A/N - I know the timing of these characters are a little off because Sadie was definitely not around at the same time as Jackson. I'm not sure if I'm going to show her story line of her leaving or if I'll keep her. Anyways, I feel like my writing in this chapter isn't great and I totally got Mark's character wrong in this situation. I don't know. Anyways, sorry it took a while to upload this. I have already started the next chapter and I promise it will be extra long and full of drama. Please let me know what you think! Ideas, suggestions, comments, questions, criticism. Anything. It would also be great if you could recommend this story to anyone that you think would enjoy it. Thanks!

"So, you seem happy," Meredith said as Lexie excitedly walked into the house.

"What?"

"How's Mark?" She asked suspiciously.

"Oh, um, I-I don't know. Same I guess," Lexie said, unconvincingly.

"Lexie, what happened?"

Lexie dropped her head a little bit and let out a big sigh. "Nothing," she said, pausing to think. "Nothing I guess, it means nothing. What's done is done."

Meredith raised her eyebrow at Lexie.

"We kissed and it felt good. So good, but, I don't know. It doesn't change the fact that he cheated on me, a-and I, I don't think I trust him not to do it again."

"Do you want my advice?" Meredith asked.

"Not really," Lexie laughed.

"You don't have to stay away from Mark, just stay away from a relationship with him for a while. Try to move on and see what he does. Time will give you an answer."

"I don't know, Meredith." Lexie replied.

"Just see what happens."

"Okay." Lexie pauses for a second. "I think I should go talk to him about it because I think he thinks we're dating again."

"What?" Meredith asked.

"Well after we kissed his patient thought we were together and Mark didn't really give her a straight answer."

"No, no, no, no, you are not going over there."

"What? Why?"

"Because every time you're alone with him, you end up in his arms."

"Meredith, that won't happen this time."

"Fine, I'm coming with you. If you're up there for longer than 10 minutes, I'm coming up."

"Okay," she said. They laughed and left the house.

Mark got up off the ground, grabbed a towel and wiped off his sweat after exercising when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over to the door and opened it, leaning against it with the towel on his shoulder.

Lexie was shocked when she saw him standing there, shirtless, glowing from the small amount of sweat left on his body. She stayed silent for a second, not realizing she was staring.

"Lex?" Mark said with a smirk.

"Oh!" His voice startled her. "Um, I came here to talk to you a-about today."

"Mhmm," he said, taking a step closer.

"Um," her mind went blank as she was hypnotized by his body. He knew she was staring, and he liked it. He studied her facial features and looked up and down her body, waiting for her to make a move. He looked at everything from her hazel eyes to her tight burgundy shirt that accentuated her toned body.

"Um," was all Lexie could say as she struggled to find words. She moved a little closer. Right as they were about to kiss, they were interrupted by a voice.

"Dammit Lexie!" Meredith said as she walked up and pulled Lexie back.

Lexie snapped out of her thoughts but stayed silent.

"Meredith, hey," Mark said awkwardly.

"You might want to go out a shirt on because Lexie has something to tell you."

"Okay," he said, letting go of the door. "Come in." He gestured Meredith and Lexie into his apartment.

Lexie and Meredith sat down on his couch as he walked to his room.

"That's not going to happen this time, huh?" Meredith said mockingly.

"H-He was shirtless!"

"Lexie, you have to tell him. It's the best thing for both of you."

"Yeah, I know," Lexie replied with a sigh.

"Probably," Meredith said under her breath.

"What?" Lexie asked.

"Oh nothing."

Mark came out of his room and grabbed a glass of water from his kitchen.

"Um, Mark," Lexie started. He took a sip of his water. "About today-" Mark interrupted her before she could finish.

"Today was amazing, Lex."

Meredith sat there, uncomfortable, as Mark and Lexie talked. She wanted to leave but she didn't trust that Lexie would stay away from Mark.

