A/N: First of all, thanks for all the support you guys have given me in your reviews. About the HEA. I'm still very much torn, like some of you said in the reviews, the only way to get A&C back together is for Elliot to die and I just can't kill him off. So, right now, I'm 99% sure this story will end with Ana and Elliot as a couple and Christian finding his own kind of HEA as well.
Another thing, I stopped replying to angry or rude guest reviews because honestly it's a waste of my time, there was one however I felt needed a reply and that was a review by a guest, calling me a liar because that person believes I have planned from the start for this story to not have Ana and Christian together in the end. First, if this had been planned, I would have put Elliot as main character in the description, so people would know what to expect, but in the beginning I had no plans at all for Elliot but then his role became bigger and more important with each chapter, while Ana's friends from Boston kind of disappeared, which also wasn't planned. Second, I know that many people only read HEA stories and I respect that, because I'm not just a writer, but also reader in this fandom, so I have my hard limits when it comes to certain topics too, which is why I would never say this story has a HEA when I already know that it won't have one in the way most people want it to be. So, don't just assume things when you don't know anything for sure...
And lastly, since this was a new experience for me as well, I have decided that from now on, I won't even mention if a story has a HEA, cheating or anything in it, unless I have all chapters written by the time I start to post. This way, I don't feel like letting anyone down if a story goes in a different direction than I expected it to. As for this story, I have just started to write chapter 22, but I'm not sure how many chapters are left to complete this story, though it won't be as long as I thought so maybe it will end around chapter 25 to 27.
Christian - The day Ana left
Come with me, come with me... I want someone who chooses me... goodbye...
Ana's words repeat in my mind over and over. All I wanted was to choose her, leave with her and our son but I couldn't. I'm trapped in this hell just like my siblings and Jason are. The truth is I hate my life here, we all hate our life here and there is nothing we can do about it except to try to survive.
When I came here, I loved it, loved my new family but I quickly learned that something about my mother is very wrong. All those years in the shitty nuthouse the Grey's have put her in have basically screwed her up so bad that her condition gets worse every day. The first time I really got to feel it was when a week after I got here my mom found the letter I was trying to send to Ana.
She lost it got hysterical at the thought that by getting into touch with Ana I would lead Carrick and Elena right to our front door. When she locked herself into the bathroom with a knife threatening to kill herself I was so horrified that I just gave in and even went on a date with her daughter's best friend Erin just to make her happy.
Of course, then I heard of Ana's breakdown and ran to see her. When I came home I found out that she had tried to overdose on pills thinking that I ran from her and at that moment I knew I could never again do anything to upset her and just did everything she wanted me to do.
And now that has cost me the one person in my life I never wanted to lose. I didn't think life could get any worse... but it just did.
I just wish Jason would finally agree to have Grace admitted, but he is still hanging on to hope that Mom will come around... but I know it will only get worse from here...
Three years later
"Come on Sophie, we want to leave." I call out for my fifteen year old sister. She has been pouting for five days now because our mom has not allowed her to join the trip to New York with her class.
I get it though, Sophie isn't allowed to do anything, just like the rest of us. It's like a fucking prison in here and every time one of us speaks up or disagrees my mom is quick to pull the suicide card. I have talked to Jason so much about finally getting her help that at this point we are barely talking at all if Mom isn't around he might have given up on living a normal life but I haven't.
"Sophie, come on." I say and knock again at her door, but she isn't replying, so I get in and see the note on the bed right away.
I can't live like this anymore. Don't look for me, I'm not coming back home.
I sigh and walk downstairs into Jason's study. "Jason we have a huge fucking problem."
"What is it... is it Grace?"
"No, it's Sophie, she had enough and ran, here." I tell him and show him the note.
"Fuck... we need to find her."
"No, you know what I'm done. If you don't have Grace admitted then I will. She ruined my life, Caleb gets teased and laughed at because his mother forbids everything, Lilly is barely talking anymore and now Sophie ran away... when is it finally enough?" I yell at him, and he looks older and tired when he stands up.
"You are right, it's for her own good." He says and I could cry I'm so happy. I don't want anything bad to happen to my mother, but she needs help and no one here is trained to actually give her the kind of help she needs...
Two months before Christian and Ana meet again
"Do you want some more popcorn, CJ?" I ask my son as I get up to get another soda.
"No, I'm good." He says.
My mother is doing a lot better these days, still, due to Doctor's orders I no longer live with them. Now, I spend half of the time in Vancouver to be close to my siblings and the other half at my place in Seattle which I have bought last year after I decided to have US offices for Taylor Industries.
My first instinct after my mother had been admitted was to call Ana, but I haven't. I didn't have anything to offer to her, and I was also trying to find my sister who we finally found six months later staying with some fucked up guy she met in Toronto. She is back home now and my mother is finally letting them all live.
So, I have put all my time and effort into building my company into an even bigger success than Ros has already made it. With our combined efforts and some rather risky moves we have managed to turn Taylor Industries into a billion dollar company.
