Apov

The sky darkens quicker than it should and the breeze picks up. Looks like another storm, I guess that explains why Kate is here. She's been popping up more often when it rains, not that I'm complaining because she offers to take me home. She's not the only one to offer, but I don't want a lot of people knowing about me and where I live. Though sometimes I wish I was okay with someone else taking me home, Kate tries to get a more and more information out of me with every ride.

It's been another long week at Mama Mia's, I have one more day to work and then I'm off for two. Though I do try to pick up any extra shifts, because I need the money if I have to move again, so I always stop by the restaurant on my days off incase they need help. However, I'm exhausted and just want to relax these next couple days so I'm not planning on even leaving my house. Hopefully the nightmares will stay away long enough for me to get some much needed rest.

Lilly seats a couple in my section so I'm about to go over there but Kate stops me.

"Hey, Ana, looks like it's going to rain." She mentions the obvious. "I'm leaving around the time you're off, want a ride?"

"Sure," I try not to giggle. She's not very subtle. "Thanks, Kate."

I turn around so I can head towards my costumers, only to nearly jumping when I see Christian walk towards me with a huge smile on his gorgeous face.

I've seen him a couple times after he asked me out, and every time I see him I wish for things to be different, that I could go out with him. I'm still a little surprised that he'd want to go out with me of all people. I mean, he's a god-like man for goodness sake, Adonis himself, surely he can have any woman he wants. Why would he want to be with someone like me? Maybe it's for Teddy's beneifit, but that doesn't explain his- um- hardness in Seattle. He's attracted to me, for some weird reason, and I am to him, but we just can't happen.

"Hey, Ana." He greets me as he sits at the counter.

"Hi," I squeak, clearing my throat before I continue. "Um. Where's Teddy?"

I've never shown how much he affects me before but my self-control is wavering.

"He's with my mom tonight, she wanted to keep him overnight so I thought I'd stop by and eat something here instead of eating alone at home." He picks up a menu and looks outside at the flash of lightening.

Thunder makes me jump before I can say anything more.

"The storm is going to be pretty rough..." He says causally.

"Yeah," I agree. It's a good thing I don't have to walk in this.

"You need a ride home?" Christian asks. "I can take you, if you'd like."

"No, I have a ride. Thanks though." I might've accepted his offer if Kate didn't ask first.

Even though I'd rather he didn't know where I live, it looks like it's going to be bad. But I find myself slowly trusting Teddy's father more and more. It helps that he's easy on the eyes.

"Can I start you off with something to drink?"

When I look up at Christian, he's glaring, but not at me. I look behind me to see what he's looking at and see Kate. Why is he looking at Kate like that? And then I realize, he must know she's going to give me a ride home and is upset.

"Christian?" I call his attention. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Coffee." He grumbles. "Please."

I grab the coffee pot and start filling his mug. After I take his order, I go to my other tables, making sure to scan the new arrivals even if they aren't in my area, like I always do.

When it storms, sometimes we're busy, other times we're slow. Tonight, we're busy. So I don't have time to talk with Christian as much as I want to. Even if I can't date him, I can be friends with him, right? He is Teddy's father after all and I adore Teddy. What harm can come from being his friend?

My shift is ending so I'm finishing up my tables as Christian gets up to leave.

"Goodnight, Anastasia." He tosses a few bills on the counter.

I blink in surprise when Christian uses my full, fake name. Not because he uses it, even though it's rare that anyone here calls me Anastasia, but because it sounds so sexy coming from him. Sounding as if it rolled off his tongue easily, like pure delicious honey. I find myself wanting to hear him say it more often.

These Grey guys, first Teddy and now Christian, are trouble. Major trouble.

"Bye." I whisper as he walks away.

...

"You ready to go, Ana?" Kate asks me once I've finished my last table of the night.

"Yeah, just a sec." I clock out and grab my tips. And of course Christian tipped me way more than necessary. The expensive clothes he bought when we were in Seattle were too much as well. He has to stop doing that, even though I could use it, I don't want to be seen as some charity case.

When I clean up where he just left, I spot an umbrella. I know it's his because I saw him come in with it. He left it for me, I know he did.

I shake my head and put the umbrella behind the counter for when he comes in again. I'll return it to him or he can just grab it.

Once I'm ready to leave, Kate and I run out to her car since it's still pouring down rain. I'm so thankful for her ride, it sucks walking home or to the restaurant when it storms.

"What are you thinking about?" Kate starts in as she drives.

