A/N: Hey guys! Sorry to keep you waiting. I have to say that the reviews are BLOWING MY MIND! Thank you for taking the time to leave them. I'm seriously excited about it. Thrilled that you are all enjoying the story so far. I'm enjoying the ride, too. So... Here's Chapter 4. I'll be updating ASAP. Hope you enjoy. :D

:) Carter

ANA

"You look great, Ana. Calm down." Kate chuckled as I decided what to do with my hair. Up or down? Down. Definitely down.

"I know. It's just that our last date was a disaster, Kate." I sighed. A pasty Big Ang took that away from me.

"I would hardly call that a date. It was lunch. Besides, he's working for it. That's a really good sign." Kate had a point. She always had a point.

"What are you doing tonight?" I asked. Kate looked awfully dressed up to just stay in for the night.

"Elliot is coming to pick me up. We're going to that carnival over on Whidbey Island." Kate smiled.

"Carnival, huh?" That sounded a lot more exciting than a dinner at a stuffy restaurant, but I refused to complain. I really wanted to get to know Christian.

"It's open for a week. I'll go again with you." A car door slammed. "I think that's Elliot right now, actually." Kate opened the door and sure enough there was Elliot with a huge smile on his face. I could see the appeal.

"Hey pretty lady, ready?" Elliot asked Kate with a bounce in his step. Kate grabbed her purse on the table by the door and smiled at me.

"I'll see you later, Ana. Have fun tonight." It wasn't even a minute later before there was a knock on the door. Christian. He must have just missed Kate and Elliot. I walked as fast as I could in heels to the front door and opened it to an expressionless Christian. There was such a difference between him and Elliot. I knew Christian didn't want to talk about his family, but it made me wonder even more about the dynamics in his family.

"Hey Christian." I smiled, his face lit up at the sound of my voice.

"Ana, you look beautiful." I blushed.

"Thanks. You look… very handsome, Christian." I started to laugh at my awkwardness.

"All set to go?" Christian asked, his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, just let me grab my keys." I ran to the kitchen counter like I was running on stilts and grabbed the bundle of keys sitting by the coffee maker. "All set." I smiled, making it to the door without face-planting. I quickly shut the door behind me.

Christian's black Audi R8 was parked under the street light out front. The shimmer of yellow light that bounced off of its curves made it more attractive if that was even a possibility.

"Hop in." Christian smirked. He got behind the wheel and I took a seat in the passenger side, buckling my seat belt and letting out a sigh of relief. So far so good.

CHRISTIAN

I knew I needed to loosen up. I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders as I drove to the Space Needle. Everything needed to be perfect. I still wasn't sure what it was about Ana, but she made me want to try for something that I never used to think I wanted. She made me want to abandon the idea that I was reduced to the role of the Christian Grey. God, she smelled good. Like Jasmine; a flower mostly fragrant during a full moon.

Traffic was less of a pain in the ass than I had planned, making us early for our early evening reservations. I swung the R8 through the valet rotary and quickly got out of the car, opening the door for Ana just like Taylor told me to do. Ana's smile was bright as she stepped out and I gave the valet attendant in a red vest the keys. His eyes lit up knowing he was about to enjoy a quick ride in a car that hauled ass. I took Ana by the hand and walked us to the elevators that would take us five hundred feet in the air to the SkyCity Restaurant. As soon as we were spit out of the lift we were put in front of the hostess stand.

"Hi, Mr. Grey, welcome. Right this way." The hostess smirked and looked Ana over. That's right, she's gorgeous, move along. We were brought over to a table covered in white linen that sat alongside a floor to ceiling window that overlooked the city of Seattle that was all lit up under the night sky. Ana's eyes grew and I knew right then that I was doing well in impressing her.

"This is beautiful." Ana said as I pulled out her chair, pushing it in at the moment that she sat down. I took the seat in front of her as the hostess took one last look at me and walked away.

"Not as beautiful as you." I was kicking myself for what sounded like the lamest line I could have said, but she blushed anyway. A stocky server approached the table to explain the wine menu, but I already knew to order the l'ecole no. 41 from Columbia Valley. He wasn't expecting for me to order our dinner so soon, but I already knew what we should get. The Meyer Ranch Prime New York Strip with peppercorn reduction, duck fat frites and asparagus. Ana didn't seem to have a problem with it. The server nodded and took off to where he came from.

"How are you doing Christian?" Ana asked. How was I doing? Fine, now that I was with her.

"Never been better." I shot her my best smile. I could sense her holding her breath in reaction. Good.

