AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a truly short, VERY, short chapter and I'm sorry. I wasn't sure what to do. I realized that I'm rushing, and I need to slow down and take a step back. I have an idea in the future for Mark and Mayzie so please bear with me.

GA

I absent mindedly walked through the halls of the hospital with my list of patients in my hands. I was finishing up my rounds and was going down the list to make sure I covered them all. I checked on my post ops from the previous day. I went around to my pre ops and clarified what was going to be done to them. It was still early in the morning though for me it felt like half my day was already done considering that I've been at the hospital since four o'clock in the morning. I checked my watch to see that it was ten in the morning now. I was feeling a little tired but the four cups of coffee that I've had helped, and I was used to feeling tired. It was another sleepless night without Mark. I missed laying next to him and I missed the sex and the talking and the laughing. I miss feeling so secure and safe around him and I missed how my mind was so at ease and relaxed whenever I was anywhere near him.

I managed to stay strong the night before and stick to my word that I didn't want to have anything to do with him until he told Derek about us. Though it made me sick to my stomach at the thought that this could potentially ruin the friendship that he just mended with his best friend. I spent the entire night lecturing myself about how stupid I was. Derek had asked Mark to stay away from me and not sleep with me for the sake of Meredith. Mark was staying true to his word, but I was the one who had to show up to his hotel room and seduce him. I was the one who seduced him, not the other way around. So, if this whole thing ruined Derek and Mark's friendship then it would be my fault. I told myself when I woke up that morning that I wouldn't think about it anymore and that I would focus on my work and on my patients but here I was, anxiety driving me insane by overthinking. After going through my list for the third time and losing track because my mind kept wandering, I sighed and pulled out my pen from my pocket and began to check off the patients that I've already seen this morning. I checked on the female patient that just had a rhytidectomy yesterday.

Face was still swollen but it was normal, and she was healing quickly. There was a male patient who was having a blepharoplasty this afternoon for excessive sagging skin around his eyes and another patient for a rhinoplasty. An easy surgery. That'll take Mark no time to do. I was once again halfway through my list when I heard his voice which froze me in my tracks. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Be strong. Be strong. Be strong. Don't give in. I turned and faced the direction of the voice to see Mark walking up to me with a bright smile and two cups of coffee in his hand. Mmm, coffee. This man knows his way to my heart.

"Morning, Dr. Wolfe." He greeted me as he held out one of the cups of coffee. I fought the urge to take it from him. Taking it from him would be a sign that I was okay with this secret relationship, but I wasn't. But I desperately wanted that coffee.

"You can keep your secret coffee." I said as bitterly as I could, sniffing the air as I caught a whiff of caramel macchiato. That better not be…

"Huh?"

"Until you tell Derek, our relationship is gonna continue to consist of you hiding in the attic and me smuggling snacks past Mer's bedroom." Mark looked down at his feet. That was like his defense mechanism. "Do you know what that makes you?" He looked back up at me through his lashes.

"Your boyfriend?" I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the smile that threatened to appear on my face. Boyfriend…

"Anne Frank. I am dating Anne Frank and I'm tired of it. I-I want to go downstairs with you. I want to tell the Germans to kiss my ass."

"I'm gonna tell him soon." Mark promised with a sigh. "And when I do, you'll be my date to the wedding." My brows rose and my jaw dropped with surprise. What?!

"Derek's proposing?"

"Well, not yet, but when he does." I closed my mouth and finally gave him a warm smile.

"I still have a few patients to check on." I turned on my heel and began to walk away but stopped, my sneakers squeaking against the tile floor with the sudden movement. I faced Mark again and snatched the coffee from his hand before walking back down the hallway. I took a sip of the coffee and internally moaned as the taste of caramel washed over my taste buds. Mmm… could this man get any better than this?

GA

It was a relatively quick day and I was on my way out of the hospital, ready to go home and crash. Two nights. Two nights and I haven't had any sleep. I was now going to go home and crash. I was so exhausted; I barely noticed the crowd gathering below the catwalk and the commotion of chattering over one another. Curiosity perked my interest and made me a little more alert as I walked that direction to see what was going on. Being five foot two inches, I couldn't see over anyone from the back of the crowd but luckily, I spotted a familiar brunette.

