Pleasant Surprises

Chapter 3

Okay guys, here is chapter 3…thank you all for the wonderful reviews I have received. I am glad that you guys are enjoying the story. This chapter will concentrate on Mark and Meredith and the beginning of their story…please tell me what you think.

Mark walked out of Derek's office with no clear idea as to where he was headed next. He had no more surgeries scheduled for today and he did not have a ton of paperwork to do since this was technically his second day at work. He would not always be that lucky but for now he wasn't worried about that. The thing that did worry him was that Seattle was not as upbeat as New York City. He would never be left to wonder what he should do on any given day since NY was full of activities from Monday to Sunday. Maybe he was not giving Seattle an opportunity but from what he saw he was not too thrilled. Oh well, he said to himself, minus well get used to it. You're going to be here for a while.

He walked down the hall preoccupied by his own thoughts when suddenly he heard a patient's voice call out to him. "Dr Sloan?" He turned towards the room and hesitated for a second on the doorway. He had to smirk at that. Now he was the one that was hesitating at Meredith's doorway. He had told Derek that he would stay away from her but what was he supposed to do in this situation – she was calling out his name. Wave his hand from the doorway and then walk away? He couldn't do that. Meredith had no idea of their conversation and even if she had why would she care? Really what harm could it possibly do to talk to her for a few minutes, right? No harm at all.

He walked into Meredith's room and smiled at her, letting go of any lingering doubt that might've been crossing his mind. "Hello my favorite dirty mistress…" he stated. As he saw her smile turn upward he continued: "Oh I'm sorry I got that wrong – according to you you're now the resident whore." He said, as he laughed out loud. The sound made him raise his eyebrows in surprise. He had not heard the sound of his laughter in a while. The last time…let's see the last time was when he had bumped into this woman laying in front of him in the hallway high on morphine and before then…well he couldn't even remember.

"Oh my God…" Meredith stated as she looked him straight in the eye. "Please tell me that you just read my mind and that I did not spill the beans to you too." She said, as her hands rose up in the air. "I mean seriously…."

"Sorry sweetheart." He said and actually started laughing again upon seeing Meredith's reaction. "It's okay. I don't think anyone else heard you…well except Dr. O'Malley and the few nurses that were walking the halls and then if we think about it a little bit more maybe the patients down the hall but hey they don't know you right?" he questioned. "So who cares!" he exclaimed, excitedly as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Shut up." Meredith said as she covered her face with her hands. This was not happening to her. First she told Finn to leave; then Derek left and now she had learned – by Mark nonetheless, the one person that could just be a little bit worse off than her – that she had made a fool of herself with him as well. "What the hell was in that morphine? I do not remember anything. Do you know anything else Dr. Sloan? I mean come on, you minus well hit me with your best shot." She stated. "Did I say anything else to you that might embarrass me for the rest of my life? Will I ever be able to look you in the eye again?" she questioned as she felt herself turn a light shade of red.

"Well you told me everyone called me McSteamy...or is it Dr. McSteamy?" He questioned, as he approached her bed and sat down on it. "May I?" he questioned and then proceeded to answer his own question. "Of course I can sit down. I mean we both graduated from dirty mistresses to resident whores and now you shared the secret of McSteamy, I mean Meredith…you and I go way back." He said, as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Why did he just do that? What was this feeling that made him want to make her smile, laugh and feel better about herself? He had never felt that before so he pushed it to the side and continued: "I feel like I've known you forever and that we have talked for more than well let's see…including the time you were high as a kite…three times! Wow and I know so much about you and about me that I would have probably never found out if it wasn't for you. Thanks."

Meredith looked at him for two seconds. She had every intention of yelling at him, tell him to leave but as soon as she made eye contact with him she couldn't and burst out laughing. "You are impossible, Dr. Sloan, you know that? I mean I have made a fool of myself not only with George, but with Derek and Finn and now you. Great." She said, as she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Story of my life."

"Call me Mark." He said. "I'll call you Meredith or would you rather call me McSteamy?" he joked as he looked at her and winked his eye. "Totally up to you my dear."

"Mark it is." She said, as she smiled at him. "Do not tell anyone that I divulged the secret. I know I can trust George but you…" she stated leaving the sentence open-ended.

"I am offended." He said, as he touched his chest pretending to be hurt. "So…" he said, as he suddenly became serious. "When are you going to tell my ex best friend that you still love him and that you will choose him as soon as you come to your senses?" he questioned with a smile on his face. If anything maybe he could help Derek out with Meredith.

His looked turned to sudden concern at seeing her reaction. "What did I say?" Mark asked. "I mean if I overstepped my boundaries I'm sorry but I thought we were having a good time and good conversation so I just thought…"

Meredith suddenly held her hand up. "No need to apologize. We were having a good time. It's just that I don't think Derek wants me to choose him." She said, as tears filled her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was about to open herself up to this man who she barely knew but she had no one else to talk to. Cristina was not around and even if she was she had her own problems and for some reason Mark seemed to be genuinely concerned and he knew what she was going through. He was in love with Addison so they had that in common – being in love with the wrong people who just happened to be married to each other.

"What are you talking about?" Mark asked. "Come on…how can you think that? I mean Derek has told you he loves you and even though you're dating the vet…sorry but I can't remember his damn name…and I thought it would only be a matter of time before you came to your senses. I don't understand why you're doubting him."

