Author's Note - Sorry for the long wait for this... And thank you so much for all the beautiful reviews... I'll try my best to post chapter 4 as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy this one.

Imagine that feeling when you're expecting something so badly, so it could finally be over. That's how Lexie felt about that Saturday evening… The evening that was again result of her non-existing think before you speak or do part of personality.

She was supposed to be at the hospital at 8:00 pm that evening and stay on call till morning. That led to her asking Luke if they could meet an hour before that. That was her insurance. She couldn't say yes if he asked her to stay a little longer even if she wanted to. With everything that was going on in her life at the moment, she had no room to risk staying a little longer with him, or taking another drink, or accepting hey I could give you a ride home proposal. Because she had to go to work. Insurance… Simple as that. Her plan had to work. There was no other way.

Luke needed to go back to Boston in a couple of days, and she was determined not to let anything serious happen between them. Not after everything.

What did surprise her, was how good it felt. Being with him. He didn't change one bit, he still knew very well how to make her laugh and smile, and how to make her feel relaxed around him. Even after everything. Lexie didn't expect that at all.

And now, about 15 minutes before she indeed needed to leave for work, she was secretly praying for some great miracle to happen, so she could stay. Just a little longer. So thank God she made up her plan in advance.

Before she even came to meet him, she had been struggling about what would be best to wear. What people usually wear for evening catch-up meetings with their exes who just happened to be in town? Something between casual and fancy? Because there's no way that she would go completely casual… to meet her ex, who sane would do that, but then again, if she over do-it, he could get the wrong idea or something... Because they're going just to talk and hang out, nothing more. That's what she told, and multiple times repeated to herself.

Not too casual, not too fancy… Simple black dress should do the work. But still, it didn't feel right. It still felt like she was overdressed. Like she was trying too hard, still knowing that nothing will happen.

But she really missed talking to him. She missed talking to someone. Someone who she knew and who knew her. For real. Without pretending, or sucking up, or apologizing for every wrong move or wrong word, or clumsiness or haste. She missed having something familiar in her life. Daily phone calls with Molly, or even with her dad, weren't enough. Even if it was for just one or two days, being with Luke felt… kind of comforting… Having him, as the only household element in the unknown city. It was great.

Until he started leaning over towards her, his eyes drawn to her lips. Oh God, it's like I predicted this... That was exactly what she was scared of… exactly what she tried to avoid. Lexie ignored it for a couple of minutes, trying to sit still on her barstool as far as she could, and pretending she didn't figure what he wanted to do. Trying to somehow show him that she didn't want him to do that. Telling him a random stupid story, just to keep a conversation going. It just going to hurt as much as it hurt a couple of months ago... But it didn't work.

Luke cut her off in the middle of the sentence, pressing his lips firmly against hers. And the worst part of it was that she didn't pull back… she didn't even try to wiggle out of his embrace. It just felt so… familiar. She kissed him back. Like she always did. It felt nostalgic. His lips were warm and soft. And a million things went through her head. She was brought a couple of months back. She was back in Boston for a second. In a café near med school, where she used to hang out with Luke after classes. Her mom was alive for a second, she should get a call from her any minute. All the things that she used to have… were there again.

His hand that went up to caress her cheek brought her back to reality. Before she was even aware of it, Lexie opened her eyes and pulled away, heavily sighing.

She wasn't in Boston anymore.

They stood quietly for a moment.

"I'm sorry." she breathed out, not daring to look at his eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Some habits are just hard to break, you know..?" he slightly smiled, biting his lower lip. Lexie felt a sick feeling in her stomach, and not because of the kiss itself, more because of the way he justified it. Like yeah, I got a feeling that I should kiss you because I used to do that every time I see you. It's not a big deal. But it was. And it didn't feel like before. She finally came to realize that.

"Well, it was your idea to break them in the first place..."

Her eyes widened as she realized that those words were meant to be just her inside voice. "Oh God, I'm sorry, that was really uncalled for. I'm sorry…"

"Lexie I hadn't planned for this to happen. I just..." The guilty grimace on his face made her feel guilty as well. For agreeing to meet him in a first place. For letting him kiss her. For letting herself get caught in the moment of the past.

"I know. And I... Look, I'm really glad that I got to see you. For real. And I hope that we could do it again, sometimes, just without the last part..." Lexie awkwardly exclaimed, and then added firmly, "But now I really have to go." She slid down her barstool and started pulling on her coat.

