~I sincerely apologize for taking so freakin long to update, but I had sooo much crap to deal with the past couple of months and then add on college classes…soo yeah, here you go…if your still there haha

Chapter 4

Four days after she returned home, Meredith was officially bored out of her mind; she had roped Izzie into teaching her how to bake (which wasn't working out very well since she had burnt everything she came in contact with and irritated the hell out of her teacher), joined Alex in watching sports with him in the evening until he kicked her out for asking too many questions during the game, Christina was avoiding her since she figured a bored and antsy Meredith was worse than any phase her best friend could go through…and George was just George…not knowing exactly what she needed and not really understanding why he wasn't much of a help to her.

She was now lying on her bed, 5 o'clock in the evening and pretty much banned from every room in her own house by the people she called friends. Meredith sighed loudly and shifted her position on the mattress, turning to face her closet; she contemplated if she dared face the wrath of everyone she knew and go out for a bit. She was still technically supposed to be bed ridden, doing nothing that took the chance of opening her stitches up or inviting bacteria where they weren't supposed to go. Sighing loudly again in hopes that someone downstairs would hear her, she sat and listened to the sounds but nothing showed her that they were paying any attention to her whatsoever. Meredith sat up abruptly, clutching her chest in pain for a second and limped over to her closet, looking for whatever seemed good enough to spend the rest of the evening at a bar…even if it was just Joes. Making up her mind, she selected simple skinny blue jeans, a maroon tank top and a white see through long sleeve and tossed her pajamas into the corner while pulling on what she picked out quickly.

When she finished, she slowly walked over to her mirror and threw her hair up in a loose ponytail but decided against it and just left it in soft curls that trailed across her shoulders. Satisfied that she looked presentable and not like she was going out of her mind, Meredith snatched her purse from her dresser and opened her door, making her way down the stair case and over to the coat rack. She quickly searched for her coat and hurriedly slipped it onto her shoulders, cringing slightly when she pulled her bandages tight around her. After finishing her job, she grabbed her keys and quietly tiptoed over to the door and tried to open it without alerting anyone to her actions.

"What do you think you're doing Meredith Grey?"

She cringed at hearing the disapproving tone of her roommate and friend, and sheepishly turned around to face Izzie. "Umm nothing…"

Izzie's hard stare wasn't eased up with Meredith's assurance and she put both of her hands on her hips, sort of mimicking an angry mother who just caught her misbehaving teenager trying to sneak out of the house during restriction. "You're not supposed to leave the house, and even if you do you can't be driving…you know that."

Meredith frowned, annoyed at Izzie's tone and felt herself and her memories transported back to when she was a teenager…except she had pink hair and black clothing and her mother never cared to stop her from doing anything, let alone follow her to the door. "I'm going out, okay. I am allowed to do what I want and I will call a damn cab."

"You're not going anywhere's under my watch."

Meredith closed her eyes and tried to even her breath and control her tongue from snapping at Izzie, but it was getting hard not to. "I will be fine, Iz."

Izzie crossed her arms and moved her feet more solidly on the hard wood floor, telling Meredith that she wouldn't budge without having to say anything at all.

"Iz...seriously if I stay here…"

"You'll what? Get better?"

Meredith snapped and glared heatedly at her friend who was being overly protective and a pain in Meredith's ass. "Look Izzie, I'm not going to do anything that pulls my stitches open and I promise that I won't drive. I just need to get out of the damn house or else I think I'm going to blow and since I don't have to give reasons to you for what I want to do with my time, injuries or not, I suggest you shut your mouth and just make sure that if something does happen you will be there to take care of it. If not then I don't want you worrying over something that you don't need to. I'll be fine. Seriously."

Izzie looked rather taken aback by the amount of words Meredith had thrown at her but she seemed to consider them since the only thing she asked before Meredith left was her keys.

