Alex frowned, as he scanned through the muddled chart in front of him and his body suddenly tensed, as he sensed an abrupt female presence side up next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, there was no mistaking the familiar dark curls of his friend and co-worker, Cristina Yang.

"Where have you been? Meredith's been looking for you. She's been trying to contact you all weekend. You missed her drinks thing, for Derek." Cristina said, as dressed in the same dark blue scrubs as Alex, she arched an eyebrow and stared at him intently.

Alex didn't look up, he thought perhaps if he ignored her long enough she'd go away, no such luck though, as she went on to say. "You know, even though you clearly don't give a crap, you could at least pretend. Meredith's the only person around here that actually gives a rat's ass about you anymore."

Clearly irritated at his lack of reaction, Cristina carried on her verbal assault. "She thinks you've gone. Just taken off and not bothered to say goodbye."

At this Alex flinched, surely they knew him better than that. He looked up from his chart to meet her eye for a split second as he said casually. "I was in New York, ….with Izzie."

Cristina's mouth suddenly gaped open, her eyes wide with curiosity, as she said "Izzie? As in, your ex-wife, Izzie?"

"Well, I don't know any other Izzie's, do you?" Alex mumbled, as he looked away again.

Cristina shook her head. "Seriously, if you wanted some break up sex that badly, you didn't need to go all the way to New York. I'm sure there are enough of your ex's scattered around this place, to keep you busy for quite some time…And, what is Izzie doing in New York anyway?"

Alex turned and looked back down at his chart. He felt a slight twinge of irritation that Cristina was referring to Izzie so flippantly. But he knew Cristina well enough by now, to know she didn't mean it. Cristina had really missed Izzie over the last couple of years, she had been badly burned by Izzies leaving too, and she was just trying to get a reaction from Alex now.

Snapping the chart shut, and placing it back on top of the nurses' station, Alex turned back to Cristina and said casually, with the faintest smug smile creeping on to his face, "Who said anything about 'break up' sex?" Before he turned to walk away, knowing full well she would follow him, she wouldn't have seen that coming.

Quickening her pace to match Alex's, Cristina marched along beside him, her thick dark hair, bobbing up and down as she said sharply and hurriedly. "Okay, details?"

Alex had never been so glad to hear his pager go off, as it beeped violently from his pocket. Pulling it out and looking at it, he smiled arrogantly and said to Cristina. "Sorry, I'd love to stop and chat but I got an emergency to get to." Leaving Cristina stood in the corridor pouting, as she watched him rush away.

…

It was several hours later, when Alex finally found the time to grab a well-deserved coffee, after attending to the emergency patient, probably one of his last at Seattle Grace Mercy West.

As he stood in line at the coffee cart, he suddenly spied a visibly pregnant Meredith walking towards him.

"There you are," Meredith said, sounding slightly pissed. "I've been trying to call you. You didn't show up for Derek's birthday party. I was worried."

"Sorry," Alex said, looking her directly in the eye.

Meredith scowled, as she glared at him and placing a hand firmly on her dainty hip, she said. "Well, I just spoke to Cristina. She said you were in New York, with Izzie! What's going on, Alex?...What's Izzie doing in New York?"

"Working," he replied casually, taking a sip of his coffee as he fumbled in his pocket for some loose change.

"Doing what?" Meredith said curiously and with slight irritation. Over the years, Alex had felt sure Meredith had wanted to keep in touch with his ex-wife and one of her former best friends, but somehow circumstances had prevented it.

Alex then thought about saying that maybe Meredith should ask her husband what Izzie was doing in New York, but thought better of it, as he replied. "Surgery fellowship, she passed her boards too."

Meredith paused, a look of shock crossing her face as she went on to say. "So, are you getting back together then?" Her question phrased in such a way, that implied she already knew the answer, fully expecting him to just deny it.

Alex shrugged, as he put the money down for his coffee and said "We're trying to work things out, yeah."

Meredith's jaw dropped, she was completely lost for words for a second. It was evident that she had certainly not expected him to say that. But Alex didn't care. He knew his friends would be surprised that he was back with Izzie. But he also knew, that they had no idea how much he still loved her.

