Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank all of you for the support for this story! It means a lot to me! There is one more chapter after this, just so you all know!

Enjoy!! And please let me know what you think!

Warning: suss!

He'd never tell you, but he can play guitar
I think he can see through everything but my heart
First thought when I wake up is
My God, he's beautiful
So I put on my make-up and pray for a miracle

The sun's rays creped beneath Meredith's eyelids entirely too early for her taste as You and Me by Lifehouse invaded her ears. She could already tell that it was definitely a good thing that she'd taken that aspirin before she fell asleep. She blindly fumbled around for her cellphone on her bedside table and froze when her arm landed on warm skin. "What the.." Her eyes shot open to find his smiling face laying between her and her phone. "Why are you calling me when you're in my bed?" She mumbled as she wiped at her eyes lazily, lifting herself onto one elbow. "Second thought. Why are you in my bed?"

"Thought I'd try something new. Gotta say. Pretty nice bed you have here, Mer." He laughed as he ended the call before plopping his head back into the pillow.

"Why are you in it?" She repeated it, trying to remember the specifics of last night. She was positive that she had closed the door on him, taken aspirin, showered, and went to bed. She hadn't even stayed up to wait to see Izzie was coming over. Clearly not, she reasoned as she once again eyed her visitor. At least he was fully clothed. She didn't know what she would have done if he had not been. She had crashed at his place tons of times, but this was her bed. Him shirtless in her bed would be a freaking overload beyond explanation. She would not be responsible for her thoughts or her actions. He came to her!

"We should go get breakfast." He avoided the question again, finally sitting up to look around the room. "Your room has changed a lot since I've been in here." He frowned, standing up to get a closer look of the pictures on the corners of her mirror. He felt relieved that some of them still contained him in them. It'd only been a year, and sometimes he felt like he didn't know her at all anymore.

"You were in here a few weeks ago, crazy." She laughed until she saw his saddened expression in the mirror. "Are you okay, Mark?"

"Huh? Yeah." He turned around to offer her a quick glance and a smile before turning back towards the mirror to grab a picture he'd been eying. It was a picture of him. He clearly did not know she was taking the picture, or maybe he didn't want it to be taken, because his head was down, focused solely on the guitar in his lap. He smiled as he remembered how proud he'd been when he'd gotten it and learned how to play Wonderwall by Oasis on it. She was the only person he'd ever played in front of. He didn't even take the guitar to college. The more he looked at it, the more he realized when exactly it was taken.

"Mer! Stop! Put that damn camera away!" He ordered her as he sat down on her bed. She'd been unable to put that thing down since she bought it the week before. It was just a one time use camera, it'd cost him only 4 and some change, but she held onto it like it was sprinkled with diamonds.

"Aw. But you're so cute when you're concentrating." She giggled as she took another snapshot.

"Guitars don't make guys look cute, Mer." Mark rolled his eyes at her as he continued to strum along with the beat in his head.

"Who said anything about the guitar?" She grinned, snapping another shot before finally setting the camera down on her dresser. "Fine. No more pictures. "

"Thank you." He finally lifted his head as he sat aside the guitar. "In three days, I will be officially a high school graduate! Can you believe it?"

"That explains the gray hair, I guess." Meredith shrugged her shoulders, biting her lip to reject the growing smile.

"MEREDITH GREY!" He gasped, his hands flying to his head, running his fingers through his hair.

"Just saying." She laughed, quickly sliding away from him as he reached his arms out to her to tickle her sides. "NO! PLEASE NO!" She squealed, instinctively laying back on the bed to get away from him. She realized quickly that it was as bad idea as her breath hitched in her throat as he leaned over her, not once giving her a break from the tickling.

"Take it back!" He demanded as she squirmed against him.

"No!" She refused, slapping his chest and arms repeatedly to try to get him to loosen his hold, with little to no success.

"I'm not stopping." He shifted as his hands fell underneath her shirt just enough to reach the spot he knew would make her give in.

"OK! OK! I'M SORRY! YOU AREN'T OLD! YOU AREN'T OLD!" She surrendered grudgingly, thankful when his hands rested peacefully on her hips. She took a deep breath to gather herself as she met his gaze. "What?" She asked softly. He was looking at her differently than he usually did, and it gave her chills.

"Nothing." He shook his head, slowly rolling over onto his back so that he wasn't touching her anymore. "Do you remember when we made our pact to never have any secrets?"

"You mean when you wouldn't tell me what you got me for Christmas, and I punched you in the stomach and made you promise not to keep secrets?" She laughed as she recalled Mark agreeing only because she had her fist ready for another punch.

"Yeah." He blushed, realizing he'd fuzzied out some of the details of how the pact came to be.

"How could I forget? You bought me the best gift EVER!" She grinned, glancing over at her dresser where the porcelain doll still sat. It was the only doll she didn't let her mother give away when she turned thirteen. "Why?" She asked, her curiosity beating out her reminiscent thoughts.

