AN: Thank you so much for your reviews! It means a lot to me and keeps me motivated to keep writing! Thank you so much to all of the people who made this chapter possible; Lexie, Labil, Maddy, and Taylor! Thank you girls!
He woke up at 6am. He didn't need the clock to tell him that. It was automatic. He always woke up at 6am unless he had to be at the hospital earlier.
She was gone.
He threw his legs over the side of the bed and ran his hand along the length of his face. Good. No awkwardness. She was feeling vulnerable and used him to make herself feel better. He was okay with that. That was usually what he did. He had a couple surgeries today, but nothing major. He remembered her telling him she was given the day off to "think about what she had done," as if she were a child all over again.
So he wouldn't see her. Big deal. Nothing had changed anyway. She was still his subordinate. Still a stupid intern, and still off limits.
So he got up to get ready for the day. And what a day it would be.
Lexie was late.
Her flight was in less than an hour and she was late. She was never late but she was in Mark Sloan's hotel room (of all places) and lost track of time. She woke up to see him sleeping on his stomach with his arms above his head.
He slept without a shirt on.
She had snuck out of there as quietly as possible, but now she was going to be late.
Packing had taken her longer than she expected. Thank God Meredith had already left for her rounds.
Lexie grew frustrated at all of her options. She simply had too many clothes. It had come to her grabbing anything out of her drawer, but making sure the essentials were there, and that was the end of it. She wasn't high maintenance.
As soon as she found out she was suspended for a week, she booked the first available flight to Connecticut to see her sister Molly and her adorable niece, Laura.
It was raining again but that's nothing new; rain in Seattle was like sun in California - always there. Strangely enough she had come to love the rain. The patter against the roof soothed her at night. It reminded her of her mother, who used to hum to her at night when she was a child. Her mother couldn't carry a tune, therefore she hummed. And when her mother couldn't do it, Molly did. And when Molly needed it, Lexie did it. It was just how things were. Molly had been the only sister she even knew, so when she was thrust upon Meredith she hadn't known what to do anymore than Meredith had.
Molly was different, and she desperately needed to talk to her sister right now. Her medical career was up in the air and she was sleeping at sexy plastic surgeon's hotel rooms. She wanted to talk to Molly about Mark, plain and simple.
She wanted to get to know him. Not what he showed everyone else.
But him.
The real him.
She let her mind wander for a bit and sped up to keep from missing her flight. Her flight was scheduled to leave at 8:12am. Well at least that's what she thought.
Looking down at the seat next to her, she realized she was missing one very important thing.
Shit.
Her heart raced. She was going to miss her flight and she had left her purse at Mark's fucking hotel room.
She could call him, but she felt awkward after last night. Plus, he might have had an early surgery. She definitely couldn't call him.
She did the only logical thing. She paged him.
She waited impatiently, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. There was a very important reason she needed that purse, other than having her wallet and ID, but she wasn't about to tell him what.
Finally.
Her phone vibrated ad she answered the unrecognized number.
"Hello?" It could be a wrong number for all she knew.
"Grey, did you get into an accident or something?" Nope, not a wrong number.
He sounded irritated.
"Well..no, I just-" She stopped.
"Good." He sounded relieved. "Then why the hell did you page me?" Irritation was back.
She waited to speak because the sound of the planes above created too much noise.
"Are you at the airport?" Now he sounded confused.
"Yes, and I need you to do something for me. A really big favor, and I will be forever in your debt….I just didn't realize I left it at your hotel room and I-" She stopped again.
"Your purse?" He finished for her.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss my flight and I really need my purse. Is there any way you could bring it to me? Oh wait, are you at the hospital? Did I interrupt a surgery?" She put her face in her hands. She was sounding more and more pathetic by the minute.
"Relax, Grey. I haven't gone in yet. I can bring you, your purse." He liked to make her sweat.
"Thank you, Dr. Sloan. You're a lifesaver," she sighed.
"It's Mark, and you're right, I am a lifesaver." She giggled and closed the phone.
She parked her car in the lot, and started unloading her luggage which consisted of one small bag. Hopefully they would find one another once inside; after all, she had his cell phone number now.
