Hello guys :)

This chapter is soooo important and I am very excited about it! As the title says... No more lies :P

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No more lies

"It gets so hard sometimes to understand
This vicious circle's getting out of hand
Don't need an extra eye to see
That the fire spreads faster in a breeze."

I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That – Elton John


November arrived and the weather was getting colder and colder. It rained almost every day and the temperatures were really low.

It was the week before Thanksgiving and the hospital was erratic, as always.

Everything seemed come back to normality.

Mark did his job as he had always done. Efficiently and accurately.

His relationship with Lexie was confined into professional boundaries.

They hadn't been able to not ignore the consequences of their actions on their lives and their families and they interrupted whatever had been going between them through the past months.

He felt miserable, especially if he thought at the morning after their last night together.

Mark was dozing and he felt a light breeze on his skin. It was strange, he felt cold but, at the same time, he was burning too.

He frowned, as the light of the sun hit his face.

A grunt escaped from his mouth as he felt his left arm was asleep, since he had slept on his side all night.

He was about to roll into his back, to relieve the weight on his arm, when he fell into the floor with a thud.

"What the hell?" he flew in a sitting position and groaned, becoming suddenly very aware of the situation.

He was naked, sat between the couch and the coffee table of Lexie's house.

Mark ran a hand over his face and shook his head, as Lexie moaned, waking up as well.

"Oh my Goodness." she croaked, sitting up.

Mark couldn't help but stare at her. Lexie's lips were swollen from where he had ravished her, her hair were in complete disarray and her neck and shoulder were reddened because of the scratching of his beard.

Quick flashes of the previous night were playing in his mind: it had been such dirty and naughty sex, they had been really drunk the night before.

Lexie raised her hand to her forehead, trying to cover her eyes from the light of the sun.

"My head is killing me." she stated looking for her t-shirt.

Mark was massaging his arm and seeing his boxer briefs were lying under the coffee table, he put on them, as well.

"By the way, why are you on the floor?" Lexie yawned.

"I fell." Mark stated and Lexie lifter her eyebrow quizzically.

She stood up and held out her hand, to help him.

"You are an old man now and cannot survive a hangover." Lexie joked as he was facing her now.

She bit her lip and then whispered: "I am afraid we screwed up everything, again."

Mark couldn't help but nod, buttoning up his shirt.

"I am sorry. I have been an idiot." he said and Lexie lowered her gaze, feeling guilty.

"It was me who seduced you, last night."

"Maybe." Mark replied. "But I am the engaged one."

He looked away and glanced toward the pendulum clock next to the fireplace. It was almost six o'clock, the sun was rising.

"Do you regret last night?" Lexie asked unexpectedly.

Mark sighed, really afraid by her question.

"No." he eventually said. "No, I don't regret anything with you and it is the hugest problem."

Lexie sighed and walked toward the kitchen. Mark stares at her as she put two glasses of water on the counter and took some aspirins from the cabinet above the sink.

They swallowed their pills and drank their water in silence.

Then, Lexie turned, facing him.

"We should end this." she said, brushing her hand against his cheek.

"We must end this." she repeated with a broken voice. "Mark you have a beautiful family and Julia is the nicest person I've ever met. She doesn't deserve this. You are going to get married and she gets along with Callie and Arizona. Not to mention Sofia! That little girl adored her, as I saw at the party yesterday afternoon." she stopped in order to breathe and her eyes were getting watery. "Our time is passed. We had our chance and we lost it, Mark. We cannot keep fucking like two animals in heat. We cannot ignore our duties. We have to accept we cannot be together."

Mark looked at her and he grimaced:"I am really trying to not hurt Julia. Nor you. I need time, we need time. You can't ignore your feelings or asking me to forget you."

Lexie sighed as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I have to, Mark. I love you, I always have and I always will. But love is not enough apparently."

"Lex." he breathed and she hugged him. Mark held her tight, rubbing her back with his hands.

Then Lexie lifted herself on tiptoes and pecked his lips.

It was their goodbye.

Lexie had actually taken the lead of the issue, showing to be more mature than him. And Mark died a little bit inside.


Lexie had been miserable too for the last weeks. She missed Mark so much but she actually had no choice, she had to end their secret adulterous relationship. It was against all her moral principles.

Probably Susan was turning in her grave, because of her daughter's wretched and lascivious behavior.

Lexie had always been the shy and quietest one, but with Mark she felt brave and even rebel. But their behavior was wrong and they were hurting a lot of innocent and unaware people.

She was lost in her own thoughts as she was sipping at her Starbucks mug, full of green tea. She felt dizzy and nauseous and hoped it would help her.

It was Thanksgiving and it was supposed to be a cheerful day.

The turkey was roasting in the oven and the kitchen was full of all kind of food.

They had prepared a feast: casseroles and stuffing and sweet and mashed potatoes. Lexie loved this holiday, just like her mother used to do when she was alive.

For Susan, Thanksgiving had been the most important holiday ever, they used to celebrate it all together, eating and drinking and laughing. It was family time. Also Lexie loved holidays and she always thought of her mom during times like this and she still really missed her.

For this reason, she had willingly accepted to help Meredith and Derek with food and decorations.

