A/N: I've neglected to mention this here, but every chapter of this story is based on a song. At my LiveJournal, I have provided a free (!) download link for the songs that each chapter is based on. If you're interested, my LJ is my website listed on my author page. If that doesn't show up, feel free to PM me and I'll provide you with a link.

After Alex and Lexie had made their way out of the room, Mark pulled a chair up to Kevin's bedside, prompted him to sit up, and plucked a marker from his lab coat pocket. "I'm going to mark the incision sites," he told Kevin in a flat voice that carried with it a phantom of irritation.

"Whatever you gotta do, doc," he replied with a nod of his head, snickering as he addressed Mark by his title. Mark uncapped the marker and drew with expertise a tiny line that extended diagonally from Kevin's left nostril to the tip of his nose. Kevin grimaced. "That thing smells like shit."

"Don't move," warned Mark, moving on to his other nostril, "or else it's going straight up your nose and that will be much worse." He made another practiced line while Kevin held his breath. When he was finished, Mark stood and examined his handiwork. After he deemed it satisfactory, he palpated Kevin's nose in a final check.

Kevin studied Mark's face closely. It was tense, nearing anger, eyebrows drawn together and mouth taut. It was the definition of tough restraint, the expression he had seen him wearing when they lost the state semi-final game during their junior year. Kevin suddenly felt very uneasy. "Hey." He spoke as if he was walking on eggshells. "Are things awkward right now?"

Mark didn't make eye contact. "No." He picked up Kevin's chart and pretended to look at it.

Convincing, Kevin thought, arching an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Did I say something wrong or-"

"No." Mark scribbled something in the chart. They let the edgy conversation fall into silence for a moment. Kevin was the one to speak first, reaching for anything to break the unfamiliar ice.

"So," he began as he sat back in the bed, wishing somewhere that he had a mirror to check out the marks on his nose, "how's Darren? Still playing that saxophone?"

Mark resisted the urge to sigh huffily. He never did like how Kevin treated Derek. Deep down, he knew that Kevin was just jealous that he was never as close to Mark as Derek was. Still, it irked the hell out of him when Kevin would say something like that. He answered, trying to keep calm.

"Derek is one of the best neurosurgeons in the country, raking in two million a year." Mark paused, pursing his lips. Kevin smiled sheepishly. "He was married to an incredibly hot woman and is now engaged to another incredibly hot woman. He's living the good life now. He's here today, if you want to see him and say hi or something."

Kevin closed his eyes and shook his head, putting up his hands in a halting gesture. He never really talked to the guy, a standard in his relations with band kids. "I'm good," he said. But he couldn't resist getting one last dig in. "But, Horns, tell me this. Did the kid ever grow into his ears?"

Despite everything, Mark had to laugh at that one. No matter how close he and Derek were, his pubescent ears were simply and undeniably hilarious. "Yeah," he answered with a smile like one from the old days. "Took a while, but he definitely did." They shared a chuckle. Kevin relaxed. He felt comfortable enough to strike up another conversation. Mark wasn't going to bite his head off. With relief, he went on, bringing up the same topic he would have years ago. He gave in to impulse and asked the question that had been nagging at him for the past few minutes.

"So, Mark." He was already struggling to keep his expression casual. "Are you after sleeping with that intern? Grey, was it?"

Mark's eyes grew huge and he coughed loudly into his fist. He shouldn't have been surprised by Kevin's forward interrogation, but he was. Kevin sneered at him – oh, the thrill of discovery – and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes!" he exclaimed triumphantly, sapphire eyes gleaming with amusement. "Christ, how old is she? Like, twenty?" He didn't give Mark a chance to actually answer. "Horns, you cradlerobbin' son of a bitch!" He laughed a bit too hard at himself and Mark glowered.

Kevin sighed as he came down, unaffected by Mark's glare. "She a nice ride?" he asked with some kind of sick and genuine interest. In his gut, Mark felt a threatening stir of rage. "She's not my type, personally, a little too lanky for my taste. I like mine smaller, y'know that already. But the face on that one, those eyes! Jesus, man, does it only take her to look at you like that before you're stiff as a-"

"Enough," Mark interrupted him in a firm voice, scowling. It didn't matter whether or not what Kevin said was true; he didn't want or need to hear him refer to Lexie's sexy eyes. Kevin ran a hand through his ruddy hair, realizing that he had done something wrong.