"Yeah, yeah it was, but…" Lexie trailed off. Meredith nudged her with her elbow. "T-Today was a mistake. I-I shouldn't have kissed you. It was unfair to the both of us. I think we should try to move on. I'm not mad, I'm not depressed, and I'm not sad anymore, but that doesn't change anything. We should still be friends, I just don't think I can be involved with you romantically." Lexie closed her eyes, not wanting to see Mark's reaction.

"I get it," he said. Lexie opened one eye and saw him, still standing there with his glass of water. She opened the other eye when he continued to speak. "First of all, I kissed you, that's on me. Anyways, I get it, cheating on you was the worst thing I could have done. I know you not trusting me is kind of insurmountable now. I just want you to know, I'm not going to move on… but I'll keep my distance, if that's what you want."

Lexie paused for a second. "Yeah… yeah, that's what I want." They stared into each other's eyes.

Meredith jumped up after an awkward silence. "Okay! Well, that's done. Lexie let's go."

Lexie broke eye contact with Mark first and walked to the door with Meredith. Mark walked over to the door and slowly closed it behind them, watching Lexie for as long as he could.

"You okay?" Meredith asked as they got in the car.

"Take me to Joe's," Lexie demanded.

"And this is why we're related," Meredith said with a chuckle. They both laughed as they drove away.

"So, I have to go back to the hospital, you'll be fine, right?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah I'll just ask Sadie or April for a ride."

"Okay," Meredith said as she dropped Lexie off at the Joe's. She walked in and sat at the bar.

"Give me a tequila!"

"Boy problems?" Joe asked.

"You have no idea," Lexie responded.

"Your sister used to come in here every day when she was an intern."

"Thanks Joe," she said when he handed her the tequila. "But, I'm gonna need more." Joe laughed and turned away to help other customers.

"Hey Lexie!" Jackson said as he sat down next to her at the bar.

"Hey," she replied with no emotion.

"Boy problems?" He asked.

"As if you hadn't heard all the rumors."

"For what it's worth, I think Mark is an idiot for cheating on you."

"Really?" She asked, starting the second drink Joe gave her.

"Yeah, you're gorgeous and any guy would be lucky to have you. Especially him."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, Lexie, you're intelligent, beautiful, funny, and if you need to talk about anything, anything at all, I'm here."

"Thanks Jackson," she said, already on her third drink.

About an hour later, Joe came over to the two of them sitting at the bar.

"She can't drive like this, you're taking her home, right?" Joe asked.

"Oh, um, yeah. Totally."

Joe smiled and walked away.

"Hey, Lexie we should probably get you home now." Jackson tapped Lexie on the shoulder.

"I mean who does he think he is? He doesn't respect me when he has me but when I'm unavailable it's like oooh Lexie I love you!"

"Yeah, Lexie?"

"What?"

"You're drunk and we need to get you home."

"It's not even… I'm not… I don't have to work tomorrow."

"Yeah, neither do I, but Lexie," he caught her as she almost fell off the barstool. "Lexie you're still drunk and we still have to get you home."

"I don't want to go back to Meredith's!" She said angrily, raising her voice.

"Fine. Where do you want to go?" Jackson asked.

"I want to go to M-Mark's!"

"Yeah, Le-Lexie that's not going to happen," he said, struggling to keep her from falling to the ground.

"Can I just go with you?" She asked.

"Lexie, you should really go back to Meredith's."

"No! I want to go with you," Lexie demanded.

"Fine, come on." Jackson grabbed her hand in one arm and her waist in the other, leading her out the door to his car. He sat her down in the front seat and buckled her seat belt. By then she was already asleep. Jackson walked around to the other side, sat down, started the car, and drove off to his apartment.

"Well, she broke up with me," Mark said as he barged into Callie's apartment.

"I told you to give her time."

"She doesn't need time. She loves me and I love her. If it wasn't for Meredith, Lexie and I would probably be in my bed right now."

"Mark! Yes! Lexie loves you and you love her but that doesn't mean you can be together. She still needs time to heal and to figure out everything else in her life. The best thing for you and her is to stay away from a relationship."

