Okay, So here is the next Chapter... Enjoy!!!


Due to the combined efforts of Dr. Bailey and Lexie, by the end of the day, Mark Sloan was ready to swear off women. He had reached a place of such utter frustration, that he was likely to lash out at the next person who spoke to him. Dr. Bailey didn't mean to annoy him; Mark knew that, she just wanted to know everything. She had question after question, and each question had multiple parts and a follow up. Had Bailey not been a doctor, Mark was convinced that she would have been a wonderful investigative reporter.

Lexie was another story all together. She had spent the day deliberately torturing him. She was brushing up against him, and making eyes at him anytime Dr. Bailey looked the other way. As she presented the case, she made sure their fingers brushed when she handed him the chart. And later, when Mark was getting ready to go into surgery, Lexie had winked at him before going to sit in the gallery. After the surgery, once Dr. Bailey had left due to a page, Mark pulled Lexie into the first available supply closet.

"You're bad," Mark said, pushing her up against the wall and kissing her the way he had wanted to all morning. He dragged his lips across her own, giving as much pleasure as he was receiving. It amazed him how addicting each one of Lexie's kisses was. She never seemed to tire of pressing her lips against his own, and as a result he thought about them a lot more than he should. Especially when the thought of her kisses was crossing his mind while he was in surgery.

"You love it," Lexie murmured against his lips.

Mark said nothing, he was too distracted by Lexie's body rubbing up against his own. "Damn it," he finally said.

"What?" Lexie asked, looking at him, her eyes filled with desire.

"I invited the intern into the supply closet," Mark said with a laugh.

"Dragged the intern into the supply closet would be a more apt description," Lexie replied pertly.

Mark laughed and kissed her again. "We better get back. You know, patients to save, careers to ruin."

Lexie grinned. "Sure, Dr. Sloan. Let's resume the teaching."

Mark groaned. "You're going to be the death of me."

"I certainly hope not," Lexie said, ducking out of the supply closet. Mark waited a couple of minutes and then followed, smiling to himself about the amount of time he spent following Lexie Grey around these days.

***

Derek was standing at the nurses' station reviewing a chart when he felt someone come up next to him. He looked up and nodded at Dr. Torres who had a pensive expression on her face. Derek smiled, happy that he and Torres had formed a little alliance for the benefit of their mutual friend.

"Do you think there is something going on with Mark?" She asked.

Derek laughed. "I am afraid you are going to have to clarify that statement. There is always something going on with Mark."

Callie smiled. "True. It's just that… I don't know. He has been acting really weird lately. First he was all crazy grumpy for days, and now… I caught him whistling this morning. Mark Sloan, whistling!" Callie's voice expressed her disbelief. "Seriously, how off is that?"

Derek shook his head with a smile. "Maybe he is just finally getting into the holiday spirit."

Callie looked at Derek as if he was nuts. "Mark? The holiday spirit? Are we talking about the same Mark Sloan here?"

Shepherd nodded. "Good point. He must have gotten…um, well, you know."

"I wonder who…" Callie trailed off.

Her and Derek both looked at each other and smiled, "Derm Nurse," they said, giving each other high-five's.

***

Meredith came up next to Christina, holding a chart in her hand. She hesitated about the best way to approach her, and decided on the most casual. "You interested in a heart transplant case? I am scrubbing in with Derek this afternoon, and can't take it."

Christina shrugged. "I have a trauma case with Hunt."

Meredith sighed, wishing she knew how to fix this. If anyone had a right to be mad it was her considering that Christina had given the solo surgery to Alex. She conveniently forgot about the reason why Christina hadn't done it herself in the first place. Meredith opened her mouth to speak, but then she saw Lexie walking with Sloan in the hallway.

"What is Lexie doing with Dr. Sloan?" Meredith asked.

Christina smirked to herself as she wrote in the chart at the counter. "Lexiepedia is learning the importance of having a complete rotation. Plastics is going to be her new home for a while."

"You assigned Lexie to Plastics?" Meredith hissed. "What were you thinking?"

Christina rolled her eyes. "I was thinking about teaching my intern a lesson. Please, don't pretend you care."

Meredith grabbed the chart and walked away, going up the stairs to find Derek. By the time she had gotten to him, Callie had already left, and Derek was just about to leave the nurses station. When Meredith got close enough, she flicked him with her index finger and thumb.

"Ow!" Derek said.

"You promised!"

"Promised what?"

"You promised that you would keep Mark away from Lexie!" Meredith flicked him again.

"Ow! Enough with the flicking!" Derek protested. "And that is not what I promised. I said I would talk to him about it, and I did."

"Oh, yeah? Then why has Lexie been assigned to Mark until further notice?"

Derek shrugged. "Ask Christina."

"I did," Meredith said. "And all she would say is that she has assigned her to him until further notice. There is no way Sloan has enough self-control to stay away from Lexie when she is working with him!"

"Relax, Meredith," Derek said. "Mark is with the new Derm Nurse, well, for the time being anyway."

Meredith bit her lip and sighed. "That doesn't matter. There is no way Mark Sloan could be a one woman guy."

***

By the time his shift had ended, Mark was worn out. Trying to balance Dr. Bailey and Lexie was exhausting. Mark was just grateful that Lexie was still not allowed in the OR. He didn't think he would have been able to get through their second surgery if she had been that near to him. Mark changed and was leaving his office, when Lexie walked up.

"Hey there," she said, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Dr. Grey," Mark said, conscious of the doctors and nurses around them. He lowered his voice, "When do you get off work?"

"An hour," she said.

"I'll be waiting," he replied.

She turned to go, but then stopped and looked at him. "I liked working with you today."

