Where has the time gone? It's already over two weeks ago since I last updated ? Sorry for the delay. This chapter was fun to write. Especially the first part. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it. :D

Chapter 11: Only one way to find out

Cristina almost ran into Meredith when she rounded the corner, shoving chips into her mouth to make up for the breakfast she hadn't had the time to eat this morning. Meredith didn't even greet her but stared intently in the opposite direction.

"Something interesting over there?" Cristina mumbled around another handful of chips.

"Lexie! Something is different. Don't you think?" Meredith replied, wrinkling her nose when she saw Cristina shoving more chips into her mouth.

Cristina looked over to Lexie and studied her for about a minute before she turned around with a smug grin on her face.

"I know what happened."

"You do? How? What?" Meredith asked curiously.

"Follow me." Cristina grabbed her arm and started to walk towards Lexie. When they stopped two steps behind her, Cristina shouted without any preamble. "Grey, admit it." Lexie jumped up in surprise and looked at Cristina and her sister quizzically, totally clueless what Cristina was talking about.

"Admit what?"

"You know that I have some experiences in this department myself. I saw you wincing and I bet your thigh muscles are extremely sore. I know where this comes from." Cristina smirked knowingly.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Lexie replied nonchalantly, hoping that Cristina wouldn't blurt it out in front of everyone. But she should have known better. Seeing the mischievous grin on Cristina's face, she prepared herself for the inevitable.

"Judging by the way you are walking and the dreamy look on your face … you had sex. More precisely. You had wall sex. And I assume it was with Mark, right?" Cristina told her triumphantly and Lexie couldn't prevent the blush rising on her face. Meredith's jaw dropped down and she watched astounded her sister's clear uncomfortableness that made it quite obvious that Cristina's guess was accurate.

"What? You had sex with Mark?" Meredith exclaimed incredulously. "Wait a sec. You had sex? With Mark?"

Lexie already opened her mouth before Meredith held up a hand to stop her.

"Of course with Mark. As if you would sleep with anyone else. But didn't you intend to leave tomorrow? What was it? Pity sex?"

The redness in Lexie's cheeks deepened even further when she saw that everyone within earshot stopped what they were doing. As if this hospital needed another rumor about McSteamy. Nonetheless she couldn't avoid that a big smile appeared on her face when she realized that Mark and she would create a lot more rumors in the near future. Now that they were back together again.

Waiting for an answer, Meredith studied her sister intently. She hadn't seen Lexie that happy in a very long time. The last time she looked that happy was the day before Mark's accident and suddenly she knew why Lexie smiled like crazy.

"He remembers you again!" Lexie's smile broadened even further and she nodded silently. Meredith took a step forward and hugged her tightly. "I'm so happy for you, Lexie."

Cristina rolled her eyes, waiting impatiently until Meredith released Lexie out of her grip, interrupting the emotional moment before Meredith or Lexie could start crying.

"Yeah, we all are. But much more important is ... how was it?"

"What do you mean?" Lexie asked, blinking away the tears.

"Did you get some good sex bruises?"

"Oh yeah!" Lexie replied dreamily, rubbing her ass absently.

"Ahemm, don't want to hear more about it. Just keep it to yourself. It's enough that I know that Mark is McSteamy I can imagine the rest. Very vividly." Meredith said dryly.

"What's all the commotion about?" Alex asked, suddenly emerging out of the crowd that was still gathered around them.

"We were talking about wall sex." Cristina enlightened him and Alex already wanted to ask who got lucky when his gaze fell upon Lexie.

"Sloan was banging her against the wall?" Alex pointed knowingly in Lexie's direction.

"Alex!" Lexie shouted angrily, turning bright red.

"What? You are the one who gave it away. You blushed when Christina said wall sex and of course you wouldn't jump someone else than Sloan."

"That doesn't mean you have to shout it through the whole hospital." Lexie hissed through gritted teeth.

"Come on, Lexie. Let them have some fun too. You just gave them enough to talk about for the next two weeks. Not to mention that they are all going to imagine you two against the wall."

"It can't get anymore embarrassing, can it?" Lexie said exasperatedly. "You know what? I'm leaving."

"For another round?" Cristina shouted after her and Lexie felt the urge to flip her off before she realized that another round actually seemed to be a great idea. So she turned around and grinned back at Meredith, Cristina and Alex.

"You betcha! Just have to find him and drag him home. The kitchen counter might be a good idea."

~M&L~

Derek leaned against the doorframe of Mark's office and watched Mark looking absently out of his window. Clearing his throat to get Mark's attention, he stepped into the office and walked over to Mark's desk.

"You look ..." Derek paused briefly to study him carefully when Mark turned around to face him. " ... happy? What happened?"

"I remember, Derek." Mark replied cheerfully.

"Really? That's terrific, Mark. Does Lexie already know?"

"Oh yeah, she does." Mark told him in a voice that definitely sounded as if there was more to the story than these simple words suggested.

"That sounded dirty."

