Ana clapped her hands together, like an over joyed five year old.

"Marvelous!" She contradicted her five year old behavior with such a little old lady sounding word. She quickly dug into her brown leather bag, pulling out a piece of paper that had been folded and crumpled, thrusting it at Christian. He gave it a skeptical look.

"Go on, open it. It's what I want your help with… well actually you've already started helping me with it. So I thought it would be only appropriate if we finished it together." She was smiling like an idiot- he'd say yes. She knew it. She watched, nodding her head in encouragement as he unfolded the paper slowly. The first thing he acknowledged were the word's "Ana's To Do List" Scrawled across the top in purple marker.

"Number one," He read aloud, "Conquer a fear." He looked up at her with a smirk, then continued to recite, "Number two, do a color run, three- eat something freaky. What qualifies as freaky?" He shot a wary glance up at her.

"There's this chinese restaurant down town… It serves live octopus." (A/N There's a place in my town like that so that's where I got the idea.) Christian's eyes bulged out of his head, he swallowed hard to prevent the vomit that was slowly rising at the thought of eating an octopus. Maybe she could do that one alone.

"Okay… What is this though, a bucket list? And how am I fitting into it?" He said, skimming through some of the other outrageous activites listed.

"Well number one- conquer a fear. You kind of helped me with that. One of my fears- social as I may be- is going somewhere where I know no one. So I crashed a party with a bunch of kids I'd never met. The difference is that I've never met any of those people, but at school I'd known them all for years so I was comfortable flitting around from group to group. Then was the hardest part- forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone and become acquainted with everyone there until I was comfortable. Then I saw you, and you just seemed trustworthy and you had an aura of innocence so I thought 'Why not start with him?' And, well, here we are." As she finished her little rant a slight blush rose to her cheeks, causing her to bite her lip. Christian noticed.

"So since I unknowingly helped you cross off number one, you want me to help with the rest?" She nodded eagerly.

"Yea, you don't have to- but I feel like it was a destiny sort of thing for me to find you while accomplishing number one. I feel like I'm supposed to do all this with you." In the whole two days he'd known her, Christian Grey had never seen Ana Steele look so timid.

"I'd love to." He concluded, so what if he had to eat an octopus? She was worth it.

"Aw Sunny, thank you so so so much! Dang it, you deserve some dessert!" She fanned the tears of joy from her eyes and flipped to the back of the menu where the desserts were held.

"Ana, it's eight a.m." She shrugged as if to say "So what?" Any time was chocolate time.

"Alright." He caved. There was still something he was pondering though, before he could allow himself to fully commit to this list. A moment of silence passed and they both searched over the dessert menu, when he finally decided he may as well just ask.

"Ana, why do you have a bucket list?"

"Shouldn't everyone?" She giggled. "I just want to make sure I do those things so I wrote them down. Like I said, some freaky thing could occur tomorrow. I just might get hit by a bus walking out of here. So why not start now?" This satisfied him. She was right, why not live every day to it's fullest?

"So," He started again, with more questions about the list. "Do we have to go in order?"

"No. I figured we'd do one task a week. We can add to it if we'd like." He nodded curtly, one final question still turning in his head.

"And, number fifteen…" She broke eye contact, gazing awkwardly down at her menu. "What exactly do you mean by love?" He swallowed hard.

"I was afraid you'd catch that. I mean love, Sunny. Make love." Christian and Ana were both bright red, it spread from their cheeks to their ears.

"Haven't you already…" He recalled the previous night on the roof, where she'd confessed to not being a virgin.

"There's a difference between sex and love." She answered a bit too quickly.

"And… you want me to…" He couldn't finish without the fear of spontaneous combustion at this point. This beautiful feminine creature was asking him to make love to her.

"Yea… but we'd save it for last ya know? We've got a lot to talk about before that happens- we need to know each other."

"Who am I to say no to such a wonderful propostition?" He joked. "So when do we start?" She perked up, glad that he had agreed and that the awkward sex talk was out of the way.

"I thought we could start tonight." She beamed. "My parents are throwing this big party where you dress up all fancy- and there'll be ballroom dancing. It's also supposed to storm tonight, so we'd knock out number eight. I think every girl daydreams about dancing in the rain in her best dress."

They'd returned to her house after breakfast, and had spent most of the day watching movies and picking out what Ana would wear tonight. Christian found out quickly that helping a girl pick a formal dress was the most frustrating thing in the world.

He would never tell her his actual opinion of her clothes again.

"That dress really accentuates your curves." He'd say.

"So I look fat? What about the other?"

"Well it brought attention to your eyes."

"So it was ugly?"

He'd never met such an impossible creature in his life, but if it meant they could start on that list he'd do it.

The list only meant more time with her, his beauty.

Tonight they'd planned to cross out number eight, dance in the rain. It was one of the less outrageous ones, and he didn't understand it much. According to her though, it was a girl thing. Why girls fantasized about ruining a perfectly good dress by dancing in rain was beyond him.

She finally decided on a midnight blue floor length dress with a simple jeweled halter strap. It was sophisticated and elegant and made her feel like a woman as it hugged her body in a sexy yet appropriate way for a girl of her age.

She called it her rain dress.

Christian was now lounging on her bed, playing with the tie of the suit she'd whipped up for him from God- knows- where. He glanced at her a few times, attempting not to get caught watching as she put on her makeup. She didn't need it in his opinion, but he knew it was just another girl thing.