"I have to say that no man has ever bought me pills in an attempt to ask me out." What did the other guys do? I should have went with flowers.

"I just…"

"No, that was probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever done. Everyone gets flowers. It's good to know that you think outside of the box. It means you listen." Ana took a sip of her ice water from the crystal glass.

"I always listen when it comes to you." Too soon? Ana shifted in her seat. "So, tell me about yourself, Ana. Who are you when you're not Commissioning Editor for SIP?" Ana nodded as the server dropped off our wine, he sat the half full bottle on the edge of the table so we could help ourselves.

"Honestly, I'm just a twenty-something living and learning here in Seattle. It doesn't come without problems, but so far I'm surviving." Okay. Not so different from me there.

"So, you have a brother, Andrea's husband?" This I was curious about.

"He's a year older than me. He's the Art Director over at Wheelhouse."

"Advertising. Interesting. Creative family. Are you two close?"

"Very, but we're both so busy that we don't get to see each other so much." At least you have a brother you still talk to. Not sure I really care as much as I should.

"What about the rest of your family? Are they still around?" I wasn't sure why I was so curious about her family. Maybe because I didn't necessarily have one. Did this count as living vicariously?

"Sure you want to hear all of this?" Ana quirked her eyebrow. I wanted to hear about everything when it came to her.

"Of course. Anything about you that you want to tell me is something that I want to know." She looked at my funny, but continued.

"Okay. I'll make a long story short then. My birth father died when I was one, making Alex two at the time. My mother had grown up with my birth father's best friend Ray in Montesano. The two of them hit it off shortly after my father died. Ray was amazing to Alex and I during the time we spent with him. When I was nine Ray and my mother divorced, but she made sure that they had shared custody of both Alex and I so Ray could keep us while my mother left and married husbands three and four." I raised my eyebrows to that. "I know. Wonderful example she is. She really is a good mother when she's not busy double cheek kissing the socialites of Savannah with her highbrow husband Bob. We don't really talk much. The occasional 'happy birthday' or a quick 'hello, how are you doing' once in a blue moon is all Alex and I get. She lives her life and we live ours. So, enough about me. What's your family story?" It was almost as if she said it all in one breath. I knew she would ask about my family in return. How do I put this vaguely? I wanted to be honest with her, but I didn't want to drudge anything heavy up.

"Well, I was adopted at a young age. My adoptive parents are still out there somewhere with a brother and a sister who were also adopted. Life happened and I left to make something of myself." How did I do?

"Not very close with them?" Bingo.

"No. They did their job of making sure I was fed and clothed until I was eighteen, but they proved that was all I needed." I took a sip of wine and let the warmth move down my throat. I could tell that she wanted to say something, but she stuffed it back down. Just then our food came out. Ana's eyes lit up as the server placed her dish in front of her. I liked seeing her like that, roused.

"Oh my God. This is so good." Ana smiled as she took a bite of her fry.

"Good. Eat up." I wanted to watch her eat everything on her plate.

"So, back to you. Why did you come back? Didn't you have a company or a girlfriend back in New York? You must have. I mean, look at you." Ana tilted her head as she took a bite of her New York strip. She hummed when she chewed.

"I wanted to come back because even after ten years, Washington is still my home. I felt like I was running away from something. I don't run away from anything. So here I am. And, no girlfriend." I watched her facial expressions change at least five times.

"Hm, I would have thought-"

"That I was the type that never remained single or slept around?" I chuckled.

"Well, yeah. I guess I'm typecasting. Sorry." Ana shrugged. I admired her inquisitive nature. She's read too many books.

"Honestly, I have never done this before." Might as well come out with it. Ana started to laugh.

"Yeah okay, Christian. You know exactly what to do, so I doubt that." I do? I must have had a look on my face that gave it all away. "Oh." Ana looked down at her plate. Was that a problem?

"I'm glad I wasn't that obvious."

"No, you're perfect Christian. I'm having a lovely time. Thank you. So what do you do when you're not ruling the corporate world?"

"Good question. Right now I don't do much of anything. I work." I shrugged. I really didn't have many hobbies. I'm super focused is all. "I'm a book with a lot of empty pages, Ana." That was a little too deep. Ana smirked.

"Those are the best kind of pages." Ana looked right through me.

"Why do you say that?" I wondered.