"No, you don't. Lexie, come on, please don't make so big deal out of this. You can sit for at least 15 more minutes." he persisted, reaching for her hand.

"No, I can't actually, because... because I have to do something before work."

"And I'm supposed to believe that? I know you better than that." he shot back immediately, stating the obvious truth.

"But it's true. I have to..." Lexie was staring at the floor as she tried to come up with something to say. One stupid kiss made her want to get away from him as soon as possible. As far as possible. Because it wasn't stupid. Not for her. Even if it didn't change anything between them, it still meant something. "I have to get some… coffee... before work. And you should stay. And I should go."

After those words she smiled him, slightly but purely, and then walked away.

…

Mark ran out of OR after 4-hour surgery sighing loudly. He was on his feet for the last 24 hours and he couldn't wait for this day to end. It was a bad day. A horrible one. It was one of those days when everything that could go wrong... did go wrong. He lost two patients. Two patients that he shouldn't have lost.

One more surgery, and this day is finally over. He ran fingers through his hair trying to ignore the big headache. And in his professional opinion, there were two things that could cure a bad headache. Sex and caffeine. And since he needed to get through one more surgery very soon it had to be option number two. Unfortunately.

"Where the hell are all damn interns?" he shouted to the first nurse he saw, who just shake her head in ignorance as he walked by her. When you don't need them, you can see them on every step you take. And when you need them, they're nowhere to be found. It was frustrating. Thinking about how he hated them only made his headache grow even more unbearable. Or how he hated... most of them.

He did the quick math in his head... So his surgery should start in 15 minutes that meant he had 10 minutes to find an some intern, make them run across the hospital as fast as possible, and if it isn't too crowded in a café he should have his cappuccino in hopefully 7-8 minutes... Yeah, that would work.

"Dr. Sloan?" Or maybe not...

No freaking way. His eyes widened in surprise, but in delight as well, as he turned around at those words to see no one else but Lexie Grey with a cup in her hand.

"What, you're reading minds now, Grey?" he tried not to sound too overjoyed, his gaze taking in her dress. Damn dress. A dress that was casual but stunning. A dress that allowed him a take a pretty good look at her chest... With a neckline that dipped down to accentuate the soft, smooth skin of her neck and collarbone. Unfortunately, she was looking right back at his face, so he couldn't let his eyes fall any lower than her neck, no if he didn't want to get caught staring. But what was bothering him even more, was the simplicity of not knowing her motive for wearing it. He knew for a fact, that when a woman puts on a dress, not always, but in most cases… there is someone flashing through her mind. Someone who she wished would tear that dress off.

"What? No... I just simply assumed you... wanted coffee… Like always." she explained. And I needed a stupid excuse to run away from my horrible decision to meet and kiss my accidentally in town ex-boyfriend…

"Good assuming." he replied with a smug look on his face, as he grabbed a coffee cup from her hand and took a sip, his eyes still fixed on her. "So... you went parting before your shift?" Curiosity never happened to fail him. Not when he was just a med student desperate to become someone important, and not now, when he was a man in a position to get away with every intrigued question or thought he had.

He took one step back, giving himself a permission to quickly observe her from head to toe.

A second had passed before she figured on what he was referring, and then felt a little embarrassed as his gaze roamed over her body. Embarrassed at first, but a few moments later, she felt flattered, actually. Smiling shyly, her cheeks blushed up as she told him, "Oh no, not at all. I just... met with someone."

The next sip of coffee he took tasted bitter and left really sour feeling in Mark's mouth. He tried not to think about with whom she met. But it seemed like the dress really was meant for someone. He hated how he was desperate for some affection, and she looked like she apparently just had some. Clearing his throat to make disturbing thoughts go away, he sighed.

"You can say boyfriend, Grey." Mark muttered under his breath, noticing how the wave of displeasure and sensitivity washed over her.

"Ex." she replied quickly. "Ex-boyfriend." then added almost inaudibly, avoiding his confused look.

"As pathetic as that is, you really did save me with this." He shook a cup of coffee in his hand. "So how fast can you manage to get out of that dress?"

Lexie stood rooted to the spot, her body stiffening, as her face immediately turned completely red. "To change into scrubs." added Mark, narrowing his eyes. Ohhhh… Thank God he clarified that. One more second and her thoughts would go where they weren't supposed to.