"Yeah," Mark started. "That's what Lex said. Although I think Meredith told her what to say."

"Mark-"

"Whatever, I'm going to Joe's." Mark said, standing up from Callie's couch. "Want to come?"

"Yeah, sure." Callie answered.

They drove to the bar almost in complete silence. Mark stopped the car and got out. He walked over to let Callie out when he saw two familiar faces in the parking lot. Jackson and Lexie. He saw him put her sleeping body into his car and drive away.

"Change of plans," Mark said, shutting Callie back into the car. He got in and started driving.

"What is going on?" Callie asked, confused.

"Lexie is passed out and Avery has her."

"So? He's probably just taking her home since she obviously can't drive," Callie replied, touching Mark's shoulder.

Without looking away from the car ahead, Mark replied. "Or he could be doing something else."

"Oh, come on, Mark! You know Jackson, he's a good guy. He'd never do that to her."

"Callie!" Mark yelled. "I can't let anything happen to her!" He calmed down and lowered his voice. "I'm not leaving this to chance."

Mark followed Jackson's car all the way to his apartment building.

Jackson got out of the car and opened Lexie's door. He shook her arm a bit to see if she would wake up, but she was out. He leaned into the car to unbuckle her. Mark winced at the sight of another man touching Lexie. Jackson grabbed her arm and put it around his neck. Then he grabbed her legs and back and lifted her out of the car. He shut the door with his foot.

Mark unbuckled and opened the car door to follow them.

"Mark! What are you doing?" Callie loudly whispered.

"She's passed out and he's bringing her up to his apartment. I'm following them." Mark shut the door as he got out and followed Jackson into third building. Callie sighed and got out of the car. She struggled to catch up with Mark in her 4 inch heels.

They followed Jackson into the lobby and watched him get into the elevator, still holding Lexie. The monitor on the outside of the elevator said he went to floor 9. Callie and Mark entered the other elevator and pressed the 9 button.

"Mark this is crazy. This is Jackson we're talking about!"

"This is Lexie we're talking about!" Mark retorted.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened just in time to see Jackson closing his apartment door.

Inside the apartment, Jackson set Lexie down on his bed and removed her shoes. He removed her sequined shirt and replaced it with one of his tee-shirts. Then he tucked her under the covers and he had just sat down on the couch when he heard a loud knock on the door. He opened the door and Mark barged in. Jackson looked at Mark and then back at Callie who was still waiting in the hallway.

"Dr. Sloan, what are you doing here?"

"Where is she?"

"Are you spying on her?"

"No, I saw you leave the bar. Where is she?" He said, raising his voice.

"She's on the bed!"

Mark rushed into Jacksons room. He noticed her shirt hanging on the door. Jackson gestured for Callie to come in.

"Did you undress her? Mark asks.

"Yeah, Mark, I did."

"Why? You have no right to do that!"

"She would have been uncomfortable in that shirt she was wearing!"

"Did you drug her?" Mark asked.

"What? No!"

"Mark!" Callie stepped in.

They all became silent when Lexie made a noise. Her eyes started to open.

"Wh-What?" She asked, rubbing her head.

"Hey," Mark said, calming his voice. He sat down on the bed and stroked her hair.

"M-Mark? Stop!" She said, pushing his hand away. "What's going on? Wh-Why are you here?" She asked.

"I-I followed you."

"You what?"

"Never mind, let's get you home," He said, pulling down the covers.

"No! I want to stay here."

"What?" He asked. He got no answer because Lexie had already fallen back asleep.

"She was drunk and Joe told me to take her home," Jackson started. "She didn't want to go back to Meredith's so I brought her here. I was just going to sleep on the couch."

"Sorry, Avery. I overreacted."

"Um yeah you did. She was crying about you at that bar you know."

"Really?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. I don't think you should be near her right now."

"But-"

"No."

"Mark! Let's go!" Callie said, already at the door.

