A/N: A migraine may have put me on my ass yesterday, but here we are.

Mark smiles softly at the young intern, holding still as she gently pats a bandage over the stitches. Her fingers are gentle as she applies the surgical tape, focus on her task at hand as she waits for his answer.

"Oh I'm in," Mark whispers, catching one of Meredith's hands in his, drawing her attention to him. He grins, pleased with himself and she smiles back.

"We're also going to have to deal with the Sheppard-Montgomery situation, aren't we?" Meredith continues, twisting her fingers so they interlace.

(She has a flash, a split-second memory, warm sun and ocean breeze as they walk along the coastal cliffs, hand in hand.)

Mark pulls a face, grumbling as he ducks his head to his chest.

"Right, that situation."

Laughing, even though it's not entirely funny, Meredith gives the plastic surgeon's hand a quick squeeze.

"So." Mark starts. "A doctor huh?"

Meredith scrunches her nose at him.

"Because I distinctly remember you saying something about never following in the footsteps of your vapid mother in your life," Mark continues softly. He watches her in a way Derek never did. Maybe never could.

"Things… changed. Things that brought me back. Things that forced me to leave Europe behind. Leave you behind," Meredith starts. "But!" She continues a bit too sharply, interrupting Mark before he can say anything. "That's a whole conversation best suited over a drink and not in the middle of my workday, don't you think?"

(Something pleading peaks out at Mark, something young and still learning how to exist in the world. It peers at him from those bright eyes. They may be older than the last time he saw them, but there is still something vulnerable there.)

Canting his head in agreement, he squeezes back. "Fair enough Meredith. How about you meet me when you get off work? Just call me."

He uses his free hand to pull a card out of his jacket pocket and gently extracts his other hand in order to scrawl a cell phone number on the back of it.

"And please, actually use this one this time?" Mark says quietly, half joking, half serious.

Brow furrowing, Meredith takes the card and tucks it carefully into her lab coat pocket, making sure it gets sandwiched into one of her notebooks for protection. "What do you mean this time?" she asks, only half paying attention.

"Before you left Europe, I put my number in your pack, remember?"

"No, you didn't?"

"Ah," Mark breathes, something indecipherable crossing his face. Meredith puts the pieces together a moment later, and her gut flips. "Ah," she repeats back.

"Seems we do have a lot to discuss," Meredith begins, something like guilt creeping into her voice.

(She remembers getting back to the states, rushing to where her mother had been admitted, that pack that went with her long forgotten in her Boston apartment for nearly a week before she unpacks it, unpacking looking more like throwing everything straight into the hamper.)

(To this day, she never knew what happened to one of her sweaters, a pair of flats, and a small collection of postcards she had collected, but they had paled in importance in comparison to the realities of life. So she's not entirely surprised she may have lost other things.)

"Don't Meredith," Mark interrupts, sensing and hearing that guilt. "It's not your fault. Things happened the way that they did, and it's in the past now. I'm not mad, okay?"

She nods at him, offering a last small smile. "I have to get back to work now, do you plan on causing any more chaos in the hospital today?"

Mark barks out a laugh, short and amused. "Oh Meredith, my day has only just begun. Who knows what sort of foolery I'll get myself into next."

Laughing, the brush of guilt blown away, Meredith leans in and pulls Mark into a hug. "Just try not to get hit again, hmm?"

"I'm not making any promises, but I'll do my best, just for you." He tightens his grip around her waist, before releasing her and nudging her towards the door. "But go, go save lives. Just call me later."

"Deal," Meredith tells him with one last smile, before she slips out into the hospital.