"Five minutes." she answered breathlessly, but she didn't intend to.

I could manage to get you out of it a lot faster. "Okay, hurry up, I'm doing a skin graft in 10 minutes. You can scrub in." Lexie's face stayed still in shock, as he added, "Can you?"

"Really?" she smiled, her brown eyes twinkling above round flushed cheeks. "Yes… yes, I can, thank you!" Totally overjoyed she called out after him as he started walking towards the elevator.

"Come on Grey, speed it up…" Mark shouted back without turning around. He couldn't bear drowning in the sight of her like that one more second.

…

Don't ask. It's none of your business anyway, and you don't care. Simply as that. So don't ask. Just don't. You don't wanna know. And you don't care. At all. So just don't. Don't ask...

"So what happened with a boyfriend?" Screw it.

Mark asked her right after a surgery, when only the two of them were left in a scrub room, trying not to sound overly interested... because he was not interested, at all, he just tried to make a nice, simple conversation. With a miserable, pathetic intern? What the hell is happening to me? This day really isn't my day. He was looking at her with a corner of an eye, and when her eyes went up to look back at him, his gaze immediately fell down at the sink in which he was washing his hands. Okay, with a miserable, pathetic, hot intern… Yeah, that sounds better. Acceptable, at least.

"Ex." she corrected him, but ignored his question.

"Ex..." he repeated and waited a couple of second for her to answer… But, she didn't. She didn't even have intention to. He waited a few more moments, glancing over at her with his eyebrows raised in interest.

Plan B. If she didn't want to answer, he will make her. And it's already proven that the best way to do that was to mock her. The fact that her chubby cheeks would blush up was just a bonus. "Did he dump you for some slutty blonde or something? Is that why you are so grumpy?"

"What? Why would you even think that?" Plan worked. She snapped immediately.

"So he did?" Mark persisted, grinning.

"No." she retorted, her eyes giving him a harsh glare. It was irritating how much of a tension he was able to create, impulsively holding onto the simple topic that he figured was bothering her. But why the hell was he so insistent? Did this man ever hear of privacy? Or minding his own business? Clearly not.

"Yes, he did."

"No, he didn't!" Her voice was sharp and to the point, but he kept pushing back.

"But he did." Mark snickered convincingly, like there was nothing she could say that would change his mind. And that made her even more irritated.

"I didn't get dumped for anyone." she said firmly, emphasizing every word. A smirk on his face haven't changed one bit as he just kept staring at her, clearly elated. "I didn't!"

Lexie hated how easily his words got to her.

Oh God, what's the point of arguing with him? There is no way that I could win this anyway.

Mark raised his hands in mock surrender as she heightened her tone. "Wow... Grey, calm down, nobody wants you to leave this hospital angry." He tilted his head down for a second, and in a sarcastic voice added "…you could run someone over… and not remember to hit the break this time."

He didn't even plan on that one, but he couldn't help it. It was like she literally asked him to mock her. The expressions her face was making were enjoyable on a whole new level… With her teeth deep buried in her lower lip, bright red cheeks, heavy breaths that were raising her chest up and down, probably in an attempt to calm herself down. But Mark didn't want that. He wanted to push her as far as he could.

It was one of super rare situations where Lexie actually managed to keep her mouth shut. Her filter for things that should stay just an inner monologue rarely worked. She could even say she was famous for babbling thing out when was not their place or time to be said. When she was nervous, or caught in a spot, or simply when she wasn't able to see why would saying something be harmful. And it took her a lot... A LOT of inner strength to make that filter work this time. But some things weren't left unnoticed.

"Did you just roll your eyes on me?"

"Don't you have any other interns to torture?"

"Didn't you already have figured who am I around here? Of course I do…" he scoffed slightly, as he turned the tap off and looked at her. "I just like to torture you the most." he added, cocking his eyebrow and stepping closer towards her. "And I'm pretty sure you just had your first scrubbing in thanks to me, so I think I deserve that little treat."

Mark caught her sniffing at the word treat, but she ducked her head down, so it wouldn't look too obvious. She clearly had no idea with who she was dealing with.

"Ohh, so you're finding a pleasure in torturing interns…"

Referring to what he just said, she quickly corrected herself in a sarcastic voice. "Oh no, wait, my mistake. You're finding a pleasure in torturing me in particular."