Meredith grudgingly placed them in her palm and then turned around to walk out the door, while calling for a cab to pick her up at her house. In the meantime she sat down on her swing outside and rocked back and forth thinking about things until the yellow car pulled up and beeped his horn. She quickly limped to the afore-mentioned vehicle and told the driver to head to Joes.

She leaned back comfortably in the seat and looked at the passing blur of houses and people. She hadn't been outside since her shooting, Mark's ride home didn't count since she wasn't out for very long, so it was weird to see more snow on the ground than there had been a couple of weeks ago. It was rare that Seattle had so much snow…usually it was just a light dusting and then lots of slush to cover the roads and sidewalks. But this year seemed to be different and Meredith wasn't sure she liked the cold version of this city.

The driver cleared his throat loudly and announced that they were there; Meredith looked outside quickly and shook her head when she realized that they really were. She hadn't even noticed, she had been lost in her thoughts the entire ride over…but that didn't really mean anything since it was only a ten minute drive.

She smiled thankfully at the man and handed him a twenty, leaving before he could give her the change, saying that it was a very early Christmas present. Meredith slowly walked over to the doorway and took a deep breath, hoping that people she didn't want to see wouldn't be there; namely Derek. When she pulled the door open, she smiled at the familiar smells that bombarded her senses and waved at Joe who had a huge grin on his face when he noticed who had walked through the door. Still smiling, she took a seat at her usual side of the bar and ordered a shot of tequila.

"You sure you should be ordering alcohol?"

Meredith glared at the bar tender for a second and gestured to her stomach, "Do I look like I'm pregnant Joe? I think I can drink if I want to, besides I don't plan on getting wasted tonight…just need something to take the edge off."

Joe grinned again and shrugged his shoulders, "Just being cautious for you Mere, someone has to."

She smiled and fingered the glass he had put in front of her. Considering it for a second, she tipped the shot back and sucked her breath in at the familiar sting of pure alcohol burning down her throat. She gestured for Joe to pour another and twisted in her seat to survey the bar. The warmth of the pub was welcoming and it seemed that she wasn't the only person to seek out the company of people tonight…but that wasn't really surprising since it was a Saturday night. Twisting back in her seat she eyed the drink in front of her and ordered an ice water to go along with it. As long as she wasn't planning on getting drunk she should at least have an alternative drink to keep her occupied. Joe agreed with her decision and turned away to grab her water and a lime; something he had always done for her whenever she needed something flavorful and yet non alcoholic.

"Is this seat taken?"

Meredith shifted to look to her left where the voice had come from and groaned inwardly when she realized she was going to be hit on. As much fun as going to a bar and getting a one night stand could be…she wasn't ready to start dating again after Derek and she was damn well certain she wasn't going to go home with random men just to give him the satisfaction of calling her a whore again. "Does it look taken?"

"Nope, just wondered. So you been here before?"

She thanked Joe as he handed her the lime flavored water and ice, and then switched crossed legs, ignoring the question and hoping that the guy got the hint…apparently not since he kept looking at her expectantly. "Yeah I work across the street."

"Really? At the hospital right! You a nurse or doctor?"

"Doctor."

The brown haired man smiled interestedly and scooted his body a little closer to hers. "Hmmm always wondered what doctors do with their spare time…so do you come here all the time? Just wanna' make sure so that I can conveniently run into you sometime." He winked like it was a perfect come-on line and grinned cockily thinking he had just made her night by telling her it.

Meredith raised an eyebrow and turned disbelieving eyes over to his face. "Seriously? Does that usually work?"

"Does what usually work?"

"The pick-up line…does it usually work for you?"

The guy sputtered nervously into his drink and closed his eyes as if trying to come up with a reason for why she was currently thinking he was a total failure at hitting on girls. "Ummmm…"

"Out of the way kid, she's totally out of your league…besides I don't think she is all that happy right now."

The guy turned surprised eyes to the man standing behind him, and looked ready to fight but when he saw who it was, the guy backed out of his chair quickly. Meredith laughed quietly at the retreat and turned to face her boss and friend. "That wasn't very nice you know…I think you scared the poor guy."