Now, all that's missing from my life is Ana. I have stayed away for long enough. Tried not even to talk or think about her because it is just too painful to know that she believes I didn't want her enough to choose her.
So, for the first time I'm doing something that feels really shady and that is to question my son about his mother.
"How is your mom doing, CJ?"
"Good... she's probably doing grown up stuff with uncle Elliot while I'm not home." He says and I frown.
"Uncle Elliot?"
"Yeah, mommy says he is your brother like Caleb."
"He sure is." I murmur. I haven't seen Mia and Elliot since I told them they are no longer my siblings... I just felt too ashamed to approach them after treating them so poorly.
"Does your mom see Elliot a lot?" I ask, and he laughs.
"What's so funny, buddy?"
"Your question."
"Why?"
"Well, mommy and I live with uncle Elliot." He says and I frown.
"You live with him, since when?"
"For a year now."
"Ok... what do you mean by grown up stuff, CJ?"
"You know, in the bedroom when they make funny noises... I hear them sometimes." He shrugs and I still cannot believe what I am hearing.
"They share a bedroom?"
"Uh-huh... didn't you know that mommy and uncle Elliot are a couple, Dad?" He asks and I cannot believe this is happening.
"No... when did they start to date?"
"I dunno... they started kissing about a year before we moved in together. Can I have ice cream, Dad?"
"Sure... just get yourself some from the freezer." I tell him and in the evening when he is asleep I drive to the address of Ana that I have. It's a nice house with an interesting design, so I'm sure Elliot has build it himself... but I just don't want to believe that it is true. So, I keep watching the house until eventually a car pulls up in the driveway and I see Ana get out of the passenger seat while Elliot gets out of the driver's seat, walks around to her and pulls her into his arms. When they kiss I have to look away.
This is a nightmare but I refuse to give up. Ana is mine and I will find a way to get her back. I just have to find a way to get close to her without her being able to avoid her. After all in love and war everything is allowed... and seeing them together was nothing short of a war declaration in my eyes...
Present time
I watch Ana storm out of her office and slam my head onto the desk. Perfect, I finally manage to see Ana after all this time and I just had to lose my fucking temper and offend her.
But I just couldn't help it. Seeing that look on her face, the sparkle in her eyes, the glow of her skin and knowing that it was my brother out of all people who put that look on her face just made me lose it.
If she quits now I have to find another way to get close to her and win her back, because I refuse to use my son to do so.
Deciding to wait until tomorrow to figure out a way to talk to Ana without losing my shit again I immerse myself into work and finally call it a day at 5:30 pm. When I walk to my car I stop suddenly when I find Elliot leaning against it.
"Nice car, bro. Did you trade it in for your good manners?" He asks obviously pissed, so I know Ana has shared our little interaction with him.
"What do you want, Elliot?"
"Stop hurting her."
"How I treat my employees is only my business."
"Not if that employee happens to be my girlfriend." He says and that pisses me off too.
"Tell me, for how long did you want to fuck her?"
"I never planed to fall in love with her, Christian. It just happened and I would have never acted on it... didn't actually for almost three years but then something changed and I knew I could try."
"What changed?"
"Ana stopped waiting for you. Did you know that, that is what she did for three fucking years after you chose your mom over her? She blew off every guy who wanted to date her. Ignored anyone telling her it was time to move on until eventually she just had to realize you wouldn't come back. Do you know how often I went to see her on the days you spend with CJ, and she always looked so damn hopeful that this would be the day you'd finally ignore her request and came to see her but you didn't until even a girl as stubborn and in love with you as Ana just had no fucking hope left."
"And that's when you pounced on her?" I ask for now ignoring what else he has said.
"Yes, I saw a chance to be a with a great woman who I happen to love but here is the thing, brother... I know I'm not her first choice nor will I ever be. I knew even before I asked her to go on a date with me that the day you come back to Seattle to be with her is the day I have to let her go."
"So, you are breaking up with her?"
"Absolutely not... the thing is I am aware of that, Ana isn't and since you just treated her like a fucking asshole and she has no desire to be anywhere near you, I won't give up on her just yet."
"So, you can fuck her some more."
"I love Ana, you asshole... but we both know that's a concept you can hardly understand. Just know that I won't stand by and watch you hurt her again. The next time she comes home upset and you are to blame for it, I am going to kick your ass." He says and that puts a smirk on my face.
"What makes you think you can win now when you couldn't even do it when we were kids."
"Simple, back then you were my brother and I would have never hurt you, that was just brotherly banter... but you don't have the brotherly bonus anymore since you made it very clear that you don't want to be my brother anymore. You might still see yourself as the victim in all of this but maybe for once think of that fact that you weren't the only one who got hurt through their actions... Mia and I didn't just lose the only parents we ever knew and loved... we lost our brother... who not just was the glue that kept our group of friends together but also the heart of the family..." He says and walks away before I even get the chance to say anything in return...