Meredith was very excited. Since she had never properly celebrated any holidays during her childhood, now she wanted to make up for lost time. She had actually made pine cone turkey place cards with Zola's help - but she wisely decided to stay away from the kitchen- and had insisted on inviting everyone over, claiming that hospital would not fall down if they weren't there for a day.

Even Mrs. Shepherd came to Seattle in order to spend some time with her grandchildren and Amelia flew from Los Angeles.

And obviously Mark, Julia and all his happy family had been invited as well. Just thinking about that made Lexie's stomach churned.

As the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade was broadcasting on the television, she was mashing the potatoes and Carolyn was putting together the green beans casserole.

The old woman was throwing her strange glances, and Lexie felt as if she could actually see inside her head.

"Green beans casserole has always been Mark's favorite." Carolyn stated and Lexie only hummed in response.

Zola squealed in delight as she saw the Snoopy float coming down the street. "Granny you come from New York?"

"Yes, sweetie. And your daddy is from New York as well." Mrs. Shepherd replied and she was smiling.

"When I was as young as you, we used to go to watch the Parade. Your uncle Mark came too." Amelia said, pulling a funny face on Bailey, sat in his carrier on the counter and wearing a white onesie with brown turkeys and orange pumpkins printed on it.

Zola's mouth dropped open and then she started giggling.

Lexie snorted: why these Shepherd women had always to talk about Mark?


By five o' clock everyone arrived.

Arizona and April were laying out place settings and gathering all of the chairs they could while Callie was carrying dishes from the kitchen to place on the table in the dining room. Everyone else was in the living room watching the football game and Lexie was in the kitchen, pouring the last of the turkey juices over it. Julia had arrived an hour earlier, bearing homemade pumpkin pies and Lexie had put on a fake smile. Mark had greeted her they didn't have the chance to be alone. She had to talk with him, he needed to know what was happening. She was actually terrified.

Anyway, today was not the day. They had to celebrate Thanksgiving all together and Lexie could not ruin this holiday.

Thatcher and Danielle went to Connecticut in order to spend Thanksgiving with Molly, Eric and Laura and Lexie was even tempted for a moment to go with them.

She stood now in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen and she couldn't help but think at the the odd combination of people seated at the table.

They were all family and friends but it was like a game of dirty musical chairs. April clearly didn't want to sit near Jackson and Cristina was trying to put as much distance as possible between her and Owen. At the same time, Lexie had made sure she wasn't sitting too close to Mark for her own benefit.

It all looked ridiculous and Lexie frowned, having never realized just how intertwined they all were.

There were three people who she had slept with and she almost snorted.

"I am hungry!" Sofia whined from his seat between Callie and Mark and it propelled Lexie into motion, bringing the turkey in and placing it down in the center of the table. Then she seated between Derek, sat next to Meredith who was at the head of the table, and Jackson.

Everyone began to dig in and, despite the tension between some, the conversation flowed freely.

Medicine, surgeries, children, politics and the upcoming baseball season.


When everybody was stuffed to the brim Carolyn stood up to start clearing the plates but Meredith gently pushed her back down, telling her to just sit and relax. As everyone stood up and began taking the dishes and plates to take them back to the kitchen a crash captured their attention and they turned toward Lexie. She dropped the plates on the floor and they broke into pieces. Then she swayed for a moment before falling back into the chair.

"Oh my Goodness! Lexie, my dear, what happens?" Carolyn asked, visibly worried.

She promptly stood up and joined her.

Lexie rubbed her hands against her temples in an effort to feel better, then she took a deep breath and replied softly: "E-everything is alright... I only- I am only a little dizzy."

Meredith was very concerned, like everyone else in the room, and she stood next to her too: "Are you sure you are alright? You are so pale, maybe it'll better if you lie down for awhile."

"No, Meredith really. It isn't necessary, I need only another minute and then I can help you again. I am so sorry for all this mess!"

Meredith rolled her eyes, rubbing her sister's back: "Don't worry about that! Derek and I didn't like those plates in any case."

Lexie tried to smile but another giddiness came over her and she shut her eyes tightly.

"You are all doctors, for God's Sake! Do something! She is obviously not fine!" Mrs. Shepherd exclaimed.

"No, no, no..." Lexie firmly whispered. Then gathering all her forces she sighed: " I am only... pregnant."

Everybody froze and Meredith goggled, she didn't know Lexie was sleeping with anyone.

Jackson, the only one who was aware of the situation, threw a worried glance at Mark, while all the others were slightly stunned.

"You.. You are what?" Mark croaked.

"Pregnant." Lexie repeated, feeling better. "I am pregnant."

"Y-you too?"

Lexie turned quickly toward Julia, holding her breath. Then she turned again to look at Mark, who was gazing at his fiancée as if she was a ghost.

"Well, congratulations Lexie. And congratulations Julia, too." Derek said, in the attempt to lighten the mood.

Mark didn't know what to do . He wanted to cry. But he had to take on his own responsibilities. Time of lies and mistakes was over.

He breathed heavily and then stated: "You all deserve to know the truth."

Jackson held his breath while Lexie was staring at him clearly terrified.

Julia raised her eyebrows, not understanding his behavior: "Mark, what are you talking about?"

He looked at her and he felt so guilty. "I am sorry."

And then, something clicked. Julia, Callie and almost everybody turned toward Lexie, who lowered her gaze, blushing for embarrassment.

"Lexie is pregnant with my baby."