsay," she chuckled. "I'll make you dinner sometime."
Was that an insinuation at a date? God, I hope it was because I couldn't stop these words from coming out of my big fat mouth.
"Go on a date with me."