Chapter 1
"So you're the new tenant huh?" Callie asked as she turned around saucepan in hand. Alex offered her a smile before raising his glass of orange juice in acknowledgement of her statement and thanks for the pancakes she had slipped onto his place,
"What are you doing here?" he asked a moment later leaning back on one of the stools that surrounded the kitchen island,
"Just got here. George is grabbing some things he forgot so I thought I'd make myself busy" Callie replied turning back to the stove. Alex watched her back for a moment, his eyes catching the way hers had flitted to the stairs with uncertainty. He opened his mouth to say something but the orthopaedic surgeon cut him off,
"Hey how's your Jane Doe patient? Mark was saying he might have to operate" Alex nodded after scooping up a forkful of pancake.
"We might need you on it" he replied and Callie nodded before their attention was commanded by a louder voice upstairs,
"ALEX IS MOVING IN MEREDITH?...TO THIS HOUSE?"
"WHY WOULD YOU WANT THAT? WHY WOULD YOU LET HIM OF ALL PEOPLE MOVE IN? I WAS NAKED IN THE BATHROOM WHEN ALEX WALKED IN" the corner of Callie's lips quirked upwards as she raised an eyebrow at the seated man in front of her who simply rolled his eyes but before he could say anything Izzie continued on the floor above them,
"I'M LUCKY I DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE SHOWER TO FIND HIM PEEING ALL OVER THE SEAT" the pair looked back up hearing footsteps on the stairs and Callie turned expecting to see her husband. Instead she was greeted by the chief of neurosurgery, who paused on the stairs taking in the sight of the two of them in the kitchen no doubt wondering just how many surgeons there were scattered throughout the home. Callie had already seen Christina sprawled out on the couch when she had tiptoed in that morning,
"Pancakes?" Callie offered and Derek smiled moving to take a seat beside Alex nodding at him,
"HE'S IN GEORGE'S ROOM AND WHEN GEORGE'S STUPID MARRIAGE CRASHES AND BURNS HE'S GOING TO WANT TO MOVE BACK IN AND HE WON'T BE ABLE TO" Derek cringed into the orange juice he had just taken a sip of while Alex simply observed Callie as she leant back against the kitchen bench her arms folding over her chest as if she'd heard it all before.
"HE'LL FINALLY NOTICE THAT HIS DAD IS DEAD AND HE MADE A FOOL OUT OF HIMSELF BY MARRYING SOMEONE HE DOESN'T REALLY LOVE AND HE'LL HAVE NO PLACE TO GO IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?"
"IZZIE!" George's voice yelled loudly a moment later. The silence that followed reverberating through the house was deafening and suffocating. Alex noted that the seemingly unfazed ortho surgeon was careful to avoid eye contact with him or Derek as they waited for something to change, someone to move, an aftershock of some kind. It was a moment later that Christina walked into the kitchen a very unhappy expression contorting her features,
"That is not a suitable alarm clock," she said bitterly before taking the stool on Alex's other side,
"Amen to that" Derek, still looking decidedly uncomfortable, muttered from the other side of the bench before he peered up at Callie through bedridden hair,
"Torres…" Derek began in a tone that reminded Callie far too much of how he delivered bad news to unfortunate patients. She shook her head,
"It's fine. Progress actually" she said cocking her head to the side as she sipped her coffee,
"He actually said something this time" she shrugged,
"That's…." she sent a glare towards Alex which made him raise his hands rather than finish his sentence. She sighed a moment later before shrugging,
"Whatever. Pancakes Yang?" the intern raised her head from where it had been resting on her forearms and blinked at her,
Divorce him. Marry me," she said and Callie flicked a blueberry at her before laughing. It wasn't a moment later before George came storming down the stairs,
"We're going," he said towards her anger lacing his words,
"George wait!" Izzie stopped on the fourth step down as her eyes landed on Callie in the kitchen as George vanished down the hall. Behind her Callie observed a tired looking Meredith stop at the top of the stairs,
"Hi Callie" Izzie said hesitantly her eyes widening,
"Good morning" the older woman smiled,
"I made pancakes"
"Callie let's go" George yelled from the front of the house before the front door slammed and Izzie groaned before running down the rest of the stairs to follow him.
"Offer still stands" Christina chimed in after the bang rippled throughout the house and Callie looked at her for a moment before snorting out a laugh and offering Meredith a plate as she finally made it to the table.
