Title: Stains.

Continuity: Season Three's episode 3, 'I am a tree'.

Feedback: Of course, reviews are great.

Song: "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", by U2. (Fragment of Paramore's cover of the song.)

Warnings/Comments: A/U. Thanks to Dai for her wonderful support and help.


Yeah, I wipe the tears from your eyes.
I wipe your tears away. (Tonight, tonight)
I wipe your tears away. (Tonight, tonight)
I wipe your tears away. (Tonight, tonight)
I wipe your blood shot eyes. (Tonight, tonight)

The kitchen was full of baked goods. They were spread all over the place: muffins on the counter top, brownies in the refrigerator, cookies in the cupboards. There were even baskets full of scones on the floor around the counter. Now a stunned George watched Izzie put another tray full of muffins into the oven. It was starting to freak him out. And that was a euphemism. He made his way towards her trying not to step on the baskets that he imagined she was going to take to Joe's, based on the fact that they had no more room left for them.

"Listen, Iz… "He cleared his throat, uncomfortable. He really didn't want to piss Izzie off, after all, she was strong enough to kick his ass and she was already upset, but he had no choice but to ask her to stop. Meredith was too absent in her own world as to do something, Callie wasn't exactly Izzie's best friend and Cristina was too busy trying to help Meredith, so it was his job to bring Izzie back from wherever she was. It wasn't that the reason why he was doing it, anyways. He wanted her to be okay. He wanted his best friend back. So he took a step closer and spoke. "Don't you think you've already made enough muffins for, well, a long time? I mean, not that I don't like them, they're great, but this kitchen's going to blow up in any minute. "He finished, putting a hand over Izzie's shoulder, forcing her to stop kneading.

Her eyes locked with his and she gave him a fierce gaze. "Don'..I'." She hissed him, shaking his hand off her shoulder abruptly.

Her voice scared him. "Izzie… "

"What?!" She turned around and burst into tears, grabbing a spoon and throwing it up above their heads. "What is it George?! Can't you just leave me deal with it? This is my way to deal with things, okay? I bake. That's what I do. Meredith and Cristina, they drink and tell secrets in the darkness. You deny until you just can't deny anymore. Alex doesn't give a crap about anything, Alex doesn't deal with things. But I do. And I bake. So would you just let me do my thing and stop annoying me?!" Her hair had come undone, and her clothes had gotten stained with the mixture she was kneading, and the tears streamed down her face.

Okay, this is it. George thought. She's lost it. He hesitated for a second, and then he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. She fought at first to break free of his strong embrace but then she let go, exhausted and cried into his chest while he tried to calm her down. It's useless, she thought. He's stubborn, he's not gonna stop watching over me until he considers that I'm fine. If truth was to be told, she needed him. He was her best friend and he was the only one in whom she could trust. He only wanted to help, and she would win nothing by pushing him away.

Izzie held onto his best friend and tried her best to stop crying as he rubbed his hands up and down her back. He didn't care about what his girlfriend might thing if she saw them. He only cared about her getting well as soon as possible.

Izzie smiled despite herself when she saw the stains she'd left in George's shirt. Removing that stain's not exactly going to be a walk in the park. She smiled and wiped the tears off her face. She was certainly lucky to have him.