"Well I did come to my senses but not before Derek came to see me to tell me that he was walking away – that Finn…his name is Finn." She clarified. "That Finn was good for me and he really liked me and could make me happy. He thinks that he can't make me happy. Where the hell does he get these things from? I mean Mark he has pursued me since that damn prom – since we made love in the exam room. He came to my damn house and told me that he loved me, that he was in love with me and then … God then he comes here and after telling me that he was fine with us dating and that he would fight for me he comes to my room – after surgery – to tell me he was going to walk away. I don't get it. I don't." she said, exasperated. "I mean why is he doing this to me again?"

Mark looked at Meredith and had to suppress his thoughts on how beautiful she looked. Even after surgery she was breathtaking and he could see how Derek had fallen in love with this woman. She was unbelievably wrecked but your heart not only went out to her because of that it also went out to her because she needed you and she made you feel like your advice, your love, your persona could rescue her. She didn't need rescuing by him he told himself firmly and turned to look at her. "Listen to me." He said matter of factly. "Derek is not himself right now. I don't know exactly why he told you he was walking away but I will tell you this. He loves you Meredith and something must have happened for him to have walked." Mark told her honestly. "I know he loves you." He repeated – more to himself than to her. He needed to keep telling himself that he could not look at Meredith as anything more than the woman that his best friend loved – the same best friend that he wanted to mend fences with. Besides, he was trying to make things work with Addison – he loved Addison, he wanted Addison. Keep repeating that to yourself Sloan, he thought.

"What could have happened Mark?" she questioned out loud, not even realizing that she had called him by his first name and was fine with it. "The only thing he told me was that he didn't think he could make me happy and he would rather die than have me suffer anymore than I have suffered for him already."

Mark narrowed his eyes. "How bad was it between you two when he was trying to make things work out with Addison?" he questioned. He knew how Derek thought and even though Derek would probably deny it till the day he died, Mark was the only person that could finish Derek's thoughts and even his sentences.

"Pretty bad…in the beginning…but you knew that because you came right smack in the middle of it and by then I was half way to forgiving him already. Then it got good again – we really thought we could be friends…" Meredith laughed as she saw Mark roll his eyes … "Okay well maybe we we're wrong. Okay, okay, okay, we were deluding ourselves but then Finn came into the picture and it got ugly – I mean really ugly." She said, being invaded by memories. "He called me a whore."

"He called you a whore?" Mark asked, astounded. "No. He didn't. He couldn't of. That's not how Derek operates." He said, truly not believing that.

"Well he didn't say the word but he did imply it. If you ask him he will tell you. He told me that I slept around much like Dr. Karev and if I was going to be interested in him next? He said that when he saw me in Finn's apartment with only his shirt on." She said, immediately stating: "But I did not sleep with Finn, Mark. Honestly, I didn't. We just had come back from the stables and I helped him birth a pony. That's it." Meredith couldn't explain to herself why suddenly it was of utter importance to her that Mark know that she had not slept with Finn.

Mark smiled at her obvious interest in having him know that she did not sleep with the vet but decided not to comment on that. "It's because he was raging with jealousy." Mark pointed out instead. "See that's how I knew he loved you. He walked out of his house after seeing his wife and me in bed together and not even a shove towards me…nothing. I thought that he was going to kill me then. If it had been me walking in on him and my wife I would have pummeled him so badly he would need me to reconstruct his face afterwards." He said and proceeded: "I come to Seattle and I just speak two words to you and he has punched my lights out; drew blood and I had to do my own stitches. If he had that reaction towards me with you where did that leave Addison? In my book out in the cold baby." He said. "And it made you damn lucky to be loved by Derek." He pointed out.

Meredith stood quiet for a few seconds before responding: "He says that even though he's walking away he does not want to be with Addison. Do you think that's true?" she asked, trying not to sound insecure but really not succeeding.

"Do you believe him?" he asked in return. He wasn't going to answer that question when he honestly did not know the answer to that. He did want Derek to forgive him and for them to be friends again but for some reason he found that he did not want to lie to Meredith for Derek and his friendship's sake – he didn't want to lie to Meredith period. Huh? That was a weird feeling, he thought to himself.

"I do believe him." She stated. She really did. She didn't know why but she did believe that their marriage was over. She was just not sure if in Derek's life she was truly the woman that he loved or maybe she had been the rebound chick that made him realize that his marriage was truly over.

"Don't do that." She heard Mark tell her. "Do not overanalyze why Derek told you what he did or if you are the rebound chick. Derek doesn't operate like most guys. You might have started off as the one night stand but since you and him started working together you became much more." He told her that because he knew that was true. "You are not the rebound chick. If Derek and you do not work out it's not because of that."

Meredith smiled. What was it about Mark Sloan that made her smile? How could he read her thoughts like an open book? What did this man possess that made apparently every single girl in New York and now here in Seattle swoon before him? He was gorgeous, of that there was no doubt, but it wasn't only that. It was the way he looked at you. It was the way he smiled at you. It was the way that it seemed like no other person was as important as you when he spoke to you. It was as if he made you his world at the very moment that you needed it the most. He was a charmer, a damn good one and you wouldn't even know that he was trying to capture your heart until it was too late.

She stopped her train of thought. It wasn't as if she was trying to figure this out for herself, no way – she could not go down that route. There was no way that she could complicate her life that much. She had enough problems already.

"Meredith." Mark called out her name. "Where were you just now?" he questioned.