I'm sure the reason she's driving slow is more to talk to me than because of the weather. She's always trying to get more and more information out of me each time it rains, since that's the only time I allow her to give me a ride home.

"Christian." I answer truthfully. I need someone to talk to about this, about him, and Kate just so happens to know him.

"So you like him?"

"It's just- he's always giving me things, like money and clothes, more so than needed for the moment it calls for."

"He does that." She agrees offhandedly. "I heard him offer you a ride home, so he probably knows you've been walking. You're lucky he doesn't get you a car."

WHAT?!

"A car?!" Surely I heard her wrong.

"Mhm. Brand new too, with all the bells and whistles, everything top of the line and proven safe. He'd even sell your old car if you had one and it wasn't safe. That's what the old Christian would do."

"No. No, no, no, no, no. No way could I allow that to happen. That's just way too much."

"Exactly my point. It's just money, Ana. Trust me, he can afford it and there's no hidden agenda."

"Well, when you put it that way... I just don't want to owe him anything." I could never afford to pay him back for anything.

"It's a tip, Ana. He's always been a generous tipper. And I'm sure if he paid you what you think is too much for watching Teddy, it wasn't enough for him. That's just the way Christian Grey is now."

"So you're saying I'm overreacting about the money?"

"Yup, pretty much." She pulls down the gravel road to my house. "Hey, what do you say we hang out tonight?"

"Tonight?" I asks surprised.

Surely she doesn't mean now, it's raining and I'm home now. Besides, why would she want to hang out at my place anyway, it's way too small and I'm sure she's use to extravagant living situations.

"Yeah," She means it. "Mia's always busy with my brother since he's in town and I have no girl to hang out with. Elliot's always saying I emasculate him when I want to talk about girl stuff."

"But it's late."

"It's not that late, the storm is making the sky darker than it normally would be at this time. We can open a bottle of wine and just talk like girl-friends."

Okay, she does have a point, it's not that late. And I know she's throwing in the wine to lure me in, but I don't have anything to drink, just some water.

"I don't have any wine." I tell her.

"I do." She grins, already getting out and grabbing a bottle that's in the back. And of course she has a corkscrew opener too. Seems Kate came prepared.

I get out as well, so she's not standing in the rain, and together we run to my porch for shelter from the rain while I unlock the door.

"What's this?" She asks of my make shift door blocker thingy. I don't even know what to call it.

"It's nothing."

"Looks like it's to keep someone inside."

It is. If someone enters my house uninvited, I can lock them in and make a run for it. It wouldn't be that difficult to break the door but this 2x4 will buy me some time.

"Shouldn't it be on the other side? You know, to keep people out."

We walk in and she sees I have another 2x4 on the inside that I use as an extra lock, and of course she starts to ask about that one as well.

"I don't have any wine glasses," I ignore her curiosity of my 'security' system. "Will tea cups work?"

"As long as it holds the good stuff, I think we'll be okay."

Kate-pov

Her small shack that she calls a house is the smallest thing I've ever seen. It's like a shoebox in here. I try to look around, attempting not to look suspicious as I do. It's a one bedroom shack, that's what it is. It's falling apart and run down, even though it looks like she cleaned it up as best as she could. There are only three rooms, the main room, the bedroom and a small bathroom. Actually, all the rooms are small. My bathrooms are bigger than this whole shack. Heck, I have closets bigger than this place.

"I don't have any wine glasses," I wouldn't think she did. I bet she has whatever was left by the previous owner, some hunter or something. The furniture here looks like it was left behind and came with her lease, too. Living in the woods all by herself must be scary, I certainly couldn't do it. Then again, I'm more of a city girl myself, but this small town is growing on me.

I should've thought about glasses.

"Will tea cups work?"

"As long as it holds the good stuff, I think we'll be okay."

Ana gets out two tea cups and together we sit at the tiny table. Thankfully she has two chairs.

"So I heard Teddy invited you to join us on the Grace when you all came back from Seattle." I start off easy.

I wont get into the juicy bits of why she's here until she's drunk enough to talk. I feel bad that I'm doing this, but I wont tell anyone anything she tells me, not even Christian, as long as she's not in trouble. Though, I have a feeling she is. Just what kind of trouble, that's the question.

"Yeah, but I had things I needed to do on my day off." She pours the wine into our teacups.

"Something tells me you wouldn't have came even if you had nothing to do." I call her bluff, accepting the teacup she sets in front of me.

"I-" She shakes her head, proving me right. "I'm better off alone."

"What do you mean? Nobody is better off alone." Christian used to think that way too. He knows now that he's not better off alone and has accepted his loved ones into his life.