"Whenever I finish a book I mourn the loss of being involved with the characters and the world they lived in because once you've read it, that's it. Sure, you can reread the book, but you've already been there, done that. The thrill is gone. To me, you're lucky if you have these blank pages because you don't have to mourn the loss of anything yet. You haven't experienced all there is to experience. You're still living and learning and maybe even loving. I think we all consider ourselves well rounded to some degree, but in comparison to what? There's so much out there and so much more for us to take in that we can't possibly be the perfect example of all of our experiences because we've never truly written our entire story. We all hopefully have a long way to go before we can dot that last period of our final sentence, but until then, we just need to keep filling pages." Holy shit. Is this woman real? What is it that I'm feeling right now? Admiration, or something stronger?

"I'm guessing it would be even better if you didn't fill them in alone." Where did that come from? I guess I'm sick of feeling alone.

"I think it was Jean Paul Sartre who said, 'Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself'. It's all up to you." Ana was way more of a thinker than I thought and that was really refreshing. I spent so much time making things work perfectly in my world that I spent little time thinking outside of myself. I don't know how good I will be at it, but maybe I could just try… Just try this with Ana.

We were idled outside of Ana's condo waiting for the other person to start with the goodbye. Tonight didn't seem to last long enough. I was left wanting more.

"Thank you, Christian. Tonight was incredible." She peeked at me through her side swept hair.

"You're very welcome, Ana. I should be the one thanking you. Would you want to do this again sometime?" Please say 'yes'. By the look on her face she wasn't expecting it.

"I would love to." Ana gave me a kiss on the cheek, her scent surrounding me. She started to collect herself. "Goodnight, Christian. Sleep tight." She smiled, before stepping out of the car.

"Goodnight, Ana." She shut the door, gave me a gentle wave 'goodbye' and went to the door. I watched as she took out her keys, letting herself in; the door shutting quickly behind her. I let out a sigh, feeling like tonight was a success. This was… really good.

I put the car in 'drive' just as a yellow Jeep Wrangler pulled into the condo's driveway. A blonde woman, who must have been Kate, climbed out of the passenger seat. She was in hysterics. Her laugh was loud as hell. The driver got out and was doubled over, something was obviously making the two laugh. As the guy straightened out, It was almost like I was having a flashback. There was Elliot, my older brother; standing right in front of Ana's condo. I was surprised by my lack of anxiety. Maybe I was just numb. I kept Ana in my mind and drove off, keeping Elliot in the place where I had always left him; out of my life.

ANA

Before I could put my shirt on I could hear Kate barreling through the front door in hysterical laughter. The deeper voice pairing must have been Elliot. I rolled my eyes and put my hair up in a messy bun.

"Well, hello!" I smiled as I padded out to the kitchen, passing Kate and Elliot in the living room.

"Ana!" Elliot smiled. He was probably the friendliest person I had ever met.

"Elliot, Kate, how was the carnival? Win me anything?" I teased. Of course the huge stuffed Koala bear wasn't for me.

"No, but how was your date with Christian Grey?" Kate said in a sing-song voice. Elliot went stiff.

"Wait, hold up! You went out with my brother?" Elliot looked panicked.

"Yeah, I just got back about fifteen minutes ago."

"How is he? How does he look? What's he like?" Elliot fired off questions. Kate's buzz had obviously worn off by the intensity of Elliot's behavior.

"He's good. Looks really good and he's… pretty incredible, Elliot." Ana smirked, not wanting to rub Elliot's face in her knowledge of Christian when he had none.

"Has he ever brought me up?" Elliot asked. His eyes grew big and morose. Any resemblance of friendly Elliot had flown out the window.

"I brought you up once. I just mentioned to him that Kate had seen you out before. He dropped the subject. Seriously, what's going on?" Tell me! Elliot plopped down on the couch next to Kate, running his fingers through his messy blonde hair.

"It's been awhile since I've talked about this with anyone. Ana, you can't tell Christian I told you this…"

"What is it Elliot? Is Christian okay?" I was getting concerned.

"Yes and no. Christian and I haven't talked in ten years because of something that should have been dealt with appropriately, but it wasn't. Just please don't bring this up with Christian. It's already really fucked up." Elliot was hesitant to talk about it. Now I really wanted to know.

"I won't say a thing. Go on. What happened between you two?" Kate and I gave him an encouraging nod.