"Sorry," he apologized. "She's all yours, fair play to you. I didn't mean it, but I couldn't help but notice that she's an attractive girl." Suddenly, a notion dawned on him and he couldn't muster the strength in enough time to hold it in. He blurted his bright idea with wide awe-filled eyes. "Hey, we should double-team her!"

Mark gawked at him, embarrassed and furious at the thought of it. Kevin just kept saying all the wrong things. Kevin waited expectantly for a response and Mark gave him the only word his lips could form, "No."

"Aw, come on! That was always the dream! You and me plus a girl we both thought was smoking, Horns, tell me you haven't forgotten this already."

"Okay, first of all, when I have a threesome it's with two women. Second of all, no."

"Yeah, well." Kevin's eyes fell to his lap before he grinned. He raised his eyes to Mark's and they narrowed playfully. "Have you given her any multiples yet? Seriously, that trick you taught me way back when is still pure genius today. Buck your hips at the right moment and she's a goner," he re-explained the technique to Mark, coupling it with a physical demonstration and a dirty laugh. Mark cringed.

Even though the answer to Kevin's question was a big fat yes, he wasn't about to give him the liberty of knowing. In the old days, Mark would have been more than willing to divulge every bit of information about the fun he would have with any woman. This reluctance showed how much he had changed, a fact that Mark was both proud of and afraid of. He sighed, pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead. He had changed. He had to let Kevin know sooner or later.

"Look, Kevin," said Mark softly, squeezing his eyes shut. "Yeah, I've been with her. With Lexie. But, see, it's not just the sex. It was at first but now it isn't. We're in a real relationship, Kev, we're trying. She's a nice girl and she's…she's been good for me."

Kevin stared at him for a moment before his eyes widened in exaggerated horror. "Whoa, no. No, no, no," he babbled, shaking his head violently. "You're just talking nonsense now."

Mark had been expecting a reaction akin to that. He shrugged. "You know what, I'm happy. It's different, but I'm happy."

Kevin furrowed his brow and regarded Mark with disbelieving disdain. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and said, "Mark Sloan is not happy with one woman. Not the Mark Sloan I know, anyway."

"I am. And I still am the Mark Sloan you know."

"Bullshit." Kevin gave him a hard look and crossed his arms over his chest. He hadn't wanted to bring this up, but he had no choice but to. "You really are different. I noticed it as soon as you walked in here. You're not yourself anymore."

"No, that's the real bullshit." Mark's eyes flashed.

"What happened to the promise we made on the roof of Will Sheen's house at that party the night before we graduated?" asked Kevin in a half-hurt, half-heated tone.

"We were piss-drunk at the time, you fell off right after, remember?" Mark countered, matching Kevin's body language. "Anything that seemed profound to us at the time was probably gibberish."

"Still. We said that things wouldn't change. We told each other that things were perfect the way they stood." Kevin rolled his eyes with a loud sigh. "And now one girl's come along to erase all of that? Has she saved you from the fiery pits of Hell or something? Swept you away from eternal damnation? Really? It's not right, man, it's not right for you."

There was so much Mark could have said to Kevin then. He could have said that it was completely untrue that Lexie had swooped in to single-handedly save him from himself. She had done a lot, but she hadn't been the one to completely reshape him. He could have told Kevin about Addison and the shit and revolutions that whole thing had caused. He could have told him about the move to Seattle and the fight with Derek and how that forced him to become somebody else. But, for the sake of saving face and to keep from starting a fight, he kept his mouth shut.

"I think I'm done here," he said gravely, straightening his coat. "I'll see you in surgery."

"How much of yourself are you willing to compromise for her?" Kevin asked before he could leave. Mark froze, keeping his back turned. "I'll tell you how much my Mark would: not much at all. One day, you're gonna see that. And you're gonna hurt her. Guys like us don't do well with monogamy. It's going to end up being a disaster."

Without another word, Mark left.

It would have been a lot to say that, at that moment, he hated Kevin. He couldn't help himself, though. Hate was a strong word. But the feeling in Mark's gut was strong as well.

