Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters belong to Shonda Rhimes/ABC.

A/N: YAY THE SEMESTER IS OVER!

Chapter Thirteen

Mark and Addison had officially been a couple for three weeks. Almost four. They had been friends again for seven. And while this was great and all, there was one thing their relationship was lacking: sex. Mark hadn't had sex with Addison in nearly four months, and it was starting to wear on him. A lot. Sure, there was some intense, heated kissing, but Addison would never allow them to go any further than that. "It's not that I don't want to," she would say, "it's just that I'm not sure I'm ready yet." He knew he owed it to her, so he respected her decision. It was just becoming more and more difficult to control himself, especially since this was Addison—the first real love of his life and the woman who was going to give him his first real family. She had changed him. She had saved him. Also, Mark happened to think she was the hottest woman on the planet.

Meredith was having a similar problem. Like Mark, she was a person who never went very long without sex. Due to her problems with Derek, though, she was back to practicing celibacy again. She figured he would come around eventually, but in the meantime, it was becoming really difficult to look at him or work with him and not just want to put all differences aside and go at it with him. Sometimes she considered it. She really did. Because he was her McDreamy, and when he was perfect, he was so perfect, and the sex… was incredible. But she knew that she had to stand up for herself. She couldn't deal with the jealous boyfriend or the pouty child parts of him, so until he changed those things, it was no sex for either of them.

This common predicament brought Mark and Meredith to Joe's again one night after work.

"Ughhh!" Meredith groaned. "I can't take this anymore! I seriously think I am going to die. Seriously. Can someone die from sexual frustration?"

"If you can, then we are certainly on our way," Mark answered, taking a long drink of his beer.

"I need more alcohol. SO much more alcohol," Meredith said before taking another shot of Tequila.

"When she finally gives in, it will be too late for us to even have sex. Either she'll be nine months pregnant or we'll be too exhausted from taking care of the baby," he complained.

"You think she's going to hold out that long?"

"Shit... I hope not."

"How much longer do you think Derek will hold out?"

"Derek can be a stubborn bastard, so it could be a while."

"You aren't supposed to tell me that! You're supposed to say, 'He'll come around soon, Meredith. Don't worry. Before you know it, you are going to be having so much sex you won't be able to walk straight.'"

Mark laughed at her. "Sorry, Grey, but I don't think so."

"I hate you. You know that, right?"

"But as dirty mistresses, we have a bond that can never be broken," he teased.

"Seriously, though. What are we going to do?"

"No idea."

"What would you do if you were me?"

"Wait… what would I do if I wanted to have sex with Derek?" He laughed.

"Shut up. You know what I meant."

"Can you force him to talk to you? Corner him in an elevator or something?"

"And then what are we going to talk about? Am I just supposed to say, 'Derek, you need to grow up because I really, really need some sex right now.' Because I'm not sure how well that would go over."

"The honesty thing works, but I don't think you want to be that honest," he laughed. "Maybe tell him that you miss him, but that you miss the good Derek and not the selfish one. Hell, I miss the good Derek. I mean… he couldn't be happy with the way things are right now. No one is siding with him. He's where I was when I came here—everyone hated me. And trust me, that feels like shit. Eventually, he has to crack, and maybe talking to him would make him do that sooner rather than later. He's a good guy, Meredith. I just wish he would go back to being that way."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I do miss him."

"So what am I supposed to do about Addison?"

"Well, you really love her, right?"

"Of course. I can honestly say that I have never felt like this before. Not even close."

"Tell her that. The honesty thing got you the second chance. Maybe she just wants to be sure that it isn't just sex. That it isn't just that you kind of have feelings for her. She needs to know that the next time you guys have sex, it's going to be more of an expression of love rather than just a physical thing."

"Oooh! Love and feelings!" He mocked her in a high-pitched teenage girl voice. "That's pretty girly, Grey."

