Lexie stands outside an unfamiliar apartment building in the freezing Seattle air. Her coat was back in Meredith's car, and she can't bring herself to get it. She looks down at the address Arizona wrote down for her in a piece of paper and back up at the building. It was right. She's in the right place. She looks back at the car to see Meredith giving her a reassuring smile.

A couple of hours ago, she was on the bathroom floor, inconsolable. Everyone was trying to comfort her, and asking what was going on but she never answered. It took her an hour before she finally stood up and decided to go talk to Mark. She walked straight out without any word and they all looked at her like she was crazy. It was Arizona who stopped her before she got into her car, shoved a piece of paper into her pocket and said he wouldn't be at his place, but would instead be on this address.

Lexie slowly walks inside the building, and finds the room written down. 408. Here it is. With one deep breath, she holds her fist up on the door and knocks.

The door opens and reveals the pretty blonde intern Mark flirted with from earlier at the hospital. She was wearing an oversized Columbia shirt that only reached down to her inner thighs. And no bottoms. She quickly covers her body behind the door at the sight of Lexie. "Oh! I... yes? Lexie, right?"

"Yeah. Is Mark around?" She eyes the intern while speaking, afraid he slept with this one right after he stormed out of Meredith and Derek's.

"He's in the bathroom throwing up." The intern sighs in relief before motioning for Lexie to come in. "I know what I look like, and it's not what you think. I mean, we do have sex sometimes, but we're just friends. I'm... Nadine."

Lexie nods, not knowing what to say. She walks into the open door of the bathroom, and sees Mark leaning on the tiled wall with his eyes closed.

"Hi." She whispers, and sits on the floor beside him. Sweat rolls down the side of his head and Lexie wipes it off with the long sleeve of her sweater.

Her heart breaks at this sight. She is familiar happy drunk Mark, but not with this one. She's never had to deal with drunk, heartbroken Mark. A realization hits her all of a sudden, that she's the one who's broken him one too many times lately, and Callie must've been the one to see him in this state every time. Now she gets why his best friend hates her. Even she hates herself right now.

He opens his eyes to look at her. He blinks a couple times before he finally breaks into silent laughter. "Wow. Nade, I must be soooooo drunk, because you toooootally look like Lexie right now."

Nadine, who is leaning at the door frame, laughs. "Yeah, I'm over here. That's really Lexie. She came for you."

"You're funny." He laughs again, before his face turns sad and he leans his head back on the cool tile and closes his eyes. "She wouldn't... she wouldn't do that."

It felt like a stab in the gut. Lexie had to look away as she wipes a stray tear falling from her face. What have I done to him?

"He really loves you, you know." Nadine says, a few seconds into the silence. "It took us forever to clean him up and fix him right after that... little thing you had going on in Christmas eve? He was a wreck. Callie, Arizona and I, we couldn't get him out of bed or get him to go to work for a couple days. We had to call Derek."

Lexie's mouth goes dry trying to take in this information. "But it-it all went well. We were fine after Christmas eve. I mean, we left things on good terms the next morning."

"For you, maybe. But you reminded him of what he couldn't have. It sucks. I don't know you or your boyfriend, but I know Mark. He's a great guy. He doesn't deserve your mixed signals and he definitely doesn't deserve for you to only want him when it's convenient for you. Please, Lexie. Make it right. Because the next time I see him like this again because of you, I'm calling Torres and Robbins and we're kicking your ass."

It took Lexie and Nadine an entire hour to clean up Mark and put him to bed. Lexie told her that Mark would be fine on the couch but Nadine insisted that she doesn't mind sleeping next to him "since they do it all the time". It took every ounce of Lexie's energy to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something she'll regret.

"So you and Mark, you're... sex friends? Or something?" Lexie says as she goes through her handbag for an Advil to leave for him, while simultaneously trying to fish information out of her.

Nadine chuckles. "Kind of began as a one night stand, then it happened more often. It's just all fun for us, keeps us distracted from the shit going on in our lives. Then we began hanging out a lot and just talked, and now, I guess we're best friends with benefits."

"So you're like the new Callie."

"Yeah. He always felt a bit out of the loop with Callie and Arizona, so... Anyway, I began to really like him, at one point. And when I confessed, he said he's still in love with you. We stopped talking and sleeping together for a while, until it all just got better and we went back to the old routine. Then stopped again when you popped out of nowhere."

Lexie gives Nadine a tight smile as she puts down two Advils on the bedside table next to Mark. "Thanks for looking out for him."

The blonde nods and smiles back. "I really don't mind." They both sat in silence for a while before she speaks again. "Callie hates your guts."

"I know." They both laugh and share a light moment until the conversation led to internships and life.

Lexie remembers Sadie Harris in her. Minus the crazy. She wasn't surprised why Mark was friends with Nadine anymore. She was straightforward and funny. And if the situation was different, she'd be friends with her too.

