Alice rifled through her suitcase until she found her bikini. She yanked it out triumphantly and slipped it on. She wrapped a towel around herself, toga style, and headed down the stairs and out onto the beach. It was pretty much deserted, so she found the perfect spot and lay down on her towel. She put her iPod on and sighed. This was bliss. She didn't bother keeping track of time, but several songs later she heard voices approaching. Addison and Amelia were chatting away about something, but they both kind of cut off and stifled gasps as they saw the scars all over Alice's stomach and legs. Alice ignored them completely and put her earbuds back in.

"Stop staring." She flipped her sunglasses up on her head and shut her music off before sitting up.

"We're not." Addison said quickly.

"Oh, bullshit. You're running through a thousand possible explanations for this, but the only one that makes enough sense to you is that I cut. Did Lexie ever tell you how we met?" Amelia frowned.

"No, why?"

"Remember how there was the shooting at Seattle grace? I was that one patient that was shot. She saved me, and then I talked the shooter out of killing Lexie. So that's where this one is from." Alice pointed to the long scar along her side. "The rest- you don't get those stories yet. But it's not what you think it is so don't even think of judging me for it."

Alice grabbed her stuff and stood up, heading for the house. "Hey, where are you going?" Addison called after her.

"Inside. I'm not in the mood for socializing." She strode up the stairs and into the house. She wandered into the kitchen and started yanking open cupboards, looking for the liquor. She brushed back tears angrily, mystified as to why she was bothered so much by this tonight.

"Hidden." Amelia's sudden appearance startled her.

"Maybe I was looking for some cookies." She snapped. The neurosurgeon rolled her eyes.

"You hardly seem like the junk food type." Amelia gestured to the teens barely concealed ribs.

"Yeah well you don't look like the addict type, and I don't need yet another label so let's just say that neither of us should be jumping to conclusions." Addison walked in through the patio doors.

"Trust me, we were warned about your tendency to go looking for drinks. It's safe to say that you're not going to find anything here."

"Whatever." Alice mumbled as she walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing her legs under her. "Mind if I use the phone? I want to call Lex."

"Of course not." Addison grabbed it off of the charger beside the fridge and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Alice said quietly as she grabbed the phone. She stood, adjusting the sundress that she had thrown over her bikini, and wandered off into the office, shutting the door behind her.

Alice dialed Lexie's number and listened to it ring six times before it went to voicemail. She clicked the phone off without leaving a message and shoved the phone away. She knew Lexie was probably busy or with Mark, but she was still bummed out just the same. She sat in the office for nearly an hour, feeling miserable for herself before Amelia came knocking.

"Hey, everything alright?" She asked, stepping in. Alice shook her head. "When I got bad cravings, I shut myself in like you're doing. It doesn't help. Come on out into the kitchen and have some dinner. It'll distract you, I promise." Alice stared at her for a moment before standing up and following her out. She smiled briefly at Addison who handed her a plate. Alice set it down on the table and sat cross legged on the chair pushing the pasta around her plate with her fork. Just then Addison looked hopefully at her, trying to gauge her reaction to the pasta. Alice hastily took a bite and nodded at Addison.

"You don't eat a lot, do you?" The surgeon asked, watching as the teenager's fork continued to push food around. Alice looked up and shrugged.

"I guess not. Ever since…well, everything, I'm just not hungry anymore." She muttered, forcing another bite of pasta down. She had to admit, Addison's cooking was fantastic. But the pasta was heavy and she didn't know how much of it she could stomach. Every time she ate, she ended up thinking about the time Callie had made her eat, and how badly that had ended.

"Well if you keep that up, no one is going to be able to see you. You're thin Alice. A little too thin. I understand not being hungry, but you still had to fuel your body." Amelia reminded her. Alice glanced down at herself and for the first time in a while, actually looked at herself. They were right. Her arms looked like toothpicks, and the sundress she wore clung loosely to the rest of her frame.

"I know. I just never want anything. I'm either too tired to eat or I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Well how about I take you shopping tomorrow, after your session? I can get you some protein bars and whatever else you pick out." Amelia offered, glancing at the teenager for approval. Alice looked up from her plate and bit her bottom lip before nodding.

"Yeah, um, sounds good. Thanks." She muttered before taking another bite of her food. In fact, the more she ate, the more she felt like she could eat. Maybe it would just take some time to get her appetite back on schedule.

"Is that your phone or mine?"

"Mine."

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"Nope." Mark stared down at his girlfriend in surprise and glanced over towards her purse. The two of them had ordered take-out for the night, and now sat on the couch in his apartment, picking at sweet and sour chicken with their chopsticks. He was about to remind her that it could be Alice, but stopped just before he opened his mouth. Lexie deserved a night to just relax. And if a baby was on the way, then he planned on keeping her stress level to a minimum.

"Oooh, look at this one! I like this one. I like the dark wood." Lexie clicked on the picture of the baby crib and watched as it expanded. The two of them had been online baby shopping for the past hour and although Mark wasn't exactly thrilled, it was nice.

"That one will work. Do you want to order it?"

"No, no of course not. We haven't seen all of our options yet. Don't be rash." Lexie scoffed, pressing the back button and beginning to scroll through the crib section once again.

"We're not going to see all of our options Lex. There are thousands of them. How about we take a break from cribs for a while and talk about names?" Mark suggested, closing the laptop and setting it aside. Lexie nodded and the two of them leaned back together on the couch.

"Okay. For a boy I was thinking maybe…maybe George?" She suggested tentatively. Her brown eyes looked up to meet Mark's, obviously a bit anxious for his reaction.

"I like that. George. George Sloan. It's a strong name. And if we have a girl?" The older man asked.

"I like the name Arianna. But I'm sure by the time he or she gets here that I'll have a whole new set of favorites." Lexie chuckled, glancing down at her stomach. Her abdomen was still flat, and she put a hand on it. Mark stared down at the small gesture and smiled.

"I love you Lexie Grey."

suggestions are very welcome