Author's Note - So yeah, this would be five times (out of many many) Mark thought about saying those famous words… cause we all know he wanted to… a lot of times.

But this is placed somewhere after season 8 and they're living their best life together… Enjoy!

1. Horror movies and his future vows

"You're okay?" Mark teased, his thumb gently grazing over her hip bone.

"No." Lexie answered honestly, her voice muffed behind the pillow as her hands clutched it over her face even tighter. "I can't believe I actually agreed to watch that."

Mark was grinning down at her, his head propped up on one elbow. "I swear to you, there are no demons in our house." he exclaimed with the laugh, closing the laptop on which the ending credits of the movie were still playing, and quickly shifting it to the nightstand on his side. He knew Lexie wasn't exactly a fan of horror movies. She would close her eyes and hide behind the pillow every time the intense background suspense music starts playing, and she would keep her eyes closed even when he tells her that the scene is over.

Lexie audibly gulped at his statement, cringing at the possibility, but slowly pulling the pillow down and hugging it to her chest, her eyes peering nervously over the top of it. "Oh really?" Her voice was high pitched and shrill. "And how would you know that? Huh? Are you a demonologist? No, you're not! But I'm going to tell you who you are… you are the person who'll be sent downstairs if I hear any creepy noises and…"

"Lex, it was just a movie." Mark cut off her rapid rambling, wrapping his arm around her still tense body and nestling closer to her, his nose nuzzling against the curve of her jaw. "And you wouldn't send me downstairs cause you wouldn't bear being left alone here." he added with a smirk.

"Good point." she noted softly, shaking her head slightly, as the satisfied smile on his face only grew bigger at her words. "You always do this. Every time when it's your turn to choose the movie you pick something like this… and you know that's going to scare the crap out of me and I say no, I don't wanna watch that, but you made that cute stupid face and of course I eventually agree to it, and then…"

"And guess what, no aliens or clowns or zombies or serial psycho killers still haven't knocked on our door with the intention to kill you, so trust me… we don't have demons in our house either." he widely smiled, emphasizing the last few words.

"I don't think they would knock on the door. More like… smash it, or where did you get the idea they would use the door at all...?" she replied with a faint smile, on what he only chuckled, "That wasn't the point."

Lexie let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head again, as she tried to finally relax and remember that everything he said indeed was the truth. She was freaking out over nothing.

She lifted her head, giving him a light kiss on the lips, and Mark instantly cupped her cheek, his lips lingering over hers for a few seconds. He could feel her body relaxing completely in his arms, just like always, and he kissed her again, a bit harder this time.

When she turned on her side, he immediately scooted closer, kissing the back of her shoulder and burying his face into the crook of her neck. One of his knees wiggled in between her thighs, as his hand gripped her hip over the thin material of the shirt she wears to sleep. He put the covers over them, and then reached towards the still lightened up lamp. "Can I turn off the lamp?" he asked mockingly.

"No." Lexie quickly responded, grabbing his hand.

Mark playfully rolled his eyes and kissed her neck, and then grinning, he whispered against her skin, "Can I turn off the lamp with the promise that if anything ever comes in here to murder us, I'll distract it and sacrifice myself, so you could try to run away?"

Lexie loudly chuckled at his words, but didn't respond. She slowly let go of his hand, reclining her back further against his bare chest.

She could feel his lips curving into a smile against the back of her neck, as he turned off the lamp, leaving their bedroom in complete dark. Closing her eyes, Lexie tried not to think about the movie, but instead, to focus on the feeling of his thumb lazily stroking over her forearm. She felt his warm breath ghosting over her skin, and thankfully, there were no any strange noises.

"I nailed that." he proudly whispered into her hair, and Lexie couldn't help but giggle, her body shaking with silent laughter, as he added, "You have to admit, no one ever offered to save you from the psycho killers."

"It's kind of romantic." she commented and Mark tightened his arm around her, nearly squeezing her body, when he smugly announced, "I'll put it in my vows."

