Rogue: Well, here you go. Beware all who enter, I am getting on a roll. Oh, and remember, drunk people say stupid things. That's all I'm going to say.

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Grey's Anatomy or the characters. Yet. I'm placing a bid on eBay at this very moment. I'll let you know.

Do you ever get the feeling that you slept on a hardwood floor? You know, when your neck feels all twisted and your back's stiff? And your heartbeat is throbbing in your head, you can't remember what you did last night or who with, but you know there probably wasn't rational thought involved? Did you ever wake up and find out that you did sleep on a hardwood floor, you did do irrational things, and besides that, you were totally hung-over? Meredith Grey was definitely having that exact feeling about now. And the worst part of the entire thing was, besides the fact that she was completely cold from the chilly wood pressing against her skin, was that the man who'd stolen all the blankets and was curled up next to her was someone she promised was just a fling. Generally flings were one-night stands. Generally you didn't wait for your one-night stand to wake up before going to work.

Of course Mark was her ride to work today so she had a reason for staying. There wasn't really much of a reason for snatching half of the blanket and pulling it over her shivering form except for the fact that she had no idea where her shirt or jeans were. Or her bra. Or her underwear. But that was besides the point. She was sure Mark knew where they were. He just looked so peaceful, sleeping there with the blanket drawn up to his chin. Besides, Meredith didn't really feel like going to work anyway. If she didn't have a ride, and she couldn't get up to use the phone because she didn't know where it was and was naked, she couldn't go to work.

Mark gave a soft murmur, obviously still asleep. Meredith couldn't hide the smile playing across her lips. It was strange, she thought, that he looked so innocent about now. Where was the best friend who had destroyed the Shepherds' marriage? Oh, right, he hadn't really destroyed their marriage. She shook her head forcefully, trying to rid her thoughts of last night. Derek had seemed so...not Derek before.

Meredith had three conclusions about this. It could have been she was overreacting to what had happened. Maybe Derek was being a nice guy and she was just being her usual, emotional breakdown, Meredith Grey self. But she highly doubted that. Maybe in her drunkenness she'd amplified his actions. That was a definite possibility. She did ingest a lot of alcohol last night. Lastly was that Derek was an asshole like everyone and their mother had been telling her from the beginning. Somehow, though, she was banking on one of the first two simply because she didn't think her judgement of men was that far off. Her gaze drifted to the man laying beside her. Or maybe her guy radar was that bad.

Mark was snoring. She chuckled lightly, hugging the blanket closer to her for warmth. Her guy radar might have been out of whack but from what she could remember of last night, and in all honesty she could only remember bits and pieces, the making out had been good. And Meredith hadn't had sex that hot since, well, since Derek. Which was probably why she enjoyed it so much. It was like Derek but not, it was dangerous and risky. They were risking career and social status here. But that was what made it so much fun.

Mark was mumbling. Whatever he was dreaming about must have been intense. His eyelids were flickering wildly, which kind of freaked her out. Meredith rolled over so her back was to him, resting her head on the floor and attempting to fall back asleep, though with the slightly nauseous feeling she had it was slightly hard to do. Again she felt the cold floor against her skin and shivered, wishing she was warmer. Her eyes snapped open when warmth suddenly hit her in the form of Mark Sloan's arms wrapped around her. Even though she was definitely warmer now, Meredith was shivering. His chin was resting on her shoulder, lips very close to her ear.

"Good morning, starshine. The sun says hello." His voice was soft, as if speaking too loudly would ruin the moment. Meredith had tensed at the sudden feeling of security, startled that anyone but Derek could make her feel so safe. But after a moment she relaxed against him, head resting in the crook of his neck.

"Morning," she murmured, voice raspy from lack of use. Meredith yawned widely, not bothering to speak as he began running one hand through her hair. She leaned back against him, amazed at how their bodies fit so well together. It was weird, she thought, that this just seemed to fit perfectly. Too perfectly. Mark had buried his face in her hair by this point and was massaging her shoulders. Meredith gave a reluctant groan to which he perked up, rolling overtop her so he was now lying with her on top of him.

"You smell like lavender," Mark commented with a playful grin. It was the McGrin exactly. Meredith had already been hooked by that. This was a variation of it, the playful McGrin with a side of McLaughter. Okay, the hangover was definitely taking over her thoughts now.

"I always smell like lavender," she replied easily pushing away the fact that Derek, too, noticed this fun fact about Meredith Grey. He didn't respond but simply began planting kisses at any bit of her that he could reach. Mark pressed his lips to her collarbone, all up her neck, one on each cheek. He then pulled back, noting the faint blush dusting her cheeks before pecking her on the forehead and then going in for the kill. He kissed her forcefully, passionately, and she answered back with the same intensity. Their lips were familiar territory now, and with Meredith's unspoken permission, Mark eased his tongue into her mouth, exploring her, tasting her, drinking her in. She gave a pleasured moan and when he pulled back, she put all of her weight into rolling over, so that he was on top of her.