"Lexie!" I called to her and she spun around and sped walk over to me. "What the hell is going on?"

"You didn't hear?" She questioned me, eyes wide as if she were still coming to terms with something she saw.

"Obviously not if I'm asking you what the hell is going on?"

"Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Sloan got into a fight up on the catwalk."

"What?!" My stomach sunk a like a stone settling to the bottom of pool. "Why?!" I looked around as if trying to spot Mark, but I couldn't see him.

"I don't know. I just walked past to see it." Panic began to rise in me.

"I have to go find Mark. Did you see which way he went?"

"Um, I saw Dr. Hunt taking him towards the pit."

"What about Derek? Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure. I'm about to go find Meredith."

"Okay. Keep me posted please." I turned on my heel and sped walk through the hospital towards the pit. My head began to feel lightheaded and my muscles felt weak as my breathing and heartrate increased. There was only one reason why Derek and Mark would have fought. Mark told him about us and of course, Derek wasn't happy. I can't believe I pushed Mark to do this. I knew there was going to be a conflict with the confession, but I never thought that it would have led to this. Entering the pit, I looked through the windows of each trauma room before I spotted Callie through the blinds placing a splint on Mark's right hand. He sat on the table, eyes blank as he stared ahead, mouth drawn in a tight line. He had a cut above his right eyebrow and a split lip, and his left cheekbone was already settling into a dark shade of purple. Sighing with relief that I found him, I stood in the threshold of the room. As soon as I appeared, Mark looked away from the spot he was staring at and looked at me, his eyes softening a bit but there was still confliction raging in them. "Hi."

"Okay, well, it's not broken, but you should ice it." Callie informed Mark who never acknowledged what she said so she turned to me. "Lots and lots of ice, okay?" I nodded my understanding. "Bye." Placing an ice pack gently over Mark's hand, she left the room and I walked up to the vacant spot next Mark, his eyes watching my every movement like a hawk. I sighed.

"I am so sorry." I just cost him his friendship and now he was going to hate me. I didn't know what I could say to make any of this better.

"It was worth it." Mark said softly.

"No, Mark, it—it—it wasn't." I slowly raised my hand to gingerly palpate the cut above his brow. He hissed at the contact. "Sorry. Doesn't look like it needs stitches." I grabbed a pair of gloves and slipped them on as I grabbed a package of butterfly stitches from the drawer. Normally when I was working on a patient, I would sit down but even standing up I was only at eye level with Mark. I carefully began to clean the wound, knocking away the dried blood and debris. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't think this was going to happen. Meredith barely even knows me, so she had no right to go to Derek." Mark never took his eyes off my face as I began to rant, anxiety driving me to ramble as I opened the butterfly stitches and using a pair of forceps, gingerly placed them over the cut to help hold it close. "I shouldn't have pushed you to tell Derek because you just fixed your friendship with each other and now I just ruined your friendship. And I am so sorry because I am not worth being fought over." I placed the last stitch over the cut and tossed my gloves into the trash before looking into Mark's eyes who was watching me intently, those blue eyes piercing into my soul. "I'm not worth it. I wasn't worth your friendship with your best friend." Mark slowly stood up from the table, careful not to jostle his right hand too much as he closed the space between us. Though I tried to keep my focus in the center of his chest, I felt his left hand gently grip my chin and tilted it up, forcing me to look at him. He leaned down to slowly touch foreheads with mine and I closed my eyes and held my breath.

"You were worth it, Mazikeen." I let out a shaky breath at the sound of my full name on his lips. I gripped his left bicep to steady myself and I wanted to weep with happiness that I found someone who was willing to fight for me. "You were worth it."

"Thank you." He pressed his lips to the center of my forehead and a surreal thought grazed through my mind. I think I just found the person I'm going to spend the rest of my life with.