Title: There All Along
Author: Darley1101
Rating: R (language and sexual content)
Pairing: Alex/Izzie
Supporting Pairing: Meredith/Derek, Lexie/Mark, Jackson/April, Callie/Arizona, Owen/Cristina
Pairings Mentioned: Alex/Rebecca, George/Izzie, George/Olivia
Premise: What do you do when the only guy you have ever really loved is about to get married and the bride isn't you? That is the big question running through Izzie Stevens mind when she gets invited to her ex boyfriend George's wedding. Her first thought is to beg him not to marry Olivia; only she isn't that desperate. Her second thought is to let it go; only she can't because she loves him. Which only leaves her with one option: show him what he's missing! And what better way to do that than show up with a super hot date? Enter Izzie's best friend Alex Karev. Alex is more than willing to pretend to be Izzie's boyfriend; after all he owes her! Things get complicated though when he's upgraded from pretend boyfriend to pretend fiance.
Chapter One
Timothy and Rhonda Harmon
And
Harold and Louise O'Malley
Are pleased to announce
the upcoming nuptials
Of their children:
Olivia Michelle Harmon
And
George William O'Malley
The wedding will take place on April 5, 2010
at the Aston Montelago Resort
In Las Vegas, Nevada
With reception immediately following.
The couple is registered at Walmart.
The taste of bile filled Izzie Stevens' mouth as she read and reread the cream and gold invitation that had shown up her mailbox. It was a joke. It had to be. There was no way in hell George was marrying that redheaded pop tart he'd introduced her to at Christmas. At the time the couple had been dating less than a month and Izzie hadn't worried about the giggling little flake. George's relationships never lasted long. He went through women like they were Kleenex. In fact the only steady, long term relationship he'd ever managed to have had been with Izzie herself. Never mind that it had been in high school. That was minor detail. The important part had been that Izzie was the only woman who could hold his attention. She liked it that way. It meant she still had a chance to win him back.
A small shriek rushed past her lips as the iPhone in her back pocket started vibrating and blasting Britney Spears' Womanizer. Her fingers fumbled with the phone as she wrangled it from her pocket and tried to answer it. "Alex," she whimpered by way of a greeting. She didn't have to tell him why she was on the verge of tears because she was positive he had received an invitation as well. "It's a joke right? You had it printed up to get back at me for telling Amanda about Lucy, right? You're calling to go ha ha, got you!"
"Sorry, Iz."
That was all it took. Two simple words and whatever hope she had been holding on to crashed and burned. George was marrying the little fluff ball from Christmas. "He barely knows her!"
"He knows her well enough," Alex pointed out.
Izzie felt her brow tense into an annoyed wrinkled. She didn't need to hear that George knew Olivia 'well enough.' How well could he get to know the other woman in the three, maybe four months, they had been dating? Definitely not well enough to get married. What she needed was for Alex to take her side. She needed him to tell her that George was making a mistake. Typical that he was being too dense to see that. "No he doesn't," she insisted. "He doesn't know a thing about her! And you should have seen her at Christmas-"
Annoyance shot through Alex's voice as he cut her off. "I'm not going to do this Iz. I'm not going to let you drag me into your weird little George obsession. If you want to waste your time and life mooning over some guy that doesn't see you that way anymore, fine, just don't drag me into it."
Jaw dropping, she sank onto the little ladder back chair she kept next to her front door. "What are you talking about? I never drag you into anything! You're my best friend. We talk. We listen. We support one another." She tapped her sandal clad foot, uncertain of what to say next. It wasn't like Alex to be so negative. Not to her. Maybe to the skanks he picked up in bars but never her. He was her number one cheerleader. The one person in her life she knew she could count on to keep her secrets, make her feel better, and, best of all, knew how important George really was to her. If he suddenly stopped being that person she wasn't sure what she would do, how she would handle it, or if she even could handle it. They had been best friends since preschool. That was twenty years of togetherness, of him being her voice of reason. "Alex, this isn't us not being friends anymore is it?" Crap. Why had she asked that? She didn't really want him to answer anymore than she wanted George to marry that red-headed hillbilly.
"Cut the crap Iz. You know we're always going to be friends. We'll probably be that weird pair of friends at the nursing home who shares an oxygen tank or something." His throaty chuckle did what it always did, sent a warm rush of reassurance throughout her body. He'd always had that effect on her. Things would be bad. She would feel insecure. Alex would make it better. He was her warm and fuzzy. "All I'm saying is that you and George broke up six years ago. Do you want me to remind you of why you guys broke up?"
A blush crept into Izzie's cheeks. No, she didn't need reminded of why her relationship with George had ended. The memory was all to clear. It had been the morning after prom. Alex had thrown a party at his parents lake house and, there on the beach, Izzie had stripped herself naked and told George it was time. He had picked up her dress, handed it to her, and said he agreed. It was time. Time for them to face the fact that they weren't cut out to be anything but friends. It hadn't felt real back then, and it didn't feel real now. She knew it wasn't healthy to cling to the past, to wish for something that might not happen but damn it she loved George! Loved him. If her heart was capable of loving someone else she would have moved on with her life. She would have found a guy who made her feel all warm and fuzzy. And, she thought with a grimace, she wouldn't still be a virgin at the age of twenty-two. Call her old fashioned but she wasn't going to give it up to just anyone. Making love was sacred and she wanted the first time to be with the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
"I hate this," she whispered, not sure if she was talking about George getting married or still having feelings for him. She slumped down even further when she heard Alex let out a sigh on the other end of the line. "I don't even know why I'm still hung up on him."