Mark took one last look at Lexie and then walked out.

Jackson tucked Lexie back in and then sat on the couch. He turned on the tv until he fell asleep.

The next morning, Lexie woke up confused about where she was. She rubbed her hair and blinked a couple times. She looked down at the sheets. She didn't recognize this bed. She looked at her shirt. It wasn't hers. What had she gotten into. She got up and leaned against the wall for a second so her head would stop spinning. Then she walked out to the kitchen.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Jackson greeted her as he made coffee.

"Jackson? What the hell happened last night?" She asked, confused and concerned.

"Not that." He said. "You were really drunk and Joe told me to take you home. You wouldn't let me take you to Meredith's so I brought you here."

"Did you undress me?" Lexie asked awkwardly.

"Um, yeah." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Oh, um, okay." She didn't know what to think.

"Here's some water," he said, handing her a plastic cup. "Drink a lot."

Lexie sat down on one of his barstools and held the cup with both hands.

"Did anything… interesting… happen last night?" Lexie asked

Jackson thought about telling her that Mark came but he decided not to.

"Um, no not really. You pretty much just complained about men until you passed out."

"Oh god." They both laughed. "Ow!" She winced. "Too loud."

"Do you not have to work today?" She asked.

"No, but I do have to go out for a while. You're welcome to stay here."

Lexie nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to go take a shower," Jackson said as he put his empty coffee mug into the sink.

A couple of hours later, Jackson returned from his little trip. "Hey!" He said, happy Lexie had stayed.

"Hey."

"How're you feeling?"

"A lot better," she said. "Thanks for letting me crash here."

"Anytime, Lexie."

"Actually, I uh, I have a question." Mark looked up at her as he hung his jacked up on a hook. "Can I stay here again, tonight?"

"Um, sure. Why?" He said, walking over towards Lexie. He sat down next to her on the couch.

"Well I don't really want to go back to Meredith's like this and we both have to go in to the hospital tomorrow anyways. Why not?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me. Anytime." Lexie looked up at Jackson and smiled.

"Thank you," she said. They looked into each other's eyes. Jackson was the first to break away.

"So, do you have anything you want to do today?" He asked her.

"No, not really." She laughed.

"Well neither do I."

"Movies?"

"Sounds great," he said. They both got up. "I'll make the popcorn; my movies are over in that cabinet."

Lexie walked over and ran her finger along Jackson's many DVD's.

The rest of the day, they watched movies and laughed on the couch. They talked about work and complained about the attendings all night.

Derek opened his front door to find Mark standing there. Mark wished it had been Meredith.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked aggressively.

"Is she here?"

"Who?"

"Lexie. Is she here?" Mark asked, trying to peek further into the house.

"First of all, you have no right to be looking for Lexie, but no, she's not here."

"Are you lying to me?" Mark asked.

"No."

Mark pushed through Derek's arm into the house. He walked over to the stairs.

"Lex!" He called out.

Meredith came out of her room. "Mark? Lexie isn't here. She went home with Sadie last night. Or April. I'm not sure."

"No, she didn't," Mark replied.

"What? Then where is she?" Both Meredith and Derek looked concerned.

"Avery took her home last night."

"What?" They both blurted.

"Nothing happened. At least not last night but she should have come home by now."

"Mark, I'm sure she's fine. Lexie and Jackson are friends. We'll see them both tomorrow," Meredith said.

"You need to go home, Mark." Derek walked back over to the already open door. Without saying another word Mark walked out the door and back to his car. Derek shut the door after him.

"He's persistent," Meredith said, raising her eyebrow at Derek.

"Hmm." Derek let out an unimpressed groan and walked to the kitchen.

A/N - Sorry for that really abrupt ending. It seemed like a good place to stop. Idk. Anyways, let me know what you think. I'd appreciate it a lot. Stay tuned for the next chapter. It will be extra long. Like I said earlier, please, let me know what you think. It helps A LOT. Thank's for reading!