He heard another soft chuckle falling out of her mouth and only silence after that.

He thought about saying it. Two words. Right there, in their dimmed bedroom, he could just whisper it in her ear before she falls asleep. Marry me. It wasn't like he didn't have a ring hidden in the left pocket of his favorite suit.

"Hey Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." And after a brief second of silence, despite drifting off, she added softly, "So much."

Barely audible, the same words fell off of his lips a moment later, and listening to her steady breathing, he drifted off to sleep as well.

2. Ecstatic dreams and the sweet honeymoon

A long, deep yawn was what it took Mark to scatter the last remains of sleep. It was one of the very rare, and at the same time delightful occasions where he woke up naturally. No beeping pager, no alarm clock, no ringing phone. The bed shifted as he slowly turned his head on the pillow, and he saw Lexie, still sleeping peacefully next to him. He faintly smiled, looking at her, watching her sleep. She was curled beneath the blankets, lying on her side, facing him.

They had slept with the windows open the night before, and the fresh morning breeze blowing in past the white sheer curtains was slightly cold against his skin. His hand reached to gently sweep over her cheek, just to make sure her skin was warm. The valley of his knuckles slowly caressed her skin. Once. Twice. Carefully, he eased the small space between them, lifting the blanket a bit, so there was no any barrier between them, and his hand found its place between her shoulder blades, slowly pulling her naked body closer to his. She flinched a little, curling herself deeper into the warm and silky fabric material, but his actions weren't enough to wake her.

Not being able to keep his hand still, his fingers began drawing lazy patterns over the smooth skin of her back and after a few seconds, her body flinched again, a bit harder this time. He stopped all of his movements for a moment as if in a doubt would he rather keep watching her sleep or wake her up. He didn't want her to wake up yet, though. Maybe because the part of him was still afraid. An indescribable part of him was still afraid that one day she could wake up realizing that she could actually do so much better. So much better than him, so much better than this, so much better than everything that goes along with him.

He leaned in suddenly, his chest expanding in an attempt to make all those unwanted thoughts go away, and Lexie stirred as he presses his face to the side of her throat, nuzzling against her skin, finding himself engulfed in the comforting heat of her body. There was no way he wanted to turn this perfect morning in a pity party.

When he felt her warm palm cupping his cheek and her foot slowly rubbing against his calf, he knew she was awake. He left a sloppy kiss on her neck before propping himself up on his elbow. He watched her as she rubbed her eyes with both of her hands, rolling onto her back.

"Good morning." Lexie muttered, her tone low and still croaked with sleep. With a deep yawn, she shortly glanced at the alarm clock that was on the nightstand, before turning back to him again, her lips curving in a bright smile.

"It definitely is. I had the most amazing dream." he smirked down at her, his hand disappearing underneath the blanket and settling over her bare stomach. Leaning down and kissing her, his voice was hoarse when he whispered against her lips, "You were naked."

She crooked an eyebrow at him, slightly nodding. "And… that's supposed to be surprising? Aren't all of your dreams like that?"

Her amused question kept him grinning as he bent down and latched his lips to the pulse point at the base of her throat, sucking on her skin. Lexie let out a soft moan, her neck arching as she seemed to melt against the white sheets of the bed. She looped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and he easily settled himself on top of her.

"We were on the beach." Mark continued, moving his lips up towards hers. "But somewhere really far from here, just the two of us. And your skin was so hot." His words were followed by soft caresses of his fingers up and down her sides. "And it smelled like sea salt."

"Yeahh…" It was a quiet, weak reply. But it was the best she could compose in that moment as he groaned and kissed her again, his lips slowly and firmly caressing hers. His beard was scratchy against her skin and she suddenly gasped as she felt one of his hands pressing against the inside of her thigh, pushing it gently, spreading her legs more open. "As amazing as that sounds, I don't think we'll manage to realize that fantasy any time soon…" she managed to breathe out as he pressed a series of wet kisses over her shoulders and collar bones, in a tortuously slow pace, before trailing down his path between her breasts. Already panting, Lexie ran her fingers through his hair, trying to pull him closer, what only made him grin wider.

