Doctorhood and Insomnia are Always a Great Combination
Grey's Anatomy
George/Alex
PG-13/R
"I'm staying with you tonight," George said, dropping the sentence casually. Oddly casual, too, since it was Alex Karev he was talking to.
"Excuse me?" Alex asked, looking at George as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
"I'm staying with you tonight," he repeated. "Do you need me to fucking draw it out for you?"
"Whoa, what's with the attitude, O'Malley?"
George looked at him, dropping his sandwich on his lunch tray. "Our house has somehow become infested. So, we have to leave for a few days while it's being fumigated. And I'm in a bad mood. A really bad mood. This is George in a bad mood."
"Infested?" Alex laughed. "With what?"
"Look, Alex, this isn't exactly my idea of a fun experience. We've got bugs. I don't know how, I don't know why. We keep the place clean. Very clean. I don't like bugs. I don't like bugs in my house, scurrying around in my kitchen, hiding in my walls. It's unsanitary. And embarrassing."
"So why are you inviting yourself over to my place?" Alex asked, clearly enjoying his own lunch despite the topic at hand.
"Because Meredith and Izzie are staying with Cristina and Burke, and I don't have anywhere else to go. I can't exactly call Callie up, and even if she was willing to have me, I don't think she'd let me share her single bed at her hotel."
"What about your parents?" Alex offered.
George glared. "No."
"What about–"
"No. Just no. There's no other options. I wouldn't be asking you if I had other options. Believe me, you weren't the first person on my list of possible hosts." George was bitter.
"Listen, kid, no offence, but–"
"Enough with the fucking nicknames, Alex. My name is George. George. Not 'kid.' Not 'hobbit.' Not anything besides George. I can even deal with O'Malley, just don't start fucking calling me 'kid,'" George said heatedly.
Alex grinned. "You need to be in bad mood more often. It makes it seem like you actually have some balls." He reached over and mussed George's hair. For annoyance effect, he added, "George."
"So can I stay with you or what?" George pressed, swatting Alex's hand away and smoothing his hair back out.
"Oh, so now you're asking, huh?" Alex was having fun with this. He always did get a kick out of fucking with George.
George stared at him. "Whatever, just... just forget it. Forget I brought it up." He picked up his tray and stood up. "Such a bad fucking day," he added under his breath.
"George, wait," Alex said, catching George's arm. "You can stay with me, man. Don't sweat it. Don't want to inconvenience you."
George gave him a sidelong glance. "Even when you're nice, you're still a dick." He started to head away, but looked back on second thought. "And thanks." He left, passing the rest of the interns on his way out.
"What was that all about?" Meredith asked as she, Izzie, and Cristina joined Alex.
Alex took a bite of his apple. He shrugged. "I invited George to stay with me while you guys are out of house and home."
Later that night, Alex answered the door as George arrived. Alex had a beer in his hand; George, a duffel bag.
"Hey. Just drop your bag anywhere and come grab a cold one. I'm making dinner," Alex said, and stepped back into the kitchen.
"You're making dinner?" George asked, putting his duffel next to the couch and shrugging off his jacket. He made his way into the kitchen, peeking into the pots and pans on the stove while digging in the fridge for a beer.
"I'm not completely worthless, you know," Alex replied, alternately tending to the stove and sipping his drink.
"Because spaghetti is the hardest thing in the world to make," George quipped and pulled up a barstool. He sat down, watching Alex cook.
"Haha," Alex said drily.
George grinned. "Anyway, uh... thanks for letting me stay. You're really helping me out, Alex." He twisted the cap off his bottle, absentmindedly fingering it in one hand while using his other to raise the beer to his lips. He took a slow, paced drink.
"Don't mention it. It's actually kinda nice making food for more than one person," Alex said, looking up at his guest. "Guess I never realized how lonely living by myself gets. Don't really have much time to think about it, with work and all."
George smiled but didn't say anything. They finished their beers in silence, and shortly thereafter, the food was ready. "Alright, food's done. George, why don't you grab a us a couple more beers and I'll bring the food. Let's see if there's any good movies on the tube tonight."
