A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 16: Wedding Plans

This was certainly one of the oddest situations Christian had ever been a part of.

If someone had told him, just a few weeks ago, that he would be sitting in front of a desk in King County City Hall beside a beautiful woman he had met a couple weeks ago so they could apply for a marriage license to pursue a fake marriage, he would have said they were crazy. Hell, a part of him wondered if he was crazy, but knowing what Ana had been going through with Hyde for the past few years, he would gladly go through with this whole crazy charade a hundred more times.

"…Alright, you two, everything should be all set now," the county clerk finally said, half an hour into their meeting as she stamped something on one of the forms in front of her. She was a rather severe-looking old woman with tight gray curls and horn-rimmed glasses. "Your license will be filed within the week, and you'll receive a physical copy of the certificate once you're married and the officiant files the license with our office. Do you have any other questions?"

Christian glanced over at Ana, who was biting her lip as she idly picked at her fingernails, staring down at the forms on the woman's desk. Ana had been polite yet nervous throughout their meeting with the county clerk, but Christian knew her anxiety was more about whether or not Hyde would find out what they were doing here.

Blinking quickly, Ana looked over at Christian and met his eyes. He gave her a small reassuring smile before reaching over and taking her hand, giving it a small squeeze. Ana gave him a small smile back, relaxing slightly.

"No, I think we're good," Christian said to the woman, looking back over at her. "Thank you for all your help."

"You're very welcome, sir. And congratulations to you two," she said briskly, getting to her feet and picking up the forms. "Feel free to contact our office with any other questions you may have."

"Thank you," Christian said, and he and Ana got to their feet. They made their way together out of the room toward the hallway.

The two of them were silent for several moments as they walked through the building, still holding hands. Ana was clutching tightly onto Christian's fingers, as if she were afraid to let go, and Christian gave her another reassuring squeeze, wishing he could take away her anxiety.

"How are you?" he asked quietly, and Ana looked up at him. "A little freaked out?"

Ana gave a small, nervous chuckle. "I mean, aren't you? I know we're not actually getting married, but applying for our marriage license just made it all feel so… real. It's like we're scamming the government or something."

Christian couldn't help but smile. "Well, it's rather fitting, considering how Hyde technically works for the government. Just think of it as us scamming him."

Ana giggled, relaxing a bit at that. "Okay. I'd be good with that."

They arrived at the front foyer, where several people were milling around. Taylor stood near the front doors, waiting for the two of them, and he had a rather grim expression on his face as he watched Christian and Ana approach him.

"Mr. Grey," he said once they were near. "Reynolds called twenty minutes ago to inform me Hyde is currently parked outside the courthouse. It looks like he followed us here."

Ana immediately stiffened in fear. "Really?" she asked, her eyes widening. "How did he find us?"

"I figured that he's been keeping tabs on me," Christian said, frowning slightly. "Has he left his car, Taylor?"

"No sir. It appears as if he's just sitting there waiting."

"Alright," Christian looked over at Ana. "Truthfully, I think this is a good thing. He can see the two of us leaving the courthouse together, which will clue him in as to what we're doing."

The stunned expression on Ana's face told Christian that she definitely didn't agree with his sentiment. "But… what if he approaches us? What if he tries to hurt you, or maybe do something worse? You don't know what he's capable of, Christian."

"We'll be walking out of a courthouse," Christian reassured her. "He wouldn't dare try something here, especially if he knows about the restraining order you filed against him at the police station. We also have Taylor, Reynolds, and Sawyer in our immediate vicinity to make sure we stay safe walking to the car. Trust me, the two of us will be perfectly safe."

Ana still looked very nervous, and Christian reached up with his other hand to cup her face, gently running his thumb along her cheek. She met his eyes. "Just trust me, Ana. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

Ana didn't say anything for a moment or two as she looked at Christian. She still looked nervous, but the obvious trust she had shining in her expression spoke volumes. She took a deep breath before nodding, readying herself.

"Okay," she said quietly. "Let's go."

Christian smiled before removing his hand from her face and taking her hand in his once again, lacing their fingers together. He looked over at Taylor and nodded, indicating he could lead them outside toward the car.

Taylor opened the front door, glancing at their surroundings before gesturing for Christian and Ana to follow him. The three of them stepped outside together before Christian and Ana followed Taylor down the steps and toward the nearby parking lot.

The building was in the heart of Seattle near a busy intersection, so they saw dozens of cars passing by on the road, but out of the corner of his eye Christian saw the familiar black Lexus parked on the curb across the street. He knew Ana saw it there too as she squeezed his hand tightly. They continued walking along, neither of them looking directly at it as they followed Taylor toward the car. Just as Christian predicted, Jack didn't show his face at all.

Thank God.

They arrived at the Audi, and Christian and Ana immediately got into the backseat, shutting the door behind them. Ana let out an audible breath of relief once they were inside.

