Hi guys! This is an AU Slexie fic, Lexie's 8x22 declaration of love never happened, and neither did the plane crash. This pretty much happens a few months after 8x21. I'm sorry if there are lapses or inconsistencies, I wrote this in thirty minutes and I haven't proofread it. Please leave comments! Thanks!

P.S. This will be multi-chaptered.

—

June fifteenth.

Today is June fifteenth. It was that day. The day Lexie has been dreading for months, the day she wishes the calendar would just skip, the day she knew she would have to face the inevitable. She got up from bed and looked at her calendar. There it was. The little note she made right in the little box designated for whatever reminder she needed for that day staring right back at her.

June 15 — The end.

She had a plan for today. She did. But thinking of what she will be, and what he will be, at the end of today made her sick to her stomach. She sighed as she grabbed her towel and walked to the bathroom, getting ready for what will be the longest and worst day of her life.

—

"I always thought it would be different, you know."

Mark looked at Derek and scoffed. He's getting married today. Five years ago, if he was asked what he sees himself to be in the future, he'd say he'll still be the same. Surgeon, single, having fun. Settling down wasn't in any of his plans. But then again, Julia wasn't either.

He met her in the most unexpected time, in the middle of a storm. It was the biggest storm in Seattle for the year, and he was drenched. Between running from the supermarket to his apartment building and carrying bags and bags of groceries, he had too much on his hands, literally and figuratively. That's why he was more than frustrated when he suddenly bumped into a brick wall (or was it a person?) and they both fell on the wet ground, his groceries scattering everywhere.

"Oh my goodness! I'm— I'm so sorry!" The girl on the ground beside him said, as she scrambled to sit up. Her auburn hair was soaked, her blue eyes looking right at Mark, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Mark slowly sat up and gave her a little smile. "Yeah. I'm sorry, by the way. I wasn't looking." He started picking up the cans that fell out of his plastic bags and putting them back in and she did the same.

"Ah, I'm sure." she smiled and stole a glance at his face. "But maybe you could make it up to me? Um, with coffee?"

He looked at her and studied her face for a second before he wasn't able to stop himself from smiling and he held his free hand out for her to shake. "I'm Mark."

"Julia." She shook his hand and bit her lip. God, he's beautiful. "So, Mark, is that a yes?"

They both stood up as Mark gathered his groceries and Julia picked up her umbrella from the ground and put it over both of their heads.

"Lead the way."

—

Derek looked at Mark, and shakes his head, amused, as his best friend appeared to be spacing out again. The days leading up to this wedding, his mind was always somewhere else, looking at something and nothing at the same time, and Derek knew what it was. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder, bringing him back to the present.

"It's funny. Meredith and I always thought it would be you and Lexie."

Mark avoided Derek's eyes as he tried (and failed) to laugh it off and looked at himself in the mirror, fixing his collar. "Why?"

Derek looked at his friend, and his mind flashed back to the numerous times Lexie talked to him about Mark. He knows it's wrong to do this, but she's his sister and he cares for her. And perhaps this is the last chance he has to advocate for her. "I don't know. There was something. How she changed you, made you better. Before Lexie, you were a joke." He chuckled. "Then she happened, and you did a 180. You guys always broke up and always came back to each other. It went on for three years, Mark. Everyone knew. Even Addison. She said you were different. Good different. And even apart, you're the kind of couple who is still a couple even when you're not. It was... really something."

Mark stopped in his tracks and sighed. His face was unreadable. He sat on a chair and looked defeated, suddenly remembering everything. Derek was right. It was something. It was more than just something. Lexie made him feel again. Happiness, jealousy, love... heartbreak. Everything was magnified with her. And it was good. But it was also over. They tried, twice. To make it work, to pick up where they left off, and the same reason that tore them apart, came back to bite them in the ass.

He turned to face his best friend, the rims of his eyes a bit red and started speaking again. "Can I tell you a secret?" He smiled a little and looked down at his hands. "I thought it would be me and Lexie too."

—

"Lexie! Come on! The wedding starts in an hour! We need to leave NOW!"

Nothing.

"Lex?"

Still nothing.

"LEXIE!"

Meredith stomps up the stairs and barges into her sister's room, only to find it empty, Lexie nowhere to be found. What baffles Meredith though is the fact that the closets are wide open... all her clothes are gone, except for a note left on the bed. What the hell?!

She sat on the bed and started reading the note, as fast as she could, hoping her sister hasn't gone far yet. Tears were starting to leave her eyes, disbelieving. "No no no no."

Mer —

I'm sorry. I can't do this. There is nothing left for me here in Seattle, no one to turn to. You're moving to Boston, Mark's getting married, and my life is at a standstill. I need a change of pace, a new beginning, and I will never get that here.

Thank you. For everything. You've been a great sister. I hope I see you again soon. But just in case not, hug Derek and Zo for me. I love you.