A/N: This ch. style is different from previous ones, so don't be too surprised. Yeah, it makes me a little skittish, and I tried rewriting it, but this is how it flowed from my hand, and I can't change how a story comes to me. So don't be scared off. I'm pretty sure it's a one-time thing. Anyway, GA is finally back, there's more for me to work with. And yeah, what McSteamy said to Derek made me swoon. It also kinda made me squirm, but still it was hot. I always thought he came back more for Derek's sake than Addison's. It's kinda sad but cool how much he cares for his friend...can you tell I'm like head over heels for McSteamy? Sad, I know...Anyway, sorry for the rambling...ENJOY!!!

I'm not going to say who's POV is whose--it's pretty much implied in the tones and references. For this ch. purpose, italics equals thoughts.

"Four Words From A Heartbreak"

I know it's not my place to judge, and I know I shouldn't spy on people, but when you're drunk you throw curiosity out the window and just do everything your parents always told you was impolite to do.

So when I saw my friend going outside with a seriously hot guy, I had no choice but to follow them. Hell, I wanted a moment with McSteamy. Okay, don't tell McDreamy I thought that. He would seriously freak. Hold on, he had a 'girl at the bar' moment with someone who isn't me. I'm allowed an impure thought or two.

Anyway, I watched them from inside and tried mighty hard for my super-hearing to kick in. Needless to say, my super-hearing idea didn't work too well. And I don't know how to read lips.

So I squeezed my eyes, and the only thing I was able to read was the sadness in Izzie's expressions. When I saw a few tears coming from her, I wasn't very surprised. For goodness sakes, she cries watching The Tigger Movie (why a grown woman is watching a Winnie the Pooh movie is beyond me).

What did surprise me was the fact that she was crying right in front of McSteamy. And her crying over Sloan is as confusing as her crying over Beauty & The Beast--maybe I should blame Disney for everything. After all, aren't they the reason we all believe that even frogs can be our princes?

But the only way for me to figure out what was happening, was by asking her, and I couldn't just interrupt their…whatever they were doing.

So I waited for Izzie. It took like ten minutes but I waited. When she did come out, it was too fast. One second she was saying something to Mark, the next she gives him what I assume to be his jacket, and then she's walking rapidly back inside. She gives me a two-second glance, and I don't wait. I just follow her. She knows I'm following her (yeah, like I can creep behind someone with these heels and this dress).

I follow her out of the ballroom, where she looks around frantically for a means of transportation. Not without talking to me first is she going to get out of there.

Out in the lot, where Izzie waves for a cab, I yell to her, asking her what the hell happened. Yeah, subtle, I know.

She looks at me like I'm crazy for a second, when she suddenly smiles very bitterly, and says, "Within the span of one month and a week and a half I managed to fall in love with an asshole!"

I fall back, as she repeated the same thing she's told me some days ago, except now I knew it wasn't some twisted joke. I had been blind to it, because like all other dark and twisty people, I wanted to believe that self-confident people were far too sure of themselves to let obstacles get in their way.

I walk closer to Izzie, and became more aware of how serious this all was. Pain was playing out over Izzie's features.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you," I whisper as I hug her.

"It's not your fault I turned it into a joke," Izzie shrugs.

After I throw around a few lines to lighten the mood, we finally catch a cap, and order it straight to our house, and at Izzie's request, I stay behind, for her to be alone. I comply, knowing Izzie needs to be alone. Anyway, I have some serious ass-kicking to do.

But as I walked back inside, and felt her stomach complaining, and a stinking tickle in my throat, I re-thought the ass-kicking thing. Maybe it's best to leave it up to another person, or for another day, when I don't feel like McVomitting.

Meanwhile...(Meaning during the moment out in the terrace)

After a couple of songs, the band picked up the pace, and their slow dance was over. Although Alex didn't seem to notice this much. He still held her firmly in place, his head resting beside hers.

She whispered his name and he grinned. Her breath tickled her ear, and her hand was tugging at his jacket. He pulled out of the embrace and looked at her expectantly.

Without a word, they headed back to their table, sitting across from one another. As soon as he sat, he looked for a sign of Izzie, but shrugged off a bad inkling he was getting Izzie was a big girl. She didn't need to be looked after.