"Not my number one thing in which I find pleasure…" Mark smirked, his eyes darkening, "but yeah, it's definitely in top five."

Nodding in understanding what that number one was, Lexie took a step back, for a moment unable to speak. The silence in the room lasted for about a minute. But it wasn't an awkward one.

Mark intensively watched as she took a towel to dry her hands.

But his eyes weren't focused on that. He waited for her to turn around towards him again, and when she did so, his eyes immediately found her face. Her brown doe eyes lined with mascara, already blushed cheeks, glossy lips...

And just like she sensed his attention, her tongue darted out to wet her lips nervously. Wrong move…

She felt like he waited for her to say something. To do something. To just break the silence.

"I kind of… wish I got dumped for some slutty blonde." she finally broke the quiet minute, but regretted the second after those words left her mouth. This definitely was not the right time, not the right place, and especially not the right person, for those damned words. But it was too late. It always was.

"What?" he frowned at her in confusion.

She thought about not opening her mouth again. Just keeping it shut. No more words that could bury her any deeper than she already was. But a part of her, a small prideful part of her, needed her to explain herself. To give him an explanation. To give herself an explanation. Why it was so hard to let go of everything. What was the actual reason for her feeling so lost and so small. Almost invisible.

"It would be easier... I wish he met someone else, and fell in love with her and then left me… because of her. Because of someone else. But he didn't. He left me because of me. Because he felt like I was disappearing… like he couldn't see me clearly anymore…" Lexie's gaze fell down at the sudden realization. And I started believing that myself.

She bit her tongue before adding, "I wish he didn't leave me because of me… Even for some slutty blonde." Letting a soft chuckle at the end, her eyes went up to meet his. She gulped hard, preparing herself for another of his insulting comments, something that would make her regret saying all of that even more. Something that would make him regret for pushing her so badly, even if that was just a part of his mock game.

"Mhmm well... that got depressing pretty fast. I had a lot more fun mocking you, Grey..." Mark finally exclaimed after a few terribly long seconds of silence.

There was a tiny shade of anger in his voice.

Mark most certainly was angry. He was furious. He didn't want this to turn into what she just turned it.

Just a couple of seconds before her pathetic declaration, his body was actually yelling at him to pull her in his arms and kiss her without hesitating. Intern or not, he wanted her before she showed up here as an intern.

He just needed some kind of approval, from her face or body… anything. And when he caught her licking her lips, he thought he got it. He had been thinking about it from the moment she showed up, made his day by bringing him coffee, in that dress… while they were in the OR, when none of her accidental brushed weren't getting away unnoticed, and now when he actually got the chance… she fucking ruined it. And with what? With a fucking break up story.

He didn't get a chance to question himself would she even kiss him back… No, there was no question. He was sure she would unquestionably kiss him back, and not much later she would end up on her back, in the bed in the nearest empty on-call room. No matter how unprofessionally that would be. It wasn't like he had a reputation to save, and hers would definitely not be the first one that he ruined.

But of course, she had to ruin everything. A couple of hours before, before she showed up, he would give anything just to teleport himself to his apartment, so he could finally leave this day behind him, and now… he actually considered staying just a little longer because of her. Because of the chance to have her.

"I'm done for today. Can I trust you with a post-op?" This time he was the one who cut another minute of silence off, his voice suddenly flat. Disappointed.

"Yes, of course, Dr. Sloan. And thank you so much or letting me…" But before Lexie could even finish her sentence Mark was out of the room. She pursed her lips and sharply breathed in.

…

Annoying ring of his phone woke him from a barely half-hour long nap. Without opening his eyes, still lying down on a couch in his office, Mark reached to grab a phone from a pocket of his coat. But before he could answer it, the sound was already gone.

He gritted out an expletive seeing an unanswered call was from Derek. Without wasting a second, he called him right back, as he lifted himself in a sitting position. It took only a few seconds before he heard a voice of his best friend. Or former best friend? No. Best friend.

"Hey Mark."

"Derek. Hi, what's up?" he replied right away, secretly overjoyed. They haven't talked in a while. After his visit to Seattle three months ago, and not so warm welcome that he got from Derek, from Addison as well, and from mostly whole hospital, he barely heard from Derek. And he knew him too well to figure that he didn't call to talk about personal stuff. Not yet.