"I am." She insists, taking a drink before she continues, "I shouldn't even be getting close to Teddy as I'm am, it'll be harder, not only for him, but for me too."

"You mean when you leave?"

She nods, forcing a smile as she takes another drink. I don't take a drink, I need to drive but I could call Elliot, although I have a feeling Ana doesn't want people, men especially, to know where she's staying. It's why I didn't tell Christian. I just need to get the story on this girl, it's in my blood or something to be a reporter with my father owning Kavanagh Media based in Seattle.

"Are you leaving then?" I ask her. "I mean eventually, are you leaving?"

"I haven't figured it out yet."

"Do you like it here?" I ask pouring her more wine while I continue to sip mine.

"Yes. I love it here." She actually smiles a genuine smile. "It's the best place I've found so far."

"Why are you traveling so much?"

Her smile fades fast at my question.

"It's a long story."

"We've got all night," I lift the bottle next to me. "And wine."

She shakes her head and takes another drink. That's it, keep drinking.

"So, how much do you like Christian?" I continue with my easy questions, so her guard is down when we get to the hard stuff that she's keeping hidden.

Besides, I know Christian likes her, he's never acted this way over a girl before and he'd kick my butt if I didn't quiz her about it when I had the chance to.

She blushes and I know she likes him too.

"He asked me out."

"What?!"

"I can't, though."

"Why not?"

"I just, I shouldn't."

"Yes." I correct her. "You should. You should live your life. You're single, right? He's single too, and you both like each other. There's no harm in going out with him."

"I don't know..."

We start talking about Christian and Teddy, all the things they did in Seattle, which wasn't much and I already heard it all from Teddy, but I listen intently.

...

I get the feeling Ana doesn't drink often, she's already tipsy and the bottle is only half gone, mostly from her. I'm slowly working on tea cup number two.

"Tell me, Ana. If you could do anything, be anything, what would it be?" I ask, keeping up the 'girl talk' charade. I've already told her about my interning at the Seattle Times.

"I like books." She slurs with a giggle. "Maybe something to do with publishing, maybe editing or reading manuscripts. Or I've been thinking about writing a book myself. I've always wanted to and I've been writing in my notebooks when I have free time."

She sure is talkative when she's been drinking. This is the most I've heard her talk. I think she's drunk enough for me to start my famous Katherine Kavanagh Inquisition.

I take a small sip of my wine as she takes another drink.

Time to find out what Ana's secrets are. This girl is such a mystery, not only to me, but to everyone.

"Okay," Time to switch the subject to what she's doing here. "You said you are better off alone, which I disagree, but would you rather live alone for the rest of your life, or have a family."

I can't outright ask her so I keep it along the lines of what we've been talking about.

"I don't have a family." She corrects me.

"But you could have a family. If you met someone and you had kids together, say maybe he already has a kid, then his family would be your family." I'm sure she knows I'm hinting about Christian. "So would you rather have a family, if you could, or be alone forever."

She seems to think about it, and I wonder if she's thinking about the past or the future.

"Think about it," I say when she's about to answer. "Forever is a long time, so be honest."

"What makes you think I wouldn't tell you the truth?"

"Everybody lies, Ana. They're lying if they say they don't because nobody is totally honest. Can you imagine the conversations if everyone told the truth all the time? It's like when I ask Elliot if my butt looks big in my jeans... He tells me it's not or it's perfect, but I know he's lying. People lie all the time. I'm not saying it's right to lie or not, sometimes a white lie is a good thing, but people only tell you what you want to hear. I'm a journalist major and I've learned people will tell you most of the story..." Like Christian telling me he wasn't gay when I interviewed him four years ago. It was true, but it's the story behind why he hid his sexuality that was the good part of the story. "And I've also learned that the part they neglect to tell you is often the most important part. People hide the truth because they are afraid."

What are you hiding, Ana? What are you afraid of?

"Are you talking about me?" She accuses me.

"I'm actually talking about my job." I play it off with a smile. I don't want her to kick me out and not tell me anything at all. "I told you I'm a journalist. It's my job to get the scoop of a story. I run the local paper in town if you didn't already know, but sometimes people wont tell the truth when I'm interviewing them. I mean, how am I supposed to get the full story if they hold things back? Granted it is a small town and nothing ever happens here."

"Maybe they just don't want to talk about it." She whispers. "Maybe they don't want to be reminded of it, and they just want to forget it ever happened."

"But maybe I could help." I counter, talking about her and not the paper.

She shakes her head. "Nobody can help."