"Enjoying the night?" Addison asked him.

He nodded, and forced her to lock eyes with him. She smiled nervously and blushed, and she faced away from him.

"Addison," he whispered her name.

She whipped her head around and cocked an eyebrow, "Yes, Karev?"

"You seriously gonna give Sloan a second chance?" He had leaned in and brought his hands closer to hers, which were rested on the table.

"I'd rather not discuss that this evening," she said harshly.

He chuckled and leaned back into his chair. "You're still hoping he doesn't get it done."

She didn't respond to him, although they both knew very well that she didn't want to give Mark another chance. Sure, he was a good guy, but Addison simply didn't have any romantic feelings towards him anymore. And she was tired of just having a good lay.

Their silence was tension-filled, as all their feelings towards the pact filled the air, as their feelings towards each other went ignored.

"Remember when I said I didn't want you?" Alex asked her.

She scoffed. "How could I forget?"

"Know how I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to emotions?"

She eyed him carefully, a smile ready to play out on her lips. She nodded.

"Which is why I tend to make things up," he confessed.

Addison's smile dissipated, and she gulped. Now was not the time for him to bring these things up. She always entertained the idea that he had lied to her, that he was interested in her. But she wasn't one to make a fool of herself over a guy. Not that she never had.

"I don't think you have to read my mind to understand what I'm saying," Alex interlocked eyes with her. They had, for a while now, been able to decode each other's looks and words.

"No I don't," Addison inhaled, "but I'm not one to quit a game right when I'm near the finish line."

Alex smirked. Game. This was all just a game. Alex stood abruptly from his chair and strode to her. He reached her chair and knelt down beside her.

"When your done with this game, you can come look for me. But I can't promise you'll find me," and he stood up, leaving Addison alone.

Addison rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly. Men had the worst timing in the world. Then again, she had been the one to initiate the plan, and had been the one to kiss Alex. She grabbed a champagne glass from a waiter and took it all in a gulp. When had she made this love thing even more complicated than it already was? Wouldn't it had been simple to just ignore Mark again and just jump Alex? She raised an eyebrow to her own amusement and thought that over again. Ignoring Mark again would have been easy, but she had a feeling if she had made herself so easily accessible to Alex, he would just wind up being an ass, and not really have appreciated her. It didn't matter though, because she knew there must be an easier way for everyone to be happy.

As her eyes made their way over the crowd, she noticed a very distraught looking Izzie Stevens marching out of the room, and Grey following her. She whipped her head around and looked for Mark, catching him on the opposite side of the room, with a dazed look. She smirked, with the realization that Mark had been hit with a few angst-filled words from Izzie, whether they were laden with romantic feelings or not, she knew that for Mark to be that dazed over a person's words, he had to have some very invested feelings he may not even know about. Taking another dose of alcohol, she almost bust out laughing. She had already played enough games, so she wouldn't write off the pact. She had a feeling that she needn't do anything for Mark's illusion of her with him to dissipate. It's a realization he'd make on his own, without one of her 'plans'.

He may finish the 60 days, she thought, but I doubt he'll last 60 days with me. Soon as he's with me, he's going to realize the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

The house dark, the night cold, and heart bitter, I can only wonder how this has happened.

Isn't it strange that mere months ago, I was completely in love with a man named Denny Duquette. I wanted to marry him, he wanted to marry me, and I risked my profession for his life. Isn't that what true love's about? Sacrifice and utter devotion?

And then I run into a closet, where a very irritated and selfish plastic surgeon comes in. I was hiding in a closet, hiding from a world that was judging me for sleeping with a married man. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that the only person who wouldn't judge me come in and join me in my pity party. Except that he didn't pity, or try to justify my actions, and there were regrets voiced, but the remorse was minimal.

It was so odd, so strange, and all the same, it felt like we had rehearsed these types of conversations a millions times over. I'd trash my own actions, and immediately he'd come up with a complement that made me feel like I wasn't a failure. In less than half an hour, a person came into my life and provided me with a different spin on life. A refreshing spin.

