Mark was in the elevator when Callie squeezed in, just before the doors closed.

"Hey."

He nodded in greeting, leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed.

"So, I ignored your advice. I talked to her."

"Who?"

He was so concerned with Lexie, he had no idea who Callie was talking about.

"Sadie. The hot intern."

"You mean the crazy intern."

"I think she has guts."

Mark gave a short chuckle. "Well, I just think she's nuts."

"Very poetic…I know, though. I tried. To stay away from the hot young interns, but she was there, and she was smiling, and I don't think I made it up. I think she was definitely sending me a look."

"So ask her out."

Callie's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "I can't ask her out."

"Why not?"

"Because!"

But she looked confused. "I don't even know if I'm really into girls."

Mark just chuckled. "Callie, if you've fucked a girl, I think it's fair to say you're into them. Maybe not full time, but at least part way into them."

She looked at him murderously, but the doors opened and they both got out. He glanced at the nurse's station and frowned a little bit, because Lexie was nowhere in sight. It was damn inconvenient trying to track her down. He could have paged her, true, but somehow Mark had feeling that paging Lexie to talk about their…involvement, after she'd run out on him that morning, wouldn't be very productive.

"Mark?"

He stared at Callie blankly. "Huh?"

"Are you looking for something?"

He looked around once more. "Interns. Where are all the damn interns?"

Callie's eyebrows raised, but she just motioned towards the or galleries. "The new cardio person has some kick ass surgery."

"Oh."

"Or, maybe they're cutting another intern open. Attempting a heart transplant? I still can't even believe they did that- the nerve of them."

"You said you thought Sadie was gutsy."

"In an extreme kind of way. It's not like she attempted to do the surgery herself."

Mark snorted. "No. Just volunteered herself."

"They're all in the gallery.

He grunted, and Callie went on her way, probably still thinking about Sadie. Since he was currently caught up with Lexie, Mark supposed he couldn't condemn Callie for lusting after Sadie. Even though the blonde was certifiable, in his opinion.

Making his way to gallery, he saw that Callie was right. All of the interns and most of the residents were seated, watching the new doctor perform some kind of brilliant surgery involving a heart. Lexie was standing near the door, down at the window as she gazed downward at the procedure. She hadn't noticed him come in, and after a quick glance at the crowded gallery, he walked down the few steps to stand behind her. A quick glance at the actual OR alerted him to the fact that Meredith was scrubbed in, and concentrating on the person laying on the table, and not on her half sister.

"Hey."

He was standing almost directly behind her Lexie jumped, squeaking out a nervous and embarrassed return.

"Hey there."

She said it with that smile of hers, caught off guard with no thought of hiding her pleasure at seeing him, despite how embarrassed she was. Mark smirked a little bit, and moved to stand next to her, crossing his arms as he pretended to stare down at the surgery. He was probably blocking the view of a couple interns, but he didn't really care, and nobody was going to ask him to move.

"You left early this morning."

Lexie, still staring down at the OR, nodded. Her cheeks had the faint traces of a blush, and Mark found himself exceedingly aware of her body, so close to him. He could slightly catch her sent, which had overwhelmed him the night before. Lexie smelled like vanilla and some sort of fruit- possibly pears- and...slightly of coconut. It had to be her shampoo.

"I had- I had rounds. Early rounds. Because I'm an intern. And we have to be here early."

"You could have woken me."

Lexie furtively glanced at him, trying to gauge where he was going with their non apparent conversation. She started to speak several times, but finally paused and looked up at him with her big brown eyes speaking volumes.

"I wasn't....sure what to do this morning. Whether or not to wake you. Or stay."

Mark turned his head to look at her completely, mindless of all the interns surrounding them. "You should have woken me."

Another blush spilled over her cheeks, and she gave a small smile.

"Okay...Then, next time, I will...if there is a next time."

And just like that, another door had been opened. Because Mark knew with absolute certainty, that there would be a next time. He wanted one too much to let her go after just one night together.

"I'd like for there to be a next time. Multiple times, even."

Lexie nodded her agreement, and returned her gaze the operating table.

"The only thing..."

"Yeah?"

Mark sighed. "The thing is...No one can know."

Lexie didn't turn towards him. For a long moment, Mark was worried that she wasn't going to accept the terms of what he'd said, but eventually, she looked at him again and nodded.

For Lexie, keeping it a secret really wasn't a big deal. Who was she going to tell? George? Not likely. Her fellow interns? They would think she was trying to get ahead or tease her about it. Sadie? She would only tell Meredith, who wouldn't take kindly to Lexie trying to 'date' her boyfriend's best friend, despite the overture that she had made that morning by asking Lexie to move in. Lexie had been completely blind sighted about that, seeing as Meredith usually paid her minimal attention. The request had come out of the blue, and she had already been distracted by what had happened the previous night.

When she'd woken that morning, still wrapped in Mark's arms, Lexie had full out panicked. She'd gone to his hotel room the night before after talking with Mrs. Patterson, and Sadie, determined to find out why he'd been snapping and avoiding her more than usual lately.

Of course, he usually snapped at interns, but he'd always managed to make Lexie laugh, or at least take the time out of his day to call her pathetic. The past few weeks, though, he had just avoided her. She had been a little confused, but Dr. Sloan was just the sort of attending to have weird quirks about him, so she brushed it off.

Until Sadie had made that comment about him liking her. Which was ridiculous. Because he was Mark Sloan, plastic surgeon extraordinaire, and she was just...Lexie Grey. Sure, she had a medical degree from Harvard, and she had a photographic memory, but there was nothing about her that would warrant the undivided attention of one of the hottest doctors in the country.

Never-the-less, she had gone to his hotel room to tell him how amazing the surgery had been, to ask him what was going on, and had been totally distracted. She'd started babbling about Mrs. Patterson and how remarkable it had been, and had somehow gotten onto the topic of how much she respected him, and then asked him to...teach her.

Well, that was certainly a new pick up line.

But it had seemed like the thing to say. And he had certainly seemed to understand, because eventually, he had grabbed her and begun to kiss her, at which point all rational thought fled.

Because, Mark Sloan was a very good kisser. And an even better lover, if possible.

The sex had been fantastic, of course. How could it not be? He lit her on fire, from the inside out, and Lexie had given into her feelings without a second thought, allowing him to mold her and make love to her in ways she hadn't tried before.

It had started as fucking at first. That much was clear. They'd fuck on the bed, get up to get a drink, and she'd end up lying backwards on a table as he knelt between her legs and worshiped her with his mouth.

And then she'd back him to the wall, and sink onto her own knees to pleasure him.

It had all been very whirlwind, really. Until that last time.

They had been exhausted, by then, but had needed to find solace in each other one last time last night. It had been back in the bed by that point, and unlike the previous times and orgasms, not a race or a frenzied rush. It had been slow and deep and he'd stared into her eyes as he took her to the brink of passion again and again. It had been a connection, so incredibly strong, that Lexie had completely freaked out. She hadn't experienced a bond like that before, especially not during sex, and so she'd crept quietly out of his hotel room that morning, in the hopes ( and the disappointment ) of not waking him up.

"Come to the hotel tonight?"

Lexie was shaken out of her reverie, by his question and nodded. Mark made a move as if to go, but then took one last look at the surgery below them.
"Lexie?"

"Yeah?"

"Bring some clothes for tomorrow as well."

She swallowed deeply, and nodded, forcing herself not to watch him walk out of the gallery.