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In the meantime, Alex and Lexie had found that the OR was ready to go. They parted ways; he went to see Izzie – she was in low spirits after undergoing aggressive IL2 treatment - for whatever time they had before the surgery began, and she headed to the nurses' station to check a voicemail that had appeared on her phone sometime earlier that morning.

It was from Molly. She leaned against the counter, the phone pressed to one ear and sticking a finger into the other even though it wasn't really that loud in the hallway. She subconsciously needed to concentrate on the message. Voicemails were the only fragments of her little sister's existence those days. So, she listened intently as Molly spoke.

Molly was speaking excitedly about how Laura was getting so big and that she was almost walking, about how Eric was going to be coming home soon but she didn't know for how long, about how lovely Connecticut was, about how much she missed Lexie, how much she wished Lexie could come and visit soon.

She ended the message much like she did every time, "Everyone loves you, Lex, and wishes you good luck. We miss you." As usual, there was never any mention of Thatcher.

Lexie ended the call with a sigh. She loved Molly too, that was undisputable. But Molly didn't seem to understand that Lexie was living her own life, too. There was always a hint of longing in Molly's voice during her sign-off, like she just wanted Lexie to drop what she was doing, pack her things, and get on the first flight to Connecticut. With every phone call, her voice became more and more disappointed. But Lexie had her own affairs to worry about. She was too happy with the way things were going for her to dwell on the past.

Also, the dark shadow of the Thatcher situation still loomed over their relationship. Lexie didn't even want to think about that then.

But she still felt guilty about the non-contact with Molly. Come to think about it, Molly didn't even know about Mark. It sent a roll of shame over Lexie when she realized that she hadn't disclosed a very important of her life to her sister, the one person she would have shared it in detail with before.

The feeling of human heat against her side tore her from her thoughts. She looked up and wasn't surprised to see that it was Mark. He had a way of showing up right when she was thinking something deep about him.

"Is the OR set?" He looked like he was fuming. His eyes were pointed and glowing, but not in the same way they were when he laughed or when he was coming down from a particularly good romp in bed. Lexie looked at him, confused.

"Yes." She nodded, retaining the perplexed expression. "Is everything alright?" she asked, concerned, touching his arm. He rested his hand on top of hers, allowing himself to enjoy the contact for a moment.

"Everything's fine," he lied. He couldn't tell her about the falling out he just had with Kevin. She was already giving herself an ulcer over his feud with Derek. Another fight would make it start to bleed. So, he faked a smile and she bought it.

"So, um." She bit her lip. "Kevin seems like a…nice guy. You two must have had some good times together."

"We did."

"That's good." She took a deep breath, steadying herself in order to get the next set of words out. They had the potential to make things so much better or so much worse. "You know, I'd like to hear about your days as a football star. If you were as good at playing football as you are at, um, other things, I'm sure there you've got a lot to tell."

Without replying, he grinned; a real one this time, no faking required. He leaned over and kissed her lips, lacing his fingers through hers. It was a normal kiss: mostly chaste with just a little bit of tongue. There was nothing different about it from the countless others they had shared. Still, a feeling flashed through Lexie. She had this foreboding that it would be the last one for a long time and that she should remember it. So she squeezed his hand, pressing into him, drinking the kiss in greedily. She kissed him until the feeling passed. She finally broke away from him when the hollow feeling in her stomach was gone and everything was normal again.

He chuckled, barely a low rumble, and smirked at her. "Dr. Grey," he said in that way that made her feel like she was on fire. She couldn't help but giggle childishly, a blush creeping up to her cheeks. "I'll see you in surgery," he whispered against her ear and she leaned into him.

Then, heart hammering, she nodded with a shy smile and walked away. As her feet hit the tile flooring in rhythm with her heartbeat, she gently touched her lips. She was confused. There was no way that feeling could have been right, no way was that their last kiss. His goodbye didn't suggest that at all.

Feeling a bit better about himself and his decision, Mark drummed his fingertips on the counter and yawned loudly. When he opened his eyes, Derek was standing next to him, perusing a patient's chart. He licked his lips nervously, wanting to address Derek but not knowing how to do it. It used to come so easily, a joking word and a slap on the back. Now, he had to be gingerly about it. It was unnatural and he didn't like it one bit.

