This is a MerMark fic. Please read and review! Rated M just in case, but there's nothing really bad in there. I do not own any part of Grey's Anatomy. sigh If I did, well, let's just say things might be a little different.

As Meredith Grey was waiting for the result of her patient's test, she noticed Derek and Addison together. Her good mood suddenly vanished and was replaced by a sick feeling in her stomach. The happy couple was resting on a hospital bench. Addison had her head on Derek's shoulder, and he had one arm around her waist. The other was gently stroking Addison's hair.

Tears came to Meredith's eyes. After all this time, she still cared about him. She still couldn't believe that Derek had picked Addison over her. His betrayal made her incredibly angry and incredibly sad at the same time.

Derek looked up and saw Meredith looking at them. Apparently, she must've been showing her emotions, because Derek immediately looked guilty and worried. He made as if to get up, but Meredith stopped him with a disgusted shake of her head. She collected her test result and quickly walked away before Derek could see the tears in her eyes. He was not going to see her cry. Again.

On the way to her patient's room, Meredith passed Izzie and George, who were merrily joking around. Izzie saw her expression and looked worried. "Mer? You ok?" "Yeah, I'm fine," Meredith said in an overly cheery voice that fooled no one. "What is it?" George asked. "Is it Der-" "George, don't." Meredith said firmly. "I'm fine." "You wanna hang out?" Izzie asked, obviously trying to change the subject. "Oh, I uh can't. I have lots of patients to see." "What are you talking about?" Izzie said with a laugh. "Your shift is over in like 10 minutes." "Well, that doesn't mean I can't have patients, does it? I have patients. That I need to go see. About surgery… and stuff." Meredith said lamely. "Seriously?" "Yes Izzie, seriously." "Oh. Ok, then. I guess we'll just see ya later." "Yeah. Later. Bye."

As she left, Meredith saw George and Izzie exchange a worried glance. She knew her friends were just worried about her, but it only irritated her more. She was fine. Fine. No one had to worry about her. She wished people would understand that, but the more she said it, the less people believed her. Not that she believed it herself.

The truth was she didn't have any patients. She just needed to be alone… with some tequila. After her shift was over, she took the familiar short trip to Joe's bar. About an hour later, Dr. Mark Sloane walked through the door. He'd had a long day and just wanted to unwind. Glancing up, an already not-quite sober Meredith saw him. "Hey look! The man-whore just walked in through the door!! Say hi, man-whore!" She yelled loudly. "Hi man-whore!" Quite a few girls said. Mark grinned and gave a little wave.

"Well?" Meredith yelled. "What are you waiting for, man-whore? Come on over here." Mark grinned again, shook his head and walked over to Meredith at the bar. Meredith patted the seat next to her. "Take a load off." "All right." Mark said and sat down.

"So how drunk are you right now?" Mark asked in an amused voice. "Eh." Meredith replied. "Only a little. Another shot, Joe!" She banged her hand on the counter. Mark shook his head. "Hey Meredith?" "Yeah?" "Please don't call me a man-whore." "Well you are a man-whore so why shouldn't I call you one?" "I'm not a man-whore!" said Mark indignantly. "Oh yeah?" "Yeah." "Oh yeah?" "You said that already, Meredith." Mark answered with a grin. "Well if you're not a man-whore, then why did you come over here when I called you one?" Meredith asked with a sly grin.

Mark opened his mouth and closed it again, at a loss of what to say for once in his life. "Ah," Meredith said wisely, tapping a finger to her head. "See? I'm drunk, and I'm still smarter than you." Apparently, she found this very amusing, because she started laughing gleefully. Mark sighed.

"So," he asked, "You wanna tell me why you're here getting drunk?" Meredith stopped laughing and a serious face replaced her happy one. "I'm not that drunk yet," she said quietly. "Ok, so another drink?" Meredith smiled at him. "You bet."