Mark grinned at her and took the seat on her right, where the man had just vacated. "Not really that hard to do since he was making a fool of himself anyways…I mean come on! Asking you your schedule so he can conveniently show up the next day and blame it on fate? Amateur. I could have thought of something sooo much better."

She laughed again and turned to take a sip of her drink, watching as the man who had hit on her tried something similar on another unsuspecting woman to her left. She noticed he kept sending worried glances their way and found it greatly amusing that Mark was able to intimidate a guy so easily. She turned back to look at him, eyeing the way he looked like he had just returned from being on call all night at the hospital…but even then he still looked like he could pick up any woman in this bar in a matter of a few minutes and take her home with him for one of his glorious one night stands.

"And how would the great Mark Sloan do it better?"

He answered her with his usual Mcsteamy grin and gestured to her drink, "Well first I would inquire as to why a beautiful young lady such as your self is sitting all alone in a busy bar and only drinking lime water?"

"Hmm and if I didn't answer?"

"Well then I would pester you until my good looks and charming interior whittles away your resolve."

Pausing in her sip of her drink, Meredith looked up at his 'innocent' expression and burst out laughing only to hold her chest in pain as the vibrations she gave out shook her abdomen to the point where her cut stretched. She took a minute to gather herself up and then she turned a bright smile to her friend and watched as his frown turned into a mirror of her own.

"No wonder you have girls practically crawling on their hands and feet to get one night with you Sloan."

Mark shook his head smugly but he ignored her comment and took a long drink of his scotch he was holding. After, he eyed her smile and then fixed his attention to where she was holding her arm firmly against her side. "Grey…should you really be out?"

Meredith scowled and turned around to face the counter, "Why does everyone feel the need to question my right to come out of my room? I didn't die so why does everyone act as if I have?"

He winced and then looked down at his own drink trying to find a way to reverse her frustration into her earlier good mood. "Maybe because everyone is worried…and they have a good reason to be."

She shrugged and glanced over at him, seeing how worried he actually was. "Look I just needed to be out, I don't want everyone to worry because there isn't anything to be worried about. I'll go home without tearing my stitches, without getting piss ass drunk, without a one night stand, without a life…" She placed her head in her hands and let out a long sigh, "Ugh…I'm a surgeon Sloan, I don't do idle very well."

Taking his hand away from his glass he briefly touched her shoulder and then went back to holding his cup in silence. She couldn't help but feel the place where he touched her burn slightly and she brought her face up to look at him. His eyes were downcast looking into his liquid cup and he seemed to be thinking about something intently, as if he wasn't sure about something or he was trying to figure something out he didn't know how. Deciding not to mention her observations to him she picked up her forgotten shot glass and tipped the contents into her mouth quickly before shoving it across the counter, shaking her head when Joe shot her a questioning glance.

"So Dr Sloan, why aren't you in the hospital working on some rich woman's nose?"

His eyes cleared at the change in topic and he smiled at the teasing tone she gave her question. "I guess no one needed a quick repair, and all the nurses pretty much hate me so I figured I would find a quickie here…instead look who I bumped into!"

Meredith scowled, nudging him lightly with her boot. "I'm not taking up your time or anything; go find that quickie of yours…"

Mark scanned the room until his eyes feel back on her and she couldn't help but feel somewhat flushed as she saw a heat in his eyes that wasn't there before. "I don't see anyone I would rather be with right now…besides I'm not sure about the whole quickie thing…maybe I'm going to turn over a new leaf."

She scoffed loudly, turning around to scan the room herself. "Yeah I see what you mean, no good pickings tonight." She sighed dramatically and faced him again, grinning mischievously. "So what? Do you sit here and wait till someone comes in or do you actually do something else?"

"I do not stay here waiting, if I don't find someone after the first half hour that is worth talking to I usually go home."

"And go to sleep? Wow your boring Sloan."