He sipped his coffee some more and just looked over at Meredith expectantly, waiting for the inevitable flurry of questions about what he was doing. But this time it was Meredith's pager causing a welcome interruption to an awkward conversation for Alex. As it beeped angrily, Meredith glanced down at her waist immediately, her hair flopping over her face, as she exclaimed. "Damn, I've got to go. This conversation isn't finished though, Alex. You're meeting me for a drink later…"

Watching her march away, Alex knew, that, was more of a demand than a request, as he prepared himself for just what he was going to say to her.

Alex sipped his beer, as he glanced at Meredith sat on the stool next to him, in their once favourite spot in Joes bar. Hitting him with nostalgia. He would soon be leaving the place he had called home for the past nearly eight years of his life. But everything was different now, they weren't interns anymore. They had grown up. They were responsible attendings. Meredith and Cristina were married, Meredith pregnant too. Whilst Alex had been sinking in to a lonely, regretful existence. His life growing emptier and emptier. But now for the first time in a long time he was actually starting to think that maybe he did have a chance at the kind of happiness his friends had too.

"So, you really think it's going to work this time with Izzie?" Meredith said, fixing him with an intense stare.

He sighed , "I don't know. But, do any of us really know if anything is going to work out at the end of the day?" He replied philosophically as she nodded her head.

"True," Meredith responded, as she swirled her drink around in it's glass with her straw.

"I guess, it just feels right, really right this time… She's changed, really changed. She's back to the girl I fell in love with all those years ago." Alex said, as he stopped, to pause and reflect. It had taken him a long time to be able to discuss his feelings and open up like this to anyone. He had always been so closed, so defensive with everyone, but slowly over the years of their friendship, Meredith had managed to access a side of him that he had always kept so deeply locked away. She was a true friend and Alex knew he would miss her like crazy when he finally left for Hopkins in a few days time.

"Well, if you're sure it's the right thing to do. Than I'm happy for you, you deserve it." Meredith said slowly.

Alex sighed again. "I don't know, Mer. She's doing really well, she's become this great doctor at a top hospital. Everyone seems to love her there, and she has this big group of friends that she sees all the time, and she looks amazing. I mean, really freaking amazing. So, I'm still trying to figure out, why she would want to go backwards with me. After everything that happened."

Meredith placed her hand gently on top of Alex's, as she said. "Alex, Izzie was always crazy about you, even when she was pretending not to be. She loved you, just as much as you loved her. Her leaving and your divorce, that was down to all the horrible things that happened to her, the cancer and George dying and her getting fired. It was never anything to do with how much she loved you. You can see that now, can't you?"

Alex stared down at his drink, as he replied gently. "Yeah, I know…" It had taken him a long time to see things from Izzie's point of view. To shake off the bitterness he'd carried around for years, at how much she'd hurt him.

"I take it this means, you're definitely leaving then," Meredith went on to say, her eyes projecting a hint of sadness.

"Yeah, I guess it does." Alex replied, smiling gently at his old friend. It was ironic how close they had become, given how much she'd despised him at first when they had met as interns. It was only when Izzie had given him a chance that Meredith had realised he wasn't the total douche that everyone had always thought he was.

"You're doing the right thing," she suddenly said as he looked back at her with surprize.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't want you to go and I'll really miss you. But, it's a great opportunity for you at Hopkins, and well I never told you this before, but I always thought it was a huge mistake, you letting Izzie go and ending things like that."

"Thanks….. I think" Alex said, as he looked at Meredith, to see she was smiling too.

"Just, don't be a stranger, okay," Meredith added as she rubbed her pregnant stomach and added, "This little one, is going to be wanting some playmates soon," she teased, laughing.

"Right," he replied, laughing a little awkwardly too as he felt his cheeks flush, he was desperate to become a Dad, and now finally it seemed as though there could be a real possibility that it would happen with Izzie.

"I mean it, Alex…. And thanks," Meredith said as she stopped laughing and looked at him more seriously.

"What for?" He said confused.

She leaned over and threw her arms around him as she said fondly,"For just being you!"

a/n – If anyone is still reading, I hope you liked this chap. I really wanted to write a chapter about Alex and his friends, I love his friendship with Meredith. And, I really wish something like this would happen on the show, because from what I've seen, season 9 Alex has been a bit of a snooze fest!

(Oh and please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think and if you want to read more!)