Here's a fic that I have been thinking about for a while. I know that Meredith is in love with Derek and vice versa but sometimes love isn't enough and there are obstacles and people that get in the way of that – I am still the biggest Mer/Der fan out there but I just wanted to test the waters with a Mark/Mer fic. So this fic will have your Mer/Der and Mer/Mark (eventually) and Addie/Mark. Can't do the Addie/Derek thing…sorry guys but you get the gist. We will most definitely have triangles galore…hey and Addie (since I don't hate her – I actually love her as well) will finally be happy with someone, who only time will tell.

So without further ado…this story takes place right after Meredith's surgery (3.04 is it?) and Mark and Meredith's encounter in the hallway. By the way, I thought that was one of the best scenes ever and one of the funniest too!

I do not own these characters, I just let my creativeness take over and give them a life that I would want to see in them – they belong to Shonda and ABC and the rest of their owners, I just like to borrow them for a bit.

Happy Reading!

Pleasant Surprises

Chapter 1

Dr. Mark Sloan sat in one of the chairs that was right next to the nurse's station on the 4th floor and observed the action right out of Meredith's hospital room. She had her appendix taken out about an hour ago and since then the vet had not moved an inch and Derek had remained by her door when he wasn't paged or when he didn't have to check on a patient. It was incredible how much trouble Meredith seemed to get into, he thought to himself as he found the beginnings of a smile form on his lips. Two men; two men were after her at the same time and they both knew about each other – talk about good luck. They were in competition for her affection and she was open to the both of them. Damn…where had he gone wrong? He wanted her luck, hell he just wanted Addison to want him as much as these two men wanted Meredith. Maybe it was time for Meredith to find happiness.

He was a little worried about her as well if he was honest with himself. Since that day at the bar when he had talked to her and she so openly told him that Derek was not the type of guy that you leave he had liked her – her honesty, her personality, her desire for Derek to choose her made her vulnerable and by God she was beautiful. That's why he had approached her the first day at the hospital when he went to see if Addison would come back to New York with him. Had he known that Meredith was the intern that Derek had fallen in love with he might've not flirted with her but she was there and looked beautiful and he had to at least know her name – if anything her name.

Now so many things had happened – good and bad -- that she almost had her wish. Derek and Addison were over and Meredith had every right to make a move for him but she hadn't. She couldn't decide between the vet and Derek…damn what was the vet's name? Oh well…the vet. She had decided to date both of them from what he had heard and he smiled at that. She was making Derek chase her, as well she should. She couldn't fool him though. She wanted Derek – even if she denied it to herself she wanted Derek but was probably too afraid to trust him again. Who could blame her? He had nearly destroyed her when he chose Addison.

This was both their opportunity to get the love of their lives but apparently she had made a lot more headway than he had with Addison. But that was all right – now he had an open road as well and Addison was fighting hard to not be with him but the way they made love these last few days and the way she reacted to him at Joe's Bar (slapping him)…well he knew that she wanted him, she was just fighting it because she felt guilty.

He abruptly turned his head as he saw Derek walk into Meredith's room but not before seeing him hesitate for a second. No one else would have noticed his momentary hesitation but Mark knew him better than anyone and something was up with him – he just didn't know what. He saw the vet get into the elevator and raised up his brow…he was giving them some time alone, nice, vet, nice, but a mistake. See…there was a happy medium between nice guy and bad boy. If you found the happy medium then you would be all right. He still hadn't mastered it and knew perfectly well he fell into the bad boy type and even surpassed it sometimes. It was okay he had never had a problem with women and still didn't – it was that lately he had fallen for the wrong ones: his best friends wife, to name one of them.

"What are you doing here?" Addison asked him, curtly. He started for a bit but didn't show it and he almost laughed at how he had learned to be calm in situations when he got caught. He turned to her, looked up and smiled widely. "Sweetheart…I was just waiting for you and looking at the interesting dynamics that come into play in Dr. Grey's hospital room."

"Don't call me sweetheart." She said pointedly. "Why are you spying on Meredith? What, you want her too now?" she said, trying to not sound jealous but perfectly well knowing that she was not succeeding. Was she actually jealous of Meredith? Because of Mark? Come on…that was not possible.

"No." Mark said and then laughed. "Addie, you know that the only damn women I want is you." He said, as he got up and stood in front of her – with barely any personal space between them. "No need to get jealous or give yourself another reason to hate Meredith."

Addison tried to move away, she really did try, but her body was not listening to her head. She knew she needed to move back but she didn't – she couldn't. Having Mark so close to her made her nervous but not only that…she felt giddy and with butterflies in her stomach – much like she felt when she had a crush on a guy in high school. Unbelievable. "I do not hate Meredith." Addison stated feeling like a bucket of cold water had just been thrown at her and thinking back to her conversation with Meredith when she had been so high on morphine that she didn't know what the hell she was saying or to whom.

"I talked to her." She finally said as she sat down.

"Who?" Mark questioned as he sat next to her.

"Meredith." She said, as she turned to look at him and half smiled. "She was high." Addison said as she shrugged her shoulders. "I was going to walk away Mark, I really was but something made me stop."

"What?"

"Her sincerity. That probably was going to be the only time that Meredith would be in front of me and able to tell me the whole truth of her feelings for my husband and although I was unsure if I wanted to hear it or not, I needed to know – for my sanity and for hers. Besides, she wasn't going to remember it afterwards."

"So?" Mark prodded. He knew that Addie had to tell him at her speed but he wanted to know. It was imperative that he know what had transpired between the two.

"She asked me how I knew that I made the right choice in picking Derek over you."

"Really?" Mark asked surprised.

"I told her that I truly didn't know if it was the right choice or if I chose the right man I only knew that Derek would never hurt me." She said, as tears filled her eyes. "I told her the truth. Why not right? She was high."

"But he hurt you." Mark interjected. He decided not to ask if she thought she made the right choice between him and Derek. There would be time for that.

Addison looked at him and smiled. "You know what she told me?" she asked. At Mark's shrug of his shoulders she continued: "But he hurt me. When he chose you he hurt me. How can I choose him? I want to choose him. I want him to be the one. Meredith was telling me the truth of her feelings and how deep her love for my husband ran. How ironic is that?"

Mark didn't know what to say. Addison looked at him and at his stunned silence, continued: "I walked out the door and bumped into Derek and saw his face fall when he saw me walk out of Meredith's room. I don't know what he thought but I wasn't going to go in, Mark, I swear I wasn't. Meredith saw me pass her room and called out to me. Sure I could've pretended that I didn't hear her but I did and she was high." She repeated. "She was going to tell me the truth whether she liked it or not."

"So what did Derek tell you?"

"Were you in Meredith's room?" she responded. "That was it. I told him to not hurt her anymore than he had already hurt her and his face was priceless, Mark. He did not know what to tell me. I don't know what he expected but he certainly did not expect that."

"I didn't expect that." Mark said truthfully. "So tell me Addie, did you finally come to terms with the fact that your marriage is over or are you going to keep fighting a losing battle?"

"My marriage has been over since the day Derek found you and me in bed together in our home." Addison stated, finally letting that reality sink in and causing her heart to break into a million pieces.

"Okay." Mark said as he put his arm around her shoulder and she let him. He felt so warm, so soothing and so wonderful. She let herself be held and finally gave in to what she was feeling and put her head on his shoulder. "I don't want you to think that you and I are fine because were not Mark." She said.

"I know." Mark said, honestly. "You need a friend, I'm here."

Okay so I know that there was no one else but Mark and Addison in this chapter but all the characters will come out to play eventually. Let me know your thoughts on this fic and if you like it or not.

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