"I don't know what you ever saw in him," Alex muttered. The admission was no surprise. In high school George and Alex had been polar opposites. While Alex had been a star athlete and dated cheerleaders, George had been the class brain and had only had eyes for Izzie. The two had grudgingly accepted one another for her sake but made no effort to know each other when she wasn't around. Back then it hadn't bothered her that Alex disliked George so much; she had chalked it up to them being different. Now, she was wondering if there hadn't been something more to it and couldn't help but asking. "You want me to list why I don't like George? Not sure we have the time."
"Make time," Izzie snapped, pressing the tips of her index and middle finger against the crease between her brows. It was doubtful that Alex's reasons for disliking George would effect her feelings toward her ex but anything was possible. "Please."
"Iz, nothing I say is going to matter." The gentle way his voice softened tugged at her bruised heart. He knew her so well. "You just have to make up your mind to let him go."
Rationally she knew what he was saying was true. Her feelings for George had never been rationale though. They had always been borderline out of control. Whenever she let herself dwell on the what might have been for too long she did something stupid; like call him and tell him how she still felt. He was always kind about it and always told her that he still loved her too but they were just…not meant to be. The way he hesitated always made her wonder if he meant what he was saying. If they weren't meant to be why did he keep saying he loved her? It made no sense. Unless, she rationalized, he still loved her but was afraid to admit breaking up four years ago had been a mistake. "What if I can't," she asked softly.
"Then you're going to end up the crazy cat lady because Iz, he's getting married. Not because he has to or because he's being pressured. He's doing it because he loves her." As much as she wanted to deny the words, to tell him he was wrong, she couldn't. Her mind kept going back to Christmas, when George had introduced her to Olivia. He had been so protective, so gentle, so…loving. She let out a strangled sob. Her tears had little to do with losing George, and everything to do with the loss of what might have been. "You know what, how about I come over? We'll burn the invitations and talk shit about how he's making a mistake. We'll even call and tell him we're not coming."
"No!" Burning the invitations and talking shit about Olivia…she was down for that. Not going to the wedding? Hell no. She was going. She almost had to. His whole family knew how pathetic she was about him. If she didn't show they would talk. If they talked, word would get back to her mother. And then there would be no end to the blind dates. Horrid blind dates when any single man her mother could find. She'd been down that path last year and it was an ugly path. A path full of losers who wanted to get in her panties.
"You're not seriously thinking about going to that thing are you?" Her silence made him groan. "Iz, please tell me you're going to get closure or save face. Tell me you're not going to do something drastic like try to win him back."
The thought hadn't occurred to her until she heard Alex mention it. Just as quickly as it came, it left. She wasn't going to be known as a wedding crasher. No. She was going to go to save face. And if George realized what he was missing, then that was something else altogether. Of course, he probably wouldn't. He knew he could have her anytime he wanted. That was the problem. Good ole Iz was always there. His back up plan no doubt. Well no more. She was going to show him what he was missing and what he was never going to have. But how? She was single. Embarrassingly single. On the other end of the line, she heard Alex grumbling about how expensive flying to Vegas would be. With her eyes still closed, she let his familiar voice wash over her. It left a trail of warm, fuzzies. How the hell had she missed his voice being so sexy? She tried to conjure up an image of her lifelong friend. Instead of the usual picture of the four year old boy she had met her mind brought forth the image of a tall guy with muscles, close cropped dark hair, and a smile that made panties damp. She shook the last thought off. She wasn't going to go there. Not with Alex. "Alex," she said softly, "can we go together?"
"Well yeah. Sure. Kinda figured we would. Saves me the trouble of finding a date who knows the score."
A flittering of a smile crossed her lips. Typical Alex. He was worse than George about finding the right woman. Yet George had found one, a silent voice reminded her. She wasn't going to allow herself to dwell on whether or not Olivia was the right woman for George. She needed to close that chapter in her life. She was going to close that chapter in her life. And she was going to do it with Alex on her arm. The more she thought about it, the more perfect it seemed. Alex was a hot guy. A really hot guy. One George had always been jealous of. He had always accused her of having something for her best friend. She'd laughed it off but he had been serious. What better way to get back at him for getting married than to show up with Alex as her boyfriend? "No. I mean, can we go together? I can't show up there single. You know? I just can't."
"You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend? Are you insane!" Taking a deep breath, she pulled her trump card and reminded him that he owed her. Hadn't she gone to his ex-girlfriend Rebecca's wedding as his date? Hadn't she hung all over him and giggled like an idiot? Hadn't she told everyone there how fantastic he was in bed? "You're not serious. Iz, you can't be serious! We're not talking about fooling people who didn't know us. We're talking about fooling friends. People we are going to have to deal with after this wedding. What then, huh? What are you going to tell people after the wedding when we go our separate ways?"
"We won't tell them anything. We'll just…pretend for a little while after too. And then, when things have died down, we'll tell everyone we realized we were better off as friends." It was a fool proof plan. Friends dated and then thought better of it all the time. It was a harmless game of pretend. "Please Alex. I'm begging you. Don't make me go to that wedding by myself."
It seemed like forever before he answered. She should have been relieved when he reluctantly agreed to pretend they were a couple. Instead, there was this odd little tingle in her stomach that said they were going down a trail that would change their friendship forever…
