Disclaimer: For legal purposes let's assume that I don't own anything.
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Izzie took several glasses from the cupboard and handed them to Mark. Her hands trembled as she reached for more cups.
"It's going to be okay," Mark whispered into her ear, his hot breath sending a shiver down her spine.
"No, it's not." Ever since she had set foot through the doors of Seattle Grace, Izzie had come to believe in the notion that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Your boyfriend will cheat on you. The man you love who you risk everything for so that he can get a new heart will die anyway. You will sleep with your married best friend and only end up losing a friend instead of gaining a lover. And no matter what you do, there is no such thing as a perfect dinner party.
Mark placed his hands on Izzie's neck and started to rub the tiny knots that had formed. "Derek and I are on speaking terms again. This dinner party will be great and I will be out of your hair in a week."
Izzie turned around and shoved her finger in his face. "Don't you dare say that to me. The chicken is overcooked because Alex forgot to check on it when I asked him to. Christina's date canceled on her and she and Meredith are already getting drunk. And you do remember the last time that you and Derek had dinner with me and Meredith. That ended in disaster." The stiffness in her body moved from her neck and down into her shoulders.
"That was months ago. Things have changed. I promise to be on my best behavior and Derek will be a good boy too. Christina and Meredith are always getting drunk and the chicken still looks really good."
Izzie shook her head. "You are so naïve. The chicken may look good, but it is dry. Meredith and Christina tend to make scenes when they are drunk which only means that Derek will spend his entire time defending Meredith's behavior. That means that you have to keep your mouth shut so that Derek doesn't get pissed off at you." The tension slowly worked its way down her lower back.
He didn't say anything. He just stared at her, a stupid grin on his face.
"What?"
"You're really beautiful when you're angry."
"You are the worst fake boyfriend ever." Her shoes slapped against the tiled floor as she made her way toward the counter. "Here," she said as she shoved more glasses in his hands. "Go finish setting the table. And tell Alex to get his ass in here so he can help me salvage this dinner."
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The party was going better than she expected. Everybody was getting along, talking about surgery and past relationships. Mark and Derek told stories of their youth, some funny, some sad. The food was good too. Izzie managed to save it with a trick she learned growing up in a trailer park—she could make anything taste good. But the change in her attitude had nothing to do with the ease with which everybody was talking to each other and everything to do with the slight buzz she was feeling from her third glass of wine.
She twirled the half-empty glass in her hand as Mark told them a story about Derek and a Halloween costume he wore as a child.
"I think everybody's been a bunny rabbit," Rebecca said.
"I wasn't," Meredith said.
"And he was a pink bunny. Pink!"
"Shut up," Derek said. "At least I didn't wear my underwear on the outside of my pants and call myself Superman."
Izzie giggled as she finished the rest of her wine. She grabbed the bottle of wine in front of her.
"Are you sure you should be drinking anymore?" Rebecca asked.
Izzie shook her head. Why the hell was she questioning her drinking habits? Meredith and Christina drank more than her. They didn't even start with the wine; they went straight for the good stuff. Izzie was barely intoxicated while the others were clearly wasted. She didn't say anything to Rebecca. She simply poured herself another glass of wine and took a sip.
"Dr. Stevens, I think you should stop drinking right now."
Who did this woman think she was? She had no right to judge her. Rebecca was a guest in her home at a dinner party that Rebecca's boyfriend had made her throw. Why wouldn't she be drinking? It was her only way to relieve her stress when she couldn't bake.
The others didn't come to her defense. Derek and Meredith pretended to be engaged in a heated conversation, Meredith's gaze shifting between the two women. Christina sipped her tequila, watching the argument unfold. Mark just sat there, shifting uncomfortably.
"I haven't had that much," Izzie said.
"I don't think that it's good for you," she replied. "Not in the condition you're in."
"Rebecca, leave Izzie alone," Alex said. "She's fine."
"No, you don't understand," she said. "Izzie's pregnant."
"Way to go," Christina said. "Ken got Barbie pregnant."
"Hey, don't look at me," Mark said. "If Izzie is pregnant, I'm not the father."
"No, that would be Alex, right Iz?" Meredith said. "He's the one you think about when you and McSteamy are doing it."
If there was ever a moment that ever required an escape plan, this was it. She could hear the rumors already. Did you hear about Izzie Stevens? She's been having threesomes with Dr. Sloan and Dr. Karev and now she doesn't know who the father of her baby is. This was going to be worse than when the news about her affair with George circulated around the hospital. She had to stop this before it got too far out of hand.
"I'm not pregnant."
Nobody answered her. They were all wrapped up in their own conversations. Meredith and Christina were discussing names they could call Izzie's baby. Rebecca and Alex were arguing over whether or not he was cheating on her with Izzie. Mark and Derek were yelling at each other about who knows what.