Stick a thousand bobby pins in your hair and put on a face of makeup just to go dance in the rain.

"So," Ana said, standing from her vanity and facing the wall as she put on her last earring- a simple diamond stud. "How do I look?" She turned to face him- the finished product.

She was currently his aphrodite.

"Gorgeous as always." He didn't hesitate. She grinned with glee and bent to pick up her shoes. They were also sparkly, and had such a heel that Christian worried she might be taller than him once she had them on.

"So I'm meeting your family tonight?" He sat up on the bed next to her, where she was strapping the shoes around her ankles. He was now busy making an actual attempt with the tie.

"Yes," She sat up, pausing and rolling her eyes at him. She swatted his hand away from his neck and began to work on the tie for him. "They're very nice- though they may forget you exist after tonight. They'll be socializing with thousands of other people at the party. You clean up real good, Sunny." She winked. She stood from the bed, looking at him expectantly. He had a moment of inner anxiety as he realized it was time to go down to this rich people party- a place he was sure he'd stand out.

"I promise no one will bite you." She giggled, looping her hand through his arm as she led him out of her apartment through parts of the house he'd never seen before. Each hallway they went down was just as intricate and precisely decorated as her part of the house. They must have a hell've an interior designer. He peeked out the windows to see several people getting out of cars he only owned his in dreams, each one dressed as elegantly as his Ana.

He felt misplaced.

They pushed through a large oak door, with intricate carvings and a shiny door knob into the biggest room Christian had ever seen. It was bigger than his school's gym; hell it was probably bigger than his school.

And it was slam packed.

There were tables on one side of the room, each holding a lace cloth and a bottle of wine in the middle. There was a stage in the center of the room, and the other side was clear for mingling and dancing.

"Would you like to eat first?" Ana proposed to which he nodded quickly. He was a fifteen year old boy, when was he not hungry?

Arms still linked she led him to one of the tables that lined the walls. It was smaller than the rest, and had sparkling cider instead of wine in the noticed him looking at the difference between this table and the others.

"Daddy set this table up for me and you since we're the youngest here." She explained, sitting across from him. He picked up the menu in front of him- a freaking menu. She had a menu in her house. Sure, it was for a party, but still.

"What's this big party for?" He wondered, noting that his choices were chicken or fish with a multidtude of sides.

"It's a fundraiser. We have one every year. Ours has grown to be the biggest in the area." She had a hint of pride in her voice.

"I'm gonna go pee. Don't talk to strangers while I'm gone, okay?" He nodded quickly- ignoring others would not be a problem. She stood gracefully from the table and walked in the direction they'd come in. Christian wondered how long she'd be gone. The house was big and the nearest bathroom might not be close.

"Would you mind if I sat down?" Christian turned his head up from the menu to see an older gentleman looking down at him. The man was tall, and had dark brown hair with hints of grey at the roots. His blue eyes were gentle, and had wrinkles around them as he smiled down at Christian.

Christian nodded dumbly. He could nod to strangers, it was different than talking right?

"I'm Mr. Steele, Ana's father. I'm assuming you're the date she brought?" He extended his hand, which Christian shook.

Ana's eyes widened as she walked back into the ball room and saw Christian talking with her dad. Hadn't she given him instructions not to speak? This was exactly why she'd wanted him to be rude. She lifted the bottom of her dress from the floor to allow herself a quicker walk to the table.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed as soon as she was in ear shot. "What are you guys up to?" Her dad gave her a knowing smile.

"I was just meeting your friend Ana, it would be rude of me as the host not to introduce myself. He's a very polite young man." With that he walked away.

She glanced nervously at Christian. Something about his demeanor had changed, he looked mad. Ana couldn't be sure though, she'd never seen him mad before. His posture looked strained and his eyes were narrowed at her.

"Hello Anastasia." She gulped. He sounded mad too.

"Hello Christian. I heard some thunder while I was in the rest room. Would you like to go outside now?" He stood up, suddenly relaxed with a bright smile on his face. Maybe she'd imagined the whole thing. He offered his arm and she slid hers through once again, leading him through another large door that was in the room which took them out to a patio.

Christian concluded that this must have been the back yard. It had the patio- complete with a fountain in the middle, a garden, and off the the left a large in ground pool with a hot tub connected to it. Ana hit a button on the wall by the door.

"Out door stereo on." She said, as music started to flow from speakers that he couldn't seem to find. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the middle of the patio, by the fountain. Instinct took over, and he crushed her close to his chest, leading their way to the music.

"What did you and my father talk about." She buried her face into him as though it were the last time she'd see him- and it might be.

"Nothing much. A lot about your child hood. He said something about a gerbil graveyard- you weren't good with remembering to feed them." He said nonchalantly. Ana relaxed.

"Is that all?"

"He mentioned your attempt at being a cheerleader when you were small. Pom Poms weren't your friends." She could feel him shake lightly with laughter, before stopping abruptly. He'd stopped moving too, grabbing her shoulders forcefully and extending her an arm's length away.

He looked her dead in the eyes.

"He also said something that I feel should have been brought to my attention earlier." She gulped.

"Which would be?"

"That you're dying. That you've got AIDS."

Don't kill me.

Please.

You'll find out more about her AIDS progression in the next chapter, and why she even has it.