Her bottom lip trembled for a half of a second before she bit down onto her tongue. She had known he was capable of being cruel, but this? It was like he had taken a hammer to her heart and shattered it into a million microscopic pieces. Needless to say there was no way she was going to discuss their son under those conditions. Not a damn way in hell.

Silently she picked up the napkin from her lap and patted the crisp material against her mouth before setting it onto the table. "I've lost my appetite," she announced as she pushed away from the table and stood on shaky legs. She wanted to scream, cry and beat the living hell out of him, but somehow she managed to give him a rather forced looking smile as she reached for her purse. "Thank you for dinner Alex, sorry you had to be an ass and ruin it."

Without waiting for a response she quickly headed for the door, her golden locks bouncing behind her as she fought to maintain her composure. She wasn't about to have a breakdown inside of one of the nicest restaurants in the city; she was better than that. However once she was outside? Well, all bets were off.

The chill the night carried nipped at her cheeks and caused her to flush as her fingers fumbled with the clasp of her handbag. She could feel the eyes of the valets on her as she frantically searched the seemingly endless depths of her purse for the ticket. "Dammit!" she swore loudly as she fought back the urge to just launch her purse at the nearest wall. Fortunately she seemed to scare the stub into showing itself and a few seconds later she was shoving it into the hands of one of the young men. "Please hurry," she said as she glanced over her shoulder.

She was running away from him again. This time he refused to let her get away so easily, and in a hurried moment he had slapped down more than enough money to cover the bill and tip and then he was out the door. People gawked as he had left and he merely exited with a rushed, jaunty step and an exasperated smile. Alex would not lose his dignity, whatever remained of it. The cool rush of air felt like ice on his flushed skin.

"No. Not this time Izzie. I'm not letting you walk away from me again." His hand was on her elbow and he turned her around so that she was forced to either look him in the face or stare at the ground. The valets, young men all of them, were watching with curiosity. Alex glared and they looked away, but at this point he was beyond truly caring.

"I might be an ass, Izzie. The biggest ass in the world. But that doesn't change the fact that I've never been anything less than honest with you even if it meant hurting you or admitting to my mistakes. So let's hear it. What am I supposed to know?" His voice had gradually grown louder until he was almost yelling his demand at her. Alex's hand was still on her elbow, holding her firmly but not roughly. And his eyes were now ablaze with his burning emotions, boring into her own which were glassy with tears. "Answer me." Another demand, in a quieter voice, a hint of pleading just beneath it.

She couldn't say that she was surprised when he came out after her, nor was she surprised when he was practically yelling at her. What did throw her off however, was the pleading look that lingered behind the flash of anger that was dancing behind his eyes. That look alone made her wish that she could somehow just rip her own heart out and put it away in a box so that she wouldn't be able to feel anymore. His words had struck a cord deep within her and she had to look away to keep herself from crying.

"He's yours," she answered in barely a whisper. "Dammit, he's yours. Are you happy now?" She tugged her arm out of his grasp and hugged it close to her body. She knew she was naïve to think that they would have never had this discussion, but over the past six years she had found herself hopping that they never would. She also knew that he had a right to know, but back then she thought she was doing what was best for them both. And she had, hadn't she?

Alex was now a famous plastic surgeon who had his face in every news magazine and medical journal available. Would he have been able to achieve the same success if they had settled down to play family? One of them would have given up their dreams and she just couldn't allow that to happen. So she had taken all of the responsibility upon herself and raised their son as a single mom. She had done the right thing.

She reached up and raked her fingers through her hair, glancing over to send the valet a look that said 'get my car or die.' "I found out after I broke things off between us. What was I supposed to do?"

It didn't matter that he'd already known about the little boy being their son. His son. It didn't matter how much he thought he'd prepared himself against the words he wanted to hear her say. Nothing could have steeled himself against the pain, the real physical pain that caused every muscle in his body to tense rigidly and made him feel on the brink of throwing up or passing out. Neither of which he would do - he was Alex Karev, and Alex Karev didn't do that.

"Seriously, Izzie? What were you supposed to do?" He shook his head, his hands gesticulating almost wildly. "I don't know. Maybe you would have told me. Maybe we could have had a family, even if we weren't together. Maybe I would have spent these last six years helping you to raise OUR son, not missing out on the most important times of his life. Yeah, I might be a successful plastic surgeon. Maybe that would have changed. But I…" He shook his head, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to form the words. "I thought you knew me, Izzie." This last sentence sounded almost defeated. Alex dropped his arms to his sides and turned on his heel to walk away.

But he wasn't done, and before he took even more than a step away he returned, his face close to hers. "I thought I knew you. How could you do this to me? How could you do this to anyone? What happened to the Izzie I fell in love with? I sure as hell don't think that Izzie would knowingly rob someone of their child's life. And that's what you've done. What have you told him? What will you tell him? Lie and tell him that his father is dead? That his father walked out on you two?" Alex was visibly shaking now, and he was struggling to focus on her through the tears that were clouding his eyes. "I told myself that I would never end up as anything similar to my father. That I would be the best father a child could have. And you've ruined it for me." He took a deep, ragged breath. "You know what. Fuck this. Fuck this."

Again he turned, preparing to angrily storm off when he remembered the ring in his pocket. Before he could think anything more about it he approached her one last time, ripped the box from out of his pocket, grabbed her wrist roughly and pressed the small box into her hand. "I don't care what you do with it. But I don't need anything to remind me of you." This time he turned, adjusted his jacket and stepped into the parking lot.

The tears that she had been struggling to contain broke through and stained her pale cheeks, their trails glistening under the soft lights of the restaurant's exterior. She hadn't thought that he would have reacted this way. Hell, she thought he might have been able to see where she had be coming from and appreciate the fact that she had given him the opportunity to live his life. Too bad that she had only been fooling herself.

Slowly she glanced down to the box that had been forced into her hand, her thumb grazing the soft velvet as her vision went blurry. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It should have been easier. She pressed her lips together and tried to blink away the tears, but they refused to stop coming. She wasn't going to let him walk away without saying what she had been too afraid to admit to herself. It was time to stop running.

"I told him that his father was off doing great things!" she called out as she spun around. Even if she had thought it best to tell her son that his father was dead, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her words had caused him to pause, and she took a few very deliberate and determined steps toward him. "I told him that he was out trying to change the world." Her hand clenched the small box, the pain giving her the strength to continue. And she had to continue or she wasn't ever going to be able to get out what needed to be said.

"Dammit Alex I never stopped loving you." She trembled as he turned to face her, the distance still great between them. "I didn't want you to lose your dreams because of me."

Her words caused him to turn around. Had she actually told their son that? Did she mean what she said about loving him? So many questions were clamoring for his attention inside his head. They were standing many paces away from each other in the middle of a parking lot. How ironic. Alex was glad it was dark because he couldn't tell if the tears that had been threatening to spill actually did or not. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked away and forced himself to take a few deep breaths, trying to slow the rush of conflicting emotions. Didn't she realize that she had been a part of those dreams?

Finally, his voice grave and measured, he responded. "It's a little late for that."

There wasn't anything more to be said. Not tonight. Maybe never. Alex turned, slowly, and continued blindly on his way. The valet had his keys. But maybe he could find a bar along the way and go from there. The world changed me tonight.