I know I talk a lot and you hate it, I do too. So skip my talks if you really only care about the story (in which I have no objection to). I just want you to know that my profile page can be helpful from time to time, and checking it occasionally may be helpful. Just a kind suggestion, do what you want.

I post this really just trying to test the waters, I've got a lot written down for the three stories that I've started posting on here, but I'm not going to post it so soon.

The story is inspired by Four Weeks in Montesano, by annabaker71. Please go check out her story too!

Proclamation: this is a work of pure fiction, all mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, and, you know what I own.

Unwanted Birthday Present

Anastasia Steele was an ordinary college girl who wanted nothing more but to finish the last three years and get out to experience life. She wanted it to be peaceful and calm, and by that, she didn't mean by losing her virginity to a man just a year older than her, who showed up in her hometown during the summer and flipped her world upside down.

She wanted to spend that summer preparing for her course for the next academic year, and also to chill out on her own, away from the busy city of Pullman, Seattle or Portland. She wasn't even bothered with her best friends from high school and her childhood best friends. She just wanted to have some time on her own and study to make sure she was the best in her university.

One day, a man showed up in her front porch, looking lost and defeated. She took pity of him and let him in. He told her his name was Christian Grey, and that was all that they had known about each other. He was the typical boy that grew up from a rich family and was currently studying in an Ivy League school.

They sat on the doorstep and talked for the whole afternoon, he stayed the night and they talked some more. He told him about his family and his issues, and she told him about her plan. They all had plans for their own future and they all believed that it was just fling between them, their paths weren't meant to cross.

Despite mentally preparing themselves for the day, when the day came for him to leave, both of them were still upset. However, none of them showed it, they knew it was bound to happen, they were bound to be separated. Both of them believed that each other was just a special person that helped to get on with life.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from thinking of him, neither could him stop thinking about her. She had wished him good luck with his business and he hoped she would be fulfilling her own dream. Both prayed to let their paths cross in the future once again, but none of then dared to say it out loud. Their connection was special and it was something that most couple asked for a lifetime, it was just them that didn't realize what they had shared in that glimpse of time.

Her birthday, she used to be a huge fan of it, but after the short fling between her and that stranger named Christian Trevelyan-Grey, the occasion now brought her haunting memories; because the celebration following the summer fling scared the hell out of her.

Ana was initially not all that conscious about when her period would come and go, mainly due to her busy schedule to keep up with school, jobs and also other activities that would keep her scholarship as well as her wallet full enough to pay back for the loan. Taking a pregnancy test that her ever so caring roommate and childhood best friend, Kate, wasn't how she envisioned to spend her nineteenth's birthday, and it wasn't the birthday gift she would ever ask for.

She was only a sophomore in college for that matter, even though it had slowly started to become a trend for girls to marry their sweetheart and have a family by the time they graduate, but that's not how she imagined her life to turn out, she had never been a fan of a spontaneous life. She had her future well-planned, and everything would start once she graduated and begun to settle down.

Kate had threw her a birthday party just like every year they spent together, she had been showered with gifts from people that she knew, friends or acquaintances, classmates or even professors. Some had simply given her a card, and others took their time to buy her something and wrapped them in a gift box. She appreciated every gifts she had received, apart from the one she held in morning, the stick that showed a pink plus in the small screen.

When Christian said he was going to drop out and concentrate on starting his own business, he said he had been working on it by himself for more than a year already, since he started college in Harvard, he had been working on that project and had made a small amount of profit already. She thought he was just a lost boy who was hurt by his recent discoveries of his life about what he was really passionate about; she thought he didn't mean it. So when she walked into Clayton's the next day for her shift, she almost fainted when she saw his face plastered on the front cover of a magazine in Paul's hand.

"Hey, Ana. Early as usual." Paul said, putting the magazine aside as he stood up to greet her. He was a late middle aged man who had been living a single life for as long as he could remember. He was not only her employer but also a friend who could understand her when she said she never wanted a boyfriend, or never sought for a relationship.

Ana smiled briefly, her eyes leaving the page and darting back just as fast. She could feel the blood on her face draining away, and bile rising to her throat threatening to come out of her mouth.

"Are you okay? You look pale. Happy belated birthday, by the way." Paul walked closer, offering a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes, putting a hand on her forehead feeling for a temperature. She could see her as a dad, but his demeanor and the stuff he kept made him more like a grandpa than a father to her.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired from the party yesterday." Ana lied smoothly, brushing off his hand, her eyes finally tearing away from the magazine still sitting on the countertop where he had left it. Before she could stop herself, she realized that her legs were bringing her to the book and she was bending down to pick it up.