"What'd I say?" Christian said, smiling at her. "I knew that slimy asshole wouldn't have dared approach us in front of a courthouse."

"I should have never doubted you," Ana said, smiling weakly back at him. "I just want to get back to your parents' house now, though."

"Mia is in full wedding-planning mode right now, so I'm sure she'll be glad we'll be back," Christian chuckled.

"Sir, we'll have to employ some diversionary tactics to make sure Hyde doesn't follow us back to your parents' house," Taylor said as he began to pull the car out of the parking lot. "Reynolds and Sawyer will follow us, but we may have to take a longer route to ensure we're not being tailed."

"Do whatever you need to do Taylor," Christian nodded, glad that his CPO was taking the threat of Hyde seriously.

"Thank you, Taylor," Ana said sincerely, glancing out the back window toward where Hyde's car sat parked. Christian realized that Ana still hadn't let go of his hand since they entered the car, and he was perfectly fine with that.

"You're welcome, ma'am," Taylor said.

They pulled out onto the road, and Christian gave Ana's hand another reassuring squeeze. She squeezed back, and neither of them let go of each other for the entire car ride home.

The next twenty-four hours were understandably hectic as the Grey's, Trevelyan's, and Ana began planning the fake wedding. Even though it was going to be a small affair, there was still a lot that needed to be done before the weekend. Grace and Margaret had immediately begun searching around for a decent venue they could use on Saturday, which was pretty difficult considering how last minute this was. Luckily, they were able to find a nice local restaurant with an upstairs room reserved for private parties and large groups. The price to reserve it wasn't too bad, and they had an opening on Saturday, so it was agreed by everyone they would book it.

Next thing to figure out was Ana's dress. Ana said she would have been fine thrifting something or just borrowing a dress from Mia's closet, but Mia convinced her to at least look around for an affordable off-the-rack dress from one of her favorite boutiques. The two of them (along with several CPOs) went shopping that afternoon at a cute little shop that actually had a section of affordable wedding dresses near the back. Ana was hesitant to pick one of these dresses, but they ended up stumbling upon a simple yet beautiful knee-length cream-colored dress that was on sale. Mia gushed over it the moment she saw it.

"Oh my God, Ana – this dress is so you!" she squealed happily, holding the dress up so they could get a better look at it. "And it's in your size too! We're totally getting this one."

Ana gave a small yet sincere smile as her eyes roved over the dress. "It is pretty perfect."

"Can we take this into the dressing room?" Mia asked the sales girl, who quickly agreed and led them over to the dressing rooms in the back.

"I don't think I need to try it on, Mia," Ana said anxiously, trailing after them toward the dressing rooms. "We can just buy it and I'll try it on at your parents' house."

"What are you talking about? Of course you need to try it on here!" Mia insisted. The sales girl unlocked the door of the first dressing room, and Mia practically pushed Ana inside with the dress. "This way you'll know for sure if the dress fits! C'mon, it'll only take five minutes."

Ana grimaced before accepting the dress and stepping inside the dressing room. "Fine, but we need to get back soon. The others are working on the decorations right now and I want to be able to help them."

"Of course, we'll be back home before you know it. Now try it on!"

Ana obediently began changing out of her clothes so she could slip on the dress. As she pulled the straps over her shoulders, she realized with a small amount of shock that it had been a long time since she had worn a nice dress like this. She used to get dressed up when Jack took her out on dates or to his fancy political donor events, but those days were long gone. A part of her mourned for that girl who had been so happy and in love, excited for her future with a man who she thought loved her, but she pushed those feelings aside. There was no use dwelling on the past, because now she had a chance at a new life.

Ana stood in front of the full-length mirror and gazed at her appearance, and at the beautiful cream-colored dress that fit her perfectly. She lightly ran her fingers down the skirt, smiling.

A second chance.

The future suddenly felt a little brighter now that she wasn't afraid.

"Ana are you done?" Mia called from outside the door. "Can I see?"

"Sure," Ana said, opening the door and stepping out of the dressing room. Mia immediately gasped upon seeing her.

"Oh my God, you look beautiful Ana!" she squealed, clasping her hands together and bouncing on the balls of her feet. "That dress is literally so perfect! Are you happy with it?"

"Yeah I am," Ana smiled, glancing down at herself. "I think this is the one."

"I totally agree," Mia said eagerly, and she turned to the salesgirl standing nearby. "We'll take this one. And if we could get a garment bag with it too, we'd appreciate it – I want to make sure my brother doesn't see it before Ana wears it at their wedding."

"Of course, ma'am," the girl smiled agreeably, and she bustled off to ring them up.

Ana wanted to correct Mia, to tell her that it didn't matter if Christian saw the dress since this wasn't a real wedding, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She instead glanced at her appearance in the full-length mirror once again and bit back a smile.

