"You FAILED your intern exams?" Izzie blurted out loudly.

"Nice one Iz, wanna say it a bit louder? I don't think the interns in Christina's group heard you." George snapped angrily.

"This is no time to act smart with me. What has gotten into you lately? You failed? And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't something that I was proud of, okay?"

"You used to tell me everything, George. Everything." Izzie said shaking her head in disbelief.

"Stevens, is everything alright here?" Chief Webber asked walking up to Izzie and George.

"Yes sir," Izzie muttered without taking her eyes of George's face.

"All right then, well I guess, I will leave it to you to settle in with you interns. I will be in my office if you need me."

"Okay." Izzie said mechanically.

"And Stevens," the Chief whispered softly into her ear. "go easy on O'Mailey. I put him with you, cus I knew that you would look out for him and cut him some slack...he is your bestfriend after all." he said patting her on the back gently, before heading towards the lift.

"My name is Izzie Stevens...and I have five rules...write them down..."

x

"I heard she was the one that spilt up the married couple."

"No, they had already separated when she was sleeping with him..."

"Yeah but, my cousin Laura in gynaecology, said that he choose his wife and then she made him cheat on his wife with her..."

"Enough!" Meredith snapped turning around. "You are here to learn medicine...not socialise. So leave my private life out of it! Seriously, you all should be ashamed of yourselves! Now, let's go over here and see if we can find something for you all to do."

"Meredith!" Christina said grabbing her hand and pulling her into an empty room. "You gotta help me out! These interns...they don't know anything! I had one, the curly headed guy over there, ask me if I could let him tell him what it felt like to prep a patient for surgery! Not what it felt like to operate on someone...noooo, but what it felt like to prep someone for surgery... I mean, seriously! Is that not the dumbest thing you have heard?"

"You think that's bad...my interns are talking about McDreamy...McDreamy and me. They know about my life...my life with Derek and they find it more amusing to talk about my McLife rather than listen to me ramble on about hostpital things...about intern things.."

"Wow, they know? That's messed up."

"I'm messed up. How did I ever allow myself to become this messed up?" Meredith sighed.

"That one, is her bestfriend...she was dating an attending too."

"Okay, how did they know about Burke and I? That's creepy Meredith! You need to control your interns."

"That's it, they are doing charts for this week. I'll show them who's boss..." Meredith said winking at Christina quickly before heading out of the room.

x

"Hey," Derek said leaning against a door frame, "have you changed your mind about drinks tonight?"

"Derek..." Addison said blushing slightly, and quickly walking out of the room, "I can't."

"Oh come on...if you are only staying for one day, I think it's the least that you can do."

"It's for the best." Addison said softly.

"How? Why are you so against having a drink with me? I mean, we are friends now, right? We agreed to be friends after the divorce...and friends have drinks together and stuff."

"I'm sure friends do. But I still can't-"

"You've got plans-" Derek said grabbing Addison's wrist abruptly.

"-What? No. Derek, I don't." She said shaking herself free from his grip.

"Then tell me why...tell me why you can't come down to Joe's for a drink?"

Addison bit down hard onto her lip. Because it's too hard...Because I'm still in love with you...Because I can't allow myself to get attached; only to get hurt again...Because you will choose Meredith over me...and it will be the death of me! Addison thought; though she would never admit it out loud.

"See you can't even give me one reason not to come." Derek said, his pleading eyes searching her face. "It's just a drink Addie...you owe it to me, for not saying goodbye when you left for LA."

"Derek, I can't. I'm tired." Addison lied quickly. "I have been working myself stupid in Naomi and Sam's practice and I'm still unpacking boxes every night...I haven't had one night to myself! And all I want to do today, is go to the hotel, run a hot bath and then go to sleep."

"You're choosing a bath and sleep over catching up with a friend?" Derek mocked, crossing his hands over his chest. "I can't believe it! That's almost selfish."

"You'll get over it." Addison said glumly, patting him on his shoulder. "I have to go and prep my patient for surgery."

"You know, just because they call you 'McDreamy' doesn't mean that everyone is in love with you Derek." Miranda Bailey said in a matter of fact tone, without looking up from the chart she was scribbling into.

"She's just playing hard to get." Derek laughed.

"No, she's not. Look at her, you fool...she's moved on... she's over you..you're McDreamyness doesn't not work on her...she is not affected by your looks or charms."

"I don't believe that." Derek said crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly. "Why is she here then?"

"Because Richard wanted her." Miranda snapped quickly.

"Richard could have used anybody else..." Derek rebutted.

"Richard wanted the best-"

"Richard wanted to torment me." Derek muttered quietly under his breath. And boy, was it working!

"Addison is the best in her field, so that's why she is here. She didn't come back for you! And your crazy if you think that she did." Miranda said clicking off her pen and tucking it into her pocket.

