Hi everybody! Sorry I didn't get a chance to update yesterday, but I was stuck on airplanes the whole day. But now I am home, and the updates can continue uninterrupted now that the holidays are over until Wednesday. Anywho, this is a much more introspective chapter than I normally write, but I couldn't seem to help myself. Oh, also, I want to clarify something. Mark's vulnerability in previous chapters is strictly with Lexie. By no means is he becoming like that with anyone else. He is still an ass in all other situations. I wanted to portray it this way because I was going off what Eric Dane said about Mark. The idea that if a woman ever loved him he would turn into a lapdog (or something like that). Sorry, for the ramble! Enjoy!

*

As the months passed by, Mark and Lexie found themselves developing a routine that would fit none but them. Initially, they tried hard to make time for each other outside of work. But conflicting schedules caused them to become like two ships passing in the night, only coming together in the wee hours of the morning for a quick round of sex and then sleep curled up together. This lasted for two weeks when Lexie put her foot down.

"I have had it!" She yelled, slamming her bag down on the floor by her bedside table. Their apartment was fully furnished now, with furniture and knickknacks in every room.

Mark shot up from the bed, where he had fallen asleep while trying to read a magazine and stay up to see Lexie. "What the hell?" He asked, his voice scratchy from sleep.

"I can't take this anymore," Lexie said. "We never see each other."

Mark rubbed his hand over his face. "It's just because you are an intern. Things will change in a few months."

"I can't wait that long," Lexie moaned. She sat down on the bed, her shoulders slumping. "I want to spend time with you, Mark. Our lives should never be so crazy that we don't have time for each other." She started to cry. "What if you forget about me?"

Mark chuckled and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "That could never happen, Lexie Grey. You're my hot intern, remember?" He then whispered, "You're also the woman I love. Forgetting about you? Not gonna happen."

"Still," Lexie said. "Something has to give, Mark."

Mark kissed her, and then the next day he went in to see Richard with her. Politely, he asked if the Chief would let them have the same days off so that they could continue to "keep their relationship out of the hospital". His voice seemed deferring, but Richard narrowed his eyes anyway.

"You two," He said, looking at them like a suspicious father, "I have been watching you two…making sure any and all funny business stays out of my hospital. So far, I must admit, I have been impressed."

Mark and Lexie smiled at each other.

"But," Richard said emphatically, "If I am supposed to pretend I don't know what is going on with the two of you, there sure as hell better be nothing for me to know about. I don't want you two in my office again for anything about your…situation. I will let the Chief Resident know about the special situation, Dr. Grey, and Dr. Sloan you are free to start making your own schedule."

Lexie looked at the Chief hesitantly. "You're not going to tell Dr. Bailey why my schedule is changing, are you?"

Richard pointed to the door. "Out!"

As they scurried out, Lexie could swear that she heard him muttering, "All other attendings keep their relationships out of work, but not here, no! ... I feel like I am running a damn dating service sometimes."

After that, things changed dramatically for Lexie and Mark. Lexie got off at reasonable times in the evenings, and they had their days off together. Once that occurred, they started devoting their days off to only each other. No hospital, no friends, just them. Sometimes they would go out, and sometimes they would stay in, but it was always just about being together.

Mark marveled at how things had changed. He had never really given much thought to the after in relationships. He had known he wanted to be that guy for Lexie, and he had been shocked and humbled when he realized that he loved her and that she returned the emotion, but his grand plans had kinda stopped there. He had never considered the next part. Never could he have known that saying 'I love you' was only the beginning. To his amazement, he had only been in the first stages of love. Now, things were so utterly different.

He didn't just love her, he was in love with her.

His love for her had deepened to such a point that he could hardly remember what it had been like before she stepped into his life. All of the many women who had come before her faded, and became almost like distant memories of another life and another time.

Of another man.

Mark could never have believed that he had much to learn about women, or love, but he had been so wrong. All he knew, all he had believed, Lexie tore down and showed him what he was missing. And all her patience, all her affection, all her love, only made him more and more in love with her. It was so strange to go to the hospital and to talk to Derek, and realize that his best friend in the whole world had no idea who he was anymore. That guy, the one who Derek saw him as, he simply didn't exist anymore.

Sure, he was still an ass. He harassed the interns, and he snapped at the residents when they interfered with his surgeries. But he was so much more than that now. There was so much more to him, more than even he could have known.

And it was all because of her.

The one he had almost let get away.

When Mark thought about it, he wondered what would have happened if he had swept her up the moment she came to Seattle Grace. All those wasted months ate at him now as he thought about all he had missed. All those smiles and tears which she had shared with others, all of those amazing turns of her mind, and all those nights she had slept without him. He only wished that he had known sooner.

That he had known this kind of happiness was possible.

For Lexie it was different though. For her, it wasn't about the utter happiness she was feeling, nor for the wonderful man she was slowly uncovering, but rather it was this sense that something had brought her to this place. Though Mark had shot down the idea, Lexie still believed that this was part of some greater plan. There was simply no other explanation.

It was just too perfect. They fit each other too well. Fate had to have had a part in bringing them together. Lexie believed that there was a reason she met him when she had.

It was her mother.