"Why not? Maybe we could get away for a few days." he spoke, his lips brushing against her skin, but his suggestion actually made her roll her eyes, as if that would be so easy. She decided not to say anything anymore, but instead, her hands framed his face, pulling him back up, letting him know she wanted to kiss her again.

Holding himself up on one hand near her head, as his other one was flat on the inside of her thigh, he captured her mouth again, his tongue diving in past her lips. Reaching down, he hooked one arm under her knee, hiking it further against his hip and Lexie breathlessly broke her mouth away and a loud moan fell off her lips, when he swiftly entered her, sinking completely inside of her. She was hot and tight around him, he had to clench his eyes and jaw shut for a long moment, feeling her arms over his shoulders, her fingers digging into his muscles.

When he began to move, it was achingly slow, and even though it was a struggle to keep his eyes open, he gave his best to keep looking at her, his eyes locked on her face so he could drink in all of her reactions. Her eyes were half-lidded, as it seemed she had much bigger problems keeping them open than he did, hot pink color rose up to her cheeks, and her lips were parted, letting out one gentle whimper after another in time with each deliberately slow thrust.

"And anyway…" Mark suddenly murmured, what caused her eyes to snap open. "You, me, on the sunny beach…" With those words, his pace instantly increased, as if he had the perfect picture of it in his head. She cried out in appreciation of that, and cupping the back of his neck, she pulled him down in a frenzy kiss.

"…that could be the perfect idea for the honeymoon." he mumbled breathlessly, releasing her mouth with a smile. He hoped she didn't take it as a joke. Because he didn't mean it as a joke. Not in the slightest. He badly wished for it.

She swallowed at the unexpected admission and without any words she closed her eyes again, as one of her hands fell to the small of his back, feeling his lower body as he moved against her, and her other hand curved around the back of his neck, keeping him as close as she possibly could. Her heart raced wildly. She wished for it too.

3. Power outages and her future vows

That night, the house was in the complete dark except the two candles that were burning on the nightstand in their bedroom. The rain drummed against the windows harder and harder every incoming second, and Mark tightened his grip around her waist, almost like a reassurance that she was still there. Outside, the storm raged.

Lexie sat between his legs on the bed, leaned against his chest. "It shouldn't last longer than a couple of hours." she told him quietly, as if that was the only way she could speak. She knew though, that was a stupid thing to say. Really stupid and really useless. It didn't really matter how long it would last, minutes or hours… she knew her assumption didn't make him feel any better. Reaching for the plate with tortilla chips and nervously pushing a few of them into her mouth, she tilted her head up to look at him. His face was almost pale, and it seemed like he was using all of his inner strength to keep his breathing calm and steady.

"I hate when the power is out." he mumbled into her hair, his voice low. With a heavy sigh, his head fall back, resting against the headboard. There was always that low-level of panic pricking the back of his neck when the power is out. He just hated it. It wasn't like he hated the darkness. More like he hated not having the possibility to turn the lights on if he wanted to. He felt limited, he felt like he had no other choice besides sitting in the dark. And he hated that so much.

He double-checked their circuit breaker panel and fuse box, just to make sure that the storm really was the cause of the power outage. It always could've been some small problem with the wires as well, and he always hoped it was. That way he could just fix it and everything would go back to normal. At least now… he knew he could fix the problem. As a kid… he had no idea what to do. He just sat alone in the darkness of his parents' old and huge apartment, with his eyes closed, curled up on his bed, counting seconds until the power was on again.

"I know. But it can't be that worse that your horror movies." she tried to make a joke, referring to his well-known obsession.

"Of course it can, this shit's real." he replied right away, at the same time as the room lit up with a bright flash of lightning and they both looked at the window. Storms in Seattle weren't exactly infrequent, but this one didn't seem like it would end any time soon.