She hadn't had the energy to head downtown to a doctor just to double check just yet. Her schedule was hectic and wouldn't allow her to take any breaks. Paul had never been the one to push her to come to work, he had even offered her to take paid breaks since he said he could understand the stress she was under, but she had always declined, not wanting to get paid for something she didn't do. Staring at the magazine in her hand blankly, it had only been two months since their fling, she was wondering how much one could do in two months.

"I thought you hated magazines." He frowned, but shrugged when she didn't say anything as she brushed her fingertips over the photo of the man on the front-page. "Youngsters these days." He sighed to himself and left behind the counter to do some final check up, talking to himself as if he was already in his eighties and not in his late thirties.

Ana was still in a daze, completely unaware of the concerned looks Paul was shooting her constantly. She was still staring at the picture of the man in suit, her fingers tracing the words 'Christian Grey' absentmindedly. The words next to his picture gradually making sense to her, 'predicted to be the youngest rich bachelor'.

"To what do you owe your success, Mr. Grey." She heard, though she thought it was her imagination from the interview that she was going to read about, but when the door opened and the voices got louder, she started to come out of her trance and for once, remembered where she was.

"Ana, you okay?" Paul walked around the counter to her, ignoring the celebrity that had stirred up a lot of attention in front of his little hard-ware store whom had just entered, or more like barged in. "You seemed a bit off."

"No, it's okay. I'm good. Really, just the party, the hangover." She tried to come up with a better excuse for her entranced and obsessed gestures toward the magazine earlier, but she was thankful when Paul didn't question further even though he knew she wasn't telling the truth. Though she didn't drink any alcohol yesterday, because she didn't dare to do so if the stick she held in the morning was speaking the truth.

"Well, in that case, you should probably start your shift." He suggested kindly, pointing at the customer who was obviously pretending to look at the stuff on the shelves when in actual, he was eavesdropping their conversation.

"I should." She muttered under her breath to herself, making her way to the customer that she didn't register the identity of.

"Hi, um, how can I help you?" Ana cleared her throat behind the male who had his hands in his pockets and his eyes wandering up and down the shelf in front of him, displaying cable ties.

Upon hearing her voice, he froze on his spot for a split second before turning around to look at her. The speed that he turned in could give him a whiplash if he had longer hair.

"Oh, hey." She lowered her eyes, afraid to make direct eye contact with him when she recognized him immediately.

He, too, was loss for words.

"I thought when you said you're dropping out, you didn't mean it." She cleared her throat again, trying to clear the awkwardness hanging in the air at the same time.

"I meant it, I just don't see the reason to keep attending school when I've got everything to let my project thrive in the real market." He corrected.

"So… how did that go?" She was just trying to keep the conversation going because the silence was creepier than an awkward conversation.

"So far so good." Was all he said, she groaned inwardly. How the fuck was she supposed to keep up a conversation with a guy who would barely say more than four words in an answer apart from the first sentence.

"I'm going to Harvard next year." He looked up with curious eyes that made her extremely uncomfortable. "For exchange." She added to clarify.

"So you got that?" There was something in his eyes that looked like pride but she couldn't be sure.

"How'd you…" Her voice faltered as she tried to figure out why would he know about her struggle and desperation to get the exchange position.

"You told me."

"Right, I forgot I ranted about it to you." She muttered to herself in embarrassment.

"Business and law." He said more to himself than to her. They were her majors and the offered courses at Harvard were good in these areas apparently.

"Yes, you still remembered." She didn't know what else to say and he nodded fondly, the conversation was heading toward another awkward silence. "So what are you looking for in here?" She decided it was the end of catching up, maybe he actually wanted nothing to do with her, the lame college girl that got laid for the first time during her freshman year summer.

"You." He declared, his eyes looked full of determination.

"I'm sorry, what?" She gaped.

"I'm looking for you, Anastasia." He repeated, this time, sounding more confident.

"Excuse me? I mean, why?" She stuttered.

"Because I missed you." He replied as if that was the most obvious answer.

"It's not apparent to me." She muttered to herself under her breath, but he caught it.

"How did you find me?" She beat him to be the next one to make a sound.

"It's not hard to find a person especially I know you haven't graduated." He kept it short and vague, which wasn't at all helping her ease her discomfort. Shuffling in her feet from side to side, she contemplated on what would be the best thing to say to him next, but was again interrupted. "Are you free?"

"No." She answered too quickly for him to believe that her schedule was actually packed.

"I haven't even ask you when." He thought she was avoiding him purposely.

"I'm not purposely avoiding you, trust me." She held out a hand trying to diffuse the tension that had started to build up.

