After Alex and Izzie had checked into their motel for the upcoming night, they decided not to waste any time in their sparsely decorated accommodation, instead heading out again almost as soon as they had thrown their bags into the unwelcoming room. They drove the short distance to the old town of Key West, where, after a good 20 minutes of maneuvering through impossibly narrow streets, they indeed found a parking space that was totally and utterly free of charge.

The pair quickly found a cute little restaurant on Duval Street, which ran from the very north to the very south of the island, and which seemed to house many cozy restaurants and bars, quirky little shops and a variety of art stores. After consulting her local area map at lunch, Izzie decided to approach this 'touristy experience' strategically, much to Alex's amusement, starting off by walking all the way down to the most southern point of the United States. Once they'd taken the obligatory picture next to the barrel that represented said attraction, Alex teased her by claiming to actually being able to see Cuba from that very spot with his own two eyes, and Izzie, thanks to her disregard of all things geography, had actually believed him for a minute.

After convincing herself with the help of her omniscient map that it was indeed pretty much impossible to make out Cuba from their current location, the twosome slowly strolled back up north through some of the smaller side streets, marveling at the tiny old houses that had probably seen many crazy artists and wild hippies in their time. Eventually the couple continued back on the main road, stopping by an old lighthouse and the Ernest Hemingway House – a former residence of the late author that had been turned into a museum – for some 'culture', as Izzie had claimed. Then, via a small detour, they moved on to the cemetery. Alex thought it was probably crude, most certainly tactless, to consider the final resting place of the dead a tourist attraction, but he had to acknowledge that the way the caskets where stacked on top of each other was a pretty impressive solution in combating the apparent lack of space on the island. It also showed him that no, not even in a place as joyful and stunning as Key West, did people live forever.

After their brush with mortality for the day, Alex and Izzie sauntered into the direction of the port, where some of the big cruise ships were getting ready to head back out to sea, continuing their journey. The couple stopped at Mallory Square, where hundreds of people gathered every night right by the docks to observe the 'famous' sunset, which was supposed to take place at exactly 6.20 pm on this wonderfully clear evening.

As he stood by the railing with his arms wrapped around Izzie from behind, watching a big, fiery ball of red and gold gradually disappear into the ocean, Alex had to admit that the whole situation was pretty striking. He'd read a statistic once, but couldn't remember how many thousands of men had gone down on one knee here, spontaneously or well-planned, to ask the supposed love of their lives for marriage due to the beautiful setting and the romantic ambiance of these moments. He wondered how many of them were divorced by now.

When the sun had finally vanished completely below the horizon, Izzie turned her head slightly and looked at him sideways, her arms folded on top of his, a content smile on her face. He glanced down at her. "You do know I'm not gonna say anything remotely romantic I hope, right?"

She chuckled. "Don't worry, I wasn't expecting you to." After contemplating their exchange for a second, Izzie turned around in his arms and started kissing him - leisurely at first, then more thoroughly as their tongues found each other, melting together in a comfortable rhythm. Once they pulled apart to catch their breaths, Izzie looked up into her boyfriends' eyes sheepishly. "Sorry, but there's gotta be something resembling a passionate moment. I mean, when will we ever experience a sunset like that again?"

"You do realize the sun sets in the west, right? And we live on the west coast…"

She gave him a playful shove. "Oh, shut up. This was my moment, and I had it. Now I'm ready for a drink."

Alex smirked as he grabbed her hand, turning to leave. "Lead the way then."

The pair ended up in a small, inviting bar where a live band played some incredible jazz. It was not the type of music either of them usually listened to, but it fit the surroundings and the atmosphere in the venue was great, making them stay put until the early hours of the morning.

--

When the twosome headed back to Miami late the next day, after a drawn-out breakfast on the main island itself and after numerous other short stops on the smaller keys in between to admire the wonderful, tiny, white stretches of beach – and to take a break from driving with an irritating hangover – Alex was completely exhausted. They had, once more, not gotten nearly enough sleep after a night that had involved a good amount of alcohol, and the early check-out time of 10 am had not helped whatsoever. Right now, he couldn't recall how he managed stuff like this in everday life. Izzie at least looked more refreshed than he felt, but she hadn't yet let on if she was indeed as chirpy on the inside as she appeared to be. She was at least trying to make light conversation, which was more than could be said for himself.

"Isn't it funny how far we've come from only a week ago? And don't even say it, I don't mean the actual physical distance between Seattle and Florida."

He grinned at that. She knew him too well. Izzie just rolled her eyes at his expression and continued her musings wistfully. "I had a great time down here. I love the sun. I sometimes wish it was sunnier in Washington, puts you in a different mood right away, doesn't it?"

"So you're blaming the lack of sunshine for our dreadful attempts at dating before?" She didn't even grace him with an answer, instead focusing all her attention on the road ahead of her. His statement, as he was about to find out, had not been enough to get her to quiet down anyways, because she just ignored it and kept on chatting.

"You said it yourself…one step at a time. Those were rainy, wet steps that we had to take before figuring out how to use an umbrella. And only after that did we even dare to walk without the constant protection of our powerful shield against the never-ending precipitation."

"Care to hear my opinion?" He didn't wait for confirmation on Izzie's part before continuing. "Because I think you seriously need to work on mastering the abstract art of metaphors before saying anything else."

She smirked as her right hand left the steering wheel and reached over, patting his head lightly. "You know, maybe you shouldn't talk when you're like this. Just go back to sleep and I'll wake you once I'm lost, ok?"

Alex chuckled before he did as he'd been told and shut his eyes. If there was one thing that he had learned about Izzie Stevens this week that he hadn't necessarily known before, it would have to be the fact that she did not take herself too seriously when she was relaxed and carefree like that, and he was seriously starting to appreciate the trait – a lot.

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A/N Next chapter's probably gonna be the last one because…well, their vacation is slowly coming to an end lol. Please review :) Thanks a million!!