For the first time, she was actually feeling a little excited for this fake wedding.

~/~

Sawyer drove them back to the Grey Estate, and when they pulled into the circular driveway, they saw several cars parked in front of the house. Ana recognized Mr. Trevelyan's truck, but another red car she'd never seen before.

"Whose car is that red one?" Ana asked Mia as they parked near the front door.

Mia frowned in confusion when she looked at that car, but then her eyes widened in realization. "Oh!"

Without another word she opened the car door and ran toward the house. "Wait – Mia!" Ana called out after her. She quickly grabbed the garment bag before opening her own car door and rushing after her.

Mia had flung open the front door and ran through the foyer into the main room, and Ana followed her. She could hear the others talking, and there was a male voice speaking that Ana didn't recognize.

"…with all the flowers, bro? It looks like a florist shop in here," he was saying, an amused tone to his voice.

"It's kind of a long story, dude," Christian said, his voice also amused.

"Elliot!" Mia exclaimed happily, and Ana walked into the main room just as Mia launched herself at a blonde guy standing in the middle of the room with everyone else. Ana noticed there were lots of fake flowers and miscellaneous wedding decorations laying around in boxes and half-open packages.

"Hey Mimi," Elliot grinned, hugging his sister back. He lifted her feet off the ground, causing her to laugh.

"I thought you guys weren't coming around till dinnertime," Mia insisted, finally letting go of her brother to hug the beautiful blonde woman next to him. "It's so great to see you! How was the Bahamas?"

"It was amazing," Kate, Elliot's wife, smiled as she hugged Mia back. Ana noticed that she and Elliot both looked rather tan, and Kate even had a faint pink sunburn on her nose and cheeks. "It was eighty degrees and sunny every single day for two weeks. It's honestly kind of weird to be back in this climate."

"I can imagine," Theo chuckled before noticing Ana standing beside the door. "Oh, hey Ana. Did you and Mia find a dress?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Ana, and she couldn't help but blush. "Um, yeah we did," she said, holding up the garment bag.

"That's wonderful," Grace smiled, approaching Ana and taking her arm, leading her over to Elliot and Kate. "Ana, darling, this is my eldest son Elliot and his new wife Kate. Kate, Elliot – this is Ana."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Elliot smiled, reaching out to shake Ana's hand, which Ana did. Up close, she could tell Elliot was very handsome and had a wide friendly smile that immediately made her feel at ease. His wife, Kate, was also very beautiful, and Ana could already tell why they were together.

"Nice to meet you too," Ana smiled back. "I've heard a lot about you guys."

"Really? I wish I could say the same about you," Elliot laughed, glancing around at the boxes of decorations littering the area. "I know Mimi has a lot of friends, but I didn't realize she had actually roped our whole family into being your wedding planners!"

Ana didn't say anything to that, unsure of how to respond since she didn't know how much the Grey's had revealed to Elliot about her situation. She glanced over at the others, who also looked a bit awkward.

Elliot seemed to notice the weird tension in the room. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you not getting married, Ana?"

"We just assumed you were, with all these flowers and stuff," Kate added, glancing at some of the boxes nearby. "Also, you mentioned you got a dress."

"Uhm… yeah," Ana said, her face going red for some reason as she glanced down at the garment bag in her arms.

"Ana is actually our next door neighbor," Margaret piped up. "That's how we met. But due to some… unforeseen circumstances, she can no longer stay at her house. She's staying here at the Grey Estate with your parents for the time being."

Elliot frowned in confusion as he looked between his grandmother and his parents. "Okay…" he said slowly. "I'm still confused. What does that have to do with all these wedding decorations?"

Christian finally stepped forward, moving over to Ana's side. "Well… a wedding isn't too far off from those 'unforeseen circumstances' we're talking about," he explained, looking down at Ana. She looked back up at him, unable to help feeling comforted by Christian's presence beside her.

Elliot blinked, suddenly realizing the situation. He took a step back, looking alarmed. "Wait, hold on… you two?!" he asked, pointing between Christian and Ana. "You guys are...?" He turned to look toward Kate. "Jesus Christ, how long were we in the Bahamas for babe?"

The others laughed, and Christian slid his arm around Ana's waist, smiling down at her. She smiled back.

"I know, it's a lot to take in. If you two want to take a seat, we can explain the whole situation to you right now," Carrick explained, nodding toward the living room. "It might take some time, though."

"Please, take all the time you need," Elliot said, sounding dazed as he and Kate walked over to the couch in the living room. "I definitely want to hear this."

The others laughed again as they followed them into the living room.

A/N: A bit of a lighter chapter this time around :) Hope you all enjoyed it! If you did, please review.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook for teasers and updates (and the inspo pic for Ana's wedding dress). I go by the username Straw Paj. I'm also posting this story to AO3 if you prefer to read it there.