A/N: omg thank you for everyone who encouraged me ;u; it means a lot

Meredith had woken up in the on-call room. It had been 3 weeks since she had started again on her internship, and things were relatively normal. She cycled through the different Attendings, each of them treating her as any other intern. The exception was Derek. He was snappier than he needed to be, and often wouldn't answer her questions in as much depth as he would with other interns. Mark gave her a little special treatment when it came to interesting surgeries and procedures, but other than that he was a very good teacher.

Nothing else had happened between Meredith and Mark since the day she had come back to Seattle-Grace. Everyone was surprised with this, even Meredith herself. She wondered why Mark hadn't made a move for a while, but she realized that he didn't want to push her and wanted Meredith to make the next play.

Meredith was unsure what she wanted. No one could doubt that they were extremely attracted to each other, but the thought of whether or not she wanted Mark in the life of the baby raised a whole other set of questions. Some people's opinions on the matter were obvious.

"Well isn't this obvious?" Cristina said a few days ago, lying back down on the locker room benches. She rolled her eyes, prior to answering Meredith's question. "McSteamy is bad news. Don't you remember the whole Mark and Addison thing? He isn't exactly loyal is he?" She looked up to see Meredith's confused face.

"Cristina, I kinda disagree. No offense," began George, brushing his hand through his hair. "I think that Mark actually seems like he really likes Meredith, and is invested in the baby." He paused to see Meredith's expression, which was a mix between relief and concentration. "I say go for it. What's better for the baby than his two parents together?"

Izzy nodded. "Yeah I agree with the second part, but I also agree with Cristina. I don't know if Mark has ever had a stable relationship before."

Meredith wrung her hands in her lap, looking at all three of them. "No offense, but all you did was make me even more confused. Boys are stupid."

"Agreed," said Cristina.

Thinking about that conversation brought back the confusing feelings and doubts. Sometimes she wanted to just go up to Mark and kiss him, but other times she wished she could disconnect herself completely. Looking to the left, Meredith saw Mark standing near the table talking to the nurses. They looked flattered, and Mere couldn't help but wonder if he was flirting.

He wouldn't do that… he couldn't! Meredith thought, looking in disdain at the group. She realized that for the first time in a while, she was jealous. She was jealous of the simple idea that Mark may be flirting with them. It wasn't even that likely, but it still made her want to stop to him and pull him away.

Instead she forced herself to be calm. She stepped forward a few feet so she was just behind him. She overheard them talking about a patient's charts. Meredith felt a little guilty that she doubted McSteamy, but couldn't help but want him away from them. She tapped lightly on his shoulder.

"Doctor Sloan, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but Doctor Bailey said she needed you urgently in research room B!" Meredith put a fake expression of stress on her face. "Quickly please," she added, as he didn't move.

Mark looked a little worried, and walked ahead of Meredith to the research room he didn't know was empty. She followed closely behind him. As they neared the room, she wondered what she was even planning to tell him. For once, not knowing didn't bother her.

They approached the doors, and as they both slipped in, Mark couldn't even say anything before she turned around and pressed him into the wall, kissing him passionately. Meredith couldn't believe this was happening. She also couldn't believe that she had spent so long denying herself Mark. She really wanted to be with him, why didn't she notice it sooner?

Mark moved his hands from her waist to her face, cupping her head gently in his palms. He was gentle and sweet, but pulled away after one kiss. Meredith looked confused and glanced at his face for an explanation. "I don't want to keep meeting like this," he paused and smirked. "Not that I don't enjoy these… very professional…" he paused to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, "meetings. But I still want to go on a real date."

"I think that would be really nice," Meredith beamed, rustling her hand through the back of his hair. Mark looked genuinely surprised that she was so ready for a real date. It was too shocking that Meredith would be so willing to commit to something.

"How about after work, we go somewhere absolutely awesome?" Mark offered, a boyish smile working its way to his lips. "But the catch is, you don't get to know what it is." Seeing Meredith beginning to protest he added, "I promise it won't be too fancy. You could wear your work clothes. Or nothing at all," he subtly winked, and Meredith pushed him playfully in response.

"Fine, it's a deal. But on one condition: you have to promise there will be food. I'm going to be starving, and I don't want to be grumpy the whole date."

"Honestly just hearing you actually call it a date is good enough for me," Mark admitted and opened the door. Meredith laughed then looked up, seeing Cristina, George, Izzy and Alex all listening carefully at the door. They looked embarrassed at being caught, and the crew scurried off hectically.

"And I think that's our cue to part ways," Meredith said, tying her hair up behind her hair, trying to brush through it with her fingers. "But then again, if you are serious about this date, then I suppose I'll see you then."

"Well I guess that's it then," he smiled and pulled her against his chest.

"Not quite," Meredith pushed away. "I think that you're going to have to spend more time with my friends." She wanted Mark to get to know them, that way when the baby came maybe it wouldn't be so awkward.

"I do spend time with them! I have one on my service every day," Mark denied, looking confused at the request.

"I meant out of the hospital. We'll talk more about this later, but right now I gotta go. I have to do some paperwork for Bailey. You know how she gets…" Meredith trailed off.

"Yeah of course," Meredith started to walk away. "Oh, and Mere," she turned around to see what he wanted. "I think that showing up in your birthday suit is the best idea of all."