"We should make another pact." He spoke with little room for argument, even though she had no intention to argue.

"Earth to Mark!" Her words registered to him about the time he felt her hand on his arm.

"Sorry." He mumbled, his face flushed as he wondered how long she'd been trying to get his attention. "Ready to go?"

Just as Meredith was about to request ten minutes to get ready, her cell phone started ringing again, this time Dig by Incubus filled her room, accompanied with loud vibrations against the table it was on.

"Izzie." She acknowledged as she made her way back to the bed to grab her phone.

"Hey Iz." She smiled into the phone, excited to hear about her night. Hopefully it had gone much better than her own.

Mark watched as Meredith's cheeks burned bright red at whatever Izzie said to her. He bit back his laugh as she nervously pushed her hair behind her ear. "Um. Now?" She asked, glancing quickly at him, seeming to apologize for whatever it was that she was suppose to do. He had a sinking feeling he was about to get left for a girl. "Yeah. Okay. See you in a bit, Iz." Meredith quickly ended the call, biting her lip as she stood up to face him.

"Let me guess." He gave his best supportive smile before she talk. "Izzie needs you. Now."

She nodded sadly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "It'll just be like an hour. Tops!" She smiled as she felt his arms around her waist. "Promise." She grinned, quickly kissing his cheek before pulling away. "You have to go though. Really. She's going to be here any minute."

"What? I can't be present during super fun girl time?" He laughed, crossing his arms securely against his chest in false protest. Truly, he had no interest in hearing about how Izzie hooked up with her date, but he didn't want to leave Meredith either.

"Where do you come up with those things?" She laughed as she rolled her eyes at him. "And no. Now, see you in an hour!" She grinned as she pushed him out of her bedroom.

"Fine. See you in an hour, and don't forget in your gossip hour that my parents are expecting you at dinner tonight." He winked at her before finally walking on his own towards the stairwell.

"Not a chance." She smiled before shutting the door and going back to lay in her bed. She didn't know why he'd chosen to wake her up that way, but she couldn't deny the fact that she liked him being the first person she saw when she opened her eyes.

Yes I could tell you
His favorite color's green
He loves to argue
Oh, and it kills me
His sister's beautiful
He has his father's eyes
And if you ask me if I love him..
If you ask me if I love him..
I'd lie

Meredith was still reeling from Mark being in her bed when Izzie burst into her room without even a courtesy knock. It was clear that her night had gone much better than her own by the smile playing on her best friend's face. "Hey Iz." Meredith laughed, scooting over on the bed so that Izzie could sit down.

"Sorry I didn't call." Izzie blushed as she snuggled underneath the covers.

"Good night?" Meredith laughed as she noted that Izzie was still wearing Alex's shirt. Clearly Izzie had had a lot more fun than she had.

"Yes. And I take it you did too since I just saw Mark leaving." Izzie laughed before her eyes shot open. "Oh my god. I'm in your bed!" Izzie quickly jumped up.

"Relax, Iz. Mark didn't spend the night. Nothing happened." Meredith muttered, a little irritation of the fact showing through.

"Oh." Izzie frowned, once again sliding back onto the bed. "Then why was he here?"

"He wanted to get breakfast." Meredith shrugged her shoulders, knowing it was a weird reason, but she was being honest!

"He couldn't have called you?"

"Apparently not." Meredith couldn't help but to smile at the memory of him being there.

"So NOTHING happened after he dragged you out of the party all boyfriend style. He was all heated.. and.." Izzie always got irritated with the two of them. It was so obvious that they both were completely in love with each other, yet neither of them had seemed to figure it out! She'd told Meredith to just kiss him a thousand times, but she had yet to take her advice.

"Nothing. He told me I was his best friend." She rolled her eyes as she remembered how ridiculously close he had been to her.

"He's an idiot."

"It's not his fault he doesn't like me, Iz." Meredith frowned as she covered her face with a pillow.

"Oh Whatever! He went all psycho- jealous on you like seven times last night, Mer! Friends don't do that. "

"Mark does."

"You're impossible." Izzie rolled her eyes again at Meredith before changing the subject. "Anyway! Mark is not the reason I came over."

"I figured." Meredith smiled as Izzie's face was taken over with a dreamy expression.

"You know how you obsess and obsess over things in your head over and over before they happen to the point where it seems like by the time it actually happens, it has no chance of coming close to what you dreamed?"

Meredith frowned, she knew exactly what that was like, but that didn't quite go with the look of pure joy on Izzie's face. "It wasn't good?"

"Oh no. It was even better. I was just saying."

"You're impossible, Iz!" Meredith giggled as she slid beneath the covers. "So spill. Why are you here so early?"

"Can't a girl just want to hang with her best friend?"

"Not this time of morning."

"Right. Good thing Mark woke you up first."

"Iz!"