"It sure sounded like that to me." He shrugged nonchalantly, but that move annoyed her more than she would admit, perhaps because of his not bothered attitude.

"My schedule really is tight. I'm really sorry." She argued, wanting to delve further into her daily life before she was infuriated by the look on his face. "I thought you would know that since you've obviously looked into me." She regretted what came out instantly. She didn't know how they've managed to turn the awkwardness into something heated.

"Well I'm sorry if I am trying to reach out to you after what I thought was an incredible time we had spent together just merely two months ago." He took a step closer to her, backing her up against the shelf behind her. "Yesterday was your birthday and I wanted to be there for you, but I can't get out, so I was hoping to take you out tonight."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." She apologized in a small voice, even though her pride told her not to, she was just scared of him. "I would really like to go out with you, but I had to go play tennis right after this. Then I have volleyball training at night. I've got a morning fitness training with the team, then a whole day of classes tomorrow and I will be playing tennis all afternoon, so when I get back to my room I only want to sleep. So I do apologize if my daily schedule allowed me no time to socialize." She started off in a small voice but as she went on, her confident built because it wasn't her fault that she had to do all that because she was poor; she had no idea why she wanted this stranger that stumbled into her house in the summer to understand how much she needed those extracurricular activities.

"Why do you have to work yourself up like that?" He only meant well, and she knew it, but she couldn't help but feel a little offended.

"Because I'm not fucking rich like you, I for one, has to work to pay my tuition loan even with the scholarship." She shouted in his face. Maybe it was her abnormal hormonal activities, or maybe it really was his presence that made her felt uneasy. Thinking about hormones, she thought of something else that had been distracting her.

He looked at her dejectedly, then strode past her, squeezing through the tiny space between her and the other shelf, he walked out of the store.

"Did you just scare a customer away?" Paul came back from the door looking dazed and confused.

"He's not here to buy anything anyways." She rubbed her temple, trying to make the reply in her mind stop.

"He's the guy that flipped your world." He suddenly clicked, she nodded in defeat with a sigh, covering her face with her hands and leaned against the counter to get everything out of her mind and calm down.

"How the fuck did you figure that out?" She wasn't expecting him to answer to her outburst, but he did.

"The way you stared at that magazine when you first came in." He shrugged, still keeping his patience, she had no idea how he could be so calm when she was taking out her anger on him.

"He can't just come back and thinks he can whip me away with a snap of a finger just like how he's doing with his career, I have a life that I need to sustain. When I'm finally back to normal, he comes hurtling back to me; that's just so unfair!" She shouted, pulling her hair in frustration after the little rant. "I'm sorry." She was then faced with a wide-eyed Paul staring at her with an expression that was in the middle of amusement and worry.

"No, don't apologize, dear." He put up a hand to stop her from starting another rant.

"I know I shouldn't be blaming him, Paul, we both knew it would be just a short summer fling. We were just dumping out sorrows and worries on a stranger that's all. I wasn't expecting to see him anyways."

"But you do have feelings for him." He pointed out, closing the cabinet behind them and putting on the lock, it was his own personal cabinet where he store his favorite magazines and articles, she didn't even know why would he put on a lock, it was just a bunch of scholarly articles that she didn't know anyone would be interested.

"Yeah, and I'm not going to lie about that, it's just that–" she didn't finish when the next customer walked in. Paul gave her an eye, telling her to attend the new comer, and they would finish the conversation later. Rolling her eyes, she went off.

There was something nice about Paul, he may look like an old man when he was only a late middle aged shop owner that lived the most simply lifestyle. He didn't like what normal people in his age would do, he prefer a slow pace in life and he would prefer a day in a cozy wood house in the middle of nowhere with a cup of coffee and some articles in his archive than spending a day in the office worrying about something that had nothing to do with him apart from his income. He was a down to earth man, yet he was also up to date about the vulgar slangs, the trending sayings nowadays and the catchy phrases in recent modern cities. He didn't have any social media and he rarely browse any internet yet he was well aware of the small things that went around. He may not know who Jennifer Lawrence was, but he knew there was Hollywood.

Paul Clayton liked normal and peaceful lives, he never bothered himself with finding a pal, let alone a partner for life. He could understand Ana's mind like a teenager and laugh with Ana about some silly jokes shared between youngsters, to her, he was never acting his age. She was never scared of hiding anything from him, and he would listen to her ramble on and on about the last tennis player she had played with and how bad of an experience that was. He would talk to her about her majors, and they would talk about books. There was always so many topics and subjects that they could talk about, their relationship was chilling and steady.

