I loved Mark's scenes in the premiere. They inspired me to write this chapter. I'm sure you know what scene exactly when you read it. So if anyone of you actually likes Jackson … you might wanna skip the scene. :D

Okay, let's just assume for my story that Lexie is still living in Meredith's attic. Oh and the M-version of this chapter is already up. So you can decide which version you want to read. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: The attic

"Then I'll see you later. Hopefully." Mark stood in front of Lexie brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I hope so too. But it's a crazy day." Lexie replied.

"I know." Mark gave her a quick peck on the lips but when Lexie opened her lips he couldn't resist to deepen the kiss. Only the fact that they were standing in the middle of the hospital prevented him from kissing her more hungrily. "I have to go before I'm not able to leave you."

"I wouldn't complain. You know, there is an on call room right around the corner." Lexie smirked mischievously.

"Very tempting. But I have surgery in twenty minutes and that's definitely not enough time." Mark sighed clearly disappointed wrapping his arms around her.

"Are you sure? It's enough time for a quickie against the wall." Lexie deadpanned.

"You are evil!" Mark growled.

"Does it work?" Lexie smiled up at him.

"No." Mark let her out of his arms and stepped away one step. "As much as I really want to right now, it's not gonna happen." Taking a step towards her again he whispered into her ear. "I want to make you squirm and that needs definitely some time."

"That sounds interesting. I will certainly take you up on this promise." Lexie stated.

"It will be my pleasure."

Mark turned around and walked away but Lexie remained in the exact same spot following Mark with her eyes until he rounded the corner.

"I see you jumped your ex right away." Hearing Jackson's voice behind her sputtering out this venom sparked her anger. She was already cranky because she hadn't seen Mark much the last days due to both of their crazy work schedules and that was just the last straw.

"Jackson, shut up." Lexie swirled around facing her ex.

"What? You know that's seriously pathetic! Do you really need it that much that you can't live without sex for a few days?" Jackson mocked.

"You have absolutely no right to talk to me like that. You know nothing about me. Do you hear me? Nothing. You were always the rebound guy. I never loved you." Lexie spat out.

"So you went back to the man who impregnates every woman that comes along?" Jackson asked angrily.

"You are in no position to judge him." Lexie inhaled a deep breath trying to stay fairly calm but failed. "And you are one to talk. Mark told me that he sent you to talk to me and gave you the suggestion to take peanut butter cups with you."

"Yeah. Strange, right?"

"Strange?" Lexie huffed furiously. "You can be glad that I don't have the strength to really hurt you. Because believe me if I could I would beat you to a weeping pulp right now. But wait I can ask Mark to do it. I'm sure he would love to do me the favor. Do you know that he fought with Derek because of me? You would stand no chance. So get out of my way. I don't want to talk to you. You took advantage of me when I was the most vulnerable and what makes me really angry is that I let you. You know what? You are right. I am pathetic. It's pathetic that I ever slept with you. You are nothing compared to him. Do you hear me? Nothing." Lexie stormed away leaving a totally baffled Jackson behind.

~M&L~

Returning from an emergency call at three a.m. in the morning Derek found Mark on their doorstep.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked him curiously.

"I …. I don't know." Mark rubbed his hands tiredly over his face.

"It's three o'clock in the morning!" Derek stated.

"I know." Mark answered quietly.

"You are very talkative." Derek stated sarcastically but Mark remained silent. "Is there the slightest chance that I will get a response that actually makes any sense?"

"I don't think so." Mark fixed his gaze on a bush behind Derek.

"You know that you are way beyond any help." Derek joked.

"I know."

"Are you aware that you are acting totally sappy?" Derek looked down at Mark amused by the state his best friend was in right now.

"Maybe."

"Come on. I'm sure Lexie doesn't mind when you crawl into bed with her." Derek put one hand under Mark's shoulder to pull him up.

"Not sure about that." Mark replied but stood up and followed Derek into the house.

Going upstairs he stopped shortly in front of Lexie's room before he carefully opened the door and slipped inside. Moonlight was streaming through the curtains illuminating Lexie's body under the sheets. Mark took of all his clothes except of his boxers and lifted the blanket climbing into bed with her. For several minutes he was just content to watch her face until he couldn't resist anymore and trailed a finger along her hairline down her cheek to her lips. Lexie awoke with a start staring confused up to him.