"We speak the same language you and me," Christina stated waving her fork around,
"Passive aggressive?" Alex questioned and she simply drained the rest of his coffee causing him to steal her last pancake in retaliation. Callie left them to their fighting, bidding Derek and Meredith goodbye before heading for the front door.
Izzie barely spared her a glance as she stormed back into the house.
"Hey so did you make it through day one?" Callie grinned as she dropped into the chair beside Mark as he finished the final bite of his lunch before replying,
"You should look shinier, glow…ier…. you're a newlywed" he stated, his eyes running over her and she smiled at his teasing,
"I'm going to need to live vicariously through you for a while" he said grumpily and she began to nod trying not to laugh at her friend,
"So how is the newlywed sex?" Mark prodded,
"You know if you're going to be reformed and all that you should probably start off conversations by asking people how they are rather than how they're sex life is"
"I know how you are," Mark rebutted sending her a pointed look and she raised an eyebrow but before either of them could speak they were both interrupted by Addison dropping down on the other side of Callie.
"And how did your day one go?" Callie asked and Addison rolled her eyes,
"It's not me you need to worry about" she scoffed,
"Hey!" Mark protested and Callie grinned as the bickering between her friends erupted. Before she could stop it her mind wandered to the awkward car ride back to the hotel that morning after leaving the Grey house. George had said nothing about what his friend had yelled, not even after she'd thanked him for interrupting her, something she'd been encouraging him to do for weeks. She had thought that it would bring them closer but she couldn't deny the distance she felt from her husband. A hand on her knee caused her head to turn to see Addison staring at her with concern,
"You okay?" she asked and Callie nodded,
"Yeah I'm good," she said quickly and both Mark and Addison let out a scoff at the exact same time.
"You guys are already spending too much together" she snarked but they ignored her, waiting for her to speak, to answer the question.
"I told George about the money this morning" Callie said and Addison grimaced,
"How did he react?" she asked gently as if she already knew the answer,
"Shocked, outraged, angry, emasculated"
"That is because he is a boy," Mark concluded simply and she sent him a look,
"He's my husband, you're my friend, you're not allowed to be mean" she instructed,
"Please don't do what I've been telling George Izzie Stevens shouldn't be doing every time I see her" Mark frowned at her words and leant forward across the table,
"You're my best friend so it's my job to be mean when I know that he's upset you" Mark said and he looked down as his pager went off,
"Which, by the way, is why I didn't bother asking how you were this morning because I knew you didn't want to talk about it yet" Callie closed her eyes for a moment as Mark looked at her knowingly and he smiled softly at least until Addison cleared her throat from beside them,
"Actually Sloan I think you'll find that I'm her best friend" he scoffed and Callie grinned at the two of them feeling the sadness that had begun to settle in her chest ebb away.
"In your dreams red" Mark replied standing up and throwing his empty coffee cup at the bin before leaning down to drop a kiss on Callie's head,
"Keep her out of trouble and I'll see you both upstairs for that consult later yeah?" Callie nodded casting him a grateful smile as he retreated from the room letting the door swing close behind him.
"So you're really going to give this a shot yeah?" Callie asked turning towards Addison who nodded,
"Yeah you were right. He looks at me like…" she shook her head sighing as words failed her,
"I thought it was a game…" she tried again and Callie smiled,
"He loves you Addy," she said cutting her friend off and the red head turned towards her,
"He loves you. I think he has for a long time. And no it wasn't the right way he went about it. That was messy and complex but now it's over. And you two can have a fresh start if you want it" Addison allowed her words to soak in for a minute before looking back up at her friend a small smile on her face,
"I'm sure George will get over the money Callie. He's a genuinely nice person; he's a good guy. He loves you" Callie sighed at the change of subject before nodding,
"I hope so. It's certainly caused every other relationship I've been in to take a nose dive" Addison winced at her friend nodding with understanding.
"Why do we bother…let's just run away together" Addison quipped causing Callie to laugh,
"You know that's the second proposal I've gotten today"
Belongs to Greys
Sooooo….. let me know which couples you want together. I started writing this after a request came in for a story with two people in it I'd never written about but now it won't get out of my head. It's not Mark and Addison so let me know if you want them to make it or not. What about George and Callie? Or George and Izzy? And Christina? I've missed Greys