The familiarity of Joe's Bar always gave her the same comfort when ever she heard the bell ring of the door and the air turn from the crisp cold Seattle air to the warm atmosphere of the bar. So many things over the years had started, ended, and changed in that bar. Many nights she had spent hunched over a shot glass of tequila as her friends listened to her pity herself or brought self-pity down on themselves. Those nights seemed to come less and less frequent. She and Mark had been spending more and more time out of the bar and at her house or at dinner or wherever. The need for alcohol started to subside more and more as they became more and more healed from past pains.
She always laughed at the irony that when she and Derek were dating, especially near the end, she spent practically every night it the bar. And even though Derek had made Mark out to be a bad man who sleeps around and ruins lives, he was the one keeping her sober while Derek, who always seemed to be the one to never mess up, the McPerfect guy, was the one who sent her running to her serene word she found in a bottle of tequila.
She glanced around to find Mark at the bar have a light conversation with Joe. Walking over, she smiled at Joe and sat down next to Mark.
"Hey." She said to both Mark and Joe at the same time.
"Hey." Mark answered.
"What's your drink tonight, Mer?" Joe asked.
"Uh, I'm thinking just a beer to start."
Joe nodded and walked away after leaving a beer in front of her.
"Moving away from the hard liquor. I must say I'm disappointed."
"Why is that?" She giggled taking a swing of the beer.
"Less chance of me ever getting into your pants."
She giggled and rolled her eyes. Even though, she knew he was kidding, she couldn't help but feel a flutter in her heart.
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She won't say she was drunk. No, she definitely not drunk. But she was buzzed enough to be on the border line. He had just a little less alcohol in his bloodstream then him.
Stumbling back to the bar, she giggled furiously as she flopped back into the seat beside him. He reached out steadying her in her seat as he let out a couple of laughs.
"You're so much fun, Mark." She laughed. "People shouldn't call you a manwhore. Cause you're not. You're a good guy who hasn't had sex in forever."
He laughed. "Is that so? Watching my bed, Grey?"
"I am not! I just know we made a promise and you wouldn't break a promise with me, because you wouldn't be a good guy then… But you are a good guy." She let out the breath she had been holding in and smiled at him.
He gave her a short smile back, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't look away from her green eyes. Leaning forward slowly, their lips met in a soft and sweet kiss.
"Closing time." Joe announced as he came upstairs from the basement with a new vodka bottle, but they didn't hear as the kiss turned passionate. When he saw them, he stopped dead in his tracks before slowly back tracking down the steps.
Pulling back they looked at each other. Meredith crashed her lips against his intertwining her fingers in his hair. Standing up, Mark pulled back putt money on the bar and she led him out.
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They stumbled out of the cab and Mark handed the fair to the driver not really caring how much he had given him. Their lips crashed together again as they stumbled back towards the house. She stumbled with her keys and got the door open. Once again their lips met as she fumbled with his belt. Then something clicked in his mind that he didn't prepare for. He grabbed her hands and pulled away from the kiss.
"What's wrong?" She asked breathless.
"Mer, you're drunk." He sighed sober enough to realize what was happening.
She looked at him confused. "No, I'm not. And even if I were…"
"Mer, I'm not doing this why your drunk no matter how bad I want to."
"Come on, Mark. I'm fine. I'm a big girl let me make my decisions."
"You mean more to me than this. I lo…" He stopped and stepped back a little stumbling over his words. "I care about you too much to let you do this while you're drunk."
She, who had not picked up on the almost confession, pouted. "Mark, I'm horny and I'm saying yes."
He took her hands in his. "And if while you're sober, you feel the same way. We can do this, but I'm not going to take advantage over you while you're drunk." He kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She nodded as he walked out. Shutting the door behind him, he let out a long groan. "So stupid." He said to himself smacking his forehead as he called a cab. The cab place said it would be there in five minutes. He turned and looked at the house. His mind raced with thoughts until one settled above all the others. "I love her." He thought.