Mark felt his chest tighten as he looked at her. There was such an honest and simple sincerity on Lexie's face that Mark felt as if he had just won the biggest prize. He could take no more. Mark grabbed Lexie's hand and dragged her into his office and yanked the door closed. Mark flipped the lock and pushed Lexie up against the door.

"What is with you dragging me into dark rooms?" Lexie said with a laugh.

"You can't say things like that to me," Mark murmured, looking into her eyes, but not answering her question.

"Say things like what?" Lexie asked.

"Like you liked working with me," Mark replied.

"Why not?" Lexie asked, her eyes big as she felt the beginnings of desire curling in her belly.

"Because you make me want to give us both away." Mark whispered, kissing her forehead. "When you look at me like that, I can't help but think…"

"What?" Lexie asked, her eyes locked on his.

"That I wish I could do this in front of everyone. That I wish we could be Mark and Lexie in front of everyone."

"We can be," Lexie whispered.

Mark shook his head. "We can't, Lex, I promised."

"What did you promise?" Lexie asked, realizing this was not the first time he had mentioned a promise to her.

"I promised Derek that I would stay away from you, that I wouldn't take you to bed. And I tried, God Lexie, I tried so hard." Mark's words were like a caress against her skin. "I stayed away, even though I wanted to take you home that night Sadie almost died. And I tried to keep things professional when we had Mrs. Patterson's reconstruction. But all I wanted to do was pull you into my arms and kiss you senseless. I tried Lexie, but I just can't stay away from you."

Lexie shook her head. "I can't either. When Mrs. Patterson spoke, I realized there was no one else in the world I wanted to tell. That is why I went to your hotel room, Mark. I wanted to share it with you." Lexie put her hand on top of his heart. "I wanted you to know how amazing I think you are."

"Oh, Lexie," He whispered. "Lex…" He kissed her then, up against the door. His body was pressed against hers, and Lexie was holding him just as tight as he was holding her. He lifted his hand and gently stroked the bare skin at her neck, dragging his fingers along her collarbone.

"Mark," she cried. "Please."

Clothes came off then, flying in every direction as they tried to stay close to each other at the same time. When Lexie was naked, Mark dropped his jeans and lifted her against the door. As he entered her, he whispered, "Someday they'll know…"

He didn't fully know what he meant, but Lexie understood. Someday this wouldn't be a secret. Someday, there would be no guilt, no ghosts in the room. Someday it would be just them. Just Lexie and Mark.

***

It was a long time before Mark lowered her back to the floor. He hadn't wanted to give up the pleasure of holding her, but in the end, he had been afraid of crushing her, and allowed her to lower her feet. Mark picked up her clothing and handed it to her, piece by piece.

Once they were fully clothed, Lexie looked at him and cocked her head to one side. "Mark, I have a question for you."

"Shoot," he said, as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Are you seeing anyone else?"

Lexie's question went off like a bomb in the room.

Mark looked at her like she had slapped him. "How can you ask me that?"

Lexie's eyes widened when she saw the look on his face. "Mark!" She said urgently, "I didn't mean it like that! It's just that we never talked about exclusivity, and it has only been a couple of days, and I didn't want you to feel obligated to me. Not that you do feel obligated to me. But if you did, I just wanted to tell you, that I am not seeing anyone else." Lexie closed her eyes in embarrassment. "Stop talking, Lexie," She mumbled to herself.

Mark smiled, and walked over to her. He tipped her chin so that she was looking at him. "Lexie Grey, I think you are just as bad at this relationship thing as I am."

"If not worse," Lexie said with an embarrassed smile.

"Well, let me put your mind at ease. I am not seeing anyone else, I am not sleeping with anyone else, and I am not thinking of anyone else."

Lexie smiled. "How do you always know how to say the right things when I am being neurotic?"

"It's a gift," Mark said with a grin.

"Yes, it is," Lexie agreed, totally serious.

Mark groaned. "Don't look at me like that Lexie."

"Or what?"

"Or we are never going to get out of my office."

Lexie was about to reply when her pager went off. "Hold that thought," she said.

Mark kissed her. "I'll see you in a half an hour."

Lexie grinned. "Not if I see you first."

***

George O'Malley had a bad day. None of his interns seemed to respect him or accept the fact that he was their boss. The last thing he felt like doing was going back to the crappy apartment he shared with Lexie. It was simply too depressing. He sighed as he stared at the surgical board.

"Hey George," Lexie said, coming up next to him. She smiled when she saw Mark's name on the board from an earlier surgery. She had changed to go home, and she was about to leave to go meet Mark.

"Hey Lexie," George said, not looking at her.

She was about to walk away, when he said, "Hey, what are you doing tonight?"

"Tonight? Why? Why do you ask? Did you hear something?"

"What?" George asked. "No, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go get a drink with me."

Lexie stood there in shock when suddenly a wide grin broke across her face. It amazed her to think that just a few short weeks ago her heart would have burst with excitement if George had asked her that. She realized for the first time that she had absolutely no feelings for George O'Malley.

It was as if the girl who had once done all those nice things for him and sacrificed surgeries for him had never existed to begin with, or if she had it had been in another life all together. Looking at him now, Lexie had a wonderful feeling of freedom, and a sudden desperate urge to see Mark.

"No," she said, still grinning. "I don't want to get a drink with you."

"Okay," George said, puzzled at the wide grin on her face. "Will I see you at home?"

Lexie shrugged, still smiling. "Maybe," she said, whistling as she walked away.

"Weird," George muttered to himself when she was out of sight.

When Lexie turned the corner, she began to run.

Except this time, she wasn't running away from something.

She was running towards it.

A/N: Review Please!