Author's Notes: So, yeah, this will definitely be told in three parts. The third and final part should be posted pretty soon. I've had a definite, clear picture of where I wanted this to go from the start. And after writing this, I have definitely fallen in love with this pairing. It's just so unconventional, which I love, not to mention KH and PD could tear up the screen. They're so pretty. I will probably write the sequel that I dreamt (yeah, I'm that kind of writer), and it will be a full-fic.

Usual disclaimer applies. I own nothing.

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Part II: Izzie

She noticed him the minute he set foot on the floor. She'd been coming out of a patient's room to check the surgical board when he stopped in front it. Immediately, her heart seemed several sizes too big and she felt as If it would beat out of her chest. She stared at him, momentarily contemplating going to speak with him, but ultimately deciding against it. Instead, she walked to the nurse's station, hoping that she would look so engrossed in her work that he wouldn't notice her. When he turned around and caught sight of her, she knew his walking away wasn't likely to happen.

When he stood on the other side of the station, purposely directly in her line of sight, she knew he was playing with her.

And God help her, she liked it.

She liked the little tingle at the base of her spine, and the slight adrenaline that coursed through her. She knew she should feel guilty, after all it wasn't that long ago that Derek had broken up with Meredith (and Izzie herself had a few romantic entanglements that didn't end well), and somewhere deep inside a voice kept telling her he was Meredith's Derek… but she just couldn't help herself.

It all felt so… freeing, in a way. She knew she was being careless and reckless, and that behavior always seemed to get her into trouble, but it felt so right. She hadn't felt this free in ages. Things with her best friend George were so complicated and oppressive lately, thanks in great part to their disastrous affair, that she's felt buried deep beneath the earth… a corpse of her former self. Something that has lost its life and beauty… and she felt alive again.

Looking up from her patient's chart, she was met with Derek's piercing gaze and charming smile. A small tingle shot up her spine in remembrance of their encounter last night. One look to Derek and she knew he was remembering also.

Five drinks later, Izzie was feeling more friendly toward Derek. She'd stopped calling him by his title and settled for slurring his first name in a way that amused Derek very much. The young doctor was a very affectionate drinker, often leaning over to whisper things in Derek's ear so he could hear her over the crowd, and while doing so, a delicate hand would linger on his own or brush his shoulder. Derek didn't mind. He preferred her drunken affection to her cold animosity.

"So, anyway…" Izzie heaved a great sigh. Her chest and shoulder's rising in time with some terrible defeat. "I've lost him." She looked over to Derek with tears in her eyes. "I've lost my best friend."

Izzie turned to look down into her half-empty glass and Derek rubbed her back. He was an affectionate drunk, too. He could feel the tension in her body pressing against his hand. He wondered how she hadn't cracked under the weight of having an illicit affair with her married best friend when both he and his wife are her co-workers.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll work it out," Derek assured her. "You guys have been through too much for it to end like that."

Izzie looked up into his face with gratitude. She smiled warmly to him, filling her whole body with a warmth she hadn't previously felt. "So will you and Mer," she told him softly.

Derek dropped his hand and slouched. He gulped the last of his drink before shaking his head. "I don't think so," he said, not looking at her. He thought that if he did, some of her radiant hope might just transfer to him… and he just didn't want that. He was done hoping and wishing (and praying) for something that just wasn't meant to be.

"Oh, come on," Izzie said. She leaned over and touched his hand. "You guys love each other. It'll work out. You'll see. You're like…McSoulmates." She giggled and snorted at her little drunken joke, very pleased with herself.

Derek didn't notice. Instead, he stared at her hand on his. Her tiny fingers were like glowing embers that set his skin on fire. She… was like a raging fire and he was a mere moth. Attracted to the glow and the warmth, unaware or uncaring of the chance of being consumed. He looked up slowly into her face, and could no longer deny her beauty. He'd been trying all this time to push that initial reaction to seeing her at bay, but the alcohol in his system provided a confident liberty.

Izzie stopped laughing long enough to see him staring at her. Not only staring but… longing. She'd noticed him staring curiously at her all night, quizzically trying to understand her in a way he hadn't before. She, too, she had to admit, had placed him under a scrutinizing gaze a few times as well. He was a handsome man, not that she didn't know that before, but there was something in his eyes that made him… well… McDreamy. Those roguish good-looks and that boyish charm could be any woman's undoing. She already knew of his caring nature from working with him at the hospital. Derek usually went above and beyond for his patients, and any woman lucky enough to have his love could expect more of the same. She was beginning to see why Meredith and his ex-wife Addison fought as hard as they could to get him. And now, she couldn't understand Meredith's reasons for letting him go.

Suddenly, neither were aware of the noise around them. In fact, neither could hear anything but the beatings of their own hearts and the soft breaths escaping the other's lips. This was all too surreal for them.

Izzie was the first to pull away. "Thanks for listening to me bitch and moan about my love life," she said with an awkwardly nervous smile. She'd dropped the hand that had been on his onto the bar top, inches away from his. "You didn't have to, but it was nice of you, so thanks."

Their shared camaraderie had been replaced by something cold and awkward.