Mark was exhausted, but he didn't really feel like sleeping. And not because he hated power outages… even if he did. Every time the power was out, even for just a couple of hours, he felt tense. He kept zoning out, sometimes completely missing several words of conversations, which only made him more frustrated. And all of that frustration and tension, it was starting to take its toll on his body.

His hands were slightly shaking, so she fisted them firmly, but not before Lexie caught the sight of it and her gaze softened even more.

"Did you have a... a stuffed animal… growing up?" she suddenly asked and Mark furrowed in confusion, breathing into her neck, "Huh?"

Lexie brightly smiled, sensing his mood got better a bit as her question intrigued, and she continued, shifting slightly in his embrace. "You know, like a teddy bear or a puppy, or I don't know... elephant? Something like that?"

Her thumb was brushing along his forearm and it was so gentle and warm, and her voice and touch revealed such concern and care for him, his entire body began to ache.

"Well... you see, I had Twinkie. Twinkie was my stuffed animal. A husky." she exclaimed with a loud giggle, in the way he started laughing himself. "And yes, she got her name cause I loved those twinkie cakes so much. My point is..."

"I cannot wait to hear it." he teased, finally grabbing some chips for himself. Sometimes, he couldn't believe that with her, even conversations like this were interesting.

"Power outages weren't so scary for me when I was a kid cause… I had her." Her lips thinned into a straight line, as if she for a second felt embarrassed because of what she'd just said. "I swear, it's not as stupid as it sounds."

"Or cause you didn't have parents who considered you only as a burden and who used to leave you alone almost every single night… with no clarification about what you should do when the power outages happen, and you're eight years old and scared and alone in a cold apartment."

Her heart squeezed in her chest as he finished his unexpected babbling which showed that iconic stubbornness of his. He usually forced himself not to think of it that way. It was a long time ago. It didn't matter anymore. So he forced himself not to think of it at all. But when he did think of it… he always ended up talking about it… And even though he knew that if there was a person who would always listen to him, it was Lexie, he hated to afflict her with old stories about his broken childhood. Especially not when everything she said, everything she did, was in an attempt to comfort him and make him feel better.

"But… I guess that having a stuffed animal would help too." he muttered softly in her ear, leaving a light kiss against her cheek, in an attempt to make her smile her again. He buried his face in her neck and Lexie closed her eyes, feeling him squeeze her, nearly clinging to her desperately.

"It would. I mean, at least it helped me. You know, having something that... that you can cling to and enfold..." She felt his grip around her waist tightened as she spoke. "And hold tightly all night."

"Mhmm... Well, I have something like that now." he smirked, nuzzling his nose against her neck. "Hopefully… I'll have it for good."

"Hopefully?"

"Lexie Grey, are you offering to promise me I'll have it for good?"

"When we started referring me as it?" she asked in a mock tone, turning her head to look at him. This time, thankfully, there was a smile on his face.

"When you started referring yourself as a stuffed bulldog." he scoffed, widening his eyes in amusement.

"Husky! A stuffed husky." she instantly corrected him, completely turning in his lap to face him. Smugly smiling, she dipped his head down, brushing his lips across hers. Her arms slid around his neck and her fingers raked through the short gray hairs on the back of his head as he kissed her with a bit more pressure, drinking her in.

Lexie watched him lick his lips almost absently, as if he was in deep thought when they broke apart, wondering what was on his mind. "And you were the one who declared me as your stuffed animal for life. Not me."

If only she knew, on the tip of his tongue were again the same two words. The same two words that were constantly on his mind lately. She never made him feel like he was a burden. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much. And it was the thing in his life that actually kept him going, that kept him sane. "My stuffed bulldog. And yes, I did. But you did agree to it."

4. Fireworks and the almost perfect moment

Wrapped in the warm woolen blanket, with the nearly empty mug of hot cocoa in her hand, Lexie stood outside on their balcony. A cool evening breeze whistled past bare legs, making her shiver. But she didn't mind it though, the fireworks were about to start.

