The room exploded into action.

There was an angry pounding sound as Christian thrashed against the ground like a fish fresh out of water. Elliott clenched his teeth and tried his best to keep his brother down, but of course, Christian's daily work out sessions kept him fit. 

"ELLIOTT OUT OF THE WAY." Christian demanded, eyes raging with an intense grey. 

"COME ON BROTHER." Elliott begged, pinning Christian's sides down. "JUST COOL DOWN, WILL YOU?"

"I WILL BREAK YOU APART, GREY!" Kate yelled at Christian from the sidelines, but Elliott's head snapped up for a brief moment as if unsure if she meant him.

"I WILL HURT YOU, ETHAN!" Christian barked. 

Ethan, who was standing right beside me, seemed to have blended into the wall. He shot me a gaze for a brief moment, rolled his eyes slow, and then shrugged. "Come get me, Christian, i'm right here." 

Elliott turned to glare at Ethan, "Don't you dare start." 

"Don't YOU try!" Kate jutted her finger at Elliott. 

"Guys can we just stop?" I tried to say, but it was drowned out by the commotion. 

"PLEASE LET ME GO!" There was a subtle change in Christian's voice, a different pain. A deep pain.

My eyes found him immediately. Christian had an immense look of suffering scrawled across his face as Elliott's palms pressed against his chest to keep him down. His chest! I gasped. I sprinted to shove Elliott's palms off Christian, memories of the agony of anyone touching his chest haunting me. 

"Hey!" Elliott huffed, shocked at my sudden tackle as he tumbled to Christian's side.

In that moment, the room fell to silence albeit heavy breathing on both Elliott and Christian's part. Christian lay unmoving on the floor with his arms by his side, still reeling from his version of hell. I could imagine the torture he had been through, and it brought sadness to my heart because I had not realised that even Elliott was not privy to Christian's depressing past.

It was me. Just me. I was the guardian of his childhood of abuse.

"Anastasia Steele!" Kate snarled. 

The two brothers on the ground turned their heads to look at each other, still breathing heavily. It was Elliott who broke the ice, "You good, bro?"

Christian gave him a smug look, "If by good you mean I won't tear Ethan over there into pieces... then yeah."

"Good." Elliott nodded, before leaping gracefully onto his feet. He offered Christian his hand, and Christian took it. 

When Christian turned to face the rest of the room, it was like he had transformed back into his professionally manicured Christian self. He brushed off the dust and dirt on his clothes and gave us a reassuring smile. "Kate." He greeted. 

"Oh fuck off." Kate greeted back, a hand on her hip in displeasure. 

"Let's go, Kate." Elliott came by, and against her wishes, picked her off the ground and threw her over his shoulder. She protested the best she could, but Elliott brought her outside anyway.

It was now Ethan against the wall and Christian in the living room. I remained in the middle, lost as to what my next move should be. Neither of them seemed aggressive, but I knew Christian would find any excuse to engage if possible. As if he heard my thoughts, Christian stepped towards Christian.

"Christian." I interrupted whatever plot he was brewing, stepping in between them once more. 

He glanced at me for a brief second before turning his attention back to Ethan. "Would you mind giving us a while?" 

"I don't think that's a great idea." 

Christian clenched his fist, and his jaw hardened ever so subtly.

"Ethan." I had to prevent another tussle from occurring because I did not know where Christian would stop with Ethan. "Just a bit, please."

Ethan's eyes read caution but I shook my head at him. This was the way I had to do things. With Christian, it was always about communicating. I had to try and bridge that again, in hopes of not only defusing this tense situation but also potentially rebuilding what he and I had lost. 

"I'll be right outside, Ana." Ethan said to me, but we all knew his words were directed at Christian.

There was a shuffle of noise and then a click of the door as it pulled shut. I could feel my heart climb in anticipation. My hands went clammy as I was now aware that it was just me and Christian. The last time we had been this close in proximity was in the apartment, and it was such a painful moment to think about. 

It was so difficult for me to think with him here. When I was away, when I was with Ethan, it was easy to think I could walk away from this man. Yet, when I am around him, I knew that my feelings had not changed one bit. I loved him with my whole heart, I loved him so much that I hated myself. I was a fine line away from forgiving him, for letting us move on from this blip in the rest of our lives. 

His eyes finally reached mine, a grey that scorched through me. "Ana."

As my name rolled off his tongue, my body shuddered involuntarily. In return, his eyes tightened with sorrow at what he had singlehandedly destroyed. I could feel my eyes burning up as I kept our gazes interlocked. This was so hard. I tried to remind myself to breathe. 

"Baby." He cooed, offering a hand out to me. 

I was paralyzed. My mind was blank.

Christian swallowed. I could see his mind going into over drive thinking of all the things he wanted to say, all the routes he could take. Yet, he was breaking down by the second. For the first time in a while, he was not in control. My mercurial man in his high tower with all his people under his thumb could not make me do as he wished. 

He took a step towards me, trying to close the gap. I took a step back. In the same second, Christian dropped to his knees in front of me, palms on his thighs in a posture of absolute surrender.