"You moved on Derek. You didn't want her...and now she's doing the same. Let her be. Don't mess with her head." Miranda said sternly; shaking her head, as she walked away, leaving Derek standing in the middle of the corridor.

x

"Finally! I can't believe it's lunch time...I'm starving." Alex said joining Christina and Meredith at an outside table. "How are your batch going? Mine are pissing me off." he said taking a big bite into his turkey sandwich.

"Mine are annoying..." Christina said twirling her fork around in her noodles. "They are competitive and turned on all the time...They ask a million questions and fight over the answers...they are trying way to hard."

"Geez, sounds like someone I know." Alex muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I don't try to hard...I'm the best. I know it." Christina snapped, hitting Alex on the arm.

"Mine are whiny...and nosy...and I am punishing them for it. All this week, they are doing charts!" Meredith said with self-satisfaction. "No preping for surgeries, no diagnosing, no fun stuff...just charts, and paper work and boredom..."

"Wow, you really are a bitch." Alex laughed taking another bite into his sandwich.

"They need to learn who is the boss." Meredith snapped quickly. "How do they even, know so much about me? They only started today, for crying out loud."

"Word travels fast in a hospital when you're an intern sleeping with an attending." Christina sighed.

"Wait-" Alex said dropping his sandwich down onto his plate. "They know all about you and Shephard?"

"Yup. All about it. I heard them calling me the 'dirty mistress' behind my back today and everything."

"Wow, that's messed up."

"That's what I said!" Christina said nodding in agreement.

"Hey guys." Izzie said sitting down next to Alex.

"You don't look too good Iz, you look pale. Is everything alright?" Meredith asked.

"He has been avoiding me...this whole time...and he didn't even tell me that he failed! I mean, I'm his bestfriend! How can he do that?"

"O'Mailey failed the intern exams? HA!" Alex laughed through a mouthful of sandwich.

Meredith and Christina both shot him a don't you start look.

"Iz, maybe he was embarrassed." Meredith said, rubbing her hand gently.

"No." Izzie snapped quickly, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I would be." Christina said quickly.

Meredith raised an eyebrow at Christina and nodded towards Izzie.

"What? I would be! I would never show my face in the same hospital again!" Christina said truthfully.

"So what happens now? He has to repeat?" Alex asked.

"Yep. All four years." Meredith said sighing heavily poor George.

"Wow, sucks to be George." Alex said letting out a low whistle. "Why did he fail? I thought he had Callie's cards?"

"I had Callie's cards." Christina said. "What? She gave them to me. Don't look at me like that! Besides, I had the cards...he had Callie...He should have aced it...He was probably too busy having sex with her to study." Christina snapped harshly.

Izzie cringed and played with her pasta.

"Are you going to eat that Iz?" Alex asked, observing her lack of appetite.

"No...I don't know why I got it...do you want it?" she said pushing her tray closer to him.

"Sure. Why not? I'm starving! These interns are a piece of work."

"Tell me about it." Christina said stretching back in her chair. "So where is George?"

"He said that he was going to find Callie." Izzie muttered softly under her breath.

"Ewww...they are not still trying for a baby are they?" Christina said scrunching up her face slightly. "Remind me never to sleep in the on call room again, without changing the sheets!"

"I always use the on call room and I never change the sheets." Alex said through a mouthful of pasta.

"That is just ferral." Christina said in disgust.

"Meredith?" a young intern said walking up to the table.

"What do you want?" Christina snapped quickly. "We're on lunch. Do you mind?"

"I- just- I," the girl stammered uncomfortably. "I'm Lexie Grey. I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself."

"This table is for attendings." Alex snapped quickly, coming to Meredith's defence. "No interns."

"Okay then," George said turning on his heel to leave.

"No George wait!" Izzie shrieked jumping out of her seat and running after him.

"Alex!" Christina snapped quickly.

"What?" Alex said through a mouthful of pasta.

"Meredith?" Lexie repeated looking at her sister. "I'm your sister..don't you want to get to know me, at all?"

"You're not my sister." Meredith snapped. "You're my half-sister and because I don't know anything about you; you don't even qualify as a half sister! You're just a girl that shares the same father as I. So don't try to make me feel guilty, that I know nothing about you...because I have been fine, all these years on my own- without knowing you...and I will be fine keeping it that way." She said angrily before storming off and leaving Christina, Alex and a very upset Lexie behind her.

x

"So you're avoiding me now?" Izzie asked leaning onto the rails of the staircase.

"No." George said looking into her eyes. "How can I, when I've spent all morning with you as an intern?"

"That's not what I mean...and you know it."

"I just needed some space."

"Some space? I tell you that I love you and you needed some space?"

"What did you want me to say Izzie? That I love you back, too? That I don't regret sleeping with you? Hmmm?" George said raising his voice. " Because...that's not the truth. I was married! I might not have been so happily married, as I thought...but Callie was still my wife! I never wanted to be one of those guys...I never thought I would cheat."

"You married too quickly. You made a mistake. A Vegas wedding hardly counts as a wedding George." Izzie said rolling her eyes at him.

"We made vows, Izzie. VOWS! It counted as a wedding to me."

