Pleasant Surprises

Chapter 12

As always thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I love the fact that your reviews are getting lengthier and lengthier; it makes my day! I love how into this story you all have become. It is a story that I hold close to my heart so I want everyone to let me know exactly what they're thinking – if you love it, if you hate it, if you want to see something different.

So without further ado…here is the next chapter. I think you guys already know that I am right in the middle of the transitional period for Mer and Mark, so happy reading!

Meredith walked into her house and smiled. All her friends were there; a big welcome home sign hung above the fire place and she laughed when Izzie came out of the kitchen with a fresh batch of muffins – chocolate chip, her favorite. "Thanks guys." She said out loud. "I wasn't gone that long and my surgery was not serious at all – this is too much."

"That's what I said." Alex blurted out and displayed his crooked grin. He liked Meredith – she had been the one that had helped him first when he had flunked his medical exam. He didn't know how to express his gratitude but ever since then he had tried to cut her some slack. He could've gone and made comments about her love life with Derek – mean comments – but he had refrained from those, well at least most of the time.

"Alex you are so rude." Izzie interjected but smiled nonetheless. Alex was Alex after all. "Meredith I made your favorite muffins, especially for you."

"Thanks." Meredith responded as her hand reached out for one as Izzie passed her by. She had missed her house believe it or not. Izzie and George sometimes drove her crazy but this was their home and they lived together and they had ups and downs but she came to realize not long ago that she would not change a thing about their arrangement. They were her family and families had their issues. "I missed this." She pointed out to all of them hanging out in the living room.

She scanned the room and saw a huge bouquet of flowers on the side table and she gestured with her head towards them. "Are those for me?" she questioned to no one in particular.

"Yep." Alex said, as he turned to look at her. He wondered if she had any idea who they were from. She seemed as shocked as they were. Maybe they were from Derek but since he had booked so suddenly he doubted it. "You guys are so sweet, you didn't have to." She clarified. Alex shrugged his shoulders as she confirmed her puzzlement as well.

"We didn't." Izzie said sheepishly. "We don't know who they are from. We just put them there so you could see them and then of course tell us who they are from. So go!" Izzie prodded excitedly.

Meredith shook her head and walked over to the side table. Who could have sent her flowers? Derek? She took the small envelope attached to the paper of her bouquet and set it to the side. She proceeded to unwrap her flowers – they were a beautiful assortment of her favorite flower, lilies. It was so beautiful it made her breathless. She took the envelope and opened it.

Mer,

I know you feel better but here is a small token wishing that your recovery period in the hospital was well spent…we have to definitely play UNO again. Maybe this time you'll win.

Mark

Mark had sent her flowers? Her favorite flowers. What was going on? She felt a stirring in her stomach that she had not felt in a long time and it wasn't just nerves – it was something else. Mark had sent her flowers! He had gone out of his way to have a nice gesture for her and she was giddy. She was fucking giddy! What was happening with her and Mark? Surely she could not have fallen for him? She was in love with Derek! She loved Derek, right? Yes. She did. There was no way that Mark could interfere with the love that she felt for Derek. He was a good man and she liked him a lot. He made her laugh but surely she just wanted him as a friend. She couldn't have him in her life as anything else but a friend.

"Who sent you the flowers Mer?" Cristina voiced out loud. She had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't Derek and for some reason a sense of doom was in the air surrounding all of them as they held their breath awaiting her response.

"Mark." She said, nonchalantly trying as hard as she could to mask the giddiness she felt. She was not going to admit to her friends that this made her happier than she had felt in days, if not weeks. How could she confess to them that Derek leaving had crippled her and made her heart bleed but that Mark and his beautiful details and wonderful company had made her laugh and for at least a while helped her not think about how completely out of control her life had become.

With all those thoughts jumbling around in her head, she did not see the looks of surprise coming from her friends but most importantly the looks of worry etched along the lines of all their faces. "Why?" George asked. "Why would he send you flowers?"

Instead of answering his question she decided to reply: "George I know you had a conversation with him which you and I will talk about. I know you guys do not like the fact that Mark and I are friends. I personally think you guys should support me on this. I mean I don't understand the problem."