"Mark?" she called out over her shoulder. With rapt attention, Lexie glanced behind her back into the bedroom, where Mark had disappeared a few minutes ago, her mind whirling with all the possible reasons where the hell was he. Just to pour a glass of scotch... was what he said. I'll be there in a sec. Wait for me here.

She had noticed though, that he seemed nervous… wringing his fingers and shuffling around the room, she could see it clearly, despite his best efforts to hide it.

Suddenly, the first explosion of firework lighted up the night sky, and her lips instantly curved into an elated smile at the sight of it. "Hurry up, it's about to start!" she shouted louder this time. "Mark, where are you?" Figuring he definitely didn't hear her, she waited for the first wave of the cracking noise of fireworks to fade away. With a soft sigh, she moved closer towards the railing.

"Mark?" she called out once again, and then smiled with relief when he finally joined her on the balcony.

"Whoahh..." he whispered as he came up behind her, his arms winding around her waist and pulling her in a tight hug. She smiled as his lips brushed across the top of her shoulder and his arms squeezed her tighter.

Lexie leaned back against his chest, drowning herself into the warmth of his body. She lifted and bent one of her arms back, her fingers casually tunneling through the hair on the back of his head. When she spoke, it was a soft whisper. "It's so beautiful."

Mark only nodded, letting out a deep exhale. Maybe he was kind of nervous. No, he wasn't. He couldn't be happier that he was doing this. Finally.

When one particular gold circle exploded, he kissed her ear shell and made a quiet request, "Hey... Look at me." Taking her eyes off of a bright array of colors, she did so, a radiant smile on her face, one of those smiles of hers that made his heart stutter in his chest, that made him swooning…

His mind went blank for a second and before he even knew it, his lips were on hers, kissing her gently, finding that as the only solution for his initial halt.

"You know, we have plenty of time for that after the fireworks." Lexie smiled against his lips, but without making any signs that she wanted to stop.

Her lips were soft and warm and insistent against his, and somewhere in the back of his mind Mark heard that another rocket was launched and then another one, and another one... all exploding, as various colors painted the night sky. With a quiet moan, Lexie pulled away and looked up again.

As the dazzling fireworks went on and on, Mark realized about halfway through that he had stopped watching the sky, but instead, his gaze had landed on her. Not that he was surprised. He found himself being amazed by the way all the colors reflected so lovely in her dark eyes and over her pale skin.

He couldn't think of a better moment. This was the moment. She was there with him, where both knew she belonged, and he had the ring. He had the ring.

"Lex..." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. She was so caught up in the sight in front of them, and it seemed like she didn't hear that. So he tried again, more determined this time, "Lexie."

His lips curved into a delightful smile, when their eyes met one another. "You know you make me happ-"

There was another loud whistle then, followed by a sonic boom, as white and golden sparks rained down from the sky. She once again turned her head towards the wonderful spectacle, and Mark involuntary let out something that was between the chuckle and the snort, slightly shaking his head in disbelief. He sighed and buried his head into her hair, laughing softly.

"What is it?" she furrowed at him, nestling closer into his embrace.

"Nothing, nothing…" he shook his head, gently pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Just… this is perfect. You and me. It's perfect."

5. Champagne and love songs

The party was in full swing, crowds of endless faces melting together in the large, beautifully decorated ballroom of Archfield hotel. The air smelled of the mixed spices of cologne and rose perfumes, and the opened balcony offered the breathtaking sight of the city.

It was one of Lexie's childhood friend's wedding, and since they both, Mark and her, had their night off, and it was Archfield, Mark couldn't not agree to come to the reception with her, and of course, naturally… he booked the room for them. After all… it was Archfield.