"When Christian was fifteen he was sexually assaulted by a teacher at our prep school." Kate and I gasped. "He said it had gone on for months and that she had threatened to make it out to be his fault if he ever told anyone. I wasn't sure what to believe at first, but I swear I believed him way before he ran off. I was just too fucking stupid to make sure he knew that. He always avoided me. He didn't want anything to do with me. I was young and immature. I didn't know how to approach the subject with him. Our parents thought he was just being a shit, mouthing off and spreading lies because it was in his character. He wasn't doing well in school. He fought a lot. He was just angry and didn't care. I should have known better. He's my brother for fuck's sake. Anyway, Christian has this cell phone he got for his sixteenth birthday. Our parents never cut the line because it was the only tie we had to him since he disappeared. I think it was just so they didn't feel guilty about him being out there alone. Like if he needed something there were no excuses for him not to call. I knew Christian was too proud for that, but he never threw it out because it always rang, it was never dead and the voicemail inbox was never full. I called almost every day in the beginning. I begged in each voicemail, wishing someone would pick up. Eventually, I stopped calling as frequently. I mostly called on his birthday and on special anniversaries or when I wanted to fill him on things that were going on in my life. I missed my brother. You know? My brother became an answering machine. I would do anything to go back and be there for him. He had to of been so alone and I just sat back and carried on as if it didn't affect me, but it did. More than I knew. He left his fucking family because no one had faith in him to believe in what he was saying." Deep cleansing breaths. Kate used her thumb to swipe the tears off of Elliot's cheeks and replaced them with a kiss. This was tearing me up see Elliot like this. I had to reel back to the beginning. How it all started.

"Who was this teacher?" I wanted to fucking kill her with my bare hands.

"Her name was Elena Lincoln. She teaches History and Health at Macefield Prep in Bellevue. She's fucking disgusting. Every time I see her all I want to do is find Christian and tell him everything that I'm telling you now. I almost got arrested when I showed up at Grey House the other day. Ana, I don't want you to feel like you need to get involved, but If you get a chance, when you see him; tell him his brother believes him and that he loves him. I always have." This was fucking heavy. The lightness that I felt after my date with Christian had just been squashed. God, he ran away from his own family because they didn't believe he was sexually assaulted by his teacher. How fucked up is that? I'm already creating a hit list in my head and I just met Christian not too long ago. No one deserves that.

"That woman still works there?" That thought just hit me.

"She has been ever since. I always avoided her at school because of what happened with Christian, but she's there." Elliot sighed. He was worn out by the conversation. Wait! That woman!

"Does she have a blonde bob and looks like she had a really bad allergic reaction?" I got a small crack of a smile from Elliot and Kate loosened up.

"That's her." Elliot looked as if he wondered how I knew.

"Kate, that was the woman Christian yelled at when we went to lunch the other day!" That woman was repulsive. I couldn't believe it.

"No fucking way." Kate leaned into Elliot as she took in what I had said.

"You saw her?" Elliot asked, surprised.

"Christian and I went to Sorellina's for lunch. She spooked Christian and he went off on her. Basically wished her dead. She tried to confront him in the parking lot but his security stopped her from getting close. It makes sense now." Something in me wanted to do something about this, but I knew there was nothing I could do.

"What a fucking mess." Elliot shook his head. "For ten years I've waited to see my brother and he's in the same city as me, but I can't reach him." God, I hoped what I was about to do doesn't mess things up with Christian. It was a tough call, but I felt for them both. I thought hard about it before I even mentioned it, but if there was anything I could do, it was this. Please forgive me Christian.

"What if Christian and I ran into you somewhere?" Elliot perked up. "We could plan it."

"You would do that for me?" Kate looked at me as if I was crazy. I was.

"If it brings you two together, then yes. I don't know why I feel this way, but I think it would be for the best." I really hoped so.

"How about tomorrow?" Elliot was eager. I couldn't blame him.

"How about at the carnival?" Kate had the idea.

"The carnival." I said in finality.

CHRISTIAN

"She's bringing you to a carnival?" Taylor smiled. "I like her more and more."

"Yes, Taylor, now let's go, we're late." I grabbed my wallet off of the kitchen counter and stuck it in the back pocket of my dark fitted jeans. I followed Taylor to the elevator and in a few short minutes we were in the Audi SUV pulling out of Escala.

Last night I couldn't stop thinking about Ana. The date we had gone better than I had hoped it would. I felt a little more confident about where we were going.

"We're here." Taylor brought me out of my thoughts. I must have been in my head for at least fifteen minutes. I got out and made my way to Ana's front door. It opened immediately.

"Hi." She smiled as she shut the door behind her. She looked so good in her dark skinny jeans and a white lace bardot top. I couldn't help but take a quick look at her ass as she locked the door.

"Ready?" I smirked. She nodded and followed me to the Audi, both of us getting in.

"Excited?" Ana was a bundle of energy on the way to the ferry to take us to Whidbey Island.