He laughed and set his empty cup on the counter with a twenty dollar bill under it. Mark slowly got out of his seat and held out his hand to her as if he was asking her to dance and she couldn't help but blush, though she hid it well under her long bangs. She eyed him again, looking from his out stretched hand and back up to his face.

"What?"

"Why don't we get out of here and I will show you how fun Mark Sloan can be."

Meredith uncrossed her legs and narrowed her eyes at him, "No sex…not cleared for it yet."

He laughed loudly and gestured again for her to take his hand, "No sex, I promise just a fun night with a good friend. Come on Grey, live a little."

She smiled and he pulled her gently from her stool, making sure she didn't hurt herself, while leading her out from the bar, waving to Joe as they left. She followed him silently, thinking about what she had gotten herself into; no one just had fun with Mark, it always led to something else and the worst part was that she didn't mind so much if it did…though Bailey would probably kill her since she definitely wasn't cleared for amorous activities. She coughed hesitantly as she realized the trail of thoughts her mind had wandered down and immediately looked towards her feet, acutely aware of Mark's hand in hers. She covered up her embarrassment by looking back up at his back and poking him.

"So where is it that I'm supposed to have so much fun at?"

Mark just shook his head without turning around to look at her, but his hand on hers tightened just a little bit and her blush grew from being light pink to light red. She decided that since he wasn't going to say anything, she wasn't, so she followed him silently and wasn't surprised when they ended up in front of his car. She watched as he fumbled in his coat pocket before pulling out his keys triumphantly and grinning towards her as if he actually accomplished something more than just finding his car keys. Giggling slightly, she shook her head and waited for him to press down on the unlock button on his electric keychain and she didn't wait for him to pull the door, instead moving ahead of him and pulling it open by herself. He didn't say anything, just laughed and turned around to get into the driver's side.

They remained quiet throughout the car ride, not because Meredith didn't try though; Mark just seemed to want to keep it a secret where they were going and as much as she hated secrets, she couldn't help but be intrigued. It wasn't long before he pulled up in front of the hotel building and she turned startled green eyes up to his silver blue ones.

"I thought I said no sex."

Mark burst out laughing but just nodded and motioned for her to open her door and follow him into the building. "I didn't lie when I told you there wasn't going to be any sex Grey. You'll see when we get to my suite."

She turned her head to look up at him and watched as he greeted the doorman happily and she suddenly felt his hand put pressure on the middle of her back, but she didn't say anything since she wasn't even sure if he realized what he was doing. "A suite, Sloan? The hospital pays you that well?"

He grinned pushing her towards the elevator and into the small room where he pushed the 4th floor button. "Yup, one of the many benefits of being the top plastic surgeon in the country."

"Why don't you just get an apartment then?"

"That would mean staying in Seattle as a permanent address."

She looked up sharply as she leaned against the side of the room and stared at him as he mimicked her on the opposite side. "You're leaving?"

Mark shrugged and studied her closely for a second and then shrugged again when he didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "Never really planned on staying, I mean the only reason I came was for Addison and Derek and some good that did me huh?"

Meredith nodded her head but remained quiet as a little voice inside her yelled that she should tell him it was worth staying because she was here. But she didn't voice her thoughts and they didn't talk until the double doors opened, showing her a long hallway with multiple doors on each side. She slowly followed Mark as he lead her to his rooms; her chest and leg were starting to act up and she hadn't had any Advil to combat the pain. She was hoping that Mark would have some with him or else tonight wouldn't last very long…whatever it was that he planned on doing with her.

They stopped outside a wooden door and she smiled as she watched him fumble for his keys again. She pointed to his left back jeans pocket and she swore she saw him blush just a little before he laughed under his breath, taking out the keys she had shown him. He slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open revealing a very bachelor living room set. Her eyes roamed to the large flat screen behind a black leather couch, white armchair and a glass table. She turned her head the other way and looked through a bar window into the small modern kitchen and then looked over to the left revealing a hallway with a couple of closed back doors on each side.