"I think I need your help... We need your help." Derek started, heavily sighing. It could literally be heard in his voice that he swallowed a lot of pride to call him. "We have here one spinal tumor to remove. It's just very complex to approach, and I want a person in whom I'm sure it could help me pull that off... so do you think you could squeeze me in for tomorrow. We could fly to New York in the morning… It's the emergency…" Mark recognized Derek all professional mood even through the phone.

And he was right. Derek didn't call to talk about them. "Mark, are you there?"

"Hello Derek. Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking. Yes, I'd like to catch up with you too, we didn't talk in a while. No, I'm not mad at you for ignoring my calls..." Literally feeling how Derek rolled his eyes in annoyance, Mark continued grinning, "Oh and yeah, I can help with your little tumor if you're so desperate for me. And who exactly are we? You and the tumor?"

"Yeah, right." It looked like Derek chose to ignore everything Mark said before. "Me and resident that worked on the case with me. And I am not desperate for you. I just think I need one of the best plastic surgeons in the country, and I happen to personally know one. But if you don't have time, it's okay, I can call someone else. You don't have to worry."

Suddenly afraid that Derek would hang up, he quickly retorted, "I'll be happy to help. Because I am the best plastic surgeon, not one of..."

"Great. It's settled then." Derek noted. Mark could hear a slight happiness in his voice now, and he prayed that wasn't just because he agreed to help with a surgery, but because they could meet tomorrow as well.

"One more thing. I'm just curious. Resident that worked on the case with you? Meredith Grey?"

Grey. He forgot that she was a Grey too.

"There's no reason for you to be curious about it, but yes, she's coming with me to New York." That thread of happiness in Derek's voice disappeared.

"Oh God, relax, I'm just asking…" Mark sighed, regretting his question.

"And I'm just saying… there's no reason for you to be curious." Derek was consistent. Expectedly.

"I'll do my best to welcome you two tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow. And… thank you."

Mark's lips curved into a smile at those words. It felt good hearing some nice words from him. Finally. "You're welcome."

Well, that was definitely unexpected. His kind of best friend and his girlfriend, will pay him a visit… Tomorrow. Happy to see Derek again, and not so happy… for now having an obligation to reschedule all of his surgeries planned for tomorrow, Mark laid down again in a desperate attempt to continue his nap. For just a minute, before his eyes shot wide open. Someone was at the door.

"Oh God…" Can't a person get some damn rest in here? "What is it now?" he shouted angrily.

"I'm so sorry Dr. Sloan. It's just... I need you to sign this."

Seeing Lexie Grey slowly peering through the door with some charts, he felt like maybe he had been too harsh. It's been a few days since he let her scrub in on his surgery. After that, he felt like she was avoiding him. Not a surprise, considering everything she babbled out on him last time. But he wasn't happy about that fact. He didn't want her to avoid him. There was a certain level of tiredness and lack of comfort that reflected on her face, and that was probably what made him ask, "So... is being a surgeon everything you dreamt of?"

Gulping hard in an attempt to make herself believe in what she was about to say and trying to look as confident and careless as she possibly could, Lexie answered as she approached him. "I have no regrets."

"Yet." Mark stated, getting up and taking charts from her hands.

"So you do have regrets?"

Raising his eyebrows in disbelief at her bravery to actually ask that, but completely ignoring her curiosity, he gave her back signed charts, adding one more file from his table. "This is my schedule for tomorrow. I need you to squeeze in one more thing, put off everything that's not urgent, and please put some sense into it. I mean, don't make it too... preoccupied. Rewrite it on a board as well."

"And what exactly?"

"Spinal tumor removal. My friend from Seattle is coming tomorrow morning for an emergency case. I guess you can join in if you manage to put everything well."

"Got it." she nodded, suddenly feeling kind of important. "Also… I wanted to say I'm sorry about the other day. For rambling some stuff that had nothing to do with you, that was really out of line, and..."

"I can see you very clearly."

His words didn't make any sense. Not in the slightest. She absolutely had no idea what the hell he was saying. I see you? Yeah, I'm standing right in front of you...

"What?" Lexie breathed out, trying somehow to puzzle those words in her head.

"You're not disappearing. Stop acting like you do." That kind of reassuring, heartening tone in his voice she never even thought existed, let alone that he would use it to say something to her. Maybe he didn't have that much of a problem with interns after all.

And of course, your reviews are always welcome... Thank you so much for putting up with me and this story...