"George...you were unhappy..." Izzie said taking his hands in hers, "you came to me that night when we-"

"That night was a mistake." George said backing away and dropping Izzie's hands.

"George...it wasn't-"

"That night was a product of alcohol...I should never have come past the house. I should have talked things through with Callie and I would not be in this mess right now!"

"George, please!" Izzie said through foggy eyes.

"I have to go." George said bolting up a flight of stairs.

"No wait! George." Izzie said chasing after him. "Can we just talk?"

"There's nothing to say. I have to find Callie."

"There's plenty to say!" Izzie said pulling him roughly by the arm. "What if I said that I don't love you any more? That I've realised that we did make a mistake? I want my bestfriend back, George. I miss him. I can't live without him! Can we just go back to the way things were before the sex?"

"No." George said flatly, avoiding Izzie's eyes.

"Why not?" Izzie cried, as hot tears streamed down her cheeks and burnt her eyes.

"I want to. I want us to go back to being there for one another; for being each other's person. I want us to be bestfriends again and bitch about Meredith and Christina's closeness.. I want to be able to come over and tell you about my day, or about how much I miss my dad. I want to tell you when I'm scared that I married my wife, without knowing the slightest thing about her; or that I'm scared that I'm a lousy husband...but I can't. I can't do it...because I know you too well. You're my bestfriend Iz, I know when you are not fine, when you are happy and when you lie...and I know that you are not over me. So I can't pretend to be just friends when you can't keep your end of the deal." George said sighing heavily and leaving a speechless Izzie on the staircase, before heading back through the exit doors to re-enter the hospital.

x

"Hey you." Meredith said walking up to Derek, as he filled out a chart over the nurses desk.

"Hey." Derek said, without too much enthusiasm.

"So like, you're still mad at me, huh?" Meredith said leaning closer towards him.

"I'm busy Meredith."

"I could really use a friend right now."

"Haven't you got Christina for that?" Derek asked clicking off his pen, returning the chart into the tray and walking away.

"I do...but she's got her own issues...with Burke and all."

"What about Izzie?" Derek said pressing the button on the lift.

"She's all distracted with George being an intern again-"

"Alex?" Derek asked looking up at the lift, waiting impatiently.

"Hahaha no. I don't talk to Alex much about my problems...he believes eveything is fixed by sex."

Derek shot Meredith a quick look and then focused his eyes on the elevator again.

"So are you busy right now? I'm still on my break." Meredith sang out cheefully.

"Actually I am.." Derek muttered. "I'm looking for someone."

"Well, I was thinking about going to the on call room..."

"You do that." Derek said, pressing the lift's button impatiently. What the hell was taking this lift so long? He needed to find Addison.

"...I was going to take all my clothes off...and...are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?" Derek asked quickly, as Meredith filled his thoughts and pushed out the ones of his ex-wife.

"I'm offering you sex." she whispered a bit softly, so no one would hear, "I'm talking about hot, steamy, no strings attached sex...like you can leave right after you are done...friends with benefits...no boyfriend/ girlfriend stuff...no attachments...just you and me and sex...what do you say?"

"I got to go. I'll take the stairs. I'll see you around." Derek said, bolting for his life.

x

"I heard you were back in town, you sexy thing." Mark Sloan said leaning over Addison to hug her from behind. "Oh I've missed you so!"

"Oh, it's you." Addison said taking off her glasses and returning the chart she was writing in.

"So thrilled to see me, aren't you? What's with the attitude? Playing hard to get never works with me...You should know that."

"What do you want Mark?" Addison said crossing her hands over her chest.

"I can think of a couple of things...you, me, a bottle of champagne-"

"I don't have time for this." Addison said brushing past him and pressing the button on the lift.

"You know. If you wanted to see me that badly, you should have called. I don't mind doing booty calls whenever you're involved."

Addison rolled her eyes and ignored the comment.

"So, what are you plans for tonight? Are you staying at the same hotel as last time?"

"I'm sleeping tonight...alone...in my bed and I am catching my flight out tomorrow."

"You're only here for one night?" Mark said, with disappointment in his voice.

"Yep. I hate Seattle...the sooner I am out of here; the better." Addison said sighing heavily.

"Does Derek know that you are here?" Mark said leaning against the elevator's wall.

"Uh huh." she said shooting Mark a quick look. "Why?"

"Nothing...I was just wondering how he was going to take the news." Mark said quickly. "You know that he broke up with Grey, then? I am sure he told you. Everyone in this hospital knows."

"It's none of my business."

"So you're not still carrying a torch for him then, are you?" Mark said, eyeing Addison out.

"No...I have moved on..." Addison said pressing the button again.

"Good, good. I'll swing past you're hotel at 9...I'll give you a night that you will never forget!" Mark said winking at her quickly and walking off.

"Mark don't!" Addison called after him. "I don't want you to come round." she sighed under her breath. The sooner, I am out of the hospital and away from Derek and Mark...the better! Addison thought to herself as she got into the lift.