"You smell like hospital," Meredith murmured, staring up at him as he nuzzled her cheek lightly with his own. She pushed him away with mock irritation before beginning to trace light circles along his abs, up his chest, and then tracing his chin. Mark arched an eyebrow in question and she responded with her own deep kiss. It was her turn to explore and taste, to find out just how steamy Doctor Mark Sloan was. Meredith pulled back, her own seductive smile in place. "I like it."

"Yeah? Most girls find the smell of a hospital disturbing."

"I find it sexy." She could detect a small spark just at the root word in her adjective. 'Sex' was definitely on Mark's mind. Meredith wouldn't deny it was on her mind as well. This was the best hangover she'd had in a long time. It was much better to get up early to a steamy make out session then to go in for early morning rounds. In fact, thoughts of the hospital and work were long gone by now. Meredith was completely focused on the here and the now, on Mark and the suggestive glint in his eye.

"You know, as a former dirty mistress I have some pretty sexy moves up my sleeve." Meredith tilted her head slightly to the side. Mark rolled over again, clearly amused with this game of 'who's on the bottom' they were currently playing. He enjoying the put Meredith gave him at being right side up again, though her voice was calm and controlled.

"Yeah? You wanna show me?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He pulled the blanket overtop them and a series of giggles filled the room. "Okay, you go first." She inhaled deeply as if to protest but was cut off by the shrill beeping of a pager. Mark poked his head out of the blanket and glanced about trying to locate the device. It was on the floor about a foot away. Extending his arm to snatch it, he sighed heavily, finding it was Meredith's. He handed it over reluctantly, hoping maybe she'd ignore it. But she was an intern. If she did that without a good excuse, and hot sex with the plastic surgeon was not a good excuse, she might lose her job.

Meredith glanced at the message and groaned in irritation. "I gotta go. Apparently Bailey's got some nice post-op forms for me to fill out." Her tone was serious but she didn't bother getting up and running off to work in a hurry. Instead she drew the blanket closer around her and muttered something about her clothes.

Minutes later she was standing at the door, hair up in a messy bun and looking like she just got hit by a truck. Meredith cast a wary glance over her shoulder as Mark materialized beside her in fresh clothing. At least if they showed up like this, and if one took the elevator and another took the stares, no one would have to know what they were doing last night. The question was, did either of them really care if everyone knew? Obviously the married couple was together. Why couldn't they be?

As they trudged toward the car Meredith mumbled an "I'm sorry," while cursing under her breath. She could've used a pick me up before a long day of work.

GA

"Grey, nice of you to join us," Bailey muttered as Meredith slipped into a patient's room in the middle of George presenting her condition. The four interns stared at Meredith before exchanging various glances. If she caught it right, Izzie was handing Cristina a crisp fifty dollar bill. Silence engulfed the room aside from the slight coughing of the patient, who seemed slight annoyed that attention had slipped from him to a random intern.

"Excuse me," the middle-aged man mumbled catching Doctor Bailey's attention. "I thought we were talking about me here."

"Right. O'Malley!" George flinched slightly, eyes darting up from his shoes. He'd obviously noticed Meredith's condition and wagered she was hung over, just had sex, or both. This was still a slightly odd situation to him, especially since half the time Izzie and Meredith ended up in his bed at night, discussing their various flings and who was the best. "Why'd you stop?"

"Sorry, Doctor Bailey..."

"Don't apologize to me! Apologize to the patient!"

"Sorry, Mr. Gilmore." George cleared his throat loudly and started over. "Gregory Gilmore, 54, presented with dizziness, frequent headaches, and he fainted yesterday..." This was about the point in the presentation when Meredith drifted off to daydream land. She wondered where Mark was, what he was doing, and why the hell she cared. Shaking her head slightly to relieve the overload of thoughts, she began thinking about someone else...about Derek. Where was he? Was he in the on-call room with Addison? She hoped not. Oh, wait. He obviously couldn't be there. He just walked into the room. No one could be in two places at once, not even the amazing Doctor McDreamy.

"Morning, Mr. Gilmore," Derek murmured sounding much more rejuvenated from his last night's activities then Meredith did. She suspected he at least got a cup of coffee, or maybe he got jujued from his wife. She rolled her eyes lightly, still caught up in her rampant thoughts when she glanced up at the sound of quiet, finding all eyes, including Derek's, on her.

"Sorry?" Meredith mumbled, a sheepish smile creeping onto her face.

"Pay attention, Grey," Shepherd responded with, if Meredith had seen right, a wink. She frowned lightly, rubbing her eyes. She had the sneaking suspicion she was seeing things. There was no way Derek Shepherd had just winked at her. Why in the world would he do that? Her heart skipped a beat. Was it because he still cared about her? A lump was forming in her throat. If he did still care did that mean Addison still wanted Mark? She hoped so. A man with that many moves deserved someone.

"You're internally bleeding, Mr. Gilmore." Meredith pulled back into reality at this point, staring from Derek to the patient and back again. He was staring at her again, Derek not the patient. "What do we suspect the cause is? Doctor Grey?" Bailey eyed the pair of them carefully through narrowed eyes. She was obviously trying to piece together the puzzle. If Derek and Addison were still together, why was Shepherd still favoring Grey? The exact same question was running through Meredith's mind.