"Well, it was dirty." Mark smiled broadly. "Maybe I should pin a badge against the wall. 'Here were Mark and Lexie, October 2011`. Well, actually I should write 'Here was Lexie's ass`. That would be more accurate."

"Unbelievable. You two are incorrigible. You remember her and the first thing the two of you are doing is jumping each other?" Derek shook his head in disbelief.

"We were never able to keep our hands from each other. Especially after a fight. She had just told me that she wanted to leave me. I was a little traumatized." Mark deadpanned, though Derek could see that he had to suppress the laughter.

"Traumatized? I see. So you needed special care?"

"Exactly." Mark's smile was infectious and Derek smiled back at him. It was good to see his best friend smiling like that again.

"I'm happy for you two. After everything you two have been through you deserve to be happy."

"Thank you, Derek."

Suddenly Mark's phone chirped with an incoming text message. The moment he read the message a big smile erupted on his face, making Derek wonder what the text message was about. Mark stood up abruptly, took off his lab coat and grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his seat not bothering to change out of his scrubs.

"I'm done with my surgeries for today, Derek. Can you tell Karev that he should check on my patients before he goes home?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"I have a meeting."

"With whom?" Derek asked suspiciously, cursing himself for asking when he saw the smug grin on Mark's face. He was sure that he didn't want to hear the answer.

"With Lexie." Mark was almost out of the door when he turned around and added. "And the kitchen counter."

~M&L~

Two months later

Derek entered Mark's office, finding him rummaging through the drawers of his desk with a concerned look on his face

"I could have sworn that it's here. I looked everywhere in the apartment and it was nowhere. So it has to be here." Half of the contents of the drawers were spread out over the floor. It looked as if Mark's office had been hit by a bomb.

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked, widening his eyes in surprise when Mark lost his patience and just turned a drawer over so that everything fell onto the floor.

"The engagement ring. It has to be here. Somewhere."

"Aehmm ... Mark?"

"What?" Mark asked him, slightly angry that Derek distracted him from his search.

"I have to tell you something."

"Can it wait? I'm a little busy right now." Mark said impatiently.

"Actually, it's about the ring." Mark immediately stopped searching and looked up at Derek disbelievingly.

"You know where it is?"

"Not exactly. But I know who has it." Derek admitted quietly.

"Who?" When Derek didn't answer immediately, Mark took a step in his direction and demanded with more urgency in his voice. "Spit it out."

"Lexie." Derek replied.

"Lexie?" Mark asked totally baffled. "How did that happen?"

"You had it with you when you had the car accident. At first I withheld it from Lexie. But you've should have seen her, Mark. She was devastated. Meredith and I thought that it might help her to know that you wanted to propose. And it did. Help her, I mean." Derek hoped that Mark wouldn't explode into his face. After all he gave the ring to Lexie with good intent.

"So she has the ring now?" Mark asked calmly, maybe too calmly.

"Yes." Derek replied, still nervous how Mark would react.

"So why didn't she say anything? Do you think she doesn't want to tell me because she doesn't want to marry me?"

"I don't think so. She told me that she would have said yes if you had asked her." Derek assured him.

"She would have said yes?" Mark asked excitedly before his smile faltered. "But that makes no sense. Why on earth didn't she tell me that she knows about the ring then?"

"If you want an answer you have to ask her."

"What if she's changed her mind?"

"Only one way to find out."

~M&L~

"When are you going to tell him about the ring?" Meredith asked Lexie out of the blue while they both were sitting at the kitchen table. Meredith had invited her over for breakfast because they hardly saw each other anymore since Lexie moved back in with Mark.

"Never?" Lexie replied without looking up at her sister.

"Why?" Meredith didn't understand why Lexie hadn't told Mark yet.

"He obviously doesn't remember that he bought it. Derek told me that Mark never asked him about it after his memories were back. If I tell him ... Wouldn't I kind of pressure him into asking me?" Lexie finally looked up and Meredith could see the brief flash of fear crossing her eyes.

"Hmmm ... I get your point. But the more important question is ... Do you still want to marry him?" Meredith asked the only thing that really mattered. Lexie stared at her for a few seconds before she nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"So why not ask him?"

"You mean, I should propose to him?" Lexie asked her, slightly shocked.

"We live in the twenty-first century, Lexie. Do you really wanna waste precious time only because you are too much of a coward? Derek told me that Mark was also scared to ask you because he feared that you might reject him." Meredith looked Lexie directly in the eyes before she closed in for the kill. Some people just needed a little push in the right direction. "You almost lost him, Lexie. Never forget that. I say go for it. Propose to him."

"Okay, you are right." Lexie replied determined. "But how should I propose?"

"No idea. But we'll come up with something epic."

"Wait! I already have an idea. But I need your help. And Derek's." Lexie stated excitedly.

"No problem. We're in. So what have you in mind?"

Not really a cliffhanger, right? Not by my standards anyway. Not dramatic enough. LOL. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Can you believe that I hadn't intended to even hint at smut in this chapter? Well, Lexie and Mark had other plans. LOL. And yes, of course I couldn't resist to write the scene on the kitchen counter. So go to the M-section if you want to read it. :D