Thanks you guys for reading, reviewing, faving and following (I feel so special *cheesy grin*). I'm glad you're enjoying my story. I've had a love/hate relationship with Grey's since Season 4, but it was full on hate when they killed Lexie and Mark, especially without them reuniting. It was the final slap in the face – at least until they killed Derek too!...Excuse me, still very bitter about it all…Rest assured, Mark, Lexie and Derek will stay alive and well in my story.
Chapter Soundtrack - If I Had You: Adam Lambert and Always Remember Us This Way: Lady Gaga
I've updated my Undiscovered Pinterest Board with some new pins. You can find the link in my profile.
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"There you are. I was just about to start this movie without you." Mark complained from their couch when Callie and Arizona walked into their apartment.
"Sorry, Mark. We're just getting changed and then going out for dinner with Meredith and Derek." Callie said as she and Arizona rushed into their bedroom to get changed.
"Oh, come on! I need you to distract me. I've run out of excuses for showing up at their house."
Now that Lexie was out of the hospital, he couldn't just not see her. So, he would hang out at the house on Sundays to watch the Seahawks play with Derek. In between games, he would stop by to pick up non-existent patient files, to look for toys that Sofia may have left or to borrow tools for made up home improvement projects. He was like a stalker and while Meredith and Derek entertained his need to see Lexie, it was only a matter of time before she figured him out. He didn't want to push her into exploring a relationship with him when she was still adjusting to her new life.
"Hey, where's my kid?" He asked when he realized they came in empty handed.
"She went home with Zola for a play date." Arizona called out from the bedroom now that she and Callie were out of their shared time conserving shower. "Why don't you just come with us?"
"To be a fifth wheel? No, thanks." He practically pouted.
Callie poked her head out of the doorway to see his reaction. "Are you sure? We have to stop by their place to pick up Sofia, and Lexie's babysitting so she'll definitely be there."
He didn't disappoint.
"What restaurant are we going to?"
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After dinner, Callie, Arizona and Mark followed Meredith and Derek back to their house. As they walked inside, they could hear music coming from the living room. Standing in the wide doorway, they watched as Lexie sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Zola and Sofia, serenading them.
"If I had you." She sang and pointed at Zola. "That would be the only thing I ever need."
"Yeah, if I had you." She pointed at Sofia. "Then money, fame and fortune never could compete."
"If I had you." She pointed to them both. "Life would be a party it'd be ecstasy."
"Yeah, if I had you. You, y-y-y-y-you, y-y-y-y-y-you." She sang and tickled Zola's belly and then switched to do the same to Sofia. "You, y-y-y-y-you."
Mark could feel himself falling even deeper in love as he watched Lexie shower his daughter with affection.
The song ended and the parents clapped and whistled, surprising the trio.
"We have a sneaky audience, ladies." Lexie turned sideways to face the others. "Take a bow." She instructed them and they compiled with giggles. "Okay, party over, but Aunt Lexie had a blast. We have to do this again, okay?" The toddler nodded happily, and she held up her hands. "Give me five. Yay!" She gave them smushy kisses on the cheek and sent them off to their parents.
"Did you have fun with Aunt Lexie?" Meredith asked her daughter, and she nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Thanks for looking after Sofia, Lex." Callie said.
"No problem." She stood up to put away the toys they were playing with. "How was dinner?"
"It was good. Crowded so we came back here for a nightcap. How about you join us?" Derek offered.
"Sure. I'll be right back." She accepted and hopped up the stairs to her room.
While she was gone, Meredith put a movie on for the girls and the adults convened in the kitchen around the island to share a bottle of wine and a fruit platter that she quickly put together. Lexie came back dressed in an off the shoulder sweater, skinny jeans and ankle boots.
"What are you all dressed up for?" Meredith questioned.
"I'm going out after this." She took a sip of her sister's red wine to taste it.
"It's almost 8 o'clock."
"Mer, I know you're a Super Mom, but you remember life after 8, don't you?" She joked and Meredith playfully tsked at her.
"Where are you going?" Derek chimed in on the interrogation.
"Just to Joe's, Dad." She mocked.
"You're hanging out at Joe's now?" Mark spoke up, intrigued by the chance that she was ready to start a social life.