"You know what? I think I am." I'm sure that was what I was feeling. Excitement usually came in the form of splitting up businesses in order to turn a profit or shutting down an overzealous conference room member.

"Good. Me too. Are you a ride person?" She asked.

"I wouldn't know." I have never gone on a ride before. Even as a kid I couldn't be bothered. You would probably find me in a fist fight with someone behind a tent at the town fair instead.

"You're having a lot of firsts with me, huh?" That was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Looks like it." I looked at her a little longer than necessary, getting lost in her profile. The bridge of her nose was perfection. Watching her mouth move as she spoke was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen. The way her eyes widened and squinted as her speech became more passionate or subdued. Her voice was sweet with just enough push to give you a sense of authority, which turned me on, surprisingly. Being in her company made time stand still. Her theories and words of wisdom blended well with her ability to speak intelligently. She knew how to push my thoughts beyond their limits. She challenged me and I loved a challenge. Having her with me made the hour and a half ride to Whidbey Island bearable. She made everything bearable.

It was a beautiful day out. It was a little after noon and the sun was at its peak. Taylor accompanied us as added security. There were a lot of people roaming around, and I couldn't be too careful, especially with Ana. As soon as we got to the ticket booth I bought us full day passes to ride as many rides as many times as we wanted. There was a ride called the Zipper that looked like a rusty conveyor belt with dented cages attached to it. It gave me the chills.

"The Orbiter is my favorite. You stick to the wall and the floor drops." Ana said excitedly. That sounded really unsafe. It looked like Taylor thought the same thing when he grunted a 'no'.

"Funnel cake?" What the hell?

"God, Christian, there is so much I need to expose you to." And she did. Funnel cake, deep fried butter, fried pickles and even fried mac and cheese. That one I needed to have Gail make for me. This was a reminder that I needed to call that kickbox trainer, Bastille, back.

It was an awful idea to eat everything that made our eyes light up before taking a spin on the Zipper. Our bodies banged against the padding the entire way around, but neither of us could stop laughing as we tried to keep ourselves in our seats. Ana wanted to go again after the third time, but I could feel a bruise forming on my tail bone and my brain needed time to settle back into my skull.

"It was a really good idea to come here, Ana." I meant that. This was entirely out of my comfort zone, but doing it with her somehow made it feel easy.

"You're handling it like a pro. Do you always make things look easy when you're doing it for the first time?" She asked, plucking a piece of cotton candy from the bag of blue and pink sugar fuzz.

"Ana you're the-"

"Ana, Christian?!" I looked behind my shoulder right before I was going to tell Ana how she makes these moments in my life so fluid. When I focused I saw Kate. Right by her side was Elliot. I looked over at Ana who looked sheepish. Taylor eyed me, not knowing which direction to take the situation. Was talking to Elliot so bad? Was this something that I needed to do to move forward? Maybe it was Ana that gave me the strength at that moment, but I held her hand and squeezed it firmly, trying to strengthen my resolve.

"Christian." Elliot approached quickly, almost as if I would evaporate into thin air, forever ruining his chance at seeing me ever again. I gave Taylor a look to stand down. I could do this.

"It's okay, Christian." Ana whispered in my direction. She sensed my tension. She had to of known about the relationship I had with Elliot. I couldn't tell if I should be angry about it or relieved that I didn't have to explain it to her.

"Elliot." I didn't think I could squeeze out a 'how do you do?'.

"Christian, I can't believe It's you." Elliot said in a hushed tone. I didn't respond. I was nearing speechlessness. "I've been trying to call you, see you. Anything to get to you." I looked between Ana and Elliot. Maybe I could find the answer by looking into their eyes. Nothing.

"Christian?" Ana shook my hand. I must have zoned out.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what to say." Taylor's nod encouraged me to say more. "It has been ten years Elliot. I really don't have to explain anything to you. Common sense would tell you everything that you need to know." Elliot's watery eyes looked up to the sky before they settled back on to me.

"Christian, It's not-" Elliot tried to finish.

"No, Elliot. It is. You chose your side and I chose mine because I had no side to choose but my own. You know… I can't." I turned myself around and took Ana with me, leaving Elliot in my wake.

"Christian, I fucking believe you! I love you!"

"Too late!" Ten years too late.

A/N: Couldn't expect them to hug it out right away, right? I know we're all looking forward to seeing the witch burn. I can't wait. Next chapter we'll get somewhere. I promise. ;) So... What's on your mind? :D Thanks again for leaving your thoughts. They help bring the story to life. ;)