Not the best chapter, but I really wanted to get a chapter out before I go back to work on Monday. Thank you for all of your lovely comments, they mean the world to me.

Then

In the beginning, she fights so hard to stay away from him.

She begins her internship with no trouble at all. She's mostly a model student - other than the trips to the bar across the street after every shift with Cristina and accidentally insulting her resident, Dr. Merlyn, on her first day. As a result she pretty much spends every shift in the pit rather than the O.R, but she's good at this whole doctor thing despite her mother saying that she would drop out in her first year of med school.

It's where she first meets him, in the pit. She's covered in blood and vomit thanks to her patient and she wants nothing more than to get a shower, but Delfino is eyeing her patient like a piece of meat and there's no way she's giving up this case, especially to Mike Delfino. Of course Dr. Merlyn takes one disgusted look at her (she's pretty sure that it's mostly because of the puke rather than his hatred of her) and tells her to go and change and meet him in the O.R. Meredith spins around in a flurry of excitement, trips over her own damn feet and runs right into a very, very solid chest.

Yes. It's such a fucking cliche. But it is their cliche.

Meredith flinches back, an apology on the tip of her tongue, but all rational thought leaves her mind when she lays eyes on the hottest guy she has ever seen.

Like, seriously, this guy belongs on the cover of GQ, not standing in an ER covered in puke.

Even as he looks down in disgust at his black leather jacket that is now covered in numerous bodily fluids, Meredith can't remember how to speak English. Angry eyes slowly travel up her body, but when his blue eyes finally meets hers, his anger turns to something else.

Curiosity. And lust.

He smirks that damn smirk that she will grow to love, but right then, she hates him before he even opens his mouth.

"Grey!" Merlyn shouts impatiently, capturing her attention again. "Do I need to choose someone else?" He doesn't give her a chance to reply, he rolls his eyes and says, "Delfino. With me seeing as Grey's too starstruck by Sloan." Delfino grins smugly at her and flips her off as he trails along after Merlyn.

"Asshole," Meredith mutters under her breath.

"That's not very nice."

Meredith frowns up at him. "Get out of my way," she snaps. "I've just lost a surgery because of you."

He laughs. "Because of me?! You walked into me. Don't worry about my very ruined, very expensive jacket by the way."

Meredith rolls her eyes and tries to step around him but he follows her, his impressive body following her every move. "Do you need any help washing up?" he asks, his face the picture of innocence but those blue eyes - God his eyes are so fucking blue - flash with a wicked amusement. "I can be very helpful."

"Shut up," she snaps before she can stop herself. She picks up her pace

Sloan's smirk widens. "I'm your attending, you can't tell me to shut up."

Attending? She almost trips in shock. Oh holy fuck. She's definitely not seen him around before. Swallowing back her panic, Meredith goes to apologize, but one look at that arrogant, expecting smirk has her biting back her fumbling apology as she bites out, "Yeah, well. I just did."

Sloan barks out a laugh and beings to follow her into the girls locker room. Meredith stops in front of the door and spins around angrily. "You can't come in here," she snaps. Behind him, she notices a load of nurses looking over at them curiously - or more accurately looking at Sloan as though he was an Adonis and looking at Meredith as though she was a pile of dog crap they've just had to scrape off their shoe.

Mark remains oblivious to them as he towers over her imposingly. "Come on, it will be fun. I can scrub your back for you."

"I'm not interested," Meredith snaps, finally losing her patience with him.

"Yes you are," Sloan says. "Interns always are."

The audacity of this asshole. "Well this intern isn't."

Sloan looks as though he's about to argue with her, but his pager goes off. He ignores it for a second, those penetrating eyes looking right into her before he smirks one last time and says, "I'll just send you the bill for my jacket then, Grey was it?"

"Go to hell!" Meredith slams the door shut in his face.

His wicked laugh echoes through the door, and when another intern named Kathy asks her why she's grinning, Meredith snaps at her to mind her own business as she heads for the showers.

"What an arrogant dick," Meredith mutters under her breath. She catches her reflection in the mirror and catches sight of her small grin.

"Oh piss off," she sighs as she pulls her shirt over her head.

She's beyond tipsy as she loudly asks, "What do you know of Doctor Sloan?"

She's in the bar across the street with Cristina and a bunch of other interns. They mostly get on her nerves and Delfino keeps looking down her top, but it feels so good to finally let loose after such a long week.

Cristina shrugs, her drink splashing dangerously in her glass as she leans against Meredith's shoulder. "Other than that he's ridiculously hot, not a lot. He's the Head of Plastics and he's got the best ass in the country."