Meredith's eyes traveled back up to Mark's smirking face and she smiled back dropping her hand from his and letting her purse fall to the small stand near where she was standing next to the door.

"Come on in Grey"

She nodded her head and walked slowly into the living room sitting down gingerly on the edge of the couch, watching Mark as he moved around his suite obviously lost in his thoughts.

"So what am I here for exactly Dr Sloan?"

He grinned and then walked quickly into the kitchen where she couldn't see him. "Food...movie…good company…fun!"

She let out a low sigh and cocked her head to the side, listening to him scuffle around his kitchen, banging cabinets closed and pans being placed on the countertops. "Food? As in you cooking something?"

Mark popped his head from around the corner of the wall and scowled good naturedly at her, mock glaring. "Don't sound so skeptical Grey…believe it or not but I do know how to cook."

"First time I've heard of it…" She laughed at his irritated face and then watched as he moved back into the kitchen, resuming his earlier ministrations. "So what's for dinner? Microwavable TV dinners?"

Even though she wasn't in the room she could imagine his scowl at her words and she smiled to herself.

"Chicken parm…you eat meat right?"

She eyed the kitchen briefly before she sighed and shifted on the chair she was sitting on. "Yes I eat meat…sounds great."

Meredith waited for a reply but frowned when she didn't get any so she looked around her instead, eyeing the stack of movies near the TV and a few pictures near the edge of the TV stand. She pulled herself up from her seat and slowly walked over to admire the picture closet to the front. It was a small 3x5 photo of a young teenage girl with blonde and blue eyes; an exact mirror of the man in the other room. The girl was smiling and laughing at whoever was taking the picture, the background looked to be warm, maybe summer weather since she could make out different sets of flowers in a far off flower bed. The blue eyes were crinkled in laughter and Meredith couldn't help but envy the carefree attitude and happy exterior the girl portrayed.

"My baby sister."

She turned sharply, mentally cringing at the twinge she gave her chest, and looked up into the same familiar silver blue eyes as the girl in the picture. Mark was leaning against the archway to his kitchen, mouth curved into his trademark grin, but something about his face told Mere that he wasn't thinking about dirty, flirty, or inappropriate images that usually went along with the smile. No, this time he seemed genuinely happy for a second and she squashed the little voice in her head; the same one that told her she didn't want him to leave and was currently saying she wished she could make him give her a look like that. So instead she covered it up by walking past him and into the kitchen to sit on one of the bar stools he had next the island counter.

"Didn't know you had a sister…"

Mark, who had followed her, began working on cutting the chicken he had pulled from the fridge on the small wooden cutting board he had grabbed. "Don't really talk about her much, not anyone's business."

Meredith cringed mentally again and folding her hands on the counter, leaning forward slightly as she watched what he was doing with the knife. "I know the feeling…" Her green eyes caught his for a second before he looked back down at the chicken and turned around to grab the plastic wrap behind him.

"Ever cooked chicken parmesan before Grey?"

She shook her head, eyeing the meat dubiously and smirking as she watched him fight with the plastic in front of him. Laughing softly, she snatched the box from his frustrated hands and quickly got rid of his failed attempt. She then glanced back up into his amused eyes and then gestured to the food with the plastic wrap.

"No, but I do know that this is the fun part…" She stretched the plastic until she had a big enough piece and expertly dropped it over the exposed chicken and did the same to the other one. "Izz doesn't let me near the kitchen when she cooks…not that I blame her, last time I made anything you couldn't tell what it was exactly since it was so black and misshapen that no one really wanted to take the chance of finding out."

He laughed loudly at the mental image she had given him and he quickly hammered the chicken until they were thin enough for what he needed. Mark looked up for a second at her and then gestured to the block of cheese he had placed to his right. "Any good with a knife and cheese?"