"Addison is a girl. Sometimes we girls don't want just sex. Occasionally, we need the emotional aspect. We need someone to make love to us. It's not about finishing. It's about conveying your absolute deepest feelings through sex. It's about enjoying the whole experience and just appreciating every second of it," she told him, her face completely red with embarrassment. She couldn't believe she was talking girl talk with Mark Sloan. "And before you say anything obnoxious, I'm going to say right now that I know how you feel about Addison. You want her to know that she is your entire world, and I think you secretly know that this 'making love' thing will show her that, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're scared to try it because you've never really done it before."

Mark looked down at the table and mumbled, "You're right."

"I know I'm right. Just tell her all of that. I think if you show some vulnerability, she'll see you're serious. If you have to straight up say to her 'I want to make love to you, but I've never done that with anyone before, and I'm scared to death,' you say that."

Mark figured she had a point. He would not have been able to figure that all out by himself, so he appreciated the female point of view. But there was no way he was going to let Meredith get away with sappy girl talk without making fun of her just a little bit.

"So… Is this how Derek always got the girls? With this 'making love' crap?" He smirked.

Meredith turned an even brighter shade of red. "Shut up. You will be thanking me soon. You just watch."

"I know," he said reluctantly. "Thanks, Grey. I think you saved my ass yet again."

"Yep. You would be lost without me, and you know it," she teased.

As Mark and Meredith sat at Joe's, Addison was in the NICU on-call for the night with Alex and Izzie. It was a slow night, so whenever the three of them weren't passed out asleep in an on-call room, they were interacting with any preemie who happened to be awake. Izzie was the first to notice that Lillianna Lewis was awake. Over the last few weeks, Izzie had grown attached to the Lewis girls, though not too attached. Addison and Bailey had been hesitant in allowing Izzie to interact with the twins because of her problems with distancing herself, but Alex was able to convince them that this would be a good test for Izzie. So far, she had been able to keep just enough distance.

"Hi Lillie-Lew!" Izzie cooed at the little girl. She had recently nicknamed the girls by shortening their last name, and in Lillianna's case, shortening her first name. "I have to be quiet so I don't wake your sister. You should probably try to hold still, too, because that wouldn't be very nice if you woke her up. I don't think she would be too happy with you. You know what? I'm going to go wake up Alex so he can talk with us, too. I'll be right back, Lills."

Izzie walked across the hallway and opened the door to the room where Alex was sleeping. As light flooded the room, he stirred in his sleep. Izzie allowed the door to close behind her and approached a sleeping Alex in the dark. There was just enough light in the room for her to make her way over to him and give him a light kiss on his cheek.

"Alex… Lillianna is awake."

"Hmm?" He asked sleepily.

"Lillianna is awake. Come talk to her with me."

Izzie took Alex by the hand and led him out of the darkened room and into the hall. They washed their hands thoroughly and then approached the isolette.

"Look who I brought back!" Izzie whispered excitedly as she and Alex sat down in chairs to be at eye-level with the little girl.

"Hey, baby girl," Alex whispered before reaching in to let Lillianna play with his fingers. The baby decided she would rather just grip one tightly instead. Lindsey was more of the playful one.

"I'm going to miss hanging out with them at night when they go home in a few weeks," Izzie spoke as she stroked Lillianna's soft blonde hair.

"They'll be back in a few months, though, Iz," he told her. "Sloan's going to put in tissue expanders for their separation surgery."

"I know. It's exciting. God, it must be so scary for their parents, though."

"Yeah. I can't imagine having to go through everything that they have."

"You know what I was thinking?"

"Hm?"

"Their medical bills are going to be through the roof."

"Yeah…?" He wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"So I was thinking we could have a bake sale, and—"

"If you're baking, I'm game."

"You didn't let me finish. We could have a bake sale, and if it doesn't make a ton of money, I know someone with a lot of money just sitting around who would totally donate some."

"Who do you know with…" Alex started before realizing exactly who she was talking about. "Wait… Seriously?"