And no, I didn't feel something right there and then. The only thing that came was discovery. Like hitting a gold mine that everyone, including myself, had thought was a bomb mine.

Of course I didn't think 'gold mine!' when Sloan turned out to be a decent human being. One day, it just hits you. Everything builds up, while you're busy just casually enjoying hanging out with a person, and then BAM! You're jealous. And when you're jealous over someone who you previously thought was only hardly a friend, then you know you're in trouble.

But seriously, I figured I was headed towards some trouble when Mark got this close and all I could think about was kissing him.

Now, a month after that little brush with breaking lines, here I am, sitting up in my bed, doing some old breathing techniques they teach hyperventilating people to do. Just in my dark room, with something resembling tears on the brink of my eyes, and with my hands gripping my comforter as if it were some sort of lifeline.

I swear I have never been this confused about what love really is. That sacrifice and devotion thing might as well be thrown at the window, because Mark has shown no sign of doing either for me. I know, I know--he never said he loved me, so I shouldn't be questioning what he thinks love is. But I did tell him that I love him. For reasons beyond my understandings, I am in love with McSteamy.

Yeah, he gets me, and makes me laugh when I'm taking this hospital 'life' too seriously, and he has the most amazing, yet illogical advice. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he has got to be most gorgeous guy I have ever met. Or seen for that matter.

And now I'm laughing. Like some mental person, I am laughing at absolutely nothing. And the strangest thing is that only when I start laughing, do my little tears start rolling down my cheeks. Yeah, crazy, I know.

But now, I know why I'm laughing. Because life is too damn ironic, and I realize just how much I love Mark. It just sucks that I don't get how this could happen. I did love Denny, right? I mean, I do love him, right? He was sweet, and funny, and charming, and had that rugged-handsome looking thing going on.

If I'd gotten to know Denny and Mark at the same time, it would still be Denny to whom I would become romantically attached, right?

If I ask these things aloud, will someone answer them?!

Izzie's mind deteriorated. There was no sense in her thoughts, no answers that the universe could answer for her.

He shot her down, and this made her wonder if this was it for her, that'd she'd gotten stuck with a true love that would never love her back. Or was she simply looking too deeply into the situation.

Her eyes weighed down, and thoughts of her former fiancée swirled alongside thoughts of the man she currently loved. She was young. She still had time to find the prince Walt Disney promised her. If not, she could simply pass away one day and be reunited with a man who did love her.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGA

The rays crept in through her window, and her lids peeled back. Her back, she felt it to be sore, and she felt so groggy. She knew it couldn't possible turn out to be a good morning as she stood up in her bed. She looked down and grumbled as she realized she hadn't changed out of her bridesmaid dress. She stood up from her bed reluctantly and took a look in her mirror. Thank God she hadn't worn a lot of makeup, otherwise she would have looked twice as bad. Her eyeliner was running a bit, and her blush was practically all gone. Her face was pale, her hair looked daftly, and her dress was crumpled and twisted. She promptly pulled the zipper down and stepped out of the dress, and threw it on top of her bed. She was so not in the cleaning mood.

Izzie grabbed the first pair of sweats and sweater she could find, and dragged her feet to the restroom. Thereafter, she headed straight to her room, where she laid for another ten minutes before Meredith came knocking.

"Hey," she said from the door.

"Hey," Izzie answered her.

"I'm going to the park. With Derek. Not to the bar, not to an on-call room, but to the park. For a picnic," Meredith said.

"That's good--right?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah," Meredith smiled," That's good. So, you wanna come?"

"And be the third wheel? No thanks."

Meredith shrugged. "Okay. But Derek made extra sandwiches and other picnic stuff for you. If you get hungry, they're on the counter."

Izzie nodded to her, acknowledging the offer.

"You gonna be okay?" Meredith asked before she left.

"I'm not baking muffins, am I?"

"You're okay then?"

"I'm okay."

And with Izzie's final confirmation, Meredith finally left.