Standing up, Izzie slammed her fists against the table causing the dishes to jump and clatter. Her wine glass toppled over staining the pristine white table cloth an ugly shade of purple. "I'm NOT pregnant!" Izzie screamed at the dinner guests. "Not with Mark's child. Not with Alex's child. Not with anybody's child. I don't know why you think that I am pregnant, Rebecca. But I'm not."
"Don't accuse me of starting rumors," Rebecca said. "You're the one who told me that you and Dr. Sloan were going to have a baby."
Izzie opened her mouth to protest. There was no way that she would tell anybody that was pregnant, let alone Rebecca. She barely knew the woman. Even if it were true, why would she spill her secret to her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend? Where would she find the time and place to confide in her? Izzie snapped her mouth shut, a fuzzy memory forcing itself to the surface. Mark. Tequila. Muffins. Izzie sat back down and laid her head in her hands.
"It was a misunderstanding. Mark and I are not going to have a baby. Not now. Not ever."
"I'm glad to hear that," Derek said. "He wouldn't make a very good father."
Izzie instinctively grabbed Mark's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I think he would make a pretty terrific father."
"You brain washed her, didn't you?"
"What the hell has gotten in to you?" Mark asked. "I thought we were friends again."
Derek laughed, his tone anything but friendly. "That was before I remembered why we stopped being friends to begin with. You're a user of women."
It was the double date disaster all over again. Only this time there were no convenient exits she could leave through; she was already home. And this time there was a bigger audience. Alex shifted uncomfortably in his chair, his body poised to get up and run out of there. Rebecca tapped her foot against the floor, her eyes darting back and forth from Mark to Derek. Christina sat with her elbows on the table, a satisfied grin on her face. Meredith laid her head on the table, her eyes shut.
"I thought we've already been through this," Izzie said. "Mark is not using me."
"Yes, he is. You're just too stupid to realize it."
"STOP!" Meredith screamed as she lifted her head from the table. "Mark and Izzie's relationship is none of our business."
"Meredith, don't you care that you're friend is going to get hurt?"
"Why are you saying this? What makes you think that Mark is going to hurt me?"
"He refuses to take any responsibility. He didn't even acknowledge that the baby could have been his. He dismissed it right away."
Izzie shook her head. Of course he would deny being the father. It didn't take a doctor to know how babies were made and the two of them never did anything that would result in her being pregnant. She laughed. A fake baby for the all fake sex she was having in her fake relationship. But Derek didn't know any of that and she couldn't tell him either.
"She isn't pregnant," Mark said.
"It doesn't matter. She might have been. And you would have left her if she was. I stand by my words. You would make a terrible father. You're already a bad boyfriend."
She reached for Mark's hand again but he yanked it away before she touched him. She turned toward him. The light had disappeared from his eyes and he was chewing his bottom lip.
"How's Addison?" Izzie asked.
"How the hell should I know?" Derek responded.
"How's L.A.?"
Derek didn't say anything, his eyes shifting from Mark to her. "I wouldn't know."
"So you didn't go to L.A. last month to help Addison get pregnant?"
He remained silent. His eyes settled on Mark, two tiny slits.
"So next time you accuse Mark of being a bad boyfriend remember this. He didn't lie to me about visiting his mother in New York when he actually went to California to see his ex-wife."
"What is Izzie talking about?" Meredith asked.
Derek pointed a finger at Mark. "I can't believe you told her."
Everybody at the table started shouting at each other. Christina and Meredith yelled at Derek, accusing him of cheating. Derek continued to berate Mark, calling him a terrible friend. Rebecca got up and left causing Alex to scream at the entire group, telling them that they ruined his relationship.
Izzie stood up and went upstairs to her room. Falling face first onto her bed, her head slammed against the pillow. What in the world did she just do?
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Izzie wasn't sure how long she had been lying on her bed before someone opened the door and entered her bedroom.
"If you wanted to spend more time with me, you could have just told me. You didn't have to ruin my friendship with Derek."
Izzie groaned as she flipped over on the bed. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Please don't be mad at me."
Mark sat down on the bed next to her and placed his hand on her thigh. "I'm not mad at you."
She sat up. "But I told everybody where Derek really went on his trip."
Mark wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Thank you for that," he said. "Derek was being unreasonable and it's better that that came from you. That way, later on, he can forgive me. I'm not the one that destroyed his relationship with Meredith."
Izzie's head fell into her lap. "Is it really over between them? Did I ruin a relationship tonight?"
"No," he said. "You destroyed two. I don't think Rebecca wants anything to do with Alex or his crazy friends ever again."