"Seriously," she said with a huge grin on her face. "I've been thinking about it for a couple days now, and the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that it's the right thing to do. Denny loved kids. I'm sure that if he had known this family, he would have wanted to help. If he had been able to see these little faces, he would have wanted to give them the world."

Alex was touched. Rather than saying anything, he slowly let go of Lillianna's hand, pulled Izzie into his lap, and hugged her tightly before kissing her softly on the lips.

"I guess that means you think it's a good idea, too, then?" She giggled.

"Izzie, I think this is the best idea you have ever had. I think Denny would be so proud of you right now," he told her. He smiled at her in admiration as he cradled her against his chest. "How did you even think of that?"

"Well, I was talking to George at home. I was telling him about how Natalie teaches first grade while Greg teaches high school math and about how I think that is the cutest thing ever. Then George started talking about how his mom is a teacher and how she loves it. Then he mentioned how it's stupid that teachers don't get paid more. And I totally agree. The best teachers are completely unselfish people. They aren't in their profession for the money. They're in it because they care about kids. George said something about how it's going to be hard to pay for the girls' medical bills on two teacher salaries, and that's when I looked up and saw the check still on the refrigerator. It just clicked."

"This is so perfect. You are amazing, Iz. Like right now, I am so proud of you, and I am so excited about this."

"Excited about what?" Addison asked as she walked into the room and sat down next to the couple. Izzie went to move off Alex's lap since sitting like that wasn't very professional, but Addison smiled and stopped her. "No, go ahead. You guys looked happy like that. Just tell me what's so exciting."

Alex looked at Izzie. "It's your plan, you tell her."

"Okay," she said apprehensively. She then told Addison her idea. By the time Izzie finished talking, Addison was smiling at her just like Alex had been.

"Stevens, that is a fabulous idea, and because you aren't officially on the case, it would be perfectly okay for you to do that," Addison told her. "I'll talk to the Chief about getting permission to do a bake sale, and you and the other interns can do the rest. I'll make something, too, of course. Or at least I will try to make something, despite my limited baking skills. Wow. I'm really excited about this now, too."

The conversation was interrupted when Lillianna started to whimper. Soon, it was full-blown crying. Seconds later, Lindsey was awake and crying with her sister. Addison stood up first, grabbing a sterile drape to put over herself so she could hold them.

"I think they're just upset that mommy and daddy took a break for a day," she said. Natalie and Greg had visited their daughters every day since the day they were born, but that day, they had taken a break. They were exhausted, and Addison had suggested that they take a day or two to themselves.

"Aw… they miss them," Izzie smiled, watching Addison lift the screaming babies into her arms.

"Shhh… It's okay, girls. Mommy and Daddy are coming back this afternoon. I promise. I pinkie, pinkie promise," Addison whispered comfortingly as she sat back down next to Izzie and Alex. She started to rock them in her arms. "You're sad because you haven't been picked up all day, and I'm sorry. You guys were probably really lonely in there. Being lonely is no fun. No it's not."

After several minutes, the crying had reduced to dueling hiccups, which all three doctors found quite amusing. Lindsey would hiccup, then Lillianna would hiccup, and they went back and forth like that until they slowly drifted to sleep.

Only two scenes in this chapter, but it ended up at almost six pages on MSWord, so I decided to not add any more. I liked writing the first scene with Mark and Meredith because you know it's got to be hard for the two of them to forgo sex for that long. Mark may be "Perfect Mark," but there are some things that just don't change. Haha. Next chapter will have some exciting baby stuff for Addison and Mark since Addison will be hitting four months. Mark is going to try to get in touch with his emotional side. Umm… what else? If I can figure out a way to fit it in, I might put in a Meredith and Derek conversation. Yep. That's all I can think of for now. And for like the 234324342th time, thanks so so so much for reading and reviewing. This story hit 100 reviews last chapter, and seeing that was like THE coolest thing ever for me. So double thanks. :)