"My pleasure," Derek replied, inching his hand closer to hers. "And if I recall, I kind of quilted you into it, so there is no need to thank me."

Izzie gave him a toothy grin. "That's right. You did guilt me into spilling my guts and revealing the mystery that is Izzie Stevens," she flirted with him unintentionally.

Derek looked her over carefully, leaning close to gain a better view. His fingertips brushed the side of her hand, sending electric sparks through both of them. His face was close now, closer than it had been all night. Izzie could smell the scent on his skin - soap, water and something completely male. Something completely him. Every neuron in her body was telling her (them both) to stop, to take a step back before they crossed a line. Neither of them listened.

"No," Derek purred softly, his hot breath tickling her skin. "I think there is still some mystery there. Some deep secret locked inside Izzie Stevens." His gaze flickered up from her pink lips to her widened eyes. "Something I'd like to find out."

Before Izzie could say another word, Derek's mouth descended upon hers. Kissing her hard and fast and furiously. Sending every nerve in her body into a frenzied overdrive. He kissed her with such passion, such longing… a way she hadn't been kissed in a very long time. So long that she'd almost forgotten what it was like.

She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck, fist her hands in his hair and hold him close. Derek, obviously wasn't feeling any of her detachment because his hands were around her waist, trying to pull her closer. It wasn't until she pulled way did she realize how close they were.

"We can't do this," she said. She opened her eyes and looked around. Thankfully no one was looking at them. "We can't do this to Meredith."

"I know," Derek said. On some level, he knew Izzie was right. Meredith would be unhappy with her ex and her roommate kissing, but that didn't stop him from wanting to kiss Izzie again…

Izzie turned away from him. Feelings of remorse crept up inside, threatening to make her sick. Indeed, she felt like she would be sick and excused herself. She rushed away from Derek outside the doors of the bar. She leaned against the cold brick trying to gather herself. She'd just betrayed one of her closest friends. She should feel guilty about that (more so than she did already), but what she really wanted was to kiss Derek again. To feel some of the passion she had been denied.

"Izzie?" Derek called when he stepped out the door. "Are you alright?"

Izzie looked at him, suddenly angry for wanting him. "No," she said. "We just betrayed Meredith," she reminded him. "I had no right to kiss you and you had no right to kiss me."

Derek could understand why she was feeling the way she was, so he let her stay angry.

"What the hell was I thinking?" she asked herself. She looked at him with hot anger. "What the hell were you thinking? Meredith loves you! She loves you! She pined for you when you chose Addison over her. Pined for you!" She walked up to him and jabbed him in the shoulder. "For you! And you go around and kiss another woman? What is that? Is that some sick pattern you have? What?"

"Izzie," Derek tried to interject.

"Is it a pattern I have?" she continued on, ignoring him. "That I always seem to go for men lately who are already with someone else." She looked up at him again. "You… you just had to be charming. You had to…" She couldn't breathe. "You had to be so damn dreamy!" She ended every word with a jab to his shoulder with her finger

"Okay, look," Derek said, having had enough of her self-loathing and her jabs. "Meredith and I aren't together. I know you feel that you've betrayed her, but we're not together."

Izzie sat on the steps leading away from the bar. "But she loves you. And you love her."

Derek sat next to her. "That's true. But as you pointed out about you and George, loving someone doesn't mean you're meant for each other. And it doesn't mean you're good together."

"Is that how you feel about Meredith?" Derek nodded. "So… that kiss was just an escape for you? A way to dull the pain." She seemed to be looking for a sensible justification for their kiss. Something other than their attraction to one another.

"Izzie." He sighed, unsure of how to continue. "Kissing you wasn't my way of forgetting Meredith or as a way to escape my broken heart. You're a beautiful, vibrant," She looked down and Derek placed a gentle hand under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "You're a beautiful woman and I enjoyed talking to you. I enjoyed you opening up and letting me in."

She smiled at that. A small smile, one that didn't completely reach her eyes, but a smile nonetheless. "I liked it, too."

Derek smiled in response. "Kissing you was… wonderful. I wouldn't have stopped."

Izzie searched his face, looking for any indication that he was joking. He wasn't and that frightened her. Frightened her because she wanted to kiss him again.

Picking up on her thoughts, Derek reached out his hand and caressed her cheek. He leaned in close to kiss her again but she stopped him. "Not here," she said.

Derek was at a loss for where to go. They couldn't go to her place and it would take too long to get to his. Besides that, they both were too drunk to drive. He looked over his shoulder and a wide smile crossed his lips.

He stood up and held out a hand for her. Izzie hesitated a moment, thinking of what this could do to her friendship with Meredith if she went with him. She thought also of what she could miss out on if she didn't. Smiling, she nervously put her hand in his.

Derek pulled her to her feet and together, they walked across the street toward the hospital.

"Iz, are you okay?" George asked, breaking her thoughts. "You're staring into space."

Izzie focused her eyes and found that Derek wasn't standing directly in front of her anymore. He'd moved from the nurse's station over to where his best friend Mark and the Chief were talking. Izzie smiled, more to herself that George.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I had a good night."

As soon as she said the words, Derek's eyes found her. She smirked softly and he smiled.

They both remembered.