He finally settled on saying, "Kevin Flynn is here."

Derek didn't look up from his chart. "Oh?" He made no attempt at continuing the conversation, and Mark sighed.

"You were right for all those years, he's kind of an ass."

"How come?" It was better than nothing.

"He said some stupid stuff," Mark replied, eager to talk with Derek. "I think he meant it, too. I hate to be angry at him, but I am."

Derek glanced at him for a fraction of a second before flipping the chart closed, a very resolute gesture. "It's hard, isn't it? To be angry at a friend who just won't apologize?"

As Derek walked away, Mark called after him. "Come on, Derek!" He swore to himself when Derek didn't even acknowledge that he had heard him.

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Kevin licked his lips as his eyes wandered her curves. Breasts, waist, hips, ass, not bad at all. This nurse was a cute nurse, no doubt about that. He remembered she had mentioned her name was Olivia or something like that. Olivia was definitely cute.

His conscience was coming back to haunt him again. Obviously, he had struck a nerve with Mark. He definitely had changed, and Kevin didn't like it. Still, if he really was happy, he had to support him. They were friends, after all, through and through.

"Do you have any final questions before your procedure, Mr. Flynn?" Olivia asked, smiling sweetly. Damn, she was good. They would look attractive together, identical coloring and all. A good Irish-looking couple. She was smaller, too, which he really really liked. Kevin smirked.

"Call me Kevin, and I do have a question for you." He locked eyes with her and he saw the air flee her chest. He was good, too. "Miss Olivia, have you ever been with Dr. Sloan?"

Even though he knew she wouldn't answer, the truth was obvious. She blushed intensely; the curse of the Irish, always having people know when she was embarrassed or hot or angry. Her eyes widened and pupils dilated. The one corner of his mouth pulled up until it couldn't anymore.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Flynn, I won't answer that," she stammered, averting her gaze and digging her teeth into her bottom lip. A definite yes.

"It's inappropriate, I know. I'm the one who should be sorry. Thanks for all you've done, doll." He smiled and she made a beeline for the door, obviously flustered.

He would apologize to Mark. He would apologize and everything would be perfectly fine. Their fights always resolved themselves. Eventually, everything always ended up being right as rain. This would be no exception.

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Mark held out his hands for a scrub nurse who slid a glove onto each. Another placed a smock over his scrubs and tied it behind his back. It was the same routine he had begun every surgery with since he could remember. It was second-nature to him now, something that just always happened. The beeping of the heart monitor was steady and regular, a sound he had become desensitized to over the years. He only noticed it when there was a problem anymore.

He stepped into the OR and regarded his team. Karev, a new anesthesiologist, a few scrub nurses, and Lexie. She was smiling at him beneath her mask; he could tell from the way her eyes were crinkled at the corners. He let one cross his face as well.

"Are we ready to go?" he questioned.

"Mr. Flynn wanted to talk to you first," the anesthesiologist replied.

"Hi," Kevin said with a grin, rolling his eyes to the side to look at Mark, not shifting his position on the table. "You know, you look good from this angle."

"What's up?" Mark prompted, ignoring the flattery.

"I just wanted to apologize," Kevin told him. Lexie's ears perked up, suddenly wondering if there was actually something wrong. "I was out of line. Whatever makes you happy is good by me, Horns. I wanted to clear the air before this shindig starts, just in case things don't go well." He laughed nervously at the macabre thought.

"Don't start that," Mark instructed firmly. "It will be fine." He didn't want to let Kevin go with just that apology. He really crossed the line. So he didn't absolve him.

"I know, I trust you. But just in case." Mark gave the signal for the anesthesiologist to administer the anesthesia, and Kevin's eyes fluttered closed, the grin melting from his face.

Mark would consider accepting his apology when all this was over. Now was the time for a rhinoplasty.

He took his place next to the table and cracked his neck. Lexie watched him carefully and Alex tapped his foot impatiently. "It's a beautiful day to give this guy a new nose," said Mark ceremoniously, something he had picked up from Derek a while ago. "Let's have some fun."

Mark should have seen it coming: the heart monitor, the one attached to his great friend, hiccupped before it began to beep in a frenzied alarm.