Alex prepared them each a plate, George snagged two more bottles from the fridge. George followed Alex to the living room where they both sat on the couch. Alex handed George a plate, and George opened a beer for Alex. "This is nice," George agreed, late, and Alex just shook his head. Grabbing the remote, he clicked on the TV.
"See anything good, holler," he said, and began flipping through the channels.
After a few, George said, "Ooh, was that Scarface?"
Alex laughed. "You like Scarface?"
"What wrong with me liking Scarface?" George said, annoyed.
"It's a guy movie."
"I am a guy, fuckwad."
Alex laughed again. "No shit. You just don't strike me as a Scarface fanatic."
"I'm not a fanatic, I just like it. Don't you like it?"
"Actually, not really. But it's fine," Alex smirked, tossing the remote back onto the coffee table and picking up his spaghetti. He took a big fork full, ignoring George's weird look.
"If you don't like it, why are we watching it? It's your apartment."
"I don't really care what we watch, George. Isn't this what guys do around each other? Act like they like things that they don't, but other guys do? So they don't seem like pussies to their friends?"
"How should I know?" George mumbled.
"And it's stuff like that," Alex said, "that causes me to question your masculinity."
George didn't even bother responding.
"Hhhhuuhh," Alex yawned loudly. "Fuck, man. I'm tired." The credits of Scarface were rolling as Alex stood up to rinse the dishes off in the sink.
"It's only ten-thirty," George commented, glancing at his watch.
"So? I had a long day."
Alex had a long day? I had a long day, George thought. But he let it slide. "Well is it cool if I stay up and watch some more TV?"
"Mi casa es su casa," Alex said in a very Spanglish accent. "Let me go grab you a pillow and blanket." George nodded in acknowledgement, and channel surfed until Alex returned. "Sorry the couch isn't very big."
"It's fine," George said appreciatively. "Thanks again, man. For letting me stay."
"No prob," Alex yawned, shutting off the light and entering his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
It seemed like forever had past, but when George looked at his watch again it was about one-thirty, and he was still awake. He couldn't sleep. He continued to flip through channel after channel. Behind him he heard a door creak, and he turned to see Alex standing in nothing but pajama bottoms, rubbing his eyes. "You still up, O'Malley?"
"Sorry, is the volume too loud?" George asked, simultaneously pressing the volume down button.
"No, it wasn't that. No worries." He trudged into the living room and plopped down next to George.
"Doctorhood and insomnia are always a great combination," George commented.
"Doctorhood?" Alex questioned with an unAlexlike chuckle. George smirked a little, and shrugged. "You really are a dork, O'Malley. Oh, shit, go back to that."
"This?" George asked, after flipping back a few channels.
"Yeah, awesome."
George looked at him. "Really?"
"What's wrong with this?" Alex asked, yanking away George's blanket and covering himself with it.
"Seriously?"
"What?" Alex asked.
"Casablanca?"
"It's a war movie," Alex scoffed.
"It's a romance," George reiterated.
"No, it's a war movie," Alex insisted. "It's about World War II."
"It's not really about World War II, it just takes place during World War II."
"For making fun of me about it, you sure know about it," Alex said.
"I wasn't making fun of you, I was just... oh, just drop it." And they dropped it.
George awoke the next morning feeling a little pressure on his arm. He blinked open his eyes to see Alex asleep at his side, his shoulder being the source of pressure. And their faces were barely inches apart. He then must've gasped a little, because Alex's eyes slowly broke away from their sleep state, too. And then he saw the compromising position they were in.
George pulled himself away. "Sorry, that's kinda... awkward..."
Alex smirked. "It was... it's fine. I slept okay. Did you sleep okay?"
"Sure," George answered, but he couldn't shake the irrational feeling that Alex had been about to say "nice," not "fine".
But, there was no time to think about it. They had to get to work.
"So how was staying at Karev's?" Izzie asked George at lunch.
"Fine."
"Did you guys share a bed?" she returned, smirking.
"Yeah, did you spoon?" Cristina snickered.
"We didn't spoon," George deadpanned, not in the mood.
"Well what'd you guys do?" Meredith asked.
"What do you mean, what'd we do?"