"The problem is that it's Sloane, Meredith, the man whore. The man that you swore was McSteamy but no way in hell could or would you look at him with eyes other than that of an intern to her attending; that is not the case anymore. And that was only if you were assigned to one of his cases which that I recall you have not. But I bet that from now on you are going to be one of his regular interns."

"He's different. You can't always judge a book by its cover." Meredith pointed out. "Look at Alex; we give him such a hard time all the time and deep down we know that he is not such a bad guy. What? You guys know it's true. He has stepped up to the plate when needed; for Izzie, for me and for others." Meredith finalized. "Why can't you guys give Mark the benefit of the doubt."

"That's different." Cristina pointed out. "Alex whether we like it or not is one of us." She turned to look at Alex and at his look of disgust said: "Sorry Alex. Hey we have grown to know a bit more about you and we know that you are not bad; we even like you. But Meredith…" she turned back her attention on her… "You don't know anything about Mark…well what you do know is not very good."

"No. It's not different." Meredith interjected. "Besides I get it okay? I get that you guys do not like Mark but you are going to have to live with the fact that I enjoy his company." Meredith said, tired of this argument. There was no way that she was going to continue this conversation.

"But do you like him?" Izzie finally asked. "Friendship is one thing and liking him as more than a friend is quite different. Problem is that we don't know which one is the emotion that you are feeling."

"Of course I like him! He's a good friend. He makes me smile." Meredith stated. She was going to offer no more than that.

"No Meredith. Do you like him? As in do you want to be with him?" Izzie pressed.

At the direct question Meredith froze. She did not know what to respond because she didn't know exactly what her feelings were. Oh my God!

At Meredith's silence: "That's what I thought." Cristina remarked. "Great. Here we go again with the whole roller coaster ride that's Meredith's love life."

"Wait a minute guys." She said. "Just because I didn't answer the question does not mean that I am going to act on whatever crazy thoughts are entering my mind. You guys threw me for a loop that's all." She said.

She suddenly took the flowers that were in a pretty red vase and smiled. "I am a little tired. I am going to my room to rest. See you guys later. Thanks everyone for everything." She said, as she went up the stairs and took a bite out of her muffin.

"We're in trouble guys." Cristina pointed out. "She is heading towards disaster and we are going to have to pick up the pieces."

GA…GA…GA…GA…

Mark's cell-phone rang and he ran out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his lower body. "Hello?" he said absentmindedly. He had not even bothered to check his caller id. He had accidentally stepped on his pager today and it would not be replaced until tomorrow so currently his cell phone acted as his pager. He had to pick up regardless of who it was so turning the phone over to see who it was…well was pointless

"It's me." He heard the voice over the phone say and almost laughed out loud at her audacity. Meredith, how did she know that he would recognize her voice? How did she even fathom that after a few conversations over the phone he would be able to know it was her by her just uttering two small words? But he did and he wasn't mad at her.

"Whose me?" Mark jokingly questioned her.

"Me!" she said, giddy as could be. They both knew it and they both recognized it but knew better than to speak of it – they would consider it the elephant in the room. Now probably was not the best time to analyze their feelings.

Meredith heard him laugh out loud and heard him state: "Me? I don't know any me. Care to give a name? I usually don't speak to strangers me." Mark finalized the grin plastered on his face.

"Stop it." She said grinning from ear to ear. "Okay maybe this will help. Thank you so much for the lilies. They were beautiful and my favorite flower." She added.

Mark smiled at her words and felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach. What was that? Why couldn't he recognize this feeling? Instead of analyzing his emotions he replied: "I send flowers to a lot of ladies on a daily basis; don't you know? Besides I have one of the nurses do it." He finalized, his smiled evident on his face.

Meredith chuckled. "Do you have Tiffany send them out?" she teased. She had not forgotten the face that Tiffany made when Mark was taking care of her a few days ago and requested a wheelchair for her. She did not know for sure if they had a one night stand or not but she had seen Tiffany's reaction and was willing to bet that if there wasn't there would be one soon.

With that comment she heard Mark's sharp intake of breath. How did she know about Tiffany? "What are you talking about?" he questioned to buy himself time. Did he come clean with his indiscretion? First of all he had to find out how she knew about it. He never admitted anything until he knew if the truth was evident or just speculation.