"Aneurysm."

"Options?"

"Surgery. If the bleeding isn't stopped, he could continue bleeding, the brain will swell, and he'll die." Derek nodded his approval and turned back to Mr. Gilmore, chatting on about the various effects of the surgery. The essential 'every surgery has its risks' speech was going on as Bailey and her interns made to slip out of the room. Derek turned and gave a dull chuckle.

"A major surgery and no interns to help me? Come on, Bailey." Meredith felt her heart speed up. Was he doing what she thought he was doing? If he was...Did that mean? "Doctor Grey, since you answered my question correctly you can assist. Prep him for surgery. I'll see you in the OR." With that Derek Shepherd slipped out of the room after Bailey and the rest of the interns. Cristina lingered for a moment shooting Meredith a glance. She knew that glance. It was the general 'who the hell are you screwing?' sort of look. If Meredith was a betting girl, she'd bet that by lunch there would be bets on which McMan she was going to choose in the end. Hopefully Izzie would have the chance to win her fifty bucks back.

Again Meredith Grey found herself in an overcrowded operating room. Above her in the gallery the rest of Bailey's interns were waiting, watching and exchanging money. Meredith had been right. Cristina was organizing a pull to see which man she would end up with at the end of the day. Shaking her head slowly she turned her attention back to the man with the open skull cap on the table. Doctor Shepherd did great work, obviously. He'd removed the aneurysm flawlessly and managed to stop the bleeding. With any luck the bleeding would stop and Mr. Gilmore would be up and walking in a few weeks.

"All right, Bailey, close him up for me will you? I've got another patient to check up on." Yes, Miranda Bailey had slipped into the operating room, Meredith thought not to observe the surgery but to spy on her and McDreamy. Now, really, what were they really going to do in the OR? She supposed it was to make sure Derek didn't let her run the procedure herself. Yeah, right. Like that would happen. Meredith caught Derek's gaze as he exited the room. Meredith watched as he scrubbed his hands and left the scrub room. She turned her attention back to Bailey, who was sewing up the patient's head.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, her pager went off. Scrambling for it, she frowned, pulling at her mask and vanishing into the scrub room. She quickly discarded of her surgical wear and washed her hands. The message was from Derek, she thought, and it said 'on-call room'. She suspected he meant the same one she'd found him and Addison in, which while completely disgusting to think about Meredith kept moving forward. When she passed Derek in the hallway going in the complete opposite direction, she halted instantly, turning on her heel and following him. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself," he replied in a mock annoyed tone. "What's up?"

"Did you page me...?" Derek frowned deeply, wrinkles etched onto his face.

"Why would I page you? I'm checking on a patient." Meredith felt her stomach drop. If Derek hadn't paged her that left only one option. Well, one option if Alex wasn't planning on sleeping with every woman in the hospital before the year was over at least. Mark had paged her in the middle of the day asking to meet her in the on-call room? This one-night stand was suddenly getting very complicated.

Meredith continued walking in step with him, though, because she wanted more then anything for her McDreamy to want her back. This mixed up, sleep-with-a-new-guy-every-night thing was starting to get very old very fast. She just wanted her damn McLife back! Derek seemed to understand slightly, however, and steered himself into a nearby supply closet. Meredith hovered awkwardly outside of it for a moment before impulse took over and she slid inside after him. "I was hoping you'd follow me after I said I needed to check on a patient."

Meredith blinked. She'd been right? "You did." It was a statement, not a question. Derek was sitting on a crate. It was very strange hovering over him like this. She slid down the wall to sit next to him, arms locked around her knees. Her eyes jammed shut as a precaution. She had no idea what was coming. She knew what she wanted to be coming, but she didn't know if Derek wanted the same thing she did.

"I did." It was amazing how calm his voice was. He sounded much more Derek-like today then he had last night. She supposed he'd taken some of that anti-hangover medicine with his coffee this morning. His eyes were sad, sunken in behind large bags. Apparently he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Meredith briefly wondered if he had been up playing with his wife all night or if he was actually thinking. "I'm sorry. About last night." He half-expected her to bite his head off; after all she had said not to say sorry.

But Meredith heard the twinge of regret in his voice. What was he regretting? Was Derek regretting ever getting involved with her? Or was he regretting hurting her? Maybe he was regretting postponing the divorce? "Okay...Care to expand?"

"I never meant to hurt you, Meredith. I didn't mean to...I just..." Derek inhaled deeply, palming his head. "I thought maybe if I gave it one last chance our marriage could work. But marriage isn't just about hot sex in the on-call room. If it was you and I would be married and have three kids by now." Meredith couldn't hide her gasp. This made him smile lightly. He seemed more relaxed at least. "I loved Addison once. Now I'm just trying to make something work that wasn't meant to. I don't think it'll ever be like it was before...And I was drunk last night. Really drunk...I didn't know what I was saying."

"Derek...what are you saying?" Meredith was slightly surprised when he stood and flicked the light switch off. After a few moments the only sound that could be heard in the pitch-black on-call room was the heavy breathing of two people, two people who were totally in sync.

"I'm saying I'm sorry."