"Like, what'd you do?" Cristina supplied. "What'd you talk about. You don't really have anything in common. Karev likes to talk about sex, and you like to talk about... well, you really just whine a lot."
"I do not whine," George complained.
"See," Cristina said.
George just shook his head.
"Hey George, you're crashing at my place again tonight, right?" Alex said, walking by the group.
"Yeah," George answered.
"Alright, see ya later," he said, continuing on his way.
"Since when does Karev call you George?" Christina asked, slightly shocked.
"I don't know, what's it matter?"
"He does seem pretty chummy with you today," Izzie pointed out.
"He's not really that bad, one-on-one and away from the hospital," George said. He stood up. "Anyway, I have charts that I need to get a start on. See you guys." And he left.
The three girls looked at each other. Izzie shrugged. "Oookay," Cristina said, raising her eyebrows.
That night went pretty much the same, with a few exceptions. Alex made fish instead of spaghetti, which George guessed was supposed to be saying something about his extended cooking abilities. And really, it was pretty damn good. They watched a couple more movies on TV, and although Alex went to sleep in his own bed that night, George couldn't help but feel like Alex's leg was brushing up against his the whole time they were on the couch...
The next day at work, Alex caught up with George in the hallway. "You coming over again tonight?"
"Well, we're allowed to move back in tonight," he replied.
"Oh," Alex said. "I was getting used to having someone else around. But whatever, man, we'll hang out soon, right?"
"Sure."
And as Alex left to attend to the message on his pager, George caught sight of Izzie. "Hey, Iz, when did you and Meredith want to start moving our stuff back in?"
"Are you kidding, George?" Izzie replied, exasperated. "It'll be so late by the time we're done that it won't even be worth it. And after getting off this shift... ugh! What is it with men?" With that, she stalked off.
"Right," George said to no one in particular. "Right..."
"Oh, hey, Alex," George said, catching sight of the other intern as he exited the main doors of Seattle Grace Hospital. He hurried up to him.
"What's up?"
"I guess the girls aren't moving back in 'til tomorrow, so if you still want some company..."
Alex smiled. "Yeah, definitely."
"How do you feel about just ordering a pizza tonight?" Alex posed as he joined George on the couch.
"Why, is spaghetti and fish all you know how to make?" George teased.
"Ha, no, but I haven't ordered in in a while. And I rented a couple movies, so it makes sense," he replied.
"Works for me," George said.
So they ordered a pizza and watched rented movies, and it was nice. George was actually enjoying his weekend. Alex was turning out to be a halfway decent human being, outside of work.
And afterwards, when it was late, Alex didn't have to retrieve the pillow and blanket for George, because they were still on the couch from the night before. "Your couch is really doing a number on my back."
"I told you it was small," Alex said.
"I know. Whatever, just one more night of it. I can tough it out."
"Or you could sleep in my bed," Alex offered.
"Where would you sleep?" George asked, puzzled.
"...in my bed," Alex worded carefully.
"But..." George started. "Wouldn't that be kinda... weird?"
"Why should it be weird?"
"I mean... I just don't see you sharing a bed with someone without something happening."
"What's your point?"
"Well, obviously something wouldn't happen between us, so it's just a weird arrangement."
"Why do you say that?"
"That it's a weird arrangement?" George asked,
"No... that nothing would happen between us."
"What? I'm confused."
"George."
"What?"
And Alex leaned in, barely barely touching his lips to George's. "You're sleeping in my bed with me."
"Um..."
So Alex kissed him again, deeper, harder. "It's not a question." And standing up, Alex put two fingers in the waistband of George's jeans and pulled him into the bedroom. George was still taking this all in, and followed blindly, not saying anything.
Pushing George down onto the bed, Alex straddled him and leaned in for another kiss. And he included tongue this time, pressing George all the way horizontal on the bed. And all that was running through George's mind was that kissing a guy was oh-so-different from kissing a girl. And as he kissed Alex back, he thought that that fact wasn't a bad thing.
"You were right," Alex said, leaning up a little.
"What?" George asked.
Alex grinned. "Doctorhood and insomnia are always a great combination."
end.