"I wouldn't call it hanging out. I've only been there a few times." Mostly with Meredith and Derek to get her out the house and socialize. She actually liked the place, it was upbeat, but not overwhelmingly so. "Why? Are former doctors not allowed on your sacred surgical land just like they're not allowed to read your super-secret decoder board?" She teased and he chuckled at the shared memory.
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While still in the hospital and attempting to find some familiarity in her previous life, Lexie went exploring during one of her hallway laps. Most likely because of her previous status in the hospital, no one stopped her when she went into the "Authorized Personnel Only" wing to get a closer look at the ins and outs of her past. She found herself standing in front of this massive board with the names of some of her doctors and medical terms that were only somewhat foreign to her. She was trying to decipher the board when Mark appeared.
Standing behind her, he leaned in to mutter into her ear. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be back here."
"Why not? I didn't actually quit, and I wasn't fired so technically I still work here."
"Any of this ring a bell?" He moved to her side.
"Nope." Dr. Alexandra Grey, promising resident, was a big ol' blank to her. "Septoplasty at 3 o'clock - that something with the nose, right?" Reaching back into the memory she had left, she could recall some things from a medical terminology class that she took sophomore year in college.
"Very good." Smiling big, he nodded at her proudly.
For awhile, they stood there together as he gave her a little terminology refresher.
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"You can have a couple of drinks here." Derek suggested.
"I'll be fine. I'm Ubering there and back, and I have on my low jack. I mean life alert. So, relax. Let me get out and have a little fun on my way." She understood and appreciated his brotherly protectiveness, but he needed to loosen the reins. To appease their lingering fears and anxiety, she had agreed to the bracelet for any potential accidents or relapses. That was enough. "After everything this group's been through, I think we know life is too short not to have some fun."
She was absolutely right, and she had declared very early in her recovery that after staring death in the face, she wanted to live life to its fullest. Take advantage of as many experiences as possible, hold on tight and treasure the people in her life, and above all, be happy.
The group continued their lively conversation, drinking, snacking and laughing.
"Whoap, my Uber's here." Lexie announced when her phone vibrated in her back pocket. "See you guys later. Have fun." She quickly air-kissed Meredith and Derek on the cheek, before reaching over the counter to grab a strawberry off the tray.
At the same time, Mark reached for a grape and their fingers touched. The contact shocked him, and he looked up at her in wonder. Even more surprising, Lexie grinned and gave him a wink as she bit into the fruit. Then she strutted away for the door.
"Ooh!" Arizona squealed, having witnessed the moment between them.
"Oh wow." Callie added, also seeing it.
"What?" Meredith asked, oblivious along with Derek.
"She's totally flirting with Mark." Callie accused and shifted on her stool to gawk at her, rather impressed.
"I sure am. He's hot." She admitted nonchalantly with a shrug. "See ya." She shot up a farewell hand and walked out the house.
Mark watched her leave with a big grin on his face. It was still in full effect when he turned back around.
"Be careful." Derek told him, looking at him sternly.
He held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't even do anything. It was all her."
"It's not a warning for Lexie, it's a warning for you." Meredith clarified. "She's different. The plane crash, being in a coma and then losing a big chunk of her life, has changed her. I know you can see that." She was the same sweet and adorable Lexie, but she was more confident, bolder in the way she carried herself. "She has dreams and plans that are different than what she once had. She's not even sure she wants to be a surgeon anymore."
"Really?" Arizona was surprised. Lexie may not remember being a doctor, but it was a dream of hers long before the lost years of her life.
"She thinks she still wants to be in the medical field, she's just not sure in what capacity. She's decided to go back to school to try to figure what she wants to do." Derek explained. He and Lexie had many early morning talks right at this island about the future that she wanted and the fact that she didn't think she wanted the same future she always imagined.
"She's working on figuring out who she is and we need to give her time to do that." One of the most important things that her sister's psychotherapist had advised was to avoid pressuring Lexie to fit into the mold of her past life. She needed to process her identity and the new direction of her life with gentle support. "You're both still in two different places in your lives, Mark. Hers is more unsettled that it has ever been, but she's okay with that. She says she just wants to have fun and enjoy her second chance at life."
Mark went quiet in his musing. He always respected the choices that Lexie made for herself and now more than ever, he wanted to support whatever made her happy. But he wanted to be a part of whatever that turned out to be.
"I'm going to Joe's." He stated and took off for the door, phone in hand to order an Uber.