"Fine! Fine!" Izzie laughed as she settled in to tell her story.

She watched as Mark pulled Meredith from the dance floor, heading directly for the door. She could hear Meredith's protests, but as he handed off Meredith's tequila, she knew that they wouldn't be coming back. She smiled as she turned around to face Alex, wrapping her arms around his neck so that she could pull him close to talk into his ear. "You wanna get out of here?" She didn't pull away to see his face, but she felt him nod against her before his arms reached up to hers to grab onto her hands. She blushed as he stepped away for a moment to look into her eyes.

"Are you sure?" He asked, and with a simple nod for an answer, he led her towards the door, their fingers intertwined as they navigated through the crowd.

It was only a few minutes before they pulled up to his house. "You live here?" She asked, blinking in surprise. She didn't know what she was expecting, Alex had never hidden the fact that his family has money, but the place was a mansion! All of her insecurities came rushing forth as she mentally compared their lives. Alex was an only child and living in a house that had at least seven bedrooms, while she had three siblings and a single mother in a three bedroom ranch style house.

"You okay, babe?" Alex asked her, and she could tell she had worried him.

"Fine. Sorry." She gave her best smile as she continued to eye the house. Meredith's house was large, but it was nothing like Alex's. She felt so out of place. She knew her mother did the best she could, and she'd never been ashamed of her, but it didn't mean she didn't feel inadequate walking into Alex's house, even if he was holding her hand. She was thankful when he informed her that his parents were out of town for the weekend. She wasn't sure she could have handled running into them.

She was relieved when they made it to his room, a wave of relief washed over her as she was surrounded by things that were just so incredibly Alex. Trophies were on display on a shelf than ran the length of the wall across from his bed. The room was clean, too clean even. She assumed they had a cleaning lady. Everything was set in the perfect angle for optimal viewing, and she couldn't help but be in more awe of him that he took an interest in her, who was clearly so different.

"It's nice." She grinned as she walked past the bed to sit on the bean bag in the far corner of his room, next to the window.

"You wouldn't say that if you saw it this morning." He grinned, sitting on his knees in front of her.

"You cleaned for me?" She awed at him, placing her hand across her chest.

"Something like that." He laughed, running a hand across her cheek before it went into her hair, freeing it from the clip that held it together. "You're beautiful."He whispered, leaning in just enough to tease her lips with an airy kiss.

Her hands trembled nervously as she pulled him closer to her using the back of his neck. "I'm already in your bedroom, Alex." She grinned, fighting the nerves that were building in her stomach.

The kisses lasted for several minutes before he pulled away, once again looking into her eyes. "Do you want to get out of that dress?"

She blushed scarlet red at the question before he quickly fixed his statement. "I meant like.. pj's or something." She smiled as he blushed too.

"I'd like that." She grinned, watching as he walked over to his dresser, quickly grabbing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt before walking back to her.

"Here you go." He fumbled as he handed over the clothing before nodding to the joined bathroom. "You can change in there, if you want."

She smiled thankfully at the gesture before she stood up, her dress swishing as he helped her get her balance. She was thankful she wasn't wearing heels.

"I could.." She nodded as she dropped the clothes behind her onto the bean bag. "But there's only one problem with that."

His voice came out raspy and a little higher than usual as he asked her what the problem was.

"I can't unzip the dress myself." She whispered into his ear, even though he'd already told her his parents were gone.

She slowly turned around, lifting her hair up so that he could undo the dress for her. Her stomach flipped as she felt his hands against her back, slowly torturing her as the zipper made its way down her back at a snail's pace. The dress simply fell off of her once it was fully unzipped and she grinned as she heard his breath hitch in his throat. "Thanks." She grinned, bending over, clad only in underwear, to retrieve the pair of clothing he'd given her.

"I get the picture, Iz!"Meredith blushed as her friend recalled some very intimate details that she could have easily gone without ever knowing. Wasn't 'we had sex' enough? Really!

"Sorry." Izzie's cheeks burned with embarrassment as she dug herself further into the covers. She hadn't meant to get so detailed, but once she started, her mind refused to leave anything out.

"So you two are.." Meredith trailed off, hoping that Izzie would finish the statement.

"Together." Izzie beamed before a small squeal left her throat.

"Good for you, Iz." Meredith smiled at her friend, once again reminded how badly her night had gone. She was about to begin the hint that she needed to go meet Mark when her phone went off, indicating she had a text message. Flipping it open, she smiled as a picture of Mark flashed onto her phone's screen. Patience had never been a virtue Mark possessed.

Leaving in 10. Be here if you want breakfast.

"I'm sorry, Iz. I gotta go." Meredith fought the smile on her lips as she closed her phone. "You can hang here if you want, though. Feel free." Meredith jumped out of bed and grabbed a pair of clothes before rushing to the bathroom.

"Have fun." Izzie yelled quickly before the water rushed through the pipes to the shower.