"I'm sorry that I woke you up." Mark whispered.

"Mark? What are you doing here?" Lexie asked still half asleep.

"I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too." Lexie snuggled into his embrace and inhaled deeply. It was just something about Mark's scent. Something soothing. Something comforting. She never felt more safe as when she was in his arms.

"I mean not just today. I still can't believe that I can touch you again. Every time I want to. I thought that I've lost you forever, Lexie. That I will never be able to hold you in my arms again. It ..." Mark gulped hard before he was able to continue. Losing her was still too fresh in his mind. "It was hard, Lexie. Really hard. I love you. You know that."

Lexie nodded unable to say anything around the big lump in her throat. She loved him so much and still she hurt him so much either.

"You are the love of my life. I can exist without you but I can't live without you. Without you my life is just a meaningless series of days. Lexie, I ..." When Mark didn't continue Lexie raised her head and looked up into his face.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. For everything." Lexie needed all her strength to restrain herself from asking but she felt that Mark had to get it out without any interruption from her side. So she only took his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers. "Sleeping with Addison. Sleeping with Callie. I shouldn't have done it but it happened and I can't change it anymore. I just want you to know that I'm well aware how much I hurt you. I knew the minute Callie told me that she is pregnant that I would lose you. That you would never be able to love me and stay with me after hearing it. But a small part of me still hoped that you would at least give it a try. But you left. That was what hurt the most, Lex. That you could just walk away from us without looking back. You just told me that you love me. Was I not worth fighting for?"

During his whole speech Mark looked up to the ceiling not able to tell Lexie all of it if he had watched her face. When he now looked at her he was shocked to see the tears that was streaming silently down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Mark. I love you. More than you can imagine. I'm in love with you. I put you through hell. I'm sorry. Sorry for sleeping with Alex. Sorry for sleeping with Jackson. Just so you know. I never loved them. I just needed them. I felt so lonely without you. But you never asked my opinion. Not with Sloan not with Callie's pregnancy. We were supposed to be in a relationship. It seemed that it didn't matter what I was feeling what I had to say about it. That's not how relationships work, Mark."

"I know. I have to believe that we can make it work this time, Lexie. Apparently we can't live without each other so we need to talk about our problems in the future. No unilateral decisions from now on. No running away." Mark brushed tenderly the tears away pulling her down to kiss her softly. Releasing her he caressed her cheek and asked quietly. "Okay?"

"Okay. But there is still something I need to know." Lexie turned her face and kissed his palm briefly before she lay her intertwined hands on his chest.

"Shoot."

"Why are you still here? Why did you take me back? I expected that you would move on. Why didn't you?"

"Easy to answer. Because I love you, Alexandra Grey. I think I already fell in love with you when you stood in my hotel room and took of your clothes. Asking me to teach you. Did you have any idea how hard I tried to not think about you? I fought against my feelings for weeks before that. You were always on my mind."

"Really?" Lexie smiled shakily.

"Really! And then you were standing right in front of me asking me if you are that bad. Seriously, Lexie? You waltzed into my room and took off all your clothes begging me to take you. How could I resist?"

"I didn't beg you."

"No, of course not. No begging involved. Are you kidding? It was exactly like that. I would want to say that you didn't know better but you did. You knew exactly what effect you would have on me. After all I'm a man."

Lexie smirked mischievously .

"Did you really think I hadn't planned to seduce you that night? There was this gossip around the hospital about you and your abilities in bed. And well, I was curious. I wanted to see if there was any truth behind the rumors."

"And I showed you the truth." Mark stated smugly.

"Oh yeah! Over and over again." Lexie sighed.

"Should I show you again?"

"Yes, I would very much appreciate it." Lexie murmured.

Lexie shrieked in surprise when Mark rolled them both around so that she was trapped under his body.

"I remember I promised you squirming this morning." Mark whispered hoarsely.

"I didn't forget it."

"So, … are you ready?"

"Can't wait."

"Then let's get started."