He pulled back from his kiss and shook his head. "Mer, you're hurt. I can't do that to you. I don't want to take advantage of you." He said looking away from her shirtless form.
She pulled herself up to the sitting position. "You're not taking advantage of me. If I want to do this, I can do this."
"Meredith…"
She cut him off by kissing him. "I want this more than anything." She reached back and unclasped her bra.
He watched as it slipped off her shoulders and made its way down her arms. "Are you sure?"
She nodded with a smirk playing her lips. He couldn't help but smile as he pulled her head down to meet her lips.
--
She had fallen asleep afterwards. He stared down at her watching her peaceful face pulling her slightly closer to him. Letting out a sigh, he wondered if he would ever be able to confess to her his feelings, but it seemed so impossible. Worry of hurting her clouded his thoughts. Pushing a few strands of hair out of her face, he kissed her cheek lightly.
"I love you, Mer." He whispered not knowing if that would be the only time he would ever be able to tell her… in her sleep.
--
When she woke up, Mark was gone and had left a note saying that he was paged on the pillow beside her. Falling back against the pillow he had been laying on, she took a deep breath of his scent. Letting out a long sigh, she looked up at the ceiling. All the feelings she had ever had for him was bubbling in her stomach and swimming around in her mind.
--
The next day…
She woke up the same time as she always did to the sound of her alarm. She headed to work trying to keep her mind off of Emily. Quite annoyed with herself and the thoughts that would abandon her head, she headed to work to meet her interns who would probably only annoy her even more.
Walking into the hospital, she wasn't exactly sure what she and Mark were. They hadn't talked about it. He was Mark, and she was Meredith. She loved him and knew it… but he didn't know it nor did she know if he loved her.
"Hey." Christina said coming up beside her.
"Hey." She sighed trying to keep eye contact limited.
"What's with you?"
"What? Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?"
"Because you're being very defensive and won't look me in the eyes." She said as the doors to the elevator shut making them alone in the small box. "Oh my god… You slept with McSteamy."
Meredith's head whirled around. "How did you know that?" She asked pulling the stop button.
"Because I'm me… So…"
"So what?" She asked hitting the button in again.
"So what are you two now?"
"I don't know, Chris. I'm just… confused right now."
"Oh please like you haven't already fallen for him."
"I have not." She said defensively.
The doors opened.
"I'm your person. I know you. You have."
She looked at her before pulling her into an empty room. Letting out a sigh, she looked at her person in the eyes and slowly nodded. "I love him, Chris."
"I knew it." She said doing a dance. "I'm always right."
"Not being supportive here."
"Whatever. Either tell him or stop complaining."
"You're not good at being supportive."
"I know… I'm not that kind of person. I'm the kind of person who would help you drag a dead body across the floor." She explained as they continued down the hall.
"Just shut up." They walked into the locker room in silence.
--
After tell her interns what to do, she went off to find some coffee unsure if she wanted to deal with Mark quite yet. But as she rounded the corner, she realized it was too late. Not paying attention, as she turned the corner, she ran into something hard pushing her off balance. A pair of strong hands reached out and stabilized her on her feet. Looking up, she realized it was Mark.
"Hey." She gave him a small smile.
"Hey… Where are you headed?" He asked trying to make the space between them less awkward.
"Coffee."
"I'll save you the trip." He said handing her a cup.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." There was a long awkward pause.
"Look, Mer…" He said at the same time Meredith started saying. "Mark…"
"You first." She quickly said not wanting to talk.
"We should probably talk about this…"
She slowly nodded. "Yeah I guess, but not here."
"Alright. Where?"
"We can go to dinner after work."
He nodded. "It's a date." Quickly after saying it, he cursed himself.
She smiled. "Yeah." With that she turned and started to walk off calling back. "Thanks for the coffee."