Nope, Izzie was not in the mood to bake muffins. And she wouldn't bake, nor speak very often to anyone but Alex for five days. She would sit out on the porch sometimes. Other times she'd sit in her room and watch TV. Sometimes she'd watch some movies in the living room. And when Derek would try to comfort her (at this point, Derek had been told the whole Izzie-and-Mark-Addison thing), saying Mark was out of his mind and couldn't be trusted to make sane decisions, she would start babbling about the best way to make a chocolate cake with strawberry filling. But most of the times, you could hear her singing like a broken cardinal from her room. The hours she filled doing this were the only times Alex didn't sit beside her, just as a sign for support. Because dude, to support someone, you need to be able to stand that person. And Izzie singing a sappy song off-key so did not become him.

But on the tenth day after the wedding, Izzie was up at around, or before, four in the morning. Meredith could testify to this because at six, a timer went off that had been set for an two hours. And when she dragged her grumpy ass downstairs to figure out what scent was invading her nostrils, she found Izzie pulling out chocolate icing, with a chocolate cake fresh out of the oven.

So now she was coping. After nine days of moping, of wasting their 17 day vacation, now she was coping. But a cake? Didn't coping usually deal with cupcakes or muffins? Since when had this evolved to cake-baking?

So instead of fighting this bad, bad evolution of baking, Meredith sat on the stool and waited for Izzie to finish the cake preparation. And she tried the cake after it cooled off, and watch warily as Izzie began baking another cake, this time a vanilla one. After an hour and 45 minutes, with Alex there to take the shift over, she took off for her day's activities.

And when Meredith would arrive later that day, she would come home to the aforementioned cake, along a fruit cake, a vanilla cake, and one coffee cake. And her first question would be--"Where's Iz?"

At which the current cake-sampler Alex Karev would respond, "Delivering a 'sorry for almost screwing up your marriage so here's some chocolate' cake to the O'Malleys."

Then she asked the thing that had been on her mind all day.

"Why today? For nine days, she stuffed her mouth with non-fresh baked goods. But lo and behold, today she's up at military hours and baking cakes. Cakes?!"

Alex stopped the mouthful of cake that was about to enter his mouth, and he set the fork down. He kept silent for a moment, finally he opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't get to answer her.

"It's day 60 Mer. The pact is over," Izzie said from behind Meredith, "Today, Mark and Addison are finally together."

Meredith stood stunned, and ashamed that she hadn't noticed Izzie's entrance. Izzie made her way around Meredith and set some grocery bags on the countertop. She started moving around, setting strawberries on the table, along with some new chocolate icing and cake ingredients.

"Mark once mentioned that his favorite cake is chocolate cake. With strawberry filling in the middle, with fresh strawberries spread throughout. And what a better way to celebrate his happiness then by making his favorite cake, right?" Izzie's voice trembled, but she regained her shivering posture as she began mixing the ingredients together.

It was a rhetorical question, so neither Alex nor Meredith bothered to answer the obviously cynical question.

The two sat in the stools for hours, as Izzie finished the cake. As the cake was being iced, and strawberries were added to the top, Derek came in and almost asked what was going on, due to the fact that everything was so quiet. But he didn't speak a word when he noticed that the cake Izzie was finishing off, was curiously enough, Mark's favorite. His girlfriend slipped him a note, saying '60 days today' and he understood. So he sat down with the others.

"Someone needs to deliver it," Izzie finally said.

They all looked at her, like she was some mental person. Which she did sound like.

"Deliver it?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, take it to the new couple," she said bitterly.

"Iz," Alex began.

"I'll take it," Derek volunteered.

Meredith began to protest, but Derek didn't wait. Izzie packaged the cake, along with some plastic forks and plates, and handed it to Derek. He began leaving with a cake, but Izzie stopped him at the door and said she'd forgotten to leave a note. She grabbed a post-it and scribbled a note, and stuck it on-top.

Derek glanced down at the cake he was to take to the man who once he could slightly be proud of. He read the note Isobel Stevens had left, and he smirked to himself. What a fortune cookie Mark was receiving.

In cursive, read the words Izzie wrote to Mark: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Okay, seriously, Derek's gonna deliver this cake. You'll also hear what was going through Mark's brain after hearing Izzie out. It was going to be in this ch., but to shorten this one and lengthen the next one, I'm going to shift it as part of the next chappie. Thanks for the reviews, and bear with me for a few or so more chapters...

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