"Oh come on…" Meredith said as she caught on to the tone of his voice. He was squirming. "I saw the reaction she had to you taking care of me and acting so concerned. You slept with her didn't you? Just tell me Mark. I mean if you like her and want to get to know her better it's okay. I mean you gave up Addison, right? Besides, your reputation precedes you." She said, suddenly realizing that it did bother her – if just a bit – that two women were already after him and it had taken him less than a month to get himself into trouble. She stopped her thoughts suddenly. What right did she have to voice her opinion anyway?

Mark rolled his eyes and stated: "Okay so she was a one night stand all right? That was it. We got to the bar separately; she recognized me; came up to me and offered to buy me a drink or did I offer? Don't even remember so it really shouldn't be an issue. Really Meredith it's unimportant. She knows that it won't happen again."

"Do you do that a lot; have one night stands?" Meredith questioned. All of a sudden the conversation had turned a bit more serious and she wanted to know if this was his usual behavior.

"In New York I did." He confessed. "Here I have just had one. Meredith you need to understand. I have been a bachelor all my life. I have fallen in love only once and think that it wasn't even the real thing. You fall in love for so many reasons, each one of them different than the other and don't think that I don't wonder what it's like to be with one woman and not want another one. I guess I just am not made that way. I guess I just don't know what it takes to be faithful. I couldn't even do it with Addison and like I have said before it cost me my brother."

Meredith interjected; "I believe that when you truly love someone you won't want anyone else. I'm not saying true love doesn't get messed up by one person or another…if you love someone you can cheat on them but chances are that you don't bounce back from it. That's what hurt me the most with Derek – he didn't cheat on me so to speak. He was cheated on and then found me. I didn't know he was married but once I did he still chose the person that had hurt him after I was there for him, giving him my love and understanding. We were going places, we had a future and in the middle of it all it got yanked from me."

"Is that why you waited?" Mark questioned. "Because you believed that people don't bounce back from infidelities?"

"No. I waited without knowing I was waiting." She admitted. "It was stupid but I couldn't let go and when I finally did he came back; only to leave again." She said, a tad bit of bitterness evident in her tone.

"So in your opinion I don't love Addison because I cheated on her?" he asked. "Besides that it seems that you're still holding on to the anger about Derek choosing Addison and not you and now even more bitter about the fact that he left once you thought things would be smooth sailing."

Meredith chose to ignore Mark's comment and instead kept her focus on him: "I don't know Mark. I don't know or understand your type. In my head I believe that your type is heartless and don't care if you hurt someone or not but if that is the case than I don't understand why you are so concerned for me and why you have the most beautiful gestures towards me but shitty gestures towards other women. I mean you do not fit the norm of philanderer and womanizer." She said. "I've told you this before."

"Can't I just be nice to you and be an asshole to other people?" he asked her. Why did women have to complicate things? Why couldn't things just stay as they were?

"But why?" Meredith demanded. "There has to be a reason."

"Why what?" Mark insisted. This was not heading towards a ground that he felt comfortable with. He hated being put on the spot like this!

"Why am I different?" she asked, afraid of what the answer might be but wanting to know nonetheless. She knew she was pushing but she had to know.

How could he explain to her that since he had met her, his life had been put upside down? What could he possibly tell her; that seeing her, talking to her and just being in her company had become important to him? That the thought of her going back to Derek when he came back was bothering him to no end? How could he tell her that? Instead, he replied: "We belong to the same group Mer. You and I are different. Even though we no longer are dirty mistresses, we still have a connection. That's why I treat you differently." He closed his eyes and felt a stirring in his heart at his silence. Sloane, you are a big fat liar and a coward!

Meredith breathed in slowly and exhaled. She didn't expect that answer from him but if that was what he felt then she would respect it. "Then from one former dirty mistress to another, I thank you for the flowers." Meredith said slowly, her voice trying hard not to crack. "Take care of yourself Mark. I'll see you around."

"Bye." Was all Mark managed to utter as she hung up on him.

What have I done? Mark questioned, himself.

What the hell was that? Meredith thought to herself. Apparently she saw something that wasn't there. How could she have miscalculated? Why did he have to be such a jerk?

GA…GA…GA…GA

Okay guys I couldn't help it – ever since the episode when Mark reappeared and he was draped only in a towel I can't get that damn man out of my head so I just incorporated a scene in this chapter….muhahahahahaha…happy thoughts, I brought you guys happy thoughts!

Okay now go and review!