That was what Lexie believed. When she had a chance to think about it, Lexie realized that the signs were there all along. Something, or someone, had been pushing her towards Mark Sloan from the beginning of her internship. The fact that she was always assigned to his service; the fact that while she was shy with other men, her tongue hadn't frozen up when talking to Mark; the fact that he had seen her, when no other man did; the fact that she met him when he was finally ready for a real relationship; the fact that he came along exactly when she needed him.

She had been meant for Mark Sloan, and it was her mother who had made her realize it.

Lexie had never told anyone, but she had almost not come to Seattle Grace. Everyone knew she was supposed to intern at Mass. General, but few knew that she had still meant to take it, even after her mother died. She had been all set to tell Molly that she was on her own. She had even picked up the phone to make her reservation to return to Massachusetts after the funeral, but something had stopped her. A feeling of calm had come over her, and she had put down the phone.

Yes, something had stopped her. Something, or someone. The only way Lexie could make sense of her own life was to believe that it had been her mother. Her mother, guiding her to this man. Sure she had made mistakes along the way, Alex and George, but she had ended up in the right spot.

With the right man.

Mark Sloan was her Mr. Right. Who would have thought?

The others didn't see it. Sadie only wanted to know about the sex, and would then launch into a description of the torrid relationship she shared with Torres. Callie would nod at her in the elevators, or occasionally let her set a really cool bone, but she seemed to see Lexie as a scientific experiment that Mark was conducting.

They didn't understand.

None of them could see that this wasn't like the rest of the times. Perhaps if Derek knew, or if Lexie had a close girlfriend who knew her, the changes would be obvious to them.

Because the changes seemed glaring to Lexie.

She was different; he was different.

They were different.

Two months after they moved in together, Lexie came home to find Mark curled up on the bed. But this time, she wasn't mad that he had fallen asleep. This time, she stripped her clothes off and settled his naked body against her own. She ran her hands over his skin, waking him in a most effective manner.

"Mmmm," he said, as he slowly opened his eyes, "Don't stop."

"I don't intend to," Lexie said huskily.

"God, I love your hands," Mark murmured. "I don't know how, but they always know the exact right place to…touch." His breath hissed out as she wrapped her small hand around his hardness.

"You were saying?" She whispered.

"No more talking," Mark said, as he rolled on top of her and began to torment her the way she did him.

After, when they were laying together, their bodies touching as Mark remained inside of her, he whispered, "I missed you today."

Lexie laughed. "What do you mean? We were on the same case!"

"Yes, but it wasn't the same," Mark said. "The case was too interesting and Yang was hovering. I wanted you all to myself to tell you what a good job I thought you were doing, and how impressed I was with the way you closed at the end of the procedure." Mark kissed the corner of her mouth. "You can't be my Lexie at the hospital."

"I am always your Lexie," she said, her mouth curling into a loving smile. "At home, in the hospital, at Joe's, everywhere. I'll always be your Lexie."

"Always? You can't know that," Mark murmured into her hair.

"I can," Lexie responded. "I could never imagine being anyone else's Lexie. I love you." Her eyes were so full of gentle sincerity that Mark almost felt like crying. He hardly recognized himself in her arms.

"God, I love you," he rasped. "You're everything, Lex. Just everything."

"Mark," she moaned as he kissed her again. "Show me how much. Show me how you feel."

His hands were trembling as he ran them over her body. As if he was nervous that he wouldn't please her. It was amazing that Mark Sloan had that vulnerability, but with Lexie he did. He wanted to make everything good for her, and no matter how many times she moaned in his arms, it wasn't good enough. He wanted to make her incoherent with pleasure every time he took her to bed. Mark knew it was silly, but it was only in bed that his old insecurities popped up. No matter how many times that she told him she loved him, Mark was trying to ruin her for any other man. To make it so that she would never be able to even contemplate the idea of sex with someone else.

He needn't have worried, Lexie only wanted him, but Mark didn't want to risk it. She was the only thing that mattered, and he would do anything to keep her.

He dragged his lips across her skin, working his way down her body until he reached the dark curls at the apex of her thighs. With his fingers, he parted her delicate lips and began to worship her with his mouth. Lexie fingers secured themselves in his hair, as she tried to both push him away and hold him in place.

Mark loved the sounds she made when she was about to come.

But he would never give her release like that. He would only ever push her over that final edge when he was in her body. Deep within his mind, Mark probably knew that it was manipulative, but he couldn't seem to help it.

He wanted her to crave him, the way he did her.

Little did he know the very extent to which she desired and wanted him. He couldn't have even imagined.

When they finally came together, Mark collapsed on top of her and kissed away the tears that had fallen down Lexie's cheeks when she climaxed. That was probably one of his favorite parts about her, Mark thought; she couldn't hide what she felt.

Lexie was always free with her feelings.

And for her part, Lexie savored every moment that Mark desperately tried to please her. She knew what he was doing, but she let him do it anyway. Lexie knew that Mark would have to let go of his fears of abandonment on his own. She couldn't fix that for him.

But the very fact that he was desperate to keep her told Lexie that she was not alone in her mad love. That this love was shared, and its power equally binding.

That Mark too feared it would be taken away from them.

But though they feared, though they were afraid, neither of them held anything back.

It was only with each other that they could truly be themselves.

As she fell asleep in his arms, Lexie thought to herself that she was right.

This was different.

They were different.

*

Review please!