Heather, a quiet girl who Meredith has a soft spot for pipes up, "He's slept with half of the female staff at the hospital, and he's the reason why Doctor Shepherd left New York."

Meredith frowns. "How come?"

Delfino snorts, his brown eyes taking a break from staring at her cleavage. "He was banging Shepherd's wife! They grew up together too."

"That's stone cold," Aaron says looking impressed despite his words. "Sloan is like my idol."

Cristina snorts. "Sounds like an asshole. A hot asshole," she amends. "But still an asshole."

She couldn't agree more.

As the weeks pass, Sloan requests her for surgeries and drives her insane with his outrageous flirting and his constant teasing.

Mark Sloan is everything she hates about men and doctors. He is arrogant, insanely hot and incredibly talented. She can watch his hands create artwork for hours, and though she has zero interest in plastics, she actually enjoys being taught by him. He hates interns and never wants them assisting in his surgeries. But he always asks for her.

Look - she's not stupid. She knows that he's only doing it because he wants to get into her pants and the second she fucks him there's no chance that he will ever take a second look at her let alone let her into his O.R. Yes, he makes inappropriate comments which are borderline sexual harassment and stands a little too close to her, his cool breath in her ear as his talented hands guide hers.

But he's a really good teacher, and if it had been anyone else, she would have reported him months ago.

The thing is, she really fucking likes him.

He is everything that she hates. But he is also everything that Meredith is attracted to.

But he's Mark Sloan.

He's talented, confident and ridiculously good looking, and if he was anybody else, Meredith would have him in her bed already and would have gotten him out of her system already.

But what makes him insufferable is that he knows it, and he knows that every single person around him knows just how amazing he is. It certainly doesn't help that half of the nurses have slept with him and a good portion of the other half would chop off their left hand for a roll in the sheets with Doctor Sloan if she believed the gossip that seemed to follow in the mans wake.

She can't be one of those girls who follows him around blindly and foolishly gives him their heart.

She knows better, and she certainly won't give up her reputation for a fumble in the sheets with Mark Sloan.

She won't.

Ellis calls her. She doesn't even bother to tell her in person the fact that her only family in this shitty world has been diagnosed with Early-onset Alzheimer's, and she's already moving into a nursing home. The world is spinning around her and she can't breathe-

Nobody pays her any heed as she pushes passed patients and nurses until she's in a supply closet.

Tears cloud her eyes. "I can take time off work," she whispers, her fingers clutching the phone desperately to her ear. "I can help you-"

"Don't get emotional Meredith," Ellis snapped. "You can't help me. I will have all the professional care that I need. I don't want to waste my time coddling you."

Meredith remains silent as Ellis goes on but it all falls on deaf ears.

You can't help me.

No, there isn't anything she can do for her mother medically, but she can be with her for those few precious moments they will have left. They may not be close, but she's her daughter for God's sake. Surely some small part of her gives a shit about how this is going to affect her too?

When she hangs up, the tears flow freely. It crushes her. Knowing that this strong, intelligent woman who she calls mother will not recognise her anymore-

The door opens and Meredith hastily wipes away her tears. She slides her phone into the pocket of her lab coat and grabs the first thing her hands land on and quickly makes her escape with a quick smile at a fellow intern.

She's striding pointlessly down the corridor, ignoring Delfino failing to chat up a third year resident who is way out of her league, when Sloan steps directing into her path.

"Come for a drink with me Grey," he demands simply, his smirk fixed firmly into place as he looks down at her with amused eyes.

"No," Meredith says coldly, trying to step around him but Sloan isn't having any of it.

"Why?" he demands, ignoring the stares of a group of interns who have gone suspiciously quiet. "We have a good time, don't we?"

"You don't want me, Dr. Sloan," Meredith says stiffly, wondering why he clearly can't take a hint. Surely he can see she's not in the mood to deal with him. "Not really. You only want me because I keep saying no and now this is a game to you. I won't ruin my reputation for a game."

"We'll see," Sloan said, his voice lowering into a deep husk. "You will deny it for a while, and then just when you can't stand the tension anymore, you'll snap." Sloan leans in close to her, so close that it would be no effort at all to pull his face towards hers and he could easily make her forget about Alzheimer's and selfish mothers who clearly doesn't give a fuck about her feelings.

"One way or another, you and me are going to happen Grey, and you will remember it for the rest of your life."

It takes all of her control not to slap him.