Lexie made a mad dash for the entrance since the rain had begun to pick up. Ever since she lived here, she had never seen a sunny day. Hopefully that would change in Connecticut.
Speaking of Connecticut, her flight was due to leave within half an hour. She had done all the necessary security measures and checked her bag, now all she had to do was wait. She hated waiting. She got anxious when she had to wait.
Many people filled the airport waiting area, and she chose to sit next to a man who looked as if he were going on a business trip. There was also a little girl across from her, complaining to her mom because she was tired and didn't want to fly today.
She couldn't wait to see little Laura. She was going to be two years old, and she was growing up so beautifully. She just hated being so far away from her, and Molly. Lexie sighed and watched a couple to her left who were holding hands and whispering in each other ears. They looked young but appeared to be in love. Lexie blushed slightly, and turned her head in the other direction. She felt as if she were interrupting an intimate moment between two lovers. Then she looked up again and felt a slight twinge of envy. Someday, she wanted to hold someone's hand just as that girl was holding her boyfriend's. She wanted a man to whisper all the right words in her ear and tell her he loved her. However, that wasn't reality and she was a big girl now, she just wanted the fairytale too.
The rain was coming down so hard now that she could barely see outside, and everything was so gloomy and dark. She pushed her hair behind her ear and turned back to her thoughts. But it didn't last long.
"Lexie." she loved the way her name sounded on his lips. Quickly banishing the thought she looked up to find him dripping wet standing in front of her, purse in hand. She had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing. He looked so cute yet funny at the same time. He was so tall and masculine and here he was holding this small black purse.
He handed her the purse and she managed to say thank you between her chuckles.
"Laugh it up, Grey." He looked at the man sitting next to her.
He said something to the man next to her. She hadn't caught just what it was, but the man quickly vacated the seat.
How convenient.
"You're welcome." Mark leaned forward, elbow on knees and looked directly at her.
"Am I supposed to thank you for scaring that man off?" She was teasing him. Attempting to anyway.
"I could always call him back here, if you really want me to." He smirked. He was teasing her now.
"No thank you, I prefer present company." She was glad he was sitting next to her. Although it was very hard to concentrate. Not only was he devilishly handsome fully dry, but right now he was wet, and she was greedily letting her mind wander.
Before either reacted a voice over the loud speak announced her flight was delayed for an hour.
Of course.
"I take it by the look on your face, that's your flight, Lexie?" He ran a hand through his wet hair, and then focused his attention back towards her.
She merely nodded.
"So, you're that desperate to get away from me?" He was joking.
"No, of course not. I am going to visit my sister Molly in Connecticut and I didn't know where things were left with us, so I thought-"
"Lexie, while that rambling of yours is awfully cute, I was just kidding. But now that you bring it up. You'd didn't have to sneak out like that. We didn't do anything wrong." He sounded like he was confirming it more for himself than her.
"I know, but I didn't want you to think I was sticking around for anything….you know…specific," She pushed the hair behind her ear again for something to do with her hand.
"We can be friends, can we not, Little Grey?" There was that beautiful smirk again.
"Of course we can. I know you're probably really busy so thank you for the purse."
"Actually, I canceled my surgeries for the day. Just in case." In case of what neither of them knew. She merely nodded in agreement.
She contemplated her next question. He was going to say no, but there was no harm in asking it right? Why she was asking she had no clue, but it just felt right. At the moment. It felt right.
"You're all wet." She blurted out instead.
He looked down at his clothes but merely shrugged.
"It'll dry." He smiled.
She looked around and saw that other women were looking at him, however she reveled in the fact that he wasn't here for them. He was here for her. She wasn't sure why (besides the purse) but she liked it.
"Dr. Sloan…..Mark." She corrected when he gave her that look.
"Would you like to come to Connecticut with me?" She closed her eyes like a little child as if she just saw the boogey man and he would go away when she opened her eyes again.
So childish, she chided herself. Why would he want to go anywhere with her?
He was silent for a couple moments but she expected that.
When she opened her eyes, he was grinning at her.
Damn him and those grins.
"Can I have the window seat?"
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