"I'm horrible," she groaned. "I'm very good at ruining my friend's relationships. First George. Now Meredith and Alex. I'm sure Christina will find a way to blame me for her break up with Dr. Burke."
Mark rubbed her back. "It's not your fault."
She lifted her head off of her lap. "Yes it is. You should be mad at me. I also destroyed the progress you and Dr. Shepherd made this week."
Mark grabbed Izzie's chin and tilted her head toward him. "I could never be mad at you. You're my friend."
Izzie didn't say anything. She just stared at him, her mind trying to process what he had just said to her.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Izzie we are friends, right?"
Late night baking session. Conversations. The ability to make her feel better.
"Oh my god," Izzie said. "You're my new George."
"Did you just compare me to O'Malley? I like to think that I'm a little better than that."
Izzie shook her head. "No Mark, it's not like that. George was my best friend. He was the one person I could go to for comfort."
Mark smiled. "I guess that makes you my new Derek."
Izzie laughed. "I guess it does. But I'm not wearing a pink bunny suit."
Mark nudged Izzie's shoulder with his shoulder. "If I'm your new George, does that mean that if I get you drunk enough you'll sleep with me?"
"Only if you marry somebody I don't like first."
He tapped his finger on his chin. "Besides Callie, who don't you like? I think it would be rude of you to sleep with two of Callie's husbands."
Izzie pushed Mark's arm causing him to lean slightly to the left. "You are so bad. George was never like that."
"And you are a much better kisser than Derek," he said.
"Please tell me that you never kissed him. I don't think I could be friends with you if you kissed Meredith's boyfriend."
Mark laughed. "You are the only friend that I have ever kissed. Sisters and wives on the other hand…"
Izzie shook her head. Mark was so different than George. Physically, Mark was taller by at least six inches. His hair was lighter, his eyes bluer. But it was their personalities that really set them apart. Mark was more confident. He flirted way too much and he never backed down from a fight. George was kind. He laughed at all her jokes, no matter how corny they were. And though she would never admit it to Mark, Mark was a better kisser than George. George kissed like a chicken.
"What are you thinking about?" Mark asked.
"Do you think that after everything that has happened that you and Derek can really be friends again? That George and I can be friends again?"
"Derek and I have had worse fights than this. He forgave me for sleeping with his sister. He forgave me for sleeping with his wife. At least this time I didn't have sex with anyone."
"But," she began. "You guys only reconciled a few days ago. He still doesn't trust you."
"As long as he and Meredith make up with each other, he and I will be able to do so as well."
"How long do you think we'll still have to do this? I mean before you and Derek are friends to the point where every little thing you do doesn't piss him off."
Mark shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. It could be a few months before we get to that point. It could be years if he and Meredith break up because of what was said tonight."
"Oh." She didn't want to do this for years.
"Derek loves Meredith too much to let her go that easily. And he didn't do anything with Addison in L.A. Give him a few days, he'll win her over. Then you and I can continue with Derek. We can't break up now. He'll think that I was using you."
"I know," she said. "What about George? Do you think he and I will get to that point ever again?"
"He's still in love with you. I don't think you guys can be friends if he still loves you."
George wasn't in love with her. He couldn't be. He took too long to tell his wife he was leaving her. He didn't believe her when she told him that she didn't sleep with Mark. He tried to rekindle his relationship with his wife. No, George wasn't in love with her. Mark had to be mistaken.
"Why do you say that?"
"Callie told me."
"Since when were the two of you friends?"
"We're not. She told me while she was seducing me at Joe's."
Why is this the first time that is hearing about this? Callie had no right to try and seduce her boyfriend, even if Mark was her pretend boyfriend.
"Nothing happened," he said. "I know the rules. Besides, she's not my type. I have a thing for blondes," he said as he winked at her.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm still not going to sleep with you."
"You owe me," he pouted.
Izzie giggled when Meredith's headboard started banging against the wall. "I guess we don't have to worry about dragging this out for years."
"Too bad," he said. "I think I would have been able to wear you down if I had that much time."
Izzie grabbed Mark's hand. "Come on." She and Mark crawled to the top of the bed. She started banging her headboard against the wall. "Let's give them a run for their money."
He laughed as he helped her bang the headboard against the wall.
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I should really stop telling you guys that I'm not going to update for a while. But... I really do have plans for Thanksgiving so it probably will be some time next week before I'm able to update again. Until then... Happy Thanksgiving.
I feel the need to apologize to everyone that liked the idea that Mark and Derek were friends again. This is how I intended the chapters to go. But look at it this way. If Mark and Derek were friends again, Mark and Izzie would be over in a week. They need more time, so Mark and Derek will have to wait.
Thanks to those of you that have read and a special thanks to those of you that have taken the time to review.
And as always, Read & Review.