Meredith frowned at him snatching the knife he held out and the mozzarella, deftly unwrapping it from it's package. "I'm a surgeon Sloan, of course I know how to cut things…if I didn't then I picked the wrong occupation."

Shrugging, he ignored her comment and continued to coat the chicken in batter and egg, placing them in small glass pan. She handed him the pieces of cheese she had sliced and then sat back to watch as he quickly poured the sauce over it and then put the pan into the oven. When he turned around, she smiled happily in his direction before standing up and walking out to grab her purse; searching for her ringing cell phone, sighing exasperatedly at the caller ID.

Meredith flipped it opening saying a quick hello and listened to the string of 'oh my gods' and 'where are yous' coming from the other end of the phone.

"Listen Izz, I'm fine okay."

"Why didn't you call? Me and Alex were so worried about you, he even went over to Joes to see if you were there and he said he didn't even see you leave."

"I haven't been gone for more than a few hours...why are you freaking out?" Meredith rolled her eyes at an amused Mark who was watching her with raised eyebrows.

"Because you haven't been answering your cell phone for the few hours you were gone, and everyone we called had no clue where you went."

Meredith sighed, wrapping an arm around her chest as she felt a spasm hit. "Look Izzie, I have never needed to check in before and I certainly don't need to now. I do have a life."

She listened to Izzie apologize and yell at her at the same time anyways and she closed her eyes briefly wondering why she even bothered to have friends at all…especially when they were this protective of her. "Whatever, I'm not sure when I'm going to be home so don't wait up alright?"

"Fine. But Mere…"

Meredith frowned and softly repeated an 'I'm fine' before hanging up and throwing the phone into the purse, eyeing it dubiously for a second, afraid that it would start ringing again.

"Past your bedtime Grey?"

She turned around slowly so that her chest didn't flare up again and glared at Mark's smirking face. "I have no idea why she is like that now…before I had my own life and after……..well now I seem to have a baby sitter all the time."

Mark's smile turn down a bit at the 'after' she was alluding to and shrugged his shoulders, "They care, I don't think that's so bad." His eyes traveled down to where she was holding her side and he took a slight step forward. "Something wrong Grey?"

Meredith glanced up sharply at him and then looked down at her arm in apprehension. "Not really, I just don't have my pain meds with me and its starting to act up. But I'm fine."

He didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes in disbelief at her until she sighed heavily, rolling her own eyes again at him.

"Really."

She stood watching him until he nodded as if coming to an agreement, "Go sit down Grey, dinner won't be ready for at least another forty minutes. Extra strength Tyonel work?"

Meredith huffed at the order but nodded to his question anyways; she was going to ask him for some pain killers but she wasn't planning on it happening like this…not that she cared too much at the moment since her leg was now deciding to make its presence known to her. She limped slowly to the couch in the living room and sat down gingerly so as to not jar any of her wounds.

"Pick out a movie or something if you want. Remotes on the coffee table."

She smiled slightly at him as he yelled from somewhere behind her and eyed the neat stack of movies she had spotted earlier when she had walked in. Most of them were action and horror but her eyes caught a lone DVD case that stuck out from the others and she stood up to grab the case from near the top of the pile and hurriedly put the movie into the player, placing the case back where she had found it so that he wouldn't figure out which she had picked.

As she sat back down, she felt a cold, wet glass touch her cheek and she gasped at the sudden chill that sweep through her. Hearing a chuckle behind her, Meredith narrowed her eyes and snatched the offered water from his hands.

"Didn't know exactly what you wanted to drink so I grabbed you water. Hope two will work." Mark stretched out his hand again to pull her empty hand up from where she had it placed on the sofa and placed the pills in her palm. He paused for a second, looking at the frozen TV screen in front of him and frowned in curiosity at her choice of movie. But he didn't think about it too much and instead grabbed the empty glass she held out to him and turned around to head back into the kitchen.

Meredith turned her head to follow him with her eyes as he left and wondered what else he was going to do in there; she was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying a favorite movie of hers.