Callie grinned widely with excitement, seeing that spark of mischief in his eyes again. He needed Lexie and Lexie needed him even if she didn't know it yet. It was about time that Mark did something about it.
"Mark." Derek called after him, but Callie stopped him.
"Let him go, Derek. Whatever Lexie wants, he wants. He just wants it with her."
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Mark arrived at Joe's to find Lexie in a cluster at the bar with five other people, one of them being her PT and two hospital nurses that he unfortunately knew well. A part of him dreaded following her here, but he trudged along until he stood right behind her.
"Hey Joe, can I get a double scotch, single malt, please? And put Lexie's drinks on my tab."
Lexie turned completely around in her seat and leaning against the bar on her elbows, she beamed at him. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Sure." She introduced her friends. "Mark, this is Chad and Tom, they're both PTs at the rehab center. Marty is a volunteer yoga instructor at the center, and you know Beth and Colleen, right?" She gave him a cheeky knowing look.
The two nurses both turned away awkwardly, taking deep pulls from their beers.
Mark chuckled at her. "And how would you know that?"
"You'd be surprised what I know about you, Mark Sloan." She sassed. "I've been selective about what I want to know from my past relationships, especially the hard and complicated stuff. When Meredith told me about our past, she was vague and I got the feeling it was one of those hard and complicated parts. But it made me curious, so I found another source of information around Seattle Grace."
"Who blabbed?"
"April." She said. "She told me all the gory details."
"And your thoughts?"
"You two were a mess." She laughed and so did he, nodding in agreement.
In hindsight, he could admit that he and Lexie were their own worst enemy when it came to their relationship.
"We were, but we loved each other." His eyes didn't waver from hers as he spoke.
"I believe that." She replied, not breaking eye contact either.
"Hey Lex, we're about to start a game of darts. Wanna join?" Chad interrupted them, hoping to bring her back into the folds of their night out.
"I'll catch the next game." She barely looked away from Mark to turn him down before putting all her attention back on him. "Dr. Sloan was just about to tell me all about his favorite subject - Mark Sloan."
Glad to have won her over, he took full advantage of his chance to show her who he was outside of the gossip and the superficial level they had been on. He told her all about his life in New York, his college years and med school, starting his own practice, his wild adventures domestic and foreign, impressing her and making her laugh. They barely noticed the time go by and eventually all her friends went home, Chad being the last one, laying his departure on thick.
"What's the deal with you and the PT? He seems rather invested and you're not even his patient anymore." Mark asked now that they were alone.
"And that's your business how?"
"Just scoping out any competition. Not that he's an actual threat." He smiled charmingly as he took a sip of his new drink.
"God, you are cocky." She shook her head at him. "Look, I like you, I'm attracted to you and I can see why I once fell in love with you." She admitted, getting serious now. "But I can't pursue this." She motioned between them. "My life is completely upside down and I don't know where it's going to end up. But I know it's not going to be what it used to be." She told him and trying to be as sensitive as possible, she stressed. "I'm not the same person that you fell in love with, Mark."
"I know that."
"Do you? Do you really understand that, because you don't hide that longing in your eyes at all."
He was about to respond when, to his delightful surprise, she grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him passionately. He didn't hesitate to pull her close, savoring her lips and her mouth. Before she could get dragged down too deep in his intoxicating kiss, Lexie pulled back.
"How was that? It was different, wasn't it?" He just hummed in pleasure and she laughed, releasing him. "While I was in the hospital, I read all these articles and stories about people with amnesia. And this one woman whose husband had lost his memory said that she understood he was a different person when she kissed him for the first time after his accident. It was like kissing a stranger." She summarized her independent research and made her point. "I'm not the same Lexie. I'm not your Lexie anymore."
The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she didn't want him to have any false hope that he could get back what he once had with the old Lexie.
"You are where it counts." He rebutted and put his hand on her chest. "You may not remember that you have feelings for me, but you admitted that you're attracted to me and I can work with that. I can make you fall in love with me again."
This time he took her by surprise and laid a consuming kiss on her before dropping some bills on the bar top and walking away.
He was not going to just let her give him the brush off. This was not their end, only the beginning.
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"You okay?" Joe asked her, having watched the whole exchange, and seeing that Mark had left her in a bit of a daze.
"Yeah." She smiled almost dreamily.
"He's intense, especially when it comes to you." He said, giving her a heads up for what was coming her way from Mark Sloan.
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Lexie the Sassy Babysitter
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