"Talk to me, Ana," I beg her, taking hold of her hand that's sitting on the table next to her teacup. "I'm a really good listener."

I feel bad when she looks so sad, remembering her past. Tears are beginning to well up in her eyes until they slowly begin to fall one by one. I'm about to apologize and forget this crazy notion of finding out more about her, when she starts to speak.

"I had a friend back where I lived..."

I stay quite, listening. But I'm wondering if she's doing that thing where people say it's for a friend but it's really for them.

"She was in a terrible marriage. Her husband would hit her all the time."

Oh my god! I thought she was in trouble with the law or something, not that she was running away from someone. Not this.

"In the beginning, she told him that if it ever happened again, she would leave him. He would promise it wouldn't happen again and she believed him until he did it again. So she left him like she said she would. Only he came after her. It got worse after that. She couldn't talk to anyone, not even the neighbors. He would hit her for the stupidest reasons, like there's ever a reason to hit someone, and then blame it on her."

Her tears keep flowing but she does nothing to stop them, continuing to talk as if she's talking about the weather. It's like she's on autopilot.

I give her hand a gentle reassuring squeeze, so she knows she's not alone, as much as she claims she wants to be.

"He would always apologize, say he hated what he'd done, but in the same breath he would tell her that she deserved it because she knew better or she did it on purpose knowing it made him angry. It was always her fault, not his that he lost his temper. She tried to change, be a better wife and do things exactly the way he wanted them, but it was never enough. He would always find a reason, and it would always be her fault ... After awhile, he wanted a baby. She knew she couldn't bring a baby into that life. If she couldn't protect herself from him, how would she protect a child. So she secretly started taking birth control. And every month, when she got her period, he would be pissed and hit her because she didn't get pregnant."

I want to say something, comfort her, but I think if I did she would stop talking and I think she needs to get this off her chest. I'm not sure how long she's been on the run.

"My friend tried to get away so many times. She ran away a few times. The last time, she thought she was finally free, but he hunted her down and dragged her back to the house. He beat her again for running, put a gun to her head and told her that if she ever ran away again, he'd kill her. And she believed him. She was trapped. ... He never gave her any money, never allowed her to leave the house unless it was with him, and she didn't need a cell phone because she was with him and if she wasn't she was home and he could call her on the landline to make sure she was where she said she was. He had so many rules. ... Sometimes he would drive by the house when he was supposed to be working, just to make sure she was there, or call and if she didn't answer she would get it when he got home. He monitored everything, controlled ever aspect of her life, she had no freedom."

She's quiet for awhile. I continue to hold her hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. She's just staring off as she remembers.

"One day she woke in the middle of the night to find him sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding his gun in one hand and a tumbler of bourbon in the other. The look in his eyes that night..." She shivers at the thought. "That's when she knew, if she stayed, her husband would eventually kill her. She knew she had to do whatever she could to escape. But she would need enough money to do it, to get as far away from him as possible so he couldn't find her and bring her back. So she started working for her neighbors... They would pay her to clean and cook for them. It took her months to save up enough money but it felt like years. But she needed enough money so that she could start over again. And she did."

"Your friend is very brave." I tell her when I think she's told me all she's going to. My heart breaks for her.

"No," She disagrees. "My friend is scared all the time. She's always on the run, always moving, never settling down or living her life. She's constantly afraid, terrified that he'll find her and do what he said he would do if she ran away again. She ran away because she was scared and weak, and now she's always running." She blinks and realizes what she said. "I probably shouldn't have told you all that."

"I'm glad you told me about her, your friend." I say squeezing her hand. "And I may be a reporter but one thing you'll learn about me, I'm good at keeping secrets." And I wont tell anyone who asks, not even Christian, especially not Christian. He'd want to find the guy and hit him, possibly kill him with his bare hands. I can only imagine how Christian will react when he does learn the truth. Especially considering Christian's past.

But he'll only know it if Ana tells him.

I end up staying with her all night, calling Elliot to let him know I'm staying with Ana tonight and blaming it on the storm. I just want to make sure she's okay. The poor thing has an abusive husband who she thinks is hunting for her. No wonder she keeps to herself and doesn't get close to anyone, she's afraid to lose someone she cares about if he finds her and she's forced to leave again.

Ana ends up having a nightmare. I feel bad because I probably brought it on with my wanting to talk about her past, but I have a feeling this wasn't the first nightmare she's had. Poor thing.

I sit up with her but since the storm has passed, and I'm not drunk, she says I can leave. I'm reluctant but she insists.

On my way home, I cry for 'her friend'.