A couple hours later, Lexie leaves to wash her face in the bathroom. It was almost time to leave for the airport and she has made no progress with Mark since the moment he left Meredith and Derek's. She sighs as she wipes her wet face with a paper towel. This is really how I'm starting my year.

She grabs her bag from the couch and goes to check on Mark one more time. He was sleeping peacefully, with his right arm hanging off the side of the bed. Lexie leans forward to give him a goodbye kiss on the cheek before running her fingers through his hair one last time.

—

The harsh sunlight hits Mark's face from the window and he groans. His head was pounding trying to bury his face back on the pillow.

He doesn't remember much of last night. He just remembered knocking on Nadine's door and then everything after that was a blur. He stretches out his arms and legs until his back releases a satisfying crack. This has been routine everytime he sleeps over at her place, because of the cheap mattress that she picked out from god knows where.

He finds the two Advils on the bedside table, and mentally thanks Nadine as he takes them. There was a note under the glass and he reads it.

Call me when you wake up. Lex

Lexie? Why would Lexie...? How? The alcohol must've fucked up his brain bad. Or maybe he imagined the "Lex" attached to the message. He looked at the piece of paper one more time and flips it only to find Nadine's apartment's address written in the back.

Mark finds his phone on the floor and quickly calls Nadine. She picks up on the fifth ring and he speaks before she could. "What the hell happened last night?"

"So you found the note." She laughs. "She came by last night. Oh, and she's so much prettier in person. Holy shit?"

He rolls his eyes, impatient. "Nade. Just tell me what happened." He was trying to put back the pieces together starting from when he stepped into this apartment, but nothing comes to mind.

"Fine. She came over and wanted to talk or apologize or something. You were already like really drunk. You had vomit all over. I was embarrassed for you—"

Callie cuts off. "Mark! Get the hell out of bed and get to work! Stop bothering her, we have a surgery to get to!"

And the call gets disconnected. Damn it.

It was lunch break when Mark finally sees Nadine in the cafeteria. She was sat with one of her intern friends whom he glared at for a full minute before she gets that he's asking her to leave.

"Okay, there isn't much to tell. You got drunk, she came over, she cleaned you up and put you to bed. Stared at you for three hours, that's all. I mean, we did talk, and—"

"What did you talk about?" He says, taking a bite on his apple. What could they possibly talk about? Him?

Nadine rolls her eyes. "Well, she talked to me about her fellowship. Your stupid ass overreacted. All you heard was 'New York' and you started yelling. She knows where she's going, though. And it's not New York. Besides, do you even know how many hospitals want her? It's crazy!"

"She's brilliant. I'm not surprised." He smiles. "Where did she say she's going?"

"Call her if you wanna find out." Nadine winks at him then picks up her tray. She walks to the trash bin and turns around. "Oh, and no being mean! I like her. She's my best friend now."

—

Lexie lies down on the only empty bed in the on-call room. She was already tired from her flight that morning, and Liam had two surgeries lined up for her right when she stepped foot in the hospital. She pulls out her flashcards to study and pass the time before she does post-ops.

She tries to study but her mind just couldn't concentrate. Mark should've called her hours ago. It's already 9 in the evening, and she still hasn't gotten even a single message. Maybe he couldn't forgive her anymore. Maybe he wants to move on, for real. Maybe this is the message.

Her phone suddenly vibrates in her lab coat and she almost falls off the bed. She scrambles to find it and presses the answer button.

"Hi!" She says, a bit too loudly and enthusiastically. The other doctors in the on-call room started hushing her and complaining, she had to apologize profusely before stepping out.

"Hey, Lex." She releases a relieved sigh and leans back on the wall outside the on-call room. "I'm sorry, I had back to back surgeries."

"It's fine." She smiles. "How's your... hangover?"

"Better now. Thanks for last night. I really appreciate it."

Lexie nods, forgetting he couldn't see her. "I'm glad. About last night, I didn't mean to... I mean, New York was an option. But I'm... I've decided for a while. I think I'm choosing Shepherd."

She can hear him break into a smile from the other end. "That's... that's good, Lex."

"But don't tell anyone. I still want fruit and candy baskets sent to me from the other hospitals."

"Alright."

"So... we're good now, right? Even though I still want Mount Sinai's candy basket?"

Mark laughs. Lexie's heart swells at the sound. She can imagine him looking down at his shoes in laughter. It usually doesn't take much for her to miss him. The past two days she's had so much of him, that the distance seems nice. Refreshing. Necessary. But that doesn't mean she doesn't want to be curled up next to him again.

"I love you." She suddenly blurts out. She said it in a whisper, but the words seemed so loud in her mind. So loud, that she had to look around to check if someone's heard.

The other end was silent, except for his breathing. "I love you too."

"Baby steps?" She suggests, biting her lips to calm her nerves, hoping it'll somewhat slow down her heartbeat.

"Baby steps."

Two little words, but Lexie's smile was wider than they've been in months, all because of the two little words that lit up her hopes of trying again.