Later that night, Mark and Meredith were sitting around the bar, laughing and joking. There weren't as many people left in the bar. Suddenly, Meredith stopped laughing and started crying. Mark looked at her in alarm. He hadn't been expecting this.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Meredith?" She wiped her tears away and sniffed. "Sorry," she said mournfully. "Is it Derek?" Mark asked quietly. Meredith nodded with another sniff. "What happened?" he asked, surprised at himself for being so nice. He usually didn't do this. Oh, well, it was probably the alcohol.

"Well," Meredith started, "It's nothing big. I mean, now that I think about it, it's a pretty stupid thing to cry over." She looked over at Mark and gasped. The look on his face… it wasn't the cocky, perverted one he usually wore. It was kind and understanding. She smiled in spite of herself as her heart did a little flutter. Mark waited patiently for her to continue. She swallowed and started talking. "I just saw Derek and Addison together. They were sitting down and they were… cuddling. To see them being affectionate in public, it just kinda made me realize that this was for real. That they're not gonna break up."

"Oh, Meredith," Mark said sadly. Meredith was fidgeting with a crumpled up piece of paper. "Pretty dumb, huh?" she said, attempting a smile. "No, it's not stupid. It's not stupid at all." Mark said firmly. "Really?" "Yeah, really." Meredith smiled, and Mark smiled back at her. The gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments until Meredith looked away. She shook herself mentally. What the hell was she doing? This was Mark. MARK. She definitely did not like him. She must be more drunk than she thought. Oh well. "More tequila, Joe," she called out.

Even later that night, and the bar was empty except for Meredith and Mark. Joe was cleaning up in the back. "You know what?" Meredith said. "No, what?" "I wanna… I wanna…" "Yeah?" "I wanna dance." "Dance?" "Yes. And sing." Meredith made her way over to the jukebox, staggering a little. She dropped a quarter in and "I Will Survive" started playing. Meredith started singing along and dancing wildly. Although calling it singing was a bit of a stretch. More like wailing.

Mark laughed heartily. After the song was over, Meredith staggered back and sat in Mark's lap. "Oh my." Mark said, his trademark smirk back on his face. Meredith laughed, then leaned in and gave him a sloppy kiss. Then she got up. "Time for another drink," she said, pouring one for herself. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mark asked, looking a little worried. "You've had a lot already." "Oh don't be a baby, Mark." She said then giggled. "Hey, that rhymes!" she said happily. Mark stared at her in dis-belief, then shook his head and laughed. "Boy are you hammered." "You know what, Mark?" Meredith said. "I'm gonna come over there and kiss you some more, ok?" "Ok." Mark said with a happy grin on his face, like a child that had just been given candy. Now this he couldn't refuse.

Meredith came over and sat on Mark's lap. She leaned in for a kiss, and Mark went to wrap his arms around her, but she lost her balance and fell off his lap to the floor. "Ow," she said. Then she started laughing. Mark laughed along with her, pulling her up to her feet. "Ok," he said, "time to get you home. Can you walk?" "Yes, I can walk!" Meredith exclaimed indignantly. "All right then. Let's go."

Mark drove Meredith home. As they got out of the car, Izzie and George ran outside. "Hi guys!" Meredith yelled happily. "I missed the both of you sooo much!!" She walked over, hugged them, then collapsed in their arms. Izzie and George looked suspiciously at Mark. "Don't worry," he said. "I swear, nothing happened. We were talking at the bar, and she got too drunk, so I drove her over here." Izzie nodded. "Ok, then. Good," she said. But George kept glaring at him. Ignoring the hostile look, Mark said "Take care of her." "Don't worry," George said harshly. "We will." Mark raised his eyebrow but said nothing. "All right. Bye then."

Mark drove to his hotel, took a shower, and lay down, groaning as he did. He closes his eyes. Waiting for the usual thoughts of Addison to come, he was surprised when instead, Meredith popped into his mind. His heard did an involuntary flutter. Did he like Meredith? He obviously thought she was sexy, but this felt like more than lust. Could it be that he seriously liked her? Contemplating this, Mark fell asleep, not knowing that in her bed, a half-conscious Meredith was thinking about him.

Ok, that's it. Please leave me comments.