This is my first attempt at a FF that is not a one shot. This story takes place after Lexie tells Mark she loves him in 8x22 Let The Bad Times Roll and it's going into the beginning of Season 9. I'm writing what I think would have happened, and partly what should have occurred Chapter One kind of focusses on Julia and how Mark truly feels about Julia and how he feels about Lexie. First chapter is kind of short but more is soon to come :) Excuse any grammatical or spelling mistakes.

All characters and most of the plot belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I own nothing.

Not an AU Read & Review!

Mark's eyes flashed rapidly between the two women. Julia wore a smile on her face with her eyes fixed on her boyfriend. Lexie stared at the ground for a moment looking mortified. She had a tight grip on her bottom lip; her top teeth were firmly dug into the squishy flesh and for a mere second if that, she glanced up to him. Though it was so quick Mark could see all she felt with one painful glance, and with a quick spin of her left heel she turned away and traversed across the parking lot to which he assumed her car and then home? The Bar? Avery? Even though she said she didn't want him did not mean something wouldn't conspire between the two. After all she was lonely, and hurt, and he was single and good looking who knows what would happen in the crazy resident frat house.

It was as though someone pressed the play button on Mark Sloan's life, the couple minutes it took for Lexie to blurt out a messy soliloquy felt more like an hour. Time just seemed to be at a stand still with her, or maybe it just seemed that way because he didn't have her. Perhaps his mind made it so any amount of time or moment he could have with her drag out because as soon as she was gone Mark had too feel and live life without her again.

Mark must have stared in the direction Lexie took off in longer than he thought.

"So uh... are you ready?" Julia questioned looking from where Lexie had been standing, back to a still stunned Mark. Her eyebrows furrowed and her past "happy to see you" smile was now an unsure questionable one.

Finally for the first time in the past three and a half minutes she had been in his presence Mark gave his girlfriend a real acknowledgement. He grimaced at that thought. Girlfriend, and it wasn't Lexie which only bothered him more.

He shook his head to awaken him out of this trance "I uh... no." Mark managed to spit out. Julia's questioning smile was now gone and she was only left with unsure eyebrows.

"Lexie uh, she came to tell me that they need me. Emergency surgery, y'know that patient I told you about?" His voice went up a lot higher than it normally should when asking a question. It was a horrible lie yes, but it was the only thing he could muster up spur of the moment.

Julia inhaled "Oh, well that's fine" her smile came back. It must have been a defence mechanism or something and it made Mark think more into their relationship. If they were more serious she would have called him out on his lie, and not been afraid of him. They were still at that "walking on eggshells" stage which he wished he'd realized this earlier on and not et her think things were more serious than they truly were, but Mark thought they were too... He had been in a stupid fictitious dream and had it frustrated him that he didn't wait for Lexie, he was torn, and that made things so much more worse for his brain to understand, and even more; his heart.

Mark rubbed the back of his neck which he usually did when he was stressed, nervous or uncomfortable with the situation. "I'll see you later then" He said a tad too unattached and more like if he were conversing with a patient or a random nurse or resident. He walked past her with no eye or physical contact and that's when it happened. She said it.

"I love you"

Mark stopped and it took him a minute to turn around and face her. She said it again, but in the same tone she did the first time. Unsure and again probably as a defence mechanism. Mark felt bad, she must have been hurting and vulnerable enough to use such a phrase when they both knew she didn't mean it. Mark sighed and gave her a pitiful look mixed with an ounce of affection and that's when he said it again.

"I'll see you later, Julia" In an instant he saw the pain in her eyes, not because he didn't say it back but because she was embarrassed. It was cold maybe even cruel, but he couldn't say something he didn't feel to a woman to also didn't feel the same. Mark turned around again and headed toward home. Not even bothering to make his lie plausible. He needed to be alone tonight.

So he went. Mark didn't even know how he found his car let alone drive home. He felt empty. Typically he would have had a shower, shaved his face and gone to bed. Tonight, he had glass of scotch sat in his chair until 2:54 in the morning then decided to lay in his bed until he was paged to come into the hospital.

That's Chapter One please Review! Chapter Two soon.