Somewhere between all the old stories about high school adventures, Lexie apparently miscalculated the number of glasses of wine and champagne she had, and before she even knew it, everything around her was spinning, catching up to her at once… the wine, the music, people, everything…

The first solution Mark had come up with was to take her to a secluded, smoky corridor of the room, just so they could escape the overwhelming crowd. But eventually, figuring that he would rather have her just for himself, he led them to the elevator in the lobby. Thankfully, everyone else merely minded their own business and no one seemed to make a big deal out of the loud, noticeable giggles Lexie was making all the way from the ballroom and through the lobby. She was scampering ahead of him, and with every next disorganized step of hers, Mark had the impression that he should be really to grab her, even though she'd insisted she could walk by herself.

He pressed the button to the 22nd floor once they had entered, and casually leaned against the back wall of the elevator, endlessly amused at the sight of the intoxicated beauty in front of him. She'd taken off her lilac strappy heels, which he now carried for her, and she twirled around as a kid in the empty elevator, her purple lace cocktail dress flying up, teasing him with smooth and pale thighs. He couldn't quite place it, was she doing it on purpose or not. There was a pink unopened bottle of champagne in her hands, which she had firmly refused to leave back in the ballroom.

Seized by a dizzy spell, she looked up at him through her eyelashes, an entrancing smile on her face, when suddenly, her eyes snapped open. "Hey I know this song." she exclaimed exaggeratedly, referring to the music that was humming over the speaker in the ceiling of the elevator.

"Uhmm…" she mumbled to herself, trying to focus on the melody and the words of the song, so she could recognize it, but Mark beat her to it, flashing her a toothy smile. "Lovesong." he smugly blurted. "The Cure."

"I knew that." she giggled, biting her lower lip, and Mark could tear his eyes off of her as she came to him, pressing up against him as tightly as possible. He let out a deep sigh, barely being able to think anymore. His brain was already weak, and it had completely abandoned him the instant he felt her warm body against his. He was in complete trance, almost hypnotized, but he managed to form some coherent words as his arms encircled her waist. "Really? Were you even born when this song was released? Or were you just a fetus?"

"I… I actually don't know." It was an honest answer, but feeling slightly defensive, she added, "But I know the song. I love the song. I love Lovesong." With those words she let out in very inebriated manner, she began to slowly sway against him, her body rubbing against his. Goosebumps stared breaking out everywhere where her fingers lingered, from his upper arms and over his shoulder, and Mark wasn't sure if he was even breathing anymore when he muttered, "I love it too."

He could feel the temperature in his body slowly but surely rise as he watched her body sensually sway from side to side ever so lightly in the exact beat of the song. It was surreal, the way he felt like nothing else mattered except her.

"Are you going to open that bottle?" Mark's voice fluttered as he whispered into her ear, suddenly feeling slightly weak in the knees.

"I don't feel like drinking it anymore." she shrugged and all of her movements stopped as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, a pink bottle still in her hand.

"Well, we're going to keep it anyway, cause you did steal it from the bar."

"I definitely did not steal it." she gasped at his mock accusation. "The bartender was kind enough to give it to me."

"The bartender?" Mark mimicked her words jokingly, cocking his head to the side in faux ignorance. "You mean the blonde twenty-something guy who couldn't focus on the other guests cause he couldn't keep his eyes off of you?"

She threw her head back and rolled her eyes acting annoyed, but when she straightened herself up and their eyes locked, the rest of the world just faded away.

"I'm going to keep the bottle…" Her face was so close to his and her breath was hot against his chin. "For some special occasion. You have something like that on your mind?"

Special occasion. Those words echoed in his ears, sending shivers down his spine. He had a very special occasion on his mind, but for some reason, he couldn't put his thoughts into words. So they carried on in silence. There was an uncharacteristic vulnerability within his blue eyes and when she recognized it, it made her heart skip a beat, but as she could feel, his heart was strongly pounding against his chest as well.

I hope I tickled your mind and expectations for the REAL THING in chapter 2 and I hope you enjoyed this... let me know what you think, and which one out of these was your favorite, thank youu