Thank you JAM1104, krista27, Loo :*, lostie21, CarmGonzalez and mcmiller.
This chapter is slightly smaller than the first. I wanted to leave the Mark/Lexie part for later. A little thing to look forward to.
*
When Lexie finally managed to get rid of all the interns who entered the locker room, questioning her about Sadie and Sloan, she walked as fast as she could to Joe's. That day had gone from awesome to bad and back to extraordinary when Mark's surgery was at last over. But that little time she still had to spend in the hospital in order to finish her shift after she left Mark's room was not going well and she needed some distraction.
Joe's was crowded. Derek, Meredith, Sadie, Callie and Mark were all seated at the same table. Derek was joking about Mark and Sadie, leaving Mark highly uncomfortable while Sadie was joking along.
"Don't be shy, Mark" she had said. "It's out there…the truth, I mean." Sadie laughed. "We can't take it back now."
Callie forced a smile. Mark wanted to kill Sadie with his eyes.
Derek spotted Lexie coming in and heading to the bar. He shouted and signed for her to join them. Meredith frowned. Callie's eyes met Mark's and widened. He whished he could disappear. Sadie didn't seem to care at all.
Lexie, seeing the table's crowd, tried to escape but she didn't know what to say as a reason to leave. So she hesitantly walked over.
"Hey" she said in a low tone.
"Won't you join us?" Derek said excitedly.
Lexie looked down at them. Derek sweetly pinched Meredith under the table.
"Yeah, Lexie. Take a seat" Meredith felt obligated to say.
Lexie sat between Sadie and Callie. Meredith to Sadie's right, Mark to Callie's left.
"Tequila?" Callie offered.
Lexie just nodded. "Thanks."
"We were just talking about today's previous events" Derek said gazing at Sadie and then Mark. "Did you hear that Sadie br…"
"Oh, yeah" Lexie cut, laughing nervously. "That!" she completed.
She felt like she had a knot on her throat. Mark didn't have the courage to look at her. He gave Derek a death look.
"Derek, just drop it" Mark scuffled. He was visibly nervous as he took a sip of his scotch.
"You are acting way too protective about this" Derek concluded.
Mark hit the glass in the table. "Really, Derek? Really?" Mark grunted. He couldn't believe his friend was talking about his personal life like that as if he were talking about a successful surgery.
"This is my business, OK?" Mark continued. "I don't want the whole world to know about it."
There was tension in the table. Mark spotted from the corner of his eyes that Lexie was as uncomfortable as him.
Suddenly, there was an expression in Derek's face. It was as if he had just figured out something huge. "Wait a minute…."
Everybody at the table exchanged glances expect Lexie and Mark. They still couldn't face each other.
"…you two have been doing this for a while, haven't you?" Derek continued.
The faces turned to Derek. Lexie took a sip of her tequila so quick she burned her throat. Callie didn't know what to do.
"It wasn't just today" Derek said as if he was putting the pieces together.
Mark felt his blood boiling. "Derek, stop!" He said with an altered tone.
"I now see why you are so defensive about it" Derek ignored his friend's request.
Lexie wished she could push a button and simply vanish. She couldn't believe how things turned out to be so screwed.
"Yes…" Derek resumed. "…when Karev had his solo surgery I called you like a thousand times and there was no answer. AND Sadie wasn't home that night."
Lexie felt as though her insides had dropped. No, please don't go THERE. She thought. Mark pleaded for help with his eyes to Callie. Sadie, for the first time, seemed to be paying attention.
"Oh my. I just remembered something else."
Callie held her breath. Lexie took another glass, filled it with tequila and drank the whole content immediately. Mark wanted to apologize to Lexie more than anything. Meredith seemed annoyed. She got up asking to be excused, went over to Cristina's table and sat with her.
"…yes, it makes perfect sense" Derek continued. "When you left the house that day at 4 in the morning, claiming you wanted to have drinks, you were totally with Sadie, weren't you?"
Sadie was panicking inside and regretting terribly the jokes she had been making earlier. Lexie felt like screaming. If he could, Mark would cover his mouth with his hand.
"Oh, Gosh" Derek just couldn't stop talking. "Are you guys serious?"
"What?" Mark wished he was dreaming, sleeping in Lexie's company while she stroked his hair.
Lexie couldn't take it anymore. Between having an uncomfortable discussion with Mark in the locker room and having to hear all sorts of jokes coming from the interns a few minutes after that, she never thought things could possibly get any worse. She felt absolutely no control over her feelings. All she had wanted when she entered Joe's was to get a couple of drinks and forget about her last hours in the hospital. Definitely not that.
"Excuse me" she said standing up unsteadily, her voice failing. "It's my cell phone.I have to go. Good night" she said not pausing.
"Good night, Lexie" Derek replied alone.
Mark felt something he had never felt before. Helplessness. The fact that Lexie was hurting was affecting him. He wanted to stand up and go after her.
Callie squeezed Mark's hand under the table. She felt powerless.
"You don't have to be ashamed Mark, you know…to be serious about this."
Mark had had it. He stood up not thinking and gathered all his energy.
"Derek, shut the hell up!"
Derek looked taken aback. People at Joe's seemed to be staring. Mark grabbed his coat and walked rapidly to the door.
*
"What did I do?" Derek was confused.
Callie and Sadie exchanged glances. They wished they could tell, but it was Lexie's and Mark's business. They didn't want to cause trouble, especially since they both knew Derek had requested Sloan to stay away from Little Grey.
Meredith walked over astonished.
"What was that about?"
Derek explained how he had brilliantly figured out Mark and Sadie were in a serious relationship and how Mark had snapped about it. Meredith listened closely but there was something about his story that just didn't click. I know what it is.
"But Mark wasn't with Sadie the day your mother came over." Meredith interrupted. "Sadie was with us the whole time."
Sadie panicked at the thought of them concluding it was Lexie then, since she was the only person left in the house that wasn't present and because of the way she had left Joe's so abruptly after the subject was brought up. So she jumped in.
"But Dr. Sloan never entered the house" she tried to remain calm. "we were all there, the whole night. There was no knock" to Sadie's relief, Meredith confirmed.
Sadie explained what she was doing out in the day of Alex's surgery and Derek looked beyond confused.
"So it really was just a one time thing?" He asked Sadie.
"Yep"
"So why didn't you guys say anything? And why was Mark so upset?"
Sadie's expression was of horror. She had no idea what to say. Callie spoke as she felt the urge to help.
"I guess everything went on so fast that before Sadie or Mark could say anything, the matter...hmm...evolved. But in a bad way"
Derek's look was enough for Callie's understandment. He was not following. Callie sighed.
"What I mean is you started listing all these things about how Mark and Sadie were serious so fast that before any of them could say anything you kind of changed the subject. The way you were speaking, the surprise in your voice. It was as if this was beyond your belief. Like it was not really happening. I guess that's why Mark was so upset."
Derek felt appalled.
Callie was just happy Derek bought it. She breathed out since she had spoken in a roll.
"I'm a terrible friend, aren't I?" Derek was feeling like crap.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. These things happen. Just wait until the anger is gone and I'm sure you guys will work it out."
"Yeah" Derek said, his voice low.
After a few minutes of silence and awkwardness, Meredith, Derek, Callie and Sadie all stood up and said their goodbyes. They just wanted to have a good night sleep subsequent what had been a long day.
*