Title: Forgive Me
Author: Steffie
Rating: PG 13
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Pairing: Callie/Mark
Summary: Mark tries to console Callie after she finds out about George and Izzie
Disclaimer: I own no one mentioned in this story.


She had been sitting there for hours now, just sitting, waiting, watching, doing absolutely nothing. Even though the rain had stopped hours before, there was still a chill in the air. The previously soaked body had now been air-dried, but she was still freezing cold, the shivering of her body made that clear.

But she didn't care. Quite frankly, she didn't even notice.

She noticed nothing around her at the moment. She didn't notice that she had wandered to the middle of nowhere, completely in the other direction of her home. Well, not that she could call it a home anymore. George had shattered that with the confession of his disloyalty with the adoption-giving tramp. Her heart told her that George wasn't stupid enough to go back to their house. Hell, he was probably having horrible tacky sex with the gizzard at that very moment.

And it broke Callie's heart.

She broke out in a sniffle every now and then, her practically numb fingers absent-mindedly fidgeting with the end of her soaked scarf. It wasn't raining anymore, but tears were still falling down her cheeks like buckets of water falling from the skies. If she didn't get out of the cold soon, she would end up a patient rather than a doctor at Seattle Grace that very night. Thankfully somebody else noticed that too.

"Callie?"

She didn't look up to acknowledge the voice that was speaking to her, and he wasn't quite sure that she even noticed him. "Callie?" the voice spoke again. Only when a hand was placed atop her shoulder did she look up. And when she did, she was met with the oddly concerned (shock shock) eyes of none other then Seattle Grace's poster playboy, Mark Sloan.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. The handsome plastic surgeon, dressed in fresh jeans, a black t-shirt and a leather jacket and scarf, was a bit surprised to see her out this late, much more that she was sitting alone on a bench that was completely in the opposite direction of her house. Callie wasn't the type of girl to be sitting in that part of town, and he knew that she wasn't there for any good reason.

Fresh tears came pouring down her cheeks at the question and she ducked her head down. This took Mark back. He had never experienced Callie without a sharp comment, much less with tears in her eyes. She was extremely vulnerable at the moment, and he didn't like the sight of it one bit.

He squatted down by her legs, his hand lightly pulling her chin to look at him. "Callie, what's wrong?" he asked. She shrugged, trying to divert her eyes from his. "Nothing I didn't expect," she said, sniffling again. This confused Mark. "Meaning?" he asked. Callie sighed, and for the first time, she would say out loud what she had feared for months.

"My husband is cheating on me with Stevens," she said. As soon as the words slipped from her lips, more tears came pouring down. Mark sighed and got up, dropping himself beside her on the bench. "I'm sorry," he said, laying a comforting hand on her thigh. Those comforting words made Callie even sadder and she began crying, her head leaning on Mark's shoulder.

In truth, Mark wasn't really sure what to do. He wasn't used to consoling upset women when they found out that their loved ones were cheating. He was usually the one doing the cheating with women cheating on their loved ones. Never one to be in a serious relationship himself, he also didn't know what it was like to be betrayed that hard to be so upset. Mark was never one to be emotional and always acted like he didn't care. He had received the reputation of being a harsh bastard, a title that was about to be tested.

But for some reason he always seemed to care when it came to Callie. It wasn't necessarily a crush on either's side. Maybe calling them friends would be going too far. But the two of them always seemed to get along really well at work and they did help each other out whenever they needed it professionally. Callie was one of a handful of women that Mark never tried anything on. Not that he wouldn't. If he thought about it, he would have found her attractive. But subconsciously he didn't want to ruin the bond he had with her over a one-nighter that he would fuck up the next day. The nurses are proof of that.

"Forgive me," Callie sniffled after a few minutes. Raising her head, she brushed away the tears, sitting straight, trying to compose herself. "For what?" he asked, turning to face her. "For breaking down. I'm a tough chick, a bitch like Stevens shouldn't upset me," she said, trying desperately to look ok.

"No, I won't forgive you for that," Mark said. Callie seemed confused by this and looked at Mark, an odd look on her face. "I will however forgive you for marrying a buffoon like George, although I doubt any of the other sane doctors would forgive you for that," he said with a smirk. Callie appreciated his attempt to lighten up the mood and she gave him a little smirk.

"Well Yang and Grey must be happy, they never liked me," Callie continued, a frown on her face again. Mark heard the hurt in her words. He turned to look at her again and the sight of her that way was actually affecting.

"Well if a woman that was left at the altar and a woman that cant commit to the love of her life actually see pleasure in this, then their opinion doesn't really matter," Mark added in a more serious tone. Callie did manage to smile at that and she turned to him. "Thank you," she whispered, her lips shivering with the words. It was then that Mark realized that she shivering from head to toe.

"We need to get you out of this damned weather," he said. Callie started to protest when he took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, but she appreciated the warmth.

"I think I should take you home," Mark said, wiping away the hair that was sticking to her face. Callie scoffed, a slight look of anger now on her face. "Go back to the home that George ruined, I don't think so," she muttered. Mark sighed, realizing that Callie was going to be very difficult right now.

"Then we'll just go back to my house. You can't stay here in the cold," he said.

Under normal circumstances Callie would laugh and blow Mark off on the offer. She knew, hell everybody knew of Mark's womanizing ways. But something told both of them that Mark was being genuine. And that even shocked Mark.

And without a word, both of them got up and headed back to Mark's house.

Forgiveness was definitely something that they would be asking for in the future.

TO BE CONTINUED.


A little pairing I had been thinking about for a while now. Let me know what you think.