The hold she had on her anger snaps. "You know what? You think highly of yourself don't you Dr. Sloan?" she hisses, oblivious to the sudden silence of the corridor. In that moment, the entire hospital ceases to exist apart from her and him. "You think that just because every nurse follows you around, begging for a scrap of your attention, that every woman on the planet wants you. Well I don't! You're an arrogant, conceited asshole who is so far up his own asshole I'm surprised you can even take a breath!"

Sloan frowns down at her, his amusement vanishing as he realises that this isn't playful banter. "That's a little harsh Grey-"

"You're a man whore, and not one respectable woman on this planet would want you," Meredith seethes, relishing in his sudden flinch at her words. "Stay the hell away from me!" she snaps, ignoring the eyes of every doctor and nurse that stares at her as she storms off.

Fuck them all.

Of course after an hour she feels ridiculously guilty and wants nothing more than to apologise for her dickish behavior. Cristina asks her if she wants to stay at the hospital and lurk for surgeries but Meredith declines explaining that she has something she needs to do. Still, a part of her wants to forget the whole nightmare of a day, but Meredith forces herself to head to the local bar where all of the staff drink. She's seen Sloan in there before, but other than a quick wink and a smile he never approaches her outside work.

After her attitude today, it is only fitting that she's the one to find him sitting at the bar alone, staring into a glass of scotch uncharacteristically remorseful. Meredith swallows back her pride and slowly approaches him, taking the seat to his left and quietly ordering a shot of tequila.

She's not the best at apologising.

Sloan ignores her as she knocks back the shot, asking the bartender to leave the bottle.

Meredith pours another shot and knocks it back. She can feel the alcohol slowly doing its job as she feels herself relax a little. "I'm sorry," she says softly when she can't stand the silence any longer.

She peeks at him from the corner of her eye, and he doesn't even look at her as he emotionlessly quips, "Are you talking to me?"

Her heart sinks. Meredith makes a show of looking around the empty bar. "Well there's nobody else here."

Sloan does not reply.

Jeez, he's really going to make her work for it.

Sloan downs his drink in one smooth gulp and slams the glass down onto the bar. He catches the attention of the bartender who is trying but failing to look as though he's not listening to her fumbling apology. Once he's received another drink and makes it clear that he's not going to talk, Meredith waits for the bartender to leave before she quietly explains herself. "Five minutes before we spoke today, my mother told me that she has Alzheimer's."

That grabs his attention. Sloan drink is almost to his lips when he freezes, those blue eyes flicking to hers and flashing with sympathy. He slowly lowers his glass and gently rests it on the bar. "I'm sorry," he says, his voice softening.

Meredith bites her lip and looks away. She can't cry in front of him, she just can't. Sloan is polite enough not to comment as her hands tremble a little as she pours herself another shot. It gives her enough confidence to continue. "She hasn't told anyone, and she expects me to keep this secret for her. She's known about it for almost a year and she did not even think to tell me."

"Maybe she didn't want to burden you," Sloan says carefully.

Meredith snorts. "No. I've never been at the top of Ellis Grey's priorities. She didn't want to seem weak, and calling me would have made her weak. It would have meant admitting that she needed me for once." She shakes her head sadly. "She'd rather pay someone to look after than have me.

"We've never been close, especially since I went to medical school. She didn't think I'd be able to handle it and it grates on her that I'm actually good at this doctor thing. I was never good enough for her. No matter how hard I worked, it was never enough. But she's still my mom, you know?" She looks away as she quickly swipes a tear, afraid to see pity in his eyes as she pours out her damaged heart. "Why didn't she call me?" she whispers pathetically.

Mark does not answer, but he puts a gentle hand on top of hers that is resting on the bar, and for just a second, she doesn't feel so alone.

Sucking in a shaky breath, she continues."What I'm trying to say is that I took my shit out on you and said harsh things I didn't mean. I was wrong, and I really am sorry." Meredith pauses and makes herself to meet his eyes. She swallows back the urge to leave and forces herself to say, "I don't think they're true, those things I said. I don't want to lose this... thing."

She doesn't want to lose him, she realises with a jolt.

Mark is silent for a long time, those blue eyes staring right at her. She can't get a read on him and she hates how much that bothers her. Still, he gives her a small smile and just like that she's forgiven.

"So, mommy issues, huh?" Meredith gives him a sharp look but Mark just shrugs and smirks. "I can work with that.

For the first time that day, Meredith smiles. "I have daddy issues too."

Mark barks out a laugh and pours them another shot of tequila. "Well, Meredith Grey," he says softly. "I think I've hit the jackpot with you."

That's when she starts to see Sloan as Mark.