"Enjoy your day, ma'am." Ana said to the retreating figure, closing the cashier drawer and feeling Paul's eyes had fallen on her once again. "Stop staring at me, you're giving me creeps today."
"That's because you're creeping me out today. You're acting all eerie today." He sat down at the chair that he was in when she first walked in at the start of her shift.

"I know, and I've told you it's because I'm tired from the partying yesterday." She avoided making eye contact with him, even though she could lie through all her life, being the best liar and all -which wasn't a good trait- she felt guilty about not being completely honest with the plain, old man in front of her.

"Don't take any offense here, but you don't look hungover. Just making my observation." He stated with his arms raised when she gave him a shocking look, as if he had invaded her privacy.

"Yeah, well, things weren't going as I anticipated lately." She sighed, it wasn't exactly fake, but it wasn't the entire truth either. So far, there wasn't anyone, apart from Kate, that knew about the test that came out positive.

"You know I'm all ears right?" He said, offering a shoulder to lean on, or more like offering a listener to her newest rant. Usually, this would be the time that she started to rant his ears off about her latest academic 'fail', but today, she just nodded and continued to go through the pile of bills in front of her that she knew was already cleared and tidied. She just wanted to keep her mind occupied before her shift ended.

"Who are you playing with today?" He asked, in an attempt to loosen her up. She had always had a passion for the only two sports that she was extremely good at, but not the only two that she played.

"Same as last week. We just stopped because it's summer. He said he enjoyed playing with me, and I don't mind playing with him, since he gives me more pay than any other clients and he's decent." She shrugged, seemingly less stressed once she got her mind on tennis.

"Then do you have a game some time soon?" He asked, referring to the volleyball team at school. She was the first freshman captain in the school history.

"Yeah, I think so. I'll have to check with Kate, but I think we have one some time next week?" She tilted her head, trying to think, but with her tiring schedule, she left all the plannings and calendar to the vice captain, Kate to fuss over. It wasn't unusual for a freshman to be a vice captain or a secretary for a varsity team, but it was certainly a first for a freshman to become captain of a school team; especially a team with the best reputation.

"When are you going to Harvard?"

"How do you know I'm going?" She raised an eyebrow at him, resting her elbows on the counter in front of her. Clayton's wasn't a popular store and there weren't many people in town that would come here often, it was only the few people that come and go each day who would buy a lot of stuff at once that made the store's profit. They were mostly left alone throughout the day, and everything was quiet, it was just the two of them; that was also one of the reasons she insisted on coming here everyday even when she didn't feel like moving out of her house.

"I heard you talking to Mr Grey." He let a rare small smirk rest on his lips, that made Ana even more annoyed, but it was what he liked to do. He would tease her about a man that he thought had a crush on her, just because it would irritate the hell out of her. She hated to be in the center of attention, she hated spotlights, it was for Kate and not for her; at least that was how she always wanted to believe, even though Paul and Kate both suggested otherwise.

"Of course you did, of course you're there to eavesdrop." Ana shook her head but couldn't keep the small smile off her face as she looked down trying to hide it.

"I didn't know I was eavesdropping a private conversation, it wasn't a pillow talk and it's in my store, so I thought it's work related." He was now playing the innocent card that would not suit his appearance age, nor his real age.

"Anyways," she rolled her eyes, raising her voice just slightly to get his attention so they could move on, he chortled at her attempt and let her talk, "yes, I got the position, and I will be going next year. The exchange is for a whole year, at least that's what I've applied."

"So does that mean, I get to pay one less bill?" He joked to mask his slight disappointment.

"I'll come back on my fourth year of college, and I'm sure I can still work for you." She tapped her finger on her chin trying to cheer the old pal up, she would really miss the job and talking to him.

"Nah, I'll be fine, just be sure to come and visit me when you can. I'll invite you to my cottage some time." He dismissed her easily, "you have a future and a bright path to follow down, so I will be here to support you."

"Will you need a hand while I'm gone? I can get one of my classmates or teammate to come down and help out?" Ana offered, she really didn't want him to be all by himself all the time when she was gone. She really enjoyed the company of this 'old' man.

"I think I can manage. There's only a handful of people coming in and out everyday, after all." He waved an arm gesturing the small crowded shop.

"Okay, but if you need anything, just tell me." Ana thought that was the least she could offer to a man who had been there for her to listen to all her stories, whether bitching about a classmate or a teammate, or simply just school, and never judging her. He was like this old grandpa that she had never had in her life.

"How did your interview go?" He changed the subject swiftly when their last one was dying down. "For the school Ambassador."

"Oh, I got it." She said, her eyes looking bright and shining again. "I never told you, but I got the news last week telling me that I am officially an Ambassador for Washington State University."

"Knew you'd do it, kiddo. Told you you've got potentials that no one got and with your grades and everything, the school would be stupid not to let you represent them. You're their model student."

"I'm not sure how to take that many compliments from you in one day, but guess what, I am their model student. That's why I got to go to Harvard for a whole year, and I get to stay with someone in their apartment over the weekend, I don't have to be stuck in school campus. At least that's what they've told me so far, but it might change since it's still so early." She was suddenly so excited about next year and her worries were gone for a brief moment, imagining herself in Harvard and learning about all kinds of new knowledge and experience that she wouldn't obtain in Seattle.

By the time she got back to her dorm, it was already late at night. She had grabbed something with the tennis player to eat, since they played a little bit over time today, and he had so nicely dropped her off at school.

"You're finally home, I thought you're going to spend the night with him too." Kate came out from the bathroom to greet her. "How was your date?" She wriggled her eyebrows teasingly.

Ana rolled her eyes. "It's not a date. Kate, we just played a little longer than usual." She knew her best friend was just joking, and she didn't need to correct her, but if she did't Kate wouldn't shut up.

"Are we still going to the hospital tomorrow?" She asked once taking the hint that Ana wasn't in the mood for jokes and teases.

"What hospital?" Ana asked automatically while trying to think of the reason herself. "Fuck." She cussed, throwing her bag on to the mat in the middle of their room and groaned loudly as she thumped down on to the sofa. "I totally forgot." She groaned into her hands. There was an undertone in her voice that reminded her that she had left out this part of her schedule to Christian for a reason when he cornered her today.

"You look like you've seen ghosts lately, are you sure you're okay?" Kate asked, looking away from her iPad which had their calendars, plopping down next to her, folding her feet under her legs.

"That's because I have." Ana replied barely in a whisper.

"Is José's still asking you out? I swear that guy needs to get over his crush, he needs to realize that you're only ever going to be friends with him. He's friends with us for as long as I can remember, why is he suddenly so damn determined to be more with you? Maybe he's always got a crush on you, but I just can't foresee a relationship between you two. He's just not your type." Kate was so wrapped around her mind as she kept blurting out, Ana just sat there zoning out, not giving a shit about what had been coming out of Kate's mouth lately, she would wait till she was finished.

"I didn't see him since yesterday, Kate." Ana spoke when she was finally done and waiting for Ana to start judging on her theories and opinions.

"Not him?" Kate still didn't regret saying all the stuff about their closest male friend, but she was now more intrigued than before. "Then who?"

"Christian." Ana muttered to herself, looking at her fingers in her lap.

"Your summertime sadness?" Kate had sympathy in her voice, because she had been in an on and off relationship with her boyfriend since high school. They were trying long distance now in college but would meet up once in a while to test their chemistry.

"He asked me out today, saying he wants to celebrate my birthday with me, even though it's a day late." Ana didn't know that there were tears in her eyes when they entered her mouth as she opened them to speak. Thinking about the tenderness in his voice and the way he was looking at her, it was a longing look, and that made her even sadder that she had turned him down. "I lashed out because I thought it was unfair for him to just come back and whip me away after I finally got over him and persuaded myself that I'd never see him again for the rest of my life."

"Does he know how much he had affected you?"

"I don't know, but the way I turned him down, I was so rude, but I couldn't help it."

"Then will you reach out to him? Maybe you can get him to go out with you for lunch and you two can talk." Kate suggested kindly, but Ana shook her head.

"I don't have his number. We didn't exchange it since we thought it was only going to be a fling. I didn't want it to be more, I didn't want anything more but I just can't help but feel more than I should when it comes to him."

"Hey, I get that, okay. I don't know why I can't just break up with my boyfriend and move on, because we don't control who we fall for."

"I'm not falling in love with him. Yes, he's a good looking, successful bastard, and rich fucking asshole. Yes, he's nice and gentle and everything a woman craved for, but we're not meant to be together. We're not even meant to see each other."

"But he came looking for you, doesn't that explain something to you?" Kate offered, she could be an expert in relationships sometimes, in spite her suggestions might be a little disturbing and weird sometimes, she was still more experience than Ana nonetheless.

"Then if he wanted me that much, he'd be able to get my number too." Ana sniffed, hoping that he would have her number and reach out to her one last time. "I promise I'm not going to push him away this time if he ever finds me again." She silently took the oath.

The pregnancy issue will be addressed. Next chapter is at Harvard